Super Bowl 45: The Weather Is Making A Mess Of Things

Added on Feb 05, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

Super Bowl

It hasn’t had an impact on the Super Bowl odds yet, but from the looks of it Mother Nature is determined to make the event as miserable an experience as possible. Dallas has experienced a week of unseasonably cold weather, ice storms and snow storms which has caused transportation delays, traffic snafus and a horrible incident in which ice blocks sliding off the dome of Cowboys Stadium injured several people and forced the entrances to the facility to be shut down for a time on Friday. And just to put the coda on what has been a crazy weather week, the forecast for game day is for rain–possibly mixed with snow, sleet or ice.

I’m not particularly religious, but I’m also not dumb enough to ignore an obvious sign of displeasure from a higher power. One of the stranger events of my life happened a few years ago when I was invited to a wedding at a historic chapel in a southern town that shall remain nameless. The skies were overcast as several friends and I made our way to the facility, and once inside the rumbling of thunder and crash of lightning became obvious all around. As the bride and groom made their ‘ring entrances’, a huge bolt of lightning shook the building and knocked the power out. Undaunted, the pastor summoned some of his acolytes to light some candles and the ceremony continued. As we left the chapel, it was obvious that a hellacious storm had raged while we were all inside. Immediately in front of the building a huge tree that likely had stood since the Civil War had been cleanly uprooted. After glancing around briefly looking for signs of the Four Horses of the Apocolypse I made my way to my car and quickly sped away without looking back.

I was nervous just being in the building while a higher power, the Almighty, Mother Nature or whomever you wish to ascribe such things to made clear their displeasure with the union that was taking place. Surprisingly, neither bride or groom looked particularly alarmed by all of this and neither bailed on the marriage vows at the alter. I’m not sure how things worked out for this couple, but I don’t expect they turned out well given that they sealed their marriage by extending a middle finger to a rampaging higher power doing everything in its power to disrupt the proceedings.

Now, I’ve got nothing personal against the Cowboys’ organization, Jerry Jones, or the people of Dallas. My hope is that tomorrow’s Super Bowl goes off without a hitch. But based on what has transpired thus far I’ve got the same uneasy feeling that I had sitting in the church pews watching the forces of nature try to disrupt what it clearly felt was an abomination of a matrimonial union. The good news is that the actual game play won’t be impacted by the weather–the NFL made the decision to play the game with the retractable roof closed over a week ago. That may be the only aspect of the Super Bowl festivities that isn’t potentially threatened by the weather. Were I to turn on ESPN in the morning to learn that a plague of locusts had descended upon North Texas it really wouldn’t surprise me.

The hoped for economic boon to Dallas and North Texas is already shaping up to be far less than expected, with the weather receiving much of the blame. Obviously the economic benefit of events like this are always overstated–organizers speak of lofty goals like ‘creating awareness of what a city has to offer’ and ‘attracting new corporate business’ but the reality is far less glamorous. Football fans fly into the city, buy a bunch of chicken wings and beer, enjoy a few lap dances and head home. Chicken wing restaurants and strip clubs have a big week, but its not like any of the Packers and Steelers’ fans in town for the game are looking for commercial property for new business development.

Depending on how the weather develops on Sunday, it could also put the kibosh on Jerry Jones’ hope to break the all time Super Bowl attendance record. The Cowboys made outdoor standing room tickets available, but the unseasonably cold temperatures could suppress turnout and any rain or snow could make things worse. Already there are reports that the weather has played havoc with the secondary market for Super Bowl tickets, with a glut of ducats on the market keeping prices down due to greater than expected availability.

Currently, the forecast is for ‘PM Rain or Snow Showers’ with little accumulation expected. For the good of everyone concerned, we can only hope that prediction is correct.