Here is one reason you don't play championship games in the north.

[Elwood P Dowd]

Remember The Ice Bowl?

The 1967 game, played on December 31 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, remains the coldest NFL game on record. The official game-time temperature was -13°F / -25°C, with a wind chill around -48°F / -44°C. The bitter cold overwhelmed Lambeau's new turf heating system, leaving the playing surface hard as a rock and nearly as smooth as ice. The officials were unable to use their whistles after the opening kickoff; the referee blew his metal whistle to signal the start of play and it froze to his lips. For the rest of the game, the officials used their voices to end plays.

Several players, including Dallas defensive tackle Jethro Pugh and Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr, still claim to suffer occasional mild effects of the frostbite they developed that day. Dallas quarterback Don Meredith came down with pneumonia after the game and was hospitalized on his return to Texas. In addition to the effects of the weather, Starr absorbed a lot of punishment from Dallas players during the game; he was sacked eight times.

[BOSSHOG]

1. But how else can Big Ten teams win the big game?

I understand they can't compete in nice weather.

[WilliamPitt]

2. We call it "football."

Peyton Manning might have a ring or two than he does, but he and that team play in a dome for half the year...and if they don't nail down home-field, they're in the snow and for years couldn't deal with it...paging Ty Law... ;)

I was at the '03 Pats-Titans playoff that went to -60 with the wind chill by halftime.

Nobody left. We won.

"Football."

:toast:

The Ice Bowl, btw, is considered the greatest NFL game ever played. Extraordinary athletes put into extraordinary circumstances...made something extraordinary happen. Unless your from Dallas, that is. Then you're just cold. :)

[BulletproofLandshark]

3. I agree with you, Will

Football should be played in every kind of weather. I'm not discrediting LSU's title, they would've walked over Ohio State if the game was played in the Yukon. I just don't get this mindset that the big 4 college bowls and the Super Bowl should only be played in weather over 60 degrees. BTW, I thought "The Greatest Game Ever Played" was the Giants/Colts '58 title game. The greatest games played in my lifetime IMO were SB XXV (Giants/Bills) and SB XXXVIII (Pats/Panthers).

[trotsky]

4. It's part of what makes football unique.

Those babies in baseball cancel the game if it's sprinkling. Pro basketball is NEVER played outdoors. And hockey - cripes, what was the big stink they made about playing just the SECOND NHL game ever outdoors this year?

Pittsburgh and Miami played a few years ago in the remnants of a hurricane, for crying out loud.

The elements can be another opponent in football, which adds to the unpredictability and excitement.

[BulletproofLandshark]

5. And don't forget the game Pittsburgh and Miami played this season

That was one of the worst fields I've ever seen.

[Elwood P Dowd]

7. That wasn't football either.

More like mud wrestling with pads and football cleats. The worst and most boring NFL game in years!

[Elwood P Dowd]

6. I played football, that wasn't fucking football.

The skills of the players were reduced dramatically due to the conditions. Several players still have health issues today due to the extreme conditions. Football is a sport that's fun to play and fun to watch. That wasn't football and it wasn't fun for either the players or the fans.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Same weather on both sides of the ball. nt

[LisaM]

9. Warm weather can be dangerous to players, and, in fact

there have been lots of documented instances of players, especially high school players, dropping dead in the heat during camp. I have never heard of anyone suffering lifelong ill effects from playing in cold weather, though! I suppose it's possible.

It is fun to watch football in the snow. I don't know why, it just is! Anything is more fun in the snow.

[Elwood P Dowd]

10. Extreme conditions either way seriously degrades the game

and puts players at risk. That's one reason football is played in the fall. The trouble these days is the season has been extended to the point where it starts in the extreme heat of August and ends during the extreme cold of winter. Read the note about the ice bowl. Several players from both teams still suffer ill effects from that game. Dandy Don was hospitalized with a serious case of pneumonia. My grandfather died of pneumonia.

Playing football on a frozen field not only ruins the game, it is also dangerous. I would much rather play in 95-degree heat than on a frozen field and with a wind chill of -48 degrees.

[LisaM]

11. Yes, season starts too early, ends too late

It's pretty much the same in every sport now.

[WilliamPitt]

12. Except hockey and basketball.

Always the same season indoors.