Looks like the Texans’ early-season schedule just got a little tougher.
The Houston Texans will not be playing their home opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night at Reliant Stadium.
The game was supposed to have been played at 7:30 p.m., but Hurricane Ike has caused damage to the stadium that has made it unsuitable for hosting the game.
“The facility will not be usable,” said Shey Guinn, president of SMG, the company that manages Reliant Park.
“There’s some structural damage to the roof. Part of it is off,” Guinn said.
“There’s also some other damage on the property caused by wind and water. We’re in the process of assessing the damage,” he said. “As far as the game being postponed again or played, that will be up to the NFL.”
The game had originally been set for 3:15 p.m. Sunday, but because of Ike the NFL moved it to Monday night.
The Texans and Ravens will have no comment until they hear from the league. Conference calls among three are scheduled for later today.
The NFL will determine where and when the Texans play the Ravens. The Texans’ bye week (Oct. 26) is a possibility.
The big question is, can Reliant Stadium be repaired in time for the Texans’ next home game Oct. 5 against Indianapolis.
Guess it’s too late to try to have it someplace else. Do the Ravens have the same bye week? If not, I don’t know how this will work out.
On a side note, because I’ve been meaning to include this with a post but haven’t gotten to it yet, here’s Deece Eckstein commenting on that Burka post concerning the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. I guess we’ll find out if those doomsday predictions will come true.
So they built a new stadium in Houston that was not designed to withstand a Cat2 hurricane?
Seems like someone seriously screwed up here.
Anyway, glad to hear you came out OK Kuff. All my friends in the Houston area decided to hunker down. We have close friends in Katy who reported no big deal at their house, just small branches down, etc.
They rearranged the NFL schedule–this week they get a Ike bye week: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/5999358.html
I think they made the right decision: http://blogs.chron.com/texanschick/2008/09/nfl_makes_correct_call_with_te.html
The stadium was supposed to resist “serious hurricane winds”–somebody goofed up:
http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2008/09/10/texans-ravens-game-at-houston-in-question-due-to-hurricane-ike/
No damage of my house, but I’m going to be keeping the tree service guy in bidness. Luckily they all missed the house. You are fortunate to have missed it. It was very scary.