Minnesota Vikings Stadium: Stadium Bill Passes House Of Representatives

Well, that was fun, wasn't it folks?

After eight and a half hours. . .every minute of which was covered by those of us here at The Daily Norseman, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed the legislation for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium. The vote was close, with the final tally coming in at 73 "yes" votes and 58 "no" votes.

The debate was contentious, as expected, and there were many great speakers over the course of the evening. . .and some not-so-great speakers. But, in the end, the Minnesota House voted to move things on to the Senate, which will hear the bill tomorrow.

The House of Representatives, in my estimation, represented the toughest test for this legislation. Between Speaker Kurt Zellers (R - Home Depot) trying all sorts of misdirection, including his "I want the bill to pass but I'm not going to vote for it" declaration (and he, indeed, did not vote for it). Senator Julie Rosen, who is the main author of the bill in the Senate, has been saying for a while now that she has the votes in the Senate to push the bill through, but I'm not going to count any chickens before they've hatched.

So, since eight and a half hours of debate tonight was so much fun and so enjoyable. . .who's ready to do it all again tomorrow, huh?

Yes, if the Senate coverage is streamed, we will have it here for your viewing pleasure, just like we did tonight. Yes, it was a long and drawn out debate, but having all of you here made it bearable. Hopefully tomorrow will end up being just as fruitful as today was for us and every other fan of Minnesota Vikings football.

As far as I'm concerned, the 2012 season hasn't even started yet, and the Minnesota Vikings are already 1-0. Here's hoping tomorrow starts a winning streak.