Metrodome vs TCF Bank Stadium what ifs...

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Schnauzer

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I love TCF Bank Stadium. I am super glad it was built. Many pages of text have been written here about how bad the metrodome was for the Gopher program. Gameday at the Metrodome felt very "cheap" with all the Velcro laminated signs, bright blue seats, tiny "jumbotron" etc. etc. And of course it wasn't on campus.

But, use your imagination for a moment and think of a world where TCF Bank Stadium had never been built. What if...

- The Vikings would have built their palace in Arden Hills and the Metrodome would have been sold to the University of MN for $1.
- Metrodome would have been renovated to replace blue seats with Maroon and gold.
-Capacity would have been dropped from 64,000 to 58,000 with the space dedicated to a massive scoreboard over the north end zone.
-The facility would have stayed in Gopher football configuration 12 months a year, except for other Gopher sports events such as baseball.
-Velcro signage would have been replaced with real, classy stuff dripping with Gopher history.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it would be anywhere near better than the situation with TCF Bank Stadium. I'm just throwing this out there for conversation. No game this week, you know. Could you have lived with it?
 

No way.

The Metrodome concourses were hyper small. Bathrooms a mess..... no club seat$, boxes and suite$ sucked....

Also if I remember right it had a problem with the roof...
 

Even if you ripped the roof off it, there was no field-level drainage for rain. Yeah, go figure.
 

metrolax said:
Even if you ripped the roof off it, there was no field-level drainage for rain. Yeah, go figure.
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The inside also wasn't built for outside weather. I imagine all those exposed pipes would be a problem..... that big ass cable tray on between the lower and upper levels.... lights .... all the electronics .... anything you wanted to be warm.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
No way.

The Metrodome concourses were hyper small. Bathrooms a mess..... no club seat$, boxes and suite$ sucked....

Also if I remember right it had a problem with the roof...
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Yeah, but on the plus side, it gave Lois Feldman a disgusting place to pork a stranger.
 




I think if TCF had not been built, we may well have become tenants in the Vikings new stadium.

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Let's travel back 15 years and I'm gonna go all Sid here and say that the Vikings, University, and State Fair people should have been put in a room and had the doors locked and told they can't come out until they finalize a plan for a stadium on the State Fair Grounds grandstand site......
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
No way.

The Metrodome concourses were hyper small. Bathrooms a mess..... no club seat$, boxes and suite$ sucked....

Also if I remember right it had a problem with the roof...
Click to expand...

But it was 64,000 people going to two concourses, not 50,000 going to one. I really hope the U expands more permanent concessions and restrooms to the top level. Hell build a bar on the east end upper deck. There are some really cool ways to continue to make it a great experience and keep attendance strong.


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I think this thread deserves an ugly death.....
 

Best site for the Vikings would have been Brookdale mall.

Burn that worthless mall to the ground, have great access to all areas of the 7 county metro area, ample room for parking and tailgating.

If I were king, I would have done it in a heartbeat.
 


What if scenarios suck...what if I won the lottery, what if the gophers had Ohio state roster, what if Martians really invaded the earth in 1950?

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Maverick said:
What if scenarios suck...what if I won the lottery, what if the gophers had Ohio state roster, what if Martians really invaded the earth in 1950?

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What do you mean IF?
 

The Dump was built on the cheap, and was under a Teflon dome. Whether it was baseball with the seats not angled to the plate, the baggie in right filed, the plexiglass above the left field wall. Its only redeeming value was the home field advantage in the World Series. For football the field was rock hard, it was like playing on concrete with all the disadvantage of the rug burns from the turf. Playing football indoors is for pansies. All this and it was off campus. TCF Bank Stadium is the best thing that has happened for Gopher Athletics.
 

Why is the Mt Union head coach wearing lipstick and eyelash makeup?
 

MaxyJR1 said:
But it was 64,000 people going to two concourses, not 50,000 going to one. I really hope the U expands more permanent concessions and restrooms to the top level. Hell build a bar on the east end upper deck. There are some really cool ways to continue to make it a great experience and keep attendance strong.


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Click to expand...

+1000- why they don't use existing space up top is hard to believe. They could easily add on permanent bathroomss attached to the elevator towers and easily push concessions back where they don't interfere with the upper concourse. Tcf concourse movement is just as bad as the metrodome- maybe worse as it comes to an end if you don't want to go down the stairs to get around to the other side on the west end
 

Maroon92 said:
+1000- why they don't use existing space up top is hard to believe. They could easily add on permanent bathroomss attached to the elevator towers and easily push concessions back where they don't interfere with the upper concourse. Tcf concourse movement is just as bad as the metrodome- maybe worse as it comes to an end if you don't want to go down the stairs to get around to the other side on the west end
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I've always heard these complaints about the concourses, but have never had a problem navigating them. Getting to the bathroom/concessions is easy during the game and getting out after is what it is. It's no worse than any other stadium after the game, the key is to just leave out of the exit nearest your seats and if you have to walk elsewhere to your parking spot do it once you get outside.
 

Would have cost $100M to renovate an off-campus stadium. Stupid on so many fronts.

Ski U Master said:
I've always heard these complaints about the concourses, but have never had a problem navigating them. Getting to the bathroom/concessions is easy during the game and getting out after is what it is. It's no worse than any other stadium after the game, the key is to just leave out of the exit nearest your seats and if you have to walk elsewhere to your parking spot do it once you get outside.
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Concourses were horrendous. You must have only gone to NC games.
 


highwayman said:
Would have cost $100M to renovate an off-campus stadium. Stupid on so many fronts.



Concourses were horrendous. You must have only gone to NC games.
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Been to non conference games, the stadium opener, games against rivals, other Big Ten games. Never had a problem. It's busy, but never felt like I couldn't get to where I wanted to go.
 

What if Memorial Stadium had not been torn down and it was remodeled while the Gophers were playing at the Metrodome.
 


Years ago I thought that this would be a decent option as well,
my thoughts would be:
-Keep the roof (for Gopher baseball) like USBS is doing now..
-Eliminated the upper level in left field, put in a large HD video board
-Endzone suites would be eliminated for open concourses
-Corner suites would be converted to club seating (kind of like they did)
-Blue suites would be changed to maroon with Gold block M on sidelines.

If you think about it, Metrodome concourses were 24 ft wide, each level.
TCFBS has two levels of seats that share one 50 ft wide concourse, so really
you're only gaining two feet of concourse space collectively.
 

And what if we could all ride purple unicorns along multicolor rainbows....

On campus stadium, end of discussion.


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