It's a Very Strange Night

In the midst of the first semifinal of the Southeastern Conference Tournament between Mississippi State and Alabama at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, a possible tornado swept through Fulton County and caused a rip in the roof. Scaffolding and lights swayed as a result and it caused fans to head for the exits, but security and the public address announcer calmed the fans down by telling them that the safest place to be was the Georgia Dome.

Windows in the building were blown out. The Raycom crew that was televising the event caught the swaying scaffolding. And about 9:45 p.m., the game was stopped in overtime and the teams were cleared off the floor. For about an hour now, announcers Tim Brando and Joe Hall, Jr. and others have recapped what went on. Cameras caught the rippling of the roof which is made of teflon fiberglass panels.

The Raycom crew went into news mode and did a great job in recapping what happened and showing tape of the roof. When it was safe to go outside, cameras got raw footage of damage to the Dome and to the Georgia World Congress Center next door which hosts the SEC Fanfest.

And this is impacting the second game between Georgia and Kentucky which will most likely start sometime after 11:15 p.m. ET.

Just looking at the coverage from Raycom through FSN Florida, there is damage from the possible tornado to parts of the Georgia Dome.

Raycom did a great job going from sports to news coverage. And now we’re ready to resume. It certainly has been a very strange night in sports. Overall, it was an hour and three minute delay to the first game and definitely will have an impact on the second game tonight as well as the SEC semifinals on Saturday.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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