The NFL announced on Tuesday evening that New York will host the 2014 Super Bowl. The immediate reaction from most people seems to be concern over the fact that the game will be played in the cold.

My immediate reaction? So what.

Football has always been meant to be played outdoors. That’s not to say domes don’t serve a purpose (how fun is it to watch the Saints and Colts’ high octane offenses play on turf at least eight times a year?), but really, the Super Bowl should be more about the game and less about the host city. In fact, why not rotate the game every year so that all the cities have an opportunity to host the big game? Detroit played host in 2006 and did a wonderful job. I would imagine that Chicago, Green Bay and/or Washington D.C. would be equally great.

I get that a game of this magnitude should be played on equal ground. But no matter how you slice it, one team usually has an advantage. I see the point that if the Steelers are used to playing in the cold, that they would have an advantage over the Panthers, Falcons, Rams, Cardinals, 49ers, Lions and Cowboys. But the conditions can’t always be perfect and it’s not like every single player on a warm weather team has never played in the cold before. Every year the media makes a huge deal out of warm weather teams playing in the cold late in the season and every year, their points are exaggerated.

At the end of the day, the Super Bowl has always been about the two best teams in a given season going head to head for a championship. That’s it. Whether or not fans will be cold in the stands or the weather conditions affect the game doesn’t matter. Football is football and let’s keep the focus on the game.

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