Tag: Metrodome

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Kirby Puckett Park?

I wrote this for today’s issue of the Email newsletter:

proposed calling any new stadium Kirby Puckett Park. It’s not a bad idea.

An even better idea would be to finally, and at long last, solve our stadium problems. This session.

I know it’s an election year but I swear, every time I read another stadium story, lines from ‘s "" play in my head:

Lord, I am sooooo tired
How long can this go on?

We’ve been debating this issue for what, nearly a decade now? It’s long past time to deal with it and, in fact, time is quickly running out.

If the sad and tragically untimely death of and the subsequent outpouring of love for the man from Minnesotans far and wide demonstrate anything, it highlights the immense amount of joy that professional sports can provide a community. And for my money that, in itself, is a damn good investment.

Let’s face it, the , in trying to be all things to all people, fails in all respects. It’s a horrible place to watch sports–the sightlines are equally bad for baseball and football. Even in the 14th  row on the 50 yard line, the fans are too far removed from the action. Plus, the suites are truly horrible.

As a revenue-generating stadium–well, it’s not. That’s the reason we’re having this discussion. While most professional teams have modern, revenue-generating stadiums, the and the Twins struggle to compete as small-market teams.

The Twins and Hennepin County have an eminently reasonable plan on the table and the Twins are on a year-to-year lease with the Metrodome. Not getting a deal done now is practically begging Major League Baseball to revisit contraction.

The Vikings and Anoka County have an equally reasonable plan on the table as well. This is no Texas snake-oil. It’s a vast, jobs-creating sports/entertainment/retail real estate development project proposed by a man who has made a mint in real estate development. The economic benefits to the northern suburbs could be enormous, turning Blaine into similar to the .

The primary issue holding up the talks between the owners and the players is that the large-market and small-market owners . Revenue-sharing is the brilliant vehicle by which every NFL team has a reasonable chance for on-field success every year. The NFL has avoided ‘s problem where large-market teams like the and can essentially buy themselves championships.

If the owners can’t agree on revenue sharing and the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association isn’t extended, the Vikings could win big in free agency. They could field a caliber team but you’d better hope they win the big one because in 2007, without the benefit of a modern, revenue-generating stadium, they will not be able to afford the exorbitant salaries that a salary cap-less environment promises.

The Vikings need a new stadium.

But while we’re dealing with stadiums, let’s deal with all the stadiums, so let’s get the ‘ problems solved as well.  I really don’t understand why they can’t use the Metrodome, why they must have an on-campus stadium. Are students somehow incapable of using shuttles? The Dome is, after all, practically right next door to campus. Regardless, let’s solve their problem, too.

The bottom line is this: The Twins and the Vikings will get their stadiums.  The only question is whether or not they get them in Minnesota. And if they leave, we will be a "cold Omaha." We will build new stadiums to attract new teams and it will cost us far more then than if we solve this problem now.

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When Did The Metrodome Become British?

I have been wondering for some time why the folks at KFAN keep dropping the “the” when referring the Metrodome, such as when Paul Allen introduces his Vikings broadcast by saying “Welcome to Metrodome” rather than “Welcome to the Metrodome.”

I’d first noticed the British habit of dropping the “the” during BBC news broadcasts where the anchors would say, for example, a student was “at university” or a victim was “at hospital.” Then, maybe two years ago, I noticed the phenomenon make it’s way into the mouths of American anchors at 24 hour cable news outlets like CNN. Well, they’re trying to sound cosmopolitan, I thought.

It makes a certain amount of sense for CNN to adopt the habit, especially if they are positioning some of their content for a European or global audience. But when sportsguys on KFAN start doing it, it just sounds like a) they’re mindless copycats, or b) they’re trying too hard.

So today, P.A. and Dubay did a bit on the subject prompted by a letter from a listener taking them to task for dropping the “the.” P.A., to his credit, believed that the letter writer was correct. Jeff Dubay, on the other hand, was derisive and dismissive of the letter writer, saying flatly that he was wrong.

Sorry, Dubay: You’re wrong. :

A few “institutional” nouns take no definite article when a certain role is implied: for example, at sea [as a sailor], in prison [as a convict]. Among this group, Commonwealth English has in hospital [as a patient] and at university [as a student], where American English requires in the hospital and at the university. (A nurse, visitor, etc. would be in the hospital in both systems.) On the other hand, American English distinguishes in back of [behind] from in the back of; the former is unknown in Britain and liable to misinterpretation as the latter. Both however distinguish in front of from in the front of.