After a terror attack in New Orleans Wednesday morning, the Sugar Bowl (a College Football Playoff quarterfinal between Georgia and Notre Dame at the Caesars Superdome in that city) was postponed until Thursday at 4 p.m. ET. But one Louisiana official would like to see it postponed further. State attorney general Liz Murrill told NBC News Wednesday she’d like to see the game pushed back to at least Friday:
There’s always a complicated discussion around postponing major sports games in the wake of any sort of terrible event. At least somewhat of a postponement is often necessary, especially given the demands on first responders in the aftermath, and sometimes also considering the possibility for And that’s what happened with the decision to bump the game back to Thursday.
However, there’s also often a need to get a game played as quickly as possible. That’s particularly true when it’s a game tied into a larger series (such as the CFP in this case) and one with a team or teams from out of town (two in this instance). And that factored in to the pushes from both schools to try and get this played earlier than Thursday night, with that decision eventually being made to push it up to 4 p.m. ET.
Any move with this game wouldn’t have been ideal. Moving it to Thursday afternoon carries plenty of challenges, as Murrill’s comments show. But moving it later still or to another city would carry its own challenges.
For the moment, at least, it looks like the game will be going ahead Thursday afternoon. But that certainly can still change, and Murrill’s comments illustrate how not everyone prefers the solution that’s been landed on.
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About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.