Melting in the Cold

Posted on | January 7, 2010 | No Comments | by Chris

It has seemed to me that in recent years the winter weather has not been an ally for the Green Bay Packers. This article (No Tundra? No big problem – JSOnline) seems to shed some light on this matter. It appears the Packers are pleased to be getting out of the cold:

“…they’re heading to Arizona again for the NFC wild-card round Sunday. And then, if they win there, they head to a dome in either New Orleans or Minnesota.

Well, you don’t have to twist their frostbitten arms.

“The weather. I’m loving playing out of town right now,” said tight end and Texas native Jermichael Finley.

All that talk about the cold games in Lambeau being an advantage can really make for great drama, but the truth is, it’s brutal on the already banged-up Packers.”

Don’t get me wrong: I am no fan of the cold myself and can certainly understand why anyone who lives in Wisconsin this time of year would love to get to Arizona. (By the way, Packers fans have that chance right now: http://www.sportsbubbler.com/pro/packers/80827417.html). But it is becoming clear to me that the team General Manager Ted Thompson has built is soft when it comes to the weather–that has been seen repeatedly in recent years, particularly in Chicago in December 2007 and again in the NFC Championship game played in subzero weather in Green Bay v. the New York Giants in January 2008. So it is not surprising that the glee of the players about playing in warm weather is palpable in this article. And while that will allow them to showcase their talent better the fact remains they will still be in a hostile environment on Sunday and, should they win, the same will be true next week–that won’t be an advantage. Of course, it might not matter as much this week as the Cheeseheads should be well represented in AZ, but I doubt the same will be true should the Packers play in Minnesota or New Orleans. That leads me to believe that the best course to the Super Bowl for the Packers is through Lambeau Field, and that means the players better learn to toughen up.

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