Shivering at Super Bowl 48 … Tuesday Cup O’Chiefs

Dream Chiefs fans, dream. A trip to the Super Bowl this coming February at the Jerry World Stadium in Arlington, Texas is farfetched at this point. The 2012 title game could be more doable, and that game goes down at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. If it all falls together the next year, the Chiefs and their fans could reprise their trip to New Orleans for Super Bowl IV, by heading off to Super Bowl 47 at the Louisiana Superdome.

On Tuesday, the NFL will decide where they will hold Super Bowl 48 in February of 2014. As the NFL owners gathered on Monday at the Las Colinas resort in Dallas it sounded more and more likely that that game will be played in the new stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands (above), the soon to open building that does not have a roof.

That’s right folks, a real cold weather Super Bowl, played outside in the elements whatever they may be for that early February day in the swamps of Jersey … only 17 votes among the 32 teams is required to make this happen.

The folks in New Jersey/New York can’t figure out why anybody wouldn’t think it’s a good idea.

“On a personal level there would be something very special about playing a game of this magnitude in this area, nearly 90 years after we started playing games in the Polo Grounds,” Giants co-owner John Mara told the New York Daily News. “It’s the most-anticipated sporting event of the year in this country. Let’s play it on the biggest stage in the world.”

There are three bids for the title game in ‘14: New Jersey/New York, Tampa Bay and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale. Each city will get 15 minutes to make its presentation to the owners on Tuesday afternoon.

 ”We’ll make sure … they understand all the venues, how New York City is the greatest stage in the world to throw an event, so the greatest game in the world would come to the greatest stage in the world,” said Jonathan Tisch, co-owner of the Giants and the co-chairman of the NJ/NY bid committee.

It’s not just the Giants and Jets ownership that wants this to happen.

“Ever since 9/11, I’ve hoped that something like this could happen,” Kraft told the Boston Globe. “It’s just reaffirming support for that great city and region, New Jersey and New York. … I see two major things: Payback to the people of that region in bringing what I think is the greatest sporting event in the world, to host it, and thank them for what’s gone on almost a decade later; And then also a thank you to the owners who stepped up and took one out there with real financial stakes.”

Having a hard time believing the NFL owners would expose their premier event to the potential of frostbite, sub-zero wind chill and a blizzard? Just this past February, a major snowstorm blew through the eastern corridor dumping not inches but snow measured in feet from Washington-Baltimore through Philadelphia and all the way to the New York suburbs.

It doesn’t make much sense; it’s like having a classic car and leaving it on the street in the winter with the possibility of ice, snow, wind and assorted other debilitating weather conditions battering the finish and rusting out the fenders. Even if you scratch the frozen surface of this idea and search for more, it still doesn’t make sense.

But the NFL league office has pushed hard for this; they want a home game, since the league office is across the Hudson River from the stadium. Commissioner Roger Goodell has been twisting arms and whispering in the ears of owners trying to make this happen. It would be a major chip for the Jets and Giants and their $1.7 billion stadium, and would attract hundreds of millions of dollars to Jersey and Manhattan with visitors.

And if it happens, what’s to keep other cold-weather teams from seeking the game in outdoor stadiums, like Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, or even Kansas City?

“With all due respect, Chicago or Pittsburgh or Cleveland or Washington or Green Bay, I don’t think they are all the same as New York,” Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank told the New York Times. “Owners would have to decide in the future if any of those cities are unique enough, would create enough natural draw.”

There appears to be about a dozen teams that will vote yes, including of course the New York Jets and Giants. There appears to be about a dozen teams that will vote no, mainly teams in frozen cities like Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit and Cincinnati.

That will leave the decision to be made by that remaining group of eight to 10 teams, which likely includes the Kansas City Chiefs.

The first vote will include all three entrants. If one gets 24 votes or more, the game will go there. If no city reaches that level, there will be another vote. If 24 votes does not land with one bidder, then the town with the fewest votes is out. That would leave two bidders, and a third vote to see if one of them can get 24 votes. If that doesn’t happen, then it comes down to a simple majority where 17 yes votes gets the Super Bowl for one city.

I’m sure if you are a Chiefs fan it wouldn’t matter if the game was played in Greenland should your team be participating. And, it’s not that I’m against trying something new. But this is something that’s not broken, and the NFL is trying to push a fix that could create a host of problems that will affect the actual playing of the game.

There are a host of domed stadiums and warm weather sites that can and have handled the Super Bowl, including those bidding this year in Tampa and Miami.

The other major item at the meetings was expected to be a vote on extending the new rules for overtime in the playoffs to the regular season. But the league chatter as the owners were arriving in Dallas was that a vote may not happen. Although there seemed to be support at the league meetings in March to extend the rule to the regular season, some teams want to see how the change works in the playoffs before committing to the entire season.

There will also be discussion on the labor situation involving the players and a new collective bargaining agreement. Part of that will be more talks on expanding the regular season to 18 games.

NFL PERSONNEL FILE/MONDAY, MAY 24

• BEARS – signed LB Brian Iwuh, who spent the previous four seasons with the Jaguars; released TE Kevin Brock, who was on the Chicago practice squad in ‘09 and also did time on the practice squads of the Jets, Steelers and Panthers.
• DOLPHINS – signed C/G Cory Proctor, who was released earlier this month by the Cowboys. He played for Miami head coach Tony Sparano, who was the Dallas offensive line coach; traded G Justin Smiley to the Jaguars for a conditional choice in the 2011 NFL Draft.
• RAMS – released LB Simoni Lawrence, LB Kennedy Tinsley, WR Nick Moore, WR Rod Owens and DL Chris Bradwell, all undrafted rookie free agents.
• SAINTS – signed FB Jason McKie to a 1-year contract – he comes over from the Bears; released DB Ryan Hamilton and RB Carlos Brown, both undrafted rookie free agents.