Since it is nearly Thanksgiving, one of the biggest football-game-watching days of the year, I’m going to write about how grateful I am that the Minnesota Vikings stadium currently under construction has a roof.
I know, I just raised the ire of half of the Cook County News-Herald readership. I know there are many people who don’t think the State of Minnesota should be paying a portion of the $975 million price tag, taxing us all to pay for it.
I don’t necessarily disagree, especially in light of news that was announced as I sat down to write this week’s Unorganized Territory. Yet another Viking player—linebacker Erin Henderson—has been arrested. Henderson has not yet been charged, but the case is under investigation by the Eden Prairie Police Department. It appears he may be charged with driving while intoxicated and possession of a controlled substance.
Yes, he is innocent until proven guilty, but looking at the Vikings’ recent history, it doesn’t look good for Henderson or the team.
Perhaps they don’t deserve a new stadium. Certainly not one built in part by our tax dollars. But that is not the point of this week’s column. I’m not going to debate the Vikings’ playing ability or talk about their horrible moral standards. Although it is hard not to since according to the New York Times Upshot feature which analyzes the arrest records of NFL players, the Minnesota Vikings have had the most players arrested since 2000. A total of 44 Viking players have been arrested for crimes ranging from drug possession, driving under the influence, reckless driving and domestic violence.
Definitely not something to shout Skol over.
However, it is a moot point. The stadium is being built and one hopes that it will be used by players that can be decent role models for Minnesota’s young people.
But watching football with my husband Chuck over the weekend, I realized I am grateful that Viking management chose reason over false pride. We live in Minnesota. We need roofs over our heads and heaters keeping us from freezing. It’s not a sign of strength to be able to endure frigid cold for no reason; it’s a sign of stupidity.
Watching our Wisconsin rivals shivering in the stands, bundled in so many layers they can barely move, cheering on their beloved Green Bay Packers, makes me laugh. The announcers encourage football fans to come to Green Bay to watch a game. There is no experience like it, they say, speaking fondly of the Packers’ glory days. The announcers wax poetic about the proud tradition of Bart Starr and Coach Vince Lombardi and Packers founder and long-time head coach, Earl “Curly” Lambeau.
I find it very hard to believe that if Coach Lambeau had had the money to build a roof over that original stadium back in 1955, he wouldn’t have done it. I think Bart Starr and the other Packers who played in the historic “Ice Bowl” would have just as happily played in a heated arena.
Other teams stubbornly hold onto the tradition of open air stadiums—the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos. Watching the Packers playing last weekend and seeing the Buffalo Bills clearing snow from their stadium for their next game makes me grateful that Minnesota has a little more sense.
Ideally, the new Viking stadium would have a retractable roof like the ones that are home to the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts. But that would drive up the building costs even more and up our taxes further. No, I think the Minnesota Vikings franchise made a good choice in its stadium design.
Its choice of players? The jury is still out on that.
The secret is to work less as
individuals and more as a
team. As a coach, I play not
my eleven best, but my best
eleven.
Knute Rockne
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