The Minnesota Vikings 2011 season is nearly over, all that remains is one more game. While this season has been full of challenge and disappointment for fans, with the unsettled state of the Vikings stadium situation in Minnesota, the end of the season doesn't give us the respite we deserve. That isn't much of a holiday gift for long-suffering Vikings fans. In fact, it ranks right up there in the hierarchy of bad gifts with stale fruitcake and tacky holiday sweaters.
Whatever else may await us in the New Year, Vikings fans will witness significant change in our team during the off-season. Players we've spent years cheering for will depart, new players will arrive, injured players will rehab, and a new home will be found for the team. Hopefully, fingers-crossed, that new home will be in Minnesota. In light of all that's going on, this song just feels right.
Our troubles might not be out of sight next year or miles away, but that hope is renewed each year. After a season like 2011, Vikings fans could use some renewed hope.
As a world of economic hardship, war, pain, and loss swirl around us, we come together here at the Daily Norseman and share the simple joy of talking about Minnesota Vikings football. We talk about players' performance and antics, we break team news, we crack jokes, we argue, and we debate. Mostly, we try to find a way to have a good time no matter how the Vikings are playing. That might seem silly to other people, but talking about Vikings football is one of those small joys that helps make the lousy things in life a little more bearable for us.
There are Vikings fans all over the world who come together here to talk about the ups and downs of the season, to analyze roster moves, to discuss potential stadium sites, to just hang out with other people who cheer for the same win-challenged, purple-clad team. We're a community. We might not have a fixed location, but we have an anthem, well, we do if you count "Skol Vikings." We might not know what one another looks like, might not recognize other DN members if we saw them on the street, but some of us are so familiar with each other on this site that we know who's who simply from the subject line on a comment. We might not have anything else in common with one another other than being a Vikings fan, but here, that's enough.
At the end of this season Vikings fans don't know what will happen with the team's roster, coaching staff, draft, or stadium. But an ever-growing number of Vikings fans know they have a website they can visit, anytime, anywhere, that's dedicated to sharing all the Vikings drama.
Sure, we could have gone the humorous route this holiday and asked readers to vote on the Viking player they most want to find under the mistletoe (Shiancoe, absolutely Visanthe Shiancoe), or to choose which players they think are most likely to get a lump of coal this Christmas (probably Chris Cook), or to decide which player looks most like an elf (tough call, but I'm going with Greg Camarillo), but sometimes a little sappy sentiment is okay too.
So from me, and the rest of the Daily Norseman staff, we wish you and yours a merry little Christmas. Wherever you are, whether in Minnesota or on the other side of the world, you're part of what makes this site a great Vikings fan community and we're glad you're here. No, our troubles might not be miles away next year, but we'll be right here to share it all with you, and we'll even try to have fun with it.
Merry Christmas and Skol!