We think it makes the most logical sense that the Minnesota Vikings remain in Minnesota during the training camp portion of their football seasons. They have developed a good working relationship with Mankato and Minnesota State University for quite a long time, and for them to abandon the state and set up shop in South Dakota or North Dakota would strike some as very odd.
Sioux Falls, S.D., made a pitch for the Vikings in 2003, and city leaders there are considering the possibility of doing it again. Rumors have it that Fargo, N.D., is also interested in pulling the Vikings away from Mankato, and Minnesota.
Though there are many people in the Daily Globe coverage area who would shorten their drive to training camp if the Vikings moved it to Sioux Falls, we favor keeping the team in Mankato. Local leaders there have been good to the Vikings, and we'd like to think the Vikings' commitment to the city -- and to Minnesota -- is secure enough that they won't be lured elsewhere simply for a few shiny financial incentives and pretty promises.
Yes, pro football is a business and owner Zygi Wilf is entitled to making money. But how important, really, is Minnesota to the Minnesota Vikings?
Sioux Falls hasn't made its big pitch yet; it's still warming up. Planners are engaging the Sioux Falls School District in talks designed to allow private money to improve Howard Wood Field, and it remains to be seen whether school officials think it's a good idea to take their eye off their primary mission of education.
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It will also be interesting to gauge the Vikings' interest as this idea proceeds. The team's new owner, Wilf, has already agreed to consider Sioux Falls. Just how seriously he considers the city, and how he manages the touchy issues sure to arise if Sioux Falls goes forward, will show us much about what is most important to him. It might also show us, as it did in 2003, just how committed Mankato is to keeping the team.
