Lincoln_financial_snow
And now it's time for everybody to opine.

If you didn't notice, we're taking it easy with the posts here for a few days.  Blogger's got to have some time to get out of the basement, eh?

I had planned on being up late last night, to be on top of what would have no-doubt been an exciting football game- another in a string of epic contests this year for the Eagles.  Instead, the Mayor and city decided that they would push for a postponement.  The Governor, appearing on FOX Philly, didn't agree:

"It's an absolute joke. I was looking forward to this. It would have been a real experience. This is what football is all about. We're becoming a nation of wussies."

 

This is the reason that many folks around the country laugh at Philadelphia.  Without going through the list of "snow games" in NFL history, it's safe to say that other cities have had to deal with far worse conditions for fans.  The NFL said that a game hadn't been cancelled because of snow since the 1930's.  You mean to tell me that, in that time span, fans in Green Bay, New England, Chicago and other cities haven't had to deal with blizzard conditions when attending a football game?  Of course they have.

But not in Philadelphia.  Mayor Nutter and city hall, in the same month where they decided it would be a good idea to call shopping area outside of city hall "Holiday Village," urged the NFL to cancel the game.  It had nothing to do with the play on the field, but everything to do with fans safely attending the game.  That's a noble cause and all, but we're all big people here, no one was being forced to go to the game.  Don't feel safe?  Don't go.  And before we go making the "that's not fair to those who bought tickets" argument, the Eagles are not offering refunds to those who made holiday weekend plans to attend last night's game.  Even though refunds, in both instances, would probably be the right thing to do.

Instead, it appears as though the city, perhaps in a testament to its fans' passion, acknowledged that they weren't confident in their ability to keep lots clear. Again, all because of the threat of snow.

As a Villanova fan, I remember two games in which they played in far worse storms, forcing fans who still chose to attend the games to drive.  In 2005, the day before the NFC Championship, Villanova beat Kansas at the Wachovia Center in the midst of an epic snowstorm.  Last year, they played Georgetown in our nation's capital during another northeast snowstorm.  Neither game was cancelled.  I, for one, stayed home from that 2005 game.

In 1993, despite 12 inches of snow, the Flyers didn't cancel a game against Wayne Gretzky and the Kings.  The game was later postponed during the first intermission, but only because winds blew out windows on a poorly designed Spectrum.

Every winter team plays in snowstorms.  It's just what they do.

But no, not the Eagles.  The city decided it couldn't handle 70,000 fans converging on South Philadelphia should it be covered in 20 inches of snow- which it wasn't.

The Gov is right, this was an absolute joke.

Funny video of Rendell and John Bolaris arguing, after the jump.

H/T to Victoria

 

Rendell Irate Eagles Game Was Postponed: MyFoxPHILLY.com