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Friday, 07/30/2010
September 3rd, 2000: Vikings 30, Bears 27
The Berserkers have been tailgating in the Washington Avenue parking lot for several years now, and NEVER, and I mean EVER, have we been greeted with such rudeness from a Parking lot attendant as we had for Opening Day 2000. Opening Day greetings are supposed to be friendly and courteous if not at least cordial, but when we showed up to pay our $12 tailgating fee at 6:30 am there was no person in the booth to collect the money. Seeing others already scattered throughout the tailgate lot who were setting up their camps for the day, we assumed we could drive in and pay the attendant when they drove around to collect the fees. No sooner had we started our drive past the booth when a large pick up truck with even a larger man behind the wheel came barreling in from behind us and slammed on his breaks after cutting in front of us. The large Santa Claus figure jumped out of his truck and started SCREAMING at us like a dissed housewife on a Jerry Springer repeat. "No, NO NO! Back this out of here, Can't you dumb son of bitches READ? The lot is closed, and I ain't opening it up until 8:30!" Speechless and in disarray, we backed out of the lot and wondered how it was possible for us to be dismissed while others remained in the lot without disciplinary action. We saw the fat a-hole in the truck race into the parking lot and stop at everyone's camp. We could hear him yelling from our truck, but noticed that he allowed them to stay after he "tore into them" with his weak tirade of frustration. Needles-to-say, we were completely confused by this behavior, wondering why were singled out as a sample of his double standard. We drove around to the opposite entrance of the lot and paid our fee without issue. We drove through the large parking lot and set up camp near the entrance of the Grinch. After telling us that he would not open his booth until 8:00, we saw him letting people in by 7 am and we were all commenting on the childish behavior of the disgruntled Tailgating Grinch. "Good God, if the man showed up late for work, it is not our problem, and he shouldn't take it out on us!" commented Rocky, "Hell, I left my wife at home so I wouldn't have to here yelling like that", joked Saueey. After the complete "dressing down" we managed to gather our senses and get back on track to the task at hand. But we cannot forget this incident and write this to forewarn all other Viking tailgaters on Washington Avenue to BEWARE OF THE TAILGATING GRINCH! Pregame Tailgate:
It was great to be back with all the regulars doing what we do best. Saueey, Rocky and Mook all showed up early to get the goalposts set up and get breakfast started. Saueey cooked up bacon and eggs and had wrapped them into burritos as the rest of the gang showed up. "Man, you could see the goalposts all the way over from the 35 E exit onto Washington Avenue", commented Stier who arrived with Straw Jams, Liberty and Chester just after 7:30 am. Not far behind were Hagen and Lil Schmidty. Mook's new tailgate CD mix blasted in the background:
Somewhre in all the commotion between tunes, and cold beer and chips, the conversation turned to Fantasy Football. Hearing that a 14 team draft was held and many Berserkers had entered, Mook popped off, "I'll take the leftovers from your draft, choose a team and still beat all of your sorry asses." Calling his bluff, Stier, Liberty and Brent procured the draft sheet and the 15th team of their league was created. The team was named the "Scraps" and will play every team in the league every week as an exhibition of humility. For those who care, the Scraps team consists of: Quarterbacks: Elvis Grbac & Akili Smith
Soon after, lunch was ready and everybody gobbled up their brats, chips and pickles. Before you could say Daunte Culpepper, the "early faction" was mounting up and heading into the Metrodome. The 2000 season was about to begin! Game Notes:
Favorite plays and Miscellaneous Notes:
On Daunte's second run on the first drive, he dashed for 21 yards. This gave him 44 yards in 2 carries and the Dome ERUPTED in glee. The first pass of Daunte's career came after low snap from Birk skidded off the dome's turf past the QB and he improvised a Tarkenton-like scramble and dumped off a shovel pass to Tight End John Davis. Again the entire dome ERUPTED! The Vikings offense rolled but stalled in the red zone in the first half kicking just 3 field goals Daunte Culpepper's 3 rushing touchdowns in his first official NFL start. Is this the beginning of a great NFL career or what? Gary Anderson was 3 for 3 on field goals. Good to see him back and in form! Bears revenge. Last year rookie Jim Kleinsasser suffered a bad game against the Bears fumbling twice and costing the Vikings the game. This prompted and ESPN magazine's reference to him as "Edward Scissorhands." In this year's grudge match, the rookie from North Dakota' catch, run and subsequent hanging onto the ball after a huge hit was a VICTORY for the young Dakotan! Look for the "Sauce" to have a big year! This had to be a record for the most Quarterback Draws ever called and ran in the same NFL game. I personally recall at least 8 Draws by either Culpepper or Bears's QB Cade McNown Halftime, the Vikes were down 13-9, but the fans cheered for many of the Viking legends who were introduced by Bud Grant and Jerry Burns. The loudest cheers were for: Jim Marshall, Alan Page, Carl Eller, Joey Browner, Paul Krause, Boo Boo Rouse, and Karl Kassulke In the 2nd half, after the Bears went ahead 20-9, Vikes scored 3 unanswered touchdowns. Nice comeback. Culpepper to Moss on the fly for 65 yards. Robert Smith's 59-yard run The Vikes had 2 sacks, 1 by John Burrough and 1 by Eddie McDaniel. In both instances, the Vikes seemed to blitz, begging the question, why not blitz them bastards more? Just a thought Post Game Tailgate:
Roll Call & Game Day Grades:
Grades: A! The food was great, the weather was beautiful and fans were giddy and buzzed. MVP: Rocky. Why not? Once again, the cameras rolled and he boomed the field goals through our goalposts. The guy choked on the first attempt of the year when the parking lot was empty and no one was around, but when the crowd gathered, and the FOX pre-game camera crew showed up, the kid was true again. Quotes:
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