Sports editor, Yuma (AZ) Sun

Not in Yuma it ain't. (although your font is dooley noted)

 

So's my oven.

 

What the hell kind of sports can one actually play when the temperature is higher than 110?

 

I played a high school football game in the California desert when the game-time temp at 7 was 118. It didn't feel like a dry heat, either, but because both teams ran the ball on nearly every play, the game took less than 90 minutes.

 

I remember one of my family's several cross-country road trips we took when I was a kid.

I was about 14, and my parents and us six kids and my grandmother were traveling in two cars (my oldest brother could drive at the time and handled much of the driving of one car that year).

Anyway, we go through Yuma, the air conditioning in the cars gets overwhelmed, and us kids are soon complaining mightily about how hot we are, and making noises about how badly we want to stop somewhere and get out after being cooped up in the cars all day.

Finally, my dad decides to stop, and we all happily pile out, relieved to do so.

We were out in the "fresh air," standing around in it, for about three minutes, before we all decided that...we'd rather get back into the cars and keep going.

It was 117 degrees out.

 

Maybe that was the plan.

Was a story ever done on whether teams employed that play style in part because of the weather? Just kidding...sort of...

 

That's just insane. Last summer a kid in Kentucky died of heat related illlness in a PRACTICE where the temperature was in the mid 90s.

Yes, I know there are more factors than temperature alone. But, my point is there comes a certain point at which the human body is ill equipped to undertake just about any physical endeavor, much less competitive sports.

 

The season-opening game between Kofa and Yuma Catholic had to be pushed back an hour and a half due to heat advisory. It kicked off at 8:30 p.m.

 

That's gotta do wonders for deadlines.

 

Think of it this way: You know the difference between 25 and 70 degrees? That's the same as the difference between 70 and 115 degrees.

 

I've lived in both extremes. 120's in Arizona and -45 at where I'm at. I haven't been through Yuma in some time. Does anyone know if it has grown like other areas in the state such as Prescott and Flagstaff?

 

I think Yuma's population is up over 100,000 easy now. Probably more like 150,000 if you count the surrounding areas. I'm sure a paper this size will promote in-house. The job posting is just a formality.