If you plan on attending the 2014 Super Bowl...

[Spang]

...bring some nut-warmers:

In January 2004, the Patriots hosted the Titans in an AFC divisional playoff game in which the temperature at kickoff was 4 degrees with a wind chill of minus-10. Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow was part of a radio broadcast crew doing the game, and as we rode on the elevator to the press box beforehand, he shook his head about the players being forced to take the field in such harsh conditions.

Winslow spoke from experience. Twelve years earlier, he participated in the coldest game in league history -- in terms of wind chill -- when he and the Chargers faced off against the Bengals in the 1981 AFC Championship Game. The wind chill that afternoon in Cincinnati was minus-59. You could see the discomfort on Winslow's face as he recalled the brutal conditions.

We were having a casual conversation, so there was no pen in my hand. But I still can recall many of his words, though not verbatim. He said it was "inhumane" to make the players work in such conditions and he talked about how news reports were advising residents to bring in their pets because the cold could be deadly. He mentioned that he still had some physical ailments in his extremities from the cold and how, in his opinion, the Patriots and Titans should not have been made to play in conditions on this day that were the lead story to many local newscasts.

This anecdote came to mind because today the league's 32 owners -- with the backing of the commissioner -- voted to award the 2014 Super Bowl to New York/New Jersey. It will be the first Super Bowl staged in an open-air stadium in an outdoor city, which is great except for one thing -- no one knows what the weather will be like. Meteorologists say February in New York is often snowy. Over the past 40 years, the average high has been 40 degrees (36 degrees at kickoff). Factoring in the wind, the "real feel" is in the 20s.

Winslow is not alone in his feelings about playing in harsh conditions. NBC studio analyst Rodney Harrison, who won two Super Bowls with New England and was on the team that beat the Titans 17-14 in that 2004 playoff tilt that still ranks as the coldest in Patriots history, says a cold-weather Super Bowl won't go over well with the players.

"Part of the reward for getting to the biggest game of your life is the beautiful warm weather or the climate-controlled atmosphere," he said. "Players would hate playing in cold weather."

The league and its owners are touting the historical significance of the game and point out that some of the most memorable games have been played in inclement weather, i.e. the Ice Bowl and the Tuck Rule Game. My response: Big deal. There have been many more great games that were played in warm weather or domed conditions, including recent Super Bowl wins by the Giants and Steelers.

And let's not forget that the league has become a more skill-driven competition, with more emphasis placed on the pass and less on the run. Is it fair for teams to potentially alter their game plans dramatically in the face of wintry conditions?

Ultimately I keep coming back to this question: Is the risk of harsh weather -- and at this point that's all it is, a risk -- really worth it? To me, NFL players are some of the greatest athletes in the world and should be able to showcase their skills under the most optimum conditions, particularly when competing in one of the world's most-watched sporting events.

A wise man once said, "Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should." Unfortunately, NFL owners did not listen.

[masteen]

Holy fuck, that is going to be one empty Super Bowl. Doesn't the league realize that only hardcore fans show up in those conditions, and that they priced the Super Bowl WAY out of reach of those people over a decade ago? Seriously, who the fuck is going to fly to New Jersey in February?

[Soreali]

Holy fuck, that is going to be one empty Super Bowl. Doesn't the league realize that only hardcore fans show up in those conditions, and that they priced the Super Bowl WAY out of reach of those people over a decade ago? Seriously, who the fuck is going to fly to New Jersey in February?

Are you kidding me? The Meadowlands is roughly 20 minutes from NYC and a breeze to get to, not to mention the amount of corporations located IN NYC that will attending.. This superbowl will be just as packed as one in Miami..

[Boogahz]

yeah, but that would only be if one of the area teams make it to the Super Bowl

[masteen]

Do you honestly think corporate suits are going to go and freeze their asses off to watch two teams that they honestly don't give two shits about? It's hard to "see and be seen" when you're wearing a fucking parka to avoid hypothermia.

[Fairweather Pure]

Cry me a river. It's fucking football.

[Soreali]

Do you honestly think corporate suits are going to go and freeze their asses off to watch two teams that they honestly don't give two shits about? It's hard to "see and be seen" when you're wearing a fucking parka to avoid hypothermia.

Give me a fucking break. There's a better chance of it being 60 then being 10 degrees. It's not Wisconsin where oh by the way, can handle an NFC championship game in -30 degree weather just fine and packed two weeks before the superbowl.

The Giants/Jets have ~6.1% of tickets to split between them for their fans. The rest is going to corporate sponsors who will be bashing down the doors to sponsor this game. The first (and maybe last) Superbowl in the northern states? Let alone in New York (although its fucking jersey dammit). There's a whole lotta people on Wall St. and Madison Ave. with plenty of money to spend who will be there just to say they went.

Wanna know how to avoid getting cold? It's called wearing warm clothes.. if people dont know how to do that, dont fucking come here. A jacket, hand warmers in the pocket, a little heated seat cushion and they'll be fine..pusscakes.

[Winnow]

This is obviously meant to put the warm weather Cardinals at a disadvantage...a team that's lately been synonymous with Conference Championship games and Super Bowls.

[Taison Earbiter]

Really? Players would whine and bitch over having to play football in the cold? Dick Butkus and Deacon Jones should bitch slap every single one of these whiners.

It's the Super Bowl, the reward is simple playing in the Super Bowl. If you want a vacation take some of those millions of dollars you get paid to play a game and fly your ass to whatever beach you want to sit on after the game.

As far as the fans go, yeah you might see some empty seats if it's snowing/freezing, but the novelty of this happening would be massive TV-ratings.

It may work out great, it may not, but there is no reason it shouldn't be tried once to see how it goes. It's not like it'll be a miserable failure of a game that no one cares about....as long as it isn't some miserable match-up like Seahawks/Chargers or something, it'll be fine.

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

It is about damn time to have a Super Bowl in a cold weather city. Part of the way teams are built is to set themselves up to have a home field advantage. The have the playoffs in the cold weather cities, so why not the SB? Those domes only give an advantage to teams set up to play in domes and warm weather.

[Winnow]

It is about damn time to have a Super Bowl in a cold weather city. Part of the way teams are built is to set themselves up to have a home field advantage. The have the playoffs in the cold weather cities, so why not the SB? Those domes only give an advantage to teams set up to play in domes and warm weather.

How can a team not be setup to play in perfect conditions? All teams are setup for that. The only advantage playing in cold weather is for cold weather teams. There's no advantage for warm weather teams, not factoring in grass/turf for either condition.

As much as old school football fans wouldn't mind a 3-0 final in a Super Bowl, that's not what the average Super Bowl viewer wants to see or the sponsors and TV networks. Provide the best conditions for the Super Bowl and let the best team win. The average age for Super Bowl Half Timer performers is around 80 in recent years. Put them in arctic conditions and you may have a fatality on your hands.

[Kilmoll the Sexy]

The Super Bowl is not about what the casual fans want to see. It is a championship game. It is media hype and retardation of the masses that has made it into an event that the actual fans of the sport cannot afford to go watch in their own home stadiums.

If you think for one second that a team like Green Bay or Chicago or the Pittsburgh teams of the past decade were not set up to play in the slop and cold then you are as sports stupid as any individual to ever walk the planet. Teams like the Colts and Saints and the St. Louis Rams of the late 90's/early 2000's were set up exclusively to thrive in domes and on fast turf. Giving them the advantage of playing the championship game every year was just absurd. Why not just move every playoff game to an indoor domed stadium and run it like the NCAA basketball playoffs? Weather is what makes football a real sport. Some of the pussy players will wilt and be useless in the cold (see Cardinals, Arizona at Patriots, New England).

[Boogahz]

unfortunately, the Super Bowl has been tailored for the casual fans for a while.