The season opener for the University of Montana Grizzlies football team will kick off this weekend, smoke or no smoke.
We know smoky conditions can affect players and also the thousands of fans who fill the stadium seats.
Right now in Missoula, air quality is rated unhealthy, but long-term exposure is considered very unhealthy, especially if your respiratory system is compromised.
“(I’ve) got a lot of friends coming in to town, so (I’m) looking forward to it,” said UM student Lyncoln Schrock.
Though the skies are smoky and they’re likely to stay that way, Schrock isn’t worried. In fact, he says, he’s used to it.
“You can’t even see the M from campus, but it won’t deter me from going to the game,” said Schrock.
However, it can be too much for some people, especially if you already have health concerns.
Griz games have run public service announcements in the past — recommendations for sensitive groups like children and the elderly, who shouldn’t be outside for extended periods.
Here’s the bottom line — games last about three hours and smoke exposure adds up.
“It’s really important that individually, everybody — the fans especially — look out for themselves. They are responsible for their health,” said UM associate athletic director for internal operations Chuck Maes.
Maes says he can warn fans, but in the end, it’s up to them.
As for the football players, they are closely monitored by the UM athletic trainer and he monitors the smoke.
“He determines whether it’s safe or not for the athletes to be out there, and he will do that same thing on game day,” said Maes.
These are Division I college athletes. Maes says they are in the top 1 percent, as far as health goes. They are watched for a variety of factors, and now smoke is in the mix.
“We have some of the top athletic trainers in the country. We have physicians on the field looking after those kids and making sure, not only are they not being affected by the smoke, they are healthy,” said Maes.
Maes says if anything were to somehow change, it would most likely be a game-time decision. That would come down from the coaches and the officials getting together to see if the smoke is really too bad to play in and what the options are.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/griz-football-home-opener-will-go-on-despite-smoke/34919772