December 29, 2010--Play Ball

The blizzard in the northeast disrupted many things. Air traffic most dramatically but also Amtrak and the ever-unreliable Long Island Railroad. And of course the post-Christmas shopping madness was interrupted by one of the worst snowstorms in historical memory.

It also got in the way of various sporting events. After being humiliated by the Green Bay Packers, the New York Giants couldn't slink out of town--they had to hole-up in Wisconsin until their charter flight could get the green light to return them to New York. For all I know they are still stranded.

The National Hockey League managed to get all their scheduled games in. Hockey, after all, is played on ice and most of the players are Canadian and they know about cold and snow and blizzards.

I used to think that American football was also a winter sport. It is played well into and through the winter. The Super Bowl takes place in late January. But come to think of it, it always seems to take place in Miami or some claustrophobic domed stadium. The rest of the games, though, are played rain or shine, in snow, in thick fog, and even blizzards. Actually, some of the game's greatest moments occurred during foul winter weather.

For example, the late December 1958 game between the Browns and the Giants. To advance to the playoffs the Giants had to win. Until the 4th quarter they had been behind but managed to tie the game 10-10 with about two minutes left to play. In a blinding snowstorm they advanced the ball to the Cleveland 34 yard line. Their kicker, Pat Summerall trotted onto the field. He could barely see the goal posts 49 yards from where the ball would be spotted. But he made it and the alcohol-warmed crowd at Yankee Stadium went crazy since it meant that they would advance to the championship game.

Some years later, in December of 1982, the Miami Dolphins were playing the New England Patriots up in Foxborough, Mass. The night before there had been freezing rain and the field was slick when the game commenced. Then a blizzard struck and the referees had to call time out frequently to bring snowplows onto the field to clear the yard markers and the goal lines so the players and referees could see where they were. The game continued in spite of the weather. In fact, with only minutes left, with the score tied 0-0, the snowplows were again summoned out onto the field. While cleaning the yard markers the Patriot fan operating one of the plows veered to the left and "illegally" cleared a patch on the filed which the Patriots' kicker, John Smith, then used to kick the winning field goal. The final score--Patriots 3, Dolphins 0.

The players and fans love games of this kind. While we tend to forget the details of most contests we will never forget Summerall's field goal or how the field was cleared during the legendary Snow Plow Game.

But that was then. A once-upon-a-time time when TV and big bucks didn't rule and we were more intrepid than we now are. So, with a snowstorm approaching, the National Football League this past weekend preemptively postponed Sunday night's game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings, scheduled to be played in Philly, from Sunday night to Tuesday night! (See linked New York Times story.)

Former Philadelphia mayor and now departing Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell had it right when he expressed outrage about this sissy move. He said that football games should never be cancelled because of weather. That playing in all kinds of weather is a part of the game. He went on to point out that if the game were scheduled to be played in China, thousands would be mobilized to clear the field and parking lots and fans would figure out how to get to the stadium, which would thus be full. And those walking miles through the tundra to get to the game would all be doing calculus.

Indeed.