First Responders Bowl Becomes Just Second FBS Postseason Game To Be Canceled
It is as if this game was never played.
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Weather is the victor between Boston College and Boise State.
While the official word on the First Responders Bowl game will be a no contest it is clear that Mother Nature was the winner by forcing this game to be stopped due to weather.
What a terrible way to end the bowl season for Boise State and Boston College.
There were a whole lot of losers in this game. There are players on both sides of the ball that will never suit up and play football again and these same players had to miss Christmas due to the timing of this game on Dec. 26.
They did not all get to spend time with their family and the family that did come to celebrate with them had to pay to travel, stay in a hotel, food, game tickets, and other expenses, were unable to watch their loved ones play the full game.
It just goes to show that this really is an exhibition game and the outcomes do not matter. These games are just for fun — outside of the playoff contests — so for those who complain about players skipping the game do not blame them.
The one score of the game that occurred is this A.J. Dillion 19-yard run.
Officially it never happened.
This was the first FBS postseason game canceled since Hawaii and San Jose State was to play in December of 1941, but it was canceled due to the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor.
Could this have been prevented?
“After more than an hour since stoppage of play, and with review of the active lightning and thunderstorm cells still in the area of the Cotton Bowl, it was determined that the game should be called,” Pete Derzis, senior vice president of ESPN Events and programming, said in a statement. “All parties were concerned about player safety first and foremost, and with that being the primary concern, as well as the fans in attendance, it was a unanimous decision to cancel the game.”
Rescheduling the game was not an option because it would have cost a lot of none to play this game another day.
However, on Wednesday morning there was a threat of weather that most seemed not a big issue, but then the wind shifted the storm toward the Cotton Bowl and the storm took over the narrative of this game.
The forecast projected the weather to be clear at 5 p.m. local time, so maybe the game could have been pushed back to later that day and before the game even kicked in the first place?
To just stop the game midway through the first quarter made no sense and hold it off for hours upon hours.
“It is not just that easy to say we will play at 7 p.m. tonight,” Boston College head coach Steve Addazio told reporters. “The guys haven’t eaten, there is so much that goes into that. There are so many times that you can start and stop and there is a lot that goes into that. I am not a scientist.”
That is a valid point. Sitting in the locker room and just hanging out for about five hours would have been tedious, and who knows how players bodies would react to sitting that long.
“At some point, you’ve got to make a decision,” Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin said. “You are a competitor. You did all that work to play. There’s no reason not to have that mindset.
“When you look at what really is happening, you’ve got to take a step back and think for a minute, is this really the best decision? To play was not really the best decision. There were too many unknowns.”
