Maple wood floors always take center stage during the month of March, as the NCAA Basketball tournament gets underway. However, during Baylor and Iowa State’s Big 12 Tournament game, the actual floors are what caused an interference when play had to be paused because a nail was sticking up out of the floor.
ESPN analysts noted they had never seen this happen before, and gave a play-by-play during the broadcast: “They think it’s sharp enough that they need to come in. And here comes the ‘hammer guy,’ and he’s going to hammer this nail.”
Watch ESPN’s video of the nail being fixed here. You can see a man hammer the nail and check that it is no longer protruding. Play resumed after the brief delay, which was a free time out for both teams.
Brett Miller, vice president of technical standards, training, and certification for the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) says it is very rare for a nail to stick out on a basketball court.
“The installation of any wood floor, including gym floors, involves blind-nailing each board in place,” explains Miller. “The process of nailing a floor involves using a flooring nailer that is set up to drive the cleat through the top of the tongue. It would normally be set well below the surface of the floor.”