The NFL Can Choke On A Bag Of Salted 'Consequences'

I am a football fan. The Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers. Once their seasons are over I don't really pay attention to the rest of the NCAA or NFL, but a Packer-Bears game, or Badgers - Michigan, damn right I pay attention! I voluntarily (pay attention to that word, it will come up later) came up with enough to buy a Packers share at the latest stock offering* last fall, and I'm proud to have it!

Now, I live in MN, and while not a Vikings guy, even with the GB - MN rivalry I'll root for the Vikings occasionally, against the Bears or the Cowboys (sign of the FSM, to ward off evil), or whatever team is dumbass enough to play Tebow. I don't especially want to see the Vikings leave, rivalries are fun.

But, Roger Goodell, in a moment of sheer gall, myopia, stupidity, has declared to our state Gov. Dayton, that if there is no stadium deal soon, there will be 'consequences'.

You know what, Roger? Fuck off. Make that call to Zygi. Zygi Wilf, the primary owner of the team, is a billionaire, and can write a check for his dream cash cow stadium complex and still afford Kraft Dinner. He wants MN to pony up $700M in known costs when we have bridges falling apart, roads that cause kidney damage, schools that could really use textbooks not approved by the Texas Board of Education. Our previous guv, lil' Timmy "Bad Mofo" Pawlenty managed to kick so many fiscal cans down the road that we'll need a bulldozer to clear them, assuming that we can fix the damn road enough to get the dozer to the pile.

I'd use words such as 'microcosm of society writ large', in that once again, taxpayers are subsidizing a billionaire who employs millionaires, but I don't know what that means. So I'll just say "bullshit".

Build your own stadium, you twerp.

The damnable Ind Republicans are even against it - probably the only time I'll ever agree with a tea-brat. Zygi and the NFL want taxes taken from my pocket and my paycheck to support this? NO. I'll pay taxes happily for roads, courts, schools, the Commons, but I will not subsidize this mafioso wannabe. I voluntarily give to charity, the Habitat For Humanity Re-Stores and Goodwill love me nowadays, and I love the Legacy Amendment to support the arts and environment. These are public goods, and I'll pay without complaint. But giving this thug $700M? Go to hell. Oh yeah, and the Vikings dream site? An old munitions plant, which has wrecked the groundwater for miles. Why is this relevant? Because the estimated $700M DOESN'T INVOLVE ANY SITE PREP, and that will be on us as well!

MN has got to take a stand, set an example. Screw the NFL. We gave you a stadium once, and have upgraded it several times. Make do, like you encourage us to, tighten your belts. Or pay for it your own damn self.

*Anyone mentioning that "Ohhh, it's not a 'real share', you don't get any returns, oh oh oh I'm concerned" will be beaten senseless with their own lungs. In other words, no shit. I'm supporting my team in a way I choose to. Bugger off.