Dog Days Of August: Heat Wave Continues On Atlantic Seaboard

NFL Teams Adjust Training Camp Schedules To Escape Heat

With areas of the East Coast and Midwest continuing to experience temperatures approaching 100 degrees, a number of teams and facilities are helping players and fans cope with the heat.

NFL TRAINING CAMP: In N.Y., Marek Fuchs reports the Jets moved training camp practice from 2:00pm ET to 5:45pm, “while indoor team meetings originally scheduled for nighttime were held during the day.” Jets coach Eric Mangini said that the decision “was made jointly by the team’s coaching and medical staffs.” Fuchs notes the NFL “has been more sensitive to players being overworked in training camp since” Vikings OT Korey Stringer died of a heat stroke in ’01 (N.Y. TIMES, 8/3)....The Redskins moved their afternoon practice to 7:00pm, “which resulted in temperatures 10 degrees cooler at the start of the session.” The team, which today will practice at 8:30am and 7:00pm, had to add lights to the facility. Redskins coach Joe Gibbs: “It’s a big expense, but I think it sure pays off. I’m glad we did it” (WASHINGTON POST, 8/3)....The Patriots moved practice back “a half-hour and ran from” 3:00-4:45pm (BOSTON HERALD, 8/3).

NFL OFFICIALS: NFL VP/Officiating Mike Pereira said the league examined officials’ uniforms to make sure they weren’t “overheating on the field and are we putting them in the proper types of materials?” Pereira: “Nobody’s ever addressed this. It has been bulletproof, 100% polyester that roasts you in the summertime and freezes you in the wintertime. We’ve made a change.” The new uniforms are made from PlayDry moisture management fabric “that Reebok has developed for us that will put our guys in the level of comfort on the field that we want them to be” (“NFL Total Access,” NFL Network, 8/2).

BAKED BEANS: In Boston, Gibson & Tolson report 108 fans were treated for heat-related illnesses during last night’s Indians-Red Sox game, with ten being hospitalized, after 100 fans were treated on Tuesday. In addition to having “additional ambulances and misting machines, the Red Sox set up manned stations to distribute free bottles of water to heat-stricken fans arriving at each gate — a first for the Sox, who charge upward of $3 for water” (BOSTON HERALD, 8/3).