There have been a lot of really bad ideas in sports. And a lot of things that don't make any sense. The decision to have the winner of the baseball all star game determine home field advantage in the world series later that year. Terrible idea. The Big 10 continuing to call itself the Big 10 for nearly 20 years after Penn State became it's 11th team. Doesn't make any sense, does it? Another item that could be added to this list is the NFL owners' recent decision to allow New York (technically New Jersey) to host the 2014 Super Bowl--outdoors...in February. Terrible idea. The reason that this is a terrible idea has nothing to do with my own opinion that cold weather and snow are absolutely horrible things in general that should be avoided whenever possible. I understand that some people love the winter elements, and I'm sure some fans love going to see football games in the cold and snow.
The history and tradition of the Super Bowl has always been to host the game in a warm weather climate or at least in a site impervious to horrible weather (i.e. dome host cities which now make up more than half the teams in the NFL). There is actually a Super Bowl rule stating that the game must be played in conditions no lower than 50 degrees. Doing so ensures that players and teams will perform and compete for the championship in ideal playing conditions. NFL players slipping and sliding around in mud and snow is fun to watch (for me, on TV--no way in person) occasionally during the late part of the season or maybe during a play-off game, but the risk of bad weather potentially negatively impacting player performance on the biggest stage of the NFL season shouldn't even be a possibility. Not only would the level of play be lowered, but the risk of player injury would be heightened. Why take the risk?
Playing the game in a cold weather city would potentially create disadvantages to teams from warm weather or dome cities. Weather should play out (and always has) in the play-offs and conference championships. A 13-3 cold weather team that wins home field advantage should use the cold and snow to their advantage when they play a dome team in the play-offs to advance to the super bowl. But the weather competitive edge factor should end at the super bowl. This is the way it has always been. Why risk having the weather give a mediocre cold weather team an even greater chance to knock off a superior dome team? It's clearly unfair.
Additionally, the potential of cold, snowy weather could ruin the television viewing. The Super Bowl is all about the television viewers' experience. Watching the game (and commercials) on TV among friends at a party is part of American culture. Capacity seating at the spectacle is made up more of well to do wealthy people, corporate fat cats, and celebrities looking for the next big scene at a party following the game than it is of dedicated die hard fans of either team. So what does this mean in terms of weather? If the weather turns for the worse, those attending the game (not actual fans) will scatter for cover in the bowels of the stadium leaving a smattering of empty seats in the background of the telecast. The sight of empty seats on high def during the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl is uglier than snow, wind, and ice itself.
Don't believe this would happen? You only have to look back 4 years ago at Super Bowl 41 at Pro Player Stadium in Miami when the Bears played the Colts. There was a light but steady rain through much of the 2nd half. The game was rather competitive, even as Rex Grossman and the Bears' defense was giving the game away to the Colts throughout the 2nd half. Yet, on television, there for viewing was the sight of empty seats as those in attendance scurried for shelter to avoid a light south Florida rain. The telecast just looked ugly. Not only because of soggy rain fogging up the camera shots or because of Rex Grossman's awful play, but mostly because people were leaving their seats....at a Super Bowl. That's just awful. Now imagine if the weather was really bad (i.e. snow, ice, face piercing wind, freezing rain, or snot freezing cold instead of a light and breezy 68 degree drizzle) in New Jersey in February 2014? The thought of it is too terrible for me to even picture.
It's a shame because the possibilities of pregame festivities and hype in NYC the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl are endless. New York is America's greatest city with so much to do, even in bad weather. The media blitz could be sensational. But the New York football team owners (Woody Johnson and John Mara) who pushed so hard for this future ice bowl should have thought harder about their new shiny stadium. Why didn't they shell out more cash for a dome? Because at the Super Bowl, while hype and a long two week pregame are actually part of the experience, these things (like the weather) shouldn't be more important factors than the game itself. Brrrr and boo. Terrible idea.
The following source contributed to this post:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/2014-super-bowl-new-york-jersey-bad-idea
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