Weather scores another “W” over calendar change advocates

Let’s add Real Salt Lake president Bill Manning to what I will call the “Coalition of the Sensible” regarding a switch to the international soccer calendar.

I have long been on record on this: we may be at a point in 15 or 20 years where a conversation on synching up to the FIFA calendar makes some sense. But not now. Remember when we talked about it just a few short days ago?

In the Salt Lake Tribune this morning Manning addressed the topic, referencing the fact that it was 17 degrees outside. That’s Fahrenheit, by the way! Allow me to translate that into universal language: “Brrrrr!”

Here’s what Manning said about the possibility of regular winter kickoffs at Rio Tinto Stadium in suburban Sandy, just outside Salt Lake City:

Do you want to play a soccer game here in January? There’s idealism, and then there’s realism. This is a very large country with different time zones and different weather climates. For me, it’s just not feasible to play the calendar they play in England or Spain.”