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I watched the two NFL Conference Championship games last night. Now I know it can get mighty cold in some of those northern US towns and cities and Green Bay, Wisconsin looks to me like it’s always cold. So I was a little surprised when I heard commentator Joe Buck state just before the game started, that the temperature was -1. Until, of course, I remembered that our American friends measure temperature on the silly scale – Fahrenheit.
So, to put that in perspective and to use a sensible measure of temperature that almost everyone else can understand – by the middle of the game the temperature was -4 which is a bloody chilly -20 Centigrade. What’s more, it was windy. Very windy. The wind-chill temperature on the field was -24, which is a bone-freezing -31.
I’ll say that again. Minus Thirty One Degrees Centigrade!
Now you could dress me up in the warmest clothes imaginable and stick me in front of a space heater and I would still be howling. Although at that temperature I’d probably be frightened to open my mouth in case my tongue froze. As I was watching, I couldn’t really understand why fully grown men, many of them intelligent and probably quite sensible most of the time, would want to run around on a field in -31C – many of them with bare arms! Until the commentator mentioned that one of the players had just signed a 30 million dollar contract for the next five years. And that’s why!
Would I run around on a field being thrown to the ground and constantly battered in those sort of temperatures for three and a half hours if i was being paid that sort of cash to do it? Let’s face it… it would be tempting! But I still think that they are insane.
As to the games themselves? Tame and messy both of them. And the wrong teams won! A face off in the Superbowl between Tom ‘The Smug’ Brady and Eli ‘The Brat’ Manning. Nah… don’t think I’ll stay up for that one.
You would have preferred a face-off between Tom "smug" Brady and Brett "smug" Favre?
OK – a good point. The real important thing here is wiping the smug grin from Tom Brady and to be honest the Giants completely outplayed the Packers so they probably do have the best shot. Although they do have this Scottish kicker…
Can you imagine Beckham or Rooney playing at -31deg C – roll on the Six Nations
As an english packers fan I have always wanted to get to a home game in winter…should make it next season.
@thud: Lunacy! I would have preferred to see the Packers in the superbowl to be honest. As much as I am not a fan you have to admire Favre.
Oh please. They have more padding than an Eskimo, and anyway…. they only play for half the time (offence plays, then defence, then they take a timout, then a cup of coffee, maybe do a show tune and a dance or something…. ).
Bare arms?
I make no secret of the fact that I am not an New English Patriots fan. That same weekend they played the Chargers in temperatures that, while not as cold as Green Bay, were still below zero. It was reported on the sidelines (by the TV crew) that the Chargers seating was not heated (as apparently it is supposed to be). Now, just why is it that I always suspect the Patriots of dirty tricks…