BETTER FLAKE THAN NEVER: Even if there’s snow falling when the Super Bowl comes to MetLife Stadium next Feb. 2 — it’s football, after all — the Giants owners who are co-hosting the affair promise a big pigskin party in New York. (Jeff Zelevansky)
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Now it’s our turn.
Bring on another Ice Bowl, maybe even a Snow Bowl, at the historic first New York/New Jersey Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 2, 2014, co-hosted by the Giants and Jets.
Everybody who thinks it’s a bad idea to play a Super Bowl in the wintry elements should chill.
This will be an event for the ages.
If you’re too soft or too pampered to sit in the cold, sell your ticket and stay home and have yourself a hot chocolate with marshmallows. Switch between watching the Super Bowl and the Weather Channel.
“I think what a lot of people are going to discover is the week leading up to Super Bowl Sunday,” Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said, “on both sides of the river, there will be events that not only will 30 other owners participate in, the players, the teams that are in the Super Bowl next year, the fans of the NFL — you got the city of New York preparing a weeklong party.
“The diversity of the city of New York is spectacular. The cities in New Jersey that will open up their doors to Super Bowl fans … I think there’s a tremendous sensitivity to make this probably one of the most memorable events and certainly one of the most memorable sporting events ever to be planned and played.
“So I’m, no pun intended, super excited about what the Super Bowl Week 2014 is going to be like.”
New York has restaurants, just like New Orleans. New York has bourbon, just like Bourbon Street. New York is a city that never sleeps, just like New Orleans. New York has Broadway shows, like nowhere else.
“I think the greatest city in the world, hosting the greatest sporting event in the world, what could be better?” Tisch said. “The word party is going to be overused in the next year, but we’re going to put on a party for the world.
“And there will be hundreds of thousands of people coming to the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area to attend this party. Obviously only 82,000 of them are going to be attending the game, but I think that week in New York is going to be unforgettable. The plans that we have, the plans that we’re developing, ideas that we’re now starting to think about, it’s going to make it an unforgettable event, an event that people talk about forever.
“People who are in Times Square, people who are in Jersey City, people who are going to dinner in Hoboken, people in The Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn — it’s gonna be a party that hundreds of millions of people are going to watch on television leading up to the game, the game itself, so I’m thrilled. In a way I feel like I’m co-hosting what will be one of the greatest parties of this century.”
Count Phil Simms in.
“There won’t be an empty room in New York,” the Giants quarterback great said. “I don’t know how much a city makes when they have the Super Bowl, but I know New York’s going to set a record. Because, why not go there for the whole week if you’re going to go to the Super Bowl? Go to some Broadway plays, go to some great restaurants, go see the Empire State Building. Go watch the David Letterman show.
“I know there’s a lot of people rooting for it, and I would think people like the Washington Redskins [and owner] Dan Snyder are rooting for it to go well. Because if it goes well in New York, I’ll be very surprised if we don’t see more of ’em [cold-weather, outdoor Super Bowls].”
And what advice would Tisch have for the New York Super Bowl naysayers?
“Sit back and enjoy the show.”
steve.serby@nypost.com
Steve Serby’s 15 snap predictions for ’13
What might the months leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII bring? Here is a taste:
* There won’t be any Tebowmania at Cortland in the summer.
* Cap whiz John Idzik, on orders from Woody Johnson, trades Darrelle Revis to the 49ers for a first- and third-round pick.
* Bill Belichick signs Tim Tebow as a jack of all trades, and Tebow, playing safety in the nickel package, intercepts Mark Sanchez for a pick-6. Wes Welker’s wife rips Tebow anyway.
* At the end of a 7-9 season, Rex Ryan is fired and replaced by Bill Cowher.
* With the Super Bowl being played an Eli Manning heave away from the Timex Performance Center, Tom Coughlin brands a new slogan: “The Hell With Building the Bridge, We Can Walk There!”
* There is no junior jinx for Colin Kaepernick or sophomore slump for RG3, Russell Wilson or Andrew Luck (right).
* There won’t be any replacement refs fiasco, so Seahawks coach Pete Carroll better not count on a Fail Mary.
* After getting lit up by Luck, Titans assistant Gregg Williams puts a bounty out on himself.
* The concussion issue remains a headache for Roger Goodell.
* A compromise is reached between management and the players: Only Fireman Ed, who has moved to Baltimore, will be tested for HGH.
* Jerry Jones fires Jason Garrett and hires Jon Gruden.
* It takes about a month before Eagles coach Chip Kelly realizes he made a mistake.
* Brett Favre talks Tony Gonzalez into returning to the Falcons for one more season.
* Alex Smith is traded to the Browns and beats out Brandon Weeden for starting QB.
* Peyton Manning returns to the Super Bowl, only to lose to Jim Harbaugh and Colin Kaepernick
Steve Serby’s 2013 power rankings
1. 49ers: Jim Harbaugh is elite, and Colin Kaepernick will be unstoppable under his guidance.
2. Broncos: Peyton Manning won’t have any rust to shake off this time.
3. Patriots: Bill Belichick still has Tom Brady (and Brady still has weapons), but can he fix the defense already?
4. Packers: Watch out if Aaron Rodgers gets a running game and a pass rush.
5. Falcons: Matty Ice is in his prime, but all bets are off if Tony Gonzalez retires.
6. Seahawks: Russell Wilson is no fluke, and neither is that secondary.
7. Redskins: RG3 will be ready to go for the opener, and Brian Orakpo will be back to help Ryan Kerrigan terrorize quarterbacks.
8. Texans: J.J. Watt will hold up his end, but Matt Schaub still needs another receiver opposite Andre Johnson.
9. Ravens: Joe Flacco stays, but Ray Lewis goes and Terrell Suggs is a year older.
10. Giants: Eli Manning needs to be elite all of the time, and David Wilson and Jason Pierre-Paul need to explode.