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November 18, 2010
NFL actually shuns "elements" for Super Bowls
Political blogger Kyle Wingfield ("The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's 30-something conservative" — when he turns 40 does he have to quit, or just get a new tagline?) notes some curious history to the NFL's statements on the Atlanta Falcons stadium dispute: Namely, whereas last week commissioner Roger Goodell declared that the Falcons need a new open-air stadium because the Super Bowl was "meant to be played in the elements," back in 1989 the initial push that got the Georgia Dome built was in part because, as then-Atlanta Super Bowl committee chair Norman Braman put it, "No dome, no Super Bowl."
Furthermore, notes Wingfield, even when the NFL has a choice, it steers clear of those pesky elements:
Twice the Super Bowl has been played in a stadium with a retractable roof. On neither occasion was the roof kept open for the game. (During one of them it was raining, but rain must represent the wrong kind of "elements" for championship football.) Three of the next four Super Bowls, the only future games whose sites have been determined so far, will be played in stadiums with roofs.
Wingfield's reasonable conclusion: "It's fairly obvious that the NFL's 'elements' talk is all about boosting the Falcons' bid for a new home." What, league commissioners changing their arguments depending on the situation? I can't imagine that happening.
As a Colts fan, I find this baffling. For one thing, their Super Bowl win a few years ago was in the rain, and it made for a compelling story for the game because it was a dome team playing in the elements.
Of course, maybe that's an issue for whatever 70-year-old performer they bring in to do the halftime show, but everybody knows that people only watch the Super Bowl for the game and the commercials, not to see if Steven Tyler can fall off the stage again or if Keith Richards will finally kick off.
Posted by Russ on November 18, 2010 09:54 AM
@ Russ....The Falcons have never won a Super Bowl. They played in Jan of 99, however it was in Miami and it didn't rain. They lost to Denver.
Posted by Wade on November 18, 2010 04:43 PM