Every day I drive home from work I listen to sports talk radio and the big topic seems to be the possible Twins stadium, more specifically if it needs a roof or not.

Sure a roof is nice early in the season when the weather is cold or on the dark rainy days, but other teams do just fine without them. Looking at a map, teams in a similar seasonal weather pattern as Minnesota include the Milwaukee Brewers, both the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates and only one of those teams has a retractable roof.

Now some fans are going to point to the Twins-Tigers series the other week where two games were snowed out and say thatís why a new Twins stadium needs a retractable roof. Then theyíll bring up the issue of rain.

Here is my thought though, I like watching doubleheader baseball. I find it enjoyable to watch two games in one day. I think itís interesting to see how managers use their players.

There used to be a day when Major League Baseball actually scheduled double headers on the weekends, but rainouts started to create some scheduling concerns late in the season.

Another argument has been for the fans who travel two or more hours to see the Twins play. What happens to them if they come from say Duluth and the Twins are rained out? Itís simple, they spend their time in Hennepin County eating, shopping and spending money that in turn helps pay for the new stadium.

If you ask me itís a win-win situation.

Most of what I have seen on TV and read in the papers is that the residents of Hennepin County donít want to pay the .015 percent sales tax, like theyíd even notice it when they stop by Starbucks, so I say let our friends to the west from the Dakotas pay when they come to town when itís raining or snowing.

The other thing about a roof on a Twins stadium in Hennepin County is that the state would have to pay for it. Since the legislators have made it clear they have very little intention of supporting any stadium deal, let alone paying for a roof, I think the hopes of a retractable roof are slim to none.

I just donít see the state anteing up the estimated $100 million for a retractable roof for a stadium deal that works without one.
There is another thing that is bugging me about this proposed stadium deal. There are a lot of people out there saying we need to put the money towards what I consider the big three; health care, education and transportation. I agree that all three of those are important, but where are these proponents when one of the art museums in the metro area needs more funding or when the state gave NorthWest Airlines a chunk of money to stay afloat?

I just donít understand why the majority of people in the metro and the state as a whole donít understand what kind of asset the Twins are not only to the identity of the state, but to its economy.

OK, I think Iíve talked enough about the latest stadium proposal for the Twins. Iím not going to say I wonít talk about it any more, but until something major happens, Iíll keep my thoughts to myself.

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