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UPDATED: The Wimps Who Stole Christmas

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UPDATED: The Wimps Who Stole Christmas

POSTED: Sunday, December 26, 2010, 4:58 PM

There is nothing more magical than football in the snow.

If you grew up anywhere in the wintry half of this country, you probably have fond memories of hiking up your snow pants and playing sloshing around with your buddies and your Pete Rozelle-signed football in the backyard drifts-- and the only thing that comes a close second to playing football in the snow is watching a classic NFL matchup in furious downpour of the white stuff.

In 1948, the Eagles won an NFL championship at Shibe Park in a raging blizzard, a game that was never forgotten by the 36,309 die-hards who didn't think twice about braving those conditions to watch history in the making. Then there was the "Snow Plow" game in New England and the Pats' memorable playoff victory over Oakland in a snowstorm years later, and the frigid 1967 Ice Bowl in Green Bay. To paraphrase Frank Capra this Christmas season, for a true football fan it would not have been as wonderful a life had those remarkable games never been born.

That's why the decision by the NFL and the Eagles with input from the city of Philadelphia to postpone tonight's game because of a snowstorm that isn't really all that (we might get 11 inches in the city -- not exactly Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer territory, not even close) is more than downright disappointing.

This is the height of wimpiness, and the girly-men who made this sad decision (pictured at top) should be ashamed of themselves. The NFL has been rightfully called the No Fun League for a number of years, but this takes that to a whole embarrassing new level. In fact, let's name names here -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Eagles' owner Jeff Lurie and president Joe Banner and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, you are the Wimps Who Stole Christmas from football fans in Philadelphia.

Honestly, it never even occurred to me that postponing the game (until Tuesday -- a decision that also hurts the Eagles' chances of getting a coveted bye in the first round of playoffs, but we won't go there, not now) was something they'd consider. Around noon, I got an email from a Daily News colleague (I'm the night city editor here on Sundays -- by the way, it took me the same amount of time to drive to Center City from Delaware County as it does on a sunny 70-degree afternoon, possibly less) about production plans for putting out the paper, including if the Eagles' game was canceled I laughed when I read that. Hah! Doesn't she know, I thought to myself, that unless there's a roof collapse or Hurricane Katrina they don't cancel NFL games. Period.

Which is why I was stunned to see this:

"Due to public safety concerns in light of today's snow emergency in Philadelphia, tonight's Vikings-Eagles game has been postponed. Because of the uncertainty of the extent of tonight's storm and its aftermath, the game will be played on Tuesday night at 8 pm. This will allow sufficient time to ensure that roads, parking lots and the stadium are fully cleared. The National Weather Service states that a winter storm warning in Philadelphia remains in effect until 1 pm on Monday...."

Against the Minnesota Vikings, no less -- the team for which legendary hard-guy coach Bud Grant refused to allow to use hand-warmers when the team played outdoors in the 1970s. Grant would probably be rolling over in his grave over this decision, if it wasn't for the fact that the 83-year-old NFL legend is still alive.

Emergency? These "emergencies" have a way of working themselves out. Fans who really feel uncomfortable driving in this time of weather -- and that's their God-given right -- knew the risks of snow when they bought their ticket; some would have elected to stay home and watch on TV. But most Eagles ticket holders were looking forward to this. In fact, a lot more than usual would have come to the game by subway instead of by car. That's one of the many reasons Philadelphia has an underground subway line -- IT GETS PLACES IN THE SNOW!!! The remaining fans who did drive would have a slog, to be sure -- but there'd be fewer cars on the road generally, so it might be a wash. You don't know until you try.

I know what some of you are thinking (partly because I road-tested my outrage on Twitter) -- that some drunk yahoo would have driven into a ditch or skidded into an unsuspecting motorist after the game. I don't even know where to start with this one. For one thing, if you're that worried about drunk yahoos causing mayhem after games, then you should work to cancel any and every sporting event ever held in Philadelphia. What's more, I guarantee you that some drunk yahoo is going to drive into a ditch, or worse, after the city's New Year's fireworks, so we might as well deep-six that event now, while we're on a roll.

Ultimately, life is all about risk management, and the reward of football in the snow -- so often a beautiful thing -- means that thousands of fans, not to mention the players and coaches who seem disappointed and befuddled by this decision were willing to take a few risks to see it. You know, a term that gets used a lot in the great political debate -- overused, in my opinion -- is whether America has become "a nanny state." Usually I'm on the other side (like when it comes to health care, in which...oh, nevermind), but in this case I think here it's perfectly OK to channel your Inner Rush Limbaugh and say that "the nanny state" killed this football game.

If we're not "a nanny state," then we've become a nation of overcautious risk managers, also known as wimps. They don't play American football in China, but I believe that if they did, not only would they have played this game but 300,000 fans would have marched barefoot through the drifts for 15 miles to get to the stadium, drilling each other with advanced calculus problems as they walked. In few years, they'll come here and conquer what's left of America while we huddle on our TV room couches to keep safe and warm, watching "A Christmas Story" on TBS for the 9th time after a forecast of flurries have canceled the entire NFL schedule.

Meanwhile....the Eagles will be home for Christmas, with Desean Jackson slip-sliding through the Vikings' secondary, Michael Vick crashing through the end zone and into a snowbank, and David Akers kicking the game-winning extra point into the howling teeth of a Nor'Easter...

...but only in my dreams.

UPDATE: Apparently the Eagles’ official No. 1 fan agrees with me on this one. Gov. Rendell told KYW-TV last night that he also disagreed with the postponement – “This is football, football’s played in bad weather” – and made many of the same arguments about the subway and major highways remaining open. Even worse, he said in response to a question that legendary Green Bay Packers’ coach Vince Lombardi would “be mocking us.”

Totally.

UPDATE II: Remember how much Ed Rendell likes football in the snow?

And his volcanic temper and impulsiveness sometimes raised eyebrows. In 1989, Rendell bet $20 that a fellow football fan couldn't throw a snowball onto the field during an Eagles-Cowboys game at Veterans Stadium. He lost the bet and the fan's snowball hit a Cowboy in the back.

Will Bunch @ 4:58 PM Permalink | 74 comments

Previous Story: You better be good, for goodness sake

Next Story: UPDATED: What we lost

Comments (75)

0 like this / 1 don't • Posted 5:31 PM, 12/26/2010

Welcome to Philadelphia! This is the city built in a place where it snows copiously at least twice a year, but which can be shut down by the treat of a few inches of snow. Can we get any more ridiculous?

— DonQ

1 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:24 PM, 12/26/2010

Agreed. I think other NE cities could have handled this. Philly's just terrible with snow.

— RG

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:19 PM, 12/26/2010

NBC is worried the fans would throw iceballs. i'd be more worried we lose somebody to an injury (like say a brett favre sized concussion). if it was a day game out of the spotlight it woulda been played, but with everybody watching al michaels calling snowball throws it's probably a black eye the city wants to avoid amidst this new found philly (positive) fever renaissance right now. in other words, it's not the snow, it's the FANS they're worried about.

— Evilvet

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:11 PM, 12/26/2010

Wimpiness has nothing to do with it. If the kickoff was at 1:00PM, which was the schedule when those fans bought those tickets, we'd be celebrating an Eagles win. It's the rampant greed that affects everyone from the owners to the league to the players. This whole thing is sad.

— CiceroSpuriousDeodatus

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:25 PM, 12/26/2010

Huh? They moved the game because the Eagles are exciting and attract viewers. How is that bad?

— RG

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:50 PM, 12/26/2010

This was an NFL decision made a couple weeks ago, as part of the "flex schedule" policy. What you call greed means you don't have to watch The Chargers play the Bengals tonight, the original SNF game. (though we don't get to see anything tonight) Since it is harder and harder to predict late season premier games at the beginning of the season, they instituted the flex option so that they can move the more interesting games into national broadcast, prime-time games. If it's greed, then it must mean more people are watching, since the ratings are higher, and they can charge more for commercials. That must also mean that more people want to watch the game, so more people are entertained.

If that is greed, then to quote Gordon Gecko from Wall Street, "Greed is good".

Greed would seem to be relative, and in this case, I don't consider the flex schedule to be greed. If the public doesn't think the product (NFL in general) is worth the cost, then they shouldn't watch a game, buy any merch, or attend any games.

— tcj653

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:18 PM, 12/26/2010

Nutter is a real wimp. Definitely not a leader to follow.

— Smokey

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:31 PM, 12/26/2010

Another case of "risk management" gone awry. More and more, we are being coddled to the point where we're denied the opportunity to make decisions that involve risk. But hey, it doesn't matter, if you get hurt, you can always sue someone! It's always someone else's fault! Philly is known as a plaintiff-friendly city, so the city government is probably looking through that lens.

— tcj653

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:36 PM, 12/26/2010

Agree with Bunch. Lousy, completely unnecessary decision.

— Dave Clemens

1 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:36 PM, 12/26/2010

postponed courtesy of the folks who bring to you the flex schedule, 18 game season, and $2.50 retiree medical plan.

— barrywil

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:37 PM, 12/26/2010

The worst part of this is we only get 5 days rest for the final game of the season.

— JoeArtistWriter

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 6:46 PM, 12/26/2010

I suspect that who you left off your wimps list is the brass at NBC who, out of greed for a high Nielsen rating, didn't want to broadcast a white-out and didn't want to compete with Monday Night Football. They didn't care that it might hurt the birds.

— national bird fan

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:27 PM, 12/26/2010

ESPN's contract with the NFL does not allow for a situation where NBC can compete

— s1360m

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:11 PM, 12/26/2010

this is terrible. This was going to be like the best game of the year...I was going to go no matter how many inches came down. Reid gets lucky again and now wont be foreced to run the ball but will be able to call pass after pass on primetime Tv on tuesday. I will be on vacation starting tuesday morning so now I will miss it completely. No amount of scheduling will make it a nice 70 degress in philly in january and a stupid 60-80% passing attack WILL NEVER WIN A SB in philly as it never has FOR ANY TEAM IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE, EVER. especially not in philly when the ball will feel like a rock to throw and catch in the fold. might as well RUN THE BALL and play FOOTBALL in the snow like it has been played for 100 years. its not the arena league. Reid would be a multiple championship coach there, but he has ZERO SUPERBOWLS in over a decade in the NFL. BECAUSE 60% passing is STUPIDITY, especially in 20 degree weather. The snow would actually help us because it would FORCE REID TO RUN THE BALL.

— CharlieGarner25

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About this blog

Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.

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