Despite hurricane, Hokies and Aggies expect to play

By CHRIS KAHN, Associated Press Writer

September 16, 2003

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Virginia Tech expects to play Thursday night against Texas A&M unless Hurricane Isabel veers farther west than forecast.

``The latest report indicates we will have scattered showers ... and not until late in the evening,'' athletic director Jim Weaver said. ``The winds of any degree of velocity are supposed to be 100 miles or so east'' of Blacksburg.

Weaver, who has been monitoring Isabel with city police since Monday, said he will try to decide whether to postpone the game before the Aggies leave College Station, Texas, on Wednesday, but that such an early call might not be possible.

Isabel was downgraded to a Category 2 Hurricane on Tuesday, with maximum sustained winds near 105 mph. It had previously recorded wind speeds of 160 mph.

ESPN, which is showing the game nationally, also has been involved in the contingency discussions, Weaver said, though it's unclear whether the cable network could fit the game into its Saturday lineup if it ends up being moved to the weekend.

Hokies coach Frank Beamer said he can't worry about something he can't control.

``If it rains it rains. If the wind blows, we'll still go play,'' Beamer said. ``I don't want us thinking about the weather. I want to think about Texas A&M.''

Receiver Ernest Wilford hopes it rains.

``I play better in inclement weather,'' Wilford said. ``The defense has to react to what we're doing. They play a little off because they don't want to get beat deep. And when they're backpedaling, there's a possibility they might slip.''

Blacksburg is at least 6 hours from the East Coast, so I can't see other than some rain it being too big a problem.

High wind and thunderstorms are always a possibility, especially inland as the hurricane goes onshore and moves inland. It will not retain its 110mph winds as the colder land robs it of a lot of its initial power, but it will still retain some cohesiveness as it moves on. The rain bands pushing out in front of it are the big problem, and the rotation is what drives the winds. A high pressure system sitting off up to the north is expected to induce high winds along the coast.

Shit, I WANT the game played!!! The following is from the government's NOAA site ...



This display shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow). The orange circle indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone. The black line and dots show the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast track of the center at the times indicated. NHC forecast tracks of the center can be in error; average areas of uncertainty for the first 3 days of the forecast track are shown by the solid white area, while the area of uncertainty for the days 4 and 5 portion of the forecast is shown by the white stippled area.

It is important to realize tropical cyclones are not a point. Their effects can span many hundreds of miles from the center. The area experiencing hurricane force (one-minute average wind speeds of at least 74 mph) and tropical storm force (one-minute average wind speeds of 39-73 mph) winds can extend well beyond the white area shown enclosing the most likely track area of the center.