It was reminiscent of the infamous "Heidi" NFL game, now named "The Heidi Bowl."
Oldtimers remember. The New York Jets and Oakland Raiders were playing toward the end of their November 1968 game. Suddenly, without warning, NBC switched millions of viewers on the East Coast away from the game and to a replay of the film, "Heidi."
Phones lit up as irate viewers tried to call and get the game back on. They did not succeed. Jets fans and other NFL stalwarts missed the end of the game.
The TV fans missed two touchdowns by Oakland in the final minute, giving the Raiders a 43-32 win. NBC switchboards were jammed by hundreds (maybe thousands?) of unhappy pro football fans.
It was not a good day for NFL television.
Saturday afternoon was not a good day for college basketball telecasts.
A similar thing to the Heidi interruption happened during the second half of the Auburn vs. Kentucky college basketball game.
Thousands of viewers were suddenly switched to some other basketball game and then to a hockey game.
The broadcast stopped with 12:25 left in the second half as Auburn's Johni Broome attempted a layup with the Tigers leading the Wildcats 68-52. TV viewers missed the entire remainder of the game and did not know the outcome.
Meanwhile, No. 1 Auburn was trying to beat traditional power Kentucky in their Rupp Arena for the first time since 1988. And the Tigers were trying to clinch the SEC regular season championship. The Tigers ended up doing both, but viewers missed it.
No game during the regular season could have been a worse time for an unplanned TV interruption.
The Auburn-Kentucky game was so important that the ABC network carried it, something that rarely happens anymore.
A University of Kentucky spokesman, who wished to remain anonymous, gave this statement to the Louisville Courier-Journal after the game:
"The broadcast production team experienced technical difficulties during the second half of the game. There was a fire affecting the ABC generator equipment powering their production truck. It was quickly extinguished, but it caused the broadcast feed to lose power."
That's at least excusable. The infamous Heidi interruption was a network decision to halt the broadcast of the football game and switch to the Heidi movie.
Auburn won Saturday's game 94 to 78. They also clinched a share of the SEC regular season championship, which became the outright championship when Tennessee beat Alabama later that afternoon.
It's not a good time for an interruption.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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