Keeping an eye on Hurricane Matthew

Submitted by Phil Brickma on

The latest NOAA update (11 a.m. ET) says Hurricane Matthew is churning north faster than previously predicted, with the bulk of the storm expected to sit off the New Jersey coast by Sunday morning.  My fairly uninformed guess would assume we should expect heavy winds and rain Saturday night ahead of the storm. 

Wouldn't it make sense for player and fan safety for Rutgers to move the game to an earlier kick to get ahead of the storm as early as possible? Local forecasts haven't been adjusted yet, but if NOAA still expects it to hold hurricane-force winds on Sunday, it isn't something I would screw around with.

Link to NOAA

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SoDak Blues

October 4th, 2016 at 11:29 AM ^

Obviously, if this is indeed going to put the players/fans in a dangerous situation, it should definitely be moved (as they did with the Maryland game). However, I was really looking forward to a late game (kids go to bed at 8, and I would be able to watch the entire second half if complete peace). Fucking hurricanes.  

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SoDak Blues

October 4th, 2016 at 11:35 AM ^

Well, they are 1.5 and 3.5 years old, and they wake up at the ass crack of dawn (particularly early on the weekends for some awesome reason). The real trick will be keeping that 8 o'clock bed time when they are in their teens. 

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ijohnb

October 4th, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^

this game is moved up I am going to be pissed.  These 3:30 games are seriously close to impossible without outright neglecting your kids and I have really been looking forward to a night start. And it is cider mill Saturday, so if it is moved to noon I am going to miss the game entirely.

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Mr. Elbel

October 4th, 2016 at 12:25 PM ^

we can talk hypotheticals all we want but fact is, this has been my experience. I put the 5 year old down early Sunday night and he's usually up with mom at 6. he slept til 7:15. it's bizarre. Especially with really hyper kids, I feel like their energy level goes up and down a lot. hard to stick them to a specific sleep schedule. you can put them in their room but they might play around for 2 hours. you can also tell them not to get up until 7 but if they're up at 6 then they're pretty much up.

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Clarence Beeks

October 4th, 2016 at 3:23 PM ^

It's completely counterintuitive, but the earlier they go to bed the longer they will sleep (obviously there is a limit (both in reality and practically)).  The science on it is (very much in a nutshell) that if they go to bed too late they are over-tired and don't sleep well enough or deep enough, so when they stir (as they inevitiably will) they wake themselves up.  As an example, if our 2.5 goes to bed at 6:45pm (his normal bed time) he will sleep until 7:00am (and is pleasant as can be), but if he goes to bed at 7:30pm, he'll be up at 5:30am (and not pleasant as can be).  Regardless of which time he goes to bed, he stirs at about 5:30am and it's just a matter of whether he wakes up or not (which he doesn't if he's gone to bed on time).  Our 5.5 is basically the same, just with a slightly later bed time (7:45pm).

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pudge44

October 4th, 2016 at 11:30 AM ^

Looks like Wednesday will be the key day. By then we should have a much better idea if the storm is indeed going to come up the coast rather than veer off into the Atlantic. If it still looks like it's headed for NJ, I wouldn't be surprised at all if kickoff is moved up. 

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stephenrjking

October 4th, 2016 at 11:32 AM ^

It's awfully far out to be making predictions. But most projections I've seen suggest that it will not make landfall, and by that time it should be considerably weaker anyway. Timing is still in question, too. The upshot is that the winds are unlikely to be notably high in Piscataway. Rain could be an issue. But I doubt the game will be endangered. I wouldn't object if they wanted to move the game to, say, Minneapolis, but I don't think it's necessary.

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MI Expat NY

October 4th, 2016 at 11:36 AM ^

The last couple updates have multiple models putting the storm track right along the coast.  You're right that it's still way too early to make predictions about what the actual impacts to the NJ/NY area may be.  However, it's getting pretty close to the time when you have to start making decisions to change a massive undertaking like hosting a college football game.  Tomorrow or Thursday morning at the latest a decision will likely have to be made, even with far from perfect information. 

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g_reaper3

October 4th, 2016 at 11:34 AM ^

Obviously, it likely will change, but right now the worst day is Sunday with rain and 19 mph winds.  Not fun to sit in as a fan, but nowhere near dangerous or unplayable weather.

My guess is the B1G will keep an eye on it and move it as necessary. 

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Clarence Beeks

October 4th, 2016 at 11:43 AM ^

Less of a problem than one might think with that projected path.  The heavy rain is always in the upper right quadrant (12-3pm on a clock), so as long as that centerline doesn't shift significantly further west it's more likely to be a wind event than anything else.  Still, moving it does make sense.

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MI Expat NY

October 4th, 2016 at 11:49 AM ^

Looking at that projection, the real problem with the game is travel out afterward.  A 7:00 game ends at 10:30, realistically the earliest the team gets on a plane is what? 12:30 a.m? 1:00 a.m.?  Could risk not getting out.  From the Big Ten's perspective that is likely the real concern, assuming there is little threat of major storm damage until Sunday.  

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