…if we get a good QB and a #1 receiver for next year!

I’ve wondered this many, many, MANY times. What would I do??

I mean… I live in northern Illinois, so it’s not like the location crucially ties down my allegiance… but I love Minnesota. I love Minneapolis. I love driving up there for games and hitting up Corner Bar and Bullwinkle’s, and hoppin’ on the Hiawatha to the Mall. I’ve never lived closer than 5 hours from Minneapolis, but when I’m there, I feel like I’m home.

So what would I do??

Would I change my allegiance to the “hometown” team, and root for the Bears?

Absolutely not.

Would I root for my neighbors to the north, Green Bay?

When hell freezes over.

Would I root for a team that just moved thousands of miles away and broke my heart?

Perhaps. I’m not sure. I’d have a hard time not being able to see some home games of my favorite team.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, this scenario would ultimately crush me. I would have no idea how to react, and I seriously hope I never have to find out. Every year that seems to be more and more of a reality though. I love football, I love Minnesota, and I love the Vikings. I hope those three can somehow stay tied together for a long, long time.

For me, NFL football would lose a lot of it’s luster. The changes they’ve made since the ‘70s have, in my mind, made football more of a commodity package than the carefully crafted and developed team of men that it once was. Between the draft system doing what it’s supposed to do (the great leveler between teams) and free agency, and the upheld right of a team to be moved by it’s owner wherever the owner chooses (damn you Al Davis!), the identity of a team in today’s NFL isn’t as solid as once was.

That being said, I’m not a Minnesotan. Never have been. And a large percentage of the folks who post here are not in Minnesota either. So maybe a lot of folks could make the leap, I don’t know.

I’m not sure I like the idea of what being based in LA would do to the Vikings, regardless of who was on the squad. There’s a lot of times when I think the puritanical notions of ‘lets have a team that’s squeaky clean’ does more harm than good when the Vikings seem like the only team that pushes the issue, and the jerks just go play elsewhere for much more money and a better shot at a Super Bowl ring. But at the same time, at least the Vikings try to keep it clean and I really do like that.

I don’t know for sure what I’d do, but I suspect that, while the Purple will always have a special place in my heart, if they went to LA, I’d find other things to do in the winter.

Oh, and I would never forget, nor forgive, Minnesota, for fucking things up.

I would be crushed if the Vike’s left MN. I could not support a team based in LA.
I remember when the North Stars left MN. I was devistated. And I am almost never happier then when the Wild beat the Dallas Stars (a team I can never root for).
If the Vike’s left MN, I would have to forgoe following Football until we got an expansion team, and that would lead to years of heartbreack as it would inveriably take years to build a contender. and that is assuming the new leadership, and coaches were competent (and lucky) right from the get go. if they were not, it could be 2 decades of mediocre or bad football.
LA should never get a pro football team. they have a hard enough time supporting the pro teams they do have, and it was nothing short of unmitigated disaster that last time they tried to move a footbal team their. LA’ans only care about movie stars, not sports.

But being an out of state fan, I don’t think I would be as crushed as native Vikings. Then again, I don’t think I can really understand how utterly horrible it would be unless it were to actually happen. It would just be so… wrong. So horribly, horribly wrong. That being said, if it did happen, I would definitely NEVER EVER FORGIVE THE POLITICIANS OF MINNESOTA!!!

that the vikings would no longer be the vikings if they moved to another city. I am guessing they would change the name like the Baltimore ravens(browns). I would hope that i it were to happen we would have a chance of opening up an expansion team with the vikings name and starting where we left off.

I honestly don’t know. I haven’t really followed hockey for over 15 years because of the North Stars leaving Minnesota, and I had long moved away from my native land when it happened. Now, I’m trying to get into the St Louis Blues, but it’s hard. I loved the North Stars growing up, almost as much as the Vikings. I hate the Dallas Stars, just hate ‘em. ANd I never identified with the Wild. Never idnetified with the T’Wolves, either. They came around after I had left.

My only tie left with the state of Minnesota, my heritage, is the Vikings. I left Minnesota when I was 16, my family moved away not too terribly long after I did, so I guess the main reason I don’t want them to move from Minnesota is because I would feel like I’m losing a little bit of my identity, in a strange way.

I will always identify the Vikings with Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman, the Purple People Eaters, and Met Stadium, because growing up with them was an idyllic part of my life, and if the Vikings move, it will be one more reminder that I that much farther away from my days of youth, and that idyliic time is gone forever. And that makes me a little sad.

The Vikes in Minnesota means my universe is in the proper order, and that maybe, if I am blessed enough to have a grandson, I can tell him about those days growing up on the Minnesota prairie, and I can pass down something of me that will live on in him.

If they move, it won’t mean as much. If they move, I can still cheer for them, as long as they keep their uniform, logo, and colors If they do a Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens deal, no fuckin’ way, I’m done. If the Vikings uniform, logo, and colors stay in Minnesota and they create an expansion team, no fuckin’ way, I’m done.

I s’pose I’d try and get into the Rams, but word here is LA would like them to be the team that moves back…restore the heritage, blah blah blah. If there is no pro team in my city, I would immerse myself in college football. I know those teams aren’t ever leaving.

Now, if the Vikes moved to St Louis, I’d have 50 yard line season tickets, and I wouldn’t care if they called them the St louis Anal Plugs and wore pink uniforms.

But that’s just me.

Keeping the name Vikings if they move makes about the same amount of sense as the Lakers keeping their name…

…so they probably will.

Get this down Minn. Vikings fans. If the NFL allows a move, the new city does not get the name! Cleveland fans went to court over their name, we should too. No more of this Lakers/North Stars crap taking a name associated with our state to some rich fat cats in the South.
Go to court. Fight for the name and team records while we’re at it.
I don’t even get into the Wild Like I did the North Stars and would be hard to stomach the Vikings name in another city. By the way the Wild owners should go back to the North Stars name and trademark. I get sick of these fancy “artwork” logos. Retro NHL was better. Could you imagine what some goof would come up with if we got an entirely new franchise? Makes me wanna barf!
Build the dang stadium, people need the jobs and if we are going to 5 years down the road, do it now while it is cheaper and we still have our team.
KEEP OUR NAME IN MINN.!

of the Vikings playing anywhere but Minnesota. Some of my fondest memories of this team were when they built their reputation playing at the Old Met in sub-freezing temperatures. The image of the Purple People Eaters lining up on the snow covered field with the steam from their breathing making them look like raging bulls preparing to charge still echos many years later. Minnesota. The cold. The snow. The Vikings. It all fit so perfectly together. Even now, over 27 years later, I have a hard time getting used to them playing indoors but to see them leave for a warmer climate? That would be unbearable.

I sure as hell hope they don’t move I’m 17 years old just been getting into football.. BIG time.. and it wouldn’t be the same if they moved.. if they do move however, they better keep the Viking name in Minnesota. Wouldn’t work in LA or whatever. But when the stadium lease is about to run out is when you will see a BIG push for a new stadium so don’t worry to much yet.

I’m becoming a Chiefs fan.

L.A. approved funding for a private stadium should a team move there. Uh oh. Hope people in Minnesota decide to fund a new stadium soon. Link from the NFC North Blog.

NFC North Blog: Funding for L.A. Stadium

MSp is the 16th largest metropolitan area within the United States. The Star Tribune is the 15th largest newspaper in the country. And the Twin City’s media market is 15th. There is more than sufficient numbers to support an NFL franchise. Not to mention all of us who live outside the state boarders and bleed purple and gold. And to give you an idea of where the Vikings and their surrounding area rank among other teams here are some numbers: Nashville metro: 39th. Jacksonville: 40th. Indianapolis: 33rd. Kansas City: 28th. pittsburgh: 22nd. And the list goes on. How the state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities in particular even lets this subject (the Vikes moving( become an issue is freaking beyond me. They say that you don’t know what you have until you loose it. Maybe thats not too far from the truth.

But isn’t it ironic? The Twins bring up talent and then sell, or loose, them to free agency in the big markets. Kind of follows suit with the MSp area…develop a total franchise….build the fan base….and then sell, sell, sell. (Lakers and Stars

Grant them an expansion team. If the NFL wants to play a wild card in hopes that will entice Minn into building a stadiun, so be it. But have expansion (for LA) in the back pocket before you do it
I still think it was stupid of the Vikes not to push to share the new Gopher stadium and put the $ in to build luxury suites they wanted. It’s not like fans were not going to come and made more sense using it more than the Gophs would alone. Sorry, but the excuses were stupid!
Love your memories PurpleGray. I remember a St. Louis Cards playoff game where we bundled up in the right field end zone freezing, but stayed for every play.
Remember-THEY DON’T GET THE NAME! Fight for it if it happens fans.
P.S. There are Vikes fans all over down here in my area. Most have never lived in Minnesota. They do not want the team moving from Minnesota. I don’t know what it is. It is like a fairy tale land to them. Not LA, not anywhere but my beloved Minnesota. I have spoken with others from other areas of the country who love the Vikes and are the same way. They have never been there, but to move would be a sin.
Can any out-of -state blogging Vikes fans testify to this? The Vikes get visitor revenue at away games and Vikes fans show up by the hundreds, if not thousands. I hit 4 games this year, 2 while visiting home.
Anyway, it makes me wonder how many visitors who are non-native Vikes fans contribute to a small piece of tourism revenue for the state.

To this day, I won’t watch an NHL game because the Stars headed south.

The NFL is a different matter though. If the team left the state I would follow the Vikings but probably not a new team like the Minnesota Nordicats or whatever they determine will be the most profitable nickname for the team.

My hope is that if the Vikings do leave, that the NFL would have enough respect for the Minnesota fan base that the team name, history, and records remain as well so that any expansion team can be honored by suiting up in purple and call themselves the Vikings.

Unfortunately, ‘tradition’ suggests the team will end up moving. When you look at the history of the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts, and the Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens, you see some very similar situations. In the case of the Colts, the Baltimore and the state of Maryland did some incredibly stupid things that pushed the issue (read the Wikipedia entry on the Colts for a real eye-opener), and while it upset a lot of people to see their team go away, where the hell were they when the issue was on the table and able to be resolved? They were moaning and groaning about the expense that another city was more than thrilled to figure out how to cover in order to have an NFL franchise bearing their name.

Personally, I would love to see the Vikings not only stay in Minnesota, but do so in an open-air stadium where football could once again be played in the snow and ice as it was meant to be. Heated seats for the fans of course :) . Not that this is likely, if a new stadium is built, they’re going to wait to be eligible to host a Super Bowl and that means a roof.