Irma and previous storms put damper on football season

Sometimes it’s awkward to be a sports journalist.

Often, that stems from a feeling of helplessness. In times of turbulence, you witness other journalists on government beats and special project teams doing important, life-changing or even life-saving work. You see reporters giving a voice to the truly voiceless, you quote-tweet their work on Twitter and then you go back to writing about a cool touchdown someone scored or filling out the captions of a swim meet photo gallery.

This week has been one of those times, with Florida preparing for Hurricane Irma’s arrival. My colleagues here and elsewhere are  writing  fantastic pieces on storm preparations. But writing about high school and community sports feels a bit … silly, at the moment. So I’m going to talk about Irma, and rain, so I can feel at least tangentially part of the conversation.

Sarasota schools were proactive in moving this week’s football games from Sept. 8 to Sept. 7, and I applaud them for doing so. Cardinal Mooney even canceled its game against Berkeley Prep to be extra cautious. Staying put would have put athletes in unnecessary danger. Likewise, games during the previous two weeks have also been cut short because of weather. This might not seem like a big deal, but it is to players and coaches.

Riverview High has yet to play a full game this season. Their first contest, a 35-0 thrashing of Booker High, was called after the first quarter, and their second game, a 17-0 road loss to Venice High, was called early in the third.

“This week we play Palmetto High, and then we are back into district play,” Rams coach Josh Smithers said. “For us to not even play a full game yet, see how our starters are going to be in the fourth quarter, absolutely (it affects the team).

“The other thing is just playing kids. We have barely had a chance, so kids are chomping at the bit to show us they deserve to play. It’s been very frustrating.”

With the wacky, new playoff points system in place, shortened games have even more of an effect on the outcome of teams’ seasons than in the past.

I didn’t mention it last week, because people can only sit through so much playoff minutiae at a time, but the points system actually takes a school’s average points per game into account, not total points. This is generally good, because it doesn’t reward teams for simply playing more games than others. It also means schools' playoff chances can be hurt by storms. If a school’s game against a potential 53-point opponent gets canceled, while another school gunning for a playoff spot gets their game canceled that week as well, but that game was only potentially worth 35 points, it obviously benefits the team with the less-crucial game.

That hasn’t happened to any Sarasota teams — yet. It might happen to Cardinal Mooney, if it and Berkeley Prep cannot decide on a make-up date, and who knows what weather the future will bring. 

The other reason rain is frustrating, for me, is seeing all the high school seniors getting their seasons cut short. For the vast majority of them, this will be their last time playing competitive football, with pads and a helmet and a school emblem on their chest. I hope every one of them is having the time of their life, because they’ll never have another opportunity to do so. Not with these teammates and coaches. High school sports are special. They force you to be a better teammate and, in turn, person. Every moment of every game should be cherished. I’m focusing on football, because it’s an outdoor sport, but the same applies to all the other sports.

Like Smithers said above, kids just want to play. I hope the weather after Irma accommodates their requests to live out their best teenage lives.