I have nothing against displaying the time. I have no desire for the time to be a secret. I just want it to count up. Does the standard high school school board have that capability? I also believe time after goals and penalties are natural stoppages that usually are not added unless they take an unusually inordinate amount of time. And I KNOW it’s not going to happen - but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop complaining about it. (Now I sound like a coach!)
First, I wish this board had a "multiquote" option. But I think @Ickshter brings up the two points I'd like to address... . Nope, that would be the announcer. But if the CR can "correct" the time, wouldn't that mean HIS (or her) time is "official"? Here's the problem... most people in my experience don't know how to read a clock when it displays tenths of a second. When they see the clock change from 11.0 to 10.9, they say "ten". When it goes from 10.0 to 9.9, they say "nine". The problem is when the clock goes from 2.0 to 1.9, they say "one". So you have 10 seconds at an accurate pace, then TWO seconds (ok, 1.9 or 1.8) from when they say "one" to the clock actually hitting 0.0. To be accurate, when the clock goes from x.0 to y.9, you should say the 'x'. Now, I agree if there's no horn, siren, buzzer, SOMETHING to indicate 0.0 based on the actual scoreboard, I can understand wanting the countdown, but it does add it's own problems. I also run a countdown to the start of the game (OK to player introductions, Anthem, etc). Is that unusual? Would you be able to tell when that countdown hits 0.0 whether the horn/buzzer works? FWIW, I ran scoreboard for five games this weekend. One CR kept giving the "start clock" signal (like in pointy ball) when he blew the whistle before the ball was put in play. I waited for the ball to be kicked/thrown.
I've mentioned this before, but I worked at a field where there was a ~2 second delay between the clock hitting 0:00 and the weak, wheezing horn sounding. In a (fortunately) non-conference VG game the visiting team scored a goal between the time the clock hit zero and the horn sounded. The home coach wasn't very happy about it but it was his field and he should have known. I checked with our state rules interpreter after the fact and he agreed with my decision to allow the goal to stand. I worked several more games there (and asked about the horn each time) before they finally fixed it.
Just my opinion, but I think the rule could be written something like... "If a ball is in motion when the horn sounds, the game is not over until one of the following happens: * Any player (other than a GK) touches the ball. * The ball stops moving. * There is no chance of the ball entering the goal of it's own momentum" In basketball, if someone takes a shot before the horn, a defender touches it (either on it's way up or down) and the ball goes in the basket, doesn't the shot count? NOTE: I'm not saying this rule is "needed", but I wouldn't be against it.
I've worked the controller at our MS field, our HS pointyball field, and our HS soccer field. There is no obvious (to the operator at least) way to make the time count up. If there is a way to do it, it must be in some menu setting somewhere that I haven't found yet.
I don't think there is a count up with horn capability on any high school level clock. It wasn't that many years ago that one local high school had a clock where the left hand digit was one, i.e. the display was a single column of red lights. The display in that column went blank when the remaining time was less than 10 minutes. For soccer, that meant that the clock operator had to start it at 19:59 and then reset it quickly in the middle of the 40 minute half. Tonight, I'm doing two games at a high school where the clock, when it is below one minute, switches to hundredths of a second. Very loud horn, too. Varsity boys last night, goal scored with 5.1 seconds left in the game. Final 6-0.
Personally I'm happy with the way it is. I've seen shots in the air when the horn sounded enter the goal on two occasions. The first was a VG game in our pre-mercy rule era where the score was 21-0 and the 22nd goal didn't count. The second was a state powerhouse boys team against the local upstart where the score was a surprising 1-0 leading up to the half and the powerhouse's second goal didn't count. I think the final score was 7-0 but the minnows had a half+ of a game where they had hope. With the scoreboard clock and horn being official, I think it would introduce too much potential controversy if we carried the play on for some period of time after the horn - particularly when there's a crowd in front of the goal.
A few of our local HS clock operators have been hit & miss on leading team subs in the last 5'. We signal but alas, have done a few clock adjustments. HSGV, their home opener. I dutifully stop the clock before a throw-in for leading team subs with 4' to go... A sudden hush came over the entire crowd... I start looking around to see what the heck I'm missing... then I hear, "He called time out... Who's he carding?!?"
I may be the only one, but I like it. Clock hits 00:00, horn sounds: half over. Game over. No fuss, no muss. Throw in the countdown and you're in business.
Yep, when it works. Only time I ever got chased off a field was once when it didn't work, and we had to switch to keeping time on the field, and we had a similar "who's blowing full time" snafu as the one described upthread, and the down team came back and scored the winning goal about 45 seconds after I thought my partner should have blown.
The amount of clock stopped time in HS is sometimes staggering. We had a big blowout today where it was 7-0 at the half (finished 9-0). But, the first half took almost 46 minutes to play. Second half, running clock took 40 minutes.
I had a half go 49:30 last week. And there weren’t even serious injuries. Lots of goals and a few cards, plus probably a full minute fiddling with the clock to CORRECT the time.
I'm very glad I live and ref in a state where even with NFHS rules, refs get to keep time on the field. A lot of our HS teams play at off-campus parks without scoreboards. Even if they play somewhere with a scoreboard (and the scoreboard is on), the person running the clock will stop it with 2:00 left in each half. It solves the problem of worrying about all of this. Any player or coach who plays club or knows anything about soccer accepts it.
Just had that issue tonight... Dual, so our eyes were on the action at the end opposite of the scoreboard. The buzzer on the stadium clock might have made a very light hum. Two-three seconds after I figured 1st half was over and my watch was alarming, I hear one of those canned air horns go off from the pressbox, so I blew for half. Timekeeper comes down at halftime and says clock buzzer's on the fritz again. I asked him to make sure and do the 10 second countdown at the end of the game, but visitors blew things open in the 2nd so it didn't really matter.
I used to ref pointyball. There's no need for a horn there, and in fact, most refs hate it because it can confuse players on the last play of a quarter.
I hate the horn in football. I REALLY hate the 10 second countdown. Are they babies? If you're down a goal and don't know there's only ten seconds left, then you're nhot paying attention. Really really really hate the countdown, so stupid, especially with coaches yelling the time every 5 seconds when it's running out.
There is nothing in our state modifications to the NFHS rules that eliminates the requirement for the 10 second countdown, but for some reason it just isn't done - at least in my part of the state. Of the ~500 varsity games I've worked I've heard a countdown fewer than 5 times. Probably more like 2. Fine by me.
Is the countdown for the players or the officials? As others have mentioned here, what if the action is on the other end of the field from the scoreboard and you have a weak (or non-existent) horn?
That's a good point, but no idea. I always have a watch either way, though, I've only had it counted down a few times, but it's really really bothersome. No reason, just hate it
Yup, I am aware of that, I was stating if the scoreboard clock was official who was counting it off. Also yes, it is for the officials, not players. I think I had a post in best of last year or the year before. HSBV match where a CK was blasted in about 1 second after the countdown ended and the whistle was being blown. Luckily it was at halftime and not end of game so it wasn't THAT crucial. Even if a school has a horn I always blow my whistle. I always think my whistle is the official stoppage. I also always as the person at the scorers table who is going to count it off and to make sure I am "the nearest" official that can hear it. Luckily because of that I have never been chased off a pitch.
But, as mentioned previously, if the person counting down says "one" when the clock hits 1.9, there's actually two seconds between the "one" and 0.0. The announcer at Tuesday's game did the 10 second countdown (and we run three refs). Sure enough, he did it "wrong" ("ten" at 10.9, "nine" at 9.9, etc).