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Weather woes scuttle Sunday's game

For the first time in Sunday Morning Road Hockey history, a game is being cancelled ahead of time due to weather.

The icy temperatures that have descended on the road hockey courts through the past two weeks have left the playing surface a treacherous moonscape of ice and snow. And with weather forecasters calling for continued cold weather through Sunday morning and more snow before it finally turns to rain, "It will only get worse before it gets better," says the game's steward, the Living Legend.

Only a heroic effort by the handful of roadsters who reported for last week's game managed to clear half the court of accumulated snow and ice from two previous storms, allowing a semblance of a game to be played. But more snow through the past week has negated that effort and left the other half of the court even more impassable.

"It's not a decision the roadsters take lightly," says the Legend, of the call to scuttle Sunday's game. "Afterall, we've played through all kinds of weather before, snowstorms, icestorms, fog, monsoons and heatwaves. But the forecast says we're gonna get more snow, and then freezing rain, before it finally turns to rain; there's no way we'll be able to get the court into any kind of playable condition, let alone worrying about the state of the roads many of the players will have to drive to even get to the court."

It will be the first game lost to weather since 2001, when four roadsters braved a fierce blizzard only to find the playing courts hopelessly buried under more than a foot of snow. Then, those roadsters were compelled by optimism that the game would prevail.

"I think it shows how much the guys love Sunday mornings," said fellow founding father, Wink, at the time, as he hunkered down at his palatial suburban condo.

But with only eight players, barely enough to convene a proper game, reporting for last week's game, that optimism may be waning. Combined with the deplorable state of the playing surface, "there's just no point," says the Legend. "We might as well sit this one out, avoid any injuries or illness, and look towards next week."

"It's just as well," says Bird. "I was going to skip this weeks game again, since I'm just barely over the flu."

With moderating temperatures and a forecast calling for consecutive days of steady rain, it's likely the courts will again be in perfect playing shape for next week's game.

Posted by jaysuburb at January 15, 2005 01:25 PM