I always thought the reason the gophers played at Target Field had more to do with the cave in. Anyways doing some googling and I see the Gophers play Augsburg on April 3rd at the Dome but can't seem to find any game closer to the home opener than that.

word on the street is that the dome will be in the baseball configuration for the game meaning there will be seating on three sides. but there will be no baseball dirt or football lines.

I takes only about 4-5 hours for them to convert from one set-up to the other. Maybe a little longer if they do a super duper paint job on the turf.

If the Gophers are playing baseball there this spring, why would they convert from baseball to football configuration for this one game? There's clearly plenty of seats on 3 sides (or even one side for that matter) to accomodate the numbers that will show up.

As for the march from Brit's, it sounds like a good idea, but it is kind of a long haul. Was anyone else at that US/Honduras match at Soldier Field a couple years ago when some of us joined in a march in to the stadium? That was fun and probably generated some exposure, but it was definitely overkill in the distance it traveled and people started to wind down and lose intereste it seemed. And that was with probably bigger numbers than what we're likely to get for this.

Also, outside of maybe CCO paying attention if we go by, who else is likely to notice? The match is at 7:30, so it would need to be something like 5PM, say, to start the march. Is there anyone downtown at 5 PM on a Saturday? Serious question, I don't really know. Just something to think about and maybe consider a closer starting location and shorter march. If we contact all the right media people, you can potentially get the same amount of exposure without quite so much walking.

Then again, maybe I'm just getting old and lazy. But if I'm thinking it, then a lot of other casual folks will be too. People who might be inclined to join a 4 block march in may well be turned off by a 1 mile + jaunt.

I dunno, I had a great time on that march. Then again, we got to drop in on Sunil.

Consider it the championship parade we didn't have last year.

It's about how much you care.

A sample route culled from mapquest taking nothing into consideration except starting and ending point:

4 blocks SE on S 11th street. Turn left and 4 blocks NE on S 4th Ave. Turn right and 4 blocks SE on S 7th Street. One more turn left on Chicago Ave and one more block gets you to the west corner of the Metrodome. Total distance: 1.01 miles. Walking time: 25 minutes.

Distance should be spot on. If we can get 100 people or more, walking time will be longer. More like 45 minutes to an hour, best guesstimate.

But, to actually know, it'll take the research. How many people will see us during the march? Good question. Someone can check out a few sample routes on an early Saturday's eve and find out. Look for open businesses. Time the routes. Do the research.

The reason I suggest we take the march past WCCO and/or the Trib is that, as bq has noted before, one of the media claims is that the team is too far away in Blaine for them to make deadline. If you march right past them, no excuse.

Here's another suggestion, by the way. Co-ordinate with the team and have something to hand out to people as we pass them. A pocket schedule. A two-fer or half-off coupon. Something small, like pocket-sized, and easy to hand out while on the move.

Again, this could be a significant boost to the team we follow or a handful of people doing a few minutes of street theater to no real effect.

"It's up to us", notes

That little old jersey collector

Me

I just want to get the word tailgate into this thread (for the first time? lol) because a stream of people moving toward the stadium happens all by itself if you get a bunch of people in one place a couple hours before the game. Witness: every single Vikings game.

TAILGATE

I'd rather plan a party than a parade.

Up to you...

But the reason that 66,000 plus people go to the Metrodome to watch the Vikings (besides being gridiron fans) is that the team publicises itself to a great degree coupled with the free publicity almost every media outlet gives them in the form of coverage.

This team cannot, at this time, afford to market itself as much as it should and won't until it has a new owner who can afford to invest decent marketing money or until the team can draw enough people to raise the money to invest on marketing and to draw the attention of the media. Without some form of marketing greater than what exists now, this club will cease to exist.

The march would be an attempt for us to draw free pub and get the word out to the public on a personal basis. It could, along with DC tailgating and jackassery, be a part of the solution.

"But, hey, your choice", concedes

That little old jersey collector

Me

March to a tailgate party? This sounds like an amazingly drunken day out. I like this idea.

Love the KISS principal at work here! Everybody will come to a party that's free. It's how the MN Kicks became really popular out at the Met Center.


-Get the Stars to use the team scarf promotion again one week before the game and bring some new people from the downtown area to the Dome, they all seem to know where it is.