Hurricane Sandy leaves Owls in 'flat scramble'
Temple college sports - basketball, football and more - covered by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Keith Pompey.
Hurricane Sandy leaves Owls in 'flat scramble'
Keith Pompey, Inquirer Staff Writer
There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Temple’s practice week since Hurricane Sandy forced the university to shutdown on Monday and Tuesday.
“Preparation-wise, we are absolutely in a flat scramble right now,” Temple coach Steve Addazio said during Monday’s Big East coaches teleconference.
The Owls (3-4, 2-2 Big East) travel to 12th-ranked Louisville (8-0, 3-0) for what could be their toughest test of the season.
“Trying to get our game plan together, our practice together,” said Addazio, whose squad was off Monday. “We’re supposed to practice in the morning. But because there’s no school tomorrow, we’ve got to wait and see.
“So if anything, best-case scenario would be later in the day. And then, we’ve got to piggy-back Wednesday.”
Due to the Owls’ class schedule, they routinely have morning practices. So if Temple does practice Tuesday evening, it would come back several hours later and hold a Wednesday morning workout.
“I’ve never been in a situation where you couldn’t get a Tuesday practice,” Addazio said. “So that would be unchartered water for me, but that certainly is a possibility.”
Addazio recalled a similar weather-related situation as an assistant coach at Syracuse in the late 1990s. Back then, he said the streets were blocked. The Orange did, however, get some practices in.
“But I have no experience in not having that first practice,” Addazio said. “It’s a Tuesday this week … Wednesday you’re too late in the week to start contact.
“Who knows? Maybe you don’t go Tuesday [and] the next thing you know, you’re a little a fresher. I don’t know. ”
And he won’t worry about it.
“What we get done, we get done,” Addazio said.
Running into the line 3 straight times requires a lot of practice. Take Louisville giving the 14.— dazmeister- There's a lot of school's in the same boat. Adapt, improvise, overcome.— ObsOfAMM
- It would have been fun to practice in the wind, rain, and mud. Temple needs to practice for sure.— damnels
Pompey is a native Philadelphian and a University of Pittsburgh graduate. Follow him on Twitter @pompeysgridlock. Reach Keith at kpompey@phillynews.com.
