duncan228
02-11-2010, 04:58 PM
Snowstorms Threatening All-Star Weekend Activities (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-snowstormsthreatenin&prov=tsn&type=lgns)
SportingNews
When the NBA scheduled All-Star Weekend for Dallas, I’m sure they didn’t expect this. With four-to-six inches of snowfall expected to hit the metro area by Thursday night and possible storms throughout the weekend, several players’ flights into the city are in trouble. And without players, the events aren’t quite the same.
ESPNDallas.com’s Calvin Watkins has the story (http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/news/story?id=4905363):
"All of the events and activities are on schedule and have not been impacted by the weather," Tim Frank, NBA senior vice president for basketball communications, said Thursday. "As far as players, hopefully not. But we’ll be monitoring it."
Players scheduled to participate in the All-Star Game and other NBA-related activities are expected to arrive in Dallas on Thursday and Friday.
"We’ve had weather issues in the past, and players keep us up to date on their travel schedules," Frank said.
The league doesn’t seem too concerned about this, and I’m willing to take them at their word rather than considering it some kind of elaborate spin operation. If they need to get players to Dallas, I’m sure they’ll find a way.
But there’s another potential problem that could be much more serious:
"Never considered we would have a snowstorm," [Mark] Cuban said in an e-mail to ESPNDallas on Thursday morning. "I’m not worried about events taking place. I’m worried about people driving and getting around. Hopefully the roads will be OK."
The NBA can get a handful of stranded All-Stars to Dallas if necessary, but they can’t transport a giant football stadium’s worth of people to their events. This is an especially big issue in Dallas, where they’ve been known to close schools for the day at even the slightest hint of snow.
If roads are bad, that means traffic, which leads to empty arenas, potential TV delays, and lower ratings. All-Star Weekend is supposed to be a party, but you need people to make that happen.
This is Cuban’s worst nightmare. He’s said before that he expects this weekend to make the Super Bowl look like a bar mitzvah (http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline/entry/view/53263/mark_cuban_says_all-star_weekend_will_be_the_party_of_the_century). Unfortunately, snow could turn All-Star Weekend into something more like a bris.
SportingNews
When the NBA scheduled All-Star Weekend for Dallas, I’m sure they didn’t expect this. With four-to-six inches of snowfall expected to hit the metro area by Thursday night and possible storms throughout the weekend, several players’ flights into the city are in trouble. And without players, the events aren’t quite the same.
ESPNDallas.com’s Calvin Watkins has the story (http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/news/story?id=4905363):
"All of the events and activities are on schedule and have not been impacted by the weather," Tim Frank, NBA senior vice president for basketball communications, said Thursday. "As far as players, hopefully not. But we’ll be monitoring it."
Players scheduled to participate in the All-Star Game and other NBA-related activities are expected to arrive in Dallas on Thursday and Friday.
"We’ve had weather issues in the past, and players keep us up to date on their travel schedules," Frank said.
The league doesn’t seem too concerned about this, and I’m willing to take them at their word rather than considering it some kind of elaborate spin operation. If they need to get players to Dallas, I’m sure they’ll find a way.
But there’s another potential problem that could be much more serious:
"Never considered we would have a snowstorm," [Mark] Cuban said in an e-mail to ESPNDallas on Thursday morning. "I’m not worried about events taking place. I’m worried about people driving and getting around. Hopefully the roads will be OK."
The NBA can get a handful of stranded All-Stars to Dallas if necessary, but they can’t transport a giant football stadium’s worth of people to their events. This is an especially big issue in Dallas, where they’ve been known to close schools for the day at even the slightest hint of snow.
If roads are bad, that means traffic, which leads to empty arenas, potential TV delays, and lower ratings. All-Star Weekend is supposed to be a party, but you need people to make that happen.
This is Cuban’s worst nightmare. He’s said before that he expects this weekend to make the Super Bowl look like a bar mitzvah (http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline/entry/view/53263/mark_cuban_says_all-star_weekend_will_be_the_party_of_the_century). Unfortunately, snow could turn All-Star Weekend into something more like a bris.