Frazz by Jef Mallett for February 01, 2015

Sounds like you and Frank Kermode need to have a long talk about kairos and chronos. Or a short one.

If it was only when action is taking place, it was less than an hour. Being in the huddle with the clock running isn’t action.

I routinely record games and watch them later. With Fast Forward engaged at the whistle, it does take an hour to watch a game.

The play clock only runs for 40 seconds. Huddles tend to be brief when/if they’re used. Many, if not most teams go with a “no huddle” system.

I don’t know when Jeff last watched football, but the current philosophy among many (if not most) coaches is that you want as many plays as possible. I’m sure it’s like watching paint dry for the uninitiated, but the game is a lot faster than it was 10 – 20 year ago.

Having said all this, the clock, using the clock – using time as an element – this is the added dimension of the game of football. Using the clock wisely enables David to beat Goliath on occasion.

Also – having said all that – I prefer NCAA to NFL! ;)

if you’re talking actual action play time, a football game averages about 13 minutes. get a stop watch & try it.

Be gentle, Jef — there is no sport that is all-action 100% of the time. Not even fútbol.One the other hand, bashing college relativity classes is fine-and-dandy.

People keep saying baseball games take too long to play, but they are usually done in under three hours, including commercials. Football games are supposed to have much more action, take one hour on the game clock, and still last at least three hours. So, which is faster?

Back in ‘85, when the Bears went to the Super Bowl, a Chicago station procured the rights to re-run the two playoff games one night during the week before the Bowl itself. They cut out huddles, time-outs, and all the aimless milling around on the field. By showing only the time when players were actually playing they were able to show both games in one hour… with the standard 20 minutes of commercial breaks. That boils down to 20 minutes of actual playing time in a “60 minute” game that takes three hours of elapsed time.

It’s definitely relativistic, as is the ball-deflation phenomenon.

How come you never see this stuff on DOCTOR WHO?

Squizzums: Now that is weird. I have no idea who Frank Kermode is (too late to look it up), but remember kairos and chronos not just from seminary in the 1950s, but from the many times it has come up since.