Finally, A Football Game Worth Watching

in Detroit:

The game between the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings in Minneapolis already had been postponed because of heavy snow. When the Metrodome’s roof collapsed early Sunday morning, the NFL moved the game to Detroit.

…“We hope it’s a great event,” Lions president Tom Lewand said. “It’s free. Obviously that’s something that was important to us. This is an opportunity for Detroit fans to come out and enjoy another NFL game. We think that we’ll have a good crowd, and that’s why we tried to make it as accessible as possible.”

Hard to beat the price, too. Though it’s also nice that the Lions managed to eke out a win against the Packers today.

10 thoughts on “Finally, A Football Game Worth Watching”

  1. “Though it’s also nice that the Lions managed to eke out a win against the Packers today.”

    No, it’s not.

  2. For the life of me, I can’t understand how anyone would think an inflatable dome in Minneapolis is a good idea.

  3. I wonder had they played some game in the Metrodome the night before, say a college game; would the collapse even had happen? It would seem the best solution to protect a stadium like that would be to keep the roof warm and prevent snow accumulation.

    On another note, I wonder if the facility was ever touted as a shelter?

  4. As a Twin Cities resident let me answer:

    1) The roof was made inflatable for cost – the dome had a budget of $55M (some 28 years ago) and a hard roof would break that budget.

    2) The building is kept warm during the winter, as the interior mechanical systems aren’t designed for winter conditions.

    3) Crews were on the roof trying to clear it, but with the bilzzard conditions they weren’t making any progress, and for safety reasons the crews were taken off on Sat. afternoon.

    4) The dome is a horrbile place, cramped and cheap. At least the Twins have a great new ballpark (that I pay for every dang day!)

  5. The only people who think that win was nice are bears fans. All this win did was drop them in the draft order (from 2-3 to 3-6 depending on tie breakers) which could make a difference in getting the guy they need.

  6. The only people who think that win was nice are bears fans.

    Long-suffering Lions fans (like me) can’t think that it’s nice to win? It’s not like it happens all that often. Can’t we do it once in a while?

  7. I’m glad the Lions won, because I’m a Bucs fan. So there!

    The Vikings should play outside, of course. This is a divine message warning them to stop being pansies. I know that plenty of the fans can handle it, having lived in the area for a year in the 90s.

  8. What Pro Libertate said. There are teams that demonstrably do just fine playing outdoors in blizzards. None of them currently in Minnesota, no. Gorgeous weather in Chicago yesterday, heh! At least as viewed from a sunny afternoon in Arizona, by an old and long-suffering Pats fan. (Love the team, but left the New England climate behind gladly.) (What I wouldn’t give to have a source for the out-of-town games other than the increasingly arrogantly greedy DirecTV…)

    Detroit continues to improve week by week, by the way. I wouldn’t predict a Super Bowl for them next year, but if they can continue to rebuld while avoiding destructive drama, I think this Lions team has a shot at .500 next year.

    Rand, you need to establish a regular corner for football fannishness among your readers, so we don’t scare away the civilized majority…

  9. Thanks for the information, Mr. Williams. I suspected that might be the case, but wasn’t sure. I live in Houston, where we are still paying for the upgrades to the Astrodome to keep the Oilers from leaving town.

  10. When I left the Seattle area a few years ago, we were still paying for repairs done to the Kingdome in 1994.

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