NFL Week 13 Thread: Stevie Johnson won't forgive G-d for being a Steelers fan

As much as I hate the Vikings as well...

The State of Minnesota/Minneapolis-St. Paul has had a dozen years to address this, from when Red McCombs bought the team until now.

And they won't.

- The Twins get a new park -- and they were half-way out the door to North Carolina in 1998.
- Gopher stinkin' football gets a new stadium... and they are so far down on the state's pecking order behind the Vikings.
- The Wild got the St. Paul arena.

Yet nothing for the one team the entire state (except for the Packer fans who are 70 and got their allegiances before the Vikings were born) comes together for.

The Vikings should have pursued the Anoka deal five years ago but, if Wilf was truly serious about staying in MSP, he would have done it then.

I will always believe the Favre signing (and paying $20M for this year) is Wilf's way of saying, "look, I did everything I could to put a winner on the field. Everything. And, now, the state doesn't want to kick in for a new stadium."

Whether it is right or not...that's essentially what Wilf is doing and will be doing in the coming months.

Many in Minnesota will stick their noses in the air between listening to NPR in their Volvos and buying their $4 lattes at the Eden Prairie Starbucks and say, "we shouldn't subsidize billionaires and we won't".

That's well and good. I wish more cities and states were like that. But the reality is they are not.

And it makes terrible financial sense to take that approach.

Just look at the NHL debacle. How much money did St. Paul (and the state) spend to get the Wild back in 2000? I imagine a whole lot more than they would have spent on the North Stars in 1992-93 to keep them in Minneapolis.

Same with St. Louis and the NFL Cardinals. They wouldn't kick in for a new stadium. The Rams come along seven years later and St. Louis laid down like a two-dollah whore. Guaranteed sellouts? Sure. Relocation fee? Got ya covered, Ms. Frontiere.

That's the way the game is played now.

If Minnesota doesn't want to look at this seriously, that's fine. Just don't bemoan the Los Angeles Vikings every year once late October hits and there is nothing to do on Sundays in Minneapolis...but watch the damn Packers.

Unlike their neighbors in Wisconsin, Minneapolis/Minnesota has the money (Target, 3M, etc.) and the demographics (college grads with good jobs) where it shouldn't hurt that much. Minneapolis/St. Paul is rich in disposable income per capita -- yet places like Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh build new stadiums. Huh?!?

Lambeau Field is a palace, with the renovation kicked in by Brown County. Miller Park in Milwaukee? A baseball palace (albeit with an eyesore roof), paid for by the five SE Wisconsin counties with a $.10 per $100 spent sales tax. That stadium could have been paid for by clippin' coupons.

 

Exmediahack, all those stadiums you cite were built well before this recession, which is why the money was available. Plus, in Minnesota you have the complicating factor of a governor with presidential aspirations, and he needs Tea Party support. So forget a tax increase to pay for a stadium.

Plus, no owner actually wants to move a team to LA. They just want the threat so the local rubes will pony up more dough.

 

Andre who?

 

Stars are people known by people who do not frequent sports message boards every day. Like a Bo Jackson.

A player can be a great player, but still not be a star. Like a Marcus Dupree.

Jack Ham and Mel Blount were a great players, but Jack Lambert was a great player and a star.

Just my opinion. You obviously do not agree or do not understand.

 

A star is someone more than half the population can recognize on the street.

Andre Johnson is probably not even recognized by the players' parking lot guard.

 

Actually, for all the threats that Twins made to move to Charlotte, it wasn't going to happen.

The Charlotte voters rejected building the Twins the stadium, which left them with no place to threaten, and allowed Selig to make the contraction threats.

 

Anybody who follows football knows who Andre Johnson is. There are stars in every field of life, whether it be acting, politics, science or football. To those that follow the NFL, Andre Johnson is a star.

 

I know lots of people who don't play fantasy football who know exactly who Andre Johnson is. My dad watches roughly 16 seconds of football each week and he knows who Andre Johnson is.

Why are we acting like this guy is a third-string long snapper? He's a legit star.

 

I think we are confusing the concept of "star" with that of "celebrity." A star is a top performer in any field, recognized as such by people who follow said field. A "celebrity" meets the "people know who he/she is on the street" test. For example, top hedge fund managers are known as "stars" on Wall Street, but none of them are celebrities. Hell, people know who Warren Buffett is, and couldn't pick him out of a lineup.
Andre Johnson is a football star who's not a celebrity.

 

true. maybe there is a difference between star and marketable star. maybe someone could say Andre Johnson isn't a very marketable star, although i don't know if i'd agree. i guess the average fan would know Ochocinco's name or T Owen's name before Johnson's name, but Johnson is still a star.

 

Average people are stupid, and MG is right.

 

I'd like to sign up. Who do I make the check out to?