THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603090550
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Tobacco Road and the information superhighway merged at this year's ACC tournament, and may have caused an electronic crash that took tournament officials the better part of a day to sort through.
Greensboro Coliseum managing director Matt Brown blamed on-line computer services for problems with an arena shot clock that delayed Thursday night's play-in game and persisted into Friday's first game. The clock was finally fixed for Friday evening's games.
Brown said a connection to the scoreboard computer that was shared by the Greensboro News and Record newspaper and ESPN was responsible for the clock malfunctions.
``It overloaded our system,'' Brown said.
The News and Record's World Wide Web site - ACC Tournament: Wired - allowed users to tap directly into the scoreboard computer. As baskets were scored, the results appeared instantly on user's computer screens. The News and Record is owned by Landmark Communications Inc., which is also the parent company of The Virginian-Pilot.
ESPN's connection allowed it to display the shot clock electronically in the corner of viewers' television screens, Brown said.
Pete Fields, electronic services coordinator for The News and Record, said it couldn't immediately be determined whether the Internet connection was the source of the clock problems.
``Based on inconsistent, conflicting information from a variety of sources, including coliseum and conference representatives, we are not certain to what source the scoreboard problems should be attributed,'' Fields said. ``We, of course, regret greatly any inconvenience that might be attributed to our participation with ESPN in moving the tournament onto the Internet.''
Fred Barakat, associate commissioner of the ACC, wasn't sure the computer link was the problem, saying that the connection was pulled Thursday night, and the clock problems persisted Friday.
``My newest theory is that something (a wire) is being pinched,'' Barakat said.
Barakat didn't rule out the Internet connection as the source of the problem, however. ``We might have destroyed some chips,'' he said.
Brown said that to get the clock working, coliseum officials replaced computer chips in a shot clock controller and rewired the connection to the scoreboard computer during a break between afternoon and evening games Friday. He said he was certain the Internet connection had caused the problem.
Shot clock glitches caused two delays totaling 24 minutes Thursday night, and subjected conference and coliseum officials to some ridicule from, ironically, ESPN commentator Dick Vitale. The excitable Vitale waved his watch during a telecast, offering it to coliseum officials.
Brown said the first delay Thursday was caused by a ballboy kicking the cover off an electrical outlet. That problem was fixed.
After a second delay, most of the second half of Thursday's game between N.C. State and Florida State was played without the shot clocks, situated at the top of the backboards. Time was kept at courtside, and the public address announcer notified teams when the shot clock ticked down to 10 seconds.
The same system was used in the first half of Friday's opening game between Duke and Maryland. For the second half, portable sideline shot clocks borrowed from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro were used.
Players and coaches said they didn't mind the lack of a shot clock.
"The thing is, it's the same for everybody," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "So you don't worry about it." ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maintenance workers at the Greensboro Coliseum are working - not
playing - above the rim trying to fix the balky shot clock.
A LIKELY CAUSE
The problem: Greensboro Coliseum managing director Matt Brown
suspects that on-line computer services caused the problems with an
arena shot clock that delayed Thursday night's play-in game and
persisted into Friday's first game. The clock was finally fixed for
Friday evening's games.
How it worked: The Greensboro News and Record's World Wide Web
site allowed users to tap directly into the scoreboard computer. As
baskets were scored, the results appeared instantly on user's
computer screens. ESPN's connection allowed it to display the shot
clock electronically in the corner of viewers' television screens,
Brown said.
The result: ``It overloaded our system,'' Brown said.
by CNB