MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The regular season opening of the Minnesota Vikings' gleaming new $1.1 billion stadium was truly a grand one, filled with gray-haired legends, white-hot pyrotechnics and some purple rain for good measure.
And noise. Lots and lots of noise.
The Vikings opened U.S. Bank Stadium in earnest on Sunday night with a 17-14 victory over NFC North rival Green Bay, the culmination of a decade-long struggle to replace the drab and dingy Metrodome.
The fixed-roof beauty has already hosted a soccer game, a couple of concerts and two preseason football games. But this was its first truly big moment, with a showdown against the hated Packers in front of a primetime, national television audience serving as the perfect backdrop.