There appears to be no simple end in sight for the ongoing stadium situation for the Minnesota Vikings. The team has no less than four sites on its list in downtown Minneapolis, Arden Hills, Shakopee, and Bloomington. One major factor is that many elected officials are uneducated about the entire process, as Tom Powers recently pointed out on TwinCities.com:
Meanwhile, we've got Rep. Phyllis Kahn of Minneapolis demonstrating an astonishing lack of knowledge about the situation by suggesting that the Vikings owners sell shares to the public. Yes, hang on, the NFL will change its bylaws tomorrow. Hello? There's about as much chance of selling Vikings shares to the public as there is of selling shares of Phyllis Kahn to the public.
With so many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle either ducking the issue or clueless, it's hard to envision anything happening either way. It's just difficult to get a handle on where we are. The latest development has Shakopee jumping into the stadium fray with its own proposal.
The lease on the Metrodome has expired, but that has not given the team a sense of urgency as the critical 2012 offseason approaches.
For more on the Minnesota Vikings, go to Daily Norseman. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NFL hub at SBNation.com/NFL.