Super Sunday from New Jersey

The loyal readers of the TMG Draft Zone will remember the comments I made about the Super Bowl being held in an outdoor stadium at a cold weather location from back in May 2010, right after the announcement came down that the big game would be in New Jersey following the 2013 season. I said back then that the big weather concern would be the wind, and it looks like it may play a part after all. How much the wind swirls is going to directly affect how the ducks of Peyton Manning flutter around the yard, and in a close game as most seem to think we will have, I can see the outcome being determined by the kicking game. A little breeze here, a gust there, and the ball is wide right or left, and Super Dreams are lost. My prediction for the game: Denver 23, Seattle 20. Matt Prater makes the game winning kick, his third of the day, in spite of the conditions at the buzzer, and no one remembers because Manning will get all the press. Perhaps in time they will, as has happened with Adam Vinateri and his game winner for New England. But for now, the quarterbacks will be all the talk of the game. Just like they will be come draft day in May.

SupBrrrrr Bowl

It's official. The Super Bowl will be played in an outdoor, cold weather venue for the first time when the 2014 game will be played at the new Meadowlands Stadium. The debate has been raging as to should the game be played in the elements, and how those elements will effect the outcome. The weather debate has been mostly about the temperature and the possiblilty of snow. But the main factor, I believe, will be the wind.

Giants Stadium is well known for its swirling winds. When the trash starts blowing around it looks like a tornado has hit inside the stadium. There hasn't been a game played in the new Meadowlands Stadium, so the wind factor and how it will blow inside has yet to be determined. Think about this: If a cold front moves through, you are going to have winds up to 20-30 mph, and you are going to have conditions similar to the Freezer Bowl game in Cincinnati back in January 1982. I watched that game on TV, and it was so cold the wind wasn't the only determining factor.

Now there is a chance that it will be warm that time of year in New Jersey. And if it is the wind will be blowing as well. Upwards of 30-40 mph. The NFL has become a quarterback driven league, and they are putting their most marketable superstars in a situation where they will not be able to perform their best.

When it comes to the Meadowlands stadium, there is a question that only a few have asked. Why didn't they put a roof on the place? I don't see the NCAA wanting to host the BCS Championship game or the NCAA Mens Basketball Championship there, but they probably would if the stadium had a roof. After all, if you are going to spend $1.7 billion on a new stadium, why not add another $100 or $200 million for a roof.

A Super Bowl in Jersey

The New York Giants and the New York Jets have submitted their combined bid to host the 2014 Super Bowl in the new Meadowlands Stadium. If it gets the approval from the league it would be the first outdoor, cold weather Super Bowl. The big game has been played in domes hosted by Detroit and Minnesota, and it will be in Indianapolis in 2012. But those games were played indoors. I'm hoping the game is played in Jersey.

Think about it. The possibility of snow, sleet, cold rain, wind, all of the above. Bring the elements into play. But what it will do is keep the fair weather fans from even thinking of going. Literally. It will be a game for the real fans. The ones who have watched the Packers at Lambeau Field in the Ice Bowl when it was -15F and in Favre's Last Stand in the NFC Championship in January 2008, when it was -4F. It will be for the fans who watched the Freezer Bowl in Cincinnati in the AFC Championship in January 1982, when the wind chill was -59F. It will be for the fans who were at the Tuck Rule Game in New England in January 2002, when snow blanketed the field.

But the one reason why I'm rooting for an outdoor Super Bowl in the New York Metropolitan Area is that very cold weather will hopefully cancel the stupid halftime show that for me just ruins the Super Bowl. I want to watch the two best teams in football, not some aged, over the hill rock band that probably doesn't know the difference between a Cover 2 and two covers on a bed. Let's get back to real football. And in January and February that means Real Cold Football.