Hurricane Matthew forces postponement of Florida-LSU game

As a category four hurricane, nicknamed Matthew, bears down on the eastern coast of Florida, officials are bracing for the worst weather seen in the state in a quite awhile. It also means sporting events in the state are going to be touch and go this weekend.

One big game has already been cancelled, as the LSU Tigers’ trip to the Florida Gators has been called off due to the hurricane.

“We had a very productive phone call today with a great spirit of cooperation between the universities’ presidents and athletics directors and it became clear that the University of Florida could neither host nor travel to a game this weekend considering the circumstances,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “The developments of the hurricane in the last 24 hours, the projected magnitude of its impact and the unknown aftermath of this storm have resulted in this decision to seek another date to play the LSU-Florida game. We have to be sensitive to the possible imminent disruption to the state of Florida and in particular the Gainesville and surrounding area.”

With the path of Hurricane Matthew set to go straight up the eastern coast of the Florida, the state could be in for as much as 60 hours of extremely high winds (140mph and up) and rain that make playing this game dangerous for all involved.

Prior to the postponement of the game, there was even a letter sent by Louisiana Senator David Vetter to the Gators athletic department, urging the postponement of this cross-divisional game in SEC play.

There are conflicting reports on the status of the game going forward, as the first tweet out of LSU indicated that the game would not be rescheduled at all.

However, the subsequent statement linked indicated that all parties would work to try and reschedule the game if needed later in the season. Something the school then confirmed via a correction on Twitter:

CORRECTION: #LSU game at Florida scheduled for Oct. 8 in Gainesville, Fla., officially "postponed."

— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) October 6, 2016

There’s no doubt the postponement of the game was the right thing to do, as safety comes first when you are talking about the potential for massive rainfall and high winds for an entire weekend. No one wants to actually enter the path of a hurricane just to play a football game.

It’s time to pray for all of those who will be in the path of the hurricane this weekend. Stay safe. Sports games can come later.

[LSU Football]