Arctic Blast May Make This One Of Coldest Games In NFL History
If you’re a Kansas City Chiefs fan, you’ve got to be a real diehard to attend Sunday’s AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots.
Either that or consume a lot of “adult warmth” at the frigid tailgate party because it could be zero degrees – or even minus-zero – at kickoff. An Arctic blast is moving into the area with the speed of a Chiefs’ touchdown and it could settle right over the stadium Sunday evening. The game starts at 5:40 p.m., local time.
According to the Associated Press, “the National Weather Service is projecting an arctic blast to settle over Kansas City for the Chiefs’ game against the New England Patriots. Temperatures at kickoff could range from 10 degrees to well below zero, potentially making it the coldest game in Arrowhead Stadium history.”
It could also be one of the coldest games in NFL history. The famous “Ice Bowl” between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys now has that “honor.” The game-time temperature at Lambeau Field was about −15 with a wind chill of around −48. Under the revised National Weather Service wind chill index implemented in 2001, the average wind chill would have been −36 °F.
In 1981, the San Diego Chargers played the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship in which the temperature was -9 at kickoff and the wind chill was −37. That game has become to be known as the Freezer Bowl.
I don’t know about you, but I would have to be pretty much a super diehard fan to watch a football game (or any sporting event for that matter) in weather that cold. Would you do it?
Sure, the winner goes to the Super Bowl (to be played in Atlanta this year, not exactly a balmy destination in February) but is it worth it? For 76,416 people – the capacity of Arrowhead Stadium – not doubt it will be but myself, I would rather be in a warm bar or a warm house party.
And to take this one step further, what if you were traveling and an Arctic blast or some other miserable weather hit your destination. Would you stay inside the whole time or gut it out and try and do the same things you would have done otherwise in decent weather?
I know I would at least give it a try. I mean, maybe I won’t make it back to that place for a while and I didn’t travel there to sit in a hotel room. I would adjust things based on the conditions, probably ducking into shops (and bars) to escape the weather for a few moments.
If it’s bad, then I would retire to the coziest – or closest – bar I could find and, quite literally, wait out the storm.
Cheers!
Leave a Reply