Talk:Running out the clock

Stub notice
Re: the stub notice – The idea is to make this article more than just a dictionary article. The content of the article in its first draft is to get someone else – perhaps, a sports enthusiast with more knowledge – started in creating the article. Perhaps they would be able to state why teams run out the clock, how the practice got started, etc.

Yes, I agree the term "running out the clock" should go into the Wikipedia dictionary. But let's expand on this article, too. Briguy52748 21:33, 13 November 2005 (UTC)]]


 * How this isn't encyclopedic boggles the mind. But why not copy it to Wiktionary as well? Matt Yeager 01:56, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

Merge proposal
From reading the articles, it appears that timewasting is the unique term used in football for the same concept as running out the clock. Since neither article is particularly long, I would suggest that the two articles be merged with the subsections of that article simply moved over here, or vice versa... TheHYPO (talk) 20:44, 29 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I'd respectfully suggest that because the terms are different -- someone who knows of timewasting probably won't know about running down the clock and vice versa -- that a merger would be counterproductive. JKBrooks85 (talk) 07:33, 9 July 2008 (UTC)
 * This term (Timewasting) is used in more than just Sport, and so should be expanded to more than just sport related. (see Timesink) The concept is all the same, just the term used by the people involved is different. May I suggest an "umbrella Article" (possibly Wasting time) which then makes reference to each Article in their respective fields, if they are required. Exit2DOS2000   •T•C•  06:55, 28 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Oppose. "Timewasting" is pejorative; in British sports, a team is expected to keep trying till the end. In American sports by contrast, "Running out the clock" is encouraged and running up the score is discouraged. The two articles do need better crosslinking to each other and should avoid duplication. jnestorius(talk) 12:12, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Comment When I created the template American football concepts (which has since been renamed), I came accross a lot of articles that were very short (sometimes just a line long) and I thought at least some should be merged. But I am not an expert enough on them to figure out which ones to merge, so I didn't do it myself. Hellno2 (talk) 19:11, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Oppose all four merge suggestions, although some information should probably be cross-leveled between the articles. "Running out the clock" seems to be a distinctly American thing, and I assume "killing the clock" (never heard this in U.S. sports, but I may be wrong) is an Australian term -- if they also use the term "running out the clock", then killing the clock should be merged into this article. "Timewasting" sounds like a British term with its own unique (negative) connotations. "Stalling", at least in lacrosse, is not akin to "running out the clock", it is a unique penalty, whereas the latter is a legal tactic in American football, basketball, etc. That is the same reason I oppose merge with "delay of game" -- it is not the same as running out the clock, and although a team trying to run out the clock can receive a delay of game penalty, they usually try to avoid that very thing. If anything, quarterback kneel might be merged into this article, since it is usually an integral part of this strategy. Strikehold (talk) 11:27, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Proposed merge with Timewasting
These two articles discuss fundamentally the same concept, with the only difference being Timewasting discusses association football at length and other sports briefly, whilst Running out the clock does the opposite. This merge could be done the other way, but overall there should be one article on this, not two. LukeSurlt c 15:01, 13 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Suggest running out the clock be the merge-to article, as it's less pejorative than "Timewasting". --LukeSurlt c 15:32, 13 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Merge same topic, merge to the neutral target as suggested. Widefox ; talk 21:52, 26 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Given that opinion seems to have shifted over the last decade, ✅ Klbrain (talk) 04:15, 10 January 2020 (UTC)