[Richard Kimball]

I've always thought the Vikings lost their edge when they went to a domed stadium. The name Vikings meant more when they were out in the elements. I photograph football (high school and college), and love the beauty of the outdoor elements. It was part of what drew me to the game. I remember Joe Namath with the dust of the Shea Stadium outfield swirling around him, Dick Butkus roaming the sidelines of the Bears games with those old long black capes they used to wear, the old Cleveland Stadium with the worst turf in the league, and halfway through the second quarter of a game both teams were so muddy you couldn't tell them apart. The weather in an area was as much a part of the team as the logo and the uniform. With domes, everyplace is like everyplace else.

I don't like the turf and the domes. In the old NFL, each game had it's own personality.

[discostu]

I think domes play into why the NFC has lost it’s edge against the AFC, right now the NFC has 6 dome teams to the AFC’s 2, soon the NFC will have 7. Playing football in the living room (roof, carpet, central air) makes players soft, makes them finesse, and the NFC plays a lot of games in living rooms now, with two in each division except the East even open air teams can expect a few dome games.

And definitely the weather makes some of the great images of the game. So many of my generation came to define the NFL as John Facenda’s voice over big scary people in muddy uniforms and those capes. Some of the great images of the game.

[Nevadan]

“The weather in an area was as much a part of the team as the logo and the uniform. With domes, everyplace is like everyplace else.”

Very well said. The Packers will never give up their arctic statium.

Anyone here remember that 1967 Championship game between the Packers and the Cowboys? I remember one of the announcers saying that he was going to have a “bite” of his coffee. It had frozen solid during their discussion.

That game was a heartbreak loss for this Cowboy fan. The Packers pulled out a win (led by Bart Starr) in the last couple of a minutes of the game. What a great game that was - I was only 14 at the time but I still remember Bart Starr, at the Cowboys one yard line, jumping over the struggling linemen on both sides for the winning touchdown. Wonderful memories.

[Roccus]

“I remember Joe Namath with the dust of the Shea Stadium outfield swirling around him...”
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I think you meant “infield.”