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by College Mike

First Responder Bowl Cancelled Due To Weather

Source – Fans and players who traveled to Dallas from halfway across the country were left wondering Wednesday why no contingency plans were in place after the scheduled ServPro First Responder Bowl — pitting No. 25 Boise State against Boston College — was abruptly canceled due to lightning.

Organizers let the teams play for all of about 10 minutes before thunderstorms delayed the game for over an hour. The decision to cancel the contest came as more lighting and heavy rain was expected in the area.

The outcome was also disappointing for Boise State fans, who wanted to send quarterback Brett Rypien and other Bronco seniors out with a win to secure a Top 25 finish.

It was known for several days that thunderstorms were expected in the Dallas area that could disrupt the game, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Playing anywhere but Cotton Bowl Stadium – an outdoor venue that could handle the 8,000 to 10,000 fans who showed up Wednesday — was not considered and changing the date or game time was not possible, organizers said.

Brant Ringler, executive director of the bowl game, told the Statesman he hoped the storm would miss the stadium or force only a brief delay in play.

“It was never the intention to move the game or anything like that,” he said. “Usually the weather does play out in the favor of the bowl being played.”

The slogan for the bowl game’s sponsor, ServPro — a provider of water cleanup services — couldn’t have rung more true: “Like it never even happened.”

Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin had to deliver the bad news to his players.

“It was a difficult conversation,” Harsin said, according to the Boston Herald. “They’re looking at me, I’m like, ‘Help me out, guys, because this is a new one.’”

Those who traveled to see the game can choose between a full ticket refund or free tickets for next year’s First Responder Bowl, according to the bowl’s website.

“Due to the cancellation of this year’s SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, ticketholders will have the option of a full game ticket refund OR tickets to next year’s game at no cost, with two additional tickets offered per order. Email info@firstresponderbowl.com,” a First Responder Bowl tweet read.

NCAA does not like First Responders (and paying their players). It’s pretty clear since a little bad weather forced them to cancel the game. They decided to disappoint everyone (just the players, fans, and gamblers, nothing more than them) and cancelled this subpar bowl game that honors our nation’s heroes.

Lets not get distracted, if this was a bigger/better bowl game, you know damn well they would have rode it out and played the game. However, this was not the case. All those players and fans traveled all the way to the Cotton Bowl only to have their game cancelled. Don’t worry BC/Boise fans, you have the option to go to next years game, which your team will probably not be in.

Also, I love how the First Responder Bowl’s twitter responded to the game being cancelled.

Almost forget, there was some football played before the delay/cancellation

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