Stadium thread

[CalVike]

Word on the street is that the lack of faith in electronic pull tabs may kill the stadium bill in its current form as early as this week, if House Speaker Zellers has the audacity to kill it so soon in a procedural move. It won't surprise me, many in each chamber appear to just want to kill it. Not to mention the Minneapolis City Council feels the same way.

[Demi]

Let them build a casino in Arden Hills and use that money to fund every non-Vikings portion of the cost. Build the stadium right next to it. After the stadium is paid off, use the money each year elsewhere.

[CalVike]

http://m.startribune.com/news/?id=142722975&c=y

Zellers said he would wait until Friday to decide the stadium's fate.

By not acting, Zellers could slam the door shut on a stadium deal this session, likely renewing speculation that the Vikings owners could push to move the team.

"The only reason it's a mess is because we got it so late," said Senjem, who added that Dayton had been promising a stadium plan since Thanksgiving. "There are a lot of questions about the financial horsepower of electronic pulltabs."

In a sign of the multitude of problems facing the project, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak acknowledged that he also did not yet have a majority of the City Council supporting the project.

Outside the hearing room, Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley said Wednesday's events did not mean the project was politically dead this spring. "I don't think it's time to abandon the proposal," he said. "It's time to work on it, fix it."

[CalVike]

http://m.twincities.com/twincities/db_2 ... d=Cm8lfU40

About the only definitive action at the committee meeting was a unanimous decision to adopt an amendment changing the length of the Vikings' lease from 30 years - with several opportunities for five-year extensions - to 40 years.

Ted Mondale, chairman of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, said he thought the new lease requirements could complicate the deal with the Vikings, but it was approved anyway.

[glg]

Zellers said he would wait until Friday to decide the stadium's fate.

By not acting, Zellers could slam the door shut on a stadium deal this session, likely renewing speculation that the Vikings owners could push to move the team.

The way Zellers is dragging this out makes me think he's a complete idiot. The only reason politicians drag things out like is for the press, so does he somehow thinks that running the vikings out of town is going to make him governor?

[Grashopa]

Let them build a casino in Arden Hills and use that money to fund every non-Vikings portion of the cost. Build the stadium right next to it. After the stadium is paid off, use the money each year elsewhere.

I agree with this! The arden hills site is such a perfect place for a vikings stadium / sports and entertainment complex. It would be an epic facility that the state could be proud of and i am sure it would bring in a lot of events. Also if there was a casino right there that would be Awesome! I would stay at the casino (assuming there is a hotel attached) everytime I go to a vikings game and with my luck they would have the stadium paid of in no time! To late for this now though

Edit: Had to remove one use of the word "epic" two uses in one statement is one use too much! i dont want your computers to explode.

[Demi]

The way Zellers is dragging this out makes me think he's a complete idiot. The only reason politicians drag things out like is for the press, so does he somehow thinks that running the vikings out of town is going to make him governor?

Pretty clear why, and part of it is that he's an idiot. But can you imagine the backlash if this is passed and he didn't go fighting tooth and nail? Some people would rather spend nothing to make nothing, even if the alternative was investing and gaining in the long term....

Remember the constituents some of these people have.

[CalVike]

http://m.startribune.com/news/?id=142876905&c=y

More than 50 days after he gaveled the Minnesota House into session, Kurt Zellers remains a puzzle to those who want a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.

With the $975 million proposal teetering in the balance and the Legislature edging closer to adjourning, no one person at the State Capitol is likely to have more to say about what happens to the stadium this year.

[PurpleHalo]

This whole thing is just ridiculous, and we are all being taken on a roller coaster ride. One day the news is grim, the next day bright and sunny, than back to grim.

This has been going on for too many years, if this recent proposal, (although not perfect) doesn't happen, I don't feel this thing will ever happen.

[PurpleMustReign]

The way Zellers is dragging this out makes me think he's a complete idiot. The only reason politicians drag things out like is for the press, so does he somehow thinks that running the vikings out of town is going to make him governor?

Did you see where Zellers said he didn't even read the whole proposal? What a #### clown. What a ####. I wish someone would find him with his secretary or maid or something. Worthless punk.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Did you see where Zellers said he didn't even read the whole proposal? What a #### clown. What a ####. I wish someone would find him with his secretary or maid or something. Worthless punk.

Sure sounds like he wants to be a dick about things. Didnt he say at first he was all for it and would do whatever he could to help it out?

[CalVike]

I've been trying to apply rational thinking to this process. Today I listened to a podcast of Pat Kessler with Dan Barreiro on KFAN from Thu 5 pm hour. From this podcast, I finally got it through my slow head that the way the legislature deals with the stadium bill, or any bill apparently, is 100% politics. That's what the language about bringing along the caucus is about. Tit for tat. Total #### IMHO. But there's no sense following the stadium day-to-day. Just wake me when it's over. The only positive is that some have a sense the vitriol over the Metrodome in the 1970s was worse and that one passed. Go Vikes!!!!

[bpviking]

More info:
Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Zellers ended Friday the way he began it -- vague on how much he would do to help a plan for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium.
With an important legislative deadline having passed Friday, the Republican House leader remained unclear whether he would give the project a necessary procedural exemption to keep it alive at the State Capitol.
At one point Friday, Zellers was asked whether he could recall major legislation passing without the support of a House speaker. "I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I'm sure there has been," he said.
What a joke this is turning into

[Demi]

Obstructionists. On everything.

Where are people who want to blame the Governor? Or the lack of any proposals? Is it clear YET who's to blame?

[dead_poet]

Vikings stadium: Supporter doubts chances

The NFL's free-agency frenzy has slowed enough for us to get back to what you have all been clamoring for: Minnesota Vikings stadium updates!

In all seriousness, we haven't hit the stadium issue in a few weeks because almost nothing of note has happened over that period. That inaction reached a newsworthy point Friday afternoon, when a state deadline passed for all bills to be approved by at least one legislative committee. That means the Vikings' $975 million stadium plan, which hasn't cleared a single committee, won't be approved during the 2012 session unless it receives special exemption from state leaders to move forward.

Such exemptions are often a matter of routine, but the necessity in this instance speaks to the middling support this issue has received from most state legislators. Even a staunch stadium supporter, state Rep. John Kriesel, expressed significant doubt over the weekend about the stadium's future. Asked if he thought the bill would be approved before the end of the legislative session next month, Kriesel said: "I don't, I don't unless we really get some things done over the next week."

Kriesel is a straight talker who recently announced he will not run for re-election, so his public statements are likely to be less dipped in politics than the average legislator. But we also know that stadium politics are always cast in doubt until the moment they are resolved. That process could begin by securing an exemption and reviving the committee hearing process. It also will eventually require the support of House Speaker Kurt Zellers, who to this point has been a bystander in the proceedings.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... ts-chances