Neverending

The story of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium never seems to end. The bill passed the House and the Senate last week. That was the biggest hurdle. It felt like a done deal. Governor Mark Dayton signed the bill on Monday. As we learned so well from Schoolhouse Rock, the bill became a law. It felt like a done deal. Everyone's calling it done. NFL Network, ESPN, AP, every news service, fans, enemies. Everyone. Ideas are forming. Plans are being made. The Vikings have made contingency plans with the University of Minnesota to use TCF Bank Stadium for as many as four seasons, but likely only one. It feels like a done deal. It's still not a done deal. It's really kind of annoying. Ten years of waiting seems to have finally paid off yet it all could still fall apart. The NFL still has to approve it but that's pretty much anticlimactic. They hate the Metrodome. Pretty much everybody hates the place. The last hurdle is really the approval of the Minneapolis City Council. It's considered by many to be a mere formality. Thus, all the smiles. The City Council had given an informal approval about a month ago but it was only a 7-6 vote. That seems a bit shaky. The stadium deal now is better for the city than it was at the time of that vote so the 7-6 vote should, at worst, stand. Minneapolis mayor RT Rybak and City Council leader Barb Johnson have both maintained positive views. Both were at the press conference following the Senate vote last week. Still, the Minneapolis City Council  doesn't meet until May 25. That's when this ordeal finally ends. That's when all the happy people will truly be happy people.