Yet Jeffrey Loria, the owner of the Marlins, seemed unconcerned about starting Fernandez's free-agent clock so early.
That leaves Stern, in a dual role as commissioner and de facto New Orleans owner, obliged to keep his staff — now effectively the Hornets' staff — looking for a deal as Paul's free-agent clock ticks.
If you go to the breeze shows before the sales, you'll see dozens of trainers and bloodstock agents clocking not just the breeze, but also the "gallop out," how the horse runs for the eighth or quarter of a mile after the wire.
Earlier this year, Mr. Walentas suffered the indignity of losing the contract as managing agent of the Clock Tower Building -- where he lives.
The anthrax investigation began in October 2001 with hundreds of agents working around the clock and many expecting the letters to be linked to Al Qaeda.
The City Council approved the grace period last year amid complaints about overeager traffic agents who watch the clock too closely and drivers who don't watch it closely enough.
As it is right now, we just started to scratch the surface of all this, and we have agents working around the clock," he said.
The chronobiotic, clock-resetting agent and sleep-facilitating hormone melatonin plays a significant role in the synchronisation of the sleep/wake cycle.
Such a clock-agent has a certain independence as well as the capacity to communicate via unpredictable symbols with other clock-agents and to adjust its own tick rate in response to that communication.
In his letter on Sunday, he praised agents for working around the clock to review those e-mails.
Mr. Taylor, he said, could get agents to work around the clock for days on end in an investigation.
