So my wife and I go to Europe for a nice, and well-deserved vacation, and we come back to this! Our Vikings trying to live out a Penthouse forum letter, and prove once again, that the cultural icons of old are long gone. What we have left are nothing more than the bottom feeders of society with million dollar contracts thrown at them because they can perform some athletic task that we find somewhat entertaining.
I miss the Vikings of old.
Sure they choked in the big games, a few of the stars were coke heads, many were "roided"up, but dang it, they played football the way it was meant to be played and to my knowledge, they never had sex parties on chartered boats. They played outside in the dead of winter, they didn't act like gorillas strutting down the field dancing over their conquest when they made a tackle or a first down, they didn't have "people" or an entourage to handle them or party with them, they wore shoes because they needed to run on turf, not because some shoe company was throwing more money at them for endorsing their brand, They played hard, they were a part of the community, and we loved them. Where is Bill Brown, with his short sleeves and crew cut; Dave Osborn running hard up the middle, bow legged; Alan Page, Jim Marshall, Carl Eller, and Gary Larsen, crushing quarterbacks; Paul Krause intercepting passes; and the stoic and beloved leader, Bud Grant? This was the Vikings that Minnesota loved. We have been trying to recover that mystique for decades with new ownership, coaches, and alleged superstar players but the message is now clear, it will never happen, it's over.
For those of you who have been in a cave, or Europe, and don't know about this situation, The Vikes had a bye week and apparently there is some custom of a first year player throwing a party for the rest of the team. Allegedly, a new D back, Fred Smoot, was one of the organizers of the party, although he is now suing for slander, claiming that he was not - it's odd how his body and name somehow went to the charter company and put money down on the boat for the party. The charter company, Al and Almas was happy to accommodate the Vikings and their friends for a 3.5-hour tour of Lake Minnetonka. Apparently there were 90 people that were divided between 2 boats. 17 Vikings were there, arriving in limos, some of which decided to relieve themselves on a lady's lawn before arriving. Apparently they were not bothered when the woman came out of her house and protested, hey they're professional athletes, she should feel lucky to have their urine on her lawn. As the boats left the dock several of the "women" were walking around nude and "performing" for the gang. As things escalated the server crew became frightened when they were offered money to join in. The charter company ended the tour just 40 minutes into the event and returned to the dock but within that short amount of time, the party had time to trash the boats, with sex paraphernalia, etc. Mike Tice, head coach, and new Vikings owner, Zygi Wilf were obviously upset, but I assume their hands are tied because of union rules and contracts. So, as a result, the new Vikings continue to spiral downward toward insignificance and oblivion, and I for one won't shed a tear. My Vikings left a long time ago.
