Well, I Know One Thing: They Can't Ignore The Vikings' Stadium Situation Anymore

I know this will cost us taxpayers money, and this is kind of tragic, but it's also pretty fucking awesome:



Of course, the question now is, Can the Vikes play in time for their Monday night game against Chicago? But there are much more important questions in regards to the Vikings' future and their push for a new stadium paid for by us Minnesotans.

In regards to this, the salient question is: What will the Wilfs do now? Is this a tipping point in this stadium controversy? Do the Wilfs think this is now a hammer they can wield in their quest for a replacement for the Dome, and how much and how hard will they use it on the state legislature and us citizens?

On the other side, will the anti-stadium folk resent however the Wilfs use this Dome collapse in their stadium to get Minnesota to give them a new billion-dollar stadium? It will be interesting to see how they will capitalize on this. Will they come to Ford Field in Detroit and tell the media that they love this stadium? Will they find out if the Wilfs travel to Los Angeles to talk to people who want to build the team, like I've heard already? Will they come back to the Dome and wear hardhats while checking out how safe it is, trashing every single part of it -- "Well, it seems to be sagging here" ... "And the door handle here doesn't work; what would happen if someone got trapped on the inside?" ... "By the way, I don't like how we're using concrete everywhere here" -- stuff like that.

The anti-stadium side has been dealt a blow. But I know that in an argument like this, the side that seizes the crisis probably wins, and the side that panicks and blinks and bows their head to this will lose. I want the Vikings to stay, but I don't want to engage in corporate welfare, especially when the corporation won't contribute a single cent to the stadium. I don't think that will happen with the Wilfs; I really do believe Zygi Wilf when he says he won't move the team. I'm just really scared that right now, Mr. Wilf and his workers are quietly but quickly reworking their stadium proposal to make it a little more favorable to their side.

That is what the anti-stadium people are afraid of, and they have a point. They could say, in fact, that this collapse is the result of a once-in-a-generation blizzard. And while collapses and deflations have happened before, the last time it did was in 1983. "Like you haven't had to make repairs to your house after 27 years!" they could say. And honestly, I can see that. And so they/we await how much the new Vikings stadium will cost us.

Of course, no proposal proposed matters if it doesn't pass. And the state government has punted on this stadium issue for a decade. I don't see how it could pass this year, either. The new governor, Mark Dayton, is the first Democrat in that seat in two decades. However, both sides of the Minnesota Legislature are Republican for the first time in four decades.

Plus, those Republicans were swept into power under a teabagger mandate; why in the hell will they give Zygi Wilf money? And even if they go back on their word and approve the Vikings' stadium proposal, what happens if Dayton vetoes it? (I assume that he's anti-stadium only because he's a Democrat.) Remember, there is 9.5% unemployment nationally, and the state is facing a deficit of six billion dollars.

But, like I say in the title above, I know one thing: They can't ignore the Vikings' stadium situation anymore.