There was a McFlurry of confusion at a recent college basketball game at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after it seemed like a food delivery person was attempting to drop off a McDonald's order on the court.
On Jan. 26, during the second half of Atlantic 10 men’s game between the Loyola Ramblers and the Duquesne Dukes, someone appearing to be a delivery person interrupted an active play by ambling onto the court holding a McDonald's bag and drink.
“I cannot say for sure, but it really looks like some guy walked out onto the court with a Doordash delivery in the middle of the Loyola/Duquesne game,” tweeted Kevin Sweeney, a reporter for Sports Illustrated, along with an image of the bizarre moment.
Directly behind a Loyola player who just made a pass, a man in a yellow jacket, khakis and sneakers holding a McDonald’s bag and soda in one hand wanders onto the basketball court.
“I’m in the building and can confirm it was an uber eat [sic] guy,” tweeted Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Abby Schnable in response to Sweeney. “Delivered some McDonalds. We’re not sure how he got on the floor."
Replies to Sweeney included a capture of the commentary by sports announcers as the event unfolded.
“The commentary is excellent hahaha,” reads a tweet that shares a clip of a timeout being called and confusion erupting.
“Somebody came on the floor, on the far side. Looking for an Uber Eats delivery or something? There, he’s carrying some McDonald’s,” says Duquesne play-by-play announcer Tim Benz in the clip. “I’m actually not kidding. I think that’s what’s happening.”
“Oh, this has to be one of the all-time greats,” says analyst Ellis Cannon. “Is he going to deliver the McDonald’s to someone on the court?”
"Well, you know what, Ellis? We deserve a break today," Benz tells his co-announcer, referencing an old McDonald's slogan.
At this point, what is clear is that someone brought a McDonald's bag and drink onto the court, but what isn't clear is why.
Uber Eats did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment, but it did join in on the social media fun.
"nothing but net," tweeted Uber Eats in response to the viral clip.
Was it a prank? Probably.
Other angles of the viral moment were also caught on camera, with another theory — that this interruption wasn’t a delivery driver at all but an attempt at a viral video by some internet pranksters.
“Everyone keeps asking me what happened with the door dash guy on the court at tonights game. Here was my angle,” tweeted Austin Hansen, who is the assistant athletics director of content development and broadcast operations for the Loyola Ramblers. His video catches a closeup of the moment, the man wandering onto the court and a stadium employee stopping the man before he wandered into the middle of the game.
“1. I did not order the McDonalds, even though it was being 'delivered' steps from my camera position,” says Hansen in a follow-up tweet.
“2. This kid was clearly doing a prank for Youtube/TikTok. You can see that he is wearing a microphone, and tons of students were filming him with their phones,” he tweeted. Other folks seem to agree with this assertion, with many on social media agreeing that the prank was an unfunny one. “3. They didn’t kick him out. He just casually walked back into the stands with his McDonalds in hand.”
Hansen completes his mini-thread with a warning to others who may see this as an invitation to wander onto the courts of other games in the future.
“4. I will personally tackle anyone else who does this,” Hansen tweeted. “Just let the athletes play the game without worry that they are going to get hurt by a stray delivery person.”
All in all, whether this was a prank or an honest-but-severely-misguided attempt at a food delivery, some folks on social media stuck to questioning what was really important — at least, to them.
“Were the fries still warm?” a Twitter user wondered. “Important question when it comes to McDonalds fries.”
