Chilly weather? Fox isn’t worried
Suck it up, broadcasters tell players and fans
PASA DENA, CA LIF. — For anyone familiar with the Grey Cup, the collective whinging, whining and hand-wringing over the potential cold at Super Bowl XLVIII must seem like so much hot air.
In 1950, for example, a late November snowfall blanketed Toronto’s Varsity Stadium the day before the 38th Grey Cup, which would go down in football lore as the Mud Bowl. In 1991, Winnipeg Stadium treated players and fans to a game played in temperatures that at kickoff dipped to -16 C.
As it happens, the weather for Super Bowl XLVIII is now projected to be mostly clear with a 20-per-cent chance of precipitation and winds projected to be no more than 10 km/h and a high of 3 C.
Even so, according to Super Bowl producer Eric Shanks, the Fox broadcast team is prepared for the storm of the century just in case. (The game will be televised in Canada on CTV, but Fox is the host broadcaster and will handle the play-by-play and camera positions.)
Fox’s plan in the event of a whiteout?
“Big coats,” Shanks told reporters, deadpan, at last week’s meeting of the TV Critics Association.
“Big gloves, big shoes,” Fox host Curt Menefee added.
The NFL has a long and storied tradition of playing games in inclement weather, in any case. That may not be true of recent Super Bowls — indoor fields are for sissies — but fans in Green Bay, Wisc. know all about the cold.
“The unique thing about football is that, unlike baseball, basketball and hockey, it’s not the best of five or a best of seven,” analyst Howie Long said. “It’s one game, regardless of the elements. We’ve had elements in previous Super Bowls. … It’s one of the things that draws people to football, not just the finality of that one game. Does it affect the game? Sure. But I think it embodies what football is really all about.”