Canadian wildfires: Giants cancel remaining OTAs ahead of next week’s minicamp due to poor air
The New York Giants canceled organized team activities scheduled for Thursday and Friday due to poor air quality due to the ongoing Canadian wildfires.
The team resumes off-season work during next week’s mandatory mini-camping on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Giants planned to work in their indoor facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but ultimately decided that still wasn’t safe, with local governments issuing air quality warnings.
“We just felt it was the right thing to do,” Giants coach Brian Daboll told reporters. “We will let this sink in and come back next week [for minicamp].’
Giants practice isn’t the only sporting event affected by the wildfires.
A man talks on his phone as he looks through the haze at the George Washington Bridge
Giants coach Brian Daboll told reporters he expects the team to continue minicamp
Racing at Belmont Park was canceled and the Washington Nationals’ home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks was postponed Thursday due to poor air quality.
It’s the second straight day that ongoing fires north of the border have hit sports in the northeastern United States. Several Major League Baseball games were canceled on Wednesday. A National Women’s Soccer League game in New Jersey and an indoor WNBA game for Brooklyn were also called off Wednesday due to the hazy conditions that have raised alarm with health authorities.
With weather systems barely expected to budge, the smoky blanket rising from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia sending plumes of fine particles to North Carolina and northern Europe could last all Thursday and possibly the weekend.
The New York Racing Association canceled live racing at Belmont Park two days before the facility was scheduled to host the final leg of the Triple Crown with the Belmont Stakes.
As previously announced, morning practice was canceled Thursday at both the Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park. Circumstances that necessitated the cancellation of practice are likely to continue this afternoon and into the evening, according to the NYRA, and a twilight race schedule that would have kicked off the 2023 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival has been cancelled.
“Based on current forecast models and discussions with our outside weather services, we remain optimistic that we will see an improvement in air quality Friday,” David O’Rourke, NYRA president and CEO, said in a statement.
With smog on both sides of the Hudson, the New York Giants refused to practice Thursday
New York Governor Kathy Hochul warned that the Belmont Stakes could be called off if the air quality index exceeds 200 on its scale.
If the air quality is 150 to 200, only horses that pass an additional pre-race vet exam are allowed to race.
“People come from all over the country,” Hochul said. It’s huge for the local economy. And so we can… hopefully get this going, but there’s no certainty about what the weather is going to be like. So it will be a last minute decision, I’m sure.’
Paula Creamer, the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open champion, was one of many golfers to wear masks at a pro-am in Galloway, New Jersey, on Thursday, a day before the LPGA Classic was due to begin.
Creamer also wore sunglasses for most of her nine holes as her eyes became irritated from the hazy, smoky conditions.
Creamer is used to seeing the bright Atlantic City skyline when she poses for a professional photo. This was different. “You can’t even see an outline of it,” she said. “It’s such a wild thing. I don’t know if I’ve ever played in a tournament where we have to worry about the air and pollution, especially in the United States.’
A Major League Baseball statement said the Diamondbacks-Nationals postponement was made after discussions with medical and weather experts and the two teams “about clearly dangerous air quality conditions in Washington, DC.”
Plans call for a make-up game on June 22 at 1:05 p.m. in Nationals Park.
The postponement comes a day after games in New York and Philadelphia were postponed due to bad air. On Thursday, however, the Yankees went ahead with their 4:15 start against the visiting Chicago White Sox.
The Diamondbacks defeated the Nationals 6-2 on Wednesday as smoky conditions were noticeable, but not as severe as Thursday.
Yankee Stadium was moved Wednesday after a game against the Chicago White Sox
About 20 minutes before the game was called off, Washington manager Dave Martinez said he had walked his dog earlier in the morning.
“Not good,” Martinez said. “It was a fast one. … It’s pretty bad out there.”
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) postponed its non-public state championship baseball games from Thursday to Friday. The organization also reduced the state championship’s two-day track and field competition to just Saturday.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference has moved the 12 semifinals of the boys’ and girls’ state tournament from Thursday to Friday.