Cold, Ice and Football

As the polar vortex, a counter-clockwise rotation of polar air funnels into the plains and the mid-west today, 85,000 plus dedicated fans (or idiots, depending upon your point of view) are heading to Green Bay, WI to watch the Packers take on the San Francisco 49er's in historic Lambeau Field.  Some are wondering if this will be coldest game in NFL history, although it will be difficult to tell since windchill calculations have changed since the 1967 ice bowl.  Of interest are the comparisons between 1967 and this weekend.  The high in Green Bay on Dec 30, 1967 was 30 degrees F, and yesterday Green Bay had a high of 31.  One difference is weather forecasting, in 1967 the Dec 31 Ice Bowl game was to be like the Dec 30 weather--sunny and 30, this is compared to present time where weather forecasters have been predicting the on-set of the polar vortex and its concomitant cold air and wind for a week.  When Steve Sabol of NFL films received his courtesy wake-up call in his hotel room that Sunday morning on the last day of 1967 he was greeted with the morning temperature of minus 16 degrees.  If there is one constant in Wisconsin, it is that you can turn around and the weather will have changed.  As I write this, it is 6 degrees in Green Bay.  If everyone who says they had attended the Ice Bowl had attended it would likely have well exceeded half the population of the Wisconsin at that time.  The history of an event is created only partially by the event itself, the rest is in the telling and re-telling of the story about the event.  The historical narrative is what forms our thoughts.

A Wisconsin Herd at the Ice Bowl (Google images)

In spring of 1967, as Packer General Manager, Vince Lombardi had purchased an $80,000 electric heating system for Lambeau field from the nephew of Papa Bear George Halas, who was the GE representative for the area. But on the day of the game, the field was frozen.  The field heating system today was installed in 2007 and contains over 30 miles of 3/4" tubing filled with a hot liquid to heat the field to 55 degrees F.  It remains to be seen how the system will function today, and if it will remain sufficiently warm to keep the player's feet nice and toasty warm. The term "frozen tundra" applied in 1967, but a 55 degree field is not a frozen tundra, yet the frozen tundra term for Lambeau Field is part of the Packer mystique and lore.

With wind and cold, the windchill effect is not calculated to be as low as it used to be.  Of course, our outerwear is supposed to be better today than in 1967. Today there is the ever-present man-made fabrics that are supposed to keep one warm, while in 1967 it was the natural wool fabric called upon to do the job. While the propane heaters will still be present on the sideline they are joined by heated benches.  The long player coats, are likely of better fabric than in 1967.And the players have well-designed gloves to wear. Of course, the macho nature of the players will affect practicality, such as wearing short sleeves, which over the course of the game can affect their play. Vince Lombardi was in a dress overcoat and fedora, Mike McCarthy will be in a ski jacket and stocking cap. Fans were kept warm in 1967 by the ersatz idea that booze kept you warm, when it in fact has the opposite affect.  Being Wisconsin, I am sure that the brandy and beer will be well present today.  Today, the Packers will provide free hot chocolate and coffee (even though caffeine is not the best for cold weather either, but at least it is a hot beverage).  In 1967 there were no hand-warmers, and the Packers are handing out 70,000 hand warmers for fans to use today.

Winning Touchdown in the Ice Bowl (Google images)

In the end, it will come down to the on-field performance of the two teams. Former Packer Mark Tauscher says there is not such thing as the cold providing a home field advantage. I tend to agree.  If it does, why did the Ice Bowl come down to a Packer QB sneak in the waning seconds of the game, rather than a Packer domination?  Or, why did the Packers lose to the NY Giants--twice in the past few years?  There is one thing that Lombardi knew that Ted Thompson seems to not know.  Defense wins championships.  In taking over the Packers in 1959, after having assessed the talent on the previous season 1-10-1 team, he traded one of the team's most talented players Billy Howton to Cleveland for halfback Lew Carpenter and defensive end Bill  Quinlan.  In his biography of Vince Lomdardi, When Pride Still Mattered, David Maraniss says even though Lombardi was an offensive coach he realized the need to "build a great defense to prevail in the NFL."  Quinlan was viewed as a talent able to set the building blocks for that defense.  While many say it will come down to the productivity of Green Bay's offense, it is a game played on two sides of the ball (and of course special teams), and I think it will really come down to how well the 25th ranked Packer defense plays against the 49er offense, which the Packer defense has been unable to stop in the past two games between these two teams. Hopefully, today's game will have a positive end result for the Packer's as did the 1967 NFL Championship game which is now in NFL lore as not only the coldest game on record in the NFL, but one of the most talked about with its dramatic ending. It is more than just for the team, but for the 85,000 plus fans, who are at the game with the wind in their face, and the cold working through their bodies, have a positive outcome.