Tuesday, May 25, 2010

2014 Super Bowl in NY

Written by SportsTalkSoup NFL and College Football analyst Todd Kleinheinz

Start spreading the news, Super Bowl 48 is coming to New York in 2014. Actually, as we all know the new stadium that will be occupied by the Giants and Jets is in New Jersey , but there’s no need to get technical.

After four rounds of voting, a process that for the first time was broadcast on the NFL Network, the 32 NFL owners voted on Tuesday to award the 2014 Super Bowl to the Big Apple. The first for an open-air stadium, in a cold-weather city. So what does this mean, it means that the weather channel will be just as important as the NFL Network come February 2014. And that’s a problem. New York / New Jersey were battling it out with South Florida and Tampa for the rights to host the biggest sporting event of the year. After two rounds, South Florida was eliminated and it was a head-to-head battle. (Technical point for those as sick as me when it comes to the NFL. Voting is conducted and 74%, or 24 votes, is needed to win. If no region has earned the 75% after two rounds, the region that has the fewest amount of votes is dropped, in this case South Florida . After a third round of votes, if no team has earned the required 75%, a simple majority will win it on the 4th round.) Neither New York/New Jersey or Tampa earned the 75% in the 3rd round of voting so a simple majority was all that was needed for NY/NJ to win. But this was a poor decision by the NFL.

First, for the teams. The hard work put forth by the teams that make it to the Super Bowl shouldn’t be impacted by the falling snow, the pouring rain or the blowing wind. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that the NFL is a QB-driven league. Well what happens when those QBs can’t complete a pass because of the wind, or their receivers slip on a patch of ice, or if the defenders fall and allow an easy TD. See what I’m getting at? There are too many variables put into place with the weather.

Why do teams hate traveling to Buffalo , Phily, Washington , Pittsburgh late in the year? Because you never know what the weather is going to be like. So while it’s a home-field advantage for some teams, the Super Bowl a stage for the two best teams, it’s not supposed to support a home field advantage. And before anyone screams at their computer, good weather is not a home-field advantage. You never hear people complain that they have to go to San Diego , Miami or Phoenix in late December, in fact the players embrace the idea.

But who does this really hurt? The fans. While less then 1% of those watching the Super Bowl that day will actually have tickets to the game, I guess the NFL has finally, without actually saying it, demonstrated that they are more concerned with the “at home experience” then the “in person experience” (which reminds me of what a ridiculous rule the Blackout rule is, but that’s for another time.) Fans will have to prepare with coats, parkas, beanies, snow shoes, blankets, etc. This is no way to view a Super Bowl!! As it turns out, the best way to view the Super Bowl will be at home on your new 3D-HD TV.

What’s going to happen when the geezer group of the moment tries to do the halftime show? Are the people who build the stage quickly, actually going to be able to do it if they are treading through snow? What’s gonna happen when some rowdies pelt some CEO with a snowball because the game is getting out of hand? The list of bad things that can happen is only going to grow over the next couple years, and the list of benefits will never come close to reaching it. But thankfully since the NFL offices are in NY, they won’t have to travel. PHEWWW, I was worried they would be inconvenienced.

I’m guessing this will all but eliminate my name from the guest list to the 2014 Super Bowl, but some things just need to be pointed out, like what a bad decision this is.

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