The Smart Marty Sky Dispatch
Sports world scrambles back to normal after FAA ground stop upends team travel
Major sporting events slowly returned to normal Saturday after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide for several hours a day earlier, disrupting travel plans for professional and college teams across the country.
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide for several hours Friday, disrupting travel plans for professional and college teams across the United States.
College football teams adjusted by delaying kickoff times or using alternative travel methods, with several games pushed back to accommodate arrival and preparation times.
Specific rearrangements included No. 2 Utah at No. 22 Arizona moved back three hours, and Arizona State at Central Florida also delayed three hours; Auburn shifted to charter buses.
One notable exception was No. 19 Mississippi at Oklahoma, which will compete with the NFL on Sunday after the earlier stoppage affected travel plans.
Other affected sports included women’s basketball, women’s soccer, and hockey, with teams making adjustments or awaiting travel determinations; by contrast, many NHL games on Saturday proceeded as scheduled and most NBA teams managed limited impacts.
An official and staff schedules were affected as well, with at least one referee, Don Willard, assigned to two games on Sunday due to the travel disruption.