# Garbage time
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{{Short description|Time near the end of a decided sports match}}
thumb|right|During the garbage time of an already settled American football game, the previously full stadium is now half-full and the substitutes are on the field.
In sports, '''garbage time''' is the period near the end of a timed [sports competition](/source/sports_competition) that has become a [blowout](/source/Blowout_(sports)) and the outcome has effectively been decided. Typically during garbage time, coaches of one or both teams replace their best players with substitutes.[Beech, Roland. [http://www.nbcsports.com/nba/279527/detail.html "Coaching by the numbers"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114023038/http://www.nbcsports.com/nba/279527/detail.html |date=2007-01-14 }}, [nbcsports.com](/source/NBC_Sports), October 31, 2006] This gives playing experience to the substitutes, who are usually less experienced or younger players, and protects the best players from the possibility of injury.[Jackson, John. "[https://www.junkremovalinmodesto.com/ Trash men: Rookies roll in garbage time], ''[Chicago Sun-Times](/source/Chicago_Sun-Times)'', December 25, 2006]
== Name ==
Garbage time owes its name to the fact that this period in a game is frequently marked by a significant drop in the quality of play. This occurs for two primary reasons. First, the players involved during that time are generally less experienced. Second, because seldom-used substitutes usually desire more future playing time, such players are often more concerned with making a favorable impression than with executing team play at its best; this is especially true during garbage time because at that point, the matter of which team will win is decided.["[http://www.82games.com/comm14.htm Garbage Time Player Stats]", 82games.com]
== Usage ==
During garbage time, the trailing team can sometimes rack up an unusually high tally of statistics, leading the eventual box score to be misleading about its actual game performance. For instance, in [American football](/source/American_football), if the losing team is behind by several [touchdown](/source/touchdown)s, the offense may resort entirely to the passing game in a futile effort to catch up. At the same time, the leading team (on defense, with second or third string players) may allow them to complete plays (which benefits them by [running out the clock](/source/running_out_the_clock)). This may lead the statistics to indicate a high amount of passing yards for the losing squad, which might suggest the team performed better than in reality. For example, former [Jacksonville Jaguars](/source/Jacksonville_Jaguars) quarterback [Blake Bortles](/source/Blake_Bortles) had significantly better passing statistics in garbage time than during other points in the game.[{{cite news |last1=Salfino |first1=Michael |title=Blake Bortles Is The Tom Brady Of Garbage Time |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/blake-bortles-is-the-tom-brady-of-nfl-garbage-time/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816204725/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/blake-bortles-is-the-tom-brady-of-nfl-garbage-time/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 16, 2017 |access-date=25 January 2026 |work=FiveThirtyEight |date=16 August 2017}}]
In some cases, both teams will use second or third string players in garbage time, and in college play, if first-string players are draft-eligible juniors or seniors, the second and third-string players will play to gain an advantage towards becoming first-string the next season. Sometimes the game experience gained by backup players during garbage time can be crucial to their development, since it is otherwise difficult for them to get playing time (especially certain positions such as the backup quarterback), although this experience comes with the caveats that garbage time is not a [high-pressure situation](/source/Clutch_(sports)) and that unusual strategies may be employed. Complementing this strategy, teams [sit their first-string players](/source/Resting_the_starters) during garbage time to give them more rest and avoid further injuries for future games. In baseball, teams losing by a blowout often use long reliever or even a [position player](/source/Relief_pitcher) as the pitcher; while the latter does save the bullpen for future games, {{Citation needed span|that position player is more prone to injury pitching.|date=May 2022}}
In general, although not always the case, it is not unusual in American football for the losing team to have more passing attempts/yards than the winning team, {{Citation needed span|unless the winning team is also using a reserve quarterback.|date=May 2022}} Often in the college game, a freshman quarterback will play during garbage time, after the upperclassman quarterback has put the game out of reach, gaining experience with second-string or third-string receivers and backs.{{cn|date=November 2024}}
Particularly at the youth level, garbage time is eliminated by the use of a [mercy rule](/source/mercy_rule), which automatically ends a game when the margin of victory has reached a point that is presumably insurmountable.{{cn|date=November 2024}}
=== Rules ===
In some sports, there are "unwritten rules" for garbage time; for example, the leading team should not continue to play its starting players, devote unnecessary effort toward increasing the size of its lead, or attempt particularly difficult and spectacular plays.[[King Kaufman](/source/King_Kaufman). "[http://www.salon.com/sports/col/kaufman/2006/12/19/tuesday/index1.html King Kaufman's Sports Daily]", [salon.com](/source/salon.com), December 19, 2006] This is interpreted as an unsportsmanlike attempt to embarrass or humiliate the trailing team, and in some cases may also be seen as retaliation, either against the opponent or the critics of the team in general (see ''[running up the score](/source/running_up_the_score)'' for a more detailed explanation of this type of behavior). However, sometimes a team may have legitimate motivation to run up the score, such as when margin of victory is a factor in rankings, as it was for many years in the [Bowl Championship Series](/source/Bowl_Championship_Series). Most (although not all) elite competitions now employ [tiebreakers](/source/tie-breaker) that deemphasize or even outright ignore the importance of statistics such as [goal difference](/source/goal_difference) for which there would be an obvious incentive to "run up the score."{{cn|date=November 2024}}
=== Sport-specific ===
The phrase ''garbage time'' is one of [a number of commonly used basketball terms](/source/Chick_Hearn), each of which is thought to have either been coined by broadcaster [Chick Hearn](/source/Chick_Hearn), or first given widespread exposure through Hearn's adoption of it for use during his broadcasts.[[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian). "[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/aug/08/guardianobituaries1 Obituary: Chick Hearn]", [Guardian US](/source/Guardian_US), August 7, 2002]
Technically, the term does not exist in fighting sports such as [boxing](/source/boxing) and [martial arts](/source/martial_arts) since in those, an opponent who is down by a large amount with seconds to go, can still win the contest by scoring a knockout.{{cn|date=November 2024}}
[[Image:2008-1101-USCWash-pan-001.JPG|750px|center|thumb|Garbage time in the fourth quarter of a decided game (the [USC Trojans](/source/USC_Trojans_football) lead the [Washington Huskies](/source/Washington_Huskies_football) 49–0); as a result of the home team's assured victory, the announced crowd of over 80,000 has dissipated.]]
== In politics ==
After 2023, the phrase ''garbage time'' has been given a new meaning on the [Chinese internet](/source/Internet_in_China).[{{Cite news |title=Chinese netizens wonder if their economy is in “garbage time” |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2024/11/07/chinese-netizens-wonder-if-their-economy-is-in-garbage-time |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-11-09 |work=[The Economist](/source/The_Economist) |issn=0013-0613}}] It refers to a period when social development goes against natural rules, individuals are powerless to change, and the entire era is bound to fail.[{{Cite web |date=2024-07-14 |title=中共三中全會前夕中國民眾看衰經濟！「歷史的垃圾時間」成流行語 |url=https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%B1%E4%B8%89%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%A8%E6%9C%83%E5%89%8D%E5%A4%95%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B%E6%B0%91%E7%9C%BE%E7%9C%8B%E8%A1%B0%E7%B6%93%E6%BF%9F-%E6%AD%B7%E5%8F%B2%E7%9A%84%E5%9E%83%E5%9C%BE%E6%99%82%E9%96%93-%E6%88%90%E6%B5%81%E8%A1%8C%E8%AA%9E-062218559.html |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=[Yahoo News](/source/Yahoo_News) |language=zh-Hant-TW}}] Garbage time, or the garbage time of history, first appeared on the Chinese language Internet in 2019, and caused widespread discussion among the Chinese public in mid-2023.[{{Cite news |last=Cash |first=Joe |date=July 17, 2024 |title='Garbage time': China’s slump spins out new meme of economic despair |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/china/garbage-time-chinas-slump-spins-out-new-meme-economic-despair-2024-07-17/ |access-date=November 9, 2024 |work=[Reuters](/source/Reuters)}}]
=== Usage ===
* Xu Jin, a columnist for the ''[Financial Times](/source/Financial_Times)''' FT Chinese website, once wrote, "In the garbage time of history, managing failure may be a problem that most people need to face."[{{Cite web |date=2024-07-12 |title="历史的垃圾时间"比"躺平"更危险 中国官媒发文反击 |url=https://www.chinapress.com.my/20240712/%e5%8e%86%e5%8f%b2%e7%9a%84%e5%9e%83%e5%9c%be%e6%97%b6%e9%97%b4%e6%af%94%e8%ba%ba%e5%b9%b3%e6%9b%b4%e5%8d%b1%e9%99%a9-%e4%b8%ad%e5%9b%bd%e5%ae%98%e5%aa%92%e5%8f%91/ |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=[China Press](/source/China_Press) |language=zh-CN}}]
* An article published on the ''[Sing Tao Daily](/source/Sing_Tao_Daily)'' pointed out that some Chinese financial experts have called on people "not to invest in garbage time," and some have used "garbage time" to advise people that "[lying flat](/source/Tang_ping) is the way out".[{{Cite web |last1=Luh |first1=David |last2=Benoit |first2=Bertrand |last3=Lovett |first3=Ian |date=July 15, 2024 |title=Rest of World Watches U.S. Turmoil With Growing Alarm |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/rest-of-world-watches-u-s-turmoil-with-growing-alarm-01759a42 |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 28, 2024 |website=[The Wall Street Journal](/source/The_Wall_Street_Journal)}}]
=== Opinions ===
The ''[Beijing Daily](/source/Beijing_Daily)'' criticized the "garbage time theory" as a pseudo-academic concept, arguing that hyping up this concept is a way of singing down China's development.[{{Cite web |date=2024-07-17 |title=中国网络观察: 官民争议"历史的垃圾时间" |url=https://www.voachinese.com/a/controversy-over-historical-garbage-time-going-on-in-china-20240716/7700729.html |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=[Voice of America](/source/Voice_of_America) |publisher= |language=zh}}][{{Cite web |date=2024-07-17 |title= |script-title=zh:三中全会企图重振经济 网民悲观热议“垃圾时间”惨遭审查 |trans-title=Third Plenum Attempts to Revitalize Economy; Netizens' Discussion of 'Garbage Time' Harshly Censored |url=https://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20240717-%E4%B8%89%E4%B8%AD%E5%85%A8%E4%BC%9A%E4%BC%81%E5%9B%BE%E9%87%8D%E6%8C%AF%E7%BB%8F%E6%B5%8E-%E7%BD%91%E6%B0%91%E6%82%B2%E8%A7%82%E7%83%AD%E8%AE%AE-%E5%9E%83%E5%9C%BE%E6%97%B6%E9%97%B4-%E6%83%A8%E9%81%AD%E5%AE%A1%E6%9F%A5 |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=[Radio France Internationale](/source/Radio_France_Internationale) |language=zh-Hans}}] An op-ed in [Guancha](/source/Guancha) accused users of the term of "attempting to create public expectations that the nation will inevitably fail."