Popcorn machine causes fire at OU’s Lloyd Noble Center during Georgia game
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A popcorn machine of all things stole the show during the first half of Oklahoma‘s home SEC showdown against Georgia at venerable Lloyd Noble Center.
The arena in Norman has been around for a long time, and on Saturday afternoon in the middle of a conference battle, it was that out-of-control popcorn machine that was going haywire while the Sooners and Bulldogs battled on the court.
With Georgia leading the home team, 11-7, with 15:31 remaining in the first half in the matchup of under .500 SEC teams, something caught fire but it wasn’t either team from 3-point range. Instead, it was that popcorn machine, which was spotted blazing off in the distance while the teams played in a game broadcast on SEC Network.
Those cameras and some following the game couldn’t help but see the blaze, simply because it stood out like an eyesore. As chaos goes in college basketball, this one was right up there with anything that was happening on the court.
Here is another shot of the popcorn machine blaze, which had the fans in Norman in a frenzy the way the home team couldn’t manage, at least early in the matchup.
Instead, it was the blaze from the concession area that was getting all the attention and reaction instead of anything occurring between the Dawgs and Sooners.
Oklahoma had taken the lead early in the 2nd half, as things calmed down eventually, order was restored and the fans got back to the business of watching an SEC game on a mid-February Saturday.
But for anyone at the game or watching on TV, that popcorn popper that literally caught fire will likely stick in their heads for a very long time.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
