Snow Game

The NFL was born in the snow.

The Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cleveland Browns, the Chicago Cardinals (now Arizona, but not until 1988), the Baltimore Colts, the Detroit Lions, and the San Francisco 49ers...ten teams that were founded prior to 1955 and formed the nucleus of the modern-day NFL.  What stands out about these teams?  Nine of them are cold-weather teams.

In light of Super Bowl XLVIII's cold weather forecast, it seems as though most people are bemoaning the fact that there may be snow on the ground for the biggest sporting event of the year.  Snow: that frozen uncontrollable element of the world that tests men to see whether or not they really were born to be football players

Is it the fans people are worried about?  The idea of having to wear a coat and bring a blanket can hinder some fans, but these are literal fair-weather fans.  Real fans don't care; they root and travel wherever their teams do.  When the Ice Bowl was played, fans still packed Lambeau Field to see their Packers win.  Toughen up, Buttercup!  It's football.

Maybe we think the teams won't play well in the snow and the team who deserves to win won't.  Well, if you can't gameplan for the weather as well as the other team, you don't deserve to win, period.  It's part of the game; teams win in the snow every season.  It's tough in this pass-happy league, but it's doable and victories become that much sweeter.

The real issue is that we've become soft and accustomed to perfect conditions.  We like New Orleans Saints football: inside a dome where our team can set astronomical records and get lots of publicity without that annoying factor called "weather".  We don't want our games to come down to a fumble caused by slippery conditions!  We want the other team to beat us, not for us to beat ourselves.  And yet, that's where football was created to be played: outside.

Of the 47 previous Super Bowls, 30 teams or 64% of the winners were cold-weather teams.  63 of the 94 teams to make an appearance in the Super Bowl, or 67% were cold-weather teams.  That's two-thirds of the time, folks.  Teams who learn to play in inclement weather and uncontrollable adversity learn to win.

When I learned the Super Bowl bid was won by MetLife Stadium for this game three years ago, I was intrigued by it; now I can't wait for it.  Last time Seattle made it to the Super Bowl, they complained about also playing the men in black and white, let's see how they tackle that other enemy in white.