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Nate -> RE: General Vikes Talk (9/10/2025 1:18:58 AM)
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Look, I was born in Minnesota. Most of my relatives still reside there. My immediate family moved us around the US through the years and I wound up in Colorado. The fact is...I was born in MN, most my family is in MN, and I bleed purple, and as painful as it is now, surrounded by Donkey fans, which, btw, are more gracious than Packer or Bears fans are, it is, at times, unbearable... My immediate family converted to KC Chiefdom, which, to me, is as terrible as the Protestant vs Catholic war in our small MN town, which then determined where half of each side of my family was buried. While I stew on that ridiculousness, I argue with my recently converted KC family, why it's blasphemy to leave your birth state team regardless of success rate in the big dance. While I work through all those mental battles, I was extremely irritated again at KOC to not play the starters more in preseason. JJM is not ARogers, he's not Brady, not Marino, he's a rookie, and a rookie with almost no experience. Practicing well against the Patriots, and assuming that's "all I need to see" is ****ing ridiculous. Get reps, if you are worried about injuries, well, like Bridgewater, even practice can be scary. You know, it's not about winning or losing in the preseason but about getting some real game reps before the ones that count actually start. Since we saddled the starters, like many teams, we came out and looked like balls, through 3/4 of the first game and I can only say that not only did the players play like they were in preseason, but the coaches did as well. That was some horrific play calling on both sides of the ball in the first half. But, despite my chagrin, somewhere after the pick 6, JJM decided, enough was enough. Despite some of my angst about his college career, the kid, which IMO has insane discipline for a youngster, decided he, at 22 years old, was going to win the game. And.....he did. I don't know if ultimately he has the physical tools to be a great QB in this league, but what I do like is that he is for the team, and will carry anyone on his back that needs it. I can get behind that attitude, that team spirit, that willingness to do whatever it takes to win, regardless of any physical limitations that might exist. That attitude is almost Jim McMann like, Tom Brady like, succeed just because I will it to be so. I don't know where we'll end up this year. I was a raging lunatic in the first half, cursing all that exists and the woes of being from MN. The 3rd quarter cemented my anger, my panic, my woe. Then, like a small light in the cave of wonders, the 4th quarter began. JJM had the look of those warriors who will win or die trying, and like my old pal Gandolf once said, "It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt, we do not." My dispair turned to hope, then to pride, then to fear of a comeback like many of us oldies have seen in our time. Then, while most of armchair America hoped that we'd return the kick at the end, to get past the 2min warning....KOC, who we constantly bash for lack of game decision awareness...waves an onlooking kick returner, Chandler, to return the kick, even 8 yards deep in the endzone, to burn the time past the 2min warning. I was almost beside myself in disbelief, that our coach might actually have graduated to the next level of game strategy. It's a breath of fresh air. And, even though we couldn't get the first down to seal it, we did burn down the clock enough to make it extremely unlikely that the Bears could drive down enough to tie it up. Good win, great first game for our rookie QB, and I'm hopeful that we may have a QB who may just dare to win, regardless of what anyone tells him. Skol Vikes, let the games begin.... The roller coaster of Vikings fandom has pulled me in again, and put me through the ringer in game 1. But......I love it, and...I hate it.
Unlike Hygge or Lagom and surely not Lykke, I embrace Kalsarikanni fandom, or at least wearing some pants while I brood over uncontrollable events that determine the outcome, week to week, of my tribal desire for my football team to own their contrived, fictitious opponents en route to the ultimate prize, Superbowl winners. My uncle, at 86 years old, does not want to go to assisted living until we win a Superbowl. I can relate. If we win before he's gone, I will celebrate with him, like I was 12, and we'll both be ok with passing on to the next life, with our ultimate bucket list item being marked complete. Rangers did it, Cubs did it, we can do it. Let's get it done. Cheers to all of you fans, no matter your age or your level of bitterness. Ultimately we want the same thing, to be the last one standing at the end. For all of us that watched countless games, with our Dads on Sunday's only to be crushed at year's end....our time will come. As Malcom Forbes said, "Victory is sweetest when you’ve known defeat.” We've seen immeasurable defeat, so victory most certainly....will be sweet.
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