Are you kidding me?

[falcon.7]

Watching the US-Guatemala match. At the start of the 2nd half, before Archundia blew his whistle, he looked over to the near sideline, and standing there was some random guy with a headset on. The guy stood there for about 2 seconds, then did the high school "clock is running" motion. Benito turns around and fires it off. Are you kidding me?

Now, I know this probably happens in most, if not all televised matches, but as a referee it gets to me when we have to wait for some guy in a control room to tell us when we can start the game. Can you imagine that at a World Cup match? "Uh, hang on guys we can't start. The cameraman's got his wife on the phone, and...well...you know."

I think this is the same way with other sports, at least in the US. It always seems the buzzer on a 30 second timeout in basketball sounds just after they come back from commerical, and the referee in the NFL is always ready to announce the decision from the replay 5-6 seconds after the last ad.

Am I the only one a bit upset by this?

[mw26]

yes

1) american tv networks don't like football, cuz they get no real ads, so to televise it, they damn well intend to get their halftime ads. So Benito will just have to wait until the cameras are rolling again before they start.

2) has it occurred to you that tv folk are actually fairly clever??? 30-second timeout called....go to a 30-second ad. should get back just around the time of the buzzer. they have ad packages for every situation, so of course they'll come back in just the right amount of time. a bit dodgy for the football replays, but they don't always come back right on time for the ref to announce. once its clear he's made it, the tv guys cut back immediately after the current ad. not a hugely complicated process

3) $$$. its all about money. if the players, agents, referees, admins, leagues, want it, they need tv to give it to them. the whole point is to cater to entertainment. so no, i have no problem with it

[IASocFan]

...Am I the only one a bit upset by this?

Not me. I remember so many years with no soccer being televised. They still don't interrupt the game, which has happened to the college and olympic games.

[MassachusettsRef]

Can you imagine that at a World Cup match? Yes, because it's the same system in the World Cup.

[MasterShake29]

Welcome to any televised sport.

I went to a women's college basketball tournament game this month, and sat behind a guy who seemed as if his only job was to signal to the refs when TV time outs should happen and when they can resume play.

[nsa]

At every MLS match there is someone wearing a red hat and head set at midfield (frequently a couple steps onto the field :eek: ). The referee waits for Red Hat to signal that TV is ready to go. Like IASocFan said, it doesn't even register.

[Alberto]

You want to watch the match for free on TV? I hope you said yes. When televised, the match must start at a precise time dictated by the network telecasting the match. I see nothing wrong with it. It's a win, win for the sport and the network.

[billf]

Am I the only one a bit upset by this?

Yes.

[Ref Flunkie]

Yes.

Ditto.

[intechpc]

I'm with Alberto on this. As long as it doesn't change the game any (i.e. TV Timeouts in the middle of a half, etc) I have no problem with it since it allows me to see the match on TV. It could be so much worse. The NFL for instance has a guy wearing huge orange gloves that signals to the Referee when it is time to take a timeout for TV and when the network has come back. Now our sport does not have the same types of stoppages in play the way NFL football does, so hopefully it will never come to that. Now if they want to stop the game for commercials at throw-ins, corner kicks, goal kicks, kickoffs, etc. that I would have a big problem with. However the more popularity this sport gains in the US the better the chance of this type of thing happening.

[Rufusabc]

Since this is the business I'm in, let me give you a little story. The sports leagues have gotten way better at writing into the contracts what the lengths of the breaks can be, how long half time is, how many minutes of commercial time there is in a game, etc. In the NCAA Tournament for basketball, you will see commercial breaks every four minutes of clock time. That's why coaches like to see if they can hold out until the next TV timeout. But it wasnt always like that. I had a good friend who was the guy who sat in the dugout and signaled the umpire when to begin play. The Yankees were playing the Orioles at Yankee Stadium and Mike Flanagan was pitching for the Orioles. The players would adjust their routines to the commercial breaks, so he would know when to start warming up between innings.

Anyway, it was an ABC game, and the breaks were very long between innings, and he finished his warm-up tosses and he is standing on the mound staring in at my buddy, who has not signaled to the umpire to begin play (my guy is in the Oriole dugout). One minute goes by, then two minutes, then 3 minutes AFTER the commercials are done, he gives the signal. By then Flanagan is so pissed off that he gets absolutely annihalated that inning, and gets yanked from the game and comes into the dugout to let my friend have it!


Can you imagine a free kick waiting for a commercial break to be done?

Rog

[Labdarugo]

At every MLS match there is someone wearing a red hat and head set at midfield (frequently a couple steps onto the field :eek: ). The referee waits for Red Hat to signal that TV is ready to go. Like IASocFan said, it doesn't even register.

I remember as a little kid going to an Eagles game with my grandfather. He asked me who I thought was the most important man on the field. I guessed the ref? Nope. Head coach? Nope. Quarterback? Nope. He pointed out a guy on the 35 yd line wearing a red hat. Hat off indicated a commercial break which we of course couldn't see. Sure enough, the ref always waited for him to put his hat back on before blowing his whistle. :)

And this was over 30 years ago. Anyone remember Franklin Field?

[mw26]

Anyone remember Franklin Field?

been there, done that

[tmaker]

Since this is the business I'm in, let me give you a little story.
{snip}
Can you imagine a free kick waiting for a commercial break to be done?


Since this is also the business I'm in, I can certainly tell you the free kicks did indeed wait for commercial breaks in the NASL. Early in the NASL years before networks realized there was no way to make money from soccer, referees were actually instructed to delay corner kicks and goal kicks exactly 1 minute for commercial breaks.

Thank you, CBS.

Believe me, I'll wait the extra minute for the guy in the headset everytime, if I can keep from going back to the bad old days of commercial interruptions in the midst of matches.

[USSF REF]

I just had my pizza delivered and I poured a nice English ale as I sit down to watch an MLS game.

What's this? The TV announcer said that a goal has already been scored and we're in the 2nd minute of the match... :mad:

ARRR!

Why didn't someone get the TV crew to start showing the game when it kicked off?!

Oh wait, thats what the red hat is there for, so I can enjoy my match - all 90 minutes of my match.

[DadOf6]

I just had my pizza delivered and I poured a nice English ale as I sit down to watch an MLS game.

What's this? The TV announcer said that a goal has already been scored and we're in the 2nd minute of the match... :mad:

ARRR!

Why didn't someone get the TV crew to start showing the game when it kicked off?!

Oh wait, thats what the red hat is there for, so I can enjoy my match - all 90 minutes of my match.

I saw a clipof a goal scored in a women's college game (Yale?). They scored directly from the opening kickoff. Four seconds into the game and it is 1-0.