Stadium

Bagley: Minnesota Is Making A Mistake

April 17, 2012, by 1 comment

Following a day in which the Minnesota House of Representatives put forth their clearest signal yet that they are fine with tabling the stadium talk for yet another year, the Vikings are widely expected to pull the gloves off and start throwing punches.

On Monday night, Vikings stadium official Lester Bagley seemed to start that process.

“It’s a mistake to think the Vikings and the NFL will stick with the status quo in Minnesota,” VP Lester Bagley told Fox9 News.

The Wilf family has yet to officially threaten relocation, but the results of Monday’s vote might lead to just that.

Or, they might skip that step all together, and just start making plans for a 2013 relocation.

Stadium Plan Outlook Looks Painful

April 16, 2012, by 8 comments

Well, I don’t have much to say about this, other than it isn’t looking good, folks.  It isn’t over yet, but it isn’t looking good.

A 15 member committee of the Minnesota House voted 9-6 against putting forth the proposed Vikings stadium bill without recommendation.  Members of the panel grilled supporters of the bill and members of the Vikings organization, wondering why they should use taxpayer dollars to fund a billionaires’ building.

In short, the window to get something done soon is closing, and the situation is now looking even more sketchy than it did yesterday.

As always, however… it isn’t over until it is over.

Links Of The Week: April Begins

April 5, 2012, by 1 comment

Draft month is finally here, and while we have to wait until the end of the month for the actual Draft to get here there is plenty of reading to do between now and then.

Here are some hand-picked selections:

  • Rob Gronkowski beat out Jared Allen in the latest round of fan voting that will put one player on the cover of the new Madden video game.
  • Brett is one of a few guys representing the Vikings in this live mock Draft that has the Vikings getting Matt Kalil and also trading back into the first round to nab another prospect.
  • An examination of the Vikings reported interest in Bill Parcells.
  • Looking for a way to do some good today?  Consider this.
  • Interesting grading system for the Vikings past few Draft classes.
  • A new rule in the NFL was influenced by our favorite team.
  • The Viking fan base would love to finally see a big signing, but are there any options left?
  • One NFC North team has had a very bad week, which includes an arrest of a player that some (me) wanted the Vikings to draft last year.
  • The signing of Chris Carr represents value and low risk, but could also have Draft implications.
  • A humorous look at the Vikings offseason so far.  Funny, sad, possibly true.
  • Superstitious?  Then here are some reasons to be glad about Jared Allen’s exit from the Madden race.
  • One obstacle was hurdled a while back that could help the Vikings stadium effort.
  • A comprehensive list of prospects known to have visited with the Vikings as the Draft approaches.
  • A “Vikings Mock Draft” that makes selections for every scheduled pick.
  • Chris Carr brings more competition to this Vikings secondary, which is becoming a trend.
  • Some ownership insight into the relationship between Rick Spielman and Leslie Frazier.
  • Mel Kiper is a well regarded media draftnik, so here is a look at who he sees the Vikings targeting in the upcoming Draft.
  • There continues to be plenty of action centering around the Vikings stadium battle, but little progress seems to have been made.
  • The still-existing possibility of the Vikings trading out of the three spot is keeping speculation interesting.
  • Ryan Tannehill’s pro day was a success, which could give the Vikings some serious trade leverage on Draft Day.
  • There is the potential for the Vikings to have not one but two sets of brothers on their team, but can they afford it?
  • The Vikings hosted their “Top 30” prospects this week and a number of blue chip players were invited.
  • Percy Harvin is scheduled to have minor surgery on Tuesday.
  • Like me, Ben Leber is perplexed about why the linebackers are having to wait during this free agency period.
  • Want your Vikings Territory friends to see your own mock draft?  Here is a great place to put it.
  • And now, here it is, your moment of Zen:

New “Minnesota Sports Complex” Concept Images

April 3, 2012, by 9 comments

I have to admit, I was probably more excited than most when the three images below were released to the public yesterday. Having a background in architecture, I have a soft spot for beautiful buildings and breathtaking renderings. It’s always been incredibly fascinating to me how realistic these drawings can look. And having slaved over these types of concepts and drawings myself, I definitely respect the hard work and time that goes into making these works of art (they truly are).

New Stadium Fan Promenade

New Stadium Downtown View

New Stadium Night View

In my opinion, the first image of the “fan promenade” is the most intriguing. I can imagine being there on game day and the excitement building as you walk towards the stadium with all the other Vikings fans after having spent the last few hours tailgating. (Although slightly concerned about intoxicated individuals walking so closely to a speeding tram!) And of course, the last image of the stadium at night is great too. These types of renderings tend to suggest a sort of utopian environment. The Vikings just blew out the Packers at home on Monday night and the fireworks go off, stadium roaring. The office down the block gave all of it’s employees the day off but coordinated which office lights to leave on to spell “Go Vikes,” etc… Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that. One of the purposes of these types of renderings is to create buzz and increase excitement. A billion dollars is a lot. Especially when you can’t visualize what the end product will be.

I can assure you that the parties in charge released these pictures at a specifically chosen time to ignite the fan base and give the stadium that last little push it needs to get over the hill.

I don’t know about you guys, but it worked on me. The images have me pumped up!

What about you all?

Stadium Bill Makes A Leap

April 2, 2012, by No comments yet

It could very well be too little too late, but the Vikings efforts to get a new stadium in Minneapolis took a major step on Monday.

The proposed bill finally was passed by a committee, which is a key hurdle as they try to get it through legislature.  The House Commerce and Regulatory Reform Committee pushed the stadium proposal, along with the current funding proposal, forward.

There is still a lot of the process to play out before shovels hit the dirt… or before all those purple jerseys are shipped west.

Links Of The Week: Draft Month Is Upon Us!

April 2, 2012, by 1 comment

Howdy, everybody. It’s been kind of slow as far as Vikings news goes the past couple days. Nevertheless, we wanted to supply everyone with some of our favorite articles of the week during this little dry spell. So, here we go:

First things first, Donovan McNabb is hilarious. First he proclaims that Robert Griffin III isn’t going to work out in Washington. Now, in response to the declaration that Tim Tebow is the most criticized quarterback in the NFL, McNabb vehemently insisted that, in fact, he [himself] is.

Chris Kluwe is getting his #5 jersey back.

Rick Spielman recently did a pretty lengthy, insightful interview with PFT Live. Check it out.

And then, for some analysis on Spielman’s various interviews and smokescreens, the Vikings Age has a nice little article wondering if Spielman maybe tipped his hand on Kalil.

Could someone really want to come up and take the Vikings #3 spot for Ryan Tannehill?! Some believe it is quite possible.

There were some rule changes decided upon at the recent Owner’s meeting. Still no 18 game season, though.

Ugh… Is this stadium issue ever going to end? I know you have heard it before, but it seems like it is closer than ever with things supposedly ramping up this week in the House of Representatives.

Check out who the Vikings have scheduled private workouts with so far. What, no receivers?

Much like we did a few days ago, The Vikings Age have put together their own report card of sorts for how the Vikings (and Spielman) have done so far this offseason.

I’m going to miss Visanthe on this team. Here’s a short video of him recently signing autographs for fans (a goodbye of sorts) and answering a few questions (including how he feels about Darren Sharper and the bounty scandal, if he “Twitters from the throne”, and more).

Now that we are officially in draft month, check out the most recent Mock Draft of Walter Football. It includes five full rounds so you can see more than the [inevitable] Kalil selection.

And finally, an official announcement: Vikings Territory will be participants in the best community Mock Draft on the internet right now representing the Minnesota Vikings along with two other “GMs”. You can check out the previous mocks (we’ll be #MockThree) at the #MockOne website. We’ll have more info and details on this as it starts up.

 

Stadium Fight Takes Step In Right Direction

March 26, 2012, by 6 comments

If you support the Vikings proposal to build a new stadium in Minnesota (which I bet you do) then you will be happy to hear that Monday yielded some substantially good news in the ongoing battle.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said on Monday that he has secured a majority of the Minneapolis City Council with letters saying seven members of the Council would vote in favor of the current proposal.

“Is it time to build it? I think it is,” Rybak said on Monday.

The Stadium bill has yet to be approved by a single Senate Committee at the State Legislature level, but it is believed the support of Minneapolis could potentially help move things along and get the ball rolling again.

As always, there are still obstacles that are sure to pop up, but this is one more major obstacle that has seemingly been hurdled.