Sunday, snowy Sunday

Jeffrey G. Pittenger/USA TODAY Sports, via Reuters

If Sunday's NFL action didn't thrill you, you must have ice water in your veins.

As I told my wife, Sunday's games, particularly the early contests, were the most exciting I've seen on one Sunday in a while. There were high-scoring games, close games, a near upset in New England and constant lead changes late in the fourth quarter of the Baltimore/Minnesota game.

The one key element to all this excitement, in most cases, was the weather. We had snow in near D.C., Baltimore, Green Bay and Pittsburgh, but the blizzard-like conditions in Philly provided the most visually appealing matchup of the day.

I'll write more on this later – real-world stuff is getting in the way of important Rainout Blog stuff today – but for now I'll link you to a pretty cool snow-game gallery on NFL.com.

Oh, and don't forget temperatures will be down to 11 degrees Fahrenheit tonight in Chicago where da Bears host the Cowboys. By the way, what's Tony Romo's record like in December?

-- snow --

Pennsylvania Governor Really Wanted to Watch the Eagles Sunday Night

I’m guessing it was nice and cozy in the governor’s mansion, or where ever Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was planning to watch the Eagles game from Sunday night. I bet he had his chips, dip, a lovely beverage and his Eagles Snuggie all ready when he leaned the game had been postponed. Rendell, upset about the NFL’s decision to move the Eagles-Vikings game in snowy Philadelphia to Tuesday night for the safety of the fans, told Fox 29 News in a live interview that “fans can make their own judgments about their safety. This is football.” Rendell went on to invoke the name of Vince Lombardi, as everyone seems to do when they’ve been wronged by something as silly as a blizzard interrupting their football. You can see the entire interview on the Fox 29 website.

The Eagles-Vikings game will be played at 8 p.m., Tuesday night at Lincoln Financial Field. It will be the first Tuesday night NFL game since 1946.

In the meantime, snowy weather caused some minor problems for teams that did play On Sunday. After the Patriots spanked the Bills, the team had to take a bus to Rochester, N.Y. for the night. And the Jets, fresh off of blowing a lead and eventually losing to the Bears, were forced to stay the night in Chicago.

UPDATE: I just read that Gov. Rendell provides commentary after Eagles games, so maybe he would have been at the game and not at wrapped up in a Snuggie at the governor’s mansion. But, I’m guessing he’s not in the booth for each Eagles home game. If anyone has any information about the Rendell’s commentaries, send me an e-mail.

Every Gopher - and Viking - Grab a Shovel

When it comes to news production, the fine folks who serve in the public relations offices of colleges and universities often do some nice work. This video from the University of Minnesota University of Relations office is no exception. The three-and-a-half-minute piece includes a time-lapse of the snow removal and details the dedicated efforts of university staff and numerous other individuals toward preparing the already-winterized TCF Bank Stadium for Monday night’s Vikings – Bears game. It took 27,000 man hours to shovel and haul snow out of the stadium, according to Minnesota Associate Athletics Director Scott Ellison. Cool Fact of the Day: Workers, Ellison said, removed 40,000 cubic yards of snow, which if pilled back on to the field, would stack up to 20 feet high.
Photo: Reuters/Eric Miller

Zygi, It's Cold Outside

Wow, it was cold in Minnesota last night, eh? Not that I was at the game. Heck no. I was sitting comfortably in the man cave, sipping on hot cocoa. Yummy.

What wasn’t so good was the game. It was a stinker by most measures. A stinker unless you like the way weather often inserts itself into sports. I do. That’s why I (sometimes) write this blog. You do. That’s why you’re wasting time, probably at work, reading this nonsense.



When we looked at the NFL schedule back in September – when the Vikings had Super Bowl hopes and the Bears… we’ll, we didn’t know what to think about the Bears – we thought that, come December 20, the Vikes would be sitting as comfortable in the playoff picture – playing in the cozy Metrodome – as me sitting on my man cave couch.

It’s funny how 16 inches of snow on the Metrodome roof – not to mention an aging quarterback’s banged up body – can change things.

By the way, in case you somehow missed the action or any news reports, the Bears won 40-14 and clinched the NFC North title. Game time temperatures were 20 degrees with a wind chill of 9. Burrrr! Pass the hot cocoa… and someone take the whip cream away from Ty.


Zygi said what? You would think last night’s conditions would prompt the Vikings brass to build some sort of super indoor football facility and perhaps chip in a little cash so that all cold-weather teams could build a dome. Not the case. Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said he’d like all the Vikings home games played outdoors. “Football should be played outdoors, and for the Vikings in the past, the weather has given the Vikings a big advantage," Wilf said… uh, before the game. We’ll see if he changes his tune.

Before we go today, let’s take one more look at that Metrodome roof collapse. I just can’t get enough.

Good night everybody.

Shuffle Off To Buffalo

We got news earlier today that the Buffalo Bills charter plane got stuck in the mud at a Cleveland airport, forcing the team to ride five buses back to upstate New York. It took a while for images of the plane to pop up on the Web, but now, thanks to Cleveland’s Newsnet5.com, we have visuals. Hey, there’s one the screen now. If you absolutely need to see more, here’s a slideshow. Ok, I’m officially retiring from this blogging stuff for the day. It’s 11:30 p.m. here at Rainout Blog headquarters, and I’m going to watch the Vikings finish the Bears. The Gridiron Norsemen lead 20-13, with 5:32 to play. Good night everybody.

Rip the Roof Off This Place

Is it Monday yet? Yes, it is and tonight the Chicago Bears visit Minneapolis to play their NFC North division rival Minnesota Vikings. Temperatures will dip down to about 17 degrees tonight and there still is left over snow on the ground, as evidenced by this Web cam showing the progress of the Twins new ballpark.

I know that you know that I know that you know the Vikings play in the controlled comforts of the Metrodome, where no weather element is allowed to introduce itself to Vikings football. Once upon a time, however, the gridiron Norsemen played their games outside at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota.

My pal Chad in the J.C. alerted me today about this brief YouTube video (below) of CBS's opening for the 1975 NFC Championship game between the Vikings and Dallas Cowboys. You clearly can see snow piled all around the playing field at Metropolitan Stadium. Look how young Brent Musburger looks. And look at Phyllis George. Wowza! One more thing: Drew Pearson did not push off. Well, that's what Chad tells me.

By the way, as you're looking at the Twins ballpark construction cam, you can see a portion of the Metrodome at the bottom left corner. Joe Namath and his freshly-earned college degree are sitting here with me. We're watching the Web cam for Suzie Kolber to walk by the dome. Man, I'd like to kiss her.

Ice Bowl As You've Never Seen It

Those of us who dig our sporting events mixed with a dash or two of bad weather hold with high regard the 1967 NFL Championship game between the Packers and Cowboys, or the Ice Bowl as it's commonly known. You know the story of that contest, so I won't go into details. Anyway, I was Googling pics of bad weather football games today, and stumbled upon this unique, uh, photo (above) of the Ice Bowl I had never seen before. And, I'm betting you've never seen it either. It was made by a filmmaker who operates the very cool Web site, Stopactionfootball.com, which features those beloved electronic football players from our childhood. You really should take a few minutes and examine his work. It is great, and particularly check out his film about Jim Marshall's wrong-way run. It's a classic and perfect irony for the electronic football environment. But if you're in a hurry to get back to work and have only a few minutes to kill, below is a film from the site highlighting the most recent Super Bowl. Yeah, it's weather related. Remember the rain?