After a recent snowstorm in Minnesota, the roof of the Metrodome in Minneapolis collapsed. Snow? In Minnesota? In the winter? Who could have seen that coming, aside from Nostradamus?

“But it was a really big snow,” one observer said, glossing over the fact that the main purpose of a roof is to keep out, among other things, a lot of snow. It’s those really heavy snows where roofs especially come in handy. And, as went surprisingly unreported, no other roofs collapsed. Then there was this bit of wisdom from another commentator: “It’s 30 years old, it should be replaced.” So that explains the roof collapse; it wasn’t designed to keep the snow out, it was designed to make imploding the whole thing easier. Then we can build a newer, more expensive one in a better neighborhood that will last for, if we’re lucky, 15 years. This is a process that’s been taking place on a yearly basis in cities with major league, or even really good Little League, ball teams.