Well, I heard folks talkin’ ’bout this “administrative timeout” thing in that there NFL football game. I don’t know much about it, but I’ll tell ya what I think it is, best I can figure. Sounds like a whole lot of hullabaloo to me, but young folks like their sports, I reckon.
So, this here administrative timeout, it ain’t like them regular timeouts the teams get. You know, when the coach fella yells and waves his arms, and they all huddle up to talk. Nope, this one’s different. I heard it’s when somethin’ unexpected happens, somethin’ that ain’t supposed to happen, and they gotta stop the game to fix it. Like if a dog ran onto the field, maybe, or the lights go out. Though, why they can’t just shoo the dog away, I don’t know. They make everything so complicated these days. They need to stop the game clock.
Now, they got these rules, you see. Big ol’ book full of ’em. And in that book, it says somethin’ ’bout this administrative timeout. It means that neither team gets blamed for the stop. They don’t lose one of them precious timeouts they get. They only got three each half, those regular ones. The half-time is the middle of the game, I guess. Then, in that overtime, they get another two. It is all very complicated. Three in the overtime if it is a very important playoff game. So many rules.
And when they have one of these here administrative timeouts, they gotta get the game goin’ again pretty quick. Twenty-five seconds, I heard. That ain’t much time to catch your breath. But I guess them football players are used to runnin’ around. They are all young and strong.
Why do they need these timeouts anyway? Well, they use ’em to rest, I suppose. And to talk ’bout what they’re gonna do next. Like, “You go run over there, and I’ll throw the ball.” Somethin’ like that. They also use ’em to mess up the other team. Like if the other team is ’bout to kick the ball, they’ll call a timeout to make the kicker nervous. Makes sense, I guess. If you are nervous you might mess up. This is smart, I think.
- NFL, that’s the big football thing, right?
- Administrative timeout, that’s when somethin’ weird happens.
- They gotta stop the game, but nobody gets in trouble.
- Teams get three timeouts each half, two in overtime usually.
- They use timeouts to rest and plan, or to mess up the other team.
I remember back when we was kids, we didn’t have all these fancy rules. We just played. Didn’t need no timeouts or nothin’. Just ran around ’til we was tired, then went home for supper. Simpler times, I reckon. But these young folks, they like all these rules and whatnot. And that is okay. They seem to enjoy it. These players are paid a lot of money, so they must like it too. It is all entertainment.
This whole administrative timeout thing, it’s probably important to them football folks. Helps keep things fair, I suppose. Makes sure nobody gets cheated ’cause of some silly mistake or somethin’ goin’ wrong. They got rules for everything these days, don’t they? It’s a lot to keep track of. They even have rules about a fumble. I think that is when someone drops the ball. I don’t know.
I seen one of them games on the television the other day. Big fella was runnin’ with the ball, and then he just stopped. Everyone was yellin’, “Administrative timeout!” Must’ve been somethin’ wrong, I guess. Maybe he saw a mouse, I don’t know. But they all stopped and waited. Then they started playin’ again. It was all very strange. Then they all went home, I guess. Maybe they had some supper. I hope it was good.
They got different people to do different things in that game, too. Them referees, they wear them striped shirts. They’re the ones who call these timeouts, I think. They have to know all them rules. It must be hard. And then there’s the coaches, and the players, and the folks sellin’ popcorn. It’s a whole big show, ain’t it? And everyone’s got their part to play. This administrative timeout is just one little piece of it all. This is a lot of words. I hope you understand.
Well, I reckon that’s all I know ’bout this administrative timeout business. It’s a bit confusin’, but I tried my best to explain it. Like I said, it’s all a bit much for me. I prefer a good ol’ fashioned game of checkers, myself. But to each their own, as they say. If them young folks enjoy it, then that’s all that matters. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go have me a cup of tea. You take care, now. And be good. That is the most important rule of all.
