Putting time back on the clock

[waltjp]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

What disadvantage is gained by timing football in tenths of seconds? Those clocks with tenths only show tenths under a minute left in the quarter.

Glad you asked. In another post somewhere is was noted that some idiot referee decided that because the scoreboard clock showed 0.8 seconds remaining there wasn't enough time for a team to legally snap the ball and he declared the game over.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by waltjp

Glad you asked. In another post somewhere is was noted that some idiot referee decided that because the scoreboard clock showed 0.8 seconds remaining there wasn't enough time for a team to legally snap the ball and he declared the game over.

I've been doing this thing called officiating long enough to have realized that this could be a problem. IMHO, things like this (which aren't an issue in Cdn ball - we have our own issues) are some of what separates a good official from a great official.

When we start, our first goal is to become consistent within ourselves. The next steps are becoming consistent within the groups that we're associated with as our careers develop: the local association, other local associations - possibly for state playoffs.

A truly great WH will know all these "little things" and conduct the game in that manner. A good WH will likely have no problems until little quirks like this come up. How often does less than a second remain in the 4th quarter with the clock stopped?

I think this is one reason that Matt Hasselbach (sp?) said of Ed Hochuli: "I'm glad someone out there knows the rules".

Sadly, the "idiot referee" might have been new to the Referee position, and his exposure to these "little things" is minimal. (I've trained about 3 new white hats this season. They've all done well, but it has been little things that they need to work on.)

[waltjp]

Great post, JR, but none of it answers the question about the advantage of having tenths of seconds displayed on the clock.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by waltjp

Great post, JR, but none of it answers the question about the advantage of having tenths of seconds displayed on the clock.

I don't think there are any advantages or disadvantages. People might complain at the beginning: "there's less than a second left - how can the offense properly snap the ball in under a second".

All that will happen is that people will become better educated about the rules. People being officials, coaches, players, and fans. They will come to accept it: they have to.