Rain Threatens NHL Winter Classic

Imagine the series of F-bombs Bruce Boudreau could drop if his Washington Capitals are skating in sea of slush during Saturday’s NHL Winter Classic at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

Ok, NHL officials won’t allow the Caps and hometown Pittsburgh Penguins to square in a slush fest, but with a chance of rain on Saturday, there’s a possibility the teams could be skating on a less than ideal ice surface.

The forecast for Saturday in Pittsburgh calls for a chance of rain and temperatures in the low 50s. The warmish temps will not affect conditions of the two-and-a-half-inch thick ice, but falling rain could be a factor. If the slightest bit of rain falls on the ice, it will freeze quickly, causing an uneven and dangerous skating surface. A hard rain would force the postponement of the game to later in the day or to Sunday.

After Sunday, Heinz Filed goes back to the Steelers, and the game will need to be made up in the Penguins’ new CONSOL Energy Center.

I have an efin felling that Bruce efin Boudreau wouldn’t efin like that at efin all.

The Ultimate Bad-Weather Team

As I sit here at The Rainout Blog World Headquarters watching the Saints and Falcons play in the warm, cozy Georgia Dome, I’m wondering about how either of these teams would fair against the New England Patriots if they were squaring off, let’s say, on a snowy night in New England with the temperature at 18 degrees and the wind chill at nine. I’m guessing the Pats would roll either of those fair-weather teams, just like they always have done in the Bill Belichick era in New England.

Seriously, have you noticed Tom Brady and the Belichick-led Patriots never lose in cold weather, particularly in snowy, nasty weather?

In the last five Patriots games played in at least snow flurries – including the 34-3 thumping of the Bills in Buffalo Sunday, the Pats have outscored their opponents 211-24, according to the Boston Globe’s Gregory Lee Jr.

And since Bellichick took over as HC of the NEP, the Patriots are 12-0 in snow games. Three of those victories have come in the playoffs, including the tuck rule game back in 2002. Eight years later, I’m still ticked about the tuck.

The tuck rule game was probably the most significant win of the 12 – it led to the Patriots dynasty in the early 2000s – but, to me, the most impressive and memorable snow game wins were the 36-7 victory in Chicago a few weeks ago and the 59-0 spanking of Tennessee in October 2009.

Lee posted the dates, opponents, temperatures and scores of those 12 snow games on the Globe’s Extra Points blog Sunday after the win in Buffalo. Thanks for letting me share, fellas.

from the Boston Globe
Bill Belichik era snow games (12-0)
Date Opp. Tmp Weather W/L Score
12/26/10 at Buffalo 22 Snow flurries W 34-3
12/12/10 at Chicago 26 Snow W 36-7
10/18/09 Tennessee 39 Mixed Rain, Snow W 59-0
12/21/08 Arizona 30 Snow W 47-7
12/10/05 at Buffalo 30 Light Snow W 35-7
12/04/05 New York Jets 26 Light Snow W 16-3
01/16/05 Indianapolis* 25 Snow W 20-3
01/18/04 Indianapolis* 32 Light Snow W 24-14
12/14/03 Jaxsonville 25 Snow in 2nd Half W 27-13
12/07/03 Miami 28 Cold, Snow, Wind W 12-0
01/19/02 Oakland* 25 Snow, 3-5 inches W 16-13 ot
12/17/00 at Buffalo 35 Snow Showers W 13-10 ot
*Playoffs

Photo: Dilip Vishwanat Source: Getty Images

Ed Reed is en fuego

Ed Reed was on fire Sunday, figuratively and literally. The Baltimore Ravens safety had two interceptions in his team’s playoff-clinching win over the Browns in cold Cleveland, where the wind chill was 13 degrees. Reed, after the second pick, retreated to the sideline to warm up, but got a little too close to a heater, which ignited his jacket. Check out the video.

Pennsylvania Governor Really Wanted to Watch the Eagles Sunday Night

I’m guessing it was nice and cozy in the governor’s mansion, or where ever Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was planning to watch the Eagles game from Sunday night. I bet he had his chips, dip, a lovely beverage and his Eagles Snuggie all ready when he leaned the game had been postponed. Rendell, upset about the NFL’s decision to move the Eagles-Vikings game in snowy Philadelphia to Tuesday night for the safety of the fans, told Fox 29 News in a live interview that “fans can make their own judgments about their safety. This is football.” Rendell went on to invoke the name of Vince Lombardi, as everyone seems to do when they’ve been wronged by something as silly as a blizzard interrupting their football. You can see the entire interview on the Fox 29 website.

The Eagles-Vikings game will be played at 8 p.m., Tuesday night at Lincoln Financial Field. It will be the first Tuesday night NFL game since 1946.

In the meantime, snowy weather caused some minor problems for teams that did play On Sunday. After the Patriots spanked the Bills, the team had to take a bus to Rochester, N.Y. for the night. And the Jets, fresh off of blowing a lead and eventually losing to the Bears, were forced to stay the night in Chicago.

UPDATE: I just read that Gov. Rendell provides commentary after Eagles games, so maybe he would have been at the game and not at wrapped up in a Snuggie at the governor’s mansion. But, I’m guessing he’s not in the booth for each Eagles home game. If anyone has any information about the Rendell’s commentaries, send me an e-mail.

Poinsettia Bowl is a Go

Workers pumped water out of Qualcomm Stadium overnight, readying the field, which was covered with water this time yesterday, for today’s Poinsettia Bowl between Navy and San Diego State. The field will be wet and soggy, or course, but who cares? Not Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, who said “Football is football. We’ll go out and play and do what we do.” Kickoff is scheduled for 5:06 Pacific.
Photo: K.C. Alfred

Flood Me with Your Qualcomm Stadium Pics

If there’s anyone out there working to remove water from Qualcomm Stadium, send me your pics, and I’ll post the best photos here on the blog, giving you full credit, of course. Send photos to rainoutblog@gmail.com. Thanks a bunch, and good luck!

That’s Way Too Much Water on the Poinsettia’s, Guys

Given the fact that the field at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium is several inches under water, I’ll give a slight edge to Navy in Thursday’s Poinsettia Bowl. I’m sure that’s not the first, nor the last, Navy joke you’ll read or hear regarding the stadium flood.

Heavy rain in Southern California over the past few days has left the stadium flooded, and now we’re less than 24 hours away from the scheduled kick off between Navy and San Diego State University.

Kickoff is scheduled for 5:06 p.m. Pacific, and Poinsettia Bowl officials are insistent the game will played as scheduled. "The stadium grounds crew worker will work round the clock to make sure they get in the game," executive director Bruce Binkowski said.

And if you’re worried about the San Diego Chargers, don’t. The team that calls Qualcomm Stadium home is finished with its regular season home schedule. However, there is a chance the team could host a playoff game next month. The Chargers end the regular season at the Bengals and Broncos. Now there’s a couple of teams that are under water.

A spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders said workers have been trying to pump water out of the stadium since Thursday morning. Good luck, fellas!

I’m no expert on pumping water from football fields – although I listed exactly that on a resume once – but I just can’t see how the field will be ready for play 21 hours from now after watching this footage from San Diego’s KGTV.

Every Gopher - and Viking - Grab a Shovel

When it comes to news production, the fine folks who serve in the public relations offices of colleges and universities often do some nice work. This video from the University of Minnesota University of Relations office is no exception. The three-and-a-half-minute piece includes a time-lapse of the snow removal and details the dedicated efforts of university staff and numerous other individuals toward preparing the already-winterized TCF Bank Stadium for Monday night’s Vikings – Bears game. It took 27,000 man hours to shovel and haul snow out of the stadium, according to Minnesota Associate Athletics Director Scott Ellison. Cool Fact of the Day: Workers, Ellison said, removed 40,000 cubic yards of snow, which if pilled back on to the field, would stack up to 20 feet high.
Photo: Reuters/Eric Miller

Going Social

Hey, guess what. The Rainout Blog is joining the rest of the world on Facebook. Click on the page and click like if you if you do indeed like The Rainout Blog. If not, well then... go make a sandwich or something.

Zygi, It's Cold Outside

Wow, it was cold in Minnesota last night, eh? Not that I was at the game. Heck no. I was sitting comfortably in the man cave, sipping on hot cocoa. Yummy.

What wasn’t so good was the game. It was a stinker by most measures. A stinker unless you like the way weather often inserts itself into sports. I do. That’s why I (sometimes) write this blog. You do. That’s why you’re wasting time, probably at work, reading this nonsense.



When we looked at the NFL schedule back in September – when the Vikings had Super Bowl hopes and the Bears… we’ll, we didn’t know what to think about the Bears – we thought that, come December 20, the Vikes would be sitting as comfortable in the playoff picture – playing in the cozy Metrodome – as me sitting on my man cave couch.

It’s funny how 16 inches of snow on the Metrodome roof – not to mention an aging quarterback’s banged up body – can change things.

By the way, in case you somehow missed the action or any news reports, the Bears won 40-14 and clinched the NFC North title. Game time temperatures were 20 degrees with a wind chill of 9. Burrrr! Pass the hot cocoa… and someone take the whip cream away from Ty.


Zygi said what? You would think last night’s conditions would prompt the Vikings brass to build some sort of super indoor football facility and perhaps chip in a little cash so that all cold-weather teams could build a dome. Not the case. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said he’d like all the Vikings home games played outdoors. “Football should be played outdoors, and for the Vikings in the past, the weather has given the Vikings a big advantage," Wilf said… uh, before the game. We’ll see if he changes his tune.

Before we go today, let’s take one more look at that Metrodome roof collapse. I just can’t get enough.

Good night everybody.

Going to the World Series Tonight? Bring an Umbrella

It was a beautiful night for baseball in San Francisco last night, at least as far as I could observe by sitting on the comfy couch in my man cave.
Tonight’s Game Two of the World Series, however, may be a have a different feel to fans at AT&T Park – a wet feel.

According to the National Weather Service, a weather system will be approaching the ballpark from the north, just about the same time – 4:57 Pacific – Giants’ starter Matt Cain tosses the first pitch.

Chances of rain are at 30 percent – according to Weather.com – at game time, decreasing to about 10 percent as the game progresses. No heavy rain is expected, so the game should be completed tonight. Temperature at first pitch should be around 63 degrees.

Someone please inform Kristen Lee about the impending rain, so she won't think Giants fans are spitting on her. Thank you.

Blog Drought

Hey, there you are, Perry.

Oh, wait. It’s me who’s been gone for so long.

Have you missed me? Don’t answer that.

You know, I’d update The Rainout Blog more often if wasn’t for this work thing I have to do everyday.

Anyway, I thought I’d share this Associated Press cool photo of a mechanic for Red Bull driver Mark Webber pushing a rack tires through rain following a practice session for the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix. This weekend’s race in Kuala Lumpur, where thunderstorms are forecasted through Sunday, could turn out to be another thrilling soaker like last week’s Australian Grand Prix.

Ok, is this a triumphant return for The Rainout Blog? Nope. But, I hope to update this thing a little more frequently, particularly since baseball season is about to begin. You know how I love baseball rainout stories.