My day in Detroit...a Vikings tale.
by i_am_pure_barbarian on Sep 21, 2009 9:08 AM CDT
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My brothers! I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday watching our beloved purple get another win. I most certainly did.
I began the day at 5:30, showered up, made sure I had all the necessary items for the game, and began the long trek up to Detroit by 6 a.m. Four hours later I was in Detroit, wandering the somewhat desolate streets and examining Comerica Park and Ford Field. The doors opened at 11, and I stepped inside. One of the first to enter...a Vikings fan.
A few of the players were on the field stretching and warming up, so I headed down and watched them from the seats behind the Minnesota bench. It was unreal to see all the players so close. Longwell, Harvin, Henderson, Greenway, and others were within 15 feet of me. No real conversations took place between us, but some fan/player interaction took place. It was very exciting.
A couple things that surprised me. Favre is smaller than he appears on screen. Tahi is a BEAST! And Calvin Johnson is just plain huge. Seeing all of them close up was an incredible experience. Berrian is ridiculously thin...and very fast. I could go on and on talking about each of the players...but I'll move on.
Game time approached, so I headed to my seat. Section 115 (in the endzone on the left side of the goal post), Row 11, seat 9. Fantastic seats for the price I paid. Unfortunately, despite seeing hordes of Vikings fans prior to the game, I was stuck in the middle of one of the more raucous Detroit sections.
You all know what happened during the game, so I won't recount that for you. Except Peterson's TD run. Before the play began I called his touchdown run...and he came through...running into the endzone directly in front of me. I went crazy cheering for him and then turned to some of the Lions fans that were heckling me about Peterson all game and just winked and pointed to my jersey. They were silent on that topic the rest of the game.
Well, I could really talk about this all day and tell you all countless trivial little details that made my day so special...but it might get a little boring for you...so I'll conclude.
The game ended and I exited the stadium, high-fiving all the other Vikings fans, happy as ever, and tired. My first official Vikings game was a blast and it made me very excited for the day that I get to see them at home, as well as the rest of the season.
SKOL VIKES!!
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Nice!
I wish I was within 500 miles of a place the Viks played, that’s what I get for living in BFE. Sounds like a blast!!!
Bumfuq, Egypt. It's a real place, appears on maps, north and west of Cairo :)
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
SKOL!
Thanks for sharing!
Sounds like was a good time (plus we won, YEAH!)….
by vikingfanfrom afar on Sep 21, 2009 9:33 AM CDT reply actions
Me too
I was there too. I spent two hours before the game tailgating, before taking my spot in the end-zone opposite yours. Is that a great stadium or what?
I was surprised at how many purple jerseys there were. I was even more surprised at a number of people wearing green & yellow #4 jerseys. Perhaps the world really is coming to an end after all…
I enjoyed the score in the 2nd half, but it was a little sad having the enthusiasm sucked out of Ford Field. I ALWAYS want my Vikings to win, but it is hard to get much pleasure out of watching the Lions lose, ya know? Packers or Bears or Colts or anyone else would be a different story.
Beating the Lions is a little like the first time you win a fight against your big sister – it is a relief to have not lost, but it is hard to really enjoy the victory.
Good analogy on the big sister thing
I feel bad for them. Vikes fans can appreciate what i’t like ot keep losing (though for us it’s superbowls). And I personally was part of a HS track team that finally snapped a state record for most consecutive dual meet losses. So … been there.
I’m cheering for Lions to beat Redskins next week, personally. Although if they don’t pull that off, beating Bears week after would be even better ;)
TV versus real life
I remember the first time I saw Michael Jordan play live, instead of on a TV. I did not have great seats, but even from the upper section, what I remember vividly was how much high MJ jumped than everyone else — on his jump shot mostly. He just elevated so much higher. I never really saw that clearly when I watched on TV.
Same thing when I went to see the Red Sox play the Yankees once 25 years ago while I was in law school — I was in the bleacher seats in the outfield, sitting directly behind Winfield when he took the field for the Yankees. I have never seen a guy built like that in person. Simply amazing. You miss the scope of the physical dimensions of the players when you watch on TV.
Saw Chris Collinsworth at a concert in August. He was not as tall as I thought. What struck me most as how slender he was — especially his shoulders. My date did not know who he was — but she was CERTAIN he was never a pro football player.
Wonder what Anthony Carter looked like in person on the field?
TiggerSr
game
The last game I was at was Vikes GB in the dome. I won tickets….which is nice. We won the game but the pack got the ball with like 50 seconds left and started marching down the field. On one play the ref’s forgot to start the clock and gave old number 4 an extra 5 seconds. This was 1998 I think anyway time ran out as the pack hit the 40 but it gave me the old here we go again feeling. I was sitting in the middle of a bunch of packer fans, they were polite but it still sucked.
The funny thing was when the GB towel boy came out on the field every one started booing. I am sure they sent him out to get a reaction but it was funny how it did not even take the team 50,000 people booing a GB towel boy! It did get really loud when the team came out.
by montana vikes fan on Sep 21, 2009 10:55 PM CDT reply actions
I really enjoy everyones stories of being there on game day
thanks for sharing I hope one day to make the journey myself
Wonderful
So glad you could go. Many are content to watch on TV but when I go it is an “experience” not to be forgotten.
Thanks for sharing. Some seem to forget it is not easy for many of us to see our vikings when we live outside the area. Brings out the kid in all of us to hear these stories.
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