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January 05, 2012

Vikings owner declares 'closer than ever' to stadium deal yet again

Zygi Wilf has certainly hit the ground running in 2012 on the "talking a good stadium game" front. On Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings owner told reporters after meeting with new state senate majority leader David Senjem: "We feel that a deal is going to be in the works shortly." Today, he tells never-met-a-stadium-plan-he-didn't-like Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Sid Hartman that "right now we are closer than ever on making a deal happen and we're working very hard to making sure that we get this done" and that "I'm sure details will unfold over the next several weeks and months." Wilf also proclaimed that the Vikings had "momentum" for a new stadium — oh, wait, that was actually five months ago.

There does seem to be some backing for a stadium bill in the legislature — Senjem in particular is an advocate of racinos (racinos!) — but the problem remains how on earth to pay the $1-billion-plus price tag: The Minneapolis city council wants nothing to do with their mayor's plan, Ramsey County officials have declared that "the cookie jar is empty," and the state legislature has been throwing ideas against the wall willy-nilly in the hopes one of them will stick.

Don't forget, the Vikings actually had a stadium bill last spring, but it fell apart when nobody actually stepped forward to supply the $600 million in tax money that would have been required. It's always possible that Senjem and Wilf have secretly concocted something that generates money out of thin air, but I'll believe it when I see it.

COMMENTS

I am closer than ever to the day of my death today!

Posted by Joshua Northey on January 5, 2012 04:28 PM

Day by day, people are starting to realize how much the fans are getting fleeced by these owners. $1 billion for a stadium that is used 8 times a year is idiotic. How do people support this garbage?

Posted by Roger C. on January 5, 2012 07:20 PM

Anybody here on the Santa Clara City Council who can address Roger's question?

(We are being told we are lucky to have a super awesome, better than anyone else's deal!)

Posted by SANTA CLARA JAY on January 5, 2012 08:11 PM

Snap, Joshua!

I was just thinking of the George Carlin quote: "every day I beat my own record for the consecutive number of days I've stayed alive"

We miss George around here very, very much.

Posted by John Bladen on January 6, 2012 12:35 PM

SCJ:

You guys have a super-awesome-better-than-anyone-else's deal?

Dang! Where I live we've had to settle for "well, it's not the worst deal I've ever seen"...

Posted by John Bladen on January 6, 2012 12:37 PM

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