Vikings Uniforms - Old vs. New

In my last post, I noted one very important thing the Minnesota Vikings need to do in order to get their mojo back is to ditch their "new" uniforms and go back to the "old school uni's." Freealonzo asked a good question in the comments section about what the the difference is. Here you go:

"New (arena football, pajama-like) uniforms:"

"Old uniforms (currently worn twice a year):" As can be seen, the purple is darker, the facemask is grey and the stripes on the sleeves are old-school. The new uniforms, in fact, don't have stripes on the sleeves. Also, the stripes on the pants are old school instead of looking like a little purple tornado. The new uniforms are not progress, folks. I am only looking out for the best interests of the team. Basically, here is the look I am going for:

This, to me, is as important as a new stadium. Something needs to be done, and I know Zygi Wilf is reading this.....

What Has Happened to the Minnesota Vikings?

Don't worry everyone, I am still alive. I haven't been blogging too much and some have questioned my existence. My handsome and witty Canadian brother in law called me last night to check up on me. I am OK. I have to blame kid's homework, kid's swimming lessons, Facebook and general laziness for the lack of blogging. Not surprisingly though, it is the Minnesota Vikings that have given me the urge to rant once again.

I want to know what the hell has happened to the Minnesota Vikings. When I was growing up, the Minnesota Vikings stood for something. They played outside in the elements in Metropolitan stadium. They were coached by no-nonsense, steely-eyed Bud Grant. The players (many with crew cuts) were not allowed to use heaters during cold games for reasons of intimidation. Grant thought it took their minds off of the game and caused them to focus on "getting warm." Growing up in Eau Claire, we always subscribed to the St. Paul Pioneer Press and watched Twin Cities media so I was inundated with information about these Grant-coached teams. When my sister moved to St. Paul in the late-'70's, she bought us tickets and we started attending Vikings games at the Old Met, including the Hail Mary pass to Ahmad Rashad against Cleveland in 1980. My "Viking Fandom" was cemented at that point.

Since that time, the Vikings have moved indoors, have not participated in another Super Bowl, been owned by multiple entities, have hinted multiple times at moving, taken a boat cruise, drafted Randy Moss, traded Randy Moss, traded FOR Randy Moss, released Randy Moss, had a player with a Wizzanator, etc., etc., etc.

And I didn't even bring up Brett Favre. Or the 1998 choke. Or the 2009 choke. Or Les Steckle. Or Denny Green. Or Mike Tice. Or 41-doughnut. Or the new "Arena-football-looking" uniforms.

Really, what the hell is going on with this franchise? Personally, I believe this franchise has "sold it's soul to the devil" on several fronts over the years, which has led us to where we are today. These events might have made the team better in the short-term, but I believe each took away from the aura that was created through the first decades of their existence.

The first time they sold their soul is when they decided to move indoors, from the frozen tundra of the Old Met to the cozy, 70-degree confines of the Metrodome. This team simply lost their aura. The Vikings biggest ally in the '60's and 70's was the frigid Minnesota weather. Most visiting teams simply could not handle the cold and snow, and the Vikings generally won those games. In 1982, that ally left as the Vikings became in indoor football team. That is fine in Atlanta - not in Minnesota.

The second time the Vikings sold their soul is when they drafted Randy Moss. Now, I am not going to lie to you. I had some fun watching Moss play over the years, and will say that he is arguably the most talented wide receiver to ever play the game. He is also arguably the single biggest jack-ass to don football equipment, and a franchise-killer. The guy is bad karma. There are reasons that the Vikings let him go the first time, and Oakland traded him, and New England traded him mid-season. And the negative impact that he had on the Vikings in the last 4 weeks was immense. Lots of "Jack-assery." Moss will be in the Hall of Fame some day, but I guarantee he will never have a Super Bowl ring. Good luck, Tennessee.

The third time I believe the Vikings sold their soul may surprise you. It's when they acquired Brett Favre. I can't blame them for this move, mind you. When T-Jack is your starter, and Brett Favre is basically begging to play on your team, you pick him up. He is arguably the arch-rival Green Bay Packers most beloved player in history, for Cliff's sake. With Favre, however, comes Favre's ego and baggage. Along with his touchdown passes and late-game victories, come his off-season "I am retired" escapes and his soul-crushing interceptions. And now, a healthy dose of (alleged) penis photos sent to a female Jets employee can be thrown in. Much like with Moss, I fully admit that it's been fun watching Favre, especially in 2009. Something, however, just does not seem "right." That is because when you sell your soul, you get the bad with the good.

All of this has led to the place the franchise is in today. A 2-5 record, players arguing with the much-disliked coach and a expiring stadium lease after the 2011 season. Something has to give with this team. This reminds me, to a certain degree, of where the Minnesota Twins were back in 2001-02 with no stadium and talk of being contracted. The Twins, of course, did not have the baggage the Vikes have, and they had two World Championships under their belt. As we know now, everything worked out fine for the Twins. The spot the Vikes are in right now is not good. In order to restore any type of order and attempt to regain their aura, I believe the following must happen (and it's not easy stuff):

1. They need a new stadium, preferably outdoor. I realize that the outdoor part is a pipe-dream.

2. They need a new coach. They really missed the boat (bad analogy) by not hiring either Tony Dungy or Mike Tomlin when they were Defensive Coordinators. Is current Defensive Coordinator Leslie Frazier in the same league?

3. They need to strip the roster of high-priced veterans and start over. Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin are the only "untouchables" in my book.

4. They need to (somehow) find a young QB, preferably through the draft, and stick with him. This really hasn't happened since Tommy Kramer.

5. They need to return to their old-school uniforms. This may be the most important of the 5 points.

I don't know if any of these 5 points will happen in reality. For all I know, this team will be in a different city in 2012. I do know this - a lot of the enjoyment that I derived from watching the Vikings as a youth is gone. I hope that it comes back some day.

Until then, I am looking forward to baseball season.

Epilogue: 2010 Twins

This has been a fun year. The return of outdoor baseball in Minnesota. I was lucky enough to attend the first-ever exhibition game at Target Field, the Season-opener against Boston and the first-ever playoff game against New York. In between, I had the opportunity to attend games that ranged from 35 degrees to 95 degrees - all an absolute blast. I even had tickets to the first rain out. I had a great time attending all of these games with friends and family. Now that the season's done, I can't help but be a bit bummed. When the Vikes lose in the playoffs, I get mad. When the Twins lose, it just bums me out. The Twins are the one professional team that I have a real fondness for, odd as that may sound.

The 2010 Twins team was a good team. Not great, as we just found out. Good enough to win the AL Central. But, as we've seen all year, they tend to fold when they play quality opponents. This tells me that their talent level is simply not up to the Bostons and (of course) New Yorks of the world. Luckily, Target Field suggests a bright future for the team in which they will continue to compete. Whether or not they reach that "World Series level" again hinges on not only what the Twins front office does in the future, but what happens in Major League Baseball. More on that later. Here are a few observations about the 2010 Twins and the future of the team:

1. The Twins lack "fire." I've written about this before (a few days ago) so I am not going to belabor the point. I'll just say that, most times, teams tend to take on the personality of their superstars. Mauer, Morneau, Span, Kubel, etc. They are all mellow to the point of being comatose. I don't think you can underestimate the impact this has on the team, especially during the playoffs. How do you obtain "fire?" I don't know.

2. The Twins lack "a stopper." I've also written about this. In the playoffs, I'd rather pitch Viola and Blyleven on two days rest than anybody they have on today's roster on five days rest. This is why they were able to win in 1987 with a worse overall lineup than this year's team. They were set up for short, best of 5 or best of 7 series. They were, however, very lucky to be in a bad division otherwise they wouldn't have had to worry about being in the playoffs. The Twins may have to make a trade to obtain a stopper, but this will not come at a cheap price. They may have one in Kyle Gibson in the minors, but this will not help for a couple more years.

3. The Twins are inching closer to "Vikings Syndrome." Whoa, this one is scary. The Vikings are now considered failures if they fail to at least make the Super Bowl. Miss the playoffs? Failure. Lose in the first round? Failure. Lose in the NFC Championship? Big-time failure. And so on. Meanwhile, the Twins have always been considered overachievers and underdogs. Up to this year, they were always consider "The Little Engine That Could" even if they MADE the playoffs. This year, with a new ballpark and the added revenue that goes with it, the expectations just rose. Winning the division, while nice, is no longer good enough, I got the feeling that the Twins were expected to win at least one series. What will the expectations be next year? What happens if they lose in the first round - again?

4. It actually isn't Ron Gardenhire's fault. There is a lot of talk in the media and "blogdom" about firing Ron Gardenhire. He is being compared to Denny Green (great regular season - horrible postseason). I actually believe his legacy is closer to Flip Saunders. If you remember, Flip's Timberwolves teams had great, 50-win seasons and then lost in the first round of the playoffs - all the time (except once). The difference is that Flip's teams, much like today's Twins, always lost to a superior opponent. They always managed to draw the one team that was on paper, and on the field (or court) vastly superior. For the Wolves, it was the San Antonio Spurs or Lakers. For the Twins, it's the Yankees. Always. In each case, I give the manager credit for consistently getting his team to the postseason. Many times, they didn't even necessarily deserve to get that far. Lastly, I'd caution against firing Ron Gardenhire. If you remember, I was a big advocate of firing Glen Mason because he couldn't get the Gophers "to the next level." Well, Mason WAS fired and Tim Brewster was hired. All we all know what happened next. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know. How long this will last, however, is anyone's guess - see #3.

5. Baseball's payrolls. Baseball is the only major league sport with no salary cap. It's becoming a joke. There is a reason that New York continues to dominate each and every year in baseball. This is not a free-market, folks. The Twins, Brewers or Royals cannot pick up and move to New York to compete with the Yankees, with a level playing field and see who comes out on top. Major League Baseball NEEDS teams in different-sized markets spread out throughout the United States to thrive. With no salary cap, in today's world, the Royals have no shot at consistently competing. Football, Basketball and Hockey have figured this out. Baseball has not. I would actually advocate moving to a high salary CAP (say, $175 million) but also to a salary MINIMUM (say, $50 million). This would help level the playing field so teams like the Yankees could not outspend other teams by literally 100 million dollars (the Yankees 2010 payroll was $207 million) . It would also level the playing field so that teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates couldn't force their cities to pay for stadiums and then field a team with a $34 million dollar payroll - and turn a profit. I am not going to hold my breath on this one, however. The MLB players union is far too powerful to ever stand for something like a salary cap.

So all in all, it was a good year. I had a blast.

Here's looking to 2011.

Jeff

The Fat Lady Is Approaching the Stage...

In my 43 years (almost 44) on this earth, I have never witnessed a professional sports team that is as emotionally intimidated by another team as the Twins are by the Yankees. That is not to say that the Yankees aren't a more talented team than the Twins - they are. But let's not mince words - when the Twins face the Yankees, they are beaten before they even step on the field. You can see it in their eyes. They are 2-11 against the Yankees in the postseason, and have now lost 11 straight playoff games.

I will say it again. This Twins team, while very good, lacks a guy with killer instinct. A Gaetti. A Hunter. Hell, a Pierzyski. Somebody who'll run over a catcher. They lack a pitcher who will move a guy off the plate, or bean him if necessary. I love them, but the Twins are a team of boy scouts.

One more game to go in New York, and it's time to pack it up for another season. It's been a good season, the first in Target Field. But I do know this, having yet another Twins season ended by the Yankees is getting really old.

Superbowl, Homeboy

We have now, without question, entered (yet another) parallel universe. Strap yourself in and hold on for the ride.

Jeff

Twins-Yanks. Let's Go!

Win it for Thome, for God's sake......

Twins Draw the Yankees..........Again.

And you know how I feel about that.

Jeff