Patriots record 3-13, Bills 13-3, and yet Pats opened at goddamn evens. Of course the public hammered the fav massively, what is Vegas smoking?
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Titans also a 3-13 record, opened as a 5 pt fav so the public hammered the dog. Vegas baffled.Comment -
HFA is critical come post season time.
If you're a Bears fan or a player, there's a major edge in January if you're accustomed to games being played in Chicago with those nutcracking -10 below wind chill factors, same applies to Denver, and Green Bay, and Foxborough Mass.
Six teams have won six or more NFL Championships in the history of the league.
They are, Green Bay, Chicago, New York (Giants), Kansas City, Foxborough (Boston metro), and Pittsburgh.
The common denominator being (of course) all six of the aforementioned cities are notorious for the torturous late fall/throughout the entire winter season, and into early spring nut cracking cold/wind/ and blizzard conditions.
If you can't tolerate temps in the low teens or worse, chances are the winters in the northeast, the Great Lakes major port cities, and the bigger cities out there in Big Sky Country isn't for you.
Me, I love winter, I can't get enough of it, but then again, I'm not normal.
I never claimed to be a bastion of normalcy.
My in-laws live outside of Tampa, they love it, and I get that.
My father in-law loves Forida Guld Coast summers with the same passion that I love 12" snowstorms in the dead of winter up here.
The only dry heat of summers that I would consider retirement in would be in the Phoenix/Las Vegas Mojave region.
I don't like sweaty humidity, amongst other things 90 degree + temps coupled with 60% relative humidity isn't really that healthy.
Mid twenty-degree winter temperatures and low humidity is easier on the respiratory system.
IMO, HFA is still a factor during the NFL regular season but not nearly as critical of the home field advantage of a frigid cold weather team that plays most of the last four to six weeks of the season and all their home playoff games in lake effect snow.
Teams like Miami, and Houston don't want to play in the middle of January in say Buffalo, or Chicago, or Boston.
Riddle me this?
Is HFA relevant in baseball?
During the height of the pandemic, I've been working pretty much remotely for home.
Thank God I only have to take my life into my own hands and drive those 24 miles from hell up the I95 to the office in New Haven.
Point I'm driving at is I have a lot more time now to research things.
I spent a couple of months researching does good pitching shut down good hitting, or vice versa.
What I did was started with those Braves teams from the late 80's - mis 90's and went forward 25 years up to 2020.
I stumbled upon this fun fact they really should shock many.
Since 1989-2024, 35 years, there have been only two cold weather D1 baseball programs that have won a Natty.
That would be Wichita State, and Pat Casey's Oregon State teams.
That's it, two cold city D1 baseball teams of won it all in 35 years.
Texas has won baseball championships, a ton of SEC schools, USC (LA), the other USC (So. Carolina Gamecocks) CS Fullerton, Arizona State, Oklahoma Sooners...
You get my point, the point being IMO HFA plays out well for cold weather city winter sport athletics, like football, and conversely HFA plays out well for summer climates where those programs can practice outdoors 10 out of 12 months a years.
The better baseball programs here in the northeast can't compete with the Arizona States of the world that can play outdoor ball year-round.
The good baseball schools in NJ, on Long Island, in Ct. and the Boston area all shutdown outdoor baseball around the third week in October, and if we get an early spring pick up again in mid-February.
But I digress, I'm the king of digression, I'm good at it.
To underscore your point, HFA is slightly overrated during most regular seasons, however come playoffs, HFA can not and should not be overlooked.Comment -
Well, Vegas was right with the Pats but the Titans were useless.Comment