12/30/24
December 12, 2010
Metrodome Roof Collapses Due to Blizzard: After the New York Giants couldn't make it to Minneapolis Saturday because of 15 inches of snow and wind gusts over 30 mph, the NFL moved the Giants game against the Minnesota Vikings to Monday night. The game will air on Fox in the teams' home markets. That plan has been derailed by the collapse of the Metrodome's inflatable Teflon roof under the weight of snow. No announcement yet on the game.
Unbelievable, and thankfully it wasn't occupied at the time.
Whenever/wherever the game is played, If Favre is able to go, I guess it means that he will ultimately be judged as being more consecutively durable than the Metrodome.
I'm not a Giant lover, but given the way they cranked up the end of their Super Bowl season, first in a Buffalo blizzard and then in the bitter Green Bay cold, I would say just find a nearby field and plow it off, and the Jersey guys will be good to go.
(Somewhere, Childress is sitting cross legged in the middle of an empty floor with a demonic glow on his face, sticking voodoo needles into an air-filled white Hefty bag).
posted by beaverboard at 09:30 AM on December 12, 2010
This is a really elaborate way to get more time for Favre to recover.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 09:35 AM on December 12, 2010
They could move the game to TCF Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It seats 50,000.
posted by rcade at 10:01 AM on December 12, 2010
I live an hour south the twin cities and it was one nice snow storm. There was less than 20-30 feet visibility the entire day and was rather beautiful to watch. Though, being raised in the south, I still think people are insane for driving in those conditions.
posted by jmd82 at 10:22 AM on December 12, 2010
Now Favre comes out with the statement that he wouldn't have been able to play if the game was Sunday. What a freakin' drama queen. Hopefully he plays Monday (wherever that game may be), gets his ass kicked, the streak gets stopped, and it can ALL be over with regards to him and the NFL this year in one neat, tidy package.
We've had over three feet of snow in western New York in the past week or so, and today is raining, windy, and when the rain stops, it's supposed to get cold and dump another foot or more of snow on us (with high temps on Monday and Tuesday 15 to 20 degrees). But we play outdoors in Buffalo. Maybe man should do what mother nature has started and implode the Metrodome once and for all.
Football is a game to be played outside, in the elements.
posted by dyams at 10:41 AM on December 12, 2010
Plan C? Well, just go ahead and move the game to the Vikings home in a couple of years anyway, and play it in sunny southern California. Do you think the fine people in Minnesota will give the Vikes a new stadium now? (Personally, I hope so. I really would like to see them stay in Minnesota)
posted by jagsnumberone at 10:55 AM on December 12, 2010
(Somewhere, Childress is sitting cross legged in the middle of an empty floor with a demonic glow on his face, sticking voodoo needles into an air-filled white Hefty bag).
The best.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 11:03 AM on December 12, 2010
Favre is just so needy, it's unbelievable. And rcade, the word up here is that they are seriously considering TCF, but they aren't sure that it can get whipped into shape in 24 hours.
posted by brainofdtrain at 11:22 AM on December 12, 2010
The people who designed this roof do know that it snows in Minnesota, right? Four collapses in 30 years would suggest otherwise.
posted by cjets at 11:42 AM on December 12, 2010
My guess is that they have to take it out of state. They're are considering Detroit, St. Louis, & Indianapolis.
posted by brainofdtrain at 11:49 AM on December 12, 2010
Just announced it will be in Detroit.
posted by dyams at 12:08 PM on December 12, 2010
And (Lions fans wince painfully) it will be the first ever game at Ford Field played on a Monday night and the first Monday game played in Detroit in about a decade.
Hopefully, the Lions will get their own Monday night game at home for all the right reasons at some point in the not too distant future.
posted by beaverboard at 12:56 PM on December 12, 2010
The Giants didn't want to play outside because they didn't bring their cold-weather gear. Wusses.
Besides, don't they remember what happened last time they played a cold-weather game outside against Brett Favre? I still have fond memories of that.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:01 PM on December 12, 2010
They could move the game to TCF Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It seats 50,000.
I visited TCF Bank Stadium this season when the Buckeyes went to Minneapolis. I am a big fan of the new stadium, and I am glad the Gophers are playing both on campus and outside, where football is meant to be played. It would have been cool to see the game moved there, although I imagine the number of seats available probably got in the way.
posted by bender at 01:02 PM on December 12, 2010
First quality football game in Detroit since the Super Bowl. I'm excited about this, hoping to get some tickets.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 01:15 PM on December 12, 2010
fyi, yym
Free general-admission tickets will be available at the Ford Field box office beginning at 9 a.m. ET.
posted by tselson at 01:27 PM on December 12, 2010
Besides, don't they remember what happened last time they played a cold-weather game outside against Brett Favre
In '07-'08? They beat Favre and the Packers at Lambeau, as I recall -- IMO, because the Packers thought they could ignore the cold, and the Giants knew they couldn't.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 01:51 PM on December 12, 2010
I could see an onside kick: popup into the roof, lands between the front and middle receiving blockers.
posted by jjzucal at 02:27 PM on December 12, 2010
Free general-admission tickets will be available at the Ford Field box office beginning at 9 a.m. ET.
I saw that. Ticket stubs from today's Lions game work too, I believe we have some tickets lying around that we couldn't use today.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:28 PM on December 12, 2010
Shocked Gen Ad is free. They couldn't get several thousand detroit people to pay $5 for an nfl game? Nothing wrong with it being free, just surprising i guess.
posted by brainofdtrain at 02:46 PM on December 12, 2010
There is video on the main NFL.com page that shows the collapse in real-time video.
It's scary watching it happen so fast.
posted by grum@work at 02:46 PM on December 12, 2010
Shocked Gen Ad is free. They couldn't get several thousand detroit people to pay $5 for an nfl game? Nothing wrong with it being free, just surprising i guess.
They'd think it is a scam since the game is on Monday night. Football and Monday night don't go together here in Detroit.
Although I'm sure Detroit could manage to play in a MNF game more exciting than 49ers/Cardinals.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:56 PM on December 12, 2010
Shocked Gen Ad is free. They couldn't get several thousand detroit people to pay $5 for an nfl game?
I believe there is a Red Wings game in town that night. If so, 'nuff said.
posted by roberts at 03:42 PM on December 12, 2010
Free admission leaves fans a lot of left over money for beer and brats. Stadium management is counting the receipts right now. Don't forget the concession workers, ushers, grounds crew, etc., who are picking up what amounts to an extra week of pay. Good deal for Detroit, too bad for Minnesota. Just saw the surveilance video of the roof tearing open. That was a spectacular snow dump.
posted by Howard_T at 05:51 PM on December 12, 2010
Switching to a Ford if you're having problems with a Metro: there are no guarantees.
posted by beaverboard at 06:11 PM on December 12, 2010
Howard_T: do they sell brats in Detroit?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 06:29 PM on December 12, 2010
Yes
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 07:40 PM on December 12, 2010
That was a spectacular snow dump.
Nothing beats Frosty after a late-night Taco Bell run.
Detroit's about five hours from here. If it wasn't Christmas season, I'd close the store tomorrow and drive down.
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:04 PM on December 12, 2010
Land sakes alive. There's the Hoser. I thought he was in the RCMP Witness Protection Program. Been missing the weekly prognostications.
posted by beaverboard at 10:24 PM on December 12, 2010
I guess it's time for the people of MN to decide the future of their team. I realize that this was a big storm but I'm sure, until it collapsed, there was no thought of changing the location, maybe the time due to the Giants travel problems, but it was going to be played in the Metrodome. This problem occurred literally hours before a horror would have taken place. The possible injuries and death due to the avalanche on the field during a game would be nothing compared to the stampede to get out. That's where the real carnage would have taken place. Mass panic would have caused deaths and injuries like we read about in "third world" countries. With 63,000 people running for their lives, with their loved ones, a fallen or elderly person is not going to be helped up but most likely run over and the tripping and falling gets worse with more tragic consequences. I believe this is the fourth roof failure to date. A red tag should be put on that place saying it's not safe before a yellow one is put around as a crime scene.
posted by gfinsf at 07:26 AM on December 13, 2010
Roof still looks higher then the jumbotron in Dallas. I say play
posted by Debo270 at 08:47 AM on December 13, 2010
This problem occurred literally hours before a horror would have taken place.
That would have been a huge tragedy, but I suspect they would have cancelled the game because of the snow risk without the collapse. There have been a history of partial roof failures at the Metrodome. Fox knew there might be a problem Saturday night when they decided to leave their cameras on to capture that amazing footage.
posted by rcade at 09:13 AM on December 13, 2010
rcade, that's my point, we or most of us wonder "if" they would have cancelled or played the game? What if they had not cancelled it and the roof was still holding up at the time of the game? And then what? My real point is what does MN do next? Fund a new stadium, wait for a tragedy or loose the team? I think today's happenings reduce the options to two, build a new stadium or lose the team, they cannot play there any longer.
posted by gfinsf at 09:29 AM on December 13, 2010
If the Vikings owner can't turn this into a new publicly financed stadium in the Twin Cities, he should get out of the pro sports public extortion business.
posted by rcade at 09:41 AM on December 13, 2010
rcade, that's my point, we or most of us wonder "if" they would have cancelled or played the game? What if they had not cancelled it and the roof was still holding up at the time of the game? And then what? My real point is what does MN do next? Fund a new stadium, wait for a tragedy or loose the team
gfinsf, I'm not sure who "we or most of us" is supposed to be (football fans? SpoFi readers? Minnesota residents?), but your chain of "what ifs" strikes me as more than slightly tenuous, sensationalized and alarmist. You seem to believe that domed stadiums are all just waiting to collapse and crush everyone inside. Is there a rational basis for this belief?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 10:29 AM on December 13, 2010
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:28 PM on December 13, 2010
Is there a rational basis for this belief? My rational belief is that the Metrodome is not safe. Specifically it has had four roof failures during its life. Is there another public structure with its record of failure that is now open or not completely revampted? I could not find one. In fact the roof is 1/32 of an inch thick. The storm that caused the damage was 17 inches which to me growing up in New England happens but no big deal. You call me an alarmist, but would you bring your family to a game at the Metrodome if there was a snowfall of 14 inches and the roads were clear but the roof was not knowing what you know today? The fact that there has not been a tragedy is in my opinion more luck than not. Call me an alarmist but I would call you a possible statistic if you had a ticket to Sunday's game and the roof fell down on you.
posted by gfinsf at 08:44 AM on December 14, 2010
Is there another public structure with its record of failure that is now open or not completely revampted? I could not find one.
The Montreal Olympic Stadium.
You call me an alarmist, but would you bring your family to a game at the Metrodome if there was a snowfall of 14 inches and the roads were clear but the roof was not knowing what you know today?
But, they did know. That's why FOX left a camera running over night in the dome. They saw that there were problems.
posted by grum@work at 12:31 PM on December 14, 2010
Wow. I can't wait to find out what plan C is.