Poll: What should happen with this game?

[The Original DC]

It seems like not playing the game at all would subject the University to refunding 90,000+ fans their ticket prices, no? 90,000 fans at, say, $60 per ticket is $5.4 million in refunds to fans. Sure, UF has plenty of money, but that's a helluva hit to any university's budget. Are the fans just supposed to eat it, in this economy? There would be a fairly harsh backlash in my opinion for basically telling the fans "sorry, too bad, blame it on Mother Nature." I think the game should be played, finding a suitable date is the question.

I'm sure they're weighing all possible scenarios, just calm down and wait for the answer. You should have it in a day or two.

Dude, if I were any calmer at this particular moment I'd be comatose.

 

[Swamp Queen]

Season ticket face value for Idaho tickets: $25.00.

 

[The Original DC]

Season ticket face value for Idaho tickets: $25.00.

So, only about $2.25 mill. Well, we'll see soon enough.

 

[ThreatMatrix]

The game serves no purpose other than revenue generation. Therefore it will be played. At the most inconvenient time on the most inconvenient date.

 

[GatorInKnox]

Season ticket face value for Idaho tickets: $25.00.

So, only about $2.25 mill. Well, we'll see soon enough.

My thoughts as well. That's still a good chunk of change so I don't see them completely canceling it.

 

[Homer J]

Play it the Thursday of bye week. This is not a game that should be that difficult. Let's go and get the win and have the weekend off to rest before we beat down the pups.

 

[TheDouglas78]

the problem with playing the bye week before Georgia is that will have us playing 9 weeks in a row...10 if we make the sec championship games...that will give no tiime to heal any nagging injuries

Don't we usually only have one off week per season anyway?

at least two since the new schedule format in the mid 00's.

 

[WobbleGator]

Don't reschedule the game. Don't play the game at all.

 

[The Original DC]

I promise I'm trying to let this go, but I just read Goldcamp's tweet where next Saturday is still hovering around 50% chance of thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. Knowing that, I hope Foley and other powers-that-be are actively contacting Eastern Michigan officials right now about the possibility of playing on Sunday if we have another day/evening of "unplayable conditions." Also, contact your stadium workers and make sure they understand this possibility as well. This is what we're going to have to deal with now that they've set a precedent for canceling a game due to thunderstorms.

 

[The Original DC]

I promise I'm trying to let this go, but I just read Goldcamp's tweet where next Saturday is still hovering around 50% chance of thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. Knowing that, I hope Foley and other powers-that-be are actively contacting Eastern Michigan officials right now about the possibility of playing on Sunday if we have another day/evening of "unplayable conditions." Also, contact your stadium workers and make sure they understand this possibility as well. This is what we're going to have to deal with now that they've set a precedent for canceling a game due to thunderstorms.

And send a message to your fans; "if we have another weather event Saturday, we plan to play Sunday at noon, please adjust your schedule as you're able." THAT'S contingency planning, not canceling the damn game and figuring out the rest of it a few days later.

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

the problem with playing the bye week before Georgia is that will have us playing 9 weeks in a row...10 if we make the sec championship games...that will give no tiime to heal any nagging injuries

Don't we usually only have one off week per season anyway?

2006: one off week, October 21
2007: one off week, October 13
2008: season started in August (extra week), two off weeks, September 13 and October 18
2009: one off week, October 3
2010: one off week, October 23
2011: one off week, October 22
2012: one off week, September 29
2013: season started in August (extra week), two off weeks, September 14 and October 26

Only time we get two weeks off is when the season starts in August, because there's an extra week in there with the way the calendar falls.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

I promise I'm trying to let this go, but I just read Goldcamp's tweet where next Saturday is still hovering around 50% chance of thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. Knowing that, I hope Foley and other powers-that-be are actively contacting Eastern Michigan officials right now about the possibility of playing on Sunday if we have another day/evening of "unplayable conditions." Also, contact your stadium workers and make sure they understand this possibility as well. This is what we're going to have to deal with now that they've set a precedent for canceling a game due to thunderstorms.

DC, I'm not ready to let this go so easily either. For one, this should have been in the works during the 1st rain delay. Second as I've already pointed out on 2 other post the logistics are not that difficult. TV crews would stay to televise a game with no problem. Police and emergency are on call basis, and so too are most stadium staffing. Tickets would have been good same as they were the night before. Most charter flights of this size can be re secured I know for a fact and you can't tell me that there is a mad rush on hotel/motel rooms in the Gville area on Labor Day weekend. There was no classes on Monday. NASCAR has 43 teams that go to different sites every week and a lot of times in the summer they have to postpone races until the next day. The field conditions as some keep mentioning would not have been an issue. These fields have a complex drainage system that could empty hundreds of thousands of gallons of water in less than 12 hours. Nobody would have even noticed it. Fans keep thinking of the Capital One Bowl from a few years ago.....that was at an unupdated field that had not had a newer system installed.
Long story short this game should have been played already.

 

[T REX]

It seems like not playing the game at all would subject the University to refunding 90,000+ fans their ticket prices, no? 90,000 fans at, say, $60 per ticket is $5.4 million in refunds to fans. Sure, UF has plenty of money, but that's a helluva hit to any university's budget. Are the fans just supposed to eat it, in this economy? There would be a fairly harsh backlash in my opinion for basically telling the fans "sorry, too bad, blame it on Mother Nature." I think the game should be played, finding a suitable date is the question.

I'm sure they're weighing all possible scenarios, just calm down and wait for the answer. You should have it in a day or two.

He seems pretty calm to me.

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

I promise I'm trying to let this go, but I just read Goldcamp's tweet where next Saturday is still hovering around 50% chance of thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. Knowing that, I hope Foley and other powers-that-be are actively contacting Eastern Michigan officials right now about the possibility of playing on Sunday if we have another day/evening of "unplayable conditions." Also, contact your stadium workers and make sure they understand this possibility as well. This is what we're going to have to deal with now that they've set a precedent for canceling a game due to thunderstorms.

1,100 lightning strikes and close to 6 inches of water in a 5 hour span of time is not just any thunderstorm.

 

[T REX]

Wow...people actually paying for a product or service and then wanting it actually delivered. Crazy! What is this world coming too?

 

[WobbleGator]

Wow...people actually paying for a product or service and then wanting it actually delivered. Crazy! What is this world coming too?

I agree with Rex. Only people who went to the game should be allowed to complain about the game being cancelled. Everyone else should stop fussing.

 

[TheDouglas78]

I promise I'm trying to let this go, but I just read Goldcamp's tweet where next Saturday is still hovering around 50% chance of thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. Knowing that, I hope Foley and other powers-that-be are actively contacting Eastern Michigan officials right now about the possibility of playing on Sunday if we have another day/evening of "unplayable conditions." Also, contact your stadium workers and make sure they understand this possibility as well. This is what we're going to have to deal with now that they've set a precedent for canceling a game due to thunderstorms.

To back Sas's point, in the less than three hours of the first delay, over 2 inches of rain came down. That doesn't include before 7pm and after the 9:50 pm everybody get back off the field.

 

[The Original DC]

I promise I'm trying to let this go, but I just read Goldcamp's tweet where next Saturday is still hovering around 50% chance of thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. Knowing that, I hope Foley and other powers-that-be are actively contacting Eastern Michigan officials right now about the possibility of playing on Sunday if we have another day/evening of "unplayable conditions." Also, contact your stadium workers and make sure they understand this possibility as well. This is what we're going to have to deal with now that they've set a precedent for canceling a game due to thunderstorms.

I understand it was an epic thunderstorm, it seems like we could have similar conditions this weekend. Even if it's not 1,100 lightning strikes in 5 hours, say it's only one inch of rain and a few hundred lightning strikes in 4 or 5 hours, that's still enough to disrupt the game. Planning for a contingency in advance of bad weather hurts nobody, hopefully they're not just sitting around hoping it doesn't happen again.

 

[The Original DC]

I promise I'm trying to let this go, but I just read Goldcamp's tweet where next Saturday is still hovering around 50% chance of thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. Knowing that, I hope Foley and other powers-that-be are actively contacting Eastern Michigan officials right now about the possibility of playing on Sunday if we have another day/evening of "unplayable conditions." Also, contact your stadium workers and make sure they understand this possibility as well. This is what we're going to have to deal with now that they've set a precedent for canceling a game due to thunderstorms.

DC, I'm not ready to let this go so easily either. For one, this should have been in the works during the 1st rain delay. Second as I've already pointed out on 2 other post the logistics are not that difficult. TV crews would stay to televise a game with no problem. Police and emergency are on call basis, and so too are most stadium staffing. Tickets would have been good same as they were the night before. Most charter flights of this size can be re secured I know for a fact and you can't tell me that there is a mad rush on hotel/motel rooms in the Gville area on Labor Day weekend. There was no classes on Monday. NASCAR has 43 teams that go to different sites every week and a lot of times in the summer they have to postpone races until the next day. The field conditions as some keep mentioning would not have been an issue. These fields have a complex drainage system that could empty hundreds of thousands of gallons of water in less than 12 hours. Nobody would have even noticed it. Fans keep thinking of the Capital One Bowl from a few years ago.....that was at an unupdated field that had not had a newer system installed.
Long story short this game should have been played already.

I'm willing to give them a pass based on the "this has never happened before" reason. But the whole world can sit here and pull up the weather report which shows the possibility of similar conditions this Saturday v Eastern Michigan. Instead of a plan of "it's no big deal, that wasn't your normal storm, it'll be fine this Saturday," how about a comprehensive contingency plan on what to do if this Saturday turns into another megastorm? This plan should include a make-up date that is next day-asap, instead of "whenever we can figure it out down the road."

 

[Captain Sasquatch]

I agree with Rex. Only people who went to the game should be allowed to complain about the game being cancelled. Everyone else should stop fussing.

But in reality, the people who went are the most understanding and the people who sat on their asses at home are the ones complaining.