Norman Chad has a spot-on article over at SI (despite the cringe-inducing, fish-in-a-barrel Amy Winehouse joke), about how we (New York specifically, but the USA as a country) will toss any amount of money at sports stadiums. About how our society crumbles while we entertain ourselves. I truly believe that the next bubble to burst is gonna be sports: players salaries, plummeting attendance, etc.
One of the things I’ve always been proud of about the Twin Cities is that they generally told blackmailing sports owners to go to hell regarding public funds for their proposed sports arenas. (“You’re gonna leave? Good. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.”) That changed because of two things, I believe:
- Norm Green stealing the North Stars and bringing them to Dallas, and a state where hockey is a birthright (like killing wolves in Sparta) didn’t have a professional hockey team. For years.
- People traveling to other cities and watching baseball outside (and the St. Paul Saints outside as well), then thinking, “Jesus, I knew the Metrodome sucked, but I never knew just how much.“
So I get the $522 million dollar ballpark. I just hope the incinerator being basically next door doesn’t give the fans chronic lung problems just ’cause they enjoy baseball outdoors.
Kenwoode 