Something dangerous has been happening in the Twin Cities over the past couple of weeks. Oh, no one's life is in danger (though fairly serious charges might still be filed). I'm speaking of the danger that the Vikings were in of losing their fan base.
In 1998, the Vikes turned this town into a football town. Minnesota has been crazy about the Vikings before, but the combination of a Twins team going nowhere and a second tier basketball team (sorry KG) made the 15-1 Vikes easy to love. Just take a moment and remember that team. They didn't just win games, they blew the opponents off of the field. Rookie Randy Moss set the league on fire with a neverbefore seen combination of speed and size. The image of Randall Cunningham's slingshot deepball is pure poetry.
They broke our hearts (of course) but we still loved them. Not even the 2000 Championship game spoiled them for us. Finishing 5-11 two years in a row was tough, but the corner seemed about to be turned. A good start and subsequent collapse in 2003 also took a bite out of our love but wasn't it just another chapter of Viking disappointment. When the same thing happened in 2004 it hurt again. But...beating the Packers in the playoffs makes up for a lot of hard times.
The offseason saw Moss leave and the arrival of a slate of new defenders. Hope was high. ESPN picked the Vikes to win the Superbowl. And then the season started. This team wasn't good. They weren't bad. They were cover-your-eyes awful. Culpepper couldn't keep from turning the ball over. The offensive line couldn't protect. The receivers were invisible. The running game was feeble. The defense couldn't catch their breath. Or stop the run. Or stop the pass. The best player on the team was the punter. Seriously.
And then came the 'Love Boat'. Players who were bad on the field were depraved off of it. The orginization was embarrased. The coach looked like he'd lost control of the team. 1-15 seemed like a realistic possibility. Empathy set in hard. Facing their biggest rivals, no one talked about the game. Another embarrasing defeat looked likely. All of the good will from 1998 seemed just about gone.
And then the game started. And that embarrasing defeat started to happen. Farve looked unbeatable. The offense couldn't get on track. The Vikes were down 17-0 at the half. And then a funny thing happened. Suddenly, some first downs went our way. And some incompletions for Green Bay. And some scoring for the Vikes. And (amazingly) a Viking lead occured. A small 20-17 lead, to be sure. And with just enough time for Green Bay to go downfield and score again. Which they did, tieing the game with a field goal.
The script for the year would have Culpepper throw another INT, probably a tipped ball. But...fate saw it differently. The Vikes lined up for a 56 yard FG and hit it. And maybe saved the season. If they can play like they did in the second half of the game, they can win some more games. Their division is weak and the hole isn't too big yet.
Will it be enough to make people care again? Get back to .500 and we'll talk. But I suspect they can. And I suspect the apathy will disappear.
1 comment:
I was upset the Vikings won. How pathetic. Winning one game will distract everyone. That's why people were really upset - because they weren't winning, not because of they're total lack of moral character. What a bunch of over-inflated egos!!
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