You know, since the good news is just piling up for us at this point.
With the sounding of the final gun in the Minnesota Vikings' 17-13 loss to the Chicago Bears on New Year's Day, the team's 30-year lease with the Metrodome officially came to an end. As it stands now, the team no longer has any further obligation to play any more games, pre-season, regular season, or post-season, at that particular location.
The lease doesn't technically expire until 1 February, but the team is insisting that without some sort of new stadium legislation being figured out before that point, they will allow it to expire, essentially making the franchise a free agent.
However, as we mentioned a while back, the Minneapolis Sports Facilities Commission seems to be under the impression that the roof collapse in 2010, which caused two home games to be moved to alternate locations, triggered a clause in the lease that would cause it to be extended for another year. I'm not saying that there's eventually going to be a lawsuit over that whole thing, but. . .well, there's eventually going to be a lawsuit over that whole thing. Just watch.
As far as what else we're in for over the next few weeks, Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press has a huge serving of sunshine and lollipops for your consumption.
Meanwhile, the politicians who were elected to provide leadership in dealing with these difficult fiscal matters are in their four-corner offense. With a few exceptions, they are content to do everything in their power to avoid the issue. Official approach: Keep a low profile and try to ignore it.
I find their performance as embarrassing as the team's performance. Most of them are waiting to be "convinced" instead of working toward a solution. I know what most of these people don't like and what they don't want when it comes to stadium funding.
Somebody tell me what they are "for" here. It is not sound policy, not a workable strategy to keep repeating, "They probably won't leave."
The decibel level is about to rise. The Vikings are going to shout that time is up. The politicians are going to scream back that it isn't. And fans are going to get caught up in the daily drama.
The season isn't over. The Vikings merely will stop playing football games. This next stage likely will be at least as miserable as the previous one.
Yep, it's going to be a fun month, ladies and gentlemen.
Regardless of what happens with the stadium drama, we will effort to bring you all of the latest developments as the Vikings attempt to secure a new stadium in Minnesota.