Good Riddance, Homer Dome

Yes the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome will continue to be an eyesore amid the Minneapolis skyline, but fortunately later today it may host its last Major League Baseball game ever.

I'm not just rooting for the Tigers because the Twins are the hotter team, and thus a tougher opponent for the Yankees, but because The Metrodome is an atrocious baseball stadium.

It was a state-of-the-art multi-purpose facility when it opened in 1982, but let's face it - it was never really meant for baseball. And the Twins themselves were always second-class citizens there in their home stadium.

Just yesterday, with a rare jewel of a baseball game - a 1-game Divisional Tiebreak (they only come around so often) against the Detroit Tigers on tap, the Twins were forced to move the game to Tuesday because the Favre/Vikings had a Monday night game.

I was actually witness to this type of mess on October 2, 2004. I was the producer for Penn State - Minnesota at the Dome. It was a 7 PM CT start. The fact that Minnesota won 16-7 to run their record to 5-0 was beside the point. Read: Multi-purpose facility.

Earlier that same day, the Twins, who had secured a playoff spot, were fighting for home-field advantage in the final regular season weekend versus the Cleveland Indians. The game started at 11 AM CT to accommodate the Gopher football game later that same day. But after 11 Innings and a 5-5 score, the game was suspended so that Metrodome personnel could ready the field for football. Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire was irate.

"We're in the middle of a mess now...We don't need a stadium? C'mon."

The Twins wound up winning in the bottom of the 12th, on Sunday.

The way the Twins have been treated by their landlord is only part of the story. While the building has hosted two World Series Championships, it is still a joke as a baseball venue.

There's that ridiculous baggie in right field covering up the folded up extra football seats.

The air conditioning system can be manipulated to create more/less intense wind currents to help/hurt the team that's batting.

And we've seen countless quality Major League outfielders lose the ball up against the Dome roof, which of course is the same color as the baseball.

Next year, the Twins will finally move to their own stadium, and I look forward to my first trip to Target Field in downtown Minneapolis - where the home team will really be the home team.

Vikings Fans: Consider Yourselves 4-Warned

Dear Minnesota Vikings fans,

You have Brett Favre as your Quarterback. Mazel Tov. When you celebrate his 40th birthday on October 10, you can revisit the highlights of his career:

>His one Super Bowl title, 13 seasons ago.
>His 12 Postseason wins (only 3 this decade).
>His 269 straight starts (he'll play even when he's hurt, costing the Jets the playoffs).

No QB in NFL history has thrown more interceptions, and no QB in NFL history has intercepted more headline-grabbing opportunities, sending newsrooms around the country scurrying at his whim.

Brett Favre will take the field tonight in purple, and we have not changed our stance from earlier this off-season. Below is "A Wing and a Prayer: Buyer Beware" (a Backtime Re-Air).

May 12, 2009

In 2008, the New York Jets and their fans experienced the career of Brett Favre in a microcosm.

There were the dramatic inconsistencies in a 3-3 start.

There was the spectacular run of 5 straight wins, including huge character checks in wins at New England and Tennessee.

There was the monumental collapse down the stretch as the Jets lost 4 of their last 5 including embarrassing losses to San Francisco and Seattle.

For quite a while we couldn't complain, Brett Favre was exactly what we had hoped for. Then when we needed him most, he was exactly what we all feared.

When the Jets sputtered to the season's finish line, Favre's decisions were horrible. He threw 2 TD and 9 picks. He clearly was having arm problems, but the Jets couldn't sit him, and he surely wouldn't sit himself. He had a consecutive games streak to maintain.

Brett Favre was bigger than the team. In the one sport in which that premise is certain to fail every time. Brett Favre was going to gut it out on the field to service his own pride. A quarterback with a weak wing doesn't rally teammates, it hands games to the opponent.

Brett Favre may be a warrior, but he's not a winner. Not at this stage of his career anyway.

Now he's flirting with coming back again. This off-season tap dance is a rite of summer and is very reminiscent of Roger Clemens' act through the last few years of his career. He gets his very own spotlight, negotiating platform, and ESPN beat reporter.

And why is he coming back? To stick it to the Packers. The team that gave him all the patience and leverage that Favre required until they no longer wanted to cooperate. Good motivation, revenge. Against your former coaches and teammates that backed you all along. I guess you need an edge when you get to a certain age.

The Jets' opening game against Miami last season tells you everything you need to know. After the Jets' 20-14 win, the TV cameras were all over Favre as the game ended - he got a handshake here and there, but he was still a stranger on the Jets. Favre's teammates all were eager to hug and offer best wishes to the opposing QB, former Jet Chad Pennington, who was heroic in defeat.

Pennington's Dolphins would later win the AFC East at the hands of the Jets. He got his revenge, but wouldn't claim it against the guys he fought with for so long.

Will the Packers be as excited to embrace Brett Favre after the first Vikings/Packers meeting in '09? Not likely.

You see, Brett Favre's teammates, both past and present, know that they're just extras in a one-man show.