A question for all you Referees out there from a clock operator....

[Official_21]

At my playoff game last week (I was on the game clock), I brought my two-way GMRS radio, so the Referee could communicate with in the pressbox & vice-versa, should the need arise.

When I got to the stadium, I went and did my pre game chat with the referee and asked if it was okay for me to use my two-way radio. Referee gave me the go ahead.
Did have to use the radio twice, once to communicate play clock glitches & then to ask how long halftime was.

I know clock operators are officially part of the crew, but I always like to be polite and ask for permission before doing something.


What is your take as a referee?

[FWREF]

I bring an extra radio to every game for the clock operator. As long as it is chapter folks, this way i can communicate any issues or special instructions. This is a must for the few stadiums that don't have field mics for me to use.  It's a best practice for any stadium, as there are times that i want to communicate something without broadcasting over the stadium. Kudos for taking the initiative

[ElvisLives]

This will, no doubt, be more than you asked for.
I would just be over the moon to have clock operators that 1) knew what they were doing, and 2) WANTED to coordinate with the referee/crew before the game. Whether regular season or playoffs, I would guess that somewhere in the 98% range, clock operators range from annoyed to downright totally uncooperative regarding meeting with us. We almost universally get, “Oh, they are our regular people; they know what they’re doing.” And, “Oh, they don’t get off work until [shortly before game time]; but they’ll be here before game time. They do this all the time. They know what they’re doing.” I often ask the COs if they visit with other crews before the game, and dang near 100% of the time we get, “No. This is the first time that anyone wanted to talk to us.”
Regarding radios, that just kind of depends on who the folks are. If they are 100% not associated with the teams, no problem. But, that is exceptionally rare. They are usually a school Board member; the tennis coach; the local car dealership general manager; etc. All too often, we get, “Well, it’s hunting season, so our regular operator isn’t available. But the school counselor agreed to help, and we told her how to do it. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine.” And, all too often, when we ask to meet with BOTH clock operators, we get puzzled reactions, followed by, “Well, he does both.” So, I’m not too excited to give a local partisan person access to our conversations. And, I sure don’t want to carry a second radio. I much prefer to have a field mic, and communicate with announcements. If there is an operational issue with the clocks, we usually know about it, and work through the game administrator to either get the problem fixed, or, if absolutely necessary, abandon the field clocks, and manage timing on the field ourselves.
Why TASO crews are not meeting with COs before the game is a mystery, and a major source of irritation, to me. Never mind that it is a very important conversation to have. We, and they, are REQUIRED by UIL policy to have this meeting. If anyone needs to know where that is, in writing, the UIL Football Plan states that the UIL will follow the approved mechanics manuals adopted by TASO, and, in the manuals it states that the “…game and play clock operators WILL meet with the [R and B] [S and B] prior to the game…”. Note the operative word: “…will…” Not, “may,” or “should.” “WILL.” That’s a two-way street. They, and we, are required to meet. EVERY game. Not once in a while. EVERY game.
Part of that meeting is to review HOW we can communicate with the operators. With a field mic - easy. Without a field mic, that usually is by having a home sideline coach talk their pressbox coach, who then goes and tells the CO what is needed. Not the most efficient, but it gets the job done. Radios can work, if we can trust that the COs are not using the radios for nefarious purposes.
I will enjoy watching numerous friends and colleagues working on Thursday.
Best of luck, and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Robert Cameron
Lubbock, Texas

[Official_21]

This will, no doubt, be more than you asked for.
I would just be over the moon to have clock operators that 1) knew what they were doing, and 2) WANTED to coordinate with the referee/crew before the game. Whether regular season or playoffs, I would guess that somewhere in the 98% range, clock operators range from annoyed to downright totally uncooperative regarding meeting with us. We almost universally get, “Oh, they are our regular people; they know what they’re doing.” And, “Oh, they don’t get off work until [shortly before game time]; but they’ll be here before game time. They do this all the time. They know what they’re doing.” I often ask the COs if they visit with other crews before the game, and dang near 100% of the time we get, “No. This is the first time that anyone wanted to talk to us.”

That's not the case with me. I always make it a habit to go talk to the R or B (or S if I am running the GC), so I know what they expect out of me.
Not to toot my own horn, but I must be one of the few that does know what I am doing on the clocks & if I make a mistake, I am not afraid to own up to it, so I can learn from the mistake.

Regarding radios, that just kind of depends on who the folks are. If they are 100% not associated with the teams, no problem. But, that is exceptionally rare. They are usually a school Board member; the tennis coach; the local car dealership general manager; etc. All too often, we get, “Well, it’s hunting season, so our regular operator isn’t available. But the school counselor agreed to help, and we told her how to do it. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine.” And, all too often, when we ask to meet with BOTH clock operators, we get puzzled reactions, followed by, “Well, he does both.” So, I’m not too excited to give a local partisan person access to our conversations. And, I sure don’t want to carry a second radio. I much prefer to have a field mic, and communicate with announcements. If there is an operational issue with the clocks, we usually know about it, and work through the game administrator to either get the problem fixed, or, if absolutely necessary, abandon the field clocks, and manage timing on the field ourselves.
Why TASO crews are not meeting with COs before the game is a mystery, and a major source of irritation, to me. Never mind that it is a very important conversation to have. We, and they, are REQUIRED by UIL policy to have this meeting. If anyone needs to know where that is, in writing, the UIL Football Plan states that the UIL will follow the approved mechanics manuals adopted by TASO, and, in the manuals it states that the “…game and play clock operators WILL meet with the [R and B] [S and B] prior to the game…”. Note the operative word: “…will…” Not, “may,” or “should.” “WILL.” That’s a two-way street. They, and we, are required to meet. EVERY game. Not once in a while. EVERY game.
Part of that meeting is to review HOW we can communicate with the operators. With a field mic - easy. Without a field mic, that usually is by having a home sideline coach talk their pressbox coach, who then goes and tells the CO what is needed. Not the most efficient, but it gets the job done. Radios can work, if we can trust that the COs are not using the radios for nefarious purposes.

I will have to ask the Referee on Friday about using my radio, since the crew that is officiating the playoff game I will be working is an out of chapter crew, Houston Chapter supplied auxiliary officials .

And on that note, hope you and yours have a Happy Thanksgiving as well.

[dammitbobby]

Official_21 I'd love to have you as a GC/PC operator! Like Elvis, every time I whitehat it's a bit hit or miss... I've asked before, and been promised they're on their way down to see us, and then... crickets. I typically only WH sixman games so it's typically much as Elvis described, they're either homers or just offended (I guess) that I ask to meet with them.

[Official_21]

Official_21 I'd love to have you as a GC/PC operator! Like Elvis, every time I whitehat it's a bit hit or miss... I've asked before, and been promised they're on their way down to see us, and then... crickets. I typically only WH sixman games so it's typically much as Elvis described, they're either homers or just offended (I guess) that I ask to meet with them.

Thank you for the compliments 

It's hard to believe I have been a clock operator for eight years now and when I started, I kept making little errors here and there, but I learned from my mistakes and  got better at the job.
I always strive to do a good job, not just for the R and the crew, but for the HS football athletes as well.

I get a sense of satisfaction when I go into the officials locker room at the end of the game and the R and/or the crew tell me I have done a good job and if they have some feedback on some mistakes that I made during the game, I am more than open to receiving them so once again, I can learn from my mistakes.

[zebrastripes]

I don't run clocks at the HS level very often anymore, but I do run the clock (sometimes GC, sometimes PC) for an FBS school.

When I did the clock for HS I always had a radio on me. Almost none of the schools had referee microphones for the PA system, so it was honestly a must to avoid having to shout corrections up to the press box through the bleachers or ask a coach to communicate it through their headset, and then having the coordinator in the press box tell the ECO what to do.

Of course, our cheap radios were not always reliable, but usually they got the job done. It helped that I didn't have to be babysat for every little thing. I knew to reset the clock without prompting from the Referee if I accidentally let a second come off on a dead ball foul with the clock dead. I know the play clock rules extremely well and when to be looking for a pump from the R. I knew my dead ball times in case we needed to go back to them.

I always meet with the crew before every game. Whether right or wrong, crews have their own preferences on things such as: letting the clock expire on a late field goal if there's only a certain amount of time left, how long to wait before starting the :40 play clock after a free kick or a touchdown, etc. At the end of the day, when there are screwups on the clock it's not the operator who gets in trouble - it's the on-field crew. So I find that not "going rogue" makes everyone's job easier.

There are things HS clock operators can do that will make them more competent than 99% of other clock operators:

• Meet with the crew before every single game.
• Turn the freaking tenths of a second and the horn off before the game. Contrary to popular belief you can do this on literally every type of clock, and Google is pretty reliable if you don't know how to for the specific brand.
• Have the halftime clock ready immediately when the second period ends. Ask your R before the game if you should start it immediately or wait for a wind signal (will often depend on how far teams have to go to their locker room).
• If the play clock is running and you get "pumped" to :25, do not wait for a ready-for-play signal from the R. Start the new :25 immediately.
• If the game clock is stopped until the snap and there's a dead ball foul and you accidentally let a second or two come off, reset the game clock immediately without needing an announcement from the Referee.
• Do not leave :01 on the game clock unless the covering official is giving lazy/slow signals and you are 5000% positive that the clock should have stopped before time expired. Leave it to the crew (or replay, if you happen to have that in your game) to decide if they want to allow/make the offense have another play. It is far more credible for the crew to add time back than to take time away in a critical timing situation.

Any others?

[bama_stripes]

Reading these responses makes me glad that our state mandates that COs be registered officials and are assigned as part of the crew.  They are O2O-equipped, and I tell mine to speak up if we are about to fudge something up.