Vikings Deflate Dome Negotiations

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The Minnesota Vikings, with Brett Favre at the helm, have all but clinched the NFC North division title with a 9-1 record.  Coach Brad Childress has been rewarded with a contract extension that lasts through 2013.  Purple Fever is breaking out all over Minnesota.

Now think down the road a little bit.  By 2013, Favre could retire once again (or not), Childress may or may not still be coaching, and the Vikings could be playing somewhere else.  Did someone just say Los Angeles?

The Vikings and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (MSFC) are currently at odds over a new lease agreement for what is now called Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (try saying that three times fast).  The MSFC wanted to extend the lease past its original 2011 deadline rent-free, so that the team could have more time to put a stadium deal together.  If there was no agreement, the Vikings would be charged a couple of million a year.

The Vikings management reacted to this like spoiled children whose parents had taken away the car keys.  "How dare you!", they told the commission.  "We have a lease until 2011, and we're sticking to it".  Thye've broken off relarions with the commission.

Granted, the MSFC shot themselves in the foot with their threat to raise the rent.  It's all they could do to persuade their only remaining tenant (the Twins and football Gophers having gotten their own playpens) to remain in the fold, and to not be so heavily dependent on tractor pulls.

But the Vikings do have a point.  They have one of (if not the) worst stadium leases in the National Football League.  They can't add suites or extra seats to the existing facility, which would bring in more revenue.  And if revenue sharing in the NFL ever goes away . . . well, ask the Twins what it's like to compete financially with the Yankees and the Red Sox.

This isn't the first time the Vikings have lobbied for their own stadium, but it always seems as if their timing is lousy.  It's worse now, with Minnesota's unemployment and budget deficit  at record levels, Governor Tim Pawlenty seriously considering a run for President in 2012, and the Legislature not wanting to give voters a reason to kick them out in the 2010 election.

So what needs to be done to keep the Purple from setting up shop in sunny California?  Vikings owner Zygi Wilf mentioned to an audience in Austin that the current Metrodome site is where they want that new stadium, and that they'd also like a retractable roof to go along with it, which would add $200 million to the cost.  Unless the Wilfs decide to sell the team to someone else, they should chip in a few million of their own money.  Since the Legislature wuold be very reluctant to approve any kind of tax to fund the new stadium, maybe there should be a private corporation made up of individuals and companies to raise a little capital.  Getting around tax laws, however, might be a problem.

No one, not even Zygi Wilf, wants to see the Vikings leave Minnesota.  Unless the team, the Legilature and the MSFC get serious about a realistic plan to keep professional football in the state for the forseeable future, Minnesotans will soon be finding something else to do with their Sunday afternoons.

Next on "Oprah": The Long Goodbye

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Oprah Winfrey, as most of the known world is aware of by now, is saying goodbye to her syndicated daytime talk show as of September 2011.  She's starting her own cable network (to be called OWN--the Oprah Winfrey Network) in association with the folks that brought you the Discovery Channel.

Winfrey's built quite an empire for herself, being worth $2.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine.  She has her fingers in just about everything:  a production company, a magazine (with her picture on every cover), a satellite radio channel, a website, etc.  She acted in and produced movies and TV shows, such as the current feature "Precious", which she's co-producing with Tyler Perry.

But it was a Chicago-based talk show that began as a local program in 1986 that brought Winfrey all this fame and fortune, and she's walking away when the show hits the 25-year mark.  Here's what she leaves behind in her wake:

• Broadcast TV  "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is syndicated by CBS to more than 200 stations across the United States, including the ones in some major markets that are owned by ABC.   It is usually number one in its time period, which is why most of those stations use "Oprah" as a lead-in to the late-afternoon local news.  Now they'll either have to find someone else, or they could just tack on an extra hour of local news.
• Celebrities in need of a boost.  You've probably noticed that guests on talk shows aren't just there to sit and chat with the host.  No, they are there to talk up their latest project, whether it's a new movie or TV show.  Most of them also come to Oprah because they've been in the news for the wrong reasons, and they feel the need to come clean about their personal lives in her presence.  The latest example was Sarah Palin, whose sitdown with Oprah resulted in the show's best ratings in years.
• Authors.  Get your book selected by Oprah for her book club, then watch your sales soar.  On the other hand, since her audience is primarily female, it might be the kiss of death if you want guys to read it, too.  But cross Oprah, and your career suffers.  Just ask Jonathan Franzen and James Frey.
• Tabloids.  Since Oprah made herself such an open book about her life, the tabloids have been having a field day documenting her weight problems and her ongoing relationships with longtime companion Stedman Graham and best friend Gayle King.  That will likely continue whether Oprah is on TV or not.
• Her Disciples.  Dr. Phil McGraw, Rachael Ray and Dr. Mehmet Oz all owe their TV careers to Oprah, and all have their own shows now.  You'll also notice that, due to contractual obligations, none of them can air at the same time Oprah does.
• Her Fans.  Oprah has six million of them, which is half as many viewers as she had at her peak in 1992.  They love her straightforwardness, her positivity in finding the "Best LIfe",  and in her generosity (such as when she gave away cars to an audience of school teachers).  However, her ratings drop can also be traced to viewers being turned off by her self-absobed holier-than-thou attitude, and for her endorsement of Barack Obama for President in 2008.

Oprah Winfrey is not going away any time soon.  Her talk show will continue for another year and a half, in which she's promised that the best is yet to come.  But it will be entering a lame duck phase, as America tries to figure out what it will do without Oprah.

Sarah Palin: Rogue Warrior

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The disaster movie 2012 topped the box office last week, meaning there are people out there who would pay good money to watch a special-effects version of Earth being destroyed.  Which brings us to Sarah Palin . . .

The former Alaskan governor and Senator John McCain's 2008 vice-presidential running mate is currently on a book tour, granting interviews to Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters, in support of her tome "Going Rogue: An American Life".  It is already a best-seller, available at your favorite bookseller.  Most of the reputable political pundits are seeing this as the opening salvo to Palin's 2012 presidential campaign.

For those of you who have no intention of reading the book (like me), here's some highlights according to those who already have read it: 

• Palin disses the McCain campaign for not letting her do her own thing, such as being allowed to speak after the Arizona senator conceded the election to Barack Obama.  An indication, perhaps, that she was becoming a liability on the ticket?
• She discusses the CBS interview with Katie Couric, which made her look like a deer in the headlights.
• She also expressed surprise that daughter Bristol's pregnancy was discovered by the McCain campaign just in time for the Republican National Convention.  Baby daddy Levi Johnston, who had broken up with Bristol, can now be found showing himself off--so to speak--as a Playgirl magazine model.

No mention is made, of course, about the state of Alaska's investigation into alleged corruption charges involving Palin, or the real reason why she suddenly resigned as Governor in July.  If you're going to run for higher political office, shouldn't you have a fallback job in case you lose?

Palin may be the best-known--and most attractive (nice cover, Newsweek)--Republican in the country right now, but that doesn't mean people want her as president.  Not only is she in the middle of the pack in most polls among GOP contenders, but she's also getting low marks for trustworthiness.  And her conservative positions might force the other candidates to tack even more to the right, which is not what the Republicans need to reclaim their relevancy to voters.

So what about 2012?  Palin's been dodging that question, but consider this:  John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama were all published authors before they went to the White House.  None of them, however, were Oprah's Book Club selections.

And what if Palin were elected in 2012?  Would California fall into the ocean?  Would the Rockies crumble?  Would New York be submerged by a tsunami?  Would humankind survive?  Or have we been watching too many disaster movies?

Can CNN Regain Viewers' Trust After Dobbs' Departure?

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Lou Dobbs, the business reporter turned right wing pundit, is no longer at CNN.  He announced his resignation on his TV program, "Lou Dobbs Tonight", on Wednesday.  He was one of the cable network's first anchors when it went on the air in 1980.  He's being replaced in January by John King, who currently hosts the "State of the Union" program on Sunday mornings.

Dobbs' show was a rarity for CNN, a news network that tends to play it down the middle.  He had his own staff of correspondents, his own point of view, and was the biggest draw outside of Larry King.  Dobbs' questioning of President Barack Obama's birth certificate, and his calls for tougher immigration policies have been a source of embarassment for CNN as opposition groups called for his removal.

As for CNN itself, what in the name of Ted Turner is going on?  "The Most Trusted Name in News", as they like to call themselves, is losing in buzz and ratings to Fox News and MSNBC.  Heck, even HLN (the former CNN Headline News) is kicking their butts in prime time.

Because CNN is seen around the world, they have bureaus in nearly every country while the other networks have been cutting back on international news. They've had outstanding reporting in the past from Nic Robertson, Christiane Amanpour and others. But that doesn't mean American viewers are all that interested in, let's say, the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

The problem is, people don't want their news in a straightforward manner any more.  They want their news with a twist, delivered by personalities like Bill O'Reilly, Jon Stewart and Rachel Maddow.  And the more news about celebrities and pseudo-celebrities, the better.  The last time CNN got boffo ratings was in the aftermath of Michael Jackson's death.

What to do about CNN?  Instead of imitating the other guys, they need to re-assert themselves as the go-to channel for breaking news with unbiased reporting.  Of course, it does sound like tilting at windmills, doesn't it?  Fox News usually leads the pack when it comes to breaking news, too.  So CNN needs to go back to the drawing board.

As for Dobbs, he'll either be back on the air somewhere (his syndicated radio talk show continues) or he'll enter politics as a 2012 presidential candidate.  We're thinking maybe Fox News has a place for him.

Tragedy In The Heart of Texas

Fort Hood, Texas has joined the growing list of places (Columbine, Virginia Tech, etc.) where one person with a gun and a grievance can wreak untold havoc upon a nation.

This time it's Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 13 people and wounding 21 others inside a readiness center at the military base.  The investigation is continuing as Hasan is recovering from his injuries.

We are being told that Hasan allegedly did what he did because he was being sent to Afghanistan and didn't want to go.  With the Taliban controlling most of the country, President Hamid Karzai retaining his position by default after his opponent drops out of the runoff election and charges fraud, and President Barack Obama close to deciding whether to send more soldiers into what is increasingly becoming a no-win situation, could you really blame Hasan?

But the place Hasan allegedly chose to make his stand was in an area where soldiers get physicals and write their wills before being shipped overseas.  It is not a heavily-guarded area.

Much has been made of the fact that Hasan is Muslim, which to some people meant that the attack on Fort Hood was an act of terrorism.  Investigators have ruled out that possibility, but they are reportedly checking to see if Hasan had any connection to a cleric with ties to al-Qaeda.

Since September 11, 2001, otherwise law-abiding Muslims have been stereotyped as terrorists, stopped at airports, and watched constantly by Homeland Security.  The shootings at Fort Hood only made matters worse, especially for Muslims currently serving in the military.

The 13 people who were victims of the rampage were memorialized Tuesday at Fort Hood in a ceremony led by President and Mrs. Obama.  There was no heroism involved here.  The victims just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As long as the lack of enforcing gun control laws enable those who shouldn't have weapons to acquire and use them on an unsuspecting population, massacres like this one will keep on happening.

Operation Successful on House Health Care Bill

After all the partisanship and shouting of the last few weeks, it was time for Congress to vote on a possibly transforming health care bill that President Barack Obama has been pushing for ever since he took office.  The House of Representatives was up first, and their bill passed 220-215 Saturday night.

The House bill, which was supported by everybody except most Republicans and conservative Democrats, has the following main provisions, which would cost over a trillion dollars:

• It requires everyone to have insurance and most businesses to offer policies to its employees.
• Bans insurance companies from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
• Expands Medicare
• Creates a government-run insurance program, also known as the public option.

Republicans, who have yet to come up with an alternative plan that doesn't benefit their buddies in Big Medicine at the expense of their constituents, have been terrified at the thought of a public option, which might someday lead to a single-payer system.  They claim it's the end of freedom as we know it, reducing us to the level of  . . . Canadians.  Where's George Washington when you really need him?

That same attitude has spilled over into protest rallies outside the U.S. Capitol.  Egged on by people such as representatives Michele Bachmann of Minnesota  (a one-woman freak show in her own right) and Joe Wilson of South Carolina (of "You lie!" fame), events like this one degenerate into name calling and racist posters of President Obama.  If nothing else, it makes for pretty good TV.

The message that tends to get lost amidst all the ugliness is that these people like their health care coverage the way it is, and they don't want Congress to change it.  That's great.  But what if you lose your job (the unemployment rate now stands at ten percent) and you have a major health care crisis that ends up cleaning out your savings?

This isn't a done deal by any means.  Once the Senate gets through with its version (which does not include the public option), negotiations to reach agreement on what will be in the final bill should begin.  If it's defeated, then it's right back to square one.

One problem with all the health care bills is that, if one is passed, it would not take effect until 2013.  What's to stop the insurance and pharmaceutical companies from taking advantage of that time lag to jack up rates to make up for the potential lost revenue?  The message for everyone seems to be, don't get sick in the next three years.

No matter what happens, though, there's more progress now on health care reform than at any time in the last 60 years.  We should be feeling better about that.

Politics In An Off Year

This is what happens in an off-year election.  There are few state or federal races being contested, but some cities are electing mayors and some states are letting voters decide on referendums (whether it's funding schools or approving same-sex marriage).  Otherwise, to give all the political pundits something to do, the main focus was on the races for Governor in New Jersey and Virginia, and a congressional election in New York state.

It turns out that the Republican candidates won both gubernatorial contests, sending Democrats into fits of worry over whether they should scale back their agenda if they want to be re-elected in the future.  This was also seen as a rebuke of President Barack Obama's policies on the economy and health care, even though his approval ratings are still high, and the White House blames the losses on not campaigning hard enough.

But Republicans are equally capable of shooting themselves in the foot in the name of ideological purity.  In that congressional race in upstate New York, the GOP replaced a moderate local candidate with a conservative who didn't even live in the district, sending in heavy hitters such as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to campaign for him.  The Democratic challenger ended up winning the seat by a narrow margin.

In Minnesota, R.T. Rybak remains mayor of Minneapolis, and Chris Coleman is still mayor of St. Paul.  Both easily won re-election against token opposition.  But the big story was Instant Runoff Voting (also known as Ranked Choice Voting), which was used for the first time in Minneapolis and approved by voters in St. Paul.

How IRV/RCV is supposed to work (correct me if I'm wrong) is if you voted for your first choice on one ballot, then you could vote for your second choice on another ballot, and so on.  If a runoff is needed, the top two vote-getters who did not pass the 50 percent mark would face off in another election.  Got that?  Supporters say that this makes elections fairer and more candidates would have a chance.  Detractors think too many novelty acts would go on the ballot and make voting more complicated than it needs to be.  Aren't elections long enough already?

Now that Rybak has been re-elected, would he use his win as a stepping stone to the Governor's mansion in 2010, maneuvering his way past a crowded field to earn the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party's nomination?  He's not saying yet, but all the signs are pointing in that direction.

And then there's Governor Pawlenty, who hosted his first PAC fundraiser attended by high rollers, party hangers-on, and a couple of has-been actors brought in for atmosphere.  Then he's scheduled to make a speech in Iowa this weekend, which just happens to be a caucus state.  Hey, Pawlenty might say he's not running for President in 2012, but he sure acts like he is.

To fulfill his ambition, Pawlenty needs work in the name recognition department.  In a USA Today/Gallup Poll, published in Thursday's edition of The Nation's Newspaper, the Governor is ranked fifth among possible GOP presidential candidates, trailing Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and Palin, in that order.  Not that it really means anything at this point, but who knows?

So, just because it's an off-year election, that doesn't mean we can't waste precious cyberspace talking about What It All Means.  Right?

Cutting Corners On Your TV Screen

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Everyone talks about the decline of newspapers.  How many of them have gone bankrupt, cut staff, publish fewer editions, or shutting down altogether in the face of falling circulation.  And then they have the nerve to charge for their product online, where most of their readers are going.

With some exceptions, the same could be said about local TV stations.  Just like cutbacks have resulted in thinner newspapers, local TV news has declined in quality and viewers are starting to notice.

Take WCCO, the CBS station in Minneapolis.  They whack two of their most popular personalities--Paul Douglas and Jeanette Trompeter--and replace them with inferior talent for less money.  Their main news set is a plate glass window in the background.  Newscasts have turned into magazines, eschewing more news in favor of features such as "Good Question", Don Shelby's nightly commentaries, and reminders that Frank Vascellaro and Ameila Santaniello are more than just co-anchors, they're married, too!  They've also been surrendering a good chunk of their time on Fridays to high school football highlights.

Despite all this, WCCO has the top-rated newscast in town.  They'd be in big trouble if it weren't for Oprah Winfrey and the CBS prime time lineup.

KARE, the NBC station, tends to emphasize the folksy in its newscasts, just 'telling stories'.  Well, it's hard to be folksy when owner Gannett orders its on-air people to take one-week unpaid furloughs, or when your 10 p.m. news ratings suffer because NBC schedules "The Jay Leno Show" five times a week.

KSTP (ABC) and KMSP (Fox) air more hours of news per day than anyone else in this market.  They have also had their share of staff cutbacks, which results in fewer people working more hours for less pay.  And KSTP is a notoriously non-union shop.

There are other ways the quality of local news has been affected.  For example, if you've been paying attention to the Tom Petters trial, you'll notice the lack of courtroom sketch artists on WCCO and KARE.  They might think stock video tells the story better in lieu of cameras in the courtroom (which are banned in federal courts), but that doesn't make up for the fact that two sketch artists are out of work.

The cutbacks have also extended to digital TV.  Remember those promises of more channels that would come with our converter boxes?  Other cities have sports, 24 hour news and old TV shows on their digital channels.  Here, KSTP airs reruns of news and "Twin Cities Live" on its channel, KARE has a 24-hour weather station, and  . . . that's it.  The other stations either don't have a digital channel, or use theirs to simulcast their main channel in standard definition.  Only TPT seems to take multicasting seriously, and they're a public TV station.

Don't think that, if and when the economy gets better, the situation will improve any time soon.  Some people have already caught on to this.  They've dumped the 10 p.m. news for Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show".  The production values aren't much, but they sure are more entertaining.