I am the Program Director at 1410 WING ESPN Radio in Dayton, Ohio...also host of Dayton Sports Scene weekdays at 5p! Find me on Twitter @ESPNMark!
Warm weather means less to pro athletes
by Mark Neal,posted Aug 1 2011 12:50PM
This past week has been amazing! The amount of player transactions and movement has been at a level probably never seen before. What usually takes 5-6 months in the NFL, has to be done in 3 weeks. Quicker action will of course lead to mistakes, and poor evaluation...but it happens.
Its amazing how much we talk about warm weather and its affect on college sports and its influence on college athletes. We are told schools like Miami (Fla), USC, Texas, and Florida have such an advantage to Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame due to beaches and sun...but in the pros, not so much.
We see players signing by the truck loads with the Philadelphias, the New Yorks, and the New Englands of the NFL while Miami, Arizona, and San Diego rarely get the bonus of a high priced free agent. Los Angeles, which has USC, the poster school for fun and sun, doesnt even have an NFL team. Amateurs see sun and beaches, pros see money and stable franchises.
It is all about what matters to you at the time. When you get older, apparently its more about the job's compensation and stability than how "cool" it is while you live there. Seemingly Dallas is the only warm weather free agent hot spot...no pun intended.
