While football enthusiasts eagerly await the shaping of the future that will be the 2012 NFL Draft, Vikings fans are not-so-suddenly having to consider the mortality of their entire franchise.
The most recent defeat of their Minneapolis stadium bill at the hands of a House committee is sending shockwaves through the Vikings fanbase, and those shock waves seem likely to continue as the rhetoric becomes increasingly harsh.
While Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton was forced to put his tail between his legs and nearly concede that his plan failed, he wants the Vikings to be patient and stick around for another year.
The Vikings don’t sound like they are in the sticking around mood these days.
“There is no next year.”
Those five words, uttered by a team official, should resonate with us Vikings fans.
“The last governor said in 2006 we’ll come back and work on yours next year. That was six years ago,” said Lester Bagley, Vikings vice president of public affairs and stadium development. “No action this year is a decision.”
It is not super clear whether or not there is any glimmer of hope for the stadium bill still pressing through this year, but optimism seems to have faded from all the public speeches being given.
The Vikings, under the watchful eye of Zygi Wilf, have been pretty darn nice about this whole thing without ever implying relocation as an option. The gloves are off now, and it is likely that we will see plenty of quotes from Vikings officials threatening a move to L.A.
If we don’t see those quotes, then we should all be worried… because that means they have already made up their mind.
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Soooooo. can we do a yearly party bus from MPLS to LA with all the VIkings Territory regulars to watch the vikings packers game?
I just hope the Vikings move to Oklahoma City or Vegas, instead of L.A.
I would be ecstatic if they moved here to Vegas.
I'd still be sad... but it would make it much easier!
Very interesting....................
Minnesota Vikings Stadium: BAH GAWD, King, That's Hennepin County's Music!
by Christopher Gates on Apr 17, 2012 10:20 PM CDT in Minnesota Vikings Stadium
Big thanks to "Vikeologist" on Twitter for passing along this link to a report from KSTP 5 in Minneapolis.
Sources tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the developers have reconfigured the Farmer's Market site and are now calling it the "Stadium District" site. It would move the stadium property line within 100 yards of Target Field.
The idea is to create a sports complex with restaurants, hotels and entertainment connecting the new Vikings stadium to Target Field and Target Center.
...
Sources tell us Hennepin County is waiting for the legislative session to end without a Vikings stadium deal. If that happens, expect Hennepin County and developers of the Stadium District site to unveil their plans publicly.
Well, then. . .not quite sure what to think about this, as it seems awfully sudden. I know that the Farmer's Market site was one of the original sites proposed back in February, but I thought there were going to be a bunch of issues with businesses having to relocate and all that sort of stuff.
If they can make it happen, here's hoping they can make it happen. It would take a special session, obviously, since the article states that Hennepin County is waiting for the current legislative session to be finished and the current legislation to officially be buried before they come forth with their proposal.
I'm trying not to get too excited while, at the same time, trying to be happy that there might still be some good news after all. I just want the roller coaster ride to end.
To Everyone:
I am only bringing this up because I have recieved some complaints from other readers as well as writers from other blogs. Please do not simply cut and paste entire stories from other sites into the comments sections here. It is borderline plagarism and clogs up the comments sections for other readers. From here on out, those comments will be deleted.
The VT comments section is HTML enabled, so simply providing a link to a story you find interesting not only takes up less space but also gives proper credit to the writer that worked hard to, ummm, write it.
Thanks everybody!
I should also add that the Forums section is a great place to post longer articles of interest. However, please be sure to provide a proper source via a link, as that will doubtless be everybody's first request if you are posting something REALLY juicy :)
Hope the Farmers Market deal is real
I hate to say too much about MN taxes and politics since I haven't lived there for the last 15 years, but this put me over the edge. Mrs. vike fan even wrote a letter to the governer.
Vikes have played nice and did everything the state asked them to do for the last 6 years, I'm to the point where I hope they extort every penny they can get from the politicians and use every threat and dirty tactic in the book to do it.
The quote from Lester Bagley, VP of the Vikings is "There is no next year.We still have time to get this done this session." I found this more complete version of the statement in a tweet from Jeff Goldberg Fox 9 news. @jgoldbergfox9. Courtesy of "Nectur"; comments section Daily Norseman article titled "We have no plans to come back here next year ... no action is a decision by the state of Minnesota. Need to get this done." The title also appears to be a quote from Bagley; no date is given for the quote though, so I don't know when he said it. I haven't seen any more of the statement than this though, so I don't know what else was said.
It sounds like the team might not give the State the option to drag their feet.
I Really hate to see the Vikings leave,
But Hey enough is enough...
There's a reason why the Vikings will probably be the 3rd professional sports team to leave the state. IIf the Vikes go, I hope Minnesota never gets another pro team again. They simply do not deserve it. The great people of the state can blame their politicians for it.
Freds thinks it's Obama's fault, or the Taliban. You choose.
No Freds it must be Bush's fault.
Tell ya one thing, It's not a blue collar guys fault.
Yup, you got that right Charlie.