Glauber: A title game at new Giants-Jets stadium would be super

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.

An outdoor Super Bowl in the New York metropolitan area? Tiki Barber loves the idea, bad weather and all. Like the kind that New Yorkers are facing this weekend.

"The only issue would be if we get hit with the kind of storm we're about to face," the former Giants running back said Friday from the warmth of South Florida while awaiting Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday. "But there's something in that. So many great games in history - the Patriots' game against the Raiders in 2001, for example. You remember the game for the 'tuck rule,' but the snow and conditions were just as much of a character in the story as the game was, and I think there's something to that."

The Giants and Jets soon will speak to their fellow owners about a potential bid for the 2014 Super Bowl, a one-time-only event that will be voted on during a May meeting in Dallas.

To be a finalist, a city must receive 24 of the 32 votes. A simple majority on the final vote is needed to win the bid.

If New York gets approval, it will mark the first time a Super Bowl is played in a cold-weather city without a domed stadium.

A long shot? Absolutely. An idea worth considering? No question. I hope it happens.

In a league that has come to be defined in large part by what happens in cold-weather games, an outdoor Super Bowl in a new stadium in the biggest media market in the world is worth having.

Don't think so? How about harking back to some of the most famous cold-weather games in NFL history: Patriots-Raiders in the snow at Foxboro Stadium, where Adam Vinatieri made that impossible 45-yard field goal through the snow to send the game into overtime. The 1967 NFL Championship Game at Lambeau Field, forever known as the Ice Bowl. And how about the one referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played," the 1958 NFL Championship Game at Yankee Stadium between the Giants and Colts?

"The 800-pound gorilla is weather, but certainly fans up and down the East Coast and throughout the country love games played in winter weather," Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said. "Weather would be part of the experience. If it snows during the game, it could be a winter wonderland.''

Bills owner Ralph Wilson has railed against an outdoor cold-weather Super Bowl for years, saying that "championship games should be played in championship conditions." It's a sentiment shared by others. But I believe it would be a unique experience that would transcend the concerns about weather.

"I'm a big supporter of having the Super Bowl in New York,'' Patriots owner Robert Kraft said.

But Kraft knows there might be some push-back from other owners. Owners dismissed the idea of a Giants Stadium Super Bowl in 2002 even after intense lobbying by then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

"I think if they put a roof on the stadium, they should get consideration," Rooney said. And if there is no roof, which will be the case? "Then I think there'll be some trouble. The weather would be something you'd have to consider."

Even players might have some reservations. Giants running back Brandon Jacobs initially said of a Super Bowl here: "That's never gonna happen. It's too cold. It might be snowing."

After realizing that the Giants and Jets are making a serious push for the game, he reconsidered. "Obviously, it would be a hurdle, but it's something that could be done," he said. "New York is a big city with a lot of hotels, and it would be good for the economy.''

And one last thought from Jacobs: "I hope we're the team playing in it."

No one knows who would be playing in it, but this much is clear: It should be played.

Outdoor Super Bowl on a snow-filled weekend in The Big Apple? Football like it oughta be.