More on Clock-Gate
Don't you hate how every controversy since Watergate gets "Gate" added to it?
Well, this won't do Clemson any good, but the ACC has acknowledged that a "timing error" was made at the end of the Duke-Clemson game.
Here's the statement from John Clougherty, the league's supervisor of officials.
“The league acknowledges that a timing error was made in not starting the game clock at the correct time, when the ball was stolen by Clemson’s Vernon Hamilton off the in-bounded pass from Duke’s Josh McRoberts.
“We came to this conclusion after completing a review of the game film as well as internal conversations with the crew of officials, both head coaches and conference office staff. At this point, as with most league officiating matters, this situation has been handled and resolved internally.”
--
There's not a whole lot of detail here, but it seems by acknowledging this error, that Clougherty is implying that the referees were at least partially at fault here (Yes, I'm aware that I originally absolved the refs of blame. Mea culpa).
Basically, then the refs should have gone back beyond just when Hamilton's shot went through the net (correctly ruled as 4.4 seconds) and realized that there was no way that just 0.6 seconds elapsed on the previous play - Hamilton's steal and shot.
Of course, you could also make the argument that Clemson coach Oliver Purnell should have called that to the attention of the refs.
I suspect though that Purnell, as well as the refs, had so many other things going on that he just didn't notice that lapse by the clock operator. I noticed that only 0.6 seconds elapsed but though to myself, "Wow, that all happened really fast." It wasn't until later, after reviewing the tape, that I concluded along with everyone else that the play took about 2.5 seconds or so.
That's about all there is left to say on the topic. Conclusion: 1) a mistake was made 2) Duke benefited 3) there was no conspiracy or home cooking.
Let's all feel free to move on with our lives now.
Comments (2)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
Interesting. The Clemson team and coach are still not saying much, but G. News' Bart Wright has taken up the torch, and even suggesting that this is the type of thing to expect in Cameron!
Give me a break! The guy who failed to press the button to start the clock on McR's inbounds pass would have been all too eager to get the clock going at that instant in time, if he were trying to aid the devils.(How could he have known where the ball was going fast enough to hold off on hitting the switch. What surprised us was how quickly the refs calculated how much time needed to be placed back on the clock, after it kept running with H's basket. ?Review
Wildcat.
Posted on January 29, 2007 5:34 PM
Agreed Wildcat. The conspiracy theory is more than a bit out there. A slightly different complaint I've been hearing is that Cameron is known for having clock issues. Now do those clock problems always seem to benefit the Blue Devils? That I can't say. Maybe Bart Wright can.
I will say this though. Another sportswriter with more time on his hands than I said that if you go back to the previous basket - Hamilton's layup - the clock operator apparently let too much time go off the clock. So perhaps it all evened out.
Posted on January 31, 2007 6:53 PM