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40 second clock question.

I like it.

I had the fortunate circumstance of having the play clock run very well. I know one game where the play clock operator just could not figure it out and caused several delays, resets and general problems.

The teams had no problems except on two situations.

The first was on long incomplete passes. In the past the players could saunter on back and most referees (including me, apparently) let them get back before starting the old 25 second clock, they weren't rushed. Now there is no waiting and the 40 starts a couple seconds after the ball hits the ground, so there was no time to ease on back to the line of scrimmage. That nearly cost a team.

The other time was when a team was just late figuring out if they wanted to punt, then had to get their punt team out there. Clearly this could have happened independent of the 40 second clock, but it was an issue.
 
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Our clock operator does not care for the rule. Not because of any affect on him, he just hates to see rules that try to make high school ball closer to the NCAA. He has an old fashion view of the way HS ball should be, and I can't say that I disagree with his views.

We didn't have a delay of game penalty called at our game, and I never saw it even come close. Dinwiddie and GW both play an up-tempo game anyway, so it was a non factor.

Poor clock operator was vilified by the "unknowing" audience all game, though. The scoreboard is wirelessly controlled and something was seriously interfering with it. They had to stop the game several times and correct the time. I think I know what the problem is, but I'm not sure what I can do to fix it. We had a high speed modem installed in the press box, and I'm afraid that is creating the interference.

I assume that the game you called had a 40/25 second clock in the end zones?

Are any of you officials controlling the on-field 40/25 second clock on the field with a wireless remote?

Thanks White Hat, I always appreciate your comments.
 
The reason for the clock change is not to make high school more like college. It's to create more consistent timing no matter who is working the game. Some referees have a fast ready for play (RFP) whistle while others had a slow one. Now, it's 40 seconds, no matter who the referee is. So instead of 25 seconds plus 5 seconds before the RFP or 25 plsay 18 seconds before the RFP, it's 40.
 
From what I've personally witnessed, it has improved the flow of the game. I don't recall a single delay of game penalty with the 40 second clock. I think I've seen one or two when working from the 25 second clock.

Incidentally, our clock seemed to work properly last week. (See my previous post above). We theorize that the interference that lead to the clock acting erratically came from the location of a media interest broadcasting wirelessly back to his producer. He was in the direct line of sight between the scoreboard and the press booth. This may or may not be what our problem was, but we will learn from it and position anyone covering the game in this manner at a different location in the future.
 
At the varsity level I've had two delays and both were when teams changed personnel (one for punt and once because they were in long yardage) and a player who was expected to be on the field didn't get the memo and was not out there, so the offense spent their time yelling to him to get out there.

I've had more at the JV level but those were entirely on coaches not getting plays in, or changing their minds and yelling new instructions from the sideline that require shifts and other changes.
 
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