Swine flu caused a high school football game to be cancelled in 2009, but that's just one of the most bizarre cancellations we've seen.
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And then there are the even more peculiar reasons why games are not played. These are their stories:
Top 10 Bizarre Reasons to Cancel a Football Game
10. Fire Ants
Ants can ruin more than just a picnic, like a South Carolina football game.
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and
Calhoun County (St. Matthews, S.C.) were set to play a game in September, 2011, when the
referees halted the contest due to 15-20 "large active fire ant mounds." School officials for Hunter-Kinard-Tyler attempted to dig up the mounds and pour salt on the ants, but the referee ruled that the presence of the ants made it unsafe for players, coaches and officials. The home school got rid of the ants in time for a Monday game, however, with Calhoun County winning the contest 19-8.
9. Hypothermia
A
contest in New York between
Kennedy (Plainview, N.Y.) and
Valley Stream Central (N.Y.) was played in freezing rain with high winds, causing 18 players to require treatment for hypothermia. The game was called at halftime when 12 players were taken to the hospital. Six others were treated at the field. Several fans were also treated after showing signs of hypothermia.
8. Swine Flu
Flu epidemics have resulted in the cancellation of games for more than 100 years, but the advancement of vaccines have made such pandemics rare over the last half century. That wasn't the case in 2009, however, when swine flu outbreaks caused the cancellation of games throughout the country and resulted in the closure of schools for days at a time. One such cancellation occurred in Asheboro, N.C., when
Central Davidson (Lexington, N.C.) and
North Davidson (Lexington, N.C.) cancelled their game when it was determined that 16 of
Central's 30 players had come down with the flu.
7. Air Quality
Rather than have the players fitted for gas masks, schools often cancel games when the air quality is poor. Two Montana teams can attest to that.
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States that suffer from wildfire outbreaks often have to make the decision to cancel games due to poor air quality. That was the case in Missoula, Mont., where
fires cancelled the Sept. 14 games between
Hellgate (Missoula, Mont.) and
Glacier (Kalispell, Mont.). Heavy smoke from forest fires also postponed games in the Yakima Valley of Washington in late September.
6. Skin InfectionsA contest between suburban Philadelphia high school football teams on Sept. 30 was called off when two players from one team were
found to have skin infections. A total of 20 players on the team were found to have "skin abrasions that warranted further evaluation." The entire locker room of the affected school also required sanitation and daily cleaning for several weeks to avoid further outbreaks.
5. VandalismRivalry games often result in pregame pranks. Burning the opposing school's initials into the home team's field is a common, albeit dangerous, occurrence. In an October, 2011 matchup between
Marysville (Calif.) and
Lindhurst (Olivehurst, Calif.), vandals took the
rivalry to the extreme. Derogatory slogans were spray painted on buildings at the Marysville campus with feces also smeared on one of the buildings. School officials quickly moved to cancel the "Battle of the Bell" game, with Lindhurst officials deciding to forfeit the contest to Marysville.
4. Goose Poop
A flock of geese left a deluge of "presents" on a North Carolina field, causing the game to be changed.
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A flock of geese resulted in the cancellation of a game between
Garinger (Charlotte, N.C.) and
North Mecklenburg (Huntersville, N.C.) on Sept. 14, 2007. A flock of 100 geese landed on the Garinger field early in the week and the resulting deposits of
excrement made the field unplayable. The contest was not cancelled, however, as the teams worked to move the game to North Mecklenburg.
3. Player SizeSt. George's (Middletown, R.I.) decided to cancel its game with
Lawrence Academy (Groton, Mass.) in 2010 due to a
large difference in size between the players on both teams. St. George's School had no players on its team weighing more than 225 pounds while Lawrence Academy had three players weighing more than 300 pounds and three players committed to Division I colleges. Lawrence Academy reportedly offered to play the game at "half-speed" but St. George's School declined.
2. Endangered SpeciesFootball games on the small Hawaiian island in Kauai County were moved from Friday evenings to Saturday afternoons after stadium lights were found to be a
danger to flocks of the Newell shearwater, an endangered sea bird found on the island. The birds, which use the light of the moon and stars to navigate at night, were confused by the stadium lights. Football teams were left to play in hot conditions on Saturday afternoons until the situation could be solved.
1. Mexican drug cartelsA game between Monterrey Tech (Mexico) and
Stony Point (Round Rock, Texas) was cancelled in September of 2011 when Monterrey Tech reportedly received
threats from Mexican drug cartels demanding $30,000 to ensure the team's safe passage across the border into the United States. While the threat was anonymous and it was never determined whether or not a drug cartel was actually involved, Monterrey Tech officials decided the trip was not worth the risk and cancelled the game.
