4:15 p.m. ET update: The MAC has announced that tonight's game has been postponed. Here's the release from the conference:
Tonight’s MAC Football game between Kent State and Buffalo has been postponed due to extreme weather conditions in the Buffalo, N.Y. area. The game between the two MAC East Division opponents was originally scheduled to kickoff at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
Officials will reconvene tomorrow morning to explore playing the game on Thursday or on an alternative date.
Further details concerning when the game will be rescheduled will be provided when available.
UPDATE >> We understand that the equipment truck housing the helmets, shoulder pads, coaching gear, heaters, etc. has been stuck about 15 miles from the stadium overnight. The truck is slowly being towed towards the stadium is the last update we heard. Wow. One of the four team buses blew a tire on the way to Buffalo as well and the players had to double up. 13.5 hours driving time for the support staff is what we heard. What a story.
Right now we are told Buffalo has clear skies, but the forecast is calling for another 3 feet of snow this evening along with some nasty wind gusts. This is going to be interesting...
2:14 p.m. ET update: According to Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, the Flashes have arrived in Buffalo and the game is on. "It will be a go, no matter what," athletics director Joel Nielsen told the paper.
Original article:
The state of New York, and more specifically the Buffalo area, is feeling the fury of Mother Nature right now.
It's gotten so bad in fact, that a professional hockey player had to call his team to tell them he couldn't make it into the game tonight because he was literally snowed into his house and couldn't leave. The reason next to his name on the Sabre's "scratch list" of players that wouldn't be participating had to be a first.
Tonight, Kent State is scheduled to play at Buffalo in an intriguing #SnowMACtion game, which gets more and more interesting with every inch of snow that piles up. Earlier today I read a report from WKYC that Kent State's normally casual 3.5 hour trip to Buffalo actually took them 10 hours. Just for fun, I asked GoogleMaps how long that same path would take if riding a bike. The response? Only 18 hours. These tweets paint a pretty accurate picture on how difficult it's going to be to cover the game tonight from a TV perspective, and how fans and the university are embracing the weather...or at least trying to.
Orchard Park, where the Bills facility is located, got hit with 4 feet of snow yesterday alone, and is expecting another 1.5 to 3 feet on Thursday. The conditions were so bad that a driving ban was put in place in Orchard Park, effectively keeping head coach Doug Marrone and his team from making it into the office to prep for their game Sunday against the Jets, as Peter King pointed out earlier in a series of tweets.
Doug Marrone and his players literally couldn't get to the facility if they wanted to, and yet they still have to find a way to prepare for the Jets.
Technology will help them overcome some hurdles, but there's no replacing the missed practice time.
This blizzard has presented some unique hurdles for numerous programs, that's for sure, and not just football. The Niagra women's basketball team was stranded for about 24 hours on their bus before eventually being rescued early this morning.
Just in case you needed a clearer picture, here's a run down of some of the more entertaining tweets and pictures from the Buffalo area.