The LA Times sports editor says that college football schedules need to change due to ‘climate change’. Iliana Limon Romero, the paper’s assistant managing editor and sports editor, made that case after a weekend of extreme heat hit games across the country.
Romero posted her comments on X in response to an image of Texas Longhorns fans huddled under the concourse at DKR to escape the sun. “At some point, schools and TV networks are going to have to adapt to climate change and stop expecting fans to tolerate extreme heat as a badge of honor supporting their teams,” she wrote.
The post drew immediate pushback. Critics said Romero was blaming ordinary summer weather on a broader phenomenon. Romero blocked many of those who disagreed with her.
Heat That Started the Debate
The trouble began in Week 0. The USC Trojans hosted San Jose State at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in front of a thin crowd. The LA area was unusually hot and humid, thanks to remnants of a tropical storm off the West Coast.
A noon start time meant no shade and no relief. The heat index reached roughly 105 degrees. Fans stayed away from a game that was decided within minutes of kickoff.
Week 1 brought more of the same. South Carolina and the Texas Longhorns both played in the middle of the afternoon sun. Many fans bought tickets but left as soon as possible. Some needed medical care for heat exhaustion or dehydration.
The conditions opened a real debate about scheduling. There is no good reason for a game in Austin in early September to kick off at two in the afternoon. TV networks push for those windows because they fit broadcast schedules. That is a real concern.
Romero’s Climate Claim
Romero went further than that. She tied the heat directly to climate change. That is where the argument splits.
It is true that fans should not have to endure dangerous conditions to watch a game that is not close. The “badge of honor” idea has real costs. Heat exhaustion and dehydration are not abstract risks.
But the average high in Austin for this time of year is 95 to 97 degrees. The recent games in Austin were a few degrees above that. That is not out of the ordinary for Texas in early September.
Calling that climate change is a stretch. It is hot in Texas in the summer. That is not news. That is Tuesday.
Romero’s response to disagreement was to block people. That does not change the facts. It just removes the evidence.
Reaction to Her Post
The backlash was fast. OutKick, the sports site that covered Romero’s comments, framed her post as an example of modern sports editors losing touch. The site called the climate change claim “absurd and ridiculous.”
OutKick also pointed to Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” as an example of climate predictions that did not hold up. The site argued that Romero treats climate change as a belief system rather than a subject for questioning.
The site’s coverage is not neutral. It has a clear editorial stance. But the core point stands on its own: a hot day in Austin in September is not proof of a broader trend.
Weather is not climate. One game, one weekend, one heat wave — none of that is climate change. Climate is a long-term pattern. A single afternoon does not establish a pattern.
Real Scheduling Problem
The scheduling issue is real. It deserves a serious fix. Games in the South in August and early September should not start in the middle of the day.
Night games are the obvious answer. The temperature drops. The sun goes down. Fans can watch without risking their health.
TV networks have power here. They set the windows. They want afternoon slots for ratings.
USC’s opener showed what happens when conditions are too much. The Trojans played in front of a thin crowd. The game was not close. Fans made a rational choice to stay home.
That should worry schools and networks.
What Fans Want
Fans want to watch football. They do not want to sit in the sun. Those two things are not the same.
The solution is not to blame climate change. The solution is to change the schedule. Start games later. Give fans a chance to enjoy the game.
That is a practical fix. It does not require a political argument. It does not require a belief system. It just requires common sense.
Romero’s point about adapting is not wrong. The reason for adapting is what is in dispute. Hot weather in Texas is not a new problem. It has always been there. The difference is that now someone is using it to make a larger claim.
That larger claim does not hold up. One hot weekend does not prove climate change. It proves that August is hot in Texas.
Bottom Line
The LA Times sports editor says that college football schedules need to change due to ‘climate change’. The first part of that sentence is reasonable. The second part is not.
Schools should adapt. They should stop putting fans in dangerous heat. They should schedule games at night. They should listen to common sense.
They should not blame a single weather event on a global phenomenon. That is not science. That is a talking point.
Romero blocked her critics. That is her choice. But blocking people does not make the heat go away. It does not make the argument stronger. It just makes the conversation smaller.
The heat in Austin was real. The discomfort was real. The health risks were real. None of that requires a climate change explanation.
It just requires a better schedule.
Texas should not host a home game at two in the afternoon in the first week of September. That is true. Blaming normal weather on climate change is false. No matter how many people Romero blocks, that does not change.
- The USC Trojans played in extreme heat in Week 0.
- The Texas Longhorns and South Carolina faced similar conditions in Week 1.
- Iliana Limon Romero blamed climate change for the heat.
- Critics say the heat is normal for Texas in September.
- Fans left games early or sought shade to stay safe.
The debate will continue. The games go on.
But the lesson should stick. Fans matter. Their safety matters. Scheduling should reflect that.
That is the real story here. Not climate change. Not a political battle. Just a simple question: why are we making fans suffer when we do not have to?
The answer is TV windows. The fix is night games. The rest is noise.
Source: foxnews.com
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