There are many reasons why a high school athletic event is delayed or postponed.
Most involve weather conditions, or something unusual, like a power outage.
But the weather had nothing to do with a 20-minute delay at McKee Stadium in Jeannette one week ago.
When half of the stadium lights went dark with 10:04 left in the first quarter of the Waynesburg and Jeannette football game, the stoppage was because I hit the wrong light switch in the press box.
In an attempt to find my reading glasses, which were in my computer bag in a utility room in the back of the press box, I flipped on the lights in the room. When I was leaving the room, I flipped down what I thought was the light switch that I turned on.
It wasn't. The light switch for the room was near the switch that controlled the stadium lights.
When I heard a loud "thud" and an "Ooooh" from the crowd, I knew right away what I had done.
I didn't even want to look out onto the field.
I quickly flipped the switch I turned off back on, but the powerful stadium lights are not like your typical lights at home. The stadium lights need to cool off first, and then fire back up.
So less than two minutes into what turned out to be a thrilling overtime game, the game was halted because the lights on the press box side of the field were off. I'm just happy the entire stadium didn't go dark.
While the fans in the stands were probably wondering what had happened, I knew and admitted my mistake to the Jeannette press box personnel.
I got some glares, and then some ribbing from a couple of my friends in the press box.
I truly apologize to the administrators, teams and their coaches, officials, fellow media and the fans of both schools for my mistake. I do applaud the patience everyone showed during the delay.
After the game, I received even more ribbing from some of the Jeannette assistant coaches, thanking me for stopping their momentum. The Jayhawks had run just one offensive play, an incomplete pass, when the game was stopped.
"I'm glad we won," joked one of the coaches. Jeannette won a 28-27 thriller in overtime.
Bob Murphy, the Jeannette football coach and athletic director, told me not to worry about the incident. He said he had forgotten about it already.
But word travels quickly in the media. By the time I got back to the office, thanks to a couple of photographers, all of my co-workers knew what I had done.
"Don't touch anything," one editor said. "We'll hit the lights after you're done. Just write your story."
Others just laughed and asked what happened.
But it didn't stop on Friday. I received a few calls from friends from other newspapers, and an e-mail from retired Tribune-Review sports editor Dave Ailes. He read my story and another newspaper's story, and then put two and two together. "I guessed you were the sportswriter who turned out the lights," is all his e-mail read. "Yes, I did Dave," I replied.
Even during the week I've been told to "hit the lights" from co-workers.
I've been told to turn off the lights in the press box by some athletic directors, only after I'm done writing. But they never told me to turn off the stadium lights.
At least now I probably have something no other sportswriter can take credit for -- stopping a game.
You've heard about the media's power of the pen. I didn't know I had the power to stop a game.
The flip of a switch, or, in this case, the wrong switch, gave me the unwanted power.
In my lifetime as a sportswriter, I've had a lot of memorable moments.
I've helped put out a fire in the office, break up a fight at a baseball game, covered great games and interviewed famous athletes.
I've also had some embarrassing moments.
In my more than 35 years of watching or reporting on high school football games, I've seen a lot of strange things happen.
What happened last Friday night at McKee Stadium probably tops the list.
