By the time we pulled into Pemberton Friday at five minutes to six, it was snowing quick and wet.

Sunday, October 03, 1999

By the time we pulled into Pemberton Friday at five minutes to six, it was snowing quick and wet.

It fell like flakes of waffle soaked in syrup.

In another 40 minutes we were in Cougar Country, site of the Austin vs. Mankato East football game.

Before we walked into the campus stadium the words were repeating in the air "the game’s been called off, the game’s been called off."

One girl wearing a Mankato East varsity jacket pouted, "They can’t do thaaat. It’s our homecoming."

But homecoming would have to wait.

"I’ve never heard of that before," retired KAUS sportscaster Gabby Weiss said. "They’re canceling a football game."

The Mankato East players moaned on their return trip to the locker room. More than one of them suggested scrimmaging Austin in pads on an adjacent practice field.

But there was more than one good reason not to play Friday.

Austin’s defensive coordinator Randy Smith relayed one of them: "We punted the ball. It came down and you couldn’t see the football. It was covered in snowflakes."

Referee Sam Perkins elaborated on the decision to postpone the game until Monday at 7 p.m. back in Cougar Country: "You couldn’t see the lines in the field No. 1 …

"It was a coaches’ decision. They mutually agreed to postpone it."

When asked if they could have given it a go, Ron Ziemkowski, another ref from the South Minneapolis crew, first said it would’ve been very tough.

But he shifted upfield quickly and upgraded that assessment to DEFCON 4.

"The field is impossible," he said. "You’d never get a fair game."

Even Weiss was in agreement by the end of the impromptu pregame blues session.

Weiss picked up a handful of snow, rolled it a moment and experimented, "Touch it," he said. "It’s nothing but ice."

On the drive home, Janesville stood out because of a halo-like glow about the town. Upon further inspection, the dull-golden light proved to be emanating from the town’s football stadium.