Super Bowl Week Forges On Despite Icy Weather
FORT WORTH, Texas (WFAN/AP) — Cowboys owner Jerry Jones isn't worried that the NFL will turn a cold shoulder to his billion-dollar showplace after the first Super Bowl week in Dallas-Fort Worth arrived with a big chill.
"This is football country. It runs deep. It runs through men and women," he said. "It's a big deal. That's the way it is here — period. All that should help us if we have ambitions of hosting future Super Bowls."
The obvious question arose Tuesday after a winter storm brought ice, temperatures in the teens and subzero wind chill readings outside Super Bowl media day at $1.3 billion Cowboys Stadium in suburban Arlington.
The event went on as planned — the retractable roof was closed — despite a few complaints from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers.
"Man, it's freezing in here!" Steelers safety Ryan Clark, a Louisiana native, said several times between questions.
The Super Bowl next year is slated for Indianapolis and 2014 will be in the open-air New Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey, raising the possibility of more chilly stories in the week before the game.
Atlanta has twice been turned down in Super Bowl balloting since a rare ice storm struck the city just before the 2000 game. But Jones and Dallas bid leader Bill Lively shrugged off the notion that the icy weather would affect future Super Bowl bids for the 100,000-seat stadium.
NFL vice president of events Frank Supovitz said he didn't think the storm was fodder for those who contend Super Bowls should be played in warm weather. He noted that media day went off smoothly.
"I don't know if it's ammunition (for naysayers) because we were able to have our event without too much inconvenience," Supovitz said.
"Wherever you go, you always want to have a contingency plan. In South Florida, we have a contingency plan for flooding. In Detroit, we had a contingency plan for snow. In Indianapolis next year, we'll have similar plans like that for deep cold and snow," he said. "Here, we had a contingency plan for frozen precipitation because ice is the thing that you have to be most concerned about."
Michael Morris, director of transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said sand truck crews gave the "bad storm" everything they had to keep roads clear.
"I don't think the question is, we will never have a Super Bowl again in a town that has bad weather or the potential for bad weather," he said. "I think they want to showcase the investment they've made in their stadiums. I think the judgment will be, how was our response? And I'm proud of our response."
Still, the deep freeze was a jolt to everyone. Downtown Fort Worth was virtually deserted, as were most ice-covered roads across the area, and hundreds of flights were canceled at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport Tuesday.
The North Texas climate can be moderate — highs were in the mid-70s just days ago — but the area left no doubt about its wintry side. The National Weather Service says it won't be above freezing until Friday and Sunday's forecast calls for highs in the mid-50s.
Former Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman, vice chairman of the host committee, was disappointed by the unusual weather, and he blamed the board's chairman — fellow ex-Cowboy Roger Staubach, who is credited with coining the football term "Hail Mary."
"That's Staubach's fault," Aikman joked. "He's the one with the direct line to the man upstairs — at least that's what I've been hearing all these years."
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Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
