Immediately after Hurricane Sandy hit the New York/New Jersey area, members of PFT Planet who live in that particular area of the globe raised concerns about proceeding with Sundays’ Steelers-Giants game at MetLife Stadium.
The NFL has been steadfast in its position that the game will go forward on Sunday, as scheduled.
But should it? With the Steelers having to travel to New York on game day because their hotel doesn’t have power and no other accommodations could be secured, the Steelers are at a competitive disadvantage, albeit as former Bucs and Colts coach Tony Dungy told PFT last night not a major one.
What about the folks who paid for tickets who don’t have power or who otherwise have more significant concerns right now than spending all day at MetLife Stadium? Or the folks who can’t get to the game because they have no gas and no way to get any?
Dan Patrick has suggested moving the game to Monday night, which could help locally. But league logistics make it very hard to move the game to a new time slot. For starters, CBS won’t want to lose its doubleheader game, especially since there’s no other game scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET.
The best solution could have been moving the game to Pittsburgh. Heinz Field would sell out instantly for the Giants “home” game, and folks in New York wouldn’t have to make the difficult choice between not getting value for the money spent on tickets and further inconveniencing themselves by trying to get to the game.
Sure, it would be unfair to the Giants to lose a home game. But the Giants picked up an extra home game in 2005, when the Saints couldn’t host New York after Hurricane Katrina.
There’s no clear right answer to this one, but it’s hard not to think that playing the game in New Jersey as scheduled is the wrong answer. What do you think?
As if you need an engraved invitation to share your views.