Derby rain

Chelsea and Derby County are going at each other today in a Capital One Cup quarterfinal match at iPro Stadium. 

At the moment, Chelsea holds a 2-0 lead on a rainy night in Derby.

UPDATE: Chelsea is through to the semifinals with a 3-1 victory. Here's the full report from the London club, complete with photos.

-- Rain --

Friday Football Forecasts (A day early)

Getty Images

About a year ago, I thought it was a good idea to post the gameday forecasts for each NFL contest. Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier? Next year, I’ll do this every week from the beginning of the season, I thought.

When the new NFL season rolled around in September, I remembered my plans. And then I checked the forecasts.

Oh! Everything is the same: Sunny and warm.

Why didn’t I think of that earlier?

Anyway, here we are in December and week 14 of the NFL season. It’s a good time to bring back the Friday Football Forecasts, starting with tonight’s game, a Thursday night affair, (I love starting Friday on a Thursday) between the Bears and my childhood team, the Cowboys, in Chicago.

Cowboys at Bears (Night): Low of 35/Mostly cloudy (Wait. Tell Romo’s December record again.)

Steelers at Bengals: High of 39/Partly cloudy

Colts at Browns: High of 35/Partly cloudy

Giants at Titans: High of 44/Mostly cloudy

Ravens at Dolphins: High of 76/Clear (Ahhhh, nice!)

Jets at Vikings: High of 29/Overcast (Yep, an overcast of gloom for the Jets’ offense.)

Rams at Redskins: High of 42/Clear

Texans at Jaguars: High of 62/Partly cloudy

Bills at Broncos: High of 50/Clear:

49ers at Raiders: High of 62/Overcast

Seahawks at Eagles: High of 38/Clear (Game of the Day?)

Patriots at Chargers (Night): Low of 63/Mostly cloudy

Monday Night
Falcons at Packers: Low of 26/Mostly cloudy

-- Rainout --

On the flip side

Associated Press

This blog is mostly dedicated to bad weather conditions and how those conditions can play havoc at sporting events.

I, like most people (I think) love that stuff. That’s why I created this blog.

With that said, I couldn't help but be captivated by the images on my TV Saturday when I tuned in for the USC thumping of Notre Dame. It was beautiful weather there in Southern California, nothing like what was outside my house that day.

The LA Times reported USC received commitments from at least six recruits that day. If given the opportunity to play, study and live where it’s sunny and 75 in late November, who wouldn't make that commitment?

-- RAINOUT --

Rodgers: Green Bay weather gives us advantage

Heading into December’s slate of NFL games, the Green Bay Packers find themselves a game in front of the Detroit Lions for the NFC North division lead.

At 9-3 and coming off an impressive win over the previously hot New England Patriots on a cold evening in Green Bay, the Packers are in position to grab the division title, particularly with two of their remaining regular season games being at Lambeau Field.

One of those games, the last of the season, is against the Lions, a team that has bested the Packers earlier in the season.

The Packers, led by super quarterback Aaron Rodgers, are also fighting for home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Playing in those frigid Green Bay temperatures, and especially field slick from snow and ice, gives the Packers’ offense an advantage, says Rodgers, even against other cold weather teams.

“It doesn't really matter what team comes in; there’s an advantage based on the footing and the weather,” Rodgers said this morning on ESPN’s Mike and Mike. “I’ve always found in the cold weather, it’s a little bit more difficult to rush the passer. And, the footing favors the offense because, much like on an icy field or a wet field, an offensive player knows where he’s going. You have a slight advantage there.”

We all know that from our days playing backyard football in the snow, right?

If you were running with the ball, you could easily put a move on a defender, who would have to react to your movement, and then slip right on his keister. Anyone who has experienced the joy of football in the snow with their buddies has more than likely been on both ends of that scenario.

OK. Back to Rodgers. He briefly mentioned the effect cold temps can have on the ball, saying “the cold weather does some different things to the football, and if you’re not used to that it can bother you a little bit.”

I was hoping Professor Rodgers would delve in how the elasticity of the ball decreases in the cold. It would have been great to get a cold-weather quarterback’s insight into how the frigid temps affect his grip and the flight of the ball.

Hey, you know what. Maybe I’ll give him a call.

Stay tuned.

-- RAINOUT --

Pray for rain?

San Francisco Examiner

There’s a slight chance rain could be a factor during Game 4 of the World Series Saturday evening in San Francisco.

At the moment, the extended forecast shows a 40 percent chance of precipitation at about the time Ryan Vogelsong fires the first pitch for the Giants. Rain chances increase to 60 percent during the 6 and 7 p.m. hours and dip back to 40 percent around 8 p.m. Temperatures should be in the mid to low 60s.

It’s not likely rain will cause a postponement, but we could see some rain throughout the contest.

However, according to this story, AT&T Park is equipped with a custom-designed SubAir System that, among other cool things, utilizes a vacuum mode that “quickly removes standing water, virtually eliminating the need for extended game delays or cancellations due to field conditions.”

Good to know.

Anyway, Giants ace Madison Bumgarner is scheduled to pitch Game 4 on three-day’s rest. A rainout and postponement of Game 4 to Sunday would give him an extra day. If you’re a Giants fan, do you pray for rain in hopes of a fresher arm for Bumgarner?

-- rain --

All’s clear

Not a cloud in the sky.

Like most of you, my life is super busy. So much so, I rarely get a chance to update The Rainout Blog for the seven people who visit this blog. (That number may be a bit inflated.)

Often, a sports/weather event will occur or be forecasted – remember: Game 3 of the ALDS was rained out – and I’ll cringe just a little because there’s no time to grab the laptop and write a post and share a photo or two.

Today, I have a little free time. So, what’s happening? Nothing.

Weather in Kansas City for the first two games of the World Series have been perfect.

We have Thursday night NFL action in Denver, where it looks like there will be a better chance of Peyton Manning NOT adding to his touchdown record than there is a chance of rain drops or snowflakes – you never know in Denver.

The low in the Mile High city tonight will be around 48. It’ll be a little chilly, but it shouldn’t be enough to affect Manning’s performance. He’s not a cold-weather quarterback, ya know?

There are a couple of college football games scheduled for tonight. Miami travels to Blacksburg for an ACC showdown – more likely a “letdown” for the home team – with Virginia Tech. Temps will dip to the mid 40s, which is about as cold as the Hokies’ offense.

You’ll see about the same weather conditions in Greenville, North Carolina if you tune into tonight’s East Carolina home game with Connecticut. (Why would you do that?)

And you know what? Sunday’s NFL slate looks pretty unspectacular too, meaning no rain, no mud, no snow, no fog… no nothin’.

Nats and Marlins will settle things in the end (that's awkward)

Washington Post

If you're a Washington Nationals fan – count me in with that group – you probably were a bit disappointed Tuesday to learn the game with the Marlins that night had been rained out.

Bummer.

And moments later you were most likely thinking, "oh, they'll play two on Wednesday or make up the game on Thursday." Seems logical. Both teams have off on Thursday.  And on Friday, the Nats stay at home for an interleague matchup with Texas and the Marlins have a short flight back to Miami for a night game with the hated Braves.

Without any other knowledge of the logistics, that was my thinking… and I was wrong.

The two NL East squads will make up the postponed game as part of a split doubleheader on Friday, September 26. First pitch for the makeup contest is 1:05 p.m. The regularly scheduled game for that night begins at 7:05 p.m. (Just for fun, any guess who'll be the Nats' starting pitcher for those games?)

That weekend series will be the last time the Marlins visit Washington in the regular season.

So, what if rain pours in Washington that Friday and both games that day are a wash? Do we then have back-to-back doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, the final day of the regular season?

And – let's get really crazy – what if it rains all day on Saturday and those games get rained out, and the Nats and Marlins need those game to settle the division race?

Do they play two on Sunday and two on Monday?

Let's hope!

-- rain --

How outdoor hockey at Soldier Field rattled my son's brain

Photo: Chris Sweda, Chicago Tribune

My 8-year-old son is slowly becoming a sports fan. 

We live in a rural part of the country where there are no absolute local sports teams to root for, so he’s picked the Penguins – he loves penguins – and Bears as his respective NHL and NFL teams.

So, it sort of blew his mind Saturday night when I flicked the TV over to the Penguins v. Blackhawks Stadium Series game being played at Soldier Field.

“Wait, the Penguins are playing hockey in the Bears’ football stadium?” my son asked, trying to grasp that whole "what-tha…" concept.

“Yep,” I replied.

“Ok,” he said. “Change it back to Sponge Bob.”

Anyway, the Soldier Field game turned out to be another one of those NHL outdoor weather classics, at least in terms of the stunning visuals as we watched snow flow down to the ice. Not many sporting events can look better.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, whose team won 5-1, said it was “probably the greatest setting you could want. With how hard it was snowing it was like, 'Wow, these are amazing conditions.’ I think everybody went back to when they were kids."

We always hear the line – the one about going back to your childhood – from coaches and players when they speak about playing in the outdoor games.

As for the playing conditions, Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp said the ice was “very good, but that first period it was tough to see and handle the puck. It really felt like a real outdoor game. There were no real systems or structure. We were just kind of hoisting the puck, slapping it around and having fun."

The Chicago Tribune’s website has an excellent gallery from the game.

-- snow --

Friday Football Forecasts

Getty Images

When it comes to bad weather football games, I’m more of a fan of rain than snow. I get it: snow looks nice and it’s sort of fun, for a while, to watch the players slip, slide and fumble around the field.

It’s all great. But to me, nothing beats a good gully washer of a rain storm. I love watching games were rain is pouring down on the players and fans are getting soaked.

It’s not likely well see anything that dramatic this weekend, but rain showers are forecasted for many of the NFL cities. And for you snow fans, there is mention of the white stuff for games in Kansas City and, of course, Green Bay, where if you look right now (2:20 p.m., Friday, Dec. 20, 2013), you’ll see Lambeau is already covered.

So, without further gibberish – I love that word – here are your forecasts for this week’s 14 NFL outdoor games.

Dolphins at Bills: High of 51/Rain

Colts at Chiefs: High of 25/Chance of light snow

Vikings at Bengals: High of 58/Rain likely

Cowboys at Redskins: High of 73 (Wow! In December?) / Showers likely

Browns at Jets: High of 64/chance of showers (And a good chance Geno will turn the ball over at least three times.)

Saints at Panthers: High of 73/Showers

Titans at Jaguars: High of 81/Patchy fog (I’d love to see another Fog Bowl, but not for the Titans and Jags.)

Broncos at Texans: High of 68/Mostly sunny (If Peyton Manning stinks this week –that’s unlikely against the two-win Texans – no one can blame the temperature.)

Cardinals at Seahawks: High of 48/Rain likely (Great! I love the look of the Seahawks playing at home in the rain.)

Steelers at Packers: High 25/Snow (The low for Green Bay Sunday night is -3. Burrrrr!)

Raiders at Chargers: High of 67/Sunny

Patriots at Ravens: High 71/showers likely

Sunday Night
Bears at Eagles: Low of 33/Showers likely (The high in Philly Sunday should hit around 71.)

Monday Night

Falcons at 49ers: Low of 48/Mostly clear

-- rain --

Do the Lambeau shovel

Lambeau Field webcam

It’s that time of year when lots of snow pours down on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field and the Packers organization asks fans to come out to help shovel the seats and aisles.

With three inches of snow expected to hit Green Bay, the Packers are paying up to 650 folks 10 bucks an hour to shovel snow to prepare the stadium for Sunday’s game with the Steelers.

If you look right now at the Lambeau web cam, you can see the shovelers.

This just in: Aaron Rodgers has not been medically cleared to shovel today.

-- snow --

Sherman: Best game ‘can’t happen in the snow’

In a piece for SI.com, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman makes a good argument against playing the Super Bowl outdoors in a cold-weather city.

Sherman, who says he’s never played football in snow, writes:

“Snow happens, and that’s fine for a regular-season game or even an AFC or NFC Championship Game. A team in a cold-weather city can and should earn the right to host a game in conditions it’s familiar with. Baltimore and Pittsburgh built legacies and winning traditions on cold-weather football.

Yet the Super Bowl city is decided years in advance, and the game is supposed to be played on a neutral site. Teams that make it that far have played through the heat of training camp, winter on the road and in the comfort of domes. Whether their rosters were built for the snow or not, they probably overcame it at some point in the season. The Super Bowl should be a clean slate that showcases the athletes, not the stadium or the city they’re playing in.”

 You can read the entire column at SI.com.

Talk of a Super Bowl bizzard not going away

I’m the dude who gets his kicks writing a blog about how bad weather adversely affects sporting events, but I have to tell ya: Even I’m sick of hearing about potential snow storms and how flippin’ cold it’s going to be at the northern New Jersey Super Bowl.

Seriously, the NFL weighed all the potential negatives and said, “yes, let’s have our biggest week of the year and our biggest game of the year in an outdoor venue in the Northeast in February.”

So, it’s set. Nothing is going to change.

Well, things could change a little. NFL officials said Wednesday that the date of Super Bowl XLVIII could be moved, ahead or back a day or two, if a crippling snowstorm hits or is predicted to hit the area on Super Sunday around the 80,000-seat MetLife Stadium. Can you imagine the Super Bowl being played on a Monday or Tuesday?

Oh, maybe we’ll get that Saturday Super Bowl so many people who are too lazy and too hungover to get up and go to work the next day have been clamoring for over the years.

However, a date change is not likely to happen. When the NFL said “heck yes, let’s put this game in a locale where it snows on average more than two inches in the first week in February,” you knew they would be ready for almost anything.

On Wednesday, the NFL, and a few others involved, gave us insight into what will happen to make sure the game runs smoothly as possible. Their plans include stadium chutes that will funnel falling snow into melters that can take in about 600 tons per hour. By the way, have you seen those massive snow melters?

This snow melter will be deployed for the super bowl. It melts 600,000 tons of snow per hour pic.twitter.com/6rtYCxrVwd
— daniel kaplan (@dkaplanSBJ) December 18, 2013

Wait, wouldn’t it kind of stink if we had a snow storm at MetLife Stadium, but the field was dry?

Anyway, transportation officials said Wednesday that 821 plow trucks will be available to clear a 30-mile radius from the stadium, and nearly 60,000 tons of salt could be scattered on the roads.

With that kind of preparation and snow-fighting measures, it’s hard to see a storm scenario that would alter the game date.

Now that we know the NFL’s plans, I’m still eagerly awaiting a press conference from Bruno Mars revealing how he will sing and perform in the event of a mega super blizzard.

After that, I’m done with all the Super Blizzard talk.

You’re up, Bruno!

-- super blizzard --

Hail, United 2.0

The Stoke versus Manchester United Capital One Cup quarterfinal match on Wednesday had a little weather excitement when torrential hail littered the pitch around the 30^th minute, forcing both teams to the dressing rooms.

I wrote a little about this shortly after the delay happened, but I bring it up again only so I can post this cool Action Images photo of United’s Danny Welbeck driving through a couple of Stoke defenders while everyone was being peppered in the puss by freezing, screaming hail.

-- hail --

A Rainout Blog Hall of Fame? Yes… let’s do this

How about we start a Rainout Blog Sports/Weather Hall of Fame?

Not just me, all of us. You, too.

I’ve been thinking about doing this project for a while, ever since I made a post about Rick Dempsey way back in July, 2007.

So, what makes a Rainout Blog Hall of Famer? I’ve been wrestling with that question for a while.

(Warning: Here goes a lot rambling…)

At first, I was thinking of individuals who have had outstanding performances in a bad weather games. While his performances did not happen while games were in play, Dempsey certainly made his mark performing on soaked tarps during rain delays.

To me, the notoriety Dempsey received for his acts make him a first-ballot Rainout Blog Hall of Famer. Also, I think we need to give Dempsey credit for the rash of rain delay antics we saw a few years ago by college baseball games. With those 1970s performances, we may not have seen those elaborate, choreographed acts performed by want-to-be thespian college ball players. 

So, we’ve established that qualifications for entry into the RoBHoF are not exclusive to great on-field game performances. If a player, or coach, or fan, or whomever – how about a horse? Sure! – performs in a manner that is widely recognized, then that person, or whatever, can be considered for induction. 

A performance that is good or bad, right?

Right.

That brings us to Leon Lett. 

Remember Lett’s gaffe in the snow during in the 1993 Thanksgiving Day game that snatched defeat for his Cowboys from the jowls of victory? Of course you remember. We all remember.

I’m not comparing the moment to far more significant historic events, but I remember exactly where I was when the play happened.

For that one play in the snow, an unusual snow game for Texas Stadium, Lett is a Rainout Blog Hall of Famer. 

First ballot? We’ll debate that later.

So, who else? Hmmm. 

We’ll, LeShean McCoy had more than 200 yards rushing to lead the Eagles to a win over the Lions in blizzard-like conditions a couple of weeks ago. Does that qualify? 

Maybe.

It was great day for McCoy, but is it his performance that stands out about that game?

No. It’s the snow.

Ok. So, do we induct events/games in to the hall of fame?

If so, the Ice Bowl has to be the leading candidate. And when I think of weather games, I immediately think of the Fog Bowl playoff game at Soldier Field in 1988. There are many, many others to consider.

If I’m going to do this, take the time for such an uber fun project as creating a sports/weather hall of fame, it’s going to take a lot of time, thought and research. 

Wanna help? 

If you have suggestions or creative ideas for the project, I’ll gladly accept. Send me an email or tweet (@TheRealChadOz).

Hail, United!

The weather outside is frightful at Britannia Stadium where homestanding Stoke is hosting Manchester United in a Capital One Cup quarterfinal match.

At around the 30^th minute, the teams were forced off the field by a driving hailstorm. 

Play resumed moments later, and the game is now at halftime with neither teams having netted a goal.

Update: Weather was a non-factor following the 9-minute, 47-second hail delay in the first half. Manchester United tallied two second-half goals for the 2-0 win.

-- hail --

All the elements

It's the time of year when we can see a lot of different weather types affect our outdoor (sometimes indoor) sporting events. 

Last week, when I was spending a little time recapping the snowy NFL games from the previous Sunday, my pal, Chad, sent me a link to this web page, which contains 30 superb photos of NFL games being played in snow, rain, mud, fog and... well, that's about it.

Premier weather conditions

I love waking up with Rebecca Lowe.

Let me rephrase that so my wife doesn’t bop me in the puss with a snow shovel.

 I love crawling out of bed on weekend mornings, tuning the telly to NBC Sports and watching the English Premier League, where during pregame, halftime and postgame, Lowe is the lovely brilliant and talented presenter.

This weekend, Lowe and her supporting cast will be talking about a slew of games taking place in locations around the UK where much of the weather will be rainy and windy. No monsoons, but the conditions could be a bit sloppy. 

Wind could be a factor, however, when Sunderland hosts Norwich. The extended forecast is calling for gusts of more than 40 mph.

The sloppiest of all, if the forecast holds up, could be the Arsenal versus Chelsea match Monday in North London. A lot is on the line in that match, where rain showers and wind are predicted.

-- rain --

Snow delay

Photo: Bulent Kilic

I've been slipping on my soccer world football coverage lately, but I couldn't pass on this uber cool photo of Juventus' goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon walking off the pitch last Tuesday, Dec. 10, when heavy snow postponed a UEFA Champions League match between the Italian club and Galatasaray at the TT Arena Stadium in Istanbul.

The match was called at the 32^nd minute after snow and hail made pitch conditions unplayable.

The match resumed the next day and Galatasaray scored a 1-0 win, eliminating Juventus.

-- snow --

Weekend wrap

Before fans could file into Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium for Sunday’s Browns-versus-Bears tilt, this had to be done:

Photo: Associated Press

Approximately five to eight inches of snow piled up on seats and in aisles prior to kickoff, and according to team officials, the Browns had more than 150 people working Saturday evening to clear the way for spectators to see their Brownies blow the game fall in dramatic fashion to the visiting Bears, 38-31.

After all the snow clearing, the intensity of the snow storm blew more snow back on to some of the seats before the game, Browns officials claim, forcing some fans to clear their own way as they arrived at their seats.

In other sports weather news, Navy once again rolled over Army, 34-7, with a little snow in the field in Philadelphia. The win is the 12^th in a row for Navy.

Photo: Associated Press

Believe it or not, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has never played in a snow game despite playing college ball at Wisconsin. He told the New York Times he was disappointed the snow stopped in New York – I know it’s actually New Jersey – Sunday before his team thrashed the Giants, 23-0. But, as the article says, maybe Wilson will get another chance to play in the New York snow when the Super Bowl in played in MetLife Stadium in a couple of months.

Photos: Seahawks Instagram

Snowy Friday of Football

In case you need a snow football game fix -- wasn't last Sunday enough? -- Towson and Eastern Illinois are battling it out right now on a slippery field on ESPN2 in an FCS quarterfinal playoff game.

The playoff game is being played in Charleston, Ill. -- that's home to No. 2 Eastern Illinois -- where three to six inches of snow is forecasted.

Towson, the No. 7 team in the nation, had a bit of trouble this week preparing for tonight's contest because of snow and freezing rain.

Anyway, if you  guessed the photo above is of the main monitor in The Rainout Blog World Headquarters, you would be correct.