Boring, right?

I know many of my fellow Packers fans will disagree with me, but I despise the Minnesota Vikings on a level not even the Chicago Bears can rival. No, this is certainly not a declaration that the Vikings-Packers rivalry is more storied or more fiercely contested than Packers-Bears. It isn’t. It will never be.

But as a Packers fan growing up in Minnesota, the smugness and cockiness of Vikings fans before every Packers game, the knowledge that if the Vikings went 1-15, but they beat the Packers, my friends would find reason to trash talk for another year; it just isn’t possible for me to loathe this team any more.

And that’s exactly why I want them to stay put, and why even as a Packers supporter I’m frustrated with the state legislature’s failures to come up with conclusive answers for a stadium plan.

The attempt to pass a bill that would allow the Vikings to build a new stadium in Minnesota after their Metrodome lease expires (next year) has made little headway. Minnesota lawmakers finally seem to be coming to an agreement on a bill that includes funding by the Vikings, gambling expansions and tax revenue to construct the nearly $1 billion stadium, but it seems that every time they take a step forward, it’s followed immediately by two steps back. Vikings fans are getting frustrated, and they won’t feel safe about the future of their team until a bill has actually been passed. After a cycle of breakthroughs and setbacks, who can blame them?

The newest development in the stadium debate at the legislative level is that the new bill accounts for $532 million of the construction cost to be footed by the Vikings. Owner Zygi Wilf pledged $427 million, and said that was a number he would not budge on. Now, both sides obviously want the Vikings to stay put, so I’m assuming Wilf will be willing to negotiate a number higher than $427 million. But over $100 million more? With time running out, are legislators really comfortable asking that of Wilf, who could take his checkbook to another market such as Los Angeles? If that happens, the state legislature will have questions to answer from the people of Minnesota, who I’m willing to venture view a new stadium as an issue of paramount importance.

The reasons why the Vikings are best off in Minnesota are pretty simple. Despite low revenue numbers, there is no question who the number one team in Minnesota is. People are frustrated when the Twins do poorly, but learn to deal with it over the course of a 162 game season. Ricky Rubio generated some interest in the Timberwolves this year for the first time since Kevin Garnett left. And even in the state of hockey, the Wild are incredibly popular when they do well, but fade into obscurity when they aren’t.

That isn’t the case with the Vikings. Even after they have slogged through two seasons in which they totaled nine wins, and the immediate future isn’t very bright, people still care about their hometown football team in Minnesota. A loss ruins their week, but a win lets everyone momentarily forget their problems and take solace in the fact that for at least one week, their team got the job done. Vikings fans want this team. They need this team. I want this team here, not so much because I enjoy the two guaranteed wins it gives my Packers every year (sorry, I had to), but because I can’t imagine Minnesota sports without the Vikings. It just doesn’t register with me.

So if the fan base is so dedicated, why are revenue numbers so low? If you’ve been to a game in the Metrodome, you would know the answer to that question. Simply put, it is arguably the worst place to catch an NFL game in the league, discounting the talent on the field. It features tiny, uncomfortable seating, annoying fluorescent lighting, bland interior furnishings…everything about the Metrodome is just boring. I’d rather drive the five and a half hours to Green Bay to see the Vikings take on the Packers at Lambeau then drive the half hour to see Green Bay play in the ‘Dome. It really doesn’t have any redeeming characteristics, other than the signature Dome Dog, the stadium food of choice for most Metrodome patrons.

To show just how profitable a new stadium would be, look at the Minnesota Twins. They moved to Target Field in 2010, and saw revenue increases of $70 million dollars in their first year. It’s difficult to project how profitable an NFL stadium would be in comparison to an MLB stadium, but what is easy to project is that new stadiums are profitable. The Twins now have one of the best venues in all four of the major sports. Imagine if Minnesota’s favorite team got new digs, and offered a game time experience similar to what Green Bay, Pittsburgh and Seattle offer.

The Vikings really do belong in Minnesota. Their fan base deserves to have a home town team to cheer for, and the Vikings deserve a chance to stay profitable in a location where they already have dedicated fans. I’m a diehard Packers fan, and I vow to never root for our biggest rivals unless it directly benefits Green Bay, and even then it feels wrong doing it. But this is one time when the Vikings will have my full, unbridled support, and I’m not ashamed of that. To the Minnesota state legislature, figure out a way to keep the Vikings in Minnesota, and give their beleaguered fan base some sort of hope for the future. With two annual games with the Packers, they’ll need it.

Do you remember the “Aints?”

Some of you probably don’t, so here’s a little backstory. In 1980, the New Orleans Saints were so bad that fans re-named them the “Aints” and began wearing brown paper bags over their head to home games. The franchise became the 1980 version of the 2008 Detroit Lions.

It’s been a while since New Orleans was anywhere near that bad. Over the last three seasons, New Orleans has gone 37-11. That’s a winning percentage of 77%. Any guess what the NFL’s premiere franchise, the New England Patriots, record is over the same time frame? 37-11. It’s no secret that under Drew Brees the Saints have quickly become of the NFL’s top franchises.

I’m predicting the fun and games are about to be over with though.

Don’t get me wrong. The Saints aren’t going to be winless any time soon, but the good times in New Orleans are about to be over.

It may be hard to see this coming with Drew Brees casting the same kind of shield over the Saints that Peyton Manning did at one time over the Indianapolis Colts. As long as Brees is quarterbacking, all the experts will pick the Saints to make the NFL playoffs just like they did with Manning at the helm in Indy. Logically, it makes sense, but this offseason has taken a lot out of the Louisiana based franchise.

First, head coach Sean Peyton was suspended for the entire season. Interim head coach Joe Vitt is out six games. Next, the cheating scandal began with general manager Micky Loomis. Four days ago, linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for the entire season. Meanwhile, the Saints can’t figure out how to sign Drew Brees to a new longterm contract.

Brees, 33, has turned the Saints from a forgotten NFL team into a year in and year out Super Bowl contender. He broke the NFL record for passing yards in a season in 2011, which somehow masked the fact that the Saints did not have a reliable defense and never found a complimentary running back for their superstar signal caller.

How are the Saints managing to make such an easy decision become a media firestorm? Without Drew Brees, New Orleans would be an average NFL team and would fade into obscurity. Yet, they refuse to give Brees whatever he wants. Most believe that eventually Brees will get the longterm deal he wants, but if he’s forced to play on a franchise tag this season the Saints may be sorry next season. Brees has been instrumental in shaping the image of the franchise and became a leader in a the New Orleans community in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Here’s a major prediction that may force me to eat crow soon: The Saints will win less than 21 games over the next three seasons, not counting potential playoff games. Brees is aging and the franchise keeps making bad decision after bad decision. Carolina quarterback Cam Newton has the Panthers headed on the right track, Atlanta has a young nucleus of players ready to roll, and Tampa Bay has young talent that is yet to develop. Meanwhile, the player that makes New Orleans click can’t get a new contract and the franchise is in complete turmoil.

Don’t look now, but the “Aints” may soon be marching in.