THE NBA AND THE "FRACTIONAL-SECOND".
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:12 pm
about 20 years ago, the nba altered the way it kept time on the official clock.. it decided that the final second of a period of play would be kept by use of a "fractional-second" timer (measured in tenths [.01] of a second).. this was exciting for players and fans, as a game could be decided by the final shot that would tie a game at the end of the 4th quarter, break a tie, or place a team that was behind by no more than 3 points ahead of the leading team.. the score at the final shot could not be more than a difference of 3 points, or the score could otherwise be tied..
the truth is, the nba made a big mistake.. it added a second to the regulation 15-minute quarter.. according to the nba current official clock rule, each regulation quarter is 15 minutes and 1 second; a total of 60 minutes and 4 seconds.. if everyone knows this and agrees to it, that's fine.. i have to wonder if everyone (players, coaches, owners, nba mgmt.) does knows this and did they agree to it?
actually, when the official clock shows 00:01.0 and then decrements to 00.9, .8, .7, etc., the final tenths of a second are not being counted, they are additional tenths of a second that were added, which exceeds the regulation 15-minute quarter; the nba may not have realized that it was lengthening the game.. i have to say that among the millions watching the games on tv, and the thousands watching in stadii everywhere, there must have been others who saw the error and reported their observations to the nba.. why the nba chose to ignore such reports (if there were reports), is difficult to understand.. this fallacy in time-keeping may have been discussed in sports forums previously, but i am new to posting in sports forums, and i wouldn't know that..
when the official clock shows 00:01.0, and remains there for a full second, it then decrements to 00:00.0; the game is over.. the "1" shows for a full second, then changes to "0".. the tenths of a second which are shown by the official clock are factored in as part of this final second.. the official clock does show this when the clock counts from 2-seconds to 1-second.. the clock shows 00:02.0, 01.9, 01.8, 01.7, etc.. when the clock arrives at 00.0, time has expired.. when 01.9 has decremented to 01.0, 00.0 follows immediately and ends the game.. there should be no reduction in the official clock from 01.0 to 00.9, .8, .7, etc.. to 00.0.. this measure of time doesn't exist, at least, not in time as we experience it under ordinary conditions..
formerly, when the official clock showed 00:01, and remained there for a full second, it then decremented to zero; the game was over.. the "1" shows for a full second, then changes to "0".. the tenths of are factored in as part of this final second.. currently, the official clock does show this when the clock counts from 2-seconds to 1-second.. the clock shows 00:02.0, 01.9, 01.8, 01.7, etc.. when 01.9 has decremented to 01.0, 00.0 follows immediately and ends the game.. there is no reduction in the official clock from 01.0 to 00.9, .8, .7, etc.. to 00.0.. it doesn't exist, at least, not in a 15-minute quarter.. i suppose the only way this could be fully understood is to place 2 clocks side-by-side and set them to count down from five to zero seconds and observe whether both clocks reach zero at the same instant, or if one has time remaining on it while the other shows zero.. this would be an idea to demonstrate what the clocks show and upload it to youtube, facebook or whatever..
there is another aspect to this situation and that is the "optical illusion".. just as looking at a drawing that appears to "flip" when stared at for a long-enough period, the issue of the "fractional-second" could also be intepreted as an illusion of perspective in measuring time.. in other words, what tenths of a second does a full number "own"? the tenths above it, or the tenths below it? when 1-second decrements from 1.9 to 1.0, do the tenths of a second which are part of that point in time expire when one reaches zero, or do tenths of a second continue to mark-down from 0.9 to 0.0? imagine what the clock shows without a "fractional-second" timer.. the clock marks-down from :02 to :01, and a second later, the clock shows 00:00, and the game ends.. without the "fractional-second" timer (but measuring that piece of time in our heads), we would see the clock mark-down from :01 to :00, but the game wouldn't end until another second beyond 00:00 had passed..
the truth is, the nba made a big mistake.. it added a second to the regulation 15-minute quarter.. according to the nba current official clock rule, each regulation quarter is 15 minutes and 1 second; a total of 60 minutes and 4 seconds.. if everyone knows this and agrees to it, that's fine.. i have to wonder if everyone (players, coaches, owners, nba mgmt.) does knows this and did they agree to it?
actually, when the official clock shows 00:01.0 and then decrements to 00.9, .8, .7, etc., the final tenths of a second are not being counted, they are additional tenths of a second that were added, which exceeds the regulation 15-minute quarter; the nba may not have realized that it was lengthening the game.. i have to say that among the millions watching the games on tv, and the thousands watching in stadii everywhere, there must have been others who saw the error and reported their observations to the nba.. why the nba chose to ignore such reports (if there were reports), is difficult to understand.. this fallacy in time-keeping may have been discussed in sports forums previously, but i am new to posting in sports forums, and i wouldn't know that..
when the official clock shows 00:01.0, and remains there for a full second, it then decrements to 00:00.0; the game is over.. the "1" shows for a full second, then changes to "0".. the tenths of a second which are shown by the official clock are factored in as part of this final second.. the official clock does show this when the clock counts from 2-seconds to 1-second.. the clock shows 00:02.0, 01.9, 01.8, 01.7, etc.. when the clock arrives at 00.0, time has expired.. when 01.9 has decremented to 01.0, 00.0 follows immediately and ends the game.. there should be no reduction in the official clock from 01.0 to 00.9, .8, .7, etc.. to 00.0.. this measure of time doesn't exist, at least, not in time as we experience it under ordinary conditions..
formerly, when the official clock showed 00:01, and remained there for a full second, it then decremented to zero; the game was over.. the "1" shows for a full second, then changes to "0".. the tenths of are factored in as part of this final second.. currently, the official clock does show this when the clock counts from 2-seconds to 1-second.. the clock shows 00:02.0, 01.9, 01.8, 01.7, etc.. when 01.9 has decremented to 01.0, 00.0 follows immediately and ends the game.. there is no reduction in the official clock from 01.0 to 00.9, .8, .7, etc.. to 00.0.. it doesn't exist, at least, not in a 15-minute quarter.. i suppose the only way this could be fully understood is to place 2 clocks side-by-side and set them to count down from five to zero seconds and observe whether both clocks reach zero at the same instant, or if one has time remaining on it while the other shows zero.. this would be an idea to demonstrate what the clocks show and upload it to youtube, facebook or whatever..
there is another aspect to this situation and that is the "optical illusion".. just as looking at a drawing that appears to "flip" when stared at for a long-enough period, the issue of the "fractional-second" could also be intepreted as an illusion of perspective in measuring time.. in other words, what tenths of a second does a full number "own"? the tenths above it, or the tenths below it? when 1-second decrements from 1.9 to 1.0, do the tenths of a second which are part of that point in time expire when one reaches zero, or do tenths of a second continue to mark-down from 0.9 to 0.0? imagine what the clock shows without a "fractional-second" timer.. the clock marks-down from :02 to :01, and a second later, the clock shows 00:00, and the game ends.. without the "fractional-second" timer (but measuring that piece of time in our heads), we would see the clock mark-down from :01 to :00, but the game wouldn't end until another second beyond 00:00 had passed..
