November 4, 2012

Sandy's Impact Felt in the World of Sports

By - Lauren Dundee

As we all know, sports have always been a welcome distraction from tragedy.

Most of America tuned in to see the Yankees and Mets games following the 9/11 attacks. We all rooted for the Saints after Hurricane Katrina. It gave us a chance to come together as a country, and helped take our minds off the chaos around us.

There is a sense of normalcy to watching a sporting event. Everything seems to be alright even though it may not be. But sometimes, when tragedy strikes, sports have to be pushed aside.

Enter Hurricane Sandy, which overtook much of the East Coast this past week.

Photo by: Alex Brandon
After merging with a strong cold front, the aptly named Superstorm Sandy dumped feet of snow and rain all the way from Florida to Maine. The hardest hit areas, New York and New Jersey, saw a 13+ foot storm surge and 100+ mph winds.

Well over 100 people were killed by the storm, and damages are expected to exceed $50 billion.

Naturally, these areas were overtaken with panic and chaos.

Most residents had never seen weather of this magnitude, dubbing it the "100 Year Storm." Many didn't evacuate when ordered and were trapped on barrier islands off the coast. Schools were closed and everything deemed "unnecessary" was cancelled.

One of the things called off was the New York City marathon.

The race was scheduled to go on November 4th, and race organizers initially felt that it would bring back a feeling of normalcy to the hard-hit city. However, residents saw things an entirely different way. They believed attention would be diverted away from rescue efforts and that resources would go to the race rather than people who need it. Amidst this controversy, the race was cancelled altogether for the first time in its history.

The home opener of the Brooklyn Nets was also postponed in the wake of Sandy.

The Nets new arena, Barclays Center, is located in the heart of Brooklyn. The area was still dealing with massive flooding of roadways and the subway was still closed. There was simply no way for fans to get to the game.

Even high school teams were cursed by Sandy's timing.

Soccer and football playoffs were about to begin when the storm struck, and now teams are left without fields to practice on. Since classes were cancelled, after-school activities were also. Numerous games were postponed to later dates, pushing back the postseason games.

Sandy will live in infamy not only in the meteorological community, but the sporting community as well. Never before has a weather phenomenon had such an effect on sports. But of course, sports take a backseat to all the devastation and tragedy the storm left in her wake.

All of us at The Bleacher Briefings offer our thoughts and prayers in this dark time.

2 comments:

  1. Hate seeing all the devastation, but I love seeing people pull together to help one another in a time of need. Prayers to all.

    ReplyDelete