Vikings Message Board.Com

dead_poet wrote:Guys, the stadium deal looks very, very bad at the moment. Like not happening bad.

dead_poet wrote:Guys, the stadium deal looks very, very bad at the moment. Like not happening bad.

HardcoreVikesFan wrote: Minnesota doesn't realize the consequences of the VIkings leaving the state, and it is unfortunate.

vikeinmontana wrote: i agree.

HardcoreVikesFan wrote: Minnesota doesn't realize the consequences of the VIkings leaving the state, and it is unfortunate.

The Minnesota Vikings will have to wait a little longer for a new stadium, because legislators say it will not be on their agenda for a special session next week.

"There's not a lot of support for cutting people off health care, cutting jobs, then turning around and authorizing bonding for a stadium," said Rep. Michael Nelson, DFL-Brooklyn Park, a co-sponsor of the stadium bill.

Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, said that Gov. Mark Dayton may call a second special session later this year to deal with the stadium. "We will have a vote and we'll work to get it passed," Rosen said. "But if I tried to get a vote on it right now, I'd be strung up."

"There's not a lot of support for cutting people off health care, cutting jobs, then turning around and authorizing bonding for a stadium," said Rep. Michael Nelson, DFL-Brooklyn Park, a co-sponsor of the stadium bill.

Vikingsfan4321 wrote:I really don't see how in this time a stadium can get funded.

dead_poet wrote: That's the thing. There's never the perfect time.

In essence, that headline was the answer the Minnesota Vikings received Friday evening. State leaders have decided against introducing their bill for a new stadium during next week's special session of the state legislature. The Star Tribune has the story.

State Sen. Julie Rosen, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, remains committed to the issue but said she would be "strung up" if she introduced it immediately after months of political haggling over a state budget. Rosen said the bill could be addressed at a second special session in the fall. Gov. Mark Dayton said through a spokesperson that he would consider calling the second session but wouldn't commit to it.

I can understand state leaders being unwilling to dish out some $650 million in public money days after delaying $700 million in funding to K-12 education in order to balance the budget. But none of them should be proud of the way they have handled state business, including the stadium issue. Most of their budget decisions merely pushed difficult choices into the future, and now the same thing has happened with the Vikings.

Earlier Friday, owner Zygi Wilf told Dayton "the time is now" to approve the stadium. The team has made no public comment since that I'm aware of. Given how far the Vikings came on the Arden Hills proposal, I'm guessing they won't totally abandon it as long as a second special session remains on the table. It's also possible they will listen to those who prefer the stadium to be built in downtown Minneapolis. Regardless, what's a few more months at the end of a decade-long fight?

On the other hand, it's worth repeating that the Vikings have only 10 games remaining on their Metrodome lease. They would be well within their rights to listen to alternatives should Minnesota's political dysfunction continue to cloud their future.

I've never felt stronger about my two primary tenets of this fight:

Long ago, a wise person suggested the stadium issue would not be resolved until it fell into a full-blown crisis. In political terms, it's not yet a crisis when a team has six months remaining on its lease. A crisis, politically speaking, is arriving at the late-January start of the 2012 session and finding the mayor of Los Angeles camped outside the Vikings' facility. Until we get to that level of dramatics, no one will be willing to risk political capital on an NFL stadium.

There is no right or wrong answer. It's merely a choice. The state is not obligated to provide a cent of funding for a new stadium. But if that's the decision, the state must recognize that eventually the Vikings will leave. The time for foot-stomping and asking why Wilf won't build a privately-funded stadium is over. It's time for everyone to make an informed choice and then live with the consequences, one way or the other.

dead_poet wrote:Seifert's take:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth

Duchene wrote: It appears it is going to get all the way to crisis mode when the lease actually expires before anyone actually does anything about it. I just hope it isn't too late at that point...

Gov. Mark Dayton is "unsure" he would call a fall special session for #Vikings. Dayton says he might wait until next year. Dayton says he takes calling a special session "seriously" and doesn't know if a #Vikings stadium would be reason to do so. “I haven’t decided,” Dayton told reporters about a #Vikings special session. “It’s not ready to be considered at this point."

#Vikings Veep Bagley will only say "We're assessing our options." He would say no more about what those include, but he sounded glum.