The Purple People Eaters

Since I grew up in Connecticut, people are always amazed when I tell them I am a Minnesota Vikings fan.  Usually they'll ask if I'm from Minnesota or if I have family there.  The answer usually surprises people when I answer no to those two questions.

The reason I became a Vikings fan is because of television and the weekly NFL Films highlight show on Saturday evenings featuring the voice of John Facenda and the music of Sam Spence.

Let's also not forget that the Vikings were pretty good in the late 60's and throughout the 70's.

But it was that highlight show that did it for me.  Whenever they showed the Vikings it always seemed to be snowing.  They were led by Bud Grant, Fran Tarkenton, Bill Brown, and the fearsome Purple People Eaters (Allen Page, Carl Eller, Jim Marshall, and Greg Larson).

I remember coach Bud Grant's rules for playing in cold weather:   No gloves, no long johns, hand warmers, or long sleeves.  Grant would say if you're thinking of the cold, you're not thinking about football.

Grant had another famous rule...no heaters on the sideline.  I remember a playoff game in Los Angeles against the Los Angeles Rams where the team had Minnesota snow shipped to the sidelines for the game.  Guess what?  The Vikings knocked the Rams out of the playoffs that year.

I've never been a collector, but I do remember I had one football card.  The card was of fullback Bill Brown.  He had a crew cut and looked like one tough SOB.

One of the legendary Viking tales has Bill Brown walking onto the field whenever it was zero

degrees with no sleeves or socks and picking scabs off his body in front of the opposing teams.  He would then proceed to smear the blood all over his uniform.

It was this romanticism that led me to become a Vikings fan.

My dad took me to see the Vikings play the Giants at the Yale Bowl December 16, 1973.  It was actually my dad's birthday that day and as luck would have it, the snow was whipping around the bowl.  By the way, the Vikings destroyed the Giants 31- 7.  I remember the crowd throwing snowballs at the Vikings mascot and watching as he used his shield to block them.

The Vikings played in four Super Bowls, but unfortunately, lost each of them.

When the Vikings moved indoors to the Metrodome, they lost a lot of their identity, but I still followed them.

There was the time we were partying all day and watched them beat the powerful 49ers behind a great game by Anthony Carter.  After the game I had a date, so I gathered myself as best I could to meet her at a nearby restaurant.  After five minutes of me babbling about this great victory, she gathered her things and left ( I don't know if it was the one way conversation or the effects of about ten too many beers).  As she left I called out after her, "I can't believe you're 25 years old and aren't mature enough to accept the fact that the Vikes won."  What does that mean?  I don't know, but I never saw her again.

During my truck driving career, I would drive out of route to catch a Vikings game (even if it meant driving all night to be in Chicago by morning).

I watched Gary Anderson miss his first field goal of the year against Atlanta as they were about to win an NFC championship to get to the Super Bowl.

I prepared to watch them play the Giants for the right to go to the Super Bowl.  I was excited, had company coming over, and it was going to be a purple party.  Unfortunately, my daughters were very sick on the morning of the game.  Everyone was crying and I was forced to cancel the party.  Before the game, I said a silent prayer to God.  God, if you're listening, I don't really care about the Vikings.  Please just let my girls be okay.

If you ever want proof in the existence of God...the Giants obliterated the Vikings that day 41- 0 to earn the right to go to the Super Bowl and my girls were fine (just a nasty virus).  I know what I said to God that day but 41 - 0...did he have to take it so literally?

Tomorrow's game looks like it's going to be cold.  The forecast is talking about it being zero degrees with a minus 20 wind chill factor.  It sounds like some of the good old-fashioned outdoor Viking football that I fell in love with as a child.

The Vikings are scheduled to have a new indoor stadium next year (and yes, I'm making plans to attend one game during their inaugural season at their new home), but for now there is something happening tomorrow that hasn't happened since 1976...the Vikings are playing an outdoor home playoff game.

They're not going to win a Super Bowl this year, but how about just one more outdoor, cold weather victory for a long suffering fan?  Is that really asking too much?  - SKOL!