For once, Tobias Clemens didn’t want to play a tennis
match.
The All-American could have earned an automatic bid to the ITA
Nationals with a win Sunday, but that was less important to him
than his health.
His regional championship match against USC’s Ruben Torres
was supposed to take place in Carson at the Home Depot Center.
The air in the area, however, was filled with ash and smoke from
nearby Southern California wildfires ““Â the same fires
that have burned more than 1,100 homes and 400,000 acres.
“I said right when I got there that I wasn’t going
to play,” Clemens said. “It was like standing next to a
grill. When the ball bounced, ashes came up in the air.”
Instead, Clemens, Torres and UCLA coach Billy Martin consulted
with Pepperdine coach Peter Smith to have the match at the
Pepperdine campus, where the conditions were much friendlier for
sports.
“Pepperdine was pretty far away; I wasn’t serious
when I suggested it,” said Clemens, who won the regional
championship match. “But the coaches made it happen.
I’m glad we went there. I would’ve rather defaulted
than played at the Home Depot Center.”
More intense fires in San Diego caused events to be moved even
farther away or canceled altogether.
The Monday Night Football game between the Miami Dolphins and
the San Diego Chargers, for example, had to be moved from San Diego
to Tempe, Ariz.
“I just can’t see us turning around and going to our
stadium and playing football,” Charger general manager A.J.
Smith told The Associated Press. “There’s too much
devastation going on for that. Too much.”
For college sports, a move to another state wasn’t
possible logistically or financially.
The ITA women’s regional championship matches were
supposed to take place in San Diego on Monday but were
canceled.
“The courts were more reminiscent of a war zone than a
place to play tennis,” ITA West Regional committee member and
San Diego State women’s tennis coach Peter Mattera said.
No sites were found by Mattera or anyone else that were suitable
for tennis.
“The decision to cancel the tournament was very
easy,” Mattera said. “The hard part was to figure out
who should advance to the ITA nationals.”
Ultimately, the ITA determined that the two highest-seeded
remaining singles players (UCLA sophomore Jackie Carleton and
USC’s Luana Magnani) and remaining highest-seeded doubles
team (Carleton and senior Lauren Fisher) would go to Nationals.
This decision was made in large part to make sure the
student-athletes missed as little class as possible. In other
sports, this accommodation was not as easily made.
The fires have even affected games as far away as the Bay
Area.
After the UCLA men’s soccer team’s win at Cal on
Sunday, the team learned its flight back to Los Angeles was
canceled.
The team rented some vans and drove back to Westwood, arriving
around midnight.
“It was a real road trip,” UCLA coach Tom Fitzgerald
said. “The fact that we got to go home is great. We might
have stayed for a flight the next morning, but a lot of our players
had exams.”
The UCLA women’s soccer team’s game against Arizona
on Sunday was delayed 30 minutes while the teams waited for the
third official to show up, as he couldn’t fly into Southern
California.
“It wasn’t a major inconvenience,” UCLA coach
Jill Ellis said. “With two officials there’s more of a
likelihood of missing offsides calls. Both coaches agreed to play
with two officials before the game.”
UCLA’s second goal came off of a penalty kick, causing
Ellis to fear that the Arizona coach might appeal if the Bruins
only won by one goal.
“I told my team that we really need to put it away in the
second half,” Ellis said.
The Air Force men’s soccer team was supposed to play at
San Diego State on Sunday, but because of the conditions, the game
was postponed until Monday.
But the game was postponed indefinitely, and Air Force had to
fly back Monday night rather than Sunday evening.
“It’s a lot like the Sept. 11 (2001) tragedy,”
Troy Garnhart, Air Force assistant athletic director said.
“There were circumstances beyond our control. We didn’t
have too many options. The coaches decided to cut our losses and
head back.”
Tonight’s UCLA women’s volleyball match at Cal State
Northridge will go on as scheduled, as the nearest fires to
Northridge are 10 miles away.
No other collegiate sporting events have been canceled for this
week.
The UCLA men’s volleyball team’s flight back to Los
Angeles on Saturday night from Calgary was not canceled.
With reports from Jeff Eisenberg, Bruin Sports Senior
Staff.