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January 19,1999 8:00PM EST
Rain, Sleet
or Snow........
When Tony Womack's Competition
Committee had their weather proposal rejected by the owners
at the August meeting, it didn't look as though The PFL
would be incorporating any type of weather conditions in
game play. The battle cry seemed to be "we like the idea of
using weather but give us conditions, give us stipulations,
many owners stated. Don't just say leave it up to the home
team." They wanted stipulations, and that's just what
Womack's committee gave them. The Competition Committee laid
out a brilliant plan that all the owners could agree on.
First Womack identified the teams not affected by the
weather when playing at home - the dome teams. Then studying
the climate of The PFL cities, he divided the groups into
cites with moderate to heavy snow fall and cities with
moderate to heavy rain fall. For the sake of parity no team
was given both options. From there the plan was presented
allowing colder climate teams to use snow if they so desired
as a game time climate condition, and allowing the remainder
of the teams (other than dome teams) to select the option of
rain. Womack's plan couldn't have come at a better time.
There were some owners that just wanted to force this
through without much thought, and that's probably what would
have happened had the plan not come at this time. Although
the owners had already agreed to experiment with the weather
option in the exhibition season, the plan was so appealing,
they immediately moved to adopt it for the 1999 season. Here
is the plan in more detail.
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Dome teams like Seattle will
probably face these kind of conditions often in
Florida or California.
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This plan was presented as
two recommendations. The first recommendations was to allow
the home teams to select the weather condition.
Period.
Recommendation #2. The home
team during the set up mode will select the Day/Night and
weather conditions. The weather conditions will differ
depending upon week and locations.
- Week 1-16 ----- Day
& Nights options are available
- Week 1-6 ----- Fair/Wind
options are available
- Week 7-16 ----
Fair/Wind/Snow or Fair/Wind/Rain options would be
available
- Playoffs -----Fair &
Day Conditions only
Dome Teams - Detroit,
Minnesota, Seattle, Atlanta
Fair/Wind/Snow Teams: Green
Bay, Denver, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Dallas, New England,
New York Giants/Jets, Washington, Philadelphia, Buffalo,
Chicago, Cleveland
Fair/Wind/Rain Teams: San
Francisco, Miami, Oakland, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville,
Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona.
Kwan Drake moved to have the
plan be implemented in the playoffs as well. The owners
agreed unanimously. However, the plan would not effect the
SuperBowl. This game will be played at a neutral
site.
How will it effect the game
plans?
Teams will have to game plan
for adverse weather conditions. Playing on snow slows down
the passing game and makes it very difficult to tackle. A
strong running team can benefit from a game played in snow.
Rain will cause fumbles and dropped balls. This can slow
down a high scoring offense. Defenses will have to make
adjustments also as teams will look to find ways to exploit
them in different climates. Coaches will have to prepare for
all situations.
There has not been any
substantial proof that night games have an effect on game
play. However, wind conditions can have a drastic affect on
the passing game and kicking game. It will be very
interesting to see if anyone uses this to slow down a big
passing offense.
Deputy Commissioner Womack's
plan will certainly brings some added drama and excitement
to League play......as if the The PFL needs anymore
drama.
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