For all his wealth, it becomes painfully clear that Pohlad has never spent a nickel on public relations. We do not know this man. And not knowing him is in large measure the reason the public bucks at the idea of building him a new ballpark. Now, if you go back just a few years to when the Metrodome was getting built, the opposition to it had less to do with Calvin Griffith than it did with aesthetics. I personally know newspaper stiffs who warned the decision-makers that the Metrodome was a big mistake.
Summer is too treasured in the state of Minnesota to be taken lightly.
It is that simple. Unless the ballclub is on a terrific winning streak, the average Minnesotan is not going to give up a summer day or a balmy summer evening to sit inside a tent. That is pocket change for today's class of billionaire. But it was a lousy building and it failed its purpose in a couple of ways and surprised us in another. First and foremost, it was built for football.