Friday’s nationwide shutdown of the aviation system has resulted in a delayed kickoff for several college football games on Saturday. One of them was moved to Sunday — and the home team isn’t happy.
The Ole Miss visit to Oklahoma shifted from 4:15 p.m. ET on Saturday to Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
“The Ole Miss football team was unable to depart Oxford Friday night due to the FAA ground stoppage,” the SEC said in a statement. “After the stoppage was lifted, a late-night departure could not be accommodated by the charter company with which Ole Miss was contracted and the team’s departure has been delayed until Saturday afternoon.”
Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny strenuously objected to the decision to move the game to Sunday.
“After multiple conversations with the league office, Commissioner [Greg] Sankey informed us of his decision to move our game to Sunday, over our strong objection,” Denny said. “He further informed us that our failure to play on Sunday at the directed time would result in a forfeit. I understand that difficult decisions sometimes must be made under extraordinary circumstances. But those decisions must also consider the impact on everyone involved. Put simply, this decision isn’t fair to our athletes, our institution, or to Sooner Nation.”
Oklahoma nevertheless will comply with the decision. Even if the Sooners don’t like the decision to play the game later.
“Rescheduling the game has a significant impact, particularly on our fans,” Denny said. “Those who have made travel arrangements, accommodations, and personal plans around a Saturday game now face unnecessary disruption and hardship. Their time, commitment, and investment deserve greater consideration than they were afforded in the conference’s decision tonight. . . . We are obligated to play the game when directed. But we remain steadfast in our belief that the wrong outcome was reached this evening.”
On one hand, there’s no point huffing and puffing if Oklahoma ultimately wasn’t going to blow the house down. On the other hand, the school may have felt compelled to do something to deflect the frustrations of those who weren’t happy with having the game moved to the next day.
The bottom line is that the ground stop created travel disruptions and inconveniences for millions of people. And few are thrilled about that.
Oklahoma chose to complain. If it makes them feel better, fine. In the end, it doesn’t change the fact that the game will be added to the cluster of NFL games that begin at the same time on Sunday afternoon.