Zygi Wilf’s Plane Spotted In Los Angeles

The plot continues to thicken. Monday night it was the vote down of 9-6 of a new Vikings stadium, Tuesday it Governor Mark Dayton stating the stadium vote would pass next year with Vikings VP Lester Bagley shooting down the governor’s promise to say the team was not coming back to next years legislative session and tonight the big news is that Vikings owner Zygi Wilf is in Los Angeles set to meet with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to talk about the NFL relocating to Los Angeles. Remember how ProFootballTalk.com first broke the news of Wilf’s plane on it’s way to Hattiesburg to pick up a certain someone? This news comes with confirmation from Los Angeles mayor’s spokesman Peter Sanders to say, “Yes, the commissioner (Roger Goodell) and the mayor did meet this week and they had a private conversation on a number of topics.” Gee, I wonder what they talked about?

As Dan pointed out earlier, Goodell is set to meet with Minnesota state leaders & Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney on Friday stressing the importance of passing a stadium bill very soon. Something tells us that is going to be a very bullying conversation. Goodell is paid $20 million a year to represent the owners on everything across the board. He’ll probably go so far as to say that if the Vikings don’t resolve their stadium woes in Minnesota in 2012 that he’ll help facilitate the team moving to LA and discuss at length the economic impact of a team leaving its local area. And I’m sure he’ll gloat about the current growth of the league and talk about it will cost exponentially more expensive to get a team back in Minnesota while building a new stadium. It’s clear the NFL doesn’t want to move the Vikings away from Minnesota, but the league is also done with the outdated Metrodome and is energized to permeate the LA market again. As to if the state leaders even bat an eye at Goodell is anyone’s guess. But as the old saying goes… The pessimist will be right more often, but the optimist enjoys the journey more. Where do you stand?

Jon Merckle may be followed on Twitter @thevikingpig