14 DAY TRIAL // We all know how painful it really is to be in a rush and try to shut down the computer when the screen turns blue and you're provided with a message saying that “Windows is installing updates.”
But for a German basketball team playing in the second division, things got a lot worse than that, as they were relegated due to a delay caused by a laptop that started installing updates before their last game started.
Basically, the Paderborn Baskets, who were the hosts of the game, were supposed to play against the Chemnitz Niners on March 13 at 7:30 PM local time, but the kick-off was pushed back for 25 minutes because the laptop that powered the scoreboard started installing updates just before the start of the game.
Patrick Seidel, manager of Paderborn Baskets, told Die Zeit that at 6:00 PM the laptop was connected to the Internet and was running fine, with no update installation notification displayed. But for some reason, the laptop crashed minutes later, and when it booted again, it started installing Windows updates all of a sudden, so they weren't able to boot into Windows and access the apps that were providing access to the scoreboard.
25-minute delay caused by Windows updates
This happened at 7:20 PM, Seidel explained, only 10 minutes before the start of the game.
Installing all updates and getting back into Windows took more than expected, so the scoreboard was back up at 7:55 PM, 25 minutes after it was supposed to be ready for the match. As a result, the game was started 25 minutes later, 10 minutes over the 15-minute delay allowed by the Professional German Basketball League.
Paderborn won the game 69-62, but their opponents filed an appeal and claimed that the game was delayed more than allowed, asking for a penalty for breaking the rules. The team was indeed penalized, and due to losing additional points, they ended up relegated to a lower tier.
The team's manager has already explained that they plan to appeal the decision, explaining that the delay was caused by a technical issue and it had nothing to do with the team.
And that's why in Windows 10 we'll be allowed to schedule update installation. If basketball teams still want to use Windows, that is.