Weekend Winner: Unexpected Stadium Destructo-Porn

FOX's video of the Metrodome bubble collapsing is some of the most visually arresting footage we've seen in a long time. How did they get it? A tip that the roof was going to cave in, of course.

No one expects an NFL stadium to crack open and let the elements pour in during the wee hours of gameday. But at 5 a.m., that's precisely what happened, and FOX happened to have a camera rolling. Someone's getting a promotion.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today found out that the collapse wasn't wholly unexpected for FOX's TV crew:

"It was already leaking," NFL lead game producer Richie Zyontz said Sunday. "But we heard that's happened here before. They were heating up the dome to furnace levels to melt the snow."

But Zyontz said Fox videotape operator Randy Carr heard from a Metrodome staffer "this was a real problem." With a camera and mikes left on overnight, Zyontz says, "We knew what we were looking for. This was specifically for that roof collapsing."

This raises all sorts of questions. If staffers were aware that the collapse was a real possibility, did they inform the NFL, which was still planning to fly the Giants in a couple hours later? With the roof leaking, were they concerned about the safety aspects of playing a game, even if the snow would be melted by gametime? And why can't a stadium built in Minneapolis, of all places, stand up to 17 inches of snow? You'd think these structural failures would happen all the time. (They kind of do. This is the fifth such collapse in the 28-year history of the place.)

In the end, though, everybody wins. The Vikings have wanted a new stadium for a while, and this can only help their cause. The Giants get to play a crucial late-season "road game" at a stadium filled with fans of their opponents' division rivals. (Not quite as good as the Saints' post-Katrina "home game" at the Meadowlands, but it'll do.) And Detroit's scalpers get to make a little money off of free tickets.