WCCO Radio, which has broadcast Minnesota Gophers football, basketball and hockey games since World War II, lost it's broadcast rights to Gophers sports today. The Gophs can now be heard on 1500 AM, ESPN Radio; and also KTLK 100.3 FM, according to news reports today.
'CCO Radio has lost its hold on many of the Twin Cities sports teams: The Twins left several years ago for 1500 AM. The Vikings moved several years ago to Clear Channel-owned KFAN. And now, the Gophers.
Part of it was in order to move the Gophers to an all-sports radio format, which WCCO is not. But, WCCO has been pretty popular in the Twin Cities. It is funny though, 'CCO Radio seems to be on a downturn; yet WCCO TV is pushing up in the ratings. Matter of fact, just a few days ago, I had heard that WCCO's newscasts now rank higher in the ratings than KARE 11.
I remember back in the 80s, WCCO Radio seemed to be so popular. I can remember many a time driving up to the cabin on the weekends, listening to the Cannon Mess; or the on-the-hour sounder for the news report. It was a fun station to listen to. Now, it's not even on my car presets.
Funny story about the Cannon Mess: I never actually knew the name of the show until I was at Brown Institute for broadcasting. When I was a kid, I always thought the show was called the "Cannon Nest." Never dawned on me - I just thought that's what the show was called. Until my best friend emailed me one day when I was at Brown Institute, and told me about how his radio show in college was called the JD Mess, patterned of course, after the Cannon Mess.
I thought - oh, that was it! The Cannon Mess....
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Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Might Target Stadium be next?
I'm still rather undecided about the possibilities for a new Vikings stadium. Honestly, I don't like the idea of my taxes going up; which of course they will regardless of where it's built (unless of course, the Vikes come up with a county partnership like the Twins did).
Lately, there has been more and more chatter about the possibility of building a new Vikings stadium just west of Target Field. If you know where Mary's Place is, just off of 7th Street, that's where the Vikings are looking to set up camp. I don't like the idea of making Mary Jo Copeland relocate. I so appreciate the work she does for the community; and making her move to make way for a new sports palace, in my mind, is wrong.
Then, there would be the issue of naming rights for the new place. Should it be Target Stadium? You'd have Target Field, Target Center and Target Stadium. In all likelihood, that will not happen.
Here's what I think will play out: as much as I don't like it, the Vikings end up with the Mary's Place property. Target Corp. will back out of the Target Center naming rights deal, which is set to expire in June. Target Corp. having its name on a shiny, new, 72,000-seat stadium is more appealing than a renewing on a 21-year-old basketball arena.
If in fact, the Vikings do end up with that property, the new naming rights deal with Target will occur almost overnight. It's much easier for the Vikings to sell season tickets, suites, advertising and so forth to "Target Stadium" than it is to "New Minneapolis Stadium, future home of the Minnesota Vikings, title sponsor pending."
Think about what Farmers Insurance did. They inked a naming-rights deal with the yet-to-be-built, yet-to-be-groundbroken stadium in LA. LA doesn't even have a team yet, but they have a name for the new stadium. It's really a marketing thing.
Rumors are also circulating that the Vikings are soon to announce their plan to the state Legislature. We shall see what happens over the next few months.
Lately, there has been more and more chatter about the possibility of building a new Vikings stadium just west of Target Field. If you know where Mary's Place is, just off of 7th Street, that's where the Vikings are looking to set up camp. I don't like the idea of making Mary Jo Copeland relocate. I so appreciate the work she does for the community; and making her move to make way for a new sports palace, in my mind, is wrong.
Then, there would be the issue of naming rights for the new place. Should it be Target Stadium? You'd have Target Field, Target Center and Target Stadium. In all likelihood, that will not happen.
Here's what I think will play out: as much as I don't like it, the Vikings end up with the Mary's Place property. Target Corp. will back out of the Target Center naming rights deal, which is set to expire in June. Target Corp. having its name on a shiny, new, 72,000-seat stadium is more appealing than a renewing on a 21-year-old basketball arena.
If in fact, the Vikings do end up with that property, the new naming rights deal with Target will occur almost overnight. It's much easier for the Vikings to sell season tickets, suites, advertising and so forth to "Target Stadium" than it is to "New Minneapolis Stadium, future home of the Minnesota Vikings, title sponsor pending."
Think about what Farmers Insurance did. They inked a naming-rights deal with the yet-to-be-built, yet-to-be-groundbroken stadium in LA. LA doesn't even have a team yet, but they have a name for the new stadium. It's really a marketing thing.
Rumors are also circulating that the Vikings are soon to announce their plan to the state Legislature. We shall see what happens over the next few months.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Metro Council needs your help!
Wow, second blog entry in a month! Can you believe it?
Reading the paper this morning, a big headline in the Metro section told readers that the Metropolitan Council, which oversees Metro Tranit, is looking for simpler names for its "burgeoning" transit system in the Twin Cities.
Right now, you just have the Northstar rail and the Hiawatha light rail - but Metro Transit will be adding Bus Rapid Transit lines and new light rail lines (if funding isn't severely cut), and possibly another commuter rail line. Eventually, it'll get pretty confusing, especially to visitors to our Twin Cities.
But, according to the Metropolitan Council, this new name will only apply to rapid bus transit and light rail. Then, they will color code the separate lines - for instance, lets say the Met Council decides to call it the "T" (which still is an iconic logo for Metro Transit). Then, the Met Council might change the Hiawatha light rail to "The Blue Line," the Central Corridor light rail to "The Red Line," and so forth.
So, what would you call the new rapid transit system around here? The Met Council wants to hear from you. Through 5 pm on March 18, you can send suggestions to: data.center@metc.state.mn.us. Peronally, I like the "T," but, apparently, Pittsburgh uses that moniker for its transit. For the full article from today's Pioneer Press, click "Metro Council needs your help!"
Reading the paper this morning, a big headline in the Metro section told readers that the Metropolitan Council, which oversees Metro Tranit, is looking for simpler names for its "burgeoning" transit system in the Twin Cities.
Right now, you just have the Northstar rail and the Hiawatha light rail - but Metro Transit will be adding Bus Rapid Transit lines and new light rail lines (if funding isn't severely cut), and possibly another commuter rail line. Eventually, it'll get pretty confusing, especially to visitors to our Twin Cities.
But, according to the Metropolitan Council, this new name will only apply to rapid bus transit and light rail. Then, they will color code the separate lines - for instance, lets say the Met Council decides to call it the "T" (which still is an iconic logo for Metro Transit). Then, the Met Council might change the Hiawatha light rail to "The Blue Line," the Central Corridor light rail to "The Red Line," and so forth.
So, what would you call the new rapid transit system around here? The Met Council wants to hear from you. Through 5 pm on March 18, you can send suggestions to: data.center@metc.state.mn.us. Peronally, I like the "T," but, apparently, Pittsburgh uses that moniker for its transit. For the full article from today's Pioneer Press, click "Metro Council needs your help!"
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Lottery funds = Vikings Stadium?
I wrote more about this on Allvoices.com (click Lottery Funds = for the article), but I discovered today the Vikings are now considering using lottery funds to help finance a new stadium.
It sounds like a good idea on the surface, and it doesn't seem the NFL would have any problem with gambling dollars being used to finance a new stadium, as it's been done in Baltimore. But, wasn't the Minnesota State Lottery money supposed to go for...environmental concerns?
Of course, I doubt the "environmental concerns" have gotten ALL of the proceeds of the state lottery that's been in existence since 1988. But, I do wonder whether the Vikings would have to go through any red tape to re-appropriate some of the lottery money.
The racino idea didn't seem to go over so well; and certainly, the public doesn't want to put up a huge chunk of the money of a stadium that's probably going to cost over $1 billion when all is said and done. And, Governor Dayton has concerns about the lottery dollars being a "reliable" source of revenue.
However, the Vikings' scratch-off game was the highest selling lottery game in the state last year. It might actually be worth looking into.
It sounds like a good idea on the surface, and it doesn't seem the NFL would have any problem with gambling dollars being used to finance a new stadium, as it's been done in Baltimore. But, wasn't the Minnesota State Lottery money supposed to go for...environmental concerns?
Of course, I doubt the "environmental concerns" have gotten ALL of the proceeds of the state lottery that's been in existence since 1988. But, I do wonder whether the Vikings would have to go through any red tape to re-appropriate some of the lottery money.
The racino idea didn't seem to go over so well; and certainly, the public doesn't want to put up a huge chunk of the money of a stadium that's probably going to cost over $1 billion when all is said and done. And, Governor Dayton has concerns about the lottery dollars being a "reliable" source of revenue.
However, the Vikings' scratch-off game was the highest selling lottery game in the state last year. It might actually be worth looking into.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Twolves to move to Saint Paul?
I had read a small little tidbit from Charley Walters this morning in the Pioneer Press about the possibility of the Twolves moving across the river to the Xcel Energy Center.
Well, essentially what he said is that the Xcel Center would welcome the Wolves over in Saint Paul if they ever became dissatisfied with the Target Center. It's been 20 years, and the Wolves haven't really complained very much about the Target Center.
But, the arena is getting older. It's not as young as it used to be. However, I had some thoughts of my own about a possible move of the Wolves over to the Target Center. Click on "Twolves to move to Saint Paul?" to see the full article.
Hope all of you had a great holiday season, and here's to a wonderful 2011.
Well, essentially what he said is that the Xcel Center would welcome the Wolves over in Saint Paul if they ever became dissatisfied with the Target Center. It's been 20 years, and the Wolves haven't really complained very much about the Target Center.
But, the arena is getting older. It's not as young as it used to be. However, I had some thoughts of my own about a possible move of the Wolves over to the Target Center. Click on "Twolves to move to Saint Paul?" to see the full article.
Hope all of you had a great holiday season, and here's to a wonderful 2011.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
What are the Vikings to do?
Hopefully we've all had a chance to relatively recover from the worst snowstorm in almost 20 years. And, the biggest casualty of the storm seems to be the Metrodome and the Teflon-coated fiberglass roof.
This has happened before. A lot. The dome deflated shortly after crews inflated it for the first time while the stadium was under construction. In 1982, a snowstorm took the dome down again. In 1986, a severe thunder/wind storm tore a hole in the roof, leaking rain and wind on to fans watching a Twins game (I remember the news reports from that day).
Oddly enough, the roof never caved in under the 28 inches of snow left by the Halloween blizzard of 1991. Of course, back then, the Dome wasn't even ten years old. Now, almost to its 30th birthday, it might be time to do something about it. And, this may have been the motivation needed for the Legislature to finally push a bill through.
Click the title of this post to go to an article I wrote (in fun, of course) about what could be done about the Dome.
This has happened before. A lot. The dome deflated shortly after crews inflated it for the first time while the stadium was under construction. In 1982, a snowstorm took the dome down again. In 1986, a severe thunder/wind storm tore a hole in the roof, leaking rain and wind on to fans watching a Twins game (I remember the news reports from that day).
Oddly enough, the roof never caved in under the 28 inches of snow left by the Halloween blizzard of 1991. Of course, back then, the Dome wasn't even ten years old. Now, almost to its 30th birthday, it might be time to do something about it. And, this may have been the motivation needed for the Legislature to finally push a bill through.
Click the title of this post to go to an article I wrote (in fun, of course) about what could be done about the Dome.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Black is back for the Wolves
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
I had said in my last post that the Timberwolves needed some serious marketing help to promote yet another re-building team. They did one marketing move (which I had heard little about, until a few days later), and that was to unveil a new "alternate" jersey.
Many teams have three or more jerseys. There's a standard home jersey, and a standard away jersey. In the last few years, many teams find it fun to unveil a third jersey that is very different from the usual.
Sometimes the alternate jerseys look better than the standard ones. Sometimes the alternate jerseys are so unwelcomed by fans, that the team ends up scrapping them. One such instance was the NBA's Dallas Mavericks a few years ago. They had released an alternate jersey that had a very droll color scheme; and the fans showed their discontent in no uncertain terms. The team wore the jerseys once, and never wore them again.
The Wolves re-vamped their entire uniform a couple years ago. They had shortened "Timberwolves" to just "Wolves" on the front of the home jersey (from their early franchise days), and on the road jersey, exchanged "Timberwolves" for "Minnesota."
Just recently, the Wolves unveiled a black jersey. Everyone loves black. Black is a slimming color, and complements many other colors nicely. This is the second time in franchise history the Wolves have donned a black jersey. I liked the old black jersey better than the new black jersey.
Several years ago, the border on the jerseys was a black border with green pine trees, similar to the primary logo. With the latest uniform re-design, they scrapped the pine trees, and eventually took all the green out entirely. With the new black jerseys, a little green might improve things a bit.
At this link: http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/pressrelease_Wolves_Unveil_New_Black_Alternate_Uniforms_2010_11_23.html
you can see what the new jersey looks like. Personally, I think it's just a little too bland. Instead of complementing the colors, I think the black intermingles with them. There's no contrast.
Maybe that's in tune with the whole team's attitude, though. The Wolves have been nothing short of bland the last few seasons. Attendance has dropped, players come and go, there's more losses than wins. If the Wolves were looking to generate some excitement with this latest marketing ploy, I think they came up a bit short.
Kermit the Frog once sang, "It's not easy being green." In this case, a little green might help.
Thanks for reading.
I had said in my last post that the Timberwolves needed some serious marketing help to promote yet another re-building team. They did one marketing move (which I had heard little about, until a few days later), and that was to unveil a new "alternate" jersey.
Many teams have three or more jerseys. There's a standard home jersey, and a standard away jersey. In the last few years, many teams find it fun to unveil a third jersey that is very different from the usual.
Sometimes the alternate jerseys look better than the standard ones. Sometimes the alternate jerseys are so unwelcomed by fans, that the team ends up scrapping them. One such instance was the NBA's Dallas Mavericks a few years ago. They had released an alternate jersey that had a very droll color scheme; and the fans showed their discontent in no uncertain terms. The team wore the jerseys once, and never wore them again.
The Wolves re-vamped their entire uniform a couple years ago. They had shortened "Timberwolves" to just "Wolves" on the front of the home jersey (from their early franchise days), and on the road jersey, exchanged "Timberwolves" for "Minnesota."
Just recently, the Wolves unveiled a black jersey. Everyone loves black. Black is a slimming color, and complements many other colors nicely. This is the second time in franchise history the Wolves have donned a black jersey. I liked the old black jersey better than the new black jersey.
Several years ago, the border on the jerseys was a black border with green pine trees, similar to the primary logo. With the latest uniform re-design, they scrapped the pine trees, and eventually took all the green out entirely. With the new black jerseys, a little green might improve things a bit.
At this link: http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/news/pressrelease_Wolves_Unveil_New_Black_Alternate_Uniforms_2010_11_23.html
you can see what the new jersey looks like. Personally, I think it's just a little too bland. Instead of complementing the colors, I think the black intermingles with them. There's no contrast.
Maybe that's in tune with the whole team's attitude, though. The Wolves have been nothing short of bland the last few seasons. Attendance has dropped, players come and go, there's more losses than wins. If the Wolves were looking to generate some excitement with this latest marketing ploy, I think they came up a bit short.
Kermit the Frog once sang, "It's not easy being green." In this case, a little green might help.
Thanks for reading.
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