Gotta Love a Good Rivalry

Man, and I thought I got crap from my friends who are Packers fans. Tell me, with so many Packers fans in the family, is Thanksgiving rough? Is the meal planned around when the Packers are playing?

I hadn’t thought about strong regional rivalries as something that has gotten to be rare. When I was living in San Diego the only home game I remember Chargers fans getting revved up for was the one against the Oakland Raiders because that was a rivalry.

You may be right about Sunday’s Vikings/Packers match-up attracting attention because it looks like such a mismatch. If the Vikings manage to find a way to win for Ponder’s first NFL start it will have the feel of an NFL David vs. Goliath. Everybody loves a good underdog story.

Sheesh, that’s a long time. It seems like Tavaris Jackson was always seen as a development project rather than that heir-apparent franchise guy, so Daunte Culpepper could very well be the last long-term starter the Vikings had. Clearly, it has been way too long a wait for a franchise quarterback.

When I got talked to my dad after Ted and I were at training camp my dad asks, “So, you interview anybody?” and I was pretty sure he didn’t think I had been able to get any interviews so I felt so smug when I got to say, “Yes, I got to talk to Christian Ponder.” Well, a couple weeks later my dad got me a Ponder jersey. He’s a sweetie. My dad that is, Ponder is a nice guy too, but we’re not quite on the terms where I can call him a sweetie. Not yet anyway ;-)

Pretty sure he’s still alive and kicking down in Gerogia at the ripe old age of 71. He might be a bit concerned to know that his ghost is already roaming around in MN.

When Johnny is eating a drumstick!

BEST COMMERCIAL EVA!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBddPh4kqRg

It’s like people that live in Iowa(born and raised) that are Husker fans, for me. Some people’s kids.

HATE HATE HATE

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Things with the Vikings and Packers is definitely close. We can always feel good that it isn’t like the 49ers and the Raiders—their preseason match-ups had to be nixed because of the fans.

I’m really hoping that the Vikings offensive line can give Christian Ponder some help on Sunday too. There have been times this year when Donovan McNabb barely had time to hand the ball to Adrian Peterson let alone hang onto it long enough for a receiver to streak downfield. After all the anticipation we have for finally seeing Ponder start, it would really be a bust if he went out with an injury after one game.

My Uncle Benny was a really good guy. My aunt, his wife, caught some flack for having the funeral on Super Bowl Sunday, but she was just so overwhelmed she thought it would be better not to wait. I think she was probably right.

Nice that the folks at work know not to schedule you on Saturdays and Sundays. Good to know some people can respect the special bond between a fan and his team :)

The Vikings really are a hell of a ride. Only HBO could give you more drama, sex (Love Boat and the Brett Favre sexting scandal), and violence. You might be right that the Vikings will only ever be good enough to break fan hearts, but I have to hold onto the hope that they will bring home the Lombardi trophy one day. But that’s just me.

Franchise success in the NFL can really fluctuate. When I was in high school a bunch of the kids in my class were Cowboys fans and, considering what Troy Aikman was doing down there, it was hard to blame them. But I still don’t care for the Cowboys. Although, that’s mostly because they are referred to as “America’s team” and I take offense at that presumption.

Rivalries keep it interesting. Even when the Detroit Lions were cruising toward an 0-16 finish in 2008, they played the Vikings hard at the Metrodome. That was the game where Gosder Cherilus leveled his helmet into Jared Allen’s knee. Allen was already playing with a third-degree shoulder separation, but he hopped up on his one good leg and with his one good arm he was going to try to kick Cherilus’ ass. Fortunately, a teammate kept Allen from getting to Cherilus and doing anything stupid. But there it was, even though the Lions were pretty awful that season, they weren’t handing the Vikings anything. It was a divisional rivalry, maybe not as big a rivalry as the Vikings have had with the Packers for the last 20 years, but still a rivalry and all bets are off with rivalries.

My brother-in-law is from Colorado and he talks about Elway in hushed, sanctified tones :)

How would the Viking’s story of the last 2 seasons best be portrayed on the silver-screen?

Great post though. It’s always nice to hear how the rest of the world sees our regional rivalries. What are you going to do if the Badgers and Ducks meet in the Rose Bowl?

I lived in southern California for awhile and I loved it, but it never quite felt like home. With the exception of some transplanted Corn Huskers fans I ran into, people in southern California just didn’t seem to get into football the way we do in the midwest so when I tried talking football I didn’t get the feeling they understood that whole sense of divisional rivalry that we have. This is why if the Vikings end up moving to Los Angeles I think it will be a loss of a lot of football tradition in this part of the country and not just a team.

Of when the Browns left Cleveland in the mid-1990s. Obviously, the Browns fans didn’t like the move, but also, the Steelers fans didn’t like the move either. And the main reason for that was the rivalry.

I’d feel the same way if the Vikings left Minnesota. I really hope that never happens.