From Tim Griffin's Mailbag: Anyone Else Tired of Southerners Complaining About the Weather in Kansas City?
by TB on Dec 2, 2008 8:33 PM CST
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PrintFrom Tim Griffin's mailbag today:
Korey writes: Tim, why do they play the Big 12 championship game in cold weather in Kansas City at night and they play the warmer weather SEC championship game indoors during the day in Atlanta?
Tim Griffin: It beats me. It makes perfect sense to play the Big 12 title game indoors at a place like San Antonio or St. Louis or what will be an indoor stadium in Arlington once it's finished. Bob Stoops almost came out saying that today in his press conference saying he was "cool" to the idea of playing outdoors. But Stoops didn't say he had an ideal location to play the game.
But if it's raining and snowing Saturday night, I'm betting he'll have a lot more to say about the notion of playing the biggest conference game of the season in the elements.
If the question had been posed to me, my answer would likely have gone as follows:
TB: Because football is an outdoor game! You don't say where you're from, but I'm going to go ahead and guess you live south of the Mason-Dixon line if you're complaining about a game being played in cold weather. Have you people forgotten that both teams are outside playing in the same weather? It's not like one of them is indoors, nice and toasty in a controlled-climate environment, while the other is outside where it's below freezing and snowing. If your excuse for playing poorly or losing a game is the weather, you don't deserve to be playing in the game in the first place.
Further, we already moved the conference's headquarters from Kansas City to Dallas. We now move the conference basketball tournament around even though it gets played in front of 15,000 empty seats when it's in Dallas. I don't mind football being played two out of four years in Dallas or San Antonio, but let's try to remember that we're a conference and the North schools should get a shot at having the game in their backyard as often as the South gets it. Kansas City is the location that makes the most sense, logistically, in the North. St. Louis is only marginally a Big 12 town and doesn't seem to have any interest in hosting the title game anymore. I don't know that Denver has ever expressed interest in hosting it. Hell, Denver would be just as cold and snow-prone as KC.
I don't seem to remember hearing anyone complain about the weather during or after the thrilling Border War game played by Mizzou and KU this weekend at Arrowhead Stadium. The temperature hovered just above freezing, and most of the game saw rain and snow fall with varying degrees of intensity. The teams scored quite a few points and put on a good show for the fans.
Now, if your point is that it might make more sense to have the game in KC, but play it in the afternoon, I'm with you there. I believe the Big 12 CCG has been played in the afternoon before. But TV tends to be the entity that decides those things, not common sense.
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I don't mind it being in KC.
My only problem with the title game being in KC is the fact that its always played at night there.
I agree with you on it being played during the day. The weather is a little bit better during the day and it provides a better TV spectacle when the game is during the day as the weather is nicer and a little bit warmer.
I don’t know why they play the game in San Antonio. I hate the Alamo Dome. Its so big and cavernous and really does not provide for a great atmosphere. I think they should have held it in Dallas more often.
I'm thinking this fan's complaint is really about the fan experience
he’s probably not happy he has to sit outside in the cold.
I love the cold, though; that’s football weather right there.
I do wish the Big 12 would adopt permanent sites for all of its championship games, though, instead of having rotations. I say give Kansas City the postseason basketball tournament, Oklahoma can have the baseball tournament, and Dallas/Arlington gets the football championship game. Kansas City makes sense for basketball because y’all built your new arena and have the facilities for both men’s and women’s basketball (with the destruction of Reunion Arena, Dallas lacks a viable facility for women’s basketball), Oklahoma has the facilities to host baseball and softball, and the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington is going to be a jewel to showcase the football championship game. It all would work out.
As for having the Big 12 offices in Dallas, well, 1/3 of the conference is located in this State, so it makes sense.
Korey is probably not from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Just a guess.
Aggressity is the mother of suspension.
I always liked the rotating championship sites....
but Beergut makes a valid point. I wouldn’t want to make anything permanent, but a 5 year “contract” with each city would be a good move. The host cities have the satisfaction of knowing they get the economic boost over those 5 years, and the cities that have the best “fit” for each sport are rewarded the championship. I can see how OKC would probably not like your scenario considering basketball and football bring in much more money than the baseball tournament, but the location for the field in OKC is second to none.
Amen to that brother.
if only it were that easy…
Man do I hate Longhorn fans, well except for the ones that actually went there.
SEC isn't in Atlanta because of the Dome...
It’s in Atlanta because it’s centrally located in relation to the rest of the conference. If the Dome aspect was all that mattered, it’d be in New Orleans every once and a while.
The Big XII, however, stretches so much further geographically, so central location isn’t always feasible…although, KC is probably the most Central. Regardless – a Texas fan from Houston is still going to have to fly to that game (unless, of course, the BCS polls take their chance away).
The ACC has this same problem right now – they keep putting the game in Florida thinking the “destination city” aspect will attract fans, even though Charlotte is clearly the place to have the game. They are crazy about the ACC in the Carolinas (something you can’t really say about any other state, save maybe for Virginia), have an NFL Stadium, and decently moderate weather.
Until they move it there permanently, though, it’s going to continue to suffer small crowds in Tampa and Jax – unless FSU and Miami miraculously make it an all-Florida match-up.
The Big XII is the same way – you need to have it in towns that care about the conference as a whole…Kansas City, Dallas, and San Antonio are probably the ones that best address that.
by The Gentleman Masher on Dec 5, 2008 8:37 AM CST reply actions
Good points
There are five Big 12 schools within about four hours drive of KC (K-State, KU, MU, NU, ISU) and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State aren’t much farther away. Of course, the same can be said for Dallas, as it would have UT, TAMU, BU, TTU, OU and OSU within about 5 hours’ drive.
Others have made the fair point that setting one location for the championships makes sense, because it allows that city to get attached to it. Given the craze for football in Texas, maybe it does make sense to anchor the football CCG in Dallas. My only concern is that Dallas is such a big city with so many entertainment options, it may not always attract the big crowds if it doesn’t get the marquee teams with huge fanbases (OU, UT, Nebraska, etc.). Of course, the same point could be made about Kansas City.
Oh, and don’t discount driving from Houston to Kansas City. I do it fairly frequently. LOVE it.
We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats
by TB on Dec 5, 2008 9:42 AM CST up reply actions
Thanks
Dallas is a very similar city to Atlanta…although, I would argue Atlanta is a College Football Crazy town, while Dallas is more about the Cowboys.
That said, it’s a big enough city where flights would be cheap if a team was coming from far away (Boulder, Lincoln, etc.), and fairly driveable for a good bit of the Big XII.
Given the large geographic footpring of the Big XII, I think you could justify having Dallas and KC alternate…or Dallas, San Antonio, and KC alternate it.
I do think, given the unbalance in talent between North and South that you must have it in a “North” city at least once every 2 or 3 years.
by The Gentleman Masher on Dec 5, 2008 3:15 PM CST reply actions
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