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Microsoft update mayhem delays German basketball game, costs team dear

17 minutes waiting proved to be just a bit too long

What’s the worst thing that could happen when your Windows update takes longer than expected? Ask the Paderborn Finke Baskets, a German pro basketball team who got relegated thanks to Windows’ sluggish performance.

The Spiralling Progress Indicator of Doom spelled the end of the team’s run in Division Two of the Basketball Bundesliga.

As the home team in a match against Chemnitz, the Finke Baskets were responsible for the large score display screen. The laptop controlling the screen crashed right before the start of the game and upon re-start insisted on installing automatic Windows updates.

The game was supposed to start at 7.30pm on 13 March, but after speaking to the ref, the team manager decided to wait for the screen before tip-off.

With the team desperate to hold on to their place in the league, it took 17 excruciating minutes for the Windows updates to be installed, two minutes longer than the Paderborn team could afford.

In an official statement the Basketball Bundesliga confirmed that Paderborn has been relegated from the ProA because, according to the rules, if a game is interrupted for more than 15 minutes, the responsible team is considered to have lost the game.

The Finke Baskets actually won the game that finally started at 7.55pm. Small consolation. ®

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