Hurrying at the end of the half

[bg0296]

Hello everyone,
I am supposed to be a timekeeper for a local high school tournament next month. I'm really excited because it's my first time timekeeping and I am a former player in this tournament. I have one question, though. If a team is conferring on a bonus question with, say, 10 seconds left in a half, should I, as timekeeper, prompt the team to begin answering, alert the moderator to tell the team, or do nothing? My fear is that the match will be close and that this situation might decide a win or loss. Any advice? I figured being a timekeeper would be a great way to give back, especially since the tournament is held at the college I currently attend.

[Maury Island incident]

Assuming this is standard NAQT format, 10 seconds should be enough time for the team to answer and for you to start the last tossup-bonus cycle. The NAQT rules say a moderator should prompt at the end of a team's time to confer, but as far as I know, I don't think it's any kind of an issue if you are the one doing the prompting since you are in charge of timing.

[Stained Diviner]

For the entire match, you should try to make the time visible to both teams. A timekeeper should be seen only as much as necessary and not heard. Do not say anything.

[bg0296]

Thanks, guys. Unfortunately, the room is a large auditorium and the tournament is actually a single three-team playoff match (I know, that is technically a "competition" instead of a "tournament"), so the clock can't really be visible on stage. You have the three team tables and the game officials' table at the end of the stage. In that case, I may give a polite prompt, but if another official (e.g., judge) says otherwise, I think I'll follow their advice. Any other replies on the topic, particularly from experience, are still greatly appreciated, though.

[tabstop]

This is going to sound silly, but: do you have a copy of the actual rules for this event, either from your playing days or in your current status as timekeeper? If so, it would probably spell out what your duties are.

My instinct says that your duties as far as bonus prompting would be the same throughout the match, regardless of what's on the clock. What to do when the clock is running low would be a separate issue from that (whether it be giving a two-minute-warning type warning, or having the teams spend a timeout to get a clock check, or just expecting the teams to be keeping an eye on their watches).

[jonpin]

What I have done in the past for timed formats where the clock is not visible to the teams (although now that I think of it, it's been a few years since I read a fully-timed round in competition rather than just at practice) has been to clearly wave 2 fingers and 1 finger for 2-minute and 1-minute warnings. For 60-second rounds such as in NHBB, again if the timer is not visible to teams and there isn't a clock in the room with a second hand, I stick my arm out at 15 seconds left and count down the last 5 by hand. In all cases, I tell teams in advance what these warnings mean so they don't think I'm just flailing about.

However, a timekeeper should absolutely not ever say anything during a match unless there's a timeout or a score check. And a moderator should not even do the things I said above unless they are totally sure that doing so will not interfere with their reading or slow them down.

[bg0296]

A quick glance at the rules solved my problem. The moderator should allow the team to finish the bonus if time expires. For those who are curious, the tournament is modeled after the East Tennessee PBS Scholars' Bowl TV tournament, which means that it's closer to CBI, except this one does not recycle questions, to my knowledge (thank goodness!). There are 9.5 minute halves, three teams playing at once, and a maximum of 20 points per bonus.

I have plenty of recordings of the TV tournament, and I have "timed" those games at home. I should be good to go now. Thanks!