This week, our Governor Mark Dayton announced a preliminary agreement to build a new super-duper stadium in downtown Minneapolis on the current Metrodome site.
"Our state will have a premiere stadium to host the Minnesota Vikings, college and high school teams, rock concerts, monster truck mashes and other major events, that will generate even more economic activity and showcase both Minneapolis and Minnesota to people all over the world," Dayton said during his press conference.
“Monster truck mashes?” What?
I was driving when I heard the radio report. I checked newspaper reports and even the governor’s website to see if the speech was quoted saying that. Nothing in print.
So I went to the Minnesota Public Radio site to see if I had heard correctly. I had, and the quote is above. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/03/01/vikings-stadium-plan-legislature-reax/
We really need to have a lot of those to encourage tourism and showcase our alleged love of monster truck events to the world, or to generate a better quality of life in this state?
Who thought that up? Is that speechwriter still employed? Or does the governor have some sort of personal fetish and so he pencilled it into his speech, going rogue off the scripted comments?
I like our governor. He is a hardworking man who served in the U.S. Senate, and he didn’t just fall off the ah...turnip truck. But he strikes me as a guy liking classical music and an occasional romp with his German shepherd, not cheering wildly when the sparks come out of the exhaust pipe.
Conan O’Brien apparently likes monster trucks. He drove Grave Digger on his show less than a week ago. I'd like to drive one, too, who wouldn't? So maybe the Governor caught this and was inspired?
Driving one is way different that watching them. I just don’t see this as an attraction that is in the same league for drawing folks as major sports events and rock concerts.
I googled “monster truck mashes Minnesota” to see if there is a huge industry out there in our fair state. I got “did you mean monster truck smashes?
Honestly, I have nothing against this form of entertainment. In fact, I spent my own money and bought tickets and went to one. Once.
It was maybe 10 years ago. I was a single mom with two boys about 6 and 10, and I have a January birthday, which means indoor entertainment. So we went to a rally for my birthday.
The boys were pumped, which makes sense, cuz boys like toys, and I was up for meeting Bigfoot.
First, it was LOUD. As in, capital letters LOUD. Inside the arena, big giant trucks were revving and backfiring as they drove over crushed cars.
It was smelly. The aroma of gas and exhaust was in the air.
It was…different. I’ve never seen tons of sand dumped indoors. Nor have I seen what I remember as clowns and/or guys in gorilla costumes driving four-wheelers and other vehicles around and around and around, I guess something to keep the crowd entertained in between crushings and wheelies.
We sat, we watched, we pointed out things that were going on at once and we yelled to be heard.
Then, after a suitably long time, one boy spoke up and said something to the effect of, “We can go now.” The other two of us just said, “OK, fine with me.” And we left. Not mad. Not disappointed. Just done. We came. We saw. We left. “That was interesting.”
In retrospect, it seems like a huge waste of very expensive gas.
If Governor Dayton thinks this is going to be a great way to pump up the local economy and attract thousands of visitors to Minneapolis – like maybe Bon Jovi or McCartney or a Super Bowl could -- I am not getting it. I think a huge amount of beer might be purchased, but are we caving to the beer lobby, here? Let's not bet a big amount of taxpayer dollars on the size of the Monster Truck draw.
But I don’t understand Nascar, either.
I did really enjoy something called “enduro racing” at the Proctor Speedway, where people in old cars put on helmets, get in, and drive around and around a mud track, sliding into each other and busting out windows. I think anyone with an old car and a helmet could do it. Some of the vehicles (my favorite was a stationwagon) were pimped out with things like holiday lights, an iron bed headboard over the grill, and a yellow rubber ducky on the very top. I don’t know who won, or how, but I enjoyed watching.
I wanted to go back to watch the once-a-year school bus races, but I never really had anyone to go with (imagine that), or the timing wasn’t convenient. Here's a link to the Proctor Speedway school bus racing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYqajrXNJPI
Everyone watches monster trucks, Governor. You fill that new stadium with a mud track and a bunch of old school buses, I’m in. That'd give Minnesota something to showcase to the world.
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