Welcome to Zygiville; home of the delusional.

Huh. That was pretty uneventful. When I heard the Vikings were holding a press conference to discuss the stadium issue and to lay out detailed plans for the current Metrodome stadium site, I have to say that I didn’t expect much from them or the Metropolitan Sports Commission.

They didn’t disappoint.

First, owner Zygi Wilf didn’t show up for the announcement, which isn’t really that much of a problem – but you would think an announcement this “big” might be important enough to attend, especially when you are looking for public funding and especially when you are trying to create another city within a city.

Second, the project is going to cost more than a billion dollars. Seriously, a billion dollars! Its an urban village – hotels, apartments, condos, grocery stores, Starbucks, office space, and restaurants will fill the area just like it did when the dome was built. Or not.

Here’s a thought: If Zygi says he is going to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into this effort, why not just build a normal stadium without all these other add-ons and pay for the thing on his own? Then he could buy up other land later in the process and maybe develop it at that point. Why can't he just build the thing on this own with those hundreds of millions of dollars and be done with it?

The new stadium drawings look great, the site is viable since the land would be there if they demolish the dome – and you would have a great view of the city and easy access for those concerned about traffic problems.

Nobody has any money to pay for this, which has been a problem since about 1995 when this whole thing started. It’s not about stadium drawings, city revitalization, or even having a roof or an open air stadium – it’s about a lack of money for the building.

Red McCombs is gone, but we still don’t have an owner who lives here and is willing to build something on his own or at least propose something that has a chance at getting public funding.