Teams prepare for Ike
AUSTIN, Texas – With Hurricane Ike barreling toward the Texas coast, sports officials across the state are postponing games, moving them inland, changing starting times or still trying to decide if games will be played this weekend.
Saturday’s scheduled matchup between No. 8 Texas and Arkansas was postponed until Sept. 27, which was an open date for both schools. Houston moved its game with Air Force to Dallas, and TCU moved up the starting time for its game with Stanford.
Baylor officials said they were still monitoring Ike before deciding what to do with their 9:30 a.m. PDT kickoff against Washington State.
The Houston Astros are scheduled to open a key three-game series with the Chicago Cubs starting Friday, and several high schools along the Gulf Coast and in Central Texas have already decided to call off or reschedule weekend games.
On Wednesday, storm forecasts predicted Ike would come ashore Saturday somewhere between Corpus Christi and Houston and move northwest toward Austin and Waco.
“We have been monitoring this situation since Sunday and, at this time, feel confident this is the right thing to do,” Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said in announcing the postponement of the game with the Razorbacks. “A football game becomes less important when you are dealing with the safety of the people of Texas.”
Although Austin is more than 200 miles from Corpus Christi, the capital city could still get slammed with tropical-storm level wind and rain when Ike reaches the area.
Complicating matters is that if the state orders a mandatory evacuation of the coastline, Austin is likely to be faced with thousands of residents trying to get out of the way of the storm.
“As we worked closely with the University of Texas to consider the options, the safety and welfare of the student-athletes, coaches and fans was everyone’s top priority,” Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said. “In considering all of the factors, both institutions felt that postponing the game was the appropriate course of action.”
In Waco, about 100 miles north of Austin, Baylor is scheduled to play Washington State on Saturday. Bears officials said they too are watching the weather and the storm path before making a call on the game.
Farther north in Fort Worth, TCU officials said the Horned Frogs’ game against Stanford will kick off at noon CDT instead of 6 p.m. to try to beat the bad weather.
Houston’s home game against Air Force was moved to Dallas. The game will be played Saturday at SMU’s Ford Stadium at 2:30 p.m. CDT, said Chris Burkhalter, Houston associate athletics director.
The Astros are scheduled to open a three-game series with the Cubs on Friday night.
The Astros have never had a weather-related postponement at 8-year-old Minute Maid Park, which has a retractable roof. On June 15, 1976, a game at the Astrodome between the Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates was canceled after about 10 inches of rain fell in the Houston area.