I mean I don’t think we’re changing. I was just throwing out indoor stadiums in the Midwest which are close and that we know have the requisite field dimensions.
Or not. If it's -5F the game will be cancelled. That's a safety hazard to both players and spectators. FIFAPro recommends cancelling a match that falls below 5F, and the last I looked the weather forecast for St. Paul on Wednesday is a high of 8 and a low of -5. Unless they can pull an emergency venue switch. I remember that Guatemala did that to us in the 2002 cycle, and had us take a bus out to some remote venue (where we gave up a Pescadito goal for either a loss or a draw) because of some last-minute stadium issue, real or imagined.
Agreed. But the cancellation would be a result of the dumb decision. In all honesty, since St. Paul’s weather isn’t a secret and we had a myriad of other options, you could logically argue that we should forfeit.
Well, I don't want to be the lawyer that argues that we should forfeit. But what what I'd just added to my last post about our away match in Guatemala during the 2002 cycle. They were able to get a last-minute change of venue for... some "problem," I honestly don't know what it was.
Yep anywhere from KC to STL to Nashville to Indy to OH looks like a no go with the major winter storm moving in.
The fact that we resorted to playing temperature games against Honduras and El Salvador speaks volumes.
I remember that too from 2002. If we can’t use the NFL stadium where do we go? Maybe get a crap tonne of heaters and pull a big ass tarp all nice and tight over the top of the original venue? Wouldn’t have to worry about tix or nothing. Of course, when the tarp collapses in the 70th minute, we’ll have high drama because the TV’s will only register Aaronson as a blue blob when he hammers home the winner.
I completely agree with this take; at the very least, not making sure US Bank Stadium or whatever the Vikings stadium is called is available on standby is pretty negligent. Not realizing MN is inhospitable cold in early Feb is just dumb.
Red Bull arena should be about 35 degrees at kickoff time on Wednesday. That would be an ironic choice!
Judging by what I'd read about it these past few weeks on social media, I think the fan base was tickled by the idea of giving someone the ol' CONCACAF treatment, but someone in our federation should've quashed this idea the moment someone floated it. I don't think we need to freeze Honduras, and I don't think anyone else thought we "needed" to, either, but Canada had just won its game against Mexico in Edmonton, and the fed really, really hate holding home qualifiers in front of hostile crowds, and I think it seemed like a good idea to them at the time. Usually people only do needlessly stupid stuff like this when pounding shots, though, when they hopefully have a friend around that's level-headed enough to take their keys.
Also Honduras couldn’t even sell out their home stadium against us. No less make it a factor in the US while in last place and completely eliminated.
To be fair I’m sure Honduras would be happy to accommodate us if we wanted to shift to a more hospitable spot. Still not happening though.
Therefore, under the circumstances, I think there's a very significant chance that this gets cancelled and rescheduled for the window set aside for the intercontinental playoffs.
We have had qualifiers in past cycles against Honduras in both DC and Chicago where it was a very pro-Honduras crowd. There’s not even much of a Honduran diaspora in Chicago and it was the articles at the time estimate that there was a 4-1 advantage in terms of Honduran fans. Hence the desire to put the game in an MLS stadium with a built in season ticket base. Too late now, but it probably would have been fine to do in either Orlando or Austin.
I know, but when else would it be possible to reschedule? I'm speculating. I honestly have no idea what CONCACAF will do should our match be cancelled due to extreme cold (and the forecast that I just saw predicts a high of 9F and a low of -12F for Wednesday in St. Paul). FIFAPro recommends canceling games if the air temperature falls below 5F.
Exactly where this match should be played. 60/70 degrees in the Bay Area, great pitch in San Jose, and you know that stadium would be full and 90% US fans.
I think the chances it gets rescheduled are basically zero. There’s really not any other time to play. We have a better chance of Honduras not showing up and us getting 3 points by forfeit then we do if the game getting canceled.
Even if the temp is well below the point that FIFAPro recommends cancelling a match? That temp is 5F. The current forecast for Wednesday is a high of 9 and a low of -12F. I'm not pretending to know what the match commissioner and referee will decide on Wednesday, and what CONCACAF and FIFA would do about it if they did, but those are the guidelines that FIFAPro publishes. Extreme cold is dangerous to both players and spectators. That kind of cold is bad to breathe during heavy exercise and causes frostbite and all kinds of issues.
You know, watching them play El Salvador today, that thought occurred to me. Would it be a 3-0 forfeit? If so, I'll take it.
Yeah but those guidelines aren’t FIFA regulations, and are in no way binding on the match commissioner and referee. I don’t even know that it will,be part of their thought process. And if it were FIFA would already be telling US Soccer that they had to move the game. It’s definitely not an ideal situation, though I worry more about the players then I do the fans. It’s not often but there are NFL games played in this sort of weather and the fans seem like they get through it ok. The players are obviously way more exposed then an NFL player though.