Wilma

People here in KC are not happy with the NFL's decision to move the Chief's football game to Friday night. If you put aside all the competitive reasons for choosing a game location (home field adavantage, revenue, etc), how can anyone justify holding this event in Florida tonight, or any time this weekend? Haven't we learned that an evacuation needs to be taken seriously?
Let's fly a whole team into Florida on Friday morning, make them play that same night, then fly them out right after the game. Lets create the traffic and security issues involved with an NFL game right in the middle of hurricane preparations. Let's bring fans, players, stadium employees and security to the stadium, who should all have more pressing things to do right now.
Ticket holders are having to choose between losing their money (and it ain't cheap to go to an NFL game) and preparing for a large hurricane. Employees who need the paycheck they earn working concessions are having to choose between showing up for work and preparing the safety of their home and family.
KC offered to move the game here and the staff at Arrowhead even spent Wed. and Thurs. preparing for that possibility. I heard that moving the game to the Panther's stadium this weekend was condsidered (its available). There seem to be options which would have been intelligent, even if they would have affected revenue. This appears to be a bad call by the NFL.

Wonder how it will affect those going to the Perfect Game tournament in Florida next week?

You'd think it would have to be cancelled. The current path is directly for the field. I understand things can change, however with the storm surge they're estimating, along with the rain, the field will be underwater on Tuesday.

The big PG events sure had a soggy 2005.

KCbaseball -- are you really surprised about ANY decision made by the NFL these days? They gave the Giants an extra home game for crying out loud!

My bet is the Perfectgame event takes place as scheduled. This event is on the East Coast of Florida and doesn't start until thursday night. Wilma will be long gone by then. At least I hope so since we are going.

My bet is PG is off for the WWBA unfortunately. We were planning on going as well. No use in spending the money on Hotel and flights just to sit in the room for 4 days. Or play in ankle deep water in the outfield.

honest and unbiased, please let me know what your thoughts are regarding the PG event. We are planning a similar trip next year.

Here's the latest from the PG website. I am planning for a go!

Latest Update on Wilma

Jupiter Report #9



At this time the western eye wall of Wilma is about to enter the West Palm Beach area. We have people stationed in Ft Lauderdale, Miami and the Jupiter area as well as the West Coast of Florida. Reports from our people in the area are not as bad as we are seeing on the television. However, we do not want to mislead people into a false reading.



This storm is not over yet. Later today, once the hurricane has left the area, we will be in touch with our people and officials in the Jupiter area. Right now our biggest concerns are the airport in West Palm Beach and possible long term power outages. We have been told that these will probably not be a major problem, but we will watch it very closely.



There is always the possibility of postponing the event, but that could cause problems. If everything is safe we plan to continue with the present schedule. Our biggest concern is the safety of the thousands of people traveling to Jupiter for the event and of course the safety of our many friends who live in Florida.



Once again there has been no change in plans at this time. We will keep people updated as we obtain more information.

Latest Update on Wilma

Jupiter Report #10




Hello: PG here, everything is great.....Sunshine and a good time. Come on down!!!!!!!!!!

PS: We have French Drains

Good one, DP.

quote:

Originally posted by DP2005:
My bet is PG is off for the WWBA unfortunately.

I wish I put my money where my mouth was


The Latest News from Jupiter

Important!

2:00 pm Tuesday Oct 25





The PG WWBA Championship is not officially called off, but it does not look good. If the tournament gets called off it will be made up at a later date. First choice would probably be Nov 18-21.



One of the major concerns will be the fact that college recruiters will be in their "dead period" after the first week of November. We have people in touch with the NCAA to see if a ruling can be made to allow college coaches an exception in this case, because of the natural causes that changed the dates. After talking to several MLB Scouting Directors this morning, we feel certain the very large number of scouts attending will remain the same and could even get larger in three weeks.



The situation in West Palm is not good. The Roger Dean Complex that survived the storm in decent shape will be used as a FEMA staging area tomorrow. Things became much more troublesome today, once people understood the total problem. There is a severe lack of supplies in the West Palm area. Ice, water, food, gas and of course electricity. There are hotels open for business, but other hotels have told teams not to come. At 1:05, the latest report from West Palm officials& The airports in West Palm, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami remain closed at this time. Palm Beach International remains without power and will be closed indefinitely. Local schools are closed all week.



The local news has reported it could take quite some time for this area to return to normal. Power could be out for a substantial time. There are many unknowns at this time.



Our decision is very easy in some ways, while very difficult in others. Obviously there is a big financial stake involved for us and all those who plan to attend. However, first and foremost, the well being of the thousands of people going to the event, has to be the major concern in any decision made.



We look at it as two separate and much different "worst case" scenarios.



If we call off the tournament well in advance allowing people the chance to change their plans and/or stay home.



Then the power comes back on and everything miraculously returns to normal. People are likely to say "PG blew it, they panicked, they called it off for no reason, it's a perfect weekend, we should be playing."



And I guess they would be correct in having that opinion.



If we decide we are going to play the tournament come hell or high water. Thousands of people travel to West Palm/Jupiter as always.



Then the predicted power outage remains the same. Water, ice, gas, food, etc are in short supply. The 7 pm curfew remains in affect. Thousands of pissed off people are looking for those responsible for putting them in this extremely uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situation.



If I were one of those people, that's the exact reaction I'd have.

Those are the two "worst" possible scenarios! As I said it's a fairly easy decision based on common sense. We could look bad if #1 happened. We would be despised and for good reason if #2 happened.



Tonight we plan to make a final decision. If the power is not restored by tonight that final decision will be to reschedule. If somehow the power is restored and everything will be normal by tonight, we still plan on playing later this week.

Ouch.

DP2005

I'm glad I didn't.

I hope people are reasonable -- no matter the decision, realizing that this was an act of God and out of the control of the tourney organizers. PG -- stay the course -- you're a class act.

quote:

Originally posted by DP2005:
Latest Update on Wilma

Jupiter Report #10




Hello: PG here, everything is great.....Sunshine and a good time. Come on down!!!!!!!!!!

PS: We have French Drains

That is the funniest thing I have ever seen posted on this website

I was just informed by PG that the tournament has been officially cancelled.

DBAT,

Not cancelled but rescheduled. We are kind of hurricaned out.

DP2005,

This has been a tough and not so funny day... But I have to agree with KellerDad... It might have been meant as a dig, but that really IS funny!

Gosh, I wouldn't think it was intended as a dig at all.

Hate to hear you had to reschedule, PG. But you really had no choice at all. Surely everyone will understand that fact. If they don't, ignore them.

PGStaff,

Do dig implied just trying to lighten up a tough situation. I really feel for everyone at PG its been a tough year. I have a suggestion....How about the 2006 WWBA in Arizona next year? You dont have to worry about hurricanes or rain.

Also, by saying that the tournament is not cancelled but rescheduled, does that mean that every team that was signed will go to the new date or forfeit the tournament fee? What if that team can't make it? Will they get a refund or a credit? Just wondering?

I would like to thank everyone at PG for putting on 1st class events for the past few years. I know that its been a rough one this year, but we do appreciate it.

I live in Broward county. I am currently in Orlando with family. The situation is pretty bad down there. I am not expected to have power for 3 weeks. I am lucky. My house was not damaged. Many were.

The Roger Dean complex is 60 miles north of us and Palm Beach county is pretty bad as well. Hopefully, PG can pull it off next month.

I am going out and buying supplies and dry ice to take down to my neighbors who cannot leave.

Glad your house is okay. Feel for your neighbors who had damage.

Bighit
After Rita we know the experience. Don't hesitate to ask for help with supplies,etc. If Fedex is flying or UPS is shipping, we can send backup to you, batteries and the like. Just let us know.

Thanks for the offer. We will be fine.

Biggie -- I hope things return to "normal" for you soon. Glad to hear Wilma passed your house by without damage -- it must be the clean living.