Iron Mike Ditka Thinks Playing In The Cold Is Stupid, ‘Wrecking Ball’ Spoof OK
Mike Ditka has an interesting barometer for stupid.
Riding a wrecking ball to shill soft drinks with a parody of Miley Cyrus’s controversial viral hit is perfectly fine but playing the Super Bowl outdoors is apparently dumb in the eyes of Iron Mike.
“The weather’s going to be a problem,” Ditka said via the Detroit Free Press. “They made a big mistake. The game shouldn’t be there. I mean, it’s stupid.”
Iron Mike said it’s unfair to both the fans and the players; the former won’t find it enjoyable and the latter will be inhibited from playing to their potential, because overcoming adversity and the elements doesn’t factor into a player’s greatness whatsoever, right coach?
“It’d be nice to be playing in Miami or San Diego or New Orleans or somewhere the weather is conducive to guys being able to show their talents,” said Ditka,
Sounds like someone’s next commercial is going to be for candy bars.
Picture this: flashback to the 1985 Chicago Bears on the sidelines of Super Bowl XX. The players are huddled around a wailing infant in diapers until running back Mike Singletary says, “Coach Ditka, have a Snickers; sometimes you turn into a crybaby when you’re hungry.”
And… scene.
On one hand, Ditka can serve as the voice of experience; if anyone knows about the perils of playing in the cold, it’s Iron Mike, who spent six years on the gridiron in the Windy City on the Bears roster. Ditka later coached the Bears for 11 seasons, becoming the only person in the modern NFL era to win a championship with a team as both a player and a coach (Ditka’s coaching win in the Big Game took place in New Orleans, mind you). Like Bo knows football, Iron Mike knows cold weather.
Or, Mike Ditka is crazy. Look, Coach, we get that everyone wants to retire in sunny Florida, but we can’t have the Super Bowl in Tampa or Miami every year (Jacksonville would be on that list if we could say with any confidence they’ll have an NFL franchise when the time next comes to bid on being host city).
MetLife Stadium has perfectly good facilities; heck, Iron Mike, it’s the only venue good enough to serve as the home for two NFL teams. And yeah, it might get a wee bit nippy out there this Sunday, but if it wasn’t for cold weather football, how could the world ridicule the morons who go out in the frigid air with no shirt on with the hopes that catching hypothermia is worth being on TV for 3.7 seconds.
What do you think about Mike Ditka’s complaint about the weather?
