We know about the content of the video right now courtesy of Fox Sports. Fox already had cameras set up in at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in anticipation of a game being played at that building between the Vikings and the New York Giants.
Mother Nature decided to have a snowball fight with the Dome and landed a big one right on top of its bald head. Usually, she wins. This time was no exception.
“Did you see the footage of the roof of the Metrodome where the Minnesota Vikings play? It collapsed this weekend. I guess even God wants Brett Favre to retire.” –Conan O’Brien
A major blizzard with heavy winds was present in Minnesota as it was the throughout Mid-America this past weekend. This was prior to the event that is now being referred to as “Snow My God!” and the “SnowPocalypse” on Twitter. The snow and visibility in the upper Midwest was so bad that the Giants’ flight to Minneapolis was temporarily rerouted to Kansas City.
Even after the G-Men arrived in KC, they were stuck there for a few hours. News later broke of the “SnowPocalypse” worldwide.
The Metrodome’s not-too-stable roof caved in from the heavy winds. It also punctured holes in the roof with snow coming from them. The roof deflated and remains in that state for the time being. But…I don’t think you need an ant-faced know-it-all sports poster like myself to give you the details. Fox already did that…
http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/12/video-metrodome-roof-collapses/
Once again…a video is worth a thousand words.
“The roof of the Minnesota Vikings stadium actually collapsed and the snow poured inside. 5 ½ inches ended up on the field and that was just Brett Favre!” –Craig Ferguson
It goes without typing that this video has been ogled, stared at, and star-gazed upon by basically anyone with an internet connection countless times over. It’s as worthy of being on YouTube as anything posted by Shane Dawson or “Sexy Phil”.
Everyone got a good chuckle out of the video…except one person. Zygi Wilf. Wilf has constantly asked the government of the state of Minnesota to use taxpayer funds to build a new stadium. Wilf has based his case on the grounds that they approved new stadia for the Minnesota Twins and the collegiate Minnesota Golden Gophers.
TCF Bank Stadium, where the Gophers play, was once rumored to be part of an effort by the state of Minnesota to land a 2020 Olympics for the area. The 80,000 seat arena would’ve been Minneapolis/St. Paul’s Olympic Stadium.
One thing is certain…if Minneapolis/St. Paul were to host an Olympics, they’d have no problems finding areas to host aquatic/slalom events.
The United States Olympic Committee announced that they wouldn’t bid for the 2020 Olympics. Even if they were to bid, it was unlikely that Minneapolis would be as high on the radar as a megalopolis such as the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, or Chicago.
This structural issue with the HHH Dome could be Zygi Wilf’s easy ticket out of the Minneapolis St. Paul region if he doesn’t get his new stadium from either the city or the state. Polls conducted suggest high support by Minnesotans for a new stadium. After this MetroFail, Wilf should demand that the stadium get modeled after Reliant Stadium in Houston or Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. In short–a retractable roof. Of course, every team that has been rumored to relocate to a different town has uttered only one word.
Hollywood.
It has basically turned into a foregone conclusion that Los Angeles, California will get an NFL franchise (and possibly two) sometime in the near future. Southern California is too big and too sexy a market for the NFL to shun forever. The last big shot the City of Angels had to restore NFL football within its city limits was in 2002 when the NFL wanted to establish a 32nd team (partially for divisional purposes).
LA lost out to Houston–another city starving-crazy for NFL football after Bud Adams relocated the Oilers to Nashville as the Tennessee Titans. That Houston franchise became the Texans. As for Adams, he’s Satan in Space City USA to this day.
Houston is the 7th largest market in the US despite being the 4th largest city. But as “God Bless Texas” was playing in the NFL offices for one day, the #1 hit on the NFL play list once again became “I Love LA” by Randy Newman.
NFL football in SoCal has been synonymous with the LA Memorial Coliseum. It hosted the Rams as well as the Raiders during their stints in LaLa Land. LA is still a black-and-silver-heavy city today despite the Chargers being just down the road in San Diego. It now houses the USC Trojans and was the Olympic Stadium for the 1932 and 1984 Olympics.
The Coliseum (as well as Pasadena’s Rose Bowl) have been rumored to undergo major renovations related to a franchise in LA (as well as LA’s bid for the 2016 Olympics). Some see the Coliseum as old, decrepit, and not up to the lofty state-of-the-art standards of modern day stadia.
Recently, California has been tossing around stadium proposals as much as it tosses around botox injections. Billionaires and entertainment groups have proposed several multi-million and billion dollar stadia. One was even linked to the US’ recently unsuccessful bid for the 2022 World Cup.
The only question, given Cali’s recent budget/economic difficulties, is if that stadium will be financed with public or private funding. Some will contend that California doesn’t have the $$$ to finance stadium(a) for NFL franchises. They may not…but Hollywood is never broke.
The Vikings are not the only team that has been rumored to move. The Jaguars as well as the Buffalo Bills have been said to have LA-bound U-Haul trucks near their stadia.
To the Vikings’ immediate future…the Purple People-Eaters are scheduled to play the division rival Chicago Bears at the Dome on Monday Night Football this week. People close to the situation are confident they can get the stadium in playing shape for that game. Their game vs. the Giants was moved to Ford Field–a move criticized for making the Vikes’ home game vs. New York a road game since Detroit loves the Vikings as much as a Harry Potter fan loves Team Jacob and Team Edward.
As for the Vikings’ home-game-that-wasn’t vs. Big Blue, the Giants’ two-headed-rushing monster of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs had the Vikings’ defensive linemen for dinner. Both notched over 100 yards even though Bradshaw left with a forearm injury. Tarvaris Jackson’s injury early in the game didn’t help the cause for Minnesota. Because of a conflict with ESPN on Monday Night Football, the game could only air live on the Fox stations in the New York and Minneapolis/St. Paul markets. It later was replayed on the NFL Network.
Oh, and Brett Favre’s streak ended at 297 games. Sucks for him.
“Brett Favre did not play quarterback. His consecutive games streak ends now at 297. That was the 2nd longest streak of all time. He actually had a close call. Brett Favre, you know, likes to get to practice early. Had his fly been open, that avalanche could’ve easily landed on his penis.” –Jimmy Kimmel
The bottom line is that while new head coach Leslie Frazier is busy attending to the Vikings’ immediate future, their long term status in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area is still very up in the air. What began as a makeshift Olympic bid could end with a city that knows a lil’ bit about Olympics…and NFL football.
After all, Minnesota knows a thing or two about losing teams to the West Coast.
By Akiem Bailum
