Build a New Stadium

My father-in-law sent me this message during the night – from his spot out there among the stars: “Build a new downtown stadium for the Vikings, damn it!”
by Charlie Leck

I don’t often agree with a local sports columnist by the name of Patrick Reusse. He normally looks at local sports situations with eyes too jaundiced by his tired attitude – the result of years and years on the job. Reusse forgets that competitive commercial sports, and the spectators who enjoy them, are built on attitudes of hope and the dreams that hope inspire. He’s constantly ragging on the negative rather than looking at the heroic and hopeful. I’ve put him in the bad-ass category and, to avoid gas, I rarely read him.

This morning, however, the headline on his column caught my attention and I decided to work my way through a few paragraphs. I ended up reading the entire thing in fascination.

“POLITICOS PLAY DUMB AND BLIND TO A STADIUM’S DAZZLING UPSIDE!”

Our region has been caught in the National Football League’s sharp-toothed, steel trap. We must provide more than half the cost of building a new stadium for one of the league’s owners, or else! So, the debate has raged on here.

Frankly, I didn’t expect the kind of thesis that Reusse developed in his column this morning to ever come from him. He began…

“This is now a metropolitan area of 2.85 million. Nothing is more important to this sprawling place than a downtown with a strong heartbeat. And what provides the heartbeat are people coming to the city on a daily basis to work, and suburbanites, outstaters and regional and national visitors enjoying that downtown.”

That’s exactly true. My late father-in-law was always very involved in the Minneapolis Downtown Council, an organization of downtown businessman who promoted virtually the same message that Reusee opens up with in his column this morning. As a member of that Council, my wife’s father was extremely involved in bringing the Washington Senators to Minnesota in 1960 and then downtown in the early 80s. Oh, how thrilled he would have been to see the incredibly beautiful and successful new ballpark that the state and county helped the Minnesota Twins open just a couple of years ago. Target Field! What a contribution that ballpark is to the entertainment industry in downtown Minneapolis and to the overall vitality of this community and region.

As expensive as it will be for the state, the construction of a whopping, beautiful and dynamic new stadium in downtown Minneapolis for the Minnesota Vikings (NFL football team) will be an extraordinary boost to our entire metropolitan region.

My readers from around the nation have probably seen the same kind of economic boosts that an NFL stadium can bring to communities in their area – Atlanta, Dallas, Tampa, Charlotte, Seattle, Denver, NY/NJ…

Let me tell you, Reusse’s column this morning isn’t only right-on – it’s completely right on – and has a sound and feeling of sympathy and empathy that one rarely sees in Reusse’s columns. You only have to read the first five paragraphs of this piece to hear a compassionate heart beating loudly and clearly in the surly old newspaperman.

It’s not easy to agree that our state, county and metropolitan region should pony up so much money to help billionaire owners build stadiums for their teams (their private corporations). The problem is how much it will hurt our economy if we don’t.

“We could so easily be another decayed downtown, if not for the corporations, and the law firms and the accounting firms, and the retailers that remain committed to being in the city, when everything could be cheaper and more convenient by joining the sprawl in Maple Grove or Eden Prairie or Eagan.”

Oh, Grandpappy Lyman, the man is singing your song! You must be hooting and hollering up there and doing triple salchows in the sky.

“Last month, Sandra Colvin Roy, another of the dedicating lefties on the Minneapolis City Council, announced opposition to the plan for a new Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis without a city-wide referendum (that she knows would fail).

“Roy was moved to do this, she said, after ‘looking across the street at Occupy Minnesota and thinking about what’s going on in our country…’

“…One wonders whether she ever made the short walk to the Nicollet Mall, between ninth and tenth streets, and watched employees by the hundreds enter and exit the Target Corp. headquarters.

“I’m saying Minneapolis might be better off with politicians more impressed by the presence of an exceptional corporate citizen bringing a parade of employees downtown on a daily basis than a couple of hundred protesters sleeping over-night during an uncommonly warm fall and early winter.”

Reuse is right on – and I’m saying that from my usual perch way out here on the left. A new stadium means construction jobs by the hundreds and hundreds. It also means more vibrancy for downtown and thousands of jobs that will be stimulated by the new stadium.

“Some way, we have wound up with politicians who would put the cleaver to a great asset for the state’s largest city, and then offer the silliest of explanation, like 1) several score of people sleeping outside on government property, and 2) a few guys from Plymouth who would rather not pay an extra 3 percent for a Dewars and water at the Seville.

“What stands in the way of a stronger heartbeat for downtown Minneapolis are the collections of the nearsighted that we have elected.”

And that, my dear, late father-in-law,is how the Reusse column ends. If you were still around, you’d be on the phone to him to congratulate him on some handy writing and sound thinking.

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Keep the Vikings

If you are a Vikings fan and want to keep them in Minnesota, watch this video!
Christian Ponder photograph above, thanks to Zimbio.com/Christian Ponder photos!

I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about the Minnesota Vikings before, but today is the day!
by Charlie Leck

I’ve got a good blogging friend, Tony Rugare, in Cleveland. Tony has a sharp wit and a good mind. His bogs never go on and on. He gets right to the point and those points are nearly always sharp. Among other things, Tony is also a terrific sports fan and devoted to his Cleveland Indians. The fact that he can think well about national and world current events and local muddles there in Cleveland AND sports makes him, I think, a well rounded guy. He doesn’t over-do it with his sports detours, but one feels his passion when he does. [Check out From Tony’s Keyboard]

I should like to know from Tony what the atmosphere must have been like the day it became clear in Cleveland that their professional football team, the Browns, were headed for Baltimore, leaving heartbreak behind them.

Now here’s the reason I ask…
I’m a hopeless Minnesota Vikings fan and have been since the team came into existence in 1961. Now, there is a danger that we will become another Cleveland – broken hearted lovers who have been left in a lurch by the one over whom we have poured out so much affection and emotion.

The Vikings have made it clear that they can’t compete with the other guys with the stadium they have. To pay the price of the best players these days, a team needs first class practice facilities and a first class stadium to play in. The old Metrodome isn’t that place. The Vikes have made it clear that they will contribute nearly 500 million dollars to this stadium that will we owned by the state and will be used for many other community events – concerts, entertainment galore, high school football and soccer championship games, national collegiate championships in football and basketball and on and on….

The team’s lease runs out this season – in February. There are other towns (the City of Angels, for one), courting our team. Can you imagine the Vikings of Los Angeles? It doesn’t make sense.

I’ve contacted my State Senator (Gen Olson) about this and also my District Representative (Steve Smith). I’ve had a good response from Smith, a Republican, who says he’s on board for getting something done that will help the Vikings get a new stadium. Senator Olson hasn’t gotten back to me yet. I’ll keep bugging her.

Here’s a very cool and heart-tugging video the Vikings have put out and asked their fans to spread around. I’m easy! I know that! I have strong emotional ties to the Vikings. Sure they’ve broken my heart a number of times. It’s so hard getting over those four (4) – yes FOUR – Super Bowl losses; yet, they are still my team – my one and only team and I’ll pull for them forever – at least for as long as they’re in Minnesota and I’m still kicking.

If you’re a Vikings fan, be sure to watch the video. If you remember Bill Brown, Chuck Foreman, Karl Kasulke and Jim Marshall, you’ve just got to. Our state will lose so much if we lose the Vikings. It would be one of the most foolish things we’ve ever done. Don’t let them do it!

If you're hooked on the Vikings also, you might want to take a look at the web site Save the Vikings.

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If you read my blog regularly, why not become a follower? All you have to do is click in the upper right hand corner and establish a simple means of communication. Then you'll be informed every time a new blog is posted here. If all that's confusing, here's Google's explanation of how to do it! If you don’t want to post comments on the blog, but would like to communicate with me about it, send me an email if you’d like.

The Vikings May Leave Minnesota

The Vikings shop, slop, hop and pop for a new stadium – or else!
by Charlie Leck

A friend of mine likes to describe my blog as eclectic. Well, yesterday I gave you a definition of God. Two days ago I let you peek at my Valentine’s Day poem to my wife. Today we turn to the Minnesota Vikings and their need for a billion dollar stadium. Is that eclectic?

The front page headline in last Thursday's local newspaper was: STATE’S RED INK: $7 BILLION? The headline in the sport section declared that the “Vikings’ stadium frustration rises to surface!” An interview with the Vikings' spokesman made the threat to leave town very clear: "...we're about out of time!"

How to solve the stadium crisis, mid the financial crisis!
This town (Minneapolis) used to be famous for its deal makers. Oh my, we had some glorious big-hitters in the business community up here. When there was a major community need, they got things done and done well.

One has only to look at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) to see evidence of this. The Dayton brothers (fore-fathers of the Target Corp) stepped up big on that one. They made sure that we had a first-class, big-league, state-of-the-art (if you’ll forgive the pun) art museum.

Then, only 10 minutes away, you can visit the Walker Art Museum and the fantastic sculpture gardens right next-door. This is our town’s modern, or contemporary, art museum. It’s special and spectacular. Give thanks to the leadership of the Crosby family (General Mills) and many of their friends on that one

Minneapolis and Minnesota go Big League
The Minnesota Twins major league baseball team started play in Minnesota in 1961. Our town and state were great before that and it was wonderful to live and work here, but having a major league baseball team put us on the map. Having major league baseball here also gave our economy a big, big boost. Don’t doubt that for a second.

John Cowles Sr. was at the center of bringing baseball here. He was the owner/publisher of the two Minneapolis newspapers at that time (morning and afternoon). Charlie Johnson, a writer for the newspapers, was the spokesman for the people who plotted and toiled to get the Washington Senators to move to Minnesota to become the Twins. Gerry Moore was the executive of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce and he put the full force of the chamber behind the effort to get baseball here. There were some powerful people in the Chamber, including my late father-in-law, Lyman Wakefield, Jr., who worked tirelessly to get Major League Baseball to come here. Billy Boyer was a powerful downtown businessman and he poured energy into the effort. So did our wonderful neighbor out here in Independence, Wheelock Whitney. Wheelock is as smooth as whipped cream and he impressed everyone in baseball who met him.

A medical doctor at the Mayo Clinic was also a surprising player in the deal. Minnesota was one vote short of getting the Senators to move here. A couple of the Yankee bosses were his patients. They planned on voting against the Twins. On the day a vote was to be cast, Doctor Bayrd Horton called his patients and told them how important it was for Minnesota to get baseball here. The Yankee vote came in for Minnesota that day.

On the 31st of October in 1960, Calvin Griffith, the owner of the Washington Senators, announced that he was moving his team to Minnesota. I remember Lyman, Anne’s father, telling us about the party. It was non-stop – a big time celebration.

I could give you a list of a dozen community leaders who poured efforts in making that day happen; however, that’s not the point here. Here’s the real point!

The Vikings are getting ready to pack up and leave!
Think I’m kidding? Then you’re a sucker, pal! They’ll play out their lease here – through 2011 (that’s 3 seasons) and then they’re gone – moving into a spectacular billion dollar stadium in Los Angeles.

Does it matter?
This is the crucial question that community leaders have got to consider. Is it important – no, is it vital – that our state and community has NFL football? Will our community be lessened if they leave? Will our economy suffer? Will anything beyond our image be damaged?

The crucial question is not the ailing economy. The real question is this: Are the Vikings worth a billion dollars to the state and community? That’s what it is going to cost to keep them here.

Why aren’t we hearing from the Greater Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce on this one? Where are the big time business leaders like we had in the past? They’re out there, but they’re not being heard. Perhaps they’re silent because they’ve answered that vital question already – calculating that the Vikings are not worth the money and the effort to keep them?

The Vikes have made it clear. They must have a new stadium – a billion dollar stadium. They’ll throw in a quarter of that amount. Add some infrastructure costs into the mix and you’ve got a billion dollar public investment that will be required to keep big-time football in the state.

Wheelock Whitney, of all those great community leaders I mentioned above, is still around and active and vocal. I’d like to hear Wheelock’s opinion about this. I trust his reasoning powers a great deal and no one I know loves this town any more than he does. Then I’d ask him if we still have the kind of community leaders who can step up and make it happen if the feeling is that the Vikings must stay in Minnesota.

As for Wheelock, he the great rock beneath of the Metropolitian Community College in Minneapolis. He's been responsible for some wonderful developments on that campus.

Where are the Pohlads on this stadium issue (the Twins owners)? How about Glen Taylor (the Timberwolves owner)? Where are Dick Kovacevich (Wells Fargo) and Lynn Nagorske (TCF) on this issue? What about Marilyn Carlson Nelson (Carlson Companies)? Pat Ryan (Ryan Companies)? Ed Philips (Philips Beverage)? Steve Sanger (General Mills)? Gregg Steinhafel (Target)? Warren Stanley (Cargill)?

What about 3M, Medtronic, Xcel Energy, United Health, Best Buy and SuperValu?

Again, Wheelock, have we got the kind of energetic community leaders who could keep the Vikings here if we determine that the team is valuable to us as a state?

Where does former governor Arne Carlson stand on this one?

Maybe this vital question has already been asked and answered by the hot-shot community leaders and that’s why there is only silence. "Let them go! It just isn't worth the price!"

These are tough times to raise a billion dollars and this is a tough issue; yet, the issue needs leadership and it doesn’t appear that anyone is stepping up to the plate.

Again
Again, the first question is this: Are the Vikings worth an investment of a billion dollars to keep them here?

If the answer is yes, these great business and community leaders must step forward and lay out a plan to get that stadium built. We've certainly seen that there isn't any leadership coming from the Governor's office.

Are the Vikings a part of our future or just a simple story from the past?