http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... index.html
1. I think regarding the Minnesota stadium situation: It's the fourth quarter. Two-minute warning. Tie game. I don't care that the commissioner says there's no threat, or no implied threat, about the Vikings leaving town if a new stadium doesn't get built. There is a threat. If the local pols don't vote for a new place in the next two or three months, there's a very good chance the team will actively look to move. "I've been here several times on the stadium front over the years,'' Roger Goodell told the Minneapolis Star Tribune on a visit to town Friday. "In 2006, they moved forward with a stadium for the Twins and the Gophers. We were asked to move to the next year. And it's now 2012."
I can tell you this: The league doesn't want the Vikings to move; the franchise is a tremendous one, with tradition and a foothold in an area of the country the league doesn't want to lose. Getting a team back in Minnesota will be tougher than it was 15 years ago when the league worked to get the Browns back in Cleveland. The economy's different. The political environment to build stadiums is far different. This week will be a telling one for the future of the Vikings in Minnesota.
2. I think, for those who have chided me for being so absolute on the Vikings stadium and saying late in the season that it was just a matter of time before the deal got done to build a new stadium ... you're right. I'd love to tell you why I was strong on that, but I can't, and in the end, it doesn't matter. The resolution wasn't nearly as close as I was led to believe, and so have at it. I deserve the flaying.
