A New York Super Bowl Is A Great Idea
The anti-New York Super Bowl rhetoric has got to stop.
By PackerAaron
Seriously.
I refrained from dipping my toes in these waters. I wasn't going to write anything about it. And then I watched Florio. I don't know why that was the tipping point. I was equally pissed when I read Dan Graziano's take over at Fanhouse.
All this whining about "oohhh people pay thouands of dollars, they shouldn't have to sit in the elements" and "what if it snows all day..." is just about enough to make me puke. My grandmother used to tell me about she and my grandfather bundling up and going to see the Packers play the Cowboys in what is now known as The Ice Bowl. She always pointed out that people who didn't want to be there...didn't have to go. Maybe a cold-weather Super Bowl will allow ACTUAL fans to get into the game, rather than the corporate sycophants who get to attend now.
An outdoor Super Bowl will be a return to the roots of the game. A return to a time when the championship was more about the will of the men on the field rather than the schemes and the coaching of the men on the sideline. Bart Starr famously suggested the quarterback sneak that ended up winning the Ice Bowl - Lombardi's famous reply: "Run it, and let's get the hell out of here" - even the greatest coach of all time was no match for the elements, but the men on the field playing the game were the ones deciding the outcome, mostly on will and guts.
I understand there will be complications. I understand it might snow. Good God. CAN'T have that, can we? Some of you may have seen my back-and-forth with Greg Bedard on this subject. One of his points:
The Super Bowl is about having the two best teams squaring off on a totally neutral field, no advantages.
Sure, if you're playing a video game.
What about dome teams that play Super Bowl's in domes? Or running teams that play Super Bowl's in the rain? What about Indianapolis vs Chicago a few years ago? It rained all day and everyone said it favored the Bears, that Manning's Colts and their passing game would be at a disadvantage.
Guess what? The BETTER TEAM WON.
And that's the point. Good teams, great teams, find a way to win.
So please, stop with the anti-New York Super Bowl nonsense. More real football fans watching real football. This is not a problem - it's Nirvana.
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Comments (34)
May 25, 2010 at 09:40 am
Hear, hear.
May 25, 2010 at 09:44 am
The day a New York superbowl is announced is the day the next Lambeau expansion should be announced, with the expectation that we get a superbowl 4 years after completion.
May 25, 2010 at 09:52 am
Bravo.
May 25, 2010 at 09:52 am
I'm cool with it. As long as they consider other cold weather places for the game. Like Green Bay and Chicago.
May 25, 2010 at 09:54 am
"More real football fans watching real football. This is not a problem – it’s Nirvana."
-
bingo
May 25, 2010 at 10:17 am
Green Bay doesn't have the hotel capacity to host.
May 25, 2010 at 11:12 am
The real issues is what the SB has turned into. Seems like the game is secondary to commericals, experts talking and talking, all media hype.
I too love the idea playing the SB elsewhere, here is an idea, just rotate the game between all the stadiums! Let all cities profit, not just New Orleans, Miami, and Tampa.
PackerAaron
May 25, 2010 at 11:15 am
"The real issues is what the SB has turned into" - exactly.
May 25, 2010 at 11:15 am
Aaron I agree with you. And I'd like to bring up another point as well. A lot of these "analysts" also say that a New York Superbowl is going to be blistering cold with a touch of snow. Have any of these people ever lived in New York? It's not like it ALWAYS freezing cold in NY in February. Of course it gets cold but not THAT cold. To me a NY SB would be fine, not only because it brings out the true fans but the climate isn't that bizarre either.
May 25, 2010 at 11:47 am
AMEN
I doubt GB will get a super bowl simply because the town is too small...would be fun to have one in Chicago though.
May 25, 2010 at 11:48 am
First, let's call it for what it really is...a New Jersey Super Bowl. This is not a win for New York for the most part...yes, all of the media and the families will spend part of Super Bowl week in NYC (READ: Manhattan only...don't get me started on the bastardization of Brooklyn when it comes to marketing NYC), but the teams will live, train, and play in Manhattan...It is so silly how everyone keeps calling this a NY Super Bowl...bring the Super Bowl to Buffalo if you want a NY Super Bowl!
Secondly, since when is stating that Green Bay doesn't have the hotel capacity for a Super Bowl a good reason not to host it in Green Bay. I say, let the media stay in Milwaukee...the Super Bowl should be about the teams, not the legions of media and other sources that come along with it. I'd love to see a Super Bowl in Green Bay at some point!
May 25, 2010 at 11:48 am
Just one thing. Everything the NFL has done has been in the direction of favoring the passing game, of generating more points.
I don't know if they'd like for the SB to be played in the snow, and ending in a 9-3 contest...
Just saying...
I don't have a formed opinion. I don't mind if it's played in the snow, but I don't love it either...
May 25, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Not to be contrary, RS, but the 2007 divisional playoff game at Lambeau vs the Seahawks had tons of snow....and tons of points. Yeah, Grant had 3 TDs and 200 yards rushing, but Favre also threw for 3 TDs. My point being, snow doesn't necessarily mean an offensive egg being laid.
The real problem is the media and corporate big wigs can't play golf in the snow.
May 25, 2010 at 12:37 pm
No, it's not a given, absolutely not. But it increases the chances we have a 2007 Browns vs. Bills, where that crazy safety from a punt happened...
June 01, 2010 at 07:03 am
i think that browns bills game had more to do with browns bills than any wheather condition
May 25, 2010 at 01:46 pm
I agree with you RS, the transition to a more passing league will garner some opposition to this. But like I said before in my last post here, everyone is treating NYC like the himalayas. Yes it snows and we do get blizzards sometime. But in February the weather is decent enough where you can go out and play football. There won't be enough snow to clog up the field nor will it be cold enough that people will have to cover themselves in blanket as some analysts are suggesting. Trust me.
May 25, 2010 at 07:10 pm
Dude you don't what the weather will be like around here in February or how the new stadium will play.Remember the bad winds that came out of the tunnel at Giants stadium.Ny is a gamble (weather wise) that the NFL is willing to take a chance on.People have to understand it took 4 rounds of votes to get this to NY.This was sold because it was NY( the largest city in the country) with a new stadium that doesn't have metal bleachers as seats.
May 25, 2010 at 12:49 pm
New York/ New Jersey can host, after all they let Detroit and Minny host in the past
GB could host one too, all they would have to do is park a couple of cruise ships in Green Bay and you would have all the lodging you need
But I don't want a Super Bowl at Lambeau because I don't want some other team celebrating THEIR Championship in OUR sacred stadium. If GB were to win it at Lambeau- that would be awesome. But the odds are that it would be somebody else, and I don't want to share that special place with another squad.
Lambeau is for the Green Bay Packers and their fans, the rest of these venues can whore themselves out to whomever they like.
PackerAaron
May 25, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Completely agree with this.
May 25, 2010 at 06:02 pm
Cruise ships on Lake Michigan in February? No deck chairs I assume.
May 25, 2010 at 12:51 pm
I would love to see it in NYC on grass. Watching the packers stomp out somebody at Cowboy Stadium this year is going to take away from glory because it's Cowboy Stadium.
May 25, 2010 at 01:30 pm
http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2010/05/counterpoint-new-yorknew-jer...
May 25, 2010 at 03:22 pm
I don't care about upsetting fans who would potentially get hit with bad weather nor the sportswriters complaining for the same reasons, just happen to agree with Bedard on this one. Simply believe that trying to find the closest thing to a neutral venue is best decision for the integrity of the game. Good points otherwise though....
May 25, 2010 at 03:40 pm
Apparently they're doing it!
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=5219486
May 25, 2010 at 03:42 pm
Typical that a journalist would belive in such a fiction as "totally neutral field." Just as there is no such thing as a "totally neutral journalist" (and that's not a bad thing! just be up front about it), the supposedly "neutral" dome or warm weather field obviously favors certain teams over others (and again, that's not a bad thing!). Right now, the Super Bowl is biased towards dome/artificial turf teams and teams that have to gear their squads to eke out division championships in cold winter environs are at a disadvantage. This is so obvious that only a brainwashed journalist could miss it.
If Minnesota played outdoors, would Favre have even come back? Doubt it.
May 25, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Only 2 dome teams have won a Superbowl
May 25, 2010 at 10:05 pm
I'm mean only 3
May 25, 2010 at 04:25 pm
There is only (1) truly neutral and level playing field that exists in this world.
Its called a cemetery.
May 25, 2010 at 04:33 pm
If mark murphy has a single brain cell in his head he will put in for a sb bid. Think of the money that gb could pull in off this deal?? It would set GB up for life!!! The thought of anyone else clebrating there sb in Lambeau is not the big of a deal cause we are not the domanting at home we use to be. We lost to NYG at home in a game they were saying we had no way of lossing. Expand the stadium seating and put in for the SB. With the covered concorses it wouldn't be that bad!!! MM do it!!!! GO PACK GO
May 25, 2010 at 04:49 pm
Never say never I guess, BUT...
GB doesn't have the Restaurants, Hotel capacity (for two road teams and their fans, all the media) or Attractions (I know Detroit didn't have attractions... it was a disaster, NFL learned something). Not to mention the weather, It's different in the Bay than in NY those winter months.
GBP 4 LIFE
May 25, 2010 at 04:50 pm
I find it very amusing to hear journalists complain about how SB 2k14 will be "ruined" because -they- will have to deal with the cold weather.
OH NO MY FREE VACATION THAT I GET EVERY YEAR TO SOMETHING THAT HARDLY ANY REAL FOOTBALL FAN IN THE WORLD WILL EVER SEE IN THEIR LIFE IS GOING TO BE COLD. I'LL HAVE TO WEAR A JACKET AND STUFF.
May 25, 2010 at 05:52 pm
What would be absolutely funny is two warm weather teams playing in the snow! Now I'd love to see that.
I get a kick out of the folks here in Phoenix. It gets 70 degrees outside and they are all wearing jackets and sweaters! I brought in a photo of our house in Appleton with a snow drift up to the second story window. They had to pick their jaws off the ground.
May 25, 2010 at 07:23 pm
I bet there won't be any other cold weather stadiums awarded a Superbowl till after the 2014 game is played.If the game is played well then it will be a success.If it is an offensive stuggle with a lot of dropped passes this may be the last cold weather Superbowl you see for awhile.I watched the Ice bowl last night it was a poorly played offensive game with Bob Hayes running down the field with his hands in his pants.
May 26, 2010 at 02:01 pm
Okay, this is by far the best take I've seen on the subject:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/12713/super-bowl-in-green-bay-uh