Cold, Wet Sox

Think it’s always sunny, cozy and warm in Florida during spring training? Think again. Temperatures were in the mid-40s and Red Sox pitching prospect Michael Bowden could see his breath during a workout at the team’s training facility in Fort Myers when Boston Globe photographer Jim Davis snapped this photo. But don’t feel bad for the champs; temperatures climbed to near by mid-day.

Here’s another neat pic from Davis catching Red Sox reliever Hideki Okajima and his interpreter, Jeff Yamaguchi, under an umbrella walking from the team’s indoor batting cages to the clubhouse.

Chicago Wants Hockey At Soldier Field

The Chicago Blackhawks, like a lot of NHL teams and the cities that call those teams home, really, really want to host an outdoor hockey in Soldier Field next year. Why wouldn't they? The Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins packed 71,000 fans into Ralph Wilson Stadium on Jan. 1 and attracted a decent TV rating on a day that's long been reserved for college football bowl games. According to this story, those involved, and those who could potentially be involved, would also like to include a college hockey game on the docket and a way to allow the public to skate on the outdoor rink during the week leading up to those games. The NHL has not yet announced whether an outdoor game will be played next season.

Leafs Skate Outdoors

The Toronto Maple Leafs held an outdoor practice Monday for about 250 school kids at a refurbished rink in East Toronto. According to this story, the wind chill dipped to near minus 20, and, as you can see in this photo gallery, there was leftover snow all around the rink and neighborhood.

Rain Ks Matsuzaka Workout

Yippe! We have our first sight of rain at spring training. In this Associated Press photo, Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is seen darting off the field at the World Series Champs' Fort Myers, Fla., complex during a driving rain storm this morning. The second-year Japanese pitcher was in the middle of a workout – no doubt tossing a few gyroballs – when the rain began to pour.

Speaking of major league hurlers, Roger Clemens is getting hit pretty hard on Capitol Hill at the moment.

Update: This is from Amalie Benjamin's blog on Boston.com:

Right around 9:30 a.m., the clouds started looking a little ominous. The thunder and lightning were clearly indicating rain was coming. And, yet, Daisuke Matsuzaka remained out on a far bullpen mound without a golf car in sight.

About 15 minutes later, after much of the media had taken refuge in the locker room as the gusts of rain started soaking the facility, Matsuzaka burst through the door, rain dripping off his mullet, his shirt dark red with rain, and his breath short. He had sprinted from the far mound, clearly demonstrating his speed -- Masa Hoshino, his interpreter, plus a group of other personnel. He laughed as he walked in.

And speaking of Matsuzaka, the pitcher has been parking his monster white Hummer in a prime parking spot right by the locker room door, while Hoshino has been driving around in ... a Kia. Not everyone can be a star starter, I guess.

Wrigley Ice

It sure looks cold outside Wrigley Field right now. Check out the Web cam and see for yourself. I could go for a hot cup of coffee inside the McDonald's across the street.

The photo featured to the right is not from today, but from a snowed-out Cubs game with the Astros on April 11.

Don't forget: Only two more days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Heinz To Remain Natural

Yesterday I promised to post about the Pittsburgh Steelers decision to stick with natural grass at Heinz Field. After some quick research today, I notice that story has been reported… everywhere!!! Anyway, the quickie version is the Steelers organization talked with its players and with the University of Pittsburgh, which shares Heinz Field with the Steelers, and found that overwhelmingly those groups support keeping natural grass. If you want to read mainstream media accounts of this story, here's a long list Google-y good of links. Enjoy!

Twins New Open-Air Ballyard Promises Fun Aprils Ahead

Every time I check the Minnesota Twins ballpark construction cam, there is snow on the ground. And I do mean every time. As of 10:14 a.m. local time, snow was scattered about and the temperature was 6 degrees in Minneapolis. When the Twinkies begin play in the ballpark in 2010, there may be some interesting Aprils in that place. You can view the construction cam here.

Here is a video report from KARE 11 showing construction workers pouring the ballpark's first concrete on a cold late January day. The temperature was minus 4 degrees when the crews began the process at 6 a.m.

Promises Are Made To Be Broken

I made a promise here sometime last year that I would never again write about cricket rain delays. I'm breaking the promise today. I have nothing against cricket; I just know nothing about the sport. But we are experiencing a bit of downtime on The Rainout Blog as we are caught between football and baseball seasons. Plus, I love this Reuters photo. The pic was taken Tuesday from behind a window at a soggy Seddon Park during the second one-day match between New Zealand and England. The cricket park is located in Hamilton, New Zealand. There's a great photo of a sunny day at Seddon Park on the facility's web site.

If you're still jonesing for more cricket rain delay information, check this photo and cutline.

Rain delays start Cricket Contest

If ever a sport needed to be played indoors...

Foggy Conditions Cancel Hockey Game

Speaking of fog(see below)check out this video from about two college hockey seasons ago.

Skiing and Wind Don't Mix, I'm Told

While we're on the subject of wind (see below), I should mention that the competitors at the women's super-G felt a bitter, biting cold breeze in Sestriere, Italy on Sunday. Andrea Fischbacher of Austria and Fabienne Suter of Switzerland shared victory in the event that, as the Associated Press wrote, "was shaped by varying wind and several crashes."

Fog was the culprit (as you can see in the photo here) at the World Cup Freestyle Skiing Moguls in West Vancouver, British Columbia Saturday. The event was suspended as fog grew heavier. Speaking of heavy fog, check out this photo of a man laboring near the National Olympic Stadium in fog in Beijing, China. The photo was taken in December.

Breaking Wind, Not Records

This is a bizarre story: Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele was looking to add to his numerous world records Saturday at an event in Valencia, Spain. Bekele missed the world mark by 11 seconds. The cause for Bekele's turtle-like pace? He blamed the wind. Oh, did I mention this was on indoor event? You really can't make up this stuff. Here's a quote from the slow-as-molasses runner.

"The weather conditions were very difficult. It was windy. I could feel it while running on one side of the track. Maybe there was a window open?"

To be fair to Bekele, other runners in the 3,000m race said they also felt a bit of a breeze.

Tennessee School Faking It On The Field

The Dobyns-Bennett High School baseball team may have to move a handful of its scheduled early-season home games to the road. The Kingsport, Tenn., school is, for some reason, installing an artificial surface to its home ballyard, J. Fred Johnson Stadium. However, lots of January rain has delayed the project, forcing construction crews to work overtime in an attempt to meet deadlines. If you have two minutes to kill, you can watch a short B-roll video about the project here.

That reminds me, I think I saw over the weekend a story about the Steelers electing to stick with natural grass at Heinz Field. Did I really see that story or was it just a dream? I'll check into it. If it's true, good for the Steelers.

By the way, this is post No. 250 on The Rainout Blog. Does that call for a celebration. You bet it does!!!

Raindrops and Curveballs

We've officially hit a dry spell here at The Rainout Blog since football season came to an end. Good news, however, is on the way. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in just a few days and soon there will be potential rainouts during those March exhibition games. And in April, when the first pitch is fired to open the regular season (Actually the season opens March 31 this year), there will be great potential for scenes like this. Last April was hectic with rain and snow hitting Major League ballparks at a maddening pace. I made more posts in April 2007 than any other month during the brief history of this blog.

By the way, the headline to this post – "Raindrops and Curveballs" – was the original name of this blog, which initially was intended to chronicle baseball rainouts and delays. And you think the current format is narrowly focused.

I'll Take The AFC And Lei The Points

Boston Globe writer Pat Bigold wrote Wednesday that the weather for the AFC’s first Pro Bowl practice in Honolulu was, like the New England Patriots, slightly less than perfect. Here’s an excerpt from Bigold’s column:

Like the Patriots' offensive line last Sunday, the Hawaiian weather was not at its best as the AFC held its first practice for the Pro Bowl yesterday.

The sky above the Kapolei High School football field, 24 miles west of Waikiki Beach on Oahu's leeward coast, was thick with gray clouds. There wasn't a hint of the subtropical sun that has earned Hawaii the nickname "paradise."

But it didn't rain, and temperatures did hover in the mid 70s.
But the shirt-sleeve climate was no consolation for the several Patriots who are now in Hawaii.

The forecast for Sunday’s Pro Bowl calls for mostly sunny skies with a high a 79 and a 20 percent chance of rain. Darn near perfect, if you ask me.

Wet Women Delayed In Australia

The start of the Australian Ladies Masters has been pushed back a day and the event has been reduced to 54 holes because of heavy rain at the Royal Pines Resort Course. Nearly two inches of rain fell on the course Wednesday during a 15-minute period. The course already had been saturated by four days of rain in Gold Coast. The 16 inches of rain that fell over those four days canceled practice rounds Monday and Tuesday. Australia’s Karrie Webb is one of the tournament favorites.

We're Talkin' About Practice

The Reuters photo above was taken at a soggy practice pitch in Kumasi Wednesday just before Egypt’s national soccer team had its practice session by heavy rain. Here is another cool shot of the wet practice.

Preds Stop Hurricanes, Wait Out Tornado

The Predators whacked the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night, but players, fans and everyone inside Nashville's Sommet Center had to sit tight until tornado warnings passed. I have no time to write today, but you can read the full story here.

Rain On Giants Parade

Rain was forecasted for New York today, but the Giants parade through the Canyon of Heroes was a spared from the wet stuff… until now. Umbrellas began popping up around 1:45 p.m., local time. You can watch the rally live here.

Today I Proclaim Belly Dancing To Be A Sport

Is belly dancing a sport? Let's say it is for the sake of posting this video on my sports-weather blog. It's a clip from the new Fit TV series, Shimmy. Included are a few dancing scenes in snow, which, if belly dancing is indeed a sport, justifies posting it here, right? Right!

Busby Babes Video Tribute

Busby Babes Remembered

I like to keep things light here on The Rainout Blog, but it should be mentioned that Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed 23 of the 44 passengers aboard British European Airways Flight 609 on Feb. 6, 1958. The Manchester United football team along with supporters and journalists were aboard the plane when it crashed on its third attempt to take off a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany.

Numerous newspapers are running stories this week – here's one – to remember the tragedy in which eight Man U players lost their lives, as did eight sports journalists who covered the team and, through their writings, brought to life the matches for their readers.

Leatherheads And NFL Draft in April

"Leatherheads" looks like a must-see flick for us football guys. In addition to featuring some big-name Hollywood stars, the trailer promises some nasty gridiron mud action. The only problem is the movie hits the big screen in April, the first month of baseball season. On the other hand, you could argue that April also is the time of the NFL Draft. Speaking of the NFL, have I mentioned 18-1* lately?

Mammoth versus Groundhog

Everyone knows about Punxatawney Phil and the little groundhog's weather predicting abilities, but how many of you know about the forecasting of Saltville, Virginia's Woolly Mammoth? That's Wooly, the mascot for the Museum of the Middle Appalachians in located in Saltville, in the photo. You can read more about his winter prediction here.

Spoiler alert: Both Woolly and Punxatawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter this year. Woolly made his prediction a week before Phil's projection.

If you don't have time to read the full story, check out these quotes from the VP of the Phil's club. No, I'm not kidding!

"Who cares if it’s a week early?" Mike Johnston, vice president of the Inner Circle of the Punxatawney Groundhog Club, said of Woolly’s prediction. "Nobody knows about it.

"I really can’t say anything other than it sounds to me like just another impostor trying to take a ride on the coattails on the real weather forecasting animal in this country. That would be, of course, Punxatawney Phil."

Sounds like fighting words.

I tried to contact Woolly, but he could not be reached for comment and did not return my calls before press time. However, those close to the mammoth say Woolly often says that the groundhog performs a great service… and that groundhogs are best served with gravy. Ok, I'm made that last part.

For the actual exchange of words between the two camps, be sure to read the story linked above.

Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Long, Long Legs

Dude! I know this has nothing to do with sports, but here is an uber hot photo of Heidi Klum staving off rain drops during Fashion Week in New York a couple of days ago.

Hey, we may have a bit of drought in sports/weather content here until baseball season begins. And this photo could help drive up my page views.

FYI: Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in 10 days.

What, No Roof To Close?

Football is over for several months, so we'll have no more talk for a while about muddy gridirons, frozen tundras or roof closings. Those topics have ruled this space over the past couple of months. So, let's throw a change up. Let's talk tennis. No, this is not an excuse to display another Maria Sharapova photo.

Rain put a wash on the Fed Cup matches between Germany and the United States in La Jolla, Calif., Sunday. The rain delay lasted four hours before officials postponed the matches until Monday. The wet stuff did let up and the, uh, court crew, tried to dry the playing surface for the matches to resume. Suckers! More rain began to fall an hour later, prompting the postponement.

Lindsay Davenport is the U.S. player of note competing in the Fed Cup. The winner of the U.S.–Germany match – that best-of-five match was tied at 1-1 when the rains began to fall Sunday – will move on to play the Russian team, led by, you guessed it, Maria Sharapova.

I ordinarily don't like to mix rainouts with politics, but this is a cool photo.

The caption on this photo says rain is falling, but I think I'm missing… oh, wait. I think I see where rain has landed. Yeah, there it is.

Giants Slay Pats In Controlled Conditions

It’s been fun this week tracking the University of Phoenix roof status for the Super Bowl. We heard the roof would be open for the game if weather permitted. However, the threat of rain proved to be enough to keep the lid closed. Oh, well. The important thing is the Giants won… and the Patriots lost. All is well with the world.

Congratulations to the G-Men.

18-1*

J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets!

Game-Time Decision

According to forecast, most of the rain could hit the University of Phoenix Stadium around the beginning of the second. However, officials may decide to close the roof for the game’s duration, from the beginning. It looks like the roof is going to be a game-time decision.

UPDATE: Goodell orders retractable roof closed for the Super Bowl

Roof Open At Super Bowl… Not So Fast

It has been reported all week that the retractable lid over University of Phoenix Stadium will be open for Sunday night’s Super Bowl, if weather permits. That “if” seems to have gotten much bigger. The Arizona Republic reported Friday that the Glendale area could be hit by a “cold wet storm that may last from late Sunday afternoon through Monday morning.” Weather.com is reporting a 30 percent chance of rain with a high of 58 degrees at kickoff.

Go Giants!!!

18-1*

Firing Rockets At Clouds Sounds Like Fun

Olympics officials in Beijing are scared silly that rain will fall on the summer games opening ceremony there in August. The concern is great enough to prompt scientists to experiment with cloud seeding in an attempt to keep the ceremonies dry. The Beijing Meteorological Bureau has said it has tried cloud seeding with hit-and-miss results. This story pops up about every six weeks, and I expect we'll hear much about it as the Olympics near. Go here if you care to read more. I mostly wanted to post this image of a leggy Chinese woman crossing a flooded Beijing street. Cool umbrella. Speaking of umbrella, this is really nice.

The Grass Is Greener on the Inside

The Arizona Republic has an interesting story on its Web site about the prep work required to make University of Phoenix Stadium look spectacular for Super Bowl XLII. The process includes an army of field maintenance pros. As you probably know by now, the field can be moved in and out of the stadium, allowing the natural grass to grow outdoors. Pretty cool, eh? Here are a couple of paragraphs from the story:

Four weeks ago, a team of 35 people replaced the field with 1.4 million pounds of new Alabama-grown sod. Since then, the Tifway 419 hybrid Bermuda grass has received round-the-clock care, including maximum sunlight and watering. The NFL finished painting hash marks, the league shield and team logos over the weekend.

"If the grass doesn't look good, the rest of the event doesn't look good," said Jimmy Fox, co-owner of Chandler-based Evergreen Turf, which installed the sod. "It has become a high priority for the NFL to make sure the field looks good."

Roof Open, Roof Open, Roof Open -- For Now

I've received a lot of hits here in the past week from folks wanting to know if the roof over the University of Phoenix Stadium will be open during Super Bowl XLII. According to news stories I've read, the roof will be open if there's no rain or threat of rain when the game kicks off at about 4:20 p.m. local time. According to CBS Channel 5 in Phoenix, there is a 30 percent showers with temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s at game time. You can watch the Channel 5 forecast here. My guess is NFL officials, stadium officials or whoever is in charge of making the call on about the roof, will do their best to keep the thing open. Reports I've read say the roof can close in about 12 minutes. So, unless the roof malfunctions and gets stuck open, there's no chance we'll have repeat of last year's rainy Super Bowl.

How Pats Fans Are Killing The Number 19

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of seeing Patriots fans flashing the number 19 everywhere they go, such as this rally Sunday as snow fell to the Gillette Stadium turf. I hope the Patriots lose by 19 points. I hope Tom Brady throws for only 19 yards. I hope Patriots fans brush upon their math skills and know the answer to 19 minus 1.
Go Giants!

This isn’t sports related, but it’s snow related… and very cute.

Don't write on the windo... ah, never mind.

Staples Holes

I'm not a big hoops fans, but I did hear something yesterday about the Lakers game with the Cavaliers being delayed because of a leaky roof at Staples Center. The roof had been leaking from rain in the area, and a roof company was called to inspect the arena's lid. During the game, water began to drip onto the court, near one of the baskets, delaying the game for 12 minutes late in the first quarter. Turns out, the water was not dripping from the roof, but from wet clothes workers had shed on a catwalk high above the court. In this L.A. Times photo, LeBron James and a referee appear to be watching water drip to the court while Kobe Bryant checks out LeBron's junk. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Motherwell WaterLog; Snowed Out Trains in China

I never knew soccer games got called because of rain, but it has been raining like hell in Scotland and a couple of Premier League games were called off there this weekend. The Iverness at Motherwell match – I love Motherwell – was called, as was the Gretna at Hibernian game. The Motherwell match was postponed because of "a waterlogged pitch," according to the team's Web site. Groundskeepers began working on the pitch at 3 a.m., but made little progress as the rains did not let up.

That's about all I have for now. I know it's not much. Hey I did hear at rained at the NFL Experience in Phoenix Sunday. That NFL Experience photo reminds me of this pic, but with far less importance and immediacy. Oh this is a great news photo that's not sports related, but combines weather with another one of my interests, trains.

Wow, it's going to be boring here in sports weather land while we're waiting for baseball to get started.

Now That's Hot, Mary Todd

What’s hotter than an Australian Open women’s final match between Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic?

Ok, you’re right. Nothing!

But the court temperature during the final was pretty close as it sizzled to 113 degrees, according to Bud Collins during his pre-match report. The excitable Collins, who is one of my favorite sports guys, seemed ready to… ok, ok, I’m trying to work in a joke here about Collins watching the two hot, young tennis stars by using the old Keith Olbermann line about premature jocularity, but damn it, it’s just too late for me to think of clever @#$%& like that.

Anyway, the Aussie Open wraps up sometime in the next day or so with the men’s final between some dude and another dude who defeated Roger Federererererer in straight sets. Talk about a TV ratings nightmare. Mary Todd Lincoln just called and said she’d rather watch Abe get shot again.

Hey, I think that’s my first Mary Todd reference this year.

Welcome Istanbul (Not Constantinople) and Giants Fans

As I've written here before, I began this blog as a hobby and never had any intention of attracting numerous daily viewers. For once, I've succeeded at something in my life.

However, I've noticed that this site is attracting a handful of viewers each day – most of you are looking for that hot Oregon cheerleader holding an umbrella – so I began tracking hits.

As it turns out, The Rainout Blog is big lately in New York City and Istanbul, which used to be Constantinople. Why did Constantinople get the works? That's nobody's business but the Turks.

Anyway, I'm not sure who's reading The Rainout Blog in Istanbul, but how about New York? They might be Giants fans, of course, who are reading the blog! After all, their team is going to the Super Bowl. (That's just dumb.)

Roof Open Over Super Bowl If Rain Stays Away

Here’s a quickie before I hit the sack: Profootballtalk.com is reporting that the roof at University of Phoenix Stadium will be open for Super Bowl XLII if there is no chance of threatening weather on game day. So there is no chance of rain falling on the Super Bowl stage as it did a year ago. According to profootballtalk.com, the roof can be closed in 10-15 minutes.

Huckabee Needs Less Rain, More Sun

This is not a sporting event, but it does involve a sport, sort of. In the photo is Republican presidential hopeful and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee – that’s him on the right – out for a run this past Saturday in Columbia, S.C. Folks from the Palmetto State may recognize the fellow on the left as the state’s Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer. So why am I’m posting this item on a sports weather blog? Mostly so I could point out just how extremely white Hackabee’s legs are. Good golly Mike. Visit a tanning salon while on the campaign trail, will ya?

Aussie Open To Rain

I really should follow tennis more closely because I thought all Australian Open matches were played indoors. Turns out I’m wrong. Go figure. I guess the indoor matches are reserved for the tournament’s main draws that we see on ESPN late at night, right? Anyway, this Associated Press image was taken Saturday during a rain delay of a third-round men’s match. I never thought I’d write this, but it’s sort of nice to be able to write about something other than cold temperatures and snow in the small Wisconsin football city that has a name rhyming with Spleen Jay.

Benchgate Mystery Closed

I just got an update on the Giants cold benches situation Sunday night. Remember Pam Oliver mentioned during a sideline report that the Giants heated benches were not working and uttered the words bench gate? Holy cow! G. Gordon Liddy hates it when people suffix the name of a controversy with the word "gate." Anyway, I just read Neil Best's column in Newsday, and Best wrote that the G-Men rented high-powered heated benches for their own and the benches stopped working only momentarily. Oliver, however, never mentioned the situation again, leaving TV viewers to wonder if the Packers had pulled the plugs on the benches. (Hold on. Donovan McNabb is on the phone. What's that Donovan? No, I think Pam Oliver is a fine sideline reporter.) Anyway, the New York Post, which is still taking credit for the Giants win over the Cowboys, confirmed in a report today that Big Blue had rented four heated benches from a Cleveland construction company and the benches "malfunctioned early in the game before the situation was corrected." Mystery solved.

To Sleeve Or Not To Sleeve

Brandon Jacobs and the Giants offensive linemen made good on their promise not to wear sleeves Sunday in the NFC championship game. In case you missed it, the guys from New York – technically New Jersey – won the NFC title game over the Packers in a zero-degree contest in Green Bay. Jacobs, knowing the forecasted temperatures, said before the game that he would play sleeveless because sleeves gave him less control of holding the pigskin. He also said he would have played in -50 degree weather for a shot to play in the Super Bowl. Easy, Brandon. As you know, the famous 1967 Ice Bowl was played in -13 degrees with a wind chill of -46. One person died at that game from exposure to the extreme cold. By the way, Packers officials say that about 12-15 peopled were treated Sunday night for cold-related ailments. Back to the sleeves, no-sleeves issue: It appeared that about half the players on both teams wore sleeves.

Bikini Weather At Lambeau

I've been away from my computer for the past several days and haven't had time to post anything about the frostbitten NFC Championship game from Sunday. I wasn't at the game, but all accounts indicate it was kinda cold at Lambeau Field. The images broadcast on my TV made Lambeau look like quite a cold place to be. But don't tell that to these girls. I was warm and comfortable in my living room.

Anyway, as you know already, last week was filled with media reports about football and weather. It was nice to a point, but I have to admit that even I, a sports weather junkie, got a bit of an overdose. But I did enjoy the game and all the in-game weather talk built into the broadcast.

That reminds me, at one point there was a report from the Giants sideline about the team's heated benches not working. (I think I heard Pam Oliver toss out the word Bench-gate. Jeez!) But I never heard any more about this. I probably just missed further explanation. I did hear G-men punter Jeff Feagles this morning on some radio show (Mike and Mike or Czabe, I can't remember) talking about having heated benches. So, I'm guessing the benches eventually got some juice. If anyone knows more about this, drop me a note in the comments section.

That's it for me. Have a good day and stay warm. It's an un-Lambeau-like 36 degrees in my neighborhood.

Packers Warn Fans of Hypothermia

Packers fans are the best, aren’t they? Well, with the exception of that dude who taped a Packers jersey to his son. Anyway, Pack fans prepared Lambeau Field for Sunday's NFC title game with the New York Giants by shoveling snow out of the stands Thursday night. I guess it's that or sit on snow, right? Packers fans do this about every year, but I think this is the first time I've mentioned it here. Hell, weather is all the sports media are talking about this week, so I'm not telling you anything you haven't heard already. In the meantime, the Packers are urging fans to dress for super cold temperatures Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:42 Green Bay time and the forecast calls for a low of zero. If you need some tips as to what to wear, check here. The instructions are thorough. Below is an example. Sounds scary.

Dress appropriately: Hypothermia and frostbite can occur even without subzero temperatures. Wear loose, dry layers, but don't overdress. Give yourself the opportunity to shed layers to adjust to weather changes. Try a mix of cotton or wool underneath, with something waterproof on top.

Another Gallery Visit

Most everyone likes to watch football games played in ankle-deep snow and see the occasional tarp-whipping wind blow through a ballpark. That's one reason I started this sports weather blog. Bad weather sporting events often provide us with some uber cool images. I've mentioned a couple of times the NFL.com photo feature of bad weather football games. This week SI.com is featuring its own NFL bad weather photo gallery. SI's 12-photo gallery begins with the 1967 Ice Bowl between the Packers and Cowboys, mixes in a few other historical snowy and muddy pics and concludes with this season's snow games in Cleveland and most recent playoff contest in Green Bay. The gallery is worth clicking through as it contains a handful of shots that you normally don't see associated with these games. For example, the Ice Bowl photo is not the usual pic of Bart Starr diving for the game-winning touchdown.

One Good Reason to Love Seattle

SI.com has a neat photo gallery that features NFL cheerleaders from the wild card round last week. The gallery offers a few cool shots of Seattle's Sea Gals cheering in the rain during the Seahawks win over the Redskins. This counts as sports weather content, right? Enjoy. I'm done for the day. Try to get along on this Monday night without football. I hear there's a good hockey game on Versus – Rangers and the Penguins.

Pitchers and Catchers To Follow

I mentioned below that pitchers and catchers report to spring training in about a month partly because I'm jonesing for some baseball and partly because I like searching for and posting baseball rain delay photos like the one you see here. This year I may run a pool taking bets on which MLB ballpark will suffer the first rain out. Maybe not.

Anyway, I'm still very much into the NFL playoffs and the potential for another bad weather game in Green Bay Sunday when the Packers host the New York Football Giants. I'm not sure which team I want to win, but I'll be rooting for the NFC in Super Bowl. I have a strong feeling Brett Favre and the Packers will get the job done against the G-Men and Eli Manning, who usually has trouble playing in bad weather conditions, particularly when it's windy. I think I've written about that before. Scroll down and check me on that.

You Call This Progress?

This was a throw-away news item Friday, lost in all the NFL playoffs and Roger Clemens talk, but the Cleveland Indians announced that they have reached a 16-year, $58 million dollar deal with Progressive Corp. to rename its 42,000-seat ballpark after the car insurance company. Don’t ya just hate that? Anyway, the former Jacobs Field will be officially named Progressive Field when the Tribe takes the field in 2008. I know. I know. This news has nothing to do with sports and weather, but it does give me another opportunity to display a photo of the snow-out at The Jake back in April. That reminds me: Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in a month.

T.O., Cowboys and Popcorn Sales Plummet

For all of you disappointed Cowboys fans out there who also are die-hard football fans, look at things this way: At least now you and the rest of us will have an opportunity to enjoy another cold, wintry game at Lambeau Field. Saturday's Pack win over the Seahawks provided some great images, like the one here. We hope Sunday's NFC title game will do the same. Of course the game is still a week away, but early forecasts are calling for a high of 11 degrees, a low of 8 and a 40 percent chance of precipitation when the Packers and Giants kickoff at 5:30 Green Bay time. I can't wait. Get your popcorn ready!

Performance Enhancing Pants

Seattle kicker Josh Brown will be packing heat Saturday… in his pants. Brown and the Seahawks face the Packers Saturday in the NFC divisional playoffs at Green Bay's Lambeau Field, where temperatures are expected be in the high 20s. The kicker said Wednesday on a radio show that he plans to wear the battery-operated heaters in rain pants that he normally wears on the sidelines, not in his football pants. "Not in my uniform. That would be crazy," Brown told reporters Wednesday afternoon. Brown says he's not looking to gain an advantage, just stay warm.

Fire Then Rain in San Diego

The forecast for heavy rain storms to hit in San Diego and Southern California this weekend could have far more of an impact on the folks who are trying to rebuild homes and lives after wildfires there in the fall than the impact that may be felt for Sunday's playoff at Qualcomm Stadium between the Chargers and Tennessee Titans.

Forecasters say a trio of storms could dump about a foot of rain in some of the southern portion of the state and about seven inches in San Diego County. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 Pacific and, according to WeatherChannel.com, temperature highs should reach about 58 with a 60 percent chance of rain.

Stadium officials have said a tarp will cover the field until an hour before kickoff in the event of persistent heavy rain.

The greatest chance of rain for this weekend's playoff matchups is in Seattle, of course. Forecasters there are calling for a high a 45 degrees and a 90 percent chance of precipitation falling on Qwest Field as the Redskins beat the Seahawks.

In Pittsburgh, where the Jaguars again will take down the overrated Steelers, there is a 30 percent chance of precip with lows dipping down to 39 for the 8 p.m. kickoff. Remember, the Jags took care of business in snow at Heinz Field just a few weeks ago.

And in case you're wondering, the Tampa weather will be lovely Sunday for the Bucs game with the Giants. A high of about 70 is expected at game time. I'm not sure who will win this one, but I'm thinking Eli Manning might put together a solid game away from the not-so-friendly Giants Stadium confines and lead his team to a win. That's just a hunch.

Instant (Winter) Classic

Winter is not a good time to take holiday from a sports weather blog. So much happened while I was away, but hey, you can't spend all you precious time blogging, right? Right? By far the coolest sports weather event over the holidays was the NHL's Winter Classic outdoor game in Buffalo. By now you've all read and seen highlights of what was a hugely successful show for a league in deep need of some positive publicity. So, I'm not going to bore you with any of my asinine observations. But, isn't that what blogs are for? Anyway, as you know, the Winter Classic visuals, on television and in photographs, were and are spectacular. The snow element kicked the drama into overdrive. Let's hope the NHL decides to stage the event annually – at least do it every two years – and spread it around to different cities. I hear NBC had originally wanted the game to be in Yankees Stadium with the Rangers playing the Bruins. That would have been great, too, but Buffalo turned out to be a majestic venue for the inaugural outdoor game. Maybe next year the game can be played in either the old or new Yankees Stadium. Oh, and wouldn't you love to see the Blackhawks host the Red Wings in Soldier Field? Lambeau Field already has hosted a college outdoor game, so the folks there know the logistics of staging such an event. The question is: What two teams would play there? Minnesota Wild versus…who?

One more thing: I didn't realize until reading the Uniwatch Blog yesterday that snow now has fallen on NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball games in the past nine months. Remember Jacobs Field in April? Now, how can we cause a snow storm inside an NBA arena? I bet some Chinese meteorologists would know how.