FSU made right move cancelling football game, other events ahead of Hurricane Irma
By Jason Parker
FSU will not be holding any events, including the home opener scheduled for Saturday, as massive Hurricane Irma continues its push toward the state.
For the past week, the entire state of Florida has been on guard as Hurricane Irma – a massive storm reaching as high as a category 5 storm with winds at 185 miles per hour – continued its push toward the state. At the same time, schools such as FSU wondered what their plan would be for events being held on campus, including football games.
Thursday, as the storm clearly became destined to hit the Sunshine State starting this weekend and possibly bringing what experts are calling “catastrophic” damage to South Florida when it first strikes, both the University of South Florida and University of Florida announced the cancellation of their football games scheduled for this weekend.
Later that evening, FSU followed along and announced they would not be playing their home opener against Louisiana-Monroe:
"“In the interest of safety of individuals throughout the state, and to allow our student-athletes, staff and fans to prepare for a storm of significant magnitude, we have decided to cancel all athletics events including the ULM football game on Saturday,” said FSU President John Thrasher in a statement. “The cancellations will help reduce the consumption of fuel and congestion on major travel arteries.”“This is a wise decision made for the safety of all involved,” said FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Stan Wilcox."
As the football game goes, FSU will not be making up the game at a later date – though it is not known if the teams will schedule a game for a later year to make up for it. Also unknown is the future of the next game for the Seminoles, scheduled for the 16th against Miami. Both those teams share a common bye week (October 7th) so it could be moved to that date if needed.
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On a personal note – as a South Florida resident, I encourage everyone to be safe and prepare for the worst when it comes to this storm. Even if it doesn’t make a direct hit, the state will feel severe weather from a storm that is 400 miles in width. Take shelter, have supplies ready and listen to the experts.