Sunshine State Sports Update: Florida & Florida State Games Currently On As Scheduled
It has changed the plans for the Dolphins-Buccaneers opener, which was scheduled for Sunday. On Wednesday, it announced the game will be rescheduled to Week 11, or Nov. 19, when both teams have an open date.
This means both teams will play for 16 consecutive weeks, with no open date.
“While the re-worked schedule isn’t ideal, Miami was in a no-win situation with the Category 5 storm swirling toward its shores,” the NFL stated in an announcement on its website.
” Playing 16 straight games will be rough, but on the flip side players will be able to be with their families this weekend.”
The possibility of moving the game was first announced on Tuesday when the NFL stated the game would not be played in Miami on Sunday afternoon. Initially it sought alternatives, including another venue and possibly moving the date and/or time of the game.
In a Tuesday statement the NFL stated emphatically, “the Miami Dolphins home game against the Tampa Buccaneers, originally scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium, will not be played in Miami on Sunday.”
“In the interest of public safety in light of the current state of emergency, the NFL, in consultation with state and local officials as well as both clubs, has decided that playing an NFL game in South Florida this week is not appropriate,” the NFL statement continued.
Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, has several projected paths, most of which involve it making landfall somewhere in Florida on Saturday morning or afternoon. Already, Key West and the Florida Keys are under a mandatory evacuation starting Wednesday.
After the destruction Hurricane Harvey brought to Texas and to Houston in particular, officials in the NFL and throughout Florida are being extra cautious to get people out of the way of Irma. It is expected to initially hit southern Florida sometime on Saturday, with much of the rain and wind occurring on Sunday.
College teams are also being affected by Irma. Central Florida, located in Orlando, has moved its game with Memphis up to Friday night from its originally scheduled Saturday night.
Florida has moved up the kickoff time from 7:30 p.m., to noon, for its game against Northern Colorado. Florida State’s home game against Louisiana-Monroe in Tallahassee has also been moved up to a noon kickoff.
Florida International University’s Saturday night home game with Alcorn State has been postponed. FIU is located in Miami.
The Miami Hurricanes, which play at Arkansas State, have canceled that game over concerns about returning to Miami on Saturday night.
On the high school level, Broward County (one county north of Miami-Dade) has moved 15 of 16 games up to Wednesday night from Friday night.
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