The Viking Age » arden hills

Vikings Shoot Down Latest Ramsey County Stadium Plan

Dan Zinski — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:15:34 +0000

The third time was not the charm for Ramsey County. A new Arden Hills stadium proposal was submitted to governor Mark Dayton by the county commission but was quickly shot down by the Vikings. Stadium front man Lester Bagley was rather blunt in his statement, saying “Our view is the earlier proposals were more viable.” Bagley added, “We’ll continue to work with them.”

The centerpiece of the new failed proposal was a financing plan that shifted the focus from a sales tax increase to stadium user fees. The proposal cited seven potential revenue streams in all, including parking fees and parking lot naming rights. But the Vikings shot it down so now you’ll never get to tailgate in and possibly vomit all over the 3M parking lot at Arden Hills. Sad about that?

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Zygi Wilf: “We’re Getting Close” On Stadium Deal

Dan Zinski — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:56:00 +0000

Zygi Wilf was called in to talk to governor Mark Dayton on Wednesday and came out of the meeting sounding optimistic and slightly stubborn. The optimistic part: Zygi told reporters the Vikings are “getting close” on a stadium deal. The slightly stubborn part: Despite all evidence to the contrary Zygi insists his Arden Hills dream stadium is not “out of the question.”

State Senator Julie Rosen played nice with Zygi by indicating the door is still slightly open on Arden Hills. “If they can come back to us with another proposal to keep this alive by the end of the week, then we’ll take another look at it,” Rosen said. “But at this point, it’s not doable as far as I’m concerned.”

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Minnesota Politics Will Likely Force the Vikings Back Outdoors

Dan Zinski — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:52:01 +0000

For the first 20 years of their history the Vikings were an outdoor football team, playing their games at the fabled Old Met in Bloomington. Outdoor football in January in Minnesota meant bitter cold and lashing wind. Aided by the bone-chilling conditions, the Vikings took four conference titles, though they failed to ever win the Super Bowl.

In 1982 everything changed. The team moved out of the chilly Met for the cozy confines of the Metrodome, giving up the decided homefield advantage imparted by the bad January weather. A team that had once been known for hard-nosed, grinding football slowly evolved into a typical indoor team built less on physicality and more on speed. The Purple People Eaters of Bud Grant became Dennis Green’s track stars. The Vikings got so used to their comfortable home that by 2000 they had garnered a reputation as softies who couldn’t win outdoors on grass, especially not late in the year when the weather turned bad. A stark turnaround for a franchise once fabled for its ability to grind out victory under the harshest of conditions.

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