Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Stadium woes
The Minnesota Twins have been trying to get a new baseball stadium for over a decade. A plan that's been on the table for over a year now that would fund the stadium with a teeny tiny county wide sales tax will probably be going before the legislature for the second consecutive year. It's only 2¢ on a $20 purchase. That's not even enough to merit being called pocket change, and it STILL didn't pass last year! What the heck?!
It doesn't help that we have a wishy washy Governor, Tim Pawlenty, who simply refuses to provide leadership on this issue. C'mon Gov, show some kohones! Do you want to be known as the Governor who let Major League Baseball get away? Did no one learn the lesson taught when the North Stars moved to Dallas? It cost a LOT more to get the Xcel Energy Center built & get the Minnesota Wild than it would have cost to keep the Minnesota North Stars. With the sorry state that MLB is in, if the Twins leave there will probably NEVER be another team in this town.
While we're at it, let's get Gopher football back on campus. Both the Twins & Gophers are deserving. The Vikings are too, if only because they are the most popular team in the state, but three stadiums may be too much to swallow at once. Maybe not, if all the development that surrounds the Northern Lights proposal in Blaine can help support the project.
It doesn't help that we have a wishy washy Governor, Tim Pawlenty, who simply refuses to provide leadership on this issue. C'mon Gov, show some kohones! Do you want to be known as the Governor who let Major League Baseball get away? Did no one learn the lesson taught when the North Stars moved to Dallas? It cost a LOT more to get the Xcel Energy Center built & get the Minnesota Wild than it would have cost to keep the Minnesota North Stars. With the sorry state that MLB is in, if the Twins leave there will probably NEVER be another team in this town.
While we're at it, let's get Gopher football back on campus. Both the Twins & Gophers are deserving. The Vikings are too, if only because they are the most popular team in the state, but three stadiums may be too much to swallow at once. Maybe not, if all the development that surrounds the Northern Lights proposal in Blaine can help support the project.
