Hurricane Irma forces major cancellations
As Hurricane Irma bears down on Florida and Georgia, sports teams of all levels had to decide if they were going to play or not. In Florida, Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in all counties. According to USA Today, many high schools have either moved their games to Wednesday, Thursday, postponed, or cancelled their games altogether.
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Many college teams are cancelling and postponing their games as well. On Wednesday, the University of Miami announced that all classes and athletic events were cancelled for the weekend. Also, the ACC announced that their game against the Florida State will be moved to October 7 and the game against Georgia State will be moved to October 14. Florida State originally moved up the kickoff time, but then later cancelled the game. In Gainesville, Florida the state's main evacuation route, Interstate 75, is by the football stadium. Florida's athletic director announced on Thursday that the game will be cancelled after previously moving up the game. Both UCF and USF have also canceled their games. Both the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes have no open dates to reschedule their respective games.
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Florida International University has moved their game to UAB in Birmingham on Friday at 7 p.m. Florida Atlantic University played their game as scheduled at Wisconsin, where the football team remains. According to the Sun Sentinel, the University of Wisconsin athletic department has offered to take care of housing, food, training facilities and everyday needs for FAU players and personnel.
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In the NFL, the Miami Dolphins game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was cancelled. The game was rescheduled to Week 11, which means that both teams have to play 16 straight games. According to ESPN, the Miami Dolphins owner payed for the teams to fly them and their families to Los Angeles. They are training there to prepare for their Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have also left Florida. The Tampa Bay Rays have moved their home series against the Yankees to Citi Field in New York. The Rays don’t know yet if the series against the Red Sox will be moved or postponed. According to the Miami Marlins, stadium crews have prepared Marlins Park for the hurricane. The retractable roof will be slightly open to let air pressure go in and out of the stadium to minimize roof damage. During the game on Sunday against the Braves, the Marlins’ radio broadcast was off air for the whole game because the flagship station had no feed, according to ESPN. The Atlanta Braves and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have both offered free tickets to people who have evacuated because of Irma. The Jacksonville Jaguars have keep quiet on their plans for Irma. According to The Weather Channel, the town is experiencing flash flooding and storm surging, which is causing major flooding in the downtown area.
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Irma could still impact more games next week, especially with the after-effects of the storm being so severe. We can only wish the best for the victims of this great tragedy.