Mike Florio: Nancy Boy (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the cold)

Many people know who Mike Florio is, creator of NBC's Profootballtalk.com and writer for the Sporting News, and many people disagree entirely with his style of journalism. Personally, I enjoy the entertainment Florio provides as my guilty pleasure, but today, he's gone too far. In an article titled "NFL takes unacceptable risk with New York Super Bowl", Florio explains why he thinks a cold weather stadium is a bad idea. He even goes as far to question the powers that be, thinking someone's gone mad:

After further deliberation, the NFL's decision to hold a Super Bowl in a cold-weather climate with a stadium that has no lid makes us wonder whether plenty of people have lost their marbles.

What bothers me about that statement is that Florio uses the term "us". His main focus on the article isn't about the players sufferring from the less-than-perfect conditions, but actually the fans (which in my opinion, is a cheap ploy to win over some followers). Here's what he said:

But what about the sandal-wearers from California whose idea of a winter coat is a windbreaker with a hood? When it's time for them to pay for tickets that with a face value in the vicinity of $2,000, will they realize that they'll also need to spend roughly that much more on coats, boots, long underwear, gloves, hats, scarves, hand warmers, and foot warmers?

I don't know Florio, what do those same people do when they visit areas that are cold? If someone is plunking down $2,000 for a Super Bowl ticket, I'm sure they can afford the extra cost in order to prepare for chilling conditions. The chance to watch a classic title game in a blizzard should be something to look forward to, not something to whine about. Remember Oakland's epic battle with New England in 2002? I'm sure Raiders fans that made the trek to New England were prepared for the conditions. The game that took place on the field, again in my opinion, would've warranted sitting in a snow bank for 4 hours.

After the jump, I cry a little bit more about people crying about the cold...

I'm not saying that fans should be forced to sit in brutal conditions, because certainly not everyone enjoys the cold. However, knowing full well the Super Bowl is in New York, allows those fans to stay at home and enjoy the game from the comfort of their own homes. This too, is something Florio has problem with, as he feels the league is "pandering to the experience of home viewers". Gee, we wouldn't want that, would we? I'm curious to know what percentage of the NFL fanbase can't regularly attend live NFL games. I'm also positively sure the NFL makes quite a few bucks from television deals with FOX, CBS, NBC and ESPN.

Since people can enjoy NFL games comfortably in their homes, why does every Super Bowl have to be in a fair-weather stadium? Again, it's all about choice; if you don't want to sit in the cold, don't go to New York to watch the Super Bowl. I'm quite certain the NFL won't have problems selling the tickets you don't want. Florio makes an absurd suggestion regarding the new stadium:

And if the folks in New York/New Jersey wanted to host one or more Super Bowls at their new stadium, they should have included a retractable roof.

Why? If they built the stadium with intent to have an advantage over fair-weather teams in the months of December and January, why would they take it away? Football is a sport that is meant to be played outdoors, the Green Bay Packers have been doing it for years that way (and guess what, regular fans and visiting fans have survived those conditions). The fans finally get a win by the NFL granting a Super Bowl bid to a cold-weather stadium, and guys like Florio pop-off about the nancy-boys that can't handle the cold (yet afford the cost of a $2,000+ ticket). My suggestion to Florio, and all the fans that complain about the Super Bowl in cold weather: stay home.