Time of "officials" time outs in various sport, how long is too long?

[redwhiteblue]

Hello. First post, and I came here to get some input from refs/officials/umps who work a variety of sports.

Briefly, like most people here, I've been a spectator at many sporting events, from NFL to little kids' soccer for many, many years. My question has to do with an unconventional sport, roller derby.

I enjoy going to see it on occasion, and have a friend who referees the sport (these days, it isn't scripted like the old 70s version). I'm frequently amazed at the time the referees take to decide disputed calls. Five and ten minute long "officials" time outs are not uncommon. The RD refs are paid nothing to very little, but even in Pop Warner football, when the refs huddle up, a call is made in a minute or two, tops.

Has anybody seen any data on how long "officials" timeouts (not coach-called ones) generally take for various sports, or can offer any insight on specific rules in place that limit the duration of "officials" timeouts in an effort to keep the gameplay moving along and the fans from getting restless?

As clarification, I am referring mainly to timeouts called by officials themselves, when they want to confer about rules, or talk over a disagreement amongst themselves.

Thanks!

[APG]

There is no set time limit in these situations. I can't speak towards roller derby but in all the major North American sports, officials can in theory take as long as needed to discuss and thus properly enforce the rules. Of course we don't want to take TOO long, but there are times when a lot is happening and enforcement can be tricky when rushed. I can almost say without a doubt that there would never be rule in place to artificially limit the amount of time officials get in this situation.

The only kind of time limits placed on an official's timeout generally has to do with replay where the replay can be viewed for a limited amount of time. The NBA allows the officials to look at the replay for two minutes (save for those that involve player altercations), the NFL allows the referee 60 seconds to view replay, and I believe the NHL and MLB gets its replays viewed and decided from a central office. Again, those are limits for replay, and technically, the officials could take as long as needed to discuss and proper enforce whatever needs to be taken care of.

[redwhiteblue]

APG,

Thanks for your reply. If you officiate in the amateur ranks, in your personal experience, are such timeouts resolved pretty quickly (under a minute or two), or do they take five minutes, ten minutes, or more, to resolve?

[APG]

In my personal experience, these kind of situations resolve themselves in under a minute...the longest timeout I've had is when there was a clock situation. Took maybe 2-3 minutes including getting the clock set correctly and talking to the coaches. The only time I could imagine this kind of timeout taking five minutes or longer is if there's a fight situation. In those circumstances, there are various rules and enforcement that are different for players on the playing field vs. bench areas. Also, in sports like football, there's more of a chance of this taking longer because enforcement in that sport can be complex at times.

Again, most of these kinds of situations (both pro and amateur), in the major sports (football, basketball, baseball, hockey) are taken care of in less than a minute. It's usually a case where an official is giving another additional information rather than officials debating.

[redwhiteblue]

Yes, that's been consistent with what I've seen over the years. The situation of fighting and the need for expulsions (whatever the sport), seem to be a major issue that can drag official's timeouts out toward the five-minute-or-beyond mark.

Injuries, "media" timeouts in televised sports, and nuisance issues like weather/spectators/debris on the field-of-play are other factors that I can think of that would or should cause unnatural stoppages in play beyond a minute or so in any sport.