Washout Weekend?

Whatever is left of Hurricane or Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to hit the New York area and the Northeast this Saturday. The worst of it may be over the city just as Fordham tries to kick off its season opener at home against Rhode Island.

At best, this is a rough bit of luck for Fordham which has had to deal with serious weather issues in early season games quite often in the last few years. A game in 2005 or 2006 against Monmouth was played in extreme weather conditions and the Rams lost.

At worst, the game may have to be canceled or postponed, which is a real logistical nightmare for schools at the Ivy League or Patriot League athletic budget level. For now, all we can do is look at the skies and wait.

The storm is not expected to be in this general region on Friday, (and just to clarify, the preseason scrimmage at Brown is this FRIDAY). The current forecast for Friday is clear and sunny and hot! (83 degrees).

I have no other information about the scrimmage, but I do expect some kind of report afterwards from the Athletic Department after the game. We can try to read the tea leaves after that.

Any long-time readers of this blog will know that I always worry about injuries at scrimmages and preseason games in general. One of the worst injuries in Columbia history was in 1989, when Greg Abbruzzese went down in a preseason game and was lost for the year. In 2003, Rashad Biggers was lost for the season in the preseason scrimmage. I'm like a nervous mommy during these scrimmages I admit, but it just seems like it's extra tragic when a player gets hurt in a game that doesn't count. THAT SAID, I understand the need for these scrimmages and they have a lot of benefits... but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop being nervous.