The University of Florida's scheduled football game against LSU was
postponed Thursday due to the threat of Hurricane Matthew, which already
has been blamed for more than 100 deaths and is threatening the
southeastern U.S. coast.
Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said LSU had offered to host the No. 18 Gators in Baton Rouge, La. Saturday, but Foley said he did not want the team to travel "through this type of weather."
"I know there will be a lot of opinions about how we came to this conclusion and when we came to the conclusion, but this is the right decision," Foley said, adding that the Southeastern Conference had made the final call on postponing the game.
It was not immediately clear when the game would be rescheduled. Both teams play nonconference opponents on Nov. 19.
The storm also forced Saturday night's Georgia at South Carolina game to be moved to Sunday afternoon, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said on his radio show. Meanwhile, the matchup between No. 23 Florida State and No. 10 Miami is still on as scheduled for Saturday night — though officials from both schools say they are continuing to monitor developments and are discussing contingency plans.
Florida State originally planned to fly to Miami on Thursday evening; the Seminoles now plan to make the trip south on Friday, storm permitting. Miami moved into its home-game hotel ahead of schedule, in part because its campus was closed Thursday and Friday and all classes were canceled.
"Our hope is to be able to play at Hard Rock Stadium," Miami athletic director Blake James said. "Obviously, things can happen that prohibit that."
The metro Miami area was not expected to feel the brunt of the storm, which was on a path taking its center farther up the Florida coast.
But there are several things to assess before deciding if the Miami-FSU game could and should go on as scheduled, namely if it's safe for fans to be on the roads and if police — who will likely be needed in storm-ravaged areas — would be able to assist with traffic and other matters related to what will likely be a capacity crowd.
Those questions likely cannot be answered until the storm passes. Hard Rock Stadium is also scheduled to host an NFL game Sunday between the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins.
The Miami Heat got out of town earlier this week. They practiced in Houston on Thursday, in advance of their next preseason game in Kansas City on Saturday.
"You always err on the side of caution," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You can't leave late in these things. It's one of the few natural disasters that happen that you have an opportunity to plan for."
Matthew was expected to cause widespread damage on Florida's Atlantic coast, and Florida Atlantic — in Boca Raton, an area expected to feel some of the biggest brunt of the storm when it comes ashore in the U.S. — decided to move its football game against Charlotte from Saturday to Sunday.
Further assessments about the viability of playing this weekend will be made once the storm clears South Florida, likely sometime Friday.
Until then, FAU's football team is staying across the state in Tampa.
"Supporting our community, state and region is the current focus of FAU Athletics," FAU athletic director Pat Chun said.
On Wednesday, the University of Central Florida announced its home football game against Tulane would be moved to Nov. 5 from Friday. Further north, Old Dominion University in Virginia moved its game against Massachusetts up a day to Friday.
Matthew was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday morning, with top sustained winds of 140 mph. The storm was blamed for more than 100 deaths in Haiti alone, and officials in Florida urged residents to prepare for what could be widespread and massive damage.
Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said LSU had offered to host the No. 18 Gators in Baton Rouge, La. Saturday, but Foley said he did not want the team to travel "through this type of weather."
"I know there will be a lot of opinions about how we came to this conclusion and when we came to the conclusion, but this is the right decision," Foley said, adding that the Southeastern Conference had made the final call on postponing the game.
It was not immediately clear when the game would be rescheduled. Both teams play nonconference opponents on Nov. 19.
The storm also forced Saturday night's Georgia at South Carolina game to be moved to Sunday afternoon, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said on his radio show. Meanwhile, the matchup between No. 23 Florida State and No. 10 Miami is still on as scheduled for Saturday night — though officials from both schools say they are continuing to monitor developments and are discussing contingency plans.
Florida State originally planned to fly to Miami on Thursday evening; the Seminoles now plan to make the trip south on Friday, storm permitting. Miami moved into its home-game hotel ahead of schedule, in part because its campus was closed Thursday and Friday and all classes were canceled.
"Our hope is to be able to play at Hard Rock Stadium," Miami athletic director Blake James said. "Obviously, things can happen that prohibit that."
The metro Miami area was not expected to feel the brunt of the storm, which was on a path taking its center farther up the Florida coast.
But there are several things to assess before deciding if the Miami-FSU game could and should go on as scheduled, namely if it's safe for fans to be on the roads and if police — who will likely be needed in storm-ravaged areas — would be able to assist with traffic and other matters related to what will likely be a capacity crowd.
Those questions likely cannot be answered until the storm passes. Hard Rock Stadium is also scheduled to host an NFL game Sunday between the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins.
The Miami Heat got out of town earlier this week. They practiced in Houston on Thursday, in advance of their next preseason game in Kansas City on Saturday.
"You always err on the side of caution," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You can't leave late in these things. It's one of the few natural disasters that happen that you have an opportunity to plan for."
Matthew was expected to cause widespread damage on Florida's Atlantic coast, and Florida Atlantic — in Boca Raton, an area expected to feel some of the biggest brunt of the storm when it comes ashore in the U.S. — decided to move its football game against Charlotte from Saturday to Sunday.
Further assessments about the viability of playing this weekend will be made once the storm clears South Florida, likely sometime Friday.
Until then, FAU's football team is staying across the state in Tampa.
"Supporting our community, state and region is the current focus of FAU Athletics," FAU athletic director Pat Chun said.
On Wednesday, the University of Central Florida announced its home football game against Tulane would be moved to Nov. 5 from Friday. Further north, Old Dominion University in Virginia moved its game against Massachusetts up a day to Friday.
Matthew was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday morning, with top sustained winds of 140 mph. The storm was blamed for more than 100 deaths in Haiti alone, and officials in Florida urged residents to prepare for what could be widespread and massive damage.
No comments:
Post a Comment