Vikings Lose Home and Game

The New York Giants' 21-3 takedown of the Minnesota Vikings Monday night wasn't exactly memorable.  They were eliminated from playoff contention.  With everything else that's going on, it should come as some sort of relief.

• The game was moved from the Metrodome, where the fabric roof collapsed under the weight of 17 inches of snow hours before it was originally scheduled.
• The "home" game was played at Ford Field in Detroit, where the division rival Lions usually played, before 45,000 folks who got free tickets and a regional Fox TV audience.  The way the game was played, they certainly got what they paid for.
• For the first time in 18 years and 297 games, Brett Favre did not start at quarterback due to a shoulder injury.  That meant we had to watch replacements Tarvaris Jackson and Joe Webb stumble around, failing to move the Vikings' offense.

Back to the Metrodome.  This isn't the first time the roof has deflated in the nearly three decade history of the stadium, and not just because of heavy snow.  It has also survived storms that dumped more white stuff than this.  This time, however, the Blizzard of '10 may have finally convinced even the most taxophobic Vikings fan that the Dome has seen better days.

With the lease coming up next year, the latest push to get a new stadium through the Minnesota Legislature has reached its most critical phase.  Unlike those other times, owner Zygi Wilf has You Tube evidence of a deflating dome to back him up.  If he doesn't succeed this time, it's hello Los Angeles.

In the more immediate future, it turns out that the Metrodome has seen its season end.  While it undergoes repairs, the Monday night home finale against the Chicago Bears will be played at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium, even though (A) it's too small by current NFL standards--capacity is around 50,000, and (B) they'd need a waiver to sell beer there.  It's also going to be a frigid night

All in all, it's just one more thing in a season to remember for the wrong reasons.

Elsewhere . . .

Cam Newton of Auburn is the recipient of the Heisman Trophy as the best college football player of the year.  Did he really win it, or is it just on loan until his record's clear?

The Big Ten's two divisions are named Builders and Legends instead of the usual East and West.  It sounds like what the NHL did years ago when they named their two conferences in honor of the Prince of Wales and former league commissioner Clarence Campbell, and divisions in honor of Lester Patrick and Conn Smythe.  It was a bad idea then, and a bad idea now.