The nor’easter winds that cancelled practices and threatened Saturday’s Stadium Series game did end up having an effect on the game after all.
At the ten minute mark of the third period, a blackout occurred at the Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The explanation was not immediately clear, but Monday, according to the Baltimore Sun’s Rachael Pacella, the blackout was due to a split-second power reduction.
Monday, however, the culprit was clear: athletics spokesman Scott Strasemeier said a split-second power reduction knocked out the lights, which take a while to restart. BGE said the power problem was caused by the windstorm and Bill Givens, associate athletic director for operations and championships, said the stadium uses metal halide lights that need to cool off before they’re turned back on.
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Gusts of wind — the tail end of the nor’easter that knocked out power to 30,000 Anne Arundel County residents alone — caused an electric circuit in the area to go out, which caused a voltage reduction at the electric circuit that serves the stadium, BGE spokesman Richard Yost said.
While BGE (Baltimore Gas and Electric) worked to restore power to thousands of customers, a gust of wind caused an electrical circuit to go out. Though it was only a split second outage, it was enough to make the stadium go dark.
The stadium’s halide lights, common at football stadiums, needed to fully cool before turning back on. The process on Saturday night took around 16 minutes, but the fans didn’t let that stop the party, using their phones as if they were fire flies and getting their groove on with the in-game entertainment.
While waiting, jams such as Dancing Queen, Shake It Off, Living On A Prayer, Jump Around, and Jump On It were played over the loudspeakers.
What could have been a potentially terrifying or boring wait ended up being one of the most memorable parts of the night.
The lights have gone out at the #Leafs vs. #Caps outdoor game and the fans are trying their best to brighten up the situation. pic.twitter.com/FfIa5W24aZ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 4, 2018
Full RMNB Coverage of Stadium Series
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