NFL Made Correct Decision to Re-Schedule Games Due to Hurricane Ike

As you probably know, the NFL made the decision to shuffle the NFL schedule due to Hurricane Ike's damage to Reliant Stadium. The Ravens, Bengals and Texans have had their games and bye weeks switched around to deal with the mess.

Though most Raven and Bengal fans have been extremely understanding of these changes, some are bitter about what this does to their season, and they are bitter at the Texans for not agreeing to go to a neutral site or Baltimore this weekend.

I think those people are sick, ill-informed and/or hopelessly misguided. As a Houstonian, I've have had very little sleep the last couple of days, so I am cranky and would like to punch those sort of people in the face.

The above picture is not a beautiful lake. It is what my front yard looked like at 8:00 am this morning as flood waters retreated. I live 60 miles from the coast. We didn't get flooded during Hurricane Ike, but we almost did today due to residual torrential rain and storm sewers blocked with toppled trees and debris.

Nothing like waking your kids up because you think you have to carry them down the street before your house floods. Thankfully, the torrential rains stopped just in time.

On Thursday, when the NFL decided to push the game back to Monday, there was always the chance that the hurricane could have moved at the last second and maybe not hurt the city so badly. A small chance. But if the city was going to be hit full force, it's kind of irresponsible to suggest that players and coaches should leave their homes and families to go play some game.

I've lived in different hurricane areas for most of my life and have never been through a storm like that one. The sounds during the storm were so loud that if a movie replicated it, people would think it sounded fake. And the storm was so large, the winds lasted for many hours that everyone in the region has been affected. I have a bunch of people at my house because we are the one of the few people who has electricity....at least for now.

So for those who have been supportive of those impacted by Hurricane Ike, thank you. To others, I just hope something this awful never happens to your community. And to receive that face punching I mentioned earlier.

For everyone, please consider giving money to the American Red Cross.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-14-2008 @ 10:41PM

CoreyC said...

I disagree. While I feel for Houston-area residents, this is the risk a NFL owner takes putting their franchise in a hurricane-risk area (like the three Florida teams).
If there is a situation like this that makes a team's home field unplayable, they MUST go to a neutral site to play, and the team should refund tickets for the game. I'm sure the teams have insurance to cover such losses.
It is unfair for teams like Cincy and Baltimore to have to mess up their schedules like this to accomodate a stubborn owner in Houston that didn't want to lose the game day revenue.

9-14-2008 @ 6:01PM

Stephanie Stradley said...

Stubborn owner? How about a bunch of players and coaches who fear for the lives of their families and losing everything they own???

Most people in Houston wouldn't get to watch the neutral site game because they have no power.

You are first in line for the face punching.

9-14-2008 @ 6:26PM

Maveness said...

Corey -this has nothing to do with the team owners or teams playing. It has everything to do with a group of guys getting time off work to make sure if their house floods, they can move things. No matter how much money someone makes, they're the ones responsible for their own homes.

So quit whining because your team was inconvenienced by mother nature. It wasn't hte team's home field that was unplayable. READ THE DANG POST. If the game had been rescheduled for another location, I think it's within the right of every player to say "Screw it, I'm going to make sure my home and family are okay first." Sports is trumped by real life. God, idiots are born every day, but dang!

9-14-2008 @ 8:05PM

Tim Burns said...

Stephanie!

So I'm driving back from the Hill Country to the plains of West Texas the other day, calling all of my friends from the gulf coast area to make sure they were getting the heck out of there and I thought about you. I'm not being a weirdo....the Texans home game came up in conversation and I was telling a friend of mine to check out your blog.

I think the Texans and the NFL have handled this the best way they could, considering the damage to the venue and devastation to the area. We've watched storm after storm come up through the gulf for decades and, even though they moved the game to Monday as a precaution, NOBODY expected the direct hit on Houston. It just never happens.

I've lived through a house fire and a tornado displacing me before. I feel for what everyone in the Galveston/Houston areas are going through, INCLUDING the players and their families. I'm a huge NFL fan and I just don't get people that can't put a game in its proper place. You're right. They deserve a punch in the face. Take care. tb

9-15-2008 @ 12:59AM

E-Mu said...

Corey, you also forget that an entire city gets added revenue when a football team has a home game. Bars, restaurants, etc. have potential to make more money during that Sunday. There is no MUST go to a neutral site. If for some reason the Texans can't play at home in the future, then a neutral site becomes a real possibility, but at this juncture, moving the Bengals bye week two weeks is not a big deal. Houston, after this storm, and its surrounding communities will need anything to root for in the coming weeks and a home game will be just what they need to get their minds off the task ahead.
If an earthquake were to hit California, are we supposed to demand a neutral site? I think not.

9-16-2008 @ 12:30PM

Dave said...

Wait, lemme guess -- Corey has Andre Johnson and Ray Rice on his fantasy team, doesn't he?

9-17-2008 @ 4:10PM

Brenda Kay Winters said...

People are in shock as this is the most horrific hurricaine storm this century for the United States of America. Life over property has to be the main concern as wisdom comes. What is wisdom? Facing the realities. With polluted drinking water, rats and other vermon will surface, some dead and disease producing also. More persons will suffer as they become ill. This is new to them. Communication and perceptions vary. We all get tired. Rescures risk their lives to save others. Take care of them first. Get your shift done, send in first responder help. Stop complaining and get to work. Pray if you cannot do anything else. I will never forget the man who brought me a pimento cheeze sandwich and cool water when I and my family had been in a tornado and had no place to go.

9-18-2008 @ 2:23PM

Lori said...

This storm not only affected this city but several others along the way as its path went to the north. I live in Houston, still without power but feeling really lucky to have made it through the storm in one piece. Our Texans and its owner and everyone involved, made the right decision... family comes first and thank God, most of our families survived. Hopefully the Texans will be back here to play soon and damage wasn't too bad and we can all cheer together on our HOME field. Corey, I would have traded places with you-- where ever you live -- then to have to listen to the wind and rain all night and just pray that the walls of my home remained standing.