Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Thanks for listening, NFL

Just one day after I criticized the NFL for not spreading love in terms of Super Bowl site selection, commish Roger Goodell announced that the 2014 Super Bowl has been awarded to New York/New Jersey at the new home of the Giants and Jets.

Thanks for listening. Or more realistically, thanks for making me seem like I know what I'm talking about!

This will be a first Super Bowl in a cold-weather site that's not domed, and is a welcome breath of fresh air. Cold, biting fresh air. We could witness a first Super Bowl played in snow!

My bias is definitely playing into my enthusiasm for this announcement as a Patriots fan who knows what it's like to endure a winter game. It's more than just watching a football game when you're in the stands in freezing temperatures, it's a battle to stay warm as well. Teams who play in cold-weather games will have a distinct home-field advantage for the first time, and that could be a big factor!

In 2008, I remember the Patriots absolutely destroying the Arizona Cardinals in Week 16 at home in snowy conditions. Those same Cardinals made a run to the Super Bowl after that huge loss, nearly beating the Steelers in a classic. That Super Bowl was held in Tampa, but imagine they were playing at a cold-weather site. It likely wouldn't have been close, as the Steelers are cold-weather veterans.

That bodes well for us northern fans of the NFL. More food for thought: What if two warm climate teams make the Super Bowl? That would be fun, at the very least, to see something we don't see very often. Unlike all those Super Bowls held in Florida.

No comments:

Post a Comment