9:03 pm | September 16, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
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Tory BarronESPN Editor
It’s all fun and games until one of the pyrotechnics machines malfunctions, and suddenly you’ve got a fire erupting on your football field.
That’s exactly what happened at Nissan Stadium ahead of the Colts-Titans game on Sunday. Fortunately, the staff acted swiftly to extinguish the flames and no one was injured — but it didn’t make the blazing in-stadium fire any less alarming for those in attendance.
While it might be the first of the NFL season, the pyrotechnics incident of 2019 is far from the first bizarre mishap in sports. Whether it be a weird flex by Mother Nature or untimely field irrigation, here are some of the moments that have left us in a collective state of confusion over the years:
Giants-Reds swarmed by bees, 2019
So the @Reds game is in a delay because of….a swarm of bees. pic.twitter.com/G6JW16OmfK
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) May 6, 2019
When bees attack! You really can’t make this stuff up. A swarm of bees set up shop by home plate at Great American Ball Park and eventually ventured into the stands, forcing an 18-minute delay to the start of the game.
Oddly enough, it’s not even the first time the Giants have been involved in a bee delay in Cincinnati, as a swarm went into the Giants’ dugout at Riverfront Stadium in 1976, forcing a 35-minute delay.
Un-bee-lievable. (I’m sorry, I’ll see myself out.)
IUP basketball team wears opponent’s jerseys, 2019
File it away under: Opponent stole my look. The visiting Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks showed up for their game against Edinboro without uniforms.
When questioned about the unique situation, a spokesperson for the school explained that one of the team managers simply “forgot to bring them.” So being the gracious hosts that they were, the Fighting Scots offered up their old road uniforms.
IUP went on to win the game 87-59 to capture the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division crown. We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that losing to a team rocking your own unis probably hits a little differently.
Celtics-Sixers premature confetti, 2018
Well, this was awkward. Tying up a playoff game in the final seconds of regulation only to eventually lose in OT is painful to begin with — add a premature confetti release to the mix and it’s downright brutal.
It was the final 10 seconds of Game 3 of the second-round matchup between the Celtics and the Sixers when chaos ensued. The game was tied 87-87, but Philly turned it over and gave Boston an easy layup with only 1.7 seconds left on the clock. Marco Belinelli then nailed an absurd jumper and this thing was headed to OT.
Cue the celebratory confetti.
Oops. Classic case of peaking too soon.
The start of OT was delayed slightly so they could sweep up the aforementioned confetti. The Celts would go on to win the series 4-1.
Super Bowl XLVII power outage, 2013
Perhaps the most infamous of all stadium-related mishaps in sports: The time the lights went out during the Super Bowl.
It feels like just yesterday that Mercedes-Benz Superdome fell to darkness early in the third quarter, suspending play between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens for about 34 minutes. Officials from Entergy, the utility company supplying power to the Superdome, said the outage could be attributed to an “abnormality.”
Ah, yes, an abnormality — an explanation not even remotely satisfactory to Ravens fans who were convinced the incident was an attempt to halt Baltimore’s momentum.
San Francisco would go on to score 17 points in the span of 4 minutes, 10 seconds once play resumed, but the Niners’ comeback eventually came up short.
Diamondbacks-Mets sprinkler system interruption, 2005
Rain delays are common, sure. But how about sprinkler-induced infield flooding delays? Yeah, those are a little more rare, and a different animal entirely.
Pedro Martinez was on the mound at Shea Stadium as the sprinklers went off for an untimely field irrigation. Despite getting absolutely drenched, Pedro remained unbothered. The Hall of Famer even took a drink from the sprinkler, which is probably the most underrated part of this video.
The Mets would go on to win the game 6-1 and Pedro was quoted as saying, “Water is blessing to me, and I got wet.” It’s all about perspective, people.
Sharks mascot gets stuck, 1999
Somebody come get your man … er, shark.
In an NHL first, S.J. Sharkie — the San Jose Sharks mascot — got stuck while attempting to rappel from the ceiling during pregame introductions.
Despite dangling helplessly 25 feet above the ice for quite some time, Sharkie’s spirits remained high as he continued to fire up the crowd. The San Jose staff brought over safety mats just in case the beloved mascot should fall as they attempted to rescue him from the precarious position.
Eventually they were able to pull him back up to the ceiling and to safety, but the dangling Sharkie situation would go on to live in NHL infamy.
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