NFL: Santa Clara Could Bring Rainy Day for Super Bowl L in 2016

To start with, let me say that San Francisco is among the top three most beautiful and unique cities in the United States of America. Having been raised in Dallas/ Ft. Worth, I will always recall driving north up Highway 101 into the city for the first time with my father in January of 1998. I was utterly amazed by how much is going on in such a tiny area.

Having said that, the Bay Area is said to be in the running to host Super Bowl L, which will be played in 2016.

Assuming, of course, that the new stadium rapidly in the works is completed on time, I can’t think of a better destination for pro football’s ultimate game.

On the other hand, I can’t think of a place that offers more potential problems, as this area attempts to host the National Football League's biggest event for just the second time. Remember that Super Bowl XIX was held in Palo Alto, California at Stanford Stadium on January 20th, 1985.

But let's go back a few years to February 4, 2007.

This was the date of Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Florida. This was the ninth time that the Super Bowl had been held in this city known for sunshine, beaches and lots of night life.

Ironically, umbrellas and rain coats were essential on this evening as it rained for the very first time in Super Bowl history. Over most of the game it rained, which didn’t go over too well amongst the league and obviously those who paid big bucks to attend the game in person.

Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts, who play in a dome, didn’t seem to mind the elements one bit in beating the sloppy Chicago Bears 29-27 in claiming their first Super Bowl win since 1970.

And how can anybody be too upset with the Miami weather since it rained for just the first time in nine tries in this historically warm weather city? Just three years later Super Bowl XLIV, also attended by the Colts but won by the New Orleans Saints, was held in the same spot with no issues related to precipitation, as expected.

But the NFL is on a quest to become as big and wealthy as possible. If wrecking tradition, records and changing its rules to ridiculous lengths is necessary to accomplish that goal then so it be it.

Honestly, what was really the motivation in awarding Super Bowl XLVIII to, of all places, New York City? Well, it certainly was not the likely weather forecast for some time in early February of 2014.

The Super Bowl doesn't have to be as much a destination for attendees anymore than it has to be played by teams with records well above .500.

The Super Bowl just has to make money, period.

MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey will quite likely be an icebox when representatives of the AFC and NFC meet for what is billed as a “historic” Super Bowl event. While it’s impossible to predict the weather forecast for this region some two years out, the marketing slogan “Make Some History” this game certainly will.

If you thought the moaning over the rain in Miami five years ago was funny, just wait until this gem in Metropolis goes down.This game has the potential to be the worst attended games in Super Bowl history, especially given the capacity available.

Only after the fallout and reviews of this particular event will the NFL take any kind of shot at awarding another Super Bowl to a major market that offers lousy winter weather and an outdoor facility to go with it.  

The coldest experience I’ve ever felt was while walking the streets of Berlin, Germany near the Reichstag in February of 2005 with my girlfriend at the time. She was German, so it was no big deal to her really. But for a then-California boy, like me, it was shocking.  

The second coldest I’ve ever been was while walking around Fisherman’s Wharf at night in San Francisco in January of 1999. Obviously I’ve never been to Fargo, North Dakota, but I can say this much—the Bay Area can get very, very cold – and wet.

No, it won’t snow or freeze over in San Francisco, or specifically San Jose, like it can and probably will in New York for Super Bowl XLVIII.

Then again, it’s one thing to dress up in coats and thermal underwear in order to stay comfortable for four hours in near or freezing temperatures as long as you’re dry.

Having to fend off cold winds, temperatures not much warmer and rain is a completely different discussion. This is when living rooms and sports bars become a much more attractive option, especially in today’s day and age of Hi-Def and DVR machines.

I would tell any city that wants a Super Bowl to either build a domed stadium or relocate to a region that doesn’t rain and/or freeze over during the winter months. The latter is impossible but the former is completely doable—if you want a Super Bowl.

No doubt the new San Francisco 49ers stadium will be a state of the art facility that is deserving of a game of this caliber.

But the fact that the only other Super Bowl to be played in the Bay Area had a kickoff temperature of 53 degrees under partly cloudy skies shouldn’t lead the NFL to believe that the same will occur for its 50^th Super Bowl.     

Rabid fans of both Super Bowl teams would sit through a blizzard if it meant watching their team win a championship. But rabid fans make up a fraction of the population of Super Bowls over the last 30 years and these people don’t like to be cold and wet.

Just ask those who bailed to their hotels or to indoor televisions by halftime in Miami five years ago.