March 9, 2024

"At least 'some' football fans, who attended January's bitterly cold Kansas City Chiefs playoff game, suffered extreme frostbite and eventually needed amputations...."

From "Some attendees of frigid Chiefs game forced into amputations following severe frostbite, Kansas City hospital says /The Jan. 13 wildcard victory over the Miami Dolphins might have come at a terrible price for some spectators who endured sub-zero cold" (NBC News).

"It was the fourth coldest football game in NFL history with the famed"Ice Bowl" of Dec. 31 1967 still serving at the frozen gridiron standard."

30 comments:

typingtalker said...

Alcohol and Sports Addiction are terrible diseases. Combined, they are lethal.

Narr said...

"serving as"

Good morning.

gilbar said...

by "amputations" i assume that they mean "toes"? Is the word "toes" Ever mentioned in the article?
i assume that we are supposed to "assume the worst" ?

n.n said...

some spectators who endured sub-zero cold" (NBC)

And everyone else thrived in sub-zero cold. There is a lesson here that is applicable to society at large.

Kate said...

Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say "These wounds I had on Superbowl day."

planetgeo said...

It's worth noting that the NFL policy on playing under such conditions is taken directly from the bible: "Many are called, but few are frozen."

Aggie said...

Meh. Small price to play if you're a real fan.

Tom T. said...

The article actually draws no connection between the injuries and attendance at the game. One patient was a meter reader, for example. I assume these amputations were relatively minor, like fingertips; otherwise, this would be a bigger story.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Al Gore has agreed to join us and provide a comment. Mr. Gore, thank you so much. We know you just got off one flight by private jet, and you're about to embark on another. Your comment on the extreme cold at recent NFL games?

Gore: I have never lied. The thing about inventing the internet was blown out of all proportion. I was on a Senate committee that gave a lot of support to the ARPANET. True, the Senate does not have power of the purse, but we could make deals to get the money we wanted. I never said "I" invented the internet; I said "we" did.

That stuff about Tipper and me being the inspiration for Segal's Love Story? That was all cooked up by my local paper, the Tennessean. Of course I denied it about a thousand times, maybe keeping it in people's minds a bit.

Raised on a Tennessee farm? Call it poetic or political exaggeration.

First CO2 goes up, then temperature goes up, always, everywhere in the world? Sea level rise of 20 feet in the near future? Pacific atolls being evacuated because they are inundated with water? It might be a choice between living on a non-inundated Pacific atoll and living in New Zealand. Kilimanjaro? Katrina? Drawing bullshit conclusions? It's all Mike Mann's fault--and he's a great man, a hero of the planet.

I hear my jet firing up, so that's all for now.

Dave Begley said...

My best friend went to the game and even tailgated.

She had no problems. She's plenty smart and wasn't drunk.

Joe Smith said...

If you're a fan, totally worth it : )

Was it the guys who always take their shirts off?

God forbid someone using a port-a-potty in the parking lot.

Little Willie shall be missed...

RCOCEAN II said...

Yeah, I assume these were drunks. Or the macho types who show up barechested to show how tought they are.

I'm not sure how long it takes to freeze your fingers. I know from experience that having thick gloves can be little protection. I once had two pairs of gloves on and it still so cold I had to quit my hike and go back. Usually if you have good boots and a warm pair of dry socks your toes will be ok.

Mr. T. said...

But......climate change!

If only we paid John Kerry more money!

Yancey Ward said...

Not possible. Winter ended with global warming.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Yet there were tough Cheesehead ladies in dresses at the Ice Bowl and I’ve never read reports of frostbite from that game. There’s a whole display about the Ice Bowl at the Packers Hall of Fame next to Lambeau Field. That famous game might have been at Milwaukee County Stadium though. If it was at Lambeau then, as anyone who’s been there knows, the seats are aluminum benches that conduct heat away very efficiently.

Original Mike said...

Nowadays, chemical hand and foot warmers are ubiquitous.

n.n said...

With climate change... global warming, children will not know neither snow nor frostbite anymore.

Rocco said...

"It was the fourth coldest football game in NFL history with the famed 'Ice Bowl' of Dec. 31 1967 still serving at the frozen gridiron standard."

Factoring in wind chill, the Freezer Bowl - the 1981 AFC Championship Game between the Bengals and the Chargers - was colder; -59 degrees with the wind chill vs -36 degrees wind chill in the Ice Bowl.

Rocco said...

So instead of wishing for the opposing teams' fans to burn in hell, you should wish for them to freeze in the midwest?

Curious George said...

"That famous game might have been at Milwaukee County Stadium though."

Nope. And the Packer's never played there for a playoff game.

Marcus Bressler said...

Mittens (not Romney) work better at keeping your fingers from "freezing" than gloves. I found that out while skiing one year. I suggested to a friend that he try switching and he refused, saying gloves are cool and mittens are not.

Andrew said...

So 15 fans went to the hospital for frost bite, 15 out of 80,000 in attendence that night.

Old and slow said...

I've long suspected that football fans were largely morons. These particular fans were demonstrably stupid, and got what they deserved.

BG said...

Choppers mittens and sherpa-lined insulated boots. Include hand and foot warmers if you're a senior citizen (like me). Insulated parka and sherpa-lined cap. Warmth over the latest "fashions." Statistically, almost .02% of the attendance isn't very much. There will be a few without much sense in every crowded stadium.

Iman said...

Now THAT is fucking commitment!

Ann Althouse said...

"by "amputations" i assume that they mean "toes"? Is the word "toes" "

You're probably right. I wouldn't have blogged this if I'd known the losses were nothing but toes.

stlcdr said...

Ann Althouse said...
"by "amputations" i assume that they mean "toes"? Is the word "toes" "

You're probably right. I wouldn't have blogged this if I'd known the losses were nothing but toes.

3/9/24, 2:29 PM


Would they have reported it if they couldn't have used the word 'amputations'?

robother said...

What would journalists do without the "Some?" Some say. Some fans. One or two, or more? Amputated what, nose tips, toes, finger tips? The age of clicks has rendered moot Who/What/Where/Why.

MadisonMan said...

We took kid's friend with us once to Lambeau. It was really cold -- but not subzero. Friend wore a thin pair of wool socks. We left in the 3rd Quarter.
The cold was well-forecast in KC. Trumpeted, really. Pay attention!

Iman said...

Despite all the amputations
Could they dance to a rock ‘n roll station?