Minneapolis/St. Paul Lands 2018 Super Bowl

[InTheLight]

The area is all abuzz about the Super Bowl being awarded to my hometown in 2018. You hear "Awesome!" "It's great!" etc.

But then I got to thinking about it. What's so great about it? The typical answers are:

1. It will bring money into the area from out of town.
2. It will put Minneapolis on the map as a major city.
3. People will come here and see it is a good place to live.

OK. So basically the reasons come down to greed and ego. Either money or a boost to your self-image. Someone is going to make money on it, and others are going to get a feel good moment out of it. So what? It's not like they are going to send me a $50 check for my share in the economic bonanza the area is going to experience. Minneapolis is already a major city. And I don't care what people think about Minneapolis--it's a clean city, they've got great restaurants, all four major sports, great schools, and a thriving theater and arts culture. Yeah, so? Furthermore I don't want more people moving to and crowding into the area.

It's funny. Historically the first weekend in February is one of the coldest weekends of EVERY winter. So we'll see how it plays out.

How about you? Do you see any personal benefit should the Super Bowl come to your city? Or are you like me and really couldn't care less?

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

1. It will bring money into the area from out of town.

So do the sports teams' regular seasons, plus the winter carnival or whatever it is.

2. It will put Minneapolis on the map as a major city.

As though it isn't?

3. People will come here and see it is a good place to live.

I think most people realize it's much better than NYC, LA or Houston. Not sure how this works out for the office of economic development any better than regular business and tourism travel does.

And I know you said most of that in the rest of your post, but if that's the reasoning of the "powers that be" I'm not sure they're playing with a full deck.

How about you? Do you see any personal benefit should the Super Bowl come to your city? Or are you like me and really couldn't care less?

Just for the fact of having the Super Bowl at Arrowhead, I'd probably be OK with it. But it isn't going to do me any good one way or another -- and we are pitching to the NFL for 2020. So what? Traffic, tourists calling us a "cow town" (remember the shot of the hog farm taken during the 1985 World Series? It was 40 miles from Royals Stadium, and you can find a hog farm closer than that to central Manhattan!), and clueless drunks clogging up Westport, the Plaza, and the Power and Light District. Who needs it?

 

[Salty]

and what happens if there is a blizzard?

 

[InTheLight]

And I know you said most of that in the rest of your post, but if that's the reasoning of the "powers that be" I'm not sure they're playing with a full deck.

The reasons I listed are a distillation of the comments that I'm hearing. Everybody seems to be fawning over this as if it's great news. There seems to be an undercurrent to the local culture of a need to be liked by outsiders. I don't get it.

Just for the fact of having the Super Bowl at Arrowhead, I'd probably be OK with it. But it isn't going to do me any good one way or another -- and we are pitching to the NFL for 2020.

I was thinking about you when I composed the OP. Why hasn't there been a Super Bowl in Kansas City? I guess you need a new stadium. I seem to recall an effort to put a retractable dome on Arrowhead Stadium, or was that somewhere else?

So what? Traffic, tourists calling us a "cow town" (remember the shot of the hog farm taken during the 1985 World Series? It was 40 miles from Royals Stadium, and you can find a hog farm closer than that to central Manhattan!), and clueless drunks clogging up Westport, the Plaza, and the Power and Light District. Who needs it?

Exactly, who needs it? I don't remember the "cow town" references, but that 1985 WS was one of the greatest, although not as great as 1991, but it was great. KC came back from a 3-1 deficit, same as in the ALCS. Remarkable.

 

[InTheLight]

and what happens if there is a blizzard?

People will walk about in the human habitrails, er, the overhead heated skyway tunnel systems linking buildings downtown.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

I was thinking about you when I composed the OP. Why hasn't there been a Super Bowl in Kansas City? I guess you need a new stadium. I seem to recall an effort to put a retractable dome on Arrowhead Stadium, or was that somewhere else?

There was and is, but it's been on hold for 13 years. Problem: $150 million in costs.

But now there's this:

Kansas City Star: Chiefs’ Clark Hunt confident Kansas City could pull off a cold-weather Super Bowlhttp://www.kansascity.com/2014/01/31/4789740/chiefs-clark-hunt-confident-kansas.htmlhttp://www.kansascity.com/2014/01/31/4789740/chiefs-clark-hunt-confident-kansas.html

NEW YORK — When the NFL awarded the New York area the first outdoor, cold-weather Super Bowl, Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said it would be a “game-changer.”

“We could absolutely pull it off,” Hunt said on Friday following NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual state of the league address. We can put on a great Super Bowl … Arrowhead would be an unbelievable venue for it on game day.”

And so the pitch has been made. Guess we'll see how it goes. Not sure when they announce the 2019 and 2020 cities.

Exactly, who needs it? I don't remember the "cow town" references, but that 1985 WS was one of the greatest, although not as great as 1991, but it was great. KC came back from a 3-1 deficit, same as in the ALCS. Remarkable.

Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed that. Got leave from assignment to JSOC and was at games 6 and 7. Wow! Been waiting for them to do it again ever since.

 

[convicted1]

Super Bowl XVI was played in Pontiac, MI in below 0 weather....in a dome. I could picture the same thing happening here, but w/o a domed stadium at their disposal...but I'd love to see a SB played in that kind of weather, myself...

 

[convicted1]

There was and is, but it's been on hold for 13 years. Problem: $150 million in costs.



But now there's this:And so the pitch has been made. Guess we'll see how it goes. Not sure when they announce the 2019 and 2020 cities.Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed that. Got leave from assignment to JSOC and was at games 6 and 7. Wow! Been waiting for them to do it again ever since.

You're a Chiefs' fan?? I knew there was something EXTREMELY odd about you....:laugh: :wavey: :love2:

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

You're a Chiefs' fan?? I knew there was something EXTREMELY odd about you....:laugh: :wavey: :love2:

Sounds like one of those overly rowdy and obnoxious Broncos fans talking.

 

[Salty]

You're a Chiefs' fan?? I knew there was something EXTREMELY odd about you....:laugh: :wavey: :love2:

Yes, the Syracuse Chiefs

 

[Jordan Kurecki]

The area is all abuzz about the Super Bowl being awarded to my hometown in 2018. You hear "Awesome!" "It's great!" etc.

But then I got to thinking about it. What's so great about it? The typical answers are:

1. It will bring money into the area from out of town.
2. It will put Minneapolis on the map as a major city.
3. People will come here and see it is a good place to live.

OK. So basically the reasons come down to greed and ego. Either money or a boost to your self-image. Someone is going to make money on it, and others are going to get a feel good moment out of it. So what? It's not like they are going to send me a $50 check for my share in the economic bonanza the area is going to experience. Minneapolis is already a major city. And I don't care what people think about Minneapolis--it's a clean city, they've got great restaurants, all four major sports, great schools, and a thriving theater and arts culture. Yeah, so? Furthermore I don't want more people moving to and crowding into the area.

It's funny. Historically the first weekend in February is one of the coldest weekends of EVERY winter. So we'll see how it plays out.

How about you? Do you see any personal benefit should the Super Bowl come to your city? Or are you like me and really couldn't care less?

I would love for it to come to my city so that I could take advantage of it and evangelize