Earlier this week, New England Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick unleashed an atypical, long-winded rant (six minutes!) About his mis-behaving Microsoft Surface device. Earlier in the month, he was seen on national TV spiking the tablet.
On Wednesday, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon had to deal with a malfunctioning Apple (AAPL) iPad before the fourth game of the National League Championship Series (NLCS).
Fox’s (FOX) FS1 commentators noted that Maddon couldn’t use his iPad to enter lineups before the game between the Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers, causing him to spend 90 minutes with technical support before the game to address the issue. Apparently, it was a futile effort because he ended up using his phone to do the job.
Get Data Sheet, Coins2Day’s technology newsletter.
It was unclear whether the problem was with the device itself, the software running it, the wireless network—or some combination of all of the above.
For more on technology and sports, watch:
Maddon, like many baseball long-timers, is a traditionalist and has used pen and paper to coach for two decades, according to MLB.com.
He and other coaches had to rethink index cards when Apple (AAPL) and MLB announced a multi-year deal that puts a 12.9-inch iPad set-up with special “MLB Dugout” software in their hands for games.
Some have speculated that Maddon will go back to paper full time since the Cubs trounced the Dodgers 10-4 in the iPad-free game four, tying the series at two games each. Baseball people are notoriously superstitious.
Reached for comment, an MLB spokesman said the iPad in question was Maddon’s personal tablet, not the MLB-issued device. Apple Apple could not be immediately reached for comment.
As for the Belichick-Surface kerfuffle, the NFL issued a statement saying that multiple issues in a stadium’s “complex environment” can cause problems, and that it works with its partners to resolve them.
Note: This story was updated with MLB comment.