No Business Like Snow Business

National Football League organizers are warily looking toward February 2, 2014, the day of Super Bowl XLVIII at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the possibility of as snowstorm - maybe even a blizzard - on that day.

Hmm.  Let me see.  An outdoor stadium hosting the Super Bowl.  In New Jersey.  In February.  Gee, how could weather possibly be an issue? 

February is usually the coldest month in winter because of the angle of the earth and its far trajectory from the sun, and long-range weather forecasters have suggested that February 2014 could be particularly cold and snowy.  I'm still trying to fathom why the NFL would even bother with holding its championship game in the Snow Belt in any stadium other than a domed one.  (Even that may be risky, given that the roof of the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan famously collapsed because of the weight of . . . snow.)  Even if, early in the morning on Super Bowl Sunday -Groundhog Day - Punxsutawney Phil  doesn't see his shadow and predicts an early spring, it's not going to be that early.

I don't know if there'll be snow that weekend any more than I know if there'll be snow the following weekend - the weekend of the Beatles convention celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their first visit to America - but we shouldn't worry about any of that.  Because when you look at the Philippines, where you never see any snow, you're reminded that the weather has caused problems much more serious than canceling a football championship game or a pop music convention.