A basketball game called due to weather?
The day began like many others at the tournament: chilly temperatures, a too-early breakfast, a rushed trip to one of Atlanta’s many downtown attractions, and a quick bit to eat before heading to the Georgia Dome. Upon arrival at the Dome, we were treated to a thrilling finish as Tennessee rallied to beat South Carolina (courtesy of Chris Loften’s 3-point buzzer beater), 89 - 87. The second game between Arkansas and Vandy made up for the first game’s excitement by delivering a snoozer as Arkansas dominated the ‘Doors 81 to 75.
After a too-short nap back at the hotel, we returned to the Dome ready to watch MSU whup up on the Tide. Unfortunately, Alabama, and the weather, had other plans. The game was a tightly played contest with the general feeling being that eventually, the Bulldogs would pull away. Finally, with about a minute to go, MSU gained a 6-point advantage and seemed to be in control. But, some smart fouling by Bama and some average free-throw shooting by MSU whittled the lead to 3 with 7 seconds left. Still, a Bulldog victory seemed assured. However, a rim-rolling 3-pointer by Bama’s Mykal Riley dropped through the net as time expired - essentially proclaiming that the previous 2 hours had been a waste of time.
The Building Has Left the Elvis
Once overtime commenced, a strange thing happened. With about 2 minutes remaining, a weird helicopter sound could be heard through the dome. My wife said that it must be some hard rain coming down. We looked up and saw a rippling pattern moving across the Georgia Dome’s fabric roof. I noticed that many of the suspended scaffolding and banners were swaying considerably. Then, we noticed that everyone in the stands was looking up behind us. As we turned, we saw a swirling cloud of some sort of debris billowing from the closed off section of the Dome over onto our side. The couple in front of us diagnosed it as a fire and promptly stormed from the stands. After a few seconds, we could see a very large seam open in the Dome’s upper wall as more debris began to blow inside. Several large vertical strips of insulation began flapping in the breeze that we could feel from our seats.
Hearing no alarms, we waited as the first of the insulation snow flakes began to settle on us. Looking back at the court, I was surprised that it was empty. Both benches and the officials had taken their leave. I began wondering if we should do the same. Then the PA announcer informed us that severe weather had been detected in the downtown area and that everyone should remain calm and stay inside the Dome. At this point, It began to dawn on us that we’d probably just witnessed the effects of a tornado. Suddenly, all 23,000 fans began whipping out their cell phones and calling anyone they could to tell them what was going on. Wars and rumors of wars commenced… OK, it wasn’t that bad. Basically, just a bunch of confused and curious people standing around for an hour while Dome personnelle walked around the upper section checking fabric seams, insulation piles, and scaffolding tethers.
Then, the teams re-took the court. After a 10-minute warm-up, the final 2 minutes was played. MSU again maintained a 6-point lead until the closing 45 seconds where some clutch 3-point shooting by Bama cosed the margin to 2 with 1.9 seconds left. Alabama had the ball and inbounded the ball to Mykal Riley who again put up a last-second three, only this one rimmed-out instead of in.
After the game, everyone waited nervously as neither Kentucky or Georgia, the slated next two opponents took the court. The PA announcer kept reminding everyone to stay calm and that a determination would soon be made whether the next game would be postponed. Unknown to us. the teams were already on their buses by this point. 20 minutes later, they broke the news to us that the game was postponed and that we could stick around if we were still worried about the weather. We weren’t, so we left.
So, we still don’t know who the 4 semi-final teams are. There’s been no official word on what’ll happen as everyone’s been told to wait and see. Many theories abound. My favorite (for it’s sheer anti-climatic effect) is that the Georgia - Kentucky game will occur tomorrow along with the Tennessee - Arkansas game. Then, on Sunday, the Ky. - Ga winner would play MSU for a share of the co-championship with the Tn - Ark winner. Pretty screwed, but it’s the only theory I’ve heard that accommodates the jammed TV schedule. We’ll see.