Fires May Force NFL to Move Monday's game out of San Diego

ESPN.com ^ | 12/16/03 | ESPN News Services

[defenderSD]

This Monday night, the question may be: Is San Diego ready for some football?

Because of the brushfires that have engulfed at least 15,000 acres in Southern California, the NFL is considering the possibility of moving Monday's Dolphins-Chargers game from San Diego to a different city.

The league has held preliminary discussions with officials from three other cities: Phoenix, Oakland and San Francisco.

The parking lot at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium is being used as an evacuation center for area residents whose homes have been affected by the fires. First aid, water and food have been made available at the stadium.

If the situation persists, the stadium itself might be used as a shelter.

Some of the flames are within 2-3 miles of the stadium.

No word yet on when a final decision will be made.

[defenderSD]

The smoke is fairly heavy and ash is falling from the sky here in my neighborhood, 10 miles from Qualcomm stadium. I'm south of the stadium and the fires are north of it, so it's worse up at the Q. My bet is the game WILL be moved to SF, Oakland, or Phoenix. I predict that players, coaches, and broadcasters will fly out of here tomorrow morning after a final decision around 10 AM. Hey, this could be a sudden hot ticket in Phoenix.

[pfflier]

Any news about how far the fire has progressed down I-15? I understand that Clairmont Mesa Blvd and adjacent areas were involved in the fire. How close to Powerline Gas storage tanks by the 'Murph"?

[carl in alaska]

My hunch is the game will be moved, but not to Oakland. The Chargers will not allow the game to move to Oakland because the "Black Hole" at the Oakland Coliseum is one of their least favorite places.

[StatesEnemy]

They can't move it Oakland!!!

Charger Fans would commit suicide first.

[Paleo Conservative]

Why not the Rose Bowl?

[dogbyte12]

LAX is running funky. Rose Bowl is right next to the San Gabriel mountains. The fire is near San Dimas there, only about 15 miles east along the range.

[umgud]

I was just over at the CHP website checking road conditions/closures, etc. I-8 closed between San Diego & El Centro. 15 closed north of San Diego. Only way to get into SD is I-5 from the north, which is normally a slow moving parking lot during peak traffic periods. Going to be an ugly traffic day tomorrow.

[defenderSD]

I think you're right. The "black hole" is out. If the game is moved, it will go to Candlestick or Sun Devil stadium in Tempe, AZ, or maybe even the LA Coliseum if the smoke is light up there. Go Chargers!! Beat the fish!!!

[blastdad51]

As of 6:00pst this fire is at 100,000 acres. Estimated 100 plus houses destroyed

1972 all over again !!!!

Flames were visable less than a mile from my humble abode. I live outside of San Diego in the Lakeside area, a truley scary day.

No NASCAR for me today.

[umgud]

No NASCAR for me today......

Postponed due to rain. Will run tomorrow at 11:00 am eastern time. I'll be fighting traffic trying to get from Bakersfield to El Centro tomorrow. I-5 to the 10 in L.A. then thru Ontario, San Berdo, Riverside areas south past Indio to the 86. I need to get to San Diego later in the week to see my brother........maybe.

[relee]

The ESPN Sunday night announcers said the game will be played in Arizona on Monday.

[BluH2o]

John Madden will have to crank up his bus and head towards PHX. They did a promo with Madden earlier today from Qualcom in San Diego ... he seemed distracted; now I know why.

[defenderSD]

Flash Update:

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The NFL moved Monday night's Chargers-Dolphins game to Tempe, Ariz., from Qualcomm Stadium because of wildfires in the San Diego area. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said in a statement Sunday night that the city of San Diego advised the league it could not play the game in Qualcomm. The sky throughout the county was choked with smoke and ash from three fast-moving fires that burned more than 264,000 acres, killed 14 people and burned nearly 650 homes by Sunday evening. Mayor Dick Murphy urged the NFL to either postpone or move the game and Tagliabue complied. (End news story)

Hey I called this one. We're moving to Phoenix. Oakland was rejected by Chargers management. Now the question is...how many Charger fans will create a convoy to drive to Phoenix? Maybe 2,000 take the day off. Let's hope so.

[defenderSD]

I hope Madden can get there in time. They've closed down parts of Interstate 8 towards Phoenix. He could also go North on I-5 and then take I-10 into Phoenix, but he's got to get moving soon because traffic is snarled up around here.

[Prime Choice]

I hope Madden can get there in time. They've closed down parts of Interstate 8 towards Phoenix. He could also go North on I-5 and then take I-10 into Phoenix, but he's got to get moving soon because traffic is snarled up around here.

No worries. He can either take a Southwest via San Diego, or take a limo to Burbank and jet out of there on Southwest. It's under 20 miles from Phoenix to Tempe.

I used to fly to Phoenix a lot before 9/11. Ben Avery Range was my all-time favorite shooting spot.

[blastdad51]

Earlier today the only freeway open into San Diego was I-5. the I-8 was closed east of El Cajon, S15 was closed south of Escondido the S52 was closed, it was a mess!! My neighbor called this AM at 4:30 needing help to evacuate his in-laws from Puetz Valley, we got them moved down here and the fire followed us home!! We had all of our important stuff in the cars ready to go when the firefighters knocked it down ( Good job and kudos all around to them ) Now it's over near my daughters house in Granite Hills.... I've been running all day long, just now got a chance to relax.

If you come in from El Centro you should see the burn all the way from Viejas all the way to El Cajon.

[defenderSD]

Keep in mind that Madden doesn't fly. He gets claustrophobia on airplanes, so he drives his MaddenCruiser bus all over the country to get to MNF games. But he can take I-5 up to I-10 and cruise into Phoenix. That's only a 7-hour drive, but he needs to get his fat a## in gear to get there by noon tomorrow.

[Prime Choice]

Keep in mind that Madden doesn't fly. He gets claustrophobia on airplanes

That's odd. I could have sworn that I saw him do announcing on a game that was in Hawaii. I doubt he could have driven there...

[afuturegovernor]

I'm not sure but I doubt it was Madden. He never flys and instead pays for a Madden bus to drive around the country in. So he skips games that can't be flown to.