One day at the Weinmann residence (which is my mother's side of the family), my Uncle Timm and Uncle Carl were having a "friendly" discussion about football. Now, I don't know, the exact conversation. I mean, this was a conversation in the late 70's or early 80's, but it was something like...
Timm: Earl Campbell is going to kick some Viking ass today!
Carl: The Oilers suck...shut up.
Timm: I'm thinking 100 yards and three touchdowns!!!
Carl: Again, the Oilers suck...shut up.
Yes, this continued for the entire game and when Earl Campbell did blow up, Timm ran around Carl bragging about how his favorite player destroyed the Vikings. Carl got mad and punched Timm in the face, right in front of my Grandpa Jerry. Jerry got annoyed and screamed "YOU'RE GROUNDED!!!"...to Timm.
As you can see, the Vikings are very important to my family, but many Minnesota households as well...some more than others. But why do I like the Vikings? I could easily take the "I'm from Minnesota" route, but I think it's more complex than that.
First, you may hate the Metrodome, I know I want the Vikings to get a new stadium, but in reality it's perfect for football. Better than Lambeau Field in my opinion.
I know what you're thinking...you think I'm still drunk from the tequila binge I went on last night. Not really. You see the Dome is great because it's like an asylum for opposing team. The Dome is so crappy that if someone broke a seat, or started pounding on the air vents in the back of the stadium to make noise, well it just means the more the better.
Take the Cowboys game for example. A week's rage was stuffed into that Dome when every expert said the Cowboys were going to destroy the Vikings. We all know how that turned out. Under a loud, and raging crowd, the Cowboys got their ass kicked 34-3.
Now there's more than that. Maybe I just like rooting for my team. The Vikings have a history similar to the Cubs. With half the time frame between championships, but hear me out. They've choked so much, they're deemed losers. When you cheer for a loser, it feels better when you win.
That's why when a Packer fan cries out three Super Bowls, I just know that the Vikings one Super Bowl will mean more than any of their three...that is if they could pull through and actually win it.
So that's why I almost was on the verge of tears when the Vikings were driving down the field in the NFC Championship Game and the thought of "They're going to go to the Super Bowl!" popped into my head. Wrong timing...too many men on the field....interception...blah blah blah.
I'm proud to be a Vikings fan. I almost think that some people hate the Vikings because it's trendy. Hell, who wants to wear anything purple if you don't have to, right? Think of this. How many Twins/Packers fans do you know? There's quite a few. But have you ever seen a Brewers/Vikings fan?
My entire family are huge Vikings fans. Autographs, jerseys, memorbilia, Vikings flasks, you name it and somebody in my family has it. And as you can see, if you cheer against the Vikings, you better cancel your plans for the next two weeks.
So as we come up to another season of football, I'm excited. This will probably be the last chance the Vikings have at winning the Super Bowl for a really long time. Several key players are free agents, and it appears the Purple will be putting their faith in Tarvaris "The Precious" Jackson after this year. Not good.
But that's the thing about Vikings fans...we know what heartbreak is like. It's been likened to stabbing yourself in the face repeatedly and a trailer park trash relationship. If the Vikings fail again, we'll get knocked down, but we'll be back again to cheer them on because what if they actually win it all?
That would be a great feeling.
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