9/27/2022 football Edit

Hurricane Ian: Who makes the decision about game and how?

Jerry Kutz • TheOsceola

Publisher

As Hurricane Ian powers its way toward Florida, with location and time of landfall uncertain, athletic directors across the Sunshine State busy themselves with contingency planning.

We met with Florida State athletics director Michael Alford to provide you with a better understanding of what the process is, who is involved and how often they meet.

Alford confirmed the key participants haven’t changed. They are Emergency Management, the Florida State University administration, the FSU football office, the Atlantic Coast Conference, who coordinate the officials, television etc., and the opponent, in this case Wake Forest.

“We get a report from emergency management at 5 am and at 5 pm every day,” Alford said, noting FSU updates the ACC each day.

The Tuesday 5 am update indicated Hurricane Ian was tracking further to the east than originally projected, with a projected landfall south of Tampa. While not good for our readers in the path of the storm, the eastward wiggle would put Tallahassee on the western edge of the "cone of uncertainty" and mitigate Ian’s impact on Tallahassee.

Based on that 5 am report, it’s game on in Doak Campbell Stadium, unless Ian wiggles west and Alford receives a report to the contrary.

While the current projected rainfall in Tallahassee for Saturday is 1 to 2 inches, it’s a different matter in Gainesville, which is just 75 miles to the east, as the crow flies and 75 miles to the south. Florida postponed its game with Eastern Washington as Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is projected to get as much as 12 inches of rain.

In case you were wondering, Eastern Washington started football in 1978.

Florida State will remain vigilant with those twice daily calls and will review that information daily with the game operations staff – which includes the university, law enforcement, athletics, Seminole Boosters, concessions and gate and stadium security – to assess the conditions and resources available.

Stay tuned to Hurricane Ian’s track and above all, stay safe. TheOsceola.com will let you know if anything changes with the Florida State vs Wake Forest game currently scheduled for 3:30 EST Saturday.