Monday, December 8, 2008

Bears 23, Jaguars 10 in the Soldier Field chill

Temperature at noon kickoff Sunday: 19. Wind chill: 9. Attendance: 61,736.
Just as I find the cold invigorating for just a few minutes, some Bears fans love sitting still watching Bears football for three to four hours in this weather. I don’t understand it, but to each his own. I overheard a discussion during kiddush Saturday morning. One person had attended the Nov. 23 Bears game in St. Louis, played indoors. He loved it. The other has season tickets in the family and spent $800 on winter gear for November and December games. They were both saying Soldier Field should have been domed when it was rebuilt in 2002. I would not want the taxpayers stuck paying the extra $100 million, but they’re right. There is no good reason to continue to play games outdoors in Chicago when it is so cold here, and the technology exists for a retractable dome. Fun to watch cold-weather games on tv—I love it—but a miserable experience in person IMHO, and those Bears tickets are expensive. I would much rather attend games in the domes in Detroit, St. Louis, Indianapolis or Minneapolis than attend a game in Soldier Field when the temperature at kickoff is below 50. The stadia in Chicago and Green Bay make the Bears and Packers look like cavemen.

No comments: