FantasySharks.com

The Twins must be represented by a Democrat. Nice new single use stadium they have that they have to rely on the Dome to play early season ball in.. same with the U of M Baseball/Softball programs.

One thing I found hilarious in that article:



Dumbarse Democrat Harvard College grad sporting a History degree involved in state budgeting WT-F What a comedy of errors "How do we know we're getting a good deal?" ... umm really?.. whats your job, dumbarse?



I'm not sure who is more dumb.. ^^ that cat ^^ or the idiots that voted him in. Hilarious.

well done Minnesota .. well done indeed

Nice... turn this into a political debate... Figures.

Well stadium deals are usually double edged swords for politicians. They're going to keep throwing out conditions and even when they're met, they'll find new excuses. Their goal is not to do anything while also shifting the blame elsewhere. While sports are popular, the minute they become an advocate for building the stadium they suddenly become 'anti-every other thing in the world we could've spent that money on'.

You should see the arena deal proposed to Seattle that some on the city council are making a whole bunch of hullabaloo over. I don't know that a better deal has been presented for any arena/stadium anywhere, in terms of local investment vs. local returns.

Nice... turn this into a political debate... Figures.

Minnesota governor says that, without stadium deal in 2013, Vikings will leave
Posted by Mike Florio on April 17, 2012, 4:59 PM EDT
mark-dayton-speaking Getty Images

With the effort to build a new Vikings stadium once again dead in the water of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has explained in no uncertain terms the realities of the situation.

“We’ve got to get a stadium next year or the Vikings will leave,” Dayton said Tuesday, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

He’s right, sort of. The deal needs to be in place by February 15, 2013, or the Vikings will leave. February 15 is the annual date by which a team must inform the NFL or an intention to relocate.

Thus, this needs to happen quickly, if it’s going to happen at all. As a practical matter, the process should get rolling as soon as possible after a November election in which every legislative seat will be up for grabs.

“If it doesn’t work out, we’ll get it next year,” Dayton said. “If Minneapolis doesn’t want it — most of their legislators are opposed to it, half of the City Council, almost half, is opposed to it, so if Minneapolis doesn’t want it . . . then somewhere else, Arden Hills, some other site in Minnesota.” (Perhaps the fact that the folks in Minneapolis don’t want the stadium should have been taken a bit more seriously, before the Governor killed the Arden Hills project and crammed the Minneapolis site down the team’s throat.)

“We can’t have it both ways. We can’t not do a new stadium and have the Vikings remain here for very long,” Dayton said.

Meanwhile, even with Dayton sounding the alarm, folks won’t take the situation seriously until the Vikings say that, without a stadium, they’ll move. It could be that owner Zygi Wilf will continue to kick in more and more cash until the public contribution is sufficiently low to get the attention of the powers-that-be.

Or maybe, if no public money will be devoted to the project, Wilf will get a loan and build his own stadium.

Regardless, no one is taking the “or else” seriously, because the Vikings have never said “or else.”

The fact that they haven’t said “or else” could be connected to their chronic failure to get a stadium.

A day after Vikings V.P. of stadium wrangling Lester Bagley responded to Governor Mark Dayton’s warning that a deal to build a new venue must be finalized next year by saying “there is no next year,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told Dayton that a failure to finalize a stadium bill in the current (and soon to be ending) legislative session will lead to “serious consequences.”

So what are the serious consequences? “I don’t know if that means a sale. I don’t know if that means a move. You have a very dejected ownership,” NFL executive vice president, NFL Ventures and Business Operations Eric Grubman told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
via profootballtalk.com

With the Minnesota Vikings losing ground on a new stadium seemingly every day, the rumors have started up involving the team relocating. Los Angeles has long been seen as ground zero for a new NFL team should any of them move, and reports are starting to come in with news that isn't good on that front for the Vikings.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been in LA talking with their mayor about a range of subjects including, of course, a relocated NFL team. That's not particularly surprising, but the private plane of owner Zygi Wilf showing up in a SoCo airport on the same day is a bit more jarring. The rumors swirling of a movement, the stadium bills going down and Wilf being in Los Angeles are a bad combination when it comes to keeping the Vikings in Minny.

The state of Minnesota has just over a week to revive the bill and get some more movement going on a possible new stadium plan, else they risk losing the team. The state government seems to be content with waiting for 2013 when they can start the cycle anew, but at the rate it's going they might not have a team at all to build it for.

To his credit, Roger Goodell has been working to urge the state along in getting a bill passed ASAP. It's up to guys like Gov. Mark Dayton now to get the train rolling again before the issue is pushed back so far that it's unsolvable.

And so it has begun.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A visit by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Friday underlines the gravity of the Vikings stadium situation, as Minnesota lawmakers consider three different stadium plans.

The bills will be heard in the Local Government Operations Committee Friday afternoon. KARE 11 political reporter John Croman provides a brief breakdown on each.

1. Senator Julie Rosen's original stadium bill, the same one that was tabled by the same committee March 14. She may add electronic scratch-off games as a back-up to pull-tabs.
2. Senator Roger Chamberlain's stadium bill that would require Vikings to repay the government construction bonds, essentially forcing the team to foot the entire bill over time. The Vikings are on record as not supporting this one.
3. Senator Jim Metzen's bill moving the stadium back to Arden Hills, and allowing a casino to help finance state's share. The local share would come in the form of a 2% beverage tax in suburban Ramsey County, which would be subject to a referendum. That money would go toward highway improvements to support the site and increased traffic, so stadium wouldn't have to wait for election.


Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk tells KARE he will round up at least one more DFL vote in the Government Operations Committee to move Rosen's bill along but cautions that the Tax Committee will be even tougher on the Metrodome site proposal.

Goodell and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney will sit down with Governor Mark Dayton, stadium bill authors and key lawmakers Friday morning to underline the urgency of the Vikings getting a new facility. Goodell was in Los Angeles earlier this week, likely to discuss moving a team or awarding an expansion franchise to the city.

Predictions for later:

Vikings move to San Antonio which leads to:

Rams move to Los Angeles which leads to:

Jaguars move to St. Louis

Predictions for later:

Vikings move to San Antonio which leads to:

Rams move to Los Angeles which leads to:

Jaguars move to St. Louis

Minnesotans finally figuring out baseball and the Twins suck and they wasted their money on that crap heap waste of space baseball stadium.

Time to make-up for lost time....