"Top Ten" Snowstorm Winners

Monday Night Football. Outside. Tonight.

Not everyone in the Twin Cities is put out by the second major snowstorm in barely 10 days (the Dec. 10-11 blizzard dumped up to 20 inches locally, the most in 19 years!).

Herewith is my "Top 10" list of snowstorm beneficiaries:

10. Kids who just got new sleds -- or are getting them Christmas day.
9. Local ski hills (yes, the Twin Cities has several).
8. Snow blower makers and the retailers who sell them -- several of which are reportedly sold out.
7. Restaurants, bars, and pay parking lots near TCF stadium, host to the University of Minnesota football team -- and tonight's Vikings - Bears game, thanks to the collapsed Metrodome roof.
6. Snowplow services in the Twin Cities looking for more business.
5. Chiropractors whose business has spiked treating snow-shoveling aches and pains.
4. Makers of winter clothing.
3. Outdoor ice skating rinks.
2. People who like snowball fights.
1. Lobbyists for the Minnesota Vikings, who are pressing hard for a new stadium -- presumably, an indoor one.

P.S.: #11. City tow truck operators.

TCF Stadium

"Wrigley Field for Football"

Along with about 49,000 Minnesotans (and perhaps 1,000 people from Colorado Springs), I attended the Gopher football team's season opener against Air Force last night.

The unqualified star of the game?

The new stadium.

Much smaller than I expected, the stadium only seats 50,000. That compares favorably -- at least from a fan's perspective -- with the giant bowls at Ann Arbor (University of Michigan) and Columbus, OH (Ohio State), both of which hold about double that.

The effect is a bit like Wrigley Field for football.

The stands are smaller, and much closer to the field. At the west end, the stadium is open, offering a view of downtown Minneapolis. The only nod to the modern sports palaces now in vogue is the phalanx of luxury boxes above the second deck on the stadium's south side.

Runner-up status to the stadium itself was the giant scoreboard, the size of a (large) drive-in movie theater (and billed as the world's third-biggest).

Even the weather complied: an almost sultry, early fall evening.

Oh, and the game? The home team won.

P.S.: how many other places would my Dad, a retired social worker, have better seats than a former Governor? (As an adjunct "U" professor and long-time season ticket holder, he had a lot of seniority). Former Gov. Arne Carlson, who seemed to be holding court, was down a row with his wife.