Sherman: Best game ‘can’t happen in the snow’

In a piece for SI.com, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman makes a good argument against playing the Super Bowl outdoors in a cold-weather city.

Sherman, who says he’s never played football in snow, writes:

“Snow happens, and that’s fine for a regular-season game or even an AFC or NFC Championship Game. A team in a cold-weather city can and should earn the right to host a game in conditions it’s familiar with. Baltimore and Pittsburgh built legacies and winning traditions on cold-weather football.

Yet the Super Bowl city is decided years in advance, and the game is supposed to be played on a neutral site. Teams that make it that far have played through the heat of training camp, winter on the road and in the comfort of domes. Whether their rosters were built for the snow or not, they probably overcame it at some point in the season. The Super Bowl should be a clean slate that showcases the athletes, not the stadium or the city they’re playing in.”

 You can read the entire column at SI.com.

Talk of a Super Bowl bizzard not going away

I’m the dude who gets his kicks writing a blog about how bad weather adversely affects sporting events, but I have to tell ya: Even I’m sick of hearing about potential snow storms and how flippin’ cold it’s going to be at the northern New Jersey Super Bowl.

Seriously, the NFL weighed all the potential negatives and said, “yes, let’s have our biggest week of the year and our biggest game of the year in an outdoor venue in the Northeast in February.”

So, it’s set. Nothing is going to change.

Well, things could change a little. NFL officials said Wednesday that the date of Super Bowl XLVIII could be moved, ahead or back a day or two, if a crippling snowstorm hits or is predicted to hit the area on Super Sunday around the 80,000-seat MetLife Stadium. Can you imagine the Super Bowl being played on a Monday or Tuesday?

Oh, maybe we’ll get that Saturday Super Bowl so many people who are too lazy and too hungover to get up and go to work the next day have been clamoring for over the years.

However, a date change is not likely to happen. When the NFL said “heck yes, let’s put this game in a locale where it snows on average more than two inches in the first week in February,” you knew they would be ready for almost anything.

On Wednesday, the NFL, and a few others involved, gave us insight into what will happen to make sure the game runs smoothly as possible. Their plans include stadium chutes that will funnel falling snow into melters that can take in about 600 tons per hour. By the way, have you seen those massive snow melters?

This snow melter will be deployed for the super bowl. It melts 600,000 tons of snow per hour pic.twitter.com/6rtYCxrVwd
— daniel kaplan (@dkaplanSBJ) December 18, 2013

Wait, wouldn’t it kind of stink if we had a snow storm at MetLife Stadium, but the field was dry?

Anyway, transportation officials said Wednesday that 821 plow trucks will be available to clear a 30-mile radius from the stadium, and nearly 60,000 tons of salt could be scattered on the roads.

With that kind of preparation and snow-fighting measures, it’s hard to see a storm scenario that would alter the game date.

Now that we know the NFL’s plans, I’m still eagerly awaiting a press conference from Bruno Mars revealing how he will sing and perform in the event of a mega super blizzard.

After that, I’m done with all the Super Blizzard talk.

You’re up, Bruno!

-- super blizzard --

Speechless in the Rain

Hey, I got a lot of real-world crap to do today, so I'll be brief. 

I know this is a sports weather blog, but you may want to know that President Barack Obama's primetime speech at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night has been moved indoors to the Time Warner Center in Charlotte. 

Obama campaign officials had been saying for weeks the speech would take place outdoors "rain or shine," but a strong threat of thunderstorms forced the move. (And, perhaps a lack of confidence by campaign officials to fill the 75,000-seat Bank of America Stadium.) 

Here's where'd I'd like to throw in a joke about the cluelessness of Mitt Romney, but I just can't make it fit. This is a not-quite-ready-for-primetime-blog, ya know.

Ok, moving forward to the sports stuff. It's been raining like hell at the U.S. Open in New York, and it appears the weather will be a menace again today. Only two  matches reached completion Tuesday. One being Victoria Azarenka's three-set win over Sam Stosur under glooming skies. I love Azarenak, but I really wish she stop with the post-match dances, unless she's dancing in a downpour. I'll make that exception.

Maria Sharapova, speaking of someone I'd like to see dancing in the rain, and Marion Bartoli pick up their suspended match today at 11 a.m.

Oh, and you may have heard, Andy Roddick will try to stave off career elimination tonight. His match was rained out Tuesday night. It's sort of a big deal to a bunch of tennis pundits. I love tennis, but I've never been a Roddick fan. 

I keep hearing how great he is, but it seems every time I look at tournaments results, Roddick has lost in the second round. The excuse I keep hearing is he played in a tough era. Big deal. If he really were great, the era wouldn't matter. To be truly great, you have to get the job done no matter the competition.

Wow, I really went off on a tangent there.

Didn't I say I was going to be brief? Oh, well.

One more thing: The NFL season kicks off tonight, and there's a strong chance of rain and thunderstorms for the Cowboys-Giants matchup at MetLife Stadium. Awesome!

I know I said more thing, but I got another "one more thing." Ok? Did you hear there was a rain delay in Toronto for the Blue Jays-Orioles game Tuesday night? That's right. A brief, unofficial rain delay at the indoor Rogers Centre. Apparently the retractable roof was moving a bit slowly… like Robinson Cano moving toward a ground ball.

Ok, that's it. Good night, everybody. I wish the real world would just stop hassling me. We're have I heard that before?