Not the most important issue in the world, but one that's getting a lot of play, especially in the sports press.
On Sunday, after forecasts of heavy snow, the NFL canceled the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles that was to be played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly & rescheduled it for this evening. The NFL cited safety concerns for the decision, but some Eagles fans, including Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, as well as sports writers were incensed by the decision. Governor Rendell went even further by saying this is proof that the United States is becoming a nation of "wusses."
That's led to various columns in the media on whether there's any truth to it (i.e., have we become so risk averse that we can't watch a football game in the snow?), or is Rendell just a crazed Eagles fan that couldn't wait two days to watch Philly put a hurt on a Favre-less Vikings team?
From ESPN:
The city of Philadelphia is set to host the NFL's first Tuesday night game in 64 years, and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell couldn't be more upset about it. "It goes against everything that football is all about," Rendell said Monday on radio station 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia.
Rendell viewed the NFL's decision as a referendum on the toughness, or lack thereof, of the United States. "My biggest beef is that this is part of what's happened in this country," Rendell said.
"We've become a nation of wusses. The Chinese are kicking our butt in everything," he added. "If this was in China do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? People would have been marching down to the stadium, they would have walked and they would have been doing calculus on the way down."
Rendell is a longtime Eagles fan, who was present at an infamous 1968 game in which Philly fans booed & pelted Santa Claus with snowballs. However, he's not the only one that feels this way.
From Peter King of Sports Illustrated:
From Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News: "The Wimps Who Stole Christmas"
There is nothing more magical than football in the snow.
If you grew up anywhere in the wintry half of this country, you probably have fond memories of hiking up your snow pants and sloshing around with your buddies and your Pete Rozelle-signed football in the backyard drifts - and the only thing that comes a close second to playing football in the snow is watching a classic NFL matchup in a furious downpour of the white stuff.
Now, are Rendell and the Eagles fans who wanted the game played on Sunday being a little insane about wanting the NFL to schedule a game even in the face of a blizzard forecast? Yeah, just a bit. If presented with a forecast that included high winds & more than a foot of snow, a reasonable person can understand why they would reschedule the game, even if they disagree with it.
However, the NFL didn't exactly reschedule the game out of the goodness of their heart. If that was the true intent, they would have played the game last night as part of a Monday night double-header. Instead, the NFL gets to have football on television Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday again. Also, the Eagles now have to work with the disadvantage of having to play tonight, and turn around for a game on Sunday.
This also plays into a narrative among some football fans that the league has become a No-Fun-League where players are fined more money for unintentional big hits, out of player safety concerns, than what other players are fined for fighting on the field. For example, the NFL fined Ndamukong Suh $15,000 for pushing Jay Cutler to the ground, otherwise known as tackling. When watching what Suh does in the video below, compare it to what some of the maniacs of the '70s Steelers "Steel Curtain" defense or the Raiders' secondary with Jack Tatum & George Atkinson did back in the day.
A quote Steelers receiver Hines Ward said in an article about a week ago was, "The NFL don’t care about the safety of the game. If the league was so concerned about safety, why are you adding two more games on? You talk about you don’t want players to drink ... and all you see is beer commercials. You don’t want us to gamble, but then there are (NFL-endorsed lottery scratch-off games)."
I guess fighting on the football field can be added as another one of the issues that the NFL just does not want to draw the line on. The punishment for Johnson and Finnegan was $25,000, and no suspensions for either of the players.
James Harrison, linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has been fined a total of $125,000 to date due to his ‘illegal’ hits on opponents, but when it comes to players ripping helmets off and turning the football field into a hockey fight, it does not even warrant a suspension.
Moreover, getting back to the argument about snow, some of the most memorable games in NFL history have been played in horrible weather. This shouldn't come as a surprise since were talking about a league with teams in Green Bay, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Boston, and Philly.
- The Ice Bowl - The 1967 National Football League Championship Game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, which was played with a game-time temperature of −13°F, and a wind chill of −36°F.
- Red Right 88 - The 1981 AFC divisional playoff game between the Oakland Raiders and the Cleveland Browns, which was played in −36 °F wind chill. The game is remembered for an infamous pass play, "Red Right 88," called by the Browns (who were trailing 14-12) instead of attempting a field goal. It led to an interception, and a Raiders victory.
- Freezer Bowl - The 1982 AFC Championship Game between the San Diego Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals. It's the coldest game in NFL history based on wind chill, -59 °F.
- The Snow Plow Game - A 1982 game between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. It's infamous for an incident in which Patriots' coach Ron Meyer had a convict on work-release clear snow off the field in order to help his kicker make the game winning field goal.