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Additional Minnesota Viking Commentary

Minnesota Vikings Pivotal Game - the 2 for 1 contest!
Sunday, December 2, 2007 - The Detroit Lions come to visit the Minnesota Vikings in the Metrodome.  Adrian Peterson returns.  A blackout is looming.  The NFC's 6th playoff seed looms off in the distance.  This should be a no-question sellout in Minnesota.  What a disappointment to hear that four (4) corporate sponsors were required to purchase the last 2000 tickets available for this game.  

What I am about to tell you next may be unnerving.  These corporate sponsors may have made a monumental mistake as there maybe more money gained by allowing it to be blacked out for the Viking faithful.  All selling-out this contest does is apply pressure directly upon the powers that-be of the NFL. 

Maybe the greatest game ever played in Orchard Park, New York was a first round playoff contest pitting the Houston Oilers versus the Buffalo Bills.  What you may not know was that it was blacked out in Buffalo and in Rochester, New York (75 mile radius) because 80,000 playoff tickets had to be sold within 2 or 3 days.  This game was played without Jim Kelly and it was the greatest comeback in Buffalo Bills history.  I remember this like it was yesterday, because I has to listen to it on the radio, surrounded by Buffalo Bills fans that said the game was over early in the second period.  What this game did is propel the Buffalo Bill's back to the Superbowl.   

It also seems like yesterday, that the Pittsburgh Steelers traveled to the Metrodome in a pivotal must win situation.  As it turns out, this was the Steelers stepping stone to their fifth Superbowl Championship, as a number 6 AFC playoff seed.  If they had lost that game, the Steelers would not have even qualified for the playoffs.  Talk about history!  

How could a potential Viking fan ticket holder, on this day, be so cavalier.  Have they forgotten the 6th seeded Steelers winning it all?  Well, NFL commissioner, it is our hope that you are listening... there's a reason for it ... our hearts can only take so much disappointment and for some, they can take no more! 

Let us remember: 
96' - The Lambeau Leap
97' - Elway's first after three Super Bowl loses.  The first of the 0-4 Super Bowl loss franchises to win the big one.   
98' - No Modern Day (Hall of Fame) Quarterback has gone out (retired) on top
99' - The greatest Show on Turf.  The first dome team to win it all. 
00' - The old Cleveland Franchise (maybe one of the most deserving franchises to date (remember the last NFL Championship was over the Cleveland Browns, Let's not forget Elway's drive ... twice) other than the Vikings, finally wins it all, etc., etc ... This debt was paid in 2000, as the Cleveland franchise, and all it's debt equity, was paid off to the Baltimore Raven's.   Cleveland has a new owner and franchise ... and let's not forget a new stadium.  

Well Vikings fans!  The Buzz has finally landed in Minnesota and it lies at the feet of this breath of fresh air, this unassuming kid by the name of Adrian Peterson.  This is the story of 2007.  The whole NFL is gushing over this kid and tomorrow, versus the Detroit Lions, it maybe the stuff of legend, and the Minnesota Vikings can't get the tickets sold in Minnesota.  Hello!  NFL Commissioner ... are you listening!

Not so long ago a momentous game in baseball occurred that would have pitted the Chicago Cubs versus the Boston Red Sox.  These two ball clubs represented two of the most storied franchises in the history of sport, as at the time, they were one and two when it came to franchise futility since they last won the world series.  If this match-up had occurred, there would have been little old ladies and impartial viewers and A-typical viewers of all sorts and types tuning in. That's not to mention "The displaced", the results of the shenanigans of baseball, finally  tuning in.  It was baseballs' marketing opportunity of a lifetime, and it just didn't happen.  This momentous event marks the ultimate difference between baseball and football.  In baseball, it didn't happen ... it football, it will happen.  This is what that streak from 96' onward represents.  It was the NFL's departure from only a very few teams dominating all the NFL championship games.  

What this string of NFL championships also represents is what is good for the NFL ... and what is good for the NFL is allot more money?  The Vikings are in desperate need of a new stadium for one reason only ... revenue.  They are now at the very bottom of the totem pole.  Here's the rub about corporate welfare.  There isn't going to be a stadium built of the backs of the good people of Minnesota, and it's neighboring region of supporters, without that NFL Superbowl championship.   NFL Commissioner ... are you listening!

Mr. commissioner, if you are listening, then here are some things to ponder.  You've been told that if New York is in this championship game, then NY viewer will flood the market with money.  You've been told that Chicago will bring you to the promised land, but it didn't happen.

What the Minnesota Vikings represent is a history of pain.  The Minnesota Vikings are now manned by a group of young fresh faced individuals combined with hard working lunch pail type veterans.  They've jettisoned the bad boys of the NFL.  The NFL is desperately seeking repair to its tarnished image ... and the Vikings organization now represents this blue print.  

We will be the biggest underdog in the history of the NFL.  This franchise was the first to lose four Superbowl's.  As 2007 NFC's sixth seed, our history dictates that we have no chance whatsoever of winning on the road.  For god sake, we are the poster child of "The-Dome-Team" that can't win the big one.  We are the fodder of NFL's grandpa ... John Madden.  

What you may not have envisioned is that there is a unforeseen groundswell of support for this team.  We are what the people want ... a team that gutted itself to rebuild into what it's past represented.  I've never seen so many people rooting for my beloved Vikings as when they were the unquestioned underdog ... David versus Goliath.  Our players, past and present, know it only too well.  Goliath, on the surface, will be represented by a team like the Patriots ... but in fact, our true foe represent much more ... well beyond any simple team.  Goliath is represented by our history and an unobtainable destiny.   

Every Viking players realizes that if we lose this pending contest with the Lions is counts 2 for 1.  It's not only a conference loss, it's a divisional loss, where there is no way to rebound to make the 2007 playoffs.  History is now at hand.      

If and when the Minnesota Vikings ever do make it back to the Superbowl, it will be done so in a manner never witnessed before.  We will not be playing within the confines of the Metrodome.  We will be playing under the influence of the 12th man, they way it used to be, under the influence of weather or under the influence of our beloved fan base.  This is when the importance of our a running game will become so dominant and necessary ... a key factor that abandoned us in our prior four Superbowl contests.  

There will be one more unintended consequence ... the Vikings will be the dog in this final contest.  Speaking as arguably one of the greatest Viking fans of all time, it can be said that my money, and allot of it, will be on the other team ... and it doesn't matter what team represent the AFC.  This offer will be head-up with no points required.  In either case, I will be in a win-win situation (think about it).  The only problem is the Vikings will not be losing this contest.  This wager will not stand alone.

The Viking Ghost Writer
MyVikingBlood.com
Date: 12.01.07

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