The NFL cancelled its annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio last night due to horrendous conditions found in a stadium usually reserved for high school football games.
I thought it'd be hard to top the embarrassment of canceling the first preseason game of the season, but then I read the report on how it went down.
From nfl.com:
According to several sources familiar with the field preparation, things went awry after the subsequent painting of logos in the middle of the field and in the end zones on Sunday. Improper paint may have been used, and when it did not seem to be drying quickly enough, someone apparently made the dubious decision to heat the field in an effort to dry it — thus melting the rubber pellets inside the FieldTurf and creating a slick, sticky and (in Baker’s words) “congealed” effect.
At one point about 2.5 hours before the game, stadium workers applied a substance that appeared to be paint thinner in an effort to remedy the issue. However, according to a Packers source, one Green Bay employee noticed a label that warned of severe burns when exposed to skin and took a photo of it, showing it to others after the teams later retreated to their respective locker rooms.
Compounding one mind-numbing mistake with another is always an unfortunate series of errors. But now we know heat easily melts rubber, so maybe it was worth it after all?
