Hurricane Katrina may cancel preseason game

As every Floridian knows, the arrival of football season also signals the arrival of Hurricane season. Currently, the storm is off the Florida coast and is steadly gaining power. Experts predict it will be a category one or two hurricane when it hits Miami Friday morning.

The worst of Katrina is expected to hit Friday morning and then continue throughout the day. This should almost certainly push back the Buc's departure time from Tampa, which is currently early Friday afternoon. The Bucs plan on taking a charter flight from Tampa to Miami.

Considering that the path of the storm takes it right across the southern Florida peninsula, I don't see how the charter plane could fly to Miami Friday afternoon. A more reasonable expectation would be to drive to Orlando early Saturday morning, and then fly from Orlando to Miami.

Or the NFL could delay the game two days, to allow the storm to clear out before the preseason game is played. This might be the better option considering there is a strong chance the storm could hit Tampa Bay, and many players would be more concerned for their families than they would for a meaningless exhibition game. Either way expect plenty of Carnell Williams/mud tire jokes if and when the Bucs play at a rain soaked Pro Player Stadium.