Ah, San Diego, one of my favorite cities in the Golden State. San Diego's got a lot to love from beautiful Balboa Park with it's antique fountains built for the World's Fair, to historic Old Town with the very, very haunted Whaley House, to Imperial Beach with its surfers, and even to Coronado with rich folks from Arizona clogging scenic Orange Avenue. Granted the Minnesota Vikings' Friday night match-up with the San Diego Chargers will be in Minneapolis and no where near San Diego, but I get nostalgic for that town.
Yes, Friday night at 7pm CDT the Vikings are hosting the Bolts at Mall of America Field, the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The third pre-season game, this game will give us our last, long look at the starters until the regular season starts in September. Even without Adrian Peterson playing on Friday, something that makes sense but doesn't alleviate our anticipation for his return, fans will still get to enjoy the most complete peek at what the team could look like in 2012 because the starters are expected to play for the first half.
So far this pre-season the Vikings have one win and one loss to their credit, but the team has focused on reestablishing their home-field dominance, making it their goal to win every home game. Pre-season games might not "count" as far as the regular season is concerned, but the team's attitude toward striving to win all home games seems to have shades of the Bud Grant era. Grant felt that winning, like anything else, could become a habit so the team should practice winning even in the pre-season. Some folks maintain that pre-season is primarily about assessing players, but coaches can assess players just as well during a game the team wins as one that it loses. What they can't do with a loss is build positive momentum. And, if you've paid attention to what everyone at Winter Park from general manager, to coaches and players are saying, you know that positive momentum is a big deal. Look for the Vikings to play to win against the Chargers.
Tickets still remain for this game, so there's no reason for you to miss out on attending the game if you want to go. If you need directions to the Metrodome, or if you want to take public transportation to the game, just click on these links for information. And, if you're tailgating for this game, for goodness sake, post some pictures of your soiree to our Facebook page because we'd love to see you decked out in your game-day finery having fun.
If you're in Minnesota and plan to watch the game on television, it will air on NBC affiliate KARE 11 at 7pm. Watching online is a nice option if you aren't in Minnesota and the NFL has an option for that. The Vikings Radio Network will be broadcasting the game throughout the upper Midwest so click the link to find a station in your area.
Now, all that remains is for you to share your plans for enjoying the Vikings/Chargers game. Are you visiting the lovely Twin Cities for the game? Glad to have you in the Land of 10,000 Lakes! Hope you have enough time in our state to visit the Minnesota State Fair as well as attend the Vikings game. And, if you do make it to the State Fair, don't forget to check out the Vikings' area in Fan Central where you can get some new Vikings duds for the game.
Enjoy the open-thread and connect with your fellow Vikings fans, and let the Anchorman quote-fest begin!