This past weekend I traveled from Boston to Minneapolis to see the Vikings play the Jets. Although I live in New England, and kind of like the Patriots, I kept my allegiance to the Jets since moving from NY. Patti's extended family lives in Minnesota and her uncle Tim, who we are close with (cousin Kara is Tim's daughter) got 4 tickets through work. So on a lark he invited me, not knowing that I would book my ticket that afternoon. One week before Christmas I headed out. Couple of points.
- First, the game was great. The Jets pretty much beat the tar out of the Vikings even though the score was closer than the actual game at 26-13. The Vikings are historically a very successful team and have a huge fan base. I know other teams do as well but there is something different about some teams - The Packers, Redskins, Cowboys, Vikings - that make their fans even more extreme. It was a blast.
- I've been to Jet games in the Meadowlands which is an outdoor arena. Sitting in the cold for 4 or 5 hours is pretty miserable. I like the environment but the weather takes away from it, at least for me. The Vikings play in the Metrodome which is covered. It was about 70 degrees in the stadium while it was cold outside. It was a much more enjoyable game, again, at least to me because some will say the fans and the players are soft because they are basically in a large living room watching the game, but I loved it.
- The Metrodome is known for its noise because it is enclosed. While Kara said it was not as noisy as it usually is, I thought at times it was like sitting near an airplane taking off. More for the fun.
- The Viking symbol is a, well, Viking I guess, a blonde guy with a fu-man-chu mustache wearing a hat with horns sticking out of them. It was unbelievable how creative people got with different versions of this. Some had fake plastic ones, some that were fuzzy and purple and some with actual real ones that could have been worn in actual combat. Good stuff. It's not the Jets fireman hat, but its cool.
- There is a Vikings fight song, called Skol, Vikings, that is sung after the team scores. The Vikings scored right away and after the extra point everyone started singing. I asked Kara what was going on and she pointed to the score board where they had the words to it...
Skol Vikings! Let's win this game
Skol Vikings! Honor your name.
Go get that first down
Then get a touchdown
Rock 'em, sock 'em, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! FIGHT!
Go Vikings, run out the score, you'll hear us yell for more!
V-I-K-I-N-G-S
Skol Vikings, let's go!
While they were singing these people ran around the field with flags that spelled out the team name. It was awesome. I wanted the score to be like 49-47 (in favor of the Jets of course) just so I could sing the fight song. The next and last time the Vikings scored I sang along. I need a good fight song to play after I battle the kids.
- I knew I was among true hardcore fans when, in the second quarter, they started booing the starting quarterback because they were not winning. Then they cheered like it was the beginning of the world when they scored a meaningless touchdown in the second half. You gotta love fans who stay tuned to the game when things are bad.
- They inflate this large blow up viking ship that the players run out of when they first enter the field. Fireworks go off, which I'll admit I was not ready for and made me jump. I wonder how many rabid fans have purchased a similar blow up viking ship for their backyard.
- The other great part of the weekend was seeing Tim and his family. His son just had his second child and Kara's baby is 6 months. Plus I got to stay at the Tim and Deb B&B. Trust me, the best place to stay when visiting Minneapolis. Warm and comfortable bed, private living room and bathroom and three squares a day.
So great football game, fun weekend, time to read on the flight to and from. I'll post some pictures I took after I download them.
PS. From Wikipedia...
Skol (written skal in Norwegian and Swedish, and sometimes "Skoal" in English) is the Norwegian/Swedish/Danish word for a salute or a toast, as to an admired person or group. The meaning of the Scandinavian skalli/skalle: skal means simply "shell" and skal/skal "bowl". There is a popular misconception that the toast comes from the mythical habit of Vikings to drink from cups made from the skulls of their defeated enemies.
Some of the symbols over the letters didn't come out in the blog. If you are really interested, click here
Oh, there is something else I forgot. When they try to get the crowd fired up, or the crowd is going wild after a good play, they play this sound that is like a horn blowing, not a car horn, like a horn taken off an animal. It sounds like something a viking would play when they are getting ready to send other vikings into battle. Something else I wish I could play when I know the kids are getting ready to be trouble. I have a wave file of both the horn and the song if anyone is interested.
