Let me explain for our American readers. In Australian football they have a strange rule that timekeepers off the field sound a siren when the time runs out. But the official rule says that the game actually ends when the Umpire puts up his hands indicating that he has heard the siren.
Problem was- in yesterday’s game the time ran out. But the umpires just let them keep playing. About 10 seconds after the siren the Saints kicked a tying score.
I think the ruling body of Australian Football may be seen as an international joke.
American football is similar in that respect. There’s a clock on the field, but one of the officials keeps time and is the ultimate authority. There have been times when there’s been a discrepancy that figures in the outcome of the game, but naturally, I can’t think of a good example right now.
Sounds like a silly compromise to me. Either have an absolutely fixed duration, or have give the referee sole discretion, without a great big siren which contradicts him.
Probably not, since in the NFL, the stadium clock has been the official time since the AFL/NFL merger in the 60s. NCAA rules seem to allow either method – either the referee keeps time, or the stadium clock does. I assume that’s because there may be some small college venues where there is an old clock that’s unreliable.
In a nutshell, Barbados needed to win a soccer game by two goals to advance to the finals of a tournament. If they didn’t, their opponent, Grenada, would. However, the rules in place said that if a team won in overtime, it would be scored as a two-goal win.
Near the end of the game, Barbados was leading, but only by one goal. They kicked the ball into their own net to tie the score and try to force overtime. Having realized what was happening, Grenada spent the last few minutes trying to put the ball into either net, but Barbados successfully defended both goals.
Officials can make adjustments, though. I’ve seen them request seconds be returned to the clock many times. Certainly that could have made the difference in at least one game. Hard to google that, though.
The 1982 California-Stanford football game, ending on The Play. Cal executed 5 laterals, all both successful and legal, on a kickoff return as time ran out and the Stanford marching band took the field in celebration of their apparent win. Cal ran it in for the winning touchdown, knocking over a trombone player to do it.
There was a bowl game this last season like that too. Michigan and some other team. Maybe even Cal? There were something like six laterals, all the fans thought the game was over after the fifth lateral and rushed the field, and eventually the guy got tackled (by a player).
The first Patriots-Steelers game last year, where the Patriots ended up getting an extra minute because the referee didn’t notice the clock was reset after a penalty.
Just for the sheer scope of lopsidedness (well, it should be a word), I’d have to go with the 222-0 Georgia Tech drubbing of Cumberland Collge in 1916, when Georgia Tech was coached by John Heisman (yeah, that Heisman). Georgia Tech scored on every possession while Cumberland College never achieved a first down.
The 1972 Olympic basketball final, where the U.S.A. beat the Soviets only to see the referees put 3 seconds on the clock so the Soviets could get a last shot.
The “Pine Tar Game” between the Royals and Yankees in 1983. George Brett hits a 9th-inning homer to give the Royals the lead, only to be called out because the pine tar on his bat may or may not have exceeded the maximum length. After multiple appeals, the home run counts and the game is replayed following the homer a month later, ending in a Royals win.
The “Jeffrey Maier” game between the Yankees and Orioles in the 1996 AL playoffs, when 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier interfered with a fly ball that would have been an out but became a home run through his reaching over the wall to catch it.
I hope this doesn’t stray too far from the OP’s question - but IMHO, it’s quite bizarre and loosely stays within the confines of being a sporting (College Football) “result”.
It’s a minor distinction. The refs control when the time should start and stop, but the scoreboard controls the actual keeping of the time.
Occasionally the refs will have to actually keep the time due to technical difficulties, but in every case they will announce this to the crowd. It’s highly unusual.
There was a (Cowboys I think) game within the past few seasons where the home team was trailing late in the fourth. A receiver had caught the ball and run out of bounds with 1 second left on the clock. The timekeeper stopped the clock the moment the guy first set foot out of bounds, allowing one final play.
This was a major gaffe by a homer timekeeper. When a player steps out of bounds, the official blows the whistle. The timekeeper isn’t supposed to stop the clock until he hears the whistle. In this game, the clock stopped well before the whistle blew.
