Chicagoans refer to it as “Bear Weather.” The Minnesota Vikings used to revel in cold weather in the old Metropolitan Stadium in the 1970s. The Green Bay Packers knew how to tough it out in the Ice Bowl and so many other cold-weather situations under Vince Lombardi. More recent Packer teams quarterbacked by Brett Favre and then Aaron Rodgers handled the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears in cold-weather NFC Championship Games.
Disclosure: I have never lived in the Midwest. However, my folks are from Chicago, and as someone who lives in Phoenix, the markers of territory on an NFL Sunday are the Steelers bar over there, the Browns bar over there, the Bears bar here, and the Packers bar there. The Midwest is never very far away in Phoenix, and I have talked to enough Midwesterners over the years to get a sense of how (rightly) prideful they are in being tough and sturdy when weather gets nasty.
“None of this domed-stadium crap.”
“Real men play championship football outdoors.”
“If Alabama or these other SEC teams had to play bowl games in THIS WEATHER, instead of always getting to play under a dome in New Orleans, or in Miami, I wonder if the SEC would be so good in the playoff or the BCS.”
That last point is especially accurate and potent in underscoring the advantage Big Ten teams WOULD have if playoff games were either on campus or moved to cold-weather outdoor sites in the North. SEC teams always have the advantage of playing in warm-weather or “weather-neutral” (dome) environments. Big Ten teams never get the benefit of playing games in THEIR preferred weather — not against Clemson or other Southern teams. Big Ten teams only play cold-weather games within the conference.
Therefore, it was only fitting that the Wisconsin Badgers and Minnesota Golden Gophers played in a wintry mix on Saturday. Minnesota fans probably thought their team was strong enough and good enough to handle the bad conditions, but as soon as the weather got nasty, so did the Badgers. It was beyond obvious that Minnesota’s offense functioned better in calm conditions. If you look at any photo gallery of the game, via a newspaper or website, you can see the pictures being bright and clear in the gray but precipitation-free first minutes of the contest. That’s when Minnesota grabbed a 7-0 lead and had the ball at the Wisconsin 35 with a chance to go up two scores.
P.J. Fleck — in a cautious decision he ought to regret all offseason — punted. It was the last time Minnesota enjoyed the true upper hand, because then the weather deteriorated… and so did the Gophers. Wisconsin had the sled dogs and the mashers and the snowplows. The Badgers threw the ball more sharply, hit harder, covered receivers more vigorously, and did everything with more confidence and toughness.
Minnesotans culturally like the fact that TCF Bank Stadium — unlike the Vikings’ new home, U.S. Bank Stadium — is outdoors. Again, the old Metropolitan Stadium was a point of pride for Minnesotans, given how often the Los Angeles Rams turned into icicles when playing the Vikings in NFL postseason games in the 1970s. Minnesotans want the bad weather. They want opposing teams to come to the great North and suffer.
It had to be painful for the Gophers and their fans to see — so clearly — that U.S. Bank Stadium or the old (now gone) Metrodome would have helped Minnesota in this game. A fast track in perfect weather conditions would have serviced the Gophers’ passing attack, much as an SEC team or Clemson regularly thrives in conditions which present no discomfort whatsoever.
Wisconsin, though, enjoyed the miserable weather. It made Minnesota miserable. You can tell who is relishing a bad weather day and who is trying to survive it. The decisiveness with which Wisconsin punched Minnesota in the teeth was noticeable, unending, and pervasive. Everyone on Wisconsin got in on the fun. No positional unit fell short of the coaching staff’s hopes for this game. It was easily Wisconsin’s most complete game this season. You could cite the Michigan game, but that game was over very quickly. This was a much tougher ask against a better team, on the road, at the end of the season, with a division title on the line… and Wisconsin dug very deep throughout its roster to Badger and batter the Gophers into submission.
The weather outside was frightful, but the Badgers were delightful. They created this primal scene after the game: Wisconsin players roared in a spirit of conquest, holding Paul Bunyan’s Axe aloft and partying well into the evening in Minneapolis:
We should all have this much fun. Wisconsin turned bad weather into a time for a celebration. Sounds pretty Midwestern to me.