It’s supposed to snow in Minneapolis after midnight Friday.
Temperatures for the weekend are forecast in the mid forties with nighttime lows around 30.
Cold, snowy weather is just as common as Indian Summer in these parts this time of year which is why I’m awfully glad Minneapolis has a dome in which to play post season baseball.
Pretty smart of those Minnesotans to construct a stadium with a roof to shelter players and fans from the elements and assure that every professional contest will go on as scheduled even if the weather outside is frightful.
Can you imagine what it would be like having to sit outdoors trying to watch a baseball game at night in 30 degree temperatures with 30 mile an hour winds and light snow falling?
You know..like it usually does in October..or April in the upper Midwest.
Oh wait..that’s exactly what’s going to happen in 2010.
I was talking with my old friend, KSOO-Radio news guy, and avid Twins fan, Gene Hetland, about this the other day. He recently interviewed Twins’ general manager, Bill Smith, and mentioned that the Twins fan base is pretty vast and a lot of out of state folks may not drive a long way to attend a ballgame if there’s a chance of bad weather. Smith says he understands but a retractable roof stadium was just too expensive and they were lucky to get what they got. Trouble is, “ what they got” is a structure which was designed and located in such a way that a roof could NEVER be added even if financing became available later.
Can’t wait to take in a ballgame on a nice mild sunny day like we always have in Apr.& Oct.
I’ve ranted here before about how building a new stadium in Minnesota without a retractable roof is just silly..but dome haters were so anxious to get out of there, they jumped on the only funding option available: a Hennepin County sales tax…plus a few million from the Twins.
Too bad the Pohlad family couldn’t have sprung for the extra cash. If they were short, they could have a least given Denny Sanford a call.
Anyway, it’s been fun to see the old Hump Dome refusing to give up the ghost; spoiling a lot of goodbye/good riddance eulogies that a lot of folks had planned.
The Monday Night Football game in the dome between the Vikes and Packers in which Brett Favre lived up to all the hype, also delivered the largest TV audience in cable television history.
According to Nielsen, nearly 22 million viewers tuned in to see Favre and the Vikings beat the legendary quarterback’s old team by seven points. "With all her faults, I love her still,"
Yes sir.. it all happened right there in the despised HHH Metrodome where just a few hours before , over 50 thousand screaming fans saw the Minnesota Twins pull off a miracle by completing a comeback from a seven game deficit to tie the Tigers…THEN on Tuesday go on to beat Detroit before another packed house in one of the most exciting games ever played.
A game that would have been called because of rain had it been outdoors.