When Nature Attacks: Sports World Edition

Sporting events bring together two seemingly irreconcilable elements: a set of rules (some insanely complicated) and the unscripted drama of competition.

And for many sports―if not venues―Mother Nature can be an unpredictable wild card.

Despite the carefully organized schedules, large amounts of money involved―and at a minimum―desire to have a winner and loser, nature will do whatever the hell it wants.

Maybe that means blue skies and a gentle breeze or vicious lightning and quarter-sized hail. Or nature decides to mix it up and crash your ballgame with a confused and clearly agitated squirrel.

And we know unequivocally that animals throw the script in the garbage.

It's a crapshoot, which works out more often than not, but when it doesn't, it can be pretty awesome and another reason sports are a blast.

When Snow Attacks

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Despite the many outdoor NFL venues in cold-weather climates, games with a significant snowfall are still pretty rare. That’s because the regular season winds down just around the time snowfall across the country begins to ramp up. Just a little bit of the white stuff can seriously impact a game, making it all the more memorable. 

There have been plenty of snowy games over the years, but none more memorable than the New England Patriots-Oakland Raiders divisional-playoff game in New England back in 2002. It was a driving snow storm that impacted the game plan of both teams dramatically. Often referred to as the “Snow Bowl,” Raiders fans probably know it better as the “Tuck Rule Game.”

When Squirrels Attack

Squirrels are one of the most common woodland creatures in the U.S. and make their way into sporting events pretty regularly. Sometimes they’re a nuisance, while other times they have mystical powers to completely turn the tide of a baseball team’s postseason fortunes and send it careening into a championship. 

[Insert skeptical and judgmental stare at the St. Louis Cardinals here.]

Obviously the former is the most likely scenario, as was the case during Sabine Lisicki’s first-round match during the 2013 U.S. Open. A squirrel wandered into the court area, and you could tell it instantly realized it was in over its head. After dashing out frantically for a few seconds, the squirrel finally formulated an exit plan. 

When Heat Attacks (And AC Breaks)

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Heat is a fact of life for athletes who play outdoor sports. Athletes and fans alike know what they’re getting themselves into when they go to a midday baseball game in Atlanta around July and August. During Game 1 of the NBA Finals in June, they were all caught completely off guard. 

With temperatures in San Antonio topping 90 degrees that day, conditions inside the AT&T Center were sweltering after the air-conditioning system within the Spurs’ building malfunctioned. In the second half the temperature hit 90, likely contributing to the severe cramps suffered by (then) Heat superstar LeBron James. 

When Seagulls Attack

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Anyone who has ever lived near a moderately substantial body of water knows that seagulls are an ever-present and often maniacal fact of everyday life. They make plenty of appearances during sporting events, particularly baseball, but nowhere are they more prevalent and ballsy than at Wrigley Field in Chicago. 

The garbage in the outfield stands is always good for a free meal, and by this point the seagulls know scaring off losing-weary Chicago Cubs fans isn’t much of a challenge. Some days they have the run of the place. But recently the seagulls seem to enjoy being closer to the action—they descended onto the field en masse during an extra-innings outing against the New York Yankees. 

When Kangaroos Attack

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In February 2013 the LPGA’s Australian Open was delayed for a period of time after more than two dozen kangaroos decided they had the authority to play through on the course at Royal Canberra Golf Club. 

It was one of the more ridiculous and adorable spectacles as there’s ever been during a sporting event. All the golfers could do was wait while the kangaroos did a little sightseeing around the ninth hole. 

Eventually they cleared out on their own, and play resumed. 

When Wind Attacks

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Wind conditions can dramatically impact play on the field, particularly in the NFL, where many teams play outdoors in cold-weather climates. All severe weather has the ability to wreak havoc on a game plan, but strong winds are far more unpredictable and impossible to plan for. 

In November 2005 the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins played what was probably the windiest NFL game ever at Soldier Field in Chicago. Steady winds of 26 mph and gusts upward of 50 mph made for some seriously sloppy play and a lot of flying debris. Fumbling and bumbling aside, the Bears came out on top 17-9, thanks in large part to a 108-yard touchdown run following a missed field goal. 

When Bears Attack

Alaska is far more massive than most people realize, and its wildlife is sized to fit that scale. In a state where moose wander the streets like stray cats—OK, maybe they’re not that common, but it’s not an unreasonable comparison—a bear dropping in on a baseball game is practically mundane. 

Well, the mundane happened during an American Legion baseball game in Juneau back in June. Looking at the video, it’s clear that both humans and the bear had been down this road before because nobody panicked. In fact, both species barely acknowledged the other’s existence before getting back to business. 

When Alligators Attack

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Wild animals make their way onto golf courses regularly. While most of the visitors are of the friendly and fuzzy variety, golfers have to deal with an animal that even baseball fans in St. Louis wouldn’t be superstitious enough to rally around. That being, of course, alligators. 

Water hazard-heavy courses in the South are especially prone to gator guests interrupting games. In April 2013 a three-legged alligator so common to the New Orleans course that it has a name, Stumpy, meandered onto the 12th fairway. 

Stumpy took in the sites and sounds for a few minutes before exiting back to his watery home through a bunker. 

When Rain (And Mud) Attacks

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On November 26, 2007, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins were scheduled to play in Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football. A prime-time game that late in the season, particularly on a Monday, is impossible to reschedule, which is why the show still went on, despite some of the worst field conditions in the history of football. 

Wrecked by additional high school and college play at Heinz Field in the weeks prior, the field was resodded days earlier. Unfortunately, new sod and more than a day of torrential rainfall are a terrible combination. By game time, which was delayed 45 minutes, parts of the grass seemed more like quicksand than a football field. 

The Mud Bowl, as it would known, was the lowest-scoring game in MNF history, with the Steelers winning 3-0. At one point a punt wobbled downfield, where instead of being fielded, it just lodged into the turf like a lawn dart. 

When Bees Attack

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Like many of us humans, there’s a large section of the bee community that enjoys nothing more on a hot summer day than taking in a baseball game at one of the nation’s many ballparks. Like the seagulls, bees are drawn to the garbage-heavy digs at Wrigley Field in Chicago.  

In September 2013 they caused a 23-minute delay during a Los Angeles Angels-Seattle Mariners game in Anaheim, California, and in June 2014 they struck SoCal again, swarming en masse at Dodgers Stadium during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. And this past April a massive swarm of bees interrupted a spring training Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees game. 

These lords of mayhem have also been known to hit up a soccer game every now and again. 

When Black Widow Spiders Attack

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The 2013 LPGA Australian Open was pretty eventful animal wise. Two days prior to the brief kangaroo delay, a far less cuddly one of Mother Nature’s miracles made its way to the course. And much to the chagrin of Swedish golfer Daniela Holmqvist, it was a Latrodectus hasselti, a venomous spider of the widow variety. 

Because it’s native to North America, reports that Holmqvist was bitten by a black widow specifically were not entirely accurate. The bite she suffered late in the first round was more likely from a redback, a widow of the same species which is native to Australia and, though venomous, not nearly as dangerous. 

According to an ESPN report, after being bitten by the spider, Holmqvist “used a tree to extract what she thought was potentially fatal venom before finishing her round.” That’s freaking intense. 

When Hail Attacks

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In the June Belgium game against Tunisia in Brussels, its final warm-up game prior to the World Cup, players were forced to flee the pitch as hail the size of golf balls rained down upon their vulnerable, unprotected domes. 

The supercell thunderstorm was dramatic and forced a delay just 24 minutes into the match. Eventually the bad weather passed though, and play resumed approximately 40 minutes later. 

When Biblical Hail Attacks

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When it comes to hail, size definitely does matter. There’s marble-size hail, golf ball-size hail, softball-size hail, and the largest hailstone on record is just under the size of a volleyball. Although no matter the size, the good thing about hail is that it’s usually a briefly passing weather event. 

That was not the case during a Champions League match between Galatasaray and Juventus in December 2013. Despite a 100 percent chance of a hailstorm, the decision to play the game was made. Minutes into the match the skies opened, and a storm Deadspin accurately described as “Biblical” began. 

The downpour lasted for nearly a half hour before the official called the match, and it was rescheduled for the following day.

When Weasels Attack

This is the most literal attack of nature on the list. Aside from the black widow spider bite, most everything else was a force of nature invading sporting events in some way. In the case of Zurich defender Loris Benito, he was actually attacked by a member of the weasel family during a game against FC Thun in March 2013. 

The deceptively adorable pine marten stormed the pitch and was able to evade the powers that be for more than five minutes. Which is when Benito decided to act, capturing the animal with his bare hands and almost certainly regretting it within seconds. Apparently weasels are known for sharp teeth and surly dispositions.