Today, I went with a few of my friends from law school to watch the Vikings play the Broncos at the Metrodome. I haven't gone to an NFL game since I was in 9th grade, and frankly, I haven't been much of a football fan since Gary Anderson missed that field goal in the NFC Championship Game back in 1998. However, I do feel loyalty toward the Vikings, and I've been watching them this year - perhaps after the disastrous Twins season, I needed something to fill my unconscious desire for sporting futility.
Truly though, I was especially excited to see the Vikings for this reason. Through the miracle of modern technology, I can show you the following photographs.
You'll notice the fellow in the hat and scarf - that's Hubert H. Humphrey, who is maybe Minnesota's most famous politician. In the second photograph, Humphrey is shaking hands with Bud Grant, who is the most famous Vikings coach ever - he led them to four Super Bowls. The next two photos are of Fran Tarkenton, who is in the Hall of Fame, and is probably one of the greatest Viking players. The final photo is of a cheerleader on a cold winter Sunday, her excitement undimmed by the ice and snow.
I found these photos maybe two years ago, after my grandma passed away. They were tucked away in her basement, along with a stack of many other photographs, which I also now have. I finally figured out that it was my grandpa that took all these photos.
He was a photographer, and he used to cover the Twins and Vikings for a local Bloomington paper when they both came to Minnesota in 1961. The Old Met, as it was called, was not too far away from their house. Because he was a photographer, my grandpa got to know all the players, and got to spend time in the clubhouse. When my dad was little, he took him to a game of the 1965 World Series between the Twins and the Dodgers. To this day, my prized possession is a baseball that my grandpa had signed by the entire 1965 American League Championship Twins, including Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva.
What I like about these photos, and what made me want to go to see the Vikings today, is that, to me, they represent all that is great about Minnesota, all that is great about family. I love seeing these people from a generation ago, watching the same game with people in the same helmets as are worn today - I bet they also sang the same words to "Skol Vikings" as folks did this afternoon. I like to see them out in the cold snow, and enjoying it. Most of all, perhaps I like seeing things get passed down through the ages.
As dismissive as I am sometimes about football, today I saw so many fathers/mothers bringing their young sons or daughters to the football game, paying an exorbitant price to get "Skol Vikings" facepainted on their faces, cheerfully buying the $12 souvenir popcorn bucket. It made me wonder what sort of silliness people in 1961 did to try and share a passion with a kid, to try and get them to understand something that was meaningful to them. One of the more poignant moments, was at the end when a father was trying to console his daughter, who was crying because the Vikings had lost. Dad, decked out in an Adrian Peterson jersey, had obviously purchased the same purple jersey for his daughter, who was also wearing a fluffy Viking helmet (maybe mom got that).
It reminded me of going with my dad to watch the Twins every summer at the Metrodome, no matter how terrible they were; of my parents buying me Twins shirts and hats; my mom waiting in line with me for five hours so I could get a real autographed Kirby Puckett card. That it turn made me think 50 years back, when my grandpa took my dad to the bleachers at Met Stadium to watch Harmon Killebrew hit home runs. Someone took my mom too - because she talked about seeing "Killer" too.
Then again, I don't often think in sepia tones of a drunken Broncos fan stumbling up to the Metrodome trough, looking down at the 8 year old Vikings fan peeing next to him, and slurring "nice stream little man." So maybe today's game wasn't all golden memories and souvenir buckets of popcorn...
My point being, I am no longer dismissive of the Vikings, or the people who are passionate about them. Maybe I will still think there is a certain level of insanity necessary to paint one's entire body purple and gold, but again, I am still planning on burning my Twins hat in a funeral pyre to put the 2011 campaign finally to rest. Maybe there isn't so much difference after all.
Sports are often criticized as being too hyped, as numbing people to issues that really matter. I'm guilty of this - often, I'd much rather talk about the Twins' starting rotation for next summer than people being oppressed in Syria. That's probably not awesome. Sometimes though, it's the relationships and memories that flow therefrom that are the most important thing.
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