Once again, thank you LO for your response. I'm sure the marking of the time outs gives some information to the league operator just like information for E8, 8S, 8WP, 8OB and BR to prevent handicap manipulation but they are not official components of the Equalizer Handicap System.
Where we differ in communication is that you seem to equate the "Equalizer Handicap System" with "Equalizer Handicapping and Scoring System" with "Equalizer Handicapping System formula". My franchise agreement prohibits me from disclosing trade secrets, so I can't speak to what is or is not in the formula, but I can certainly say that everything on the scoresheet is part of the system (since the scoresheet is part of the system, by definition everything on it is part of the system, so no trade secret exists).
Now, what would be most useful to a League Operator would be to charge a time out only when the shooter got information from the time out. If a player calls time out to go to the bathroom and nobody speaks to him during that time out, is it really a time out? But if you write the rule that way, you further muddy the waters by forcing the scorekeeper to decide (which is not a bad way to do it if your scorekeeper can decide when the player's really asking for advice and when they're asking "am I shooting the right shot?") if information was provided/received within the request itself. Rather, you write the rule in black and white (or as black and white as you can, then spend your time discussing whether "suggests" means spoken and heard, or just spoken, or if simple body language itself can be considered "suggesting" - I've seen coaches stand up, cross their arms, or take a sip from their drink when they are concerned about the shooter's shot choice) and figure a certain percentage of the time a time out was charged without any information exchange. It simplifies the scoring instructions and doesn't really give the LO less information, since a certain percentage of the time the scorekeeper would be wrong anyway.
In other words, we do agree on when a time out should be charged, when information is exchanged. I'm just explaining why there's always going to be some scorekeeper discretion in charging the time out, and why it's worded the way it is.
