I was walking around the Mall of America this afternoon. I think a lot of people going to tonight's preseason game made a day of it and went to the MOA: there were many groups of people all decked out in purple, with lots and lots of jerseys. There were Favre jerseys and t-shirts. Viking #4 jerseys line the windows in several stores. The Viking Locker Room had bins of them, and the place looked really busy.
What I'm trying to say is that in Minnesota, the enthusiasm is palpable. When you walk past people donning their purple, when you see the Favre jerseys everywhere, it's hard not to join along and start believing in it.
To be clear
Paul Allen and Paul Charchian briefly discussed this blog on KFAN today, and may have interpreted me as a Favre hater, unhappy that he's a Viking. I think I should clarify my stance.
I did not want Favre to become a Viking for specific, concrete football reasons. I was annoyed that the Vikings want to go with another one-year fix, pushing the longer-term quarterback question back another season. I have concerns about Favre's age, recent tendency to wear down at the end of the season, his playoff resume in the last decade or so, and his tendency to throw a lot of interceptions.
However, I'm a die-hard Viking fan, and all along I knew that if Favre joined the Vikings, I would root hard for the team, and root hard for Favre. Now that he's a Viking, I'm fully on board: in part because people like Paul Charchian have talked me into it, I've started believing this Viking team can win the Super Bowl. I'm an optimisitic Viking rube: I've pushed my reservations to the background, and I'm excited--even ecstatic--to watch the Vikings this season.
So I'm curious. Do you have a word-for-word transcript of what two on-air personalties at mighty KFAN had to say about your humble blog?
ReplyDeleteIf you're interested, the podcast is available at KFAN.com. It's under "Fan on Demand," then "Paul Allen on Demand," and it's the Fri., 8/21 broadcast (I think the mention is somewhere in the middle).
ReplyDeleteOn Tuesday, I first heard the Favre news on their show, and I wrote that "Paul Allen and Paul Charchian proceeded to berate Viking fans who were disappointed" that the Vikes signed Favre. Today they talked about that a little. I only wrote about that because I thought it was funny: they were more berating Viking fans who were irrationally opposed to the former enemy joining the team, and didn't really address any of my football-related concerns regarding the 39 year old QB himself. Today they talked about that, again criticizing fans who just irrationally didn't want to root for Favre, not addressing the football-related concerns regarding Favre.
But Allen made a sound of sincere disgust when Charchian said the title of the blog. It sort of amused me.
Paul Allen related to Woody Allen? Seems to have the same mentality.
ReplyDeleteThanks PV. I'll have a listen.
ReplyDeletePaul Allen is paid by the Vikings to be a homer, so any fan or blogger who thinks Chilly's shit does stink is going to be criticized by him.
I remember this spring NFL Network had him on there to talk about the state of the Vikings. I thought it a dubious choice because he obviously can't say anything critical about the Vikings or he'll lose his job as their radio play-by-play guy. He then proceeded to give a bunch of non-answers to their questions about the Vikings QB problems and other pressing issues.
Just listened to the KFAN podcast a few minutes ago. It was a brief moment but I really enjoyed it. Allen did really sound disgusted.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, we might recoup Favre's salary in merchandise sales alone.
ReplyDeleteFinancially, it was an excellent move by the Vikes.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone else besides me is wondering what the Vikings are going to be doing for a QB in a year or two. Please God, please....don't bring up Donovan McNabb as a 35 year old answer in a few years. UGH.
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