Imagine a halftime show where the glare of fireworks reflects off of falling snowflakes. Cut to Times Square and other iconic Manhattan tourist destinations where the noise of shouting fans is capturing in clouds of frozen breath. Look for a crowd dressed more for snowboarding than for hitting up nightclubs after the game.

With Tuesday’s announcement that the new $1.6 billion dollar stadium shared by the New York Giants and Jets will host the 2014 Super Bowl, many fans conjure up memories of classic cold weather games. The NFL is treating the decision to host the Super Bowl in a cold weather outdoor stadium as an exception rather than the start of a potential trend. South Florida and Tampa were the two other location considered to host.

Given the 50-degree rule that the NFL uses in deciding potential outdoor locations for the Super Bowl, there is an ingrained sense of nostalgia attached to memories of cold weather championships. In 1967 the Green Bay Packers played the Dallas Cowboys in the championship game dubbed the “Ice Bowl”. 50,000 fans sat in freezing temperatures and witnessed one of the greatest games in the history of American football.

Obviously New York’s combination of a new stadium and media market provided it with a huge advantage in bringing the Super Bowl north to an outdoor stadium. While we don’t yet know if the new stadium will have the same swirling winds of the old Giants Stadium, I am excited, not only as a New Yorker, but as a football fan. Playing in the elements is part of the game and it should be reflected in all levels of the playoffs.

What do you think of a cold weather championship game? And when will other classic football areas like Green Bay and Chicago get a chance?

PHOTO: Kevin Gorassi reacts to the announcement that New York City has been chosen for the 2014 Super Bowl site in New York’s Times Square May 25, 2010. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

Often casual fans define the toughness of a sport by the extent of injury that players are willing to play through.

While basketball is often overlooked, this year’s NBA playoff run is giving us several examples of players placing the goal of a team championship above their own individual bodies.

During Tuesday’s win by the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James re-aggravated what has become a troublesome elbow injury.

“(The injury) has been going on for a few weeks. Hopefully it doesn’t continue to bother me as we move forward,” James told reporters.

James was criticized at the end of the season for sitting out several games in order to rest for the playoffs.

Despite the injury, he has been averaging almost a triple-double during the series against the Bulls (just over 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists a game).

Ryan Howard, 30, just inked a 5-year extension for $125 million with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Let’s look at those numbers.

His current deal expires in 2011, making the first baseman 37 years old at the completion of the contract.

Howard is not known for his defensive prowess and it is reasonable to question whether he will even be able to play first base by the time his contract is ready to expire. Being in the National League, the Phillies won’t have the option of transitioning Howard into a designated hitter.

This is not to say that the slugger isn’t a great player. Howard was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2005, NL MVP in 2006 and a World Series Champion in 2008. He is a two-time All-Star and last year was the MVP of the NL Championship Series, guiding the Phillies to the World Series against the New York Yankees. His professional stats paint the arc typical of a hall of famer. Having checked out Citizens Park for the first time two weeks ago, it is evident that he is a favorite of the fan base and replicas of his jersey can be seen all around town.

But is his new salary a reflection of the market or a reward for prior accomplishments? Howard will now be the second-highest paid player in baseball behind Alex Rodriguez. Few people will contend that he is the second-best player in the game and some would argue he might not even be the most valuable player on his own team (Chase Utley anyone?).

Another player directly impacted by this deal will be St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, unquestionably one of the best players in the sport. Pujols’ contract expires after this season. Since contract numbers have begun to take past performance into account, Pujols could be justified in asking for the moon.

Despite concerns that the NCAA championship game will not feature an attention grabbing headline (Butler – West Virginia is not a ratings dream for CBS), this Final Four will be memorable, both on and off the court.

For starters, this might be the last year of the current format for March Madness. What started as speculation of expansion of the beloved NCAA Tournament from 65 (including the initial play-in game) to 96 teams is gaining further momentum. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany recently told USA Today that the likelihood of expansion of the tournament for 2011 is “probable”.

The motivation behind this decision is financial as the television revenue of a larger tournament could yield even more than the existing 11-year, $6 billion dollar agreement the NCAA has with CBS. Delany helped in the negotiations of the current CBS agreement. On the court, Saturday’s games appear to be a great reflection of the close games mixed with underdog flair we’ve seen all tournament. #1 Duke will face #2 West Virginia with the winner expected to cruise to a national championship.

The Duke seniors have seen this team move deeper in the tournament each of the last four years and would love to graduate with a national championship. This is West Virginia’s first Final Four since 1959. Winning the Big East conference tournament was an unexpected surprise for West Virginia based on the perceived strength of the conference this season. With their success in the tournament, the Mountaineers appear to be the only Big East team worthy of their high seeding.

Meanwhile the “other” game is being overlooked because it features two #5 seeds in Michigan State and Butler. Michigan State was in the championship game against UNC last season and while they have not been a dominant team, Coach Tom Izzo’s resume speaks for itself.

Butler has what could be a very formidable home-court advantage playing in Indianapolis. Butler defeated both #1 Syracuse and #2 Kansas State to earn their place in their first Final Four game and have the chance to win a national championship right in front of family, friends, alumni and students. So who wins? Michigan State has been getting a slight edge in predictions this week, but I have underestimated Butler all tournament and will correct that now.

I’m torn between Duke and West Virginia and think it will be a close physical game. I’m going with Butler and Duke with Butler taking it all before a hometown crowd. After all, one of the best parts of the NCAA Tournament is rooting for the underdog. Post your predictions in the comments section below.

It might sound cliché, but who doesn’t enjoy rooting for the underdog? Unless you have a connection to one of the schools still involved or your bracket still has a chance at winning, who doesn’t want to see Northern Iowa, Cornell, or St. Mary’s College push deeper into the tournament?

As the Sweet 16 begins on Thursday there are still 11 conferences being represented (only 7 conferences represented in the Sweet 16 last year). Duke vs. Purdue is the only matchup pitting the two highest possible seeds against one another. My guess is that at least one surprise team will earn themselves a ticket to the Elite 8.

Let’s do a quick rundown of the games with some predictions. Post yours below in the comments section.

Midwest

#9 UNI vs. #5 Michigan State: The magical run for Northern Iowa continues. Panthers coach Ben Jacobson was rewarded today with a big raise as part of a new 10-year contract. There is a great chance for the magical run to continue as Michigan State will be without junior guard Kalin Lucas who ruptured his Achilles tendon and underwent surgery.

#6 Tennessee vs. #2 Ohio State: Ohio State’s Evan Turner, a potential top-3 pick in this year’s NBA draft, turned in a great performance against Georgia Tech. An upset is unlikely, but the Buckeyes will have to improve their poor ball control given Tennessee’s aggressive defense.

We approach the Sweet 16 having witnessed magical runs by teams like Northern Iowa and St. Mary’s so let’s take a quick look back at two defining players that helped them get here. Tomorrow we’ll review the teams that are left and the possibility of an all mid-tier Final Four.

This year’s NCAA tournament opening weekend pulled out all the stops and set the stage for what could go down as one of the best tournaments ever. In particular there were the thrilling last second heroics of #9 Northern Iowa to defeat #8 UNLV and a dominating win by #10 St. Mary’s over #7 Richmond. Both teams followed up those wins with spectacular surprises against Kansas and Villanova to leap onto the national scene. It has been a good March for students, alumni and fans of both schools.

For some the story gets even better, especially if you are Ali Farokhmanesh. The senior guard for Northern Iowa, son of an Iranian volleyball pro, was minimally recruited out of high school and landed with the Panthers after attending two junior colleges. Northern Iowa assistant coach P.J. Hogan recently told Sports Illustrated that the player Farokhmanesh most reminds him of is “a towel boy”. I get the feeling that a few years from now we’ll be seeing a movie about this young man and his talented, balanced Northern Iowa Panthers team.

UNI started the tournament with a victory over UNLV thanks to a game-winning 3-pointer by Farokhmanesh with less than five seconds to play against UNLV. The win was the Panthers’ first NCAA tournament win in 20 years.

That shot alone would have written a fairytale ending to his collegiate career, but with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line, Farokhmanesh sank another clutch 3-pointer, this time with 30 seconds left against Kansas. The shot propelled Northern Iowa to a win that was instantly the biggest upset of the tournament, a 69-67 thriller over top seeded Kansas. It is no wonder that Sports Illustrated decided to place him on the cover of the upcoming March 29th edition.

Meanwhile over in the South region, Omar Samhan, the outspoken redshirt senior center for the St. Mary’s Gaels, was busy writing his own NCAA story.

After a dominating effort against Richmond (29 points, 12 rebounds), Samhan scored 32 points to upend #2 Villanova and eliminate the Wildcats from the tournament. The victory by St. Mary’s was only their second ever NCAA tournament win and the first since 1959.

The madness of March continued today as we saw the fall of the top overall seeded Kansas Jayhawks to the #9 Northern Iowa. Additionally #2 seed Villanova collapsed against #10 St. Marys and #3 New Mexico lost to #11 Washington. Cinderella has arrived to the Sweet 16 and brought along some friends.

Brackets everywhere have been busted wide open.

Northern Iowa was not intimidated by Kansas and played solid all game long. Kansas fought back at the end, but the Panthers’ 3 point shooting solidified the upset. The Jayhawks are now the first #1 seed eliminated and the shocking loss is now the exclamation point on a growing list of surprises helping to establish this year’s tournament as a classic.

Villanova’s exit marks the sixth loss of the tournament for the vaulted Big East conference. There had been speculation heading into the tournament that the Big East might be overrated, but given the number of Big East teams ranked within the top 25 during the season, it was hard to argue against the depth or talent of the conference. Villanova now joins Georgetown, Notre Dame, Marquette and Louisville on the list of early losses. Syracuse (#1), West Virginia (#2) and Pittsburgh (#3) still remain in the hunt for the national championship.

The other day I questioned the cause for the widespread upsets this year. Is this a reflection of better coaching and recruiting at the mid-tier level? Is the newfound parity evidence of the evolution of the NBA Development League (D-League)? As the D-League matures into an equivalent of the minor leagues for the NBA, the risk to talented high school and collegiate players to enter the draft early has been reduced. However, this still does not explain why we are seeing an outstanding number of upsets and close nailbiters. What do you think?

PHOTO: Northern Iowa players Jake Koch (20) and Adam Koch (34) celebrate after upsetting Kansas in their NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament game in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, March 20, 2010. REUTERS/Bill Waugh

We didn’t have to wait long for the thrills and excitement of March Madness to capture the attention of college basketball fans everywhere.

In the first three games of the 2010 NCAA tournament we witnessed an upset, overtime and a double-overtime. Not a bad start.

The luck of the Irish was not on display as #6 Seed Notre Dame was shocked by #11 seed Old Dominion. Senior forward Luke Harangody who had been averaging over 20 points per game this season and was one of the best scorers in the country was limited to only 4 points and this poor showing will hurt his draft stock going forward.

Meanwhile #7 seed BYU is breathing a sigh of relief after pulling away in OT against #10 Florida. BYU deserves credit for collecting themselves at the end of regulation and pushing through to the next round. I don’t think they’ll be nearly as lucky against #2 Kansas State (assuming #15 North Texas doesn’t find additional motivation from #15 Robert Morris’s outstanding performance against Villanova and pull off an incredible upset).

Speaking of Nova-Robert Morris, this was an outstanding game… for Robert Morris. Villanova coach Jay Wright started the game with starting guards Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher on the bench. There was not much information available as to why. They entered the game after about 4 minutes. The Wildcats were behind most of the game finally tying the score with under a minute and a half remaining.

After an intense first OT, Robert Morris lost their third play via foul-out and just did not have the depth to compete. That did not stop the Colonials from giving it everything they had. A last second 3-point attempt that would have tied the game in double OT was off which sealed the victory for Villanova.

Nova leader Scottie Reynolds was solid from the free throw line, but had an absolutely horrible game otherwise, with 15 of his 20 points coming from the foul line (15-16). He shot 2 of 15 from the field and 1-8 from beyond the 3 point arc with only 2 assists. Everyone has an off game and perhaps being benched to start the game hurt his ability to get into the flow of the game but #2 seed Villanova can not survive long in the tournament without solid production from their seasoned leader.

The Ides of March may be looming for Greece and the EU, but stateside this month means only one thing: March Madness. It is estimated that as many as 50 million people will fill out a bracket for the collegiate basketball tournament this year. This has led to wild speculation that this annual event could cost companies millions of dollars in lost productivity.

March Madness is driven by several factors. Alumni bias comes into play, as pride and tradition associated with their collegiate teams drives fan into a frenzy. Others tend to be more analytical, attempting to predict the inevitable upsets and shockers.

So who do I think will win? Let me share some quick thoughts broken down by region. Please feel free to let me know where I’ve gone wrong.

Midwest:

Kansas (#1 seed) is the powerhouse of this region and a general favorite to win it all. Georgetown (#3) and Ohio State (#2) could both pose a serious challenge to Kansas. I think the potential Georgetown-Ohio State game could be one of the most entertaining of the entire tournament.

West:

Syracuse (#1 seed) leads the region, but don’t be surprised if there are several upsets here. Minnesota (#11) made it into the tournament after a solid thrashing of Purdue and might give Xavier (#6) a difficult challenge in the first round.

“What are you doing?” This simple question is the basic premise of Twitter, the growing social media website that has transformed how many fans get their daily dose of sports news.In addition to the newsfeeds provided by established brands (@ReutersSport is a good one!) there are feeds directly from the major sports offices (@MLB,@NFL, @NBA). Then there are the athletes themselves, providing everything from perspective on current events to personalized fan interaction.It seems that athletes have been embracing all sorts of new communication technologies over the last few years.During the Beijing Olympics, swimmer Dara Torres and NBA star Carmelo Anthony used Skype to talk with family back home.  Former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban have helped bring sports blogging into the mainstream. And in the next evolutionary wave, many stars have embraced Twitter as a way to bring themselves closer to friends, family and fans.We are given a front row seat to league announcements and rumor mill fodder. Athletes and celebrities alike have been given another venue for their exhibitionist personalities and many are embracing it, even while teams and organizations search for a way to curb and regulate its use.Charlie Villanueva caused a stir last season by Twittering during NBA games.Chad Ocho Cinco’s comments about potential updates during upcoming NFL games were soon followed by an NFL announcement addressing the subject. Per the NFL’s Brian McCarthy (via Twitter), “NFL players may use Twitter. Teams have rules re: not tweeting during meetings. We prohibit use of PDAs/phones on sidelines on gameday.”Despite moments of conflict, there are examples of athletes using these new tools to connect with one another in a positive manner. The recent signing of Michael Vick with the Eagles was met with a flurry of Twitter chatter, including messages of celebration and encouragement from other players as noted in this Mashable article.Today’s announcement of Brett Favre coming out of retirement to sign with the Vikings was welcomed by a similar reaction, quickly becoming one of the top trends on the site.Like any technology, the responsibility ultimately rests with the person using it. While there are bound to be further incidents caused by outspoken athletes, as fans we have moved even closer into the flow of information. For those who want to know more than just the final scores, this is surely a large step forward.PHOTO: Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva watches from the bench during the second half of their NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors in Toronto, March 25, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Cassese