The Gophers weren't going to get one cent from boosters for another shared stadium, and Roger Goddell wasn't going to allow a 50,000 seat NFL stadium, so here we are.

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Fire Phil Emery

I don't want to live in a world where Gopher football even has boosters. But yeah, sounds like a lot of intractable idiots, especially on the Gophers' side.

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Meh. The Metrodome was death for that football program. Minnesota fans blamed a lot of their subsequent irrelevance on having to play across the river, and they were probably about right (the Gophers were a national program as recently as the 70s). They got about $140 million from the state for TCF, which is $140 million than I'd like to see, but is light as far as these boondoggles go. Plus they actually got their money's worth; TCF is nice.

I suspect Metrodome II will be nice, too, but it will be nice in the same way that Reliant Stadium and Lucas Oil Stadium and University of Phoenix Stadium and all the other NFL stadiums (sans JerryWorld) are nice; expensive, cavernous, MONETIZED, and NFL-y. Worse to me, though, the Metrodome is only 31 freaking years old. The crap stadium in St. Louis was finished in 1995(!) and is now something like the 20th-oldest NFL stadium. This is insanity. It has to end.

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Fire Phil Emery

I agree with your general distaste for giant MONETIZE-EVERYTHING stadiums, and that TCF Bank Stadium is nice. I just feel the best compromise would have been to make TCF Bank Stadium, with contributions from the Vikings, an NFL-quality stadium that could accommodate both teams. It's unreasonable to build two brand-new football stadiums and a baseball park. It wouldn't be perfect for either team, as the Gophers would have seats to tarp off and the Vikings would have to play at a university, but it still has to be better than the mess we've had for the last few years, with the Vikings dithering on moving, playing at TCF for a few years anyway, and then gouging the taxpayers to death.

It's mildly troubling that the Metrodome only lasted as long as it did, but it wasn't built very well, and it was built to do too many things, none of them well. How many times did that stupid roof collapse again? Three? Four? And as for the Rams' shitty stadium, it was built cheaply on spec without the promise of an NFL team, so it's no surprise that it's already useless (and unlikely to be replaced, welcome home, Los Angeles Rams). It's basically football's Tropicana Field.

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They have more snow in Minneapolis than most other major cities in the country. Given the nature of these dome roofs, it's surprising the roof didn't collapse more than it did.

I agree about it being ridiculous that sports teams are building 3 new stadiums when the state governments are in serious debt. Speaking of which the Timberwolves and the Wild don't share a stadium either. So you have essentially 5 stadiums for the major sports teams in the Twin Cities and none of them share their stadium like teams do in other cities.

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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In todays Trib,Danny Mac reports BU's agent was asking for 5 million. I guess they have to start somewhere but like Dan says,you can't play the sentiment card in the NFL.


Byline: Dan Macneil

Even the most pessimistic types have to tip the cap to the Bears for the big splash they made as free-agency season opened this week.

Martellus Bennett has a chance to be more of a difference-maker at tight end than the Bears have had since Mike Ditka.

As a bonus, Bennett, who joins his third team in seven years, seems delightfully flaky.


Jermon Bushrod gives the Bears something they haven't had since John Tait — a professional offensive tackle. Marc Trestman's offensive line is going to need more than just one newbie, but the former Saint instantly makes the Bears better up front, and his position — left tackle — isn't going to be changed. No more "Musical Bears."

What has me grinning, however, is the move the Bears didn't make. They let Tuesday's 3 p.m. opening bell for the meat market come and go without reupping with middle linebacker Brian Urlacher.

How refreshing. General manager Phil Emery, devoid of sentiment, willfully invited one of Chicago's favorite sons to hit the bricks. Bravo.

It's true the Bears have not prepared for life without Urlacher, but I like the calculated gamble. Urlacher's camp was seeking $5 million.

It's a good thing Emery didn't consider public opinion and blindly cling to the best player in a Bears uniform over the last 25 years.

Let the Vikings overpay for a 35-year-old, once-great player who is destined to spend training camp in an ice tub. Whether it's Minnesota, Dallas or Arizona (all rumored to be interested), it's a lock Urlacher's new best friend will be the trainer.

Emery, now in his second year, perhaps learned from the mistake he made last offseason. I suspected the contract he extended to Matt Forte was an effort to keep peace in the locker room, where Forte has been popular.

This isn't hindsight. I said it and wrote it before the deal. The Bears would have been smart to put the franchise tag on Forte and let him prove his chops one more year before making a large commitment.

The NFL isn't a business that lends itself to sentimentality. I marvel at some of those who've used words like "disrespectful" and "insulting" when analyzing Urlacher's financial arrangement with the Bears.

Was the moody Hall of Fame-bound linebacker "respectful" of his employer when he whined and threatened to hold out — while under contract — a half-dozen years ago? Foolishly, Jerry Angelo placated Urlacher and gave him several million dollars when he wasn't even obligated to buy him dinner.

If Urlacher's teammates are "hurt" by his departure, they'll get over it. Those veterans who remain — Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Julius Peppers, maybe Israel Idonije — will be banging heads to protect their own financial futures.

And it's likely at least three of those players won't even be wearing football gear when the contracts of Emery and Trestman reach maturation.

The guys who wear helmets are expendable. Those who wear hats and neckties aren't.

The GM and the new coach are on the most solid ground that exists at Halas Hall. It's a breath of fresh air they're acting like it.

When Urlacher, with bad knees, hamstrings, a surgically repaired cervical spine and who knows what else, calls it quits, it then will be time to throw bouquets at him for his remarkable Bears career. Now is not the time to honor what he was.

What he will be is the guy in Bennett's rearview mirror when the tight end gets behind him in coverage and burns the once-special linebacker.

If Urlacher wears purple, Bennett and his new teammates will have two chances to do that next season.

If, that is, Urlacher dresses for both NFC North meetings

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

What happened there is that the TCs' original indoor arena was the old Met Center in Bloomington, where the Stars played. However, the Stars wouldn't let the Timberwolves move in, so the T-Wolves had to play at the Metrodome and then build the Target Center (or rather have it built for them and be handed the master lease). When the Stars wanted to get out of the Met Center but couldn't raise the money to build a brand-new place, the T-Wolves in turn shut the Stars out of moving into Minneapolis because they would control all the revenue from luxury boxes and board ads and such. So the Stars moved to Dallas, the Wild were established, and somehow were gifted a brand-new 18,000-seat arena specially designed for hockey sightlines, like two miles away from the Target Center. So really, this whole Gophers/Vikings thing is just another chapter of Minnesota's internecine silliness.

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