Sorry to fixate on the Vikings blackout story, but it has quite a bearing on our weekend plans (OK, Stu?!?!) as we imagine it does for countless others as well. In any event, we found a passage in Judd and Chip’s story today to be interesting:

LaCroix said the team has had conversations with various companies about purchasing a bulk amount of tickets, but the response hasn’t been favorable. The Vikings needed corporate help to reach a sellout eight times over the past two seasons. “They are in the same boat as everybody else,” LaCroix said. “It’s the start of a new quarter and a very tough economic and financial environment. So really there is no one that is going to come in and save the day at this point. When you have this many seats available, it ends up being a pretty expensive proposition.”

Yes, all logical and true. Except: Minnesota has 19 Fortune 500 companies, including six in the top 100. Arizona has six total Fortune 500 companies, including ZERO in the top 100. But the Cardinals have found a White Knight in these tough times: Leslie’s Swimming Pool Supplies. Huh? Yes, they bought a ton of playoff tickets and are offering a deal: buy $100 in pool supplies from them, and you get two free tickets to the Falcons game. To be fair, Leslie’s is likely making a killing off those portable pools (pictured). OK, that’s not really true. But almost everything associated with a pool seems to cost about a billion dollars. We had no idea. That said, Leslie’s now calls itself “The World’s Largest Retailer of Swimming Pool Supplies.” Think it stops there, though? Wrong, friend.

But we’re so much more than just great products at great prices. Our highly trained staff of Pool Professionals provide you with unique solutions for all of your pool and spa’s problems and needs.

We’re also told, after querying ArizonaGopherGirl for more information about this place, that it is the retailer of choice for all her pool needs. “I was surprised they could afford it, too, considering there are about a billion pool supply stores in the valley of the sun (especially given the economy — the one that sponsored the pool in Chase Field filed bankruptcy). But, my husband said he could easily drop $100 - $200 there for stuff we need, so maybe we’ll get tickets and go.”

We’re not saying a Minnesota company should or will step up. We just find it kind of odd that AZGG might essentially get to go to an NFL playoff game she cares very little about for free while red-blooded Minnesotans like Stu and DaveMN either make a run for the Iowa border or huddle around Dick Stockton’s transistor radio on Sunday. Especially when you compare the corporate wealth of the two areas.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.