Length of Game rewrite

[LaxRef]

Bold areas are additions:

RULE 3 SECTION 1 LENGTH OF GAME

ART. 2 . . . After the first half, any time the score differential reaches 10 goals or more, the clock will only be stopped for a team time-out; official's time-out or an injury time-out. Should the score differential be reduced to less than (delete -> 10 <- delete) 8 goals, then normal play will resume. All penalties that occur during a score differential situation will be running time and will start when the whistle blows to restart play.

The point of changing the 10 to 8 is so you don't get into that annoying "It's stop time--now it's running time--now it's stop time--now it's running time--. . . " thing you get when the lead goes 9-10-9-10-....

[3rdPersonPlural]

That's a great strategy. On another thread it was mentioned that running time could be waived if the coaches agree to waive it. Something about Quixotic coaches who feel that overcoming a 10 point differential is only a matter of time.....

[ploaref]

Just would like to put in two cents about this. Although i know this view is probably not in the mainstream...i think that since there is already personnel at the table to handle it, why can't the penalty time be kept as stop-time in a mercy-rule scenario?

A 30-second penalty will go by with NO effect with a single out-of-bounds call. An arguement can be made that the team that is UP will figure it can foul indiscriminantly (in certain "grudge" or bad-blood situations) because the penalty time will just fly by...doubling the penalty time (as is done in some tournaments) seems a kinda silly alternative...

I think running the clock for penalties is just a bad idea in general...

[old geezer]

In leagues where we have running time, we just make a 30 sec. penalty 45 sec. and a 1 min. penalty 1:30. It doesn't make a lot of difference but it does help take into account time lost to an out of bounds. I really don't know how you would put it into the rules book, but that is what we do.