MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph spent his first three seasons playing in the Metrodome, a cramped, dingy noise box that tested the patience of fans and players alike.The home locker room only had five bathroom stalls for 53 players and dozens of coaches and support staff. So when he walked around U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings new $1.1 billion stadium that is set to open this season, he said comparing the two was like ground chuck and filet mignon.The Vikings held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday to mark the official beginning of life in their new home. The celebration featured current coach Mike Zimmer blowing the gjallahorn -- a huge horn used in Viking lore -- with coaching legend Bud Grant by his side and fireworks after a host of speakers praised the new stadium.With a cutting-edge design that includes a translucent roof to allow in the daylight, a wall of glass with 100-foot doors that open to let the autumn breeze in and a locker room that is twice the size of their former home in the Metrodome, U.S. Bank Stadium has thrust the franchise into the 21st century.The Metrodome as a player, its an awesome environment, Rudolph said. Its loud, the turf is fast, its a controlled environment. But the amenities and the fan experience that this place brings, its second to none. Just look at all the things that this place has. Theres probably 10 times the stalls that there were in the Metrodome. We had five for the entire team. That kind of puts it in perspective in terms of our quality of life here in the new stadium.The Vikings spent the previous two years playing in the University of Minnesotas football stadium across town while the Metrodome was taken apart to make room for the new stadium, and the party on Friday was the culmination of 31 months of construction and more than 10 years of lobbying by the Vikings for help from the public in financing the project.I try to think of the proper word, and all I can come up with is awesome, said Grant, the revered coach known for his stoicism during his Hall of Fame career.The Vikings will hold an open house for fans on Saturday and Sunday and thousands are scheduled to attend. The first big event will come with a soccer game between Chelsea and AC Milan next week and the Vikings will hold their first preseason game on Aug. 28. Their home opener is a Sunday night game against NFC North rival Green Bay on Sept. 18.The stadium opens at a time when confidence in the team on the field is reaching a crescendo. The Vikings are coming off a division title and an 11-5 regular season. They lost a heartbreaker in the playoffs to Seattle when Blair Walsh missed the go-ahead field goal in the closing seconds and fans fully expect the team to compete for a Super Bowl berth.When we bought the team, now in our 12th season, we had three goals: to be engaged in the community, build a new home for our Vikings and win championships, owner Mark Wilf said. Two out of three weve done pretty well at. And now, our teams starting to jell. Thats still our ultimate goal. And wouldnt a Lombardi look great here, or multiple Lombardis?Business leaders, designers and architects, politicians and fans all gathered on Friday for the festivities. And a project that was contested from the very beginning received universal praise, even from Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges, who voted against public funding for the project when she was on the city council.Hodges fully acknowledged her initial opposition on Friday, but pointed to the development in a once-run down side of downtown that has boomed with the stadiums arrival. A new city park and more than $1 billion in new apartments and office towers have sprouted in the area around the stadium.The stadium will also host the Super Bowl in 2018, the NCAA mens Final Four in 2019 and ESPNs X-Games in 2017 and 2018.Ten, eight, even five years ago we wouldnt have been able to imagine this transformation, Hodges said. But today we get to let our imaginations run wild about five, eight or 10 years from now, or even beyond. And even so, we still cant imagine all the ways that whats happening right now in this stadium will continue to transform us. Cheap Adidas Superstar Wholesale .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Cheap Adidas Superstar China .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. http://www.superstarcheap.com/ . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. Cheap Adidas Superstar Online . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. Adidas Superstars Sale Cheap . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. CALGARY, Alberta -- The New York Rangers have been a perfect fit for the speedy Michael Grabner.Grabner and Derek Stepan scored in the first period, Henrik Lundqvist stopped 35 shots, and the high-scoring Rangers beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 Saturday night.Grabners team-leading eighth goal 6:32 in the first period gave New York a 1-0 lead. It came on an innocent-looking 2-on-1 rush when his 40-foot wrister beat Brian Elliott on the glove side. In just 15 games, Grabner -- who signed with the Rangers in the offseason -- is just one goal shy of his total in 80 games with Toronto last year.Got off to a good start, got some confidence going and that makes life a little bit easier, the 29-year-old Austrian said. Its been working in my favor the systems here. A lot of guys that can skate here, were trying to keep the game fast and thats obviously my kind of style.Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich also scored for New York, which has won six of seven. The Rangers lead the NHL with 62 goals.Its impressive to see how we create chances every game, Lundqvist said. Sometimes its tough against different lineups, different systems, but weve been able to create a lot of scoring chances. Even the games we havent scored a lot weve had a lot of chances to do so.Asked if he thought the Rangers were the better team despite being outshot 36-28, New York coach Alain Vigneault said.: In the first two periods there was no doubt. We were able to create a couple turnovers, counter attack quickly, and we were able to capitalize on our opportunities.Micheal Ferland spoiled Lundqvists shutout bid with 8:48 remaining and Elliott finished with 24 saves for Calgary, which has lost four straight and six of seven.Flames coach Glen Gulutzan believes the game started to unravel as soon as his club fell behind on Grabners goal.Were fragile right now and to see that go in and spot them one right there when we thought we got off to a good start and had some energy in front of our home fans, its deflating, Gulutzan ssaid.dddddddddddd. This is a really good club and we didnt play near the game that we needed to play and thats on us. Thats on us, thats on the coaching staff and myself.The Flames have been particularly poor at home, having lost five of their last six at the Scotiabank Saddledome.Stepans wrister doubled the Rangers lead with 8:01 left in the opening period.Vesey made it 3-0 at 9:26 of the second as he steered a pass from Ryan McDonagh through Elliotts pad. Buchnevich then finished off a lengthy passing sequence with 5:38 remaining in the period, scoring for the fourth straight game.The boos from the home crowd began and the Flames were also booed as they left the ice at the end of the game.Not a good game, Calgary captain Mark Giordano said. They came out, they had a team that we knew had a lot of speed and a lot of fire power up front. We werent hard enough, bottom line. They made us pay.Ferland got the Flames on the board in the third, ending their 0-for-28 drought on the power play at home.Game notes Elliott fell to 3-8-0, matching his loss total from last season -- when he was 23-8-6 with St. Louis. ... New York is 4-0-1 in its last five against Calgary and 7-1-1 in the last nine meetings. ... Flames D Dennis Wideman was back in the lineup after being scratched the last four games. .... Calgary rookie LW Matthew Tkachuk (wrist) skated this morning, prior to practice. Hes considered day-to-day... Flames C Matt Stajan was moved to left wing on the line with Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik. ... Buchnevich, the Rangers 21-year-old Russian rookie, had 16 goals in the KHL last season. ... Kevin Hayes and Brad Skjei each had their six-game point streaks snapped for the Rangers.UP NEXTRangers: At Edmonton on Sunday in the second game of a four-game trip. The Rangers won 5-3 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 3.Flames: At Minnesota on Tuesday night. 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