The good news first.
Damar Hamlin appears to be pulling pages from the Chris Pronger instruction manual on cardiac issues. Pronger went on to play more than a decade in the NHL after his on-ice collapse. Uncertain if Hamlin will play again, but the news has been very good, all things considered.
Regardless, I have a more fun idea to discuss.
The NFL has declared the game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals a no-contest, and there are some kinks to work out.
That’s right. I said kinks. And this isn’t even a kinky post…dammit. I know, I know…I promised I’d get back to that writing as well, but not quite there yet.
The Kansas City football team won last evening, thus clinching the AFC first seed and the only first round bye in the conference. For the uninitiated, that means they are in the playoffs, but don’t play next week.
Had Buffalo beaten Cincinnati and then won this afternoon, Buffalo would have held that position. Cincy also had a shot at that first seed, but KC would have had to lose last night.
To make things more “fair”, the NFL declared that, should Buffalo win today and have to play KC in the AFC Championship, the game will be played at a neutral site.
So where should this game be played?
Indianapolis and Detroit have both declined as potential hosts due to scheduling/maintenance issues at both of those stadiums.
With those two options unavailable, I believe it comes down to three obvious options.
First, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Fargodome.
A 31-year-old, 19,000 seat domed field that appears more suited to hockey than football.
Being Fargo, North Dakota has never hosted an NFL football game…could you imagine?
Do they have enough hotel rooms in the “city”? Probably not. Fargo City has a metro population of around 250,000, so if each resident offered the teams a room for billeting the players, maybe.
Would the NFL be the biggest event ever hosted at this venue? Ummm…Paul McCartney played there once. Well, Paul or his look alike did, at least. Celine Dion played there as well but Paul, or his look alike, is taller and, ipso facto, bigger.
Is the stadium up to NFL standards? Hell, no…but who cares (except on the player safety aspects)? So the teams deal with tiny locker rooms?
This place would be a riot…and not in the Ottawa-Freedom Convoy style riot, either.
Speaking of, that brings me to my second nomination. TD Place Stadium in Ottawa is bigger both in stadium size (24,000) and city population than Fargo.
Plus imagine the benefit to player education when dealing with a multilingual population. I mean, if you really want to bring culture to the NFL, send them to Montreal where concrete falls from the stadium.
For those that recall, the NFL has played in CFL stadiums before and, most recently, had to reduce the field size for a preseason game played in Winnipeg. That was a bit awkward. That the game was originally planned to be played in Saskatchewan makes it even funnier. Winnipeg was their second choice.
The advantage Fargo does hold here is it is more centralized between Buffalo and Kansas City. Plus, it is still in the U.S., and that whole Canadian border thing might be frowned upon. Being there is talk about hosting this game in New York, Atlanta, or New Orleans, however, so centralization may not be a huge concern.
With this in mind, one more nomination I would like to offer that might be the best of all choices.
RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, California…also known as the Oakland Coliseum. An ancient 55,000 seat stadium is the biggest of my three.
Stadium size might not matter, however, as the people of Oakland will likely be so happy to host such a game that they might not let anyone in the building.
Field safety, unlike Fargo and Ottawa, is not likely an issue.
NFL official safety, however, is a different story. Thankfully, California gun laws are stricter than some places, so the pope-mobile might not be required for those officials attending the game. Recommended, yes, but not required…the people still have rocks and some might even have money to throw at them.
I mean, how upset could they be about Oakland losing its lawsuit against the NFL for moving the Raiders, and the stadium literally starting to rust, it would be fantastic.
The only better option, so far as I see it, would be to play the first half in Oakland, second half in San Diego, and overtime in St. Louis…though logistics would be a bitch, especially being San Diego tore down their stadium.
At least St. Louis won their lawsuit versus the NFL.
