Холбооны нисэхийн захиргааны баасан гарагт бүх нислэгийг улсын хэмжээнд түр зогсоосон шийдвэр мэргэжлийн болон коллежийн багуудын зорчих хуваарьт нөлөөлж, зарим тоглолтын цагийг өөрчилжээ.
Бямба гарагт АНУ даяар спортын арга хэмжээ аажмаар хэвийн горимдоо шилжсэн байна. Коллежийн хөлбөмбөгийн хэд хэдэн тоглолтыг зочин багуудад газардаж, бэлтгэлээ базаах хугацаа олгохын тулд гурван цагаар хойшлуулжээ. Юта–Аризона, Аризона мужийн их сургууль–Төв Флоридагийн тоглолтуудын эхлэх цаг өөрчлөгдсөн бол Оберн зэрэг баг чартер автобусаар зорчсон байна. Миссисипи–Оклахомагийн тоглолт ням гарагийн 13:00 цагт товлогдож, NFL-ийн тоглолттой давхцахаар болжээ.
NFL-ийн багууд ихэвчлэн тоглолтынхоо өмнөх өдөр зорчдог тул нислэгийн зогсолтын нөлөө харьцангуй бага байв. Харин шүүгч Дон Уиллард ням гарагт эхлээд “Долфинс”–“Колтс” тоглолтыг шүүгээд, дараа нь зүүн тийш 112 миль зорчиж “Стилерс”–“Бенгалс”-ын тоглолтод ажиллахаар болжээ.
Өмнөд Калифорнийн их сургуулийн эмэгтэй сагсан бөмбөгийн баг Өмнөд Каролинагийн эсрэг тоглохоор онгоцонд суусны дараа нислэгийн зогсолт зарлагдаж, Лос-Анжелест хоноод бямба гарагт Гринвилл рүү хөдөлсөн байна. Эмэгтэйчүүдийн хөлбөмбөгийн “Юта Роялс” Вашингтонд аль хэдийн хүрсэн байсан бол “Канзас-Сити Кэррент” баасан гарагт Нью-Йорк руу явах ёстой байв; тус баг ням гарагийн “Готэм”-тэй хийх хагас шигшээд амжиж очихоор лиг болон чартерын түнштэйгээ зохицуулалт хийжээ. NHL-ийн бямба гарагийн 14 тоглолтын ихэнх баг нислэг зогсохоос өмнө зорьсон газартаа хүрсэн бөгөөд “Сан-Хосе Шаркс” баасан гарагийн орой Ютад очсон байна.
NBA-ийн багуудын ихэнх нь бага хэмжээгээр нөлөөлсөн ч “Кливленд Кавальерс” Майамид саатжээ. “Хит”-тэй тоглосны дараа баасан гарагт нисэж чадаагүй баг бямба гарагийн 08:54 цагт Майамигаас хөдөлж, орой нь “Даллас Маверикс”-тэй тоглохоор Кливленд рүү явсан байна. Донован Митчелл тоглолтыг хойшлуулахыг илүүд үзэх байсан ч баг нөхцөл байдалд зохицохоос өөр аргагүй гэж хэлжээ; талбай нь ойрын 11 өдөр дараалан арга хэмжээтэй тул тоглолтыг шилжүүлэхэд хүндрэлтэй байв.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.
Already a member?
Major sporting events across the United States slowly returned to normal on Saturday, following a nationwide grounding of all flights by the Federal Aviation Administration a day prior that disrupted travel plans for professional and college teams.
Most college football programs playing on Saturday travel the day before kickoff, and several matches were delayed by hours to give visiting squads extra time to land and prepare.
Second-ranked Utah’s fixture at 22nd-ranked Arizona was pushed back by three hours, as was Arizona State’s game at Central Florida. Other teams, including Auburn, chose charter buses. One way or another, most programs secured a solution.
There was, of course, a single major exception: 19th-ranked Mississippi’s game at Oklahoma will now compete directly with the NFL, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. EST on Sunday.
The NFL benefited from its Sunday schedule, as teams usually travel the day before their matches. Friday’s travel pause ultimately had the greatest impact on official Don Willard, who is set to referee two games on the same day.
Willard will officiate the Dolphins-Colts fixture at 1 p.m. EST before travelling 112 miles east for a Steelers-Bengals Sunday Night Football contest.
JuJu Watkins and her third-ranked Southern California teammates had just boarded their flight to face top-ranked South Carolina when the ground stop was issued. The Trojans women’s basketball team stayed in Los Angeles for the night after being deplaned, and their departure for Greenville was pushed to Saturday.
In women’s soccer, the Utah Royals already were in the Washington, D.C., area ahead of their National Women’s Soccer League semifinal against the Washington Spirit on Saturday. The Kansas City Current were supposed to depart Friday for their semifinal against Gotham FC on Sunday in New York.
The Current told ESPN they were “collaborating with key stakeholders, including the NWSL and our charter partner, to identify next steps in order to arrive safely ahead of our match against Gotham FC on Sunday.”
There were 14 scheduled NHL games on Saturday, and the majority made it to their destinations before the flight stoppage began. The San Jose Sharks, who were left waiting to see whether they would be able to travel, arrived late Friday in Utah.
In the NBA, most teams were, at worst, mildly affected by Friday’s events. Cleveland was the outlier.
The Cavaliers started their Saturday much earlier than usual, leaving Miami at 8:54 a.m. on a plane taking them to Cleveland — where they were set to play the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.
The Cavs couldn’t get out of Miami on Friday night as planned after a game against the Heat that capped a three-game road trip, then scrambled to re-book some hotel rooms. NBA teams typically don’t fly on the morning of a game, but there have been exceptions made for unusual situations.
Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell said he would have preferred Saturday’s game to get rescheduled, but noted the team will “make adjustments, figure it out and go from there.”
“Back-to-back, three-hour flight, it was already a tough one,” Mitchell said. “But hey, they say we’ve got to play, we’ve got to play.”
Rescheduling the game against the Mavericks wasn’t an ideal option. Cleveland has a busy arena with a minor league hockey team, college games and other events scheduled; Saturday’s game falls in a stretch where the arena is playing host to events on 11 consecutive days.
“It’s part of it,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. “You just adapt.”
