Half-time

Half-time

In some team sports such as football (soccer) and rugby, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time teams swap ends of the field of play, in order to reduce any advantage that may be gained from wind or a slope to the pitch, for example. While it exists mainly to provide competitiors to rest briefly and recover from the play of the first half, half-time also serves a number of other purposes.

One early use of half-time, and it is suggested the origin of the practice, was to allow for two football teams each used to a different set of rules to play half of the game by familiar rules, and half by the opposition rules. This was practised notably between followers of Eton rules football (closer to modern association football) and Rugby rules football (closer to modern rugby [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_union] ). This use of half-time was unnecessary after the standardisation of football rules in 1863 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_Football#History_and_development] .

Overview

One benefit of half-time in a field game is to allow teams to swap their positions on the field in order that the effects of the natural conditions such as sunlight and wind direction are experienced fairly by both teams. In some sports this is achieved without the need for half-time, for example in cricket, fielding positions of players are rotated after a set passage of play. In other sports no such provision is necessary, for example in baseball, where playing positions do not change though there is frequent rotation of players in the ordinary course of play.

Half-time for spectators offers the opportunity to visit the John, get some food or drink, or just exercise cramped limbs, without the fear of missing any of the action. A show may be put on for the spectators to keep their attention, most famously in the case of the American football Super Bowl. As many spectators at the ground may be otherwise occupied using stadium facilities it might be inferred that the scale and spectacle of half-time entertainment is more directly related to the size of the potential television audience.

In many sports that are televised, half-time offers the opportunity to advertise, a valuable source of revenue for television companies. In addition, it allows analysis of the game so far by pundits. Controversial incidents or exceptional play may be highlighted at this time. It also allows viewers to catch up with any action that they may have missed.

List of team sports

With half-time

With intervals other than half-time

* Ice Hockey
* Cricket
* Box lacrosse

No half-time or equivalent

(other than to allow movement of players in the natural course of play and/or TV commercials)
* Baseball (although there is a seventh-inning stretch)
* Softball


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Look at other dictionaries:

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  • half-time — n [U] a short period of rest between two parts of a game, such as football or ↑basketball at half time ▪ The score at half time was 34 7. ▪ Another penalty from Roberts gave Gloucester a half time lead. →↑full time …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • half-time — also halftime, half time, indicating half of the time, 1640s, from HALF (Cf. half) + TIME (Cf. time). Tempo sense is by 1880. In football, from 1867 …   Etymology dictionary

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  • half-time — (izg. hȃlf tȃjm) m DEFINICIJA 1. sport a. poluvrijeme, polovina igre b. odmor između poluvremena u igri 2. polovica vremena potrebnog za dovršenje nekog posla, neke zamisli ETIMOLOGIJA engl …   Hrvatski jezični portal

  • half-time — → tiempo, 1 …   Diccionario panhispánico de dudas

  • half-time — ► NOUN ▪ (in sport) a short interval between two halves of a match …   English terms dictionary

  • half time — noun : time marking the completion of half of a game or contest; also : the intermission between the second and third quarters of a game (as football and basketball) * * * half time UK US noun [uncountable] in football and some other team sports …   Useful english dictionary

  • half-time — I adjective involving half the standard or customary time for an activity (Freq. 1) he had two years of half time training • Similar to: ↑part time, ↑parttime II adverb for less than the standard number of hours …   Useful english dictionary

  • half-time — also half time N UNCOUNT Half time is the short period of time between the two parts of a sporting event such as a football, soccer, or basketball game, when the players have a short rest …   English dictionary

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