Sunny South Florida to the NFL- Enjoy your SB on ice! - Ingles

Countdown to SB XLV Kickoff
Friday, February 04 2011

To: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, team owners, league sponsors and fans This article was written by Michael Mayo and appeared in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel.

From: South Florida

Re: Super Bowls

So, miss us yet?

Don't know if you've checked the forecast here, but I had to crank up my A/C on Wednesday and I've got my weekend tee time set.

As for your upcoming Super Bowl sites, I see that you're skidding through an ice storm in Dallas/Arlington (host of Sunday's big game), that Indianapolis (2012) will have a high of 17 degrees Thursday, that New Orleans (2013) is barely above freezing and that New York/New Jersey (site of the 2014 game — outdoors!) is having their bazillionth storm this winter.

"Here's me: 81 degrees, no snow, no ice, no shovels — and no Super Bowls," said Nicki Grossman, head of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau. "What's wrong with this picture?"

Said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee: "If I was planning the Super Bowl in New York, my knees would be shaking."

Not to mention teeth chattering, noses running and fingers turning blue.

South Florida is bidding for the 2015 Super Bowl, which will be awarded later this year.

Since we hosted the big game last year, there's been talk (or threats) that the NFL won't return unless public dollars fund major improvements to the Dolphins' stadium.

Dolphins CEO Mike Dee has been beating the drum again lately, pushing legislation that would allow bed-tax money in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to go toward the stadium, including a roof over the seats. The Broward County Commission strongly opposes the plan.

But even without stadium upgrades, I'd say our Super Bowl prospects have never looked sunnier.

"It's going to be five long, cold years for the NFL," Grossman said.

"Did you know the Dallas airport was closed [on Tuesday]?" Barreto said.

And the NFL had the nerve to complain about a little rain when the game was played here in 2007?

This Sunday's game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers will be played indoors at Jerry Jones' glitzy Cowboys Stadium, the climate-controlled, retractable-roofed palace that Arlington taxpayers subsidized.

But when the high-rollers and VIPs from both coasts and frozen fans from humble Green Bay and Pittsburgh come sliding into North Texas, what will they do all weekend leading up to the game?

Spread salt on the sidewalks in George W. Bush's neighborhood?

Eat frozen brisket on a stick?

Skate figure-8's on Dealey Plaza?

"This type of weather scenario beats stadium improvements any day," Grossman said. "You can't beat what we have as a selling point."

Lately, the NFL has been playing the stadium extortion game to the hilt, awarding Super Bowls to unlikely sites such as North Texas, Indianapolis and New York after suckers, I mean taxpayers, help out the local billionaire owners with new stadiums.

Meantime, perennial Super Bowl hosts such as South Florida (which has held 10), Tampa and Southern California have been left out in the cold.

"I understand we have to share the game," Grossman said. "I don't understand why we can't be in a natural rotation every four years. We have everything they're looking for."

Except frostbite.

We can only hope the NFL and its highfalutin minions freeze their tushes off these next few years.

"This is so much justice," said Mark Mariani, of Boca Raton, a former executive with Turner Broadcasting who negotiated contracts with the NFL and other sports leagues. "Your headline should be: Greed gets sacked."

Mariani said it's only a matter of time until the league's big corporate sponsors, the ones who shell out $15 million to $20 million annually and get 500 Super Bowl tickets to entertain clients, distributors and executives, get tired of frigid Super Bowls.

"In Florida you've got beach parties, golf tournaments, cruises up the Intracoastal, great shopping," Mariani said. "In Indianapolis, there's nothing to do."

And in wintry Dallas this week, events have been canceled and visitors have endured rolling blackouts at their hotels.

Meantime, the only ice I see is in my mojito.

Cheers NFL!

Hope to see you soon. We'll keep the A/C on for you.

But you really should pay for your own darn roof.