The situation with sports teams: Hell's bells, the "requirement" is to build new stadiums.
We were distracted long enough by the process of getting the new
Vikings stadium OK'd. Now we're distracted by the fiasco of learning the
funding mechanisms are going haywire. The electronic gambling has a
short circuit.
I haven't been to the Metrodome in years. I have found big-time sports less necessary among my entertainment options.
Also, sports has become more acceptable to consume on television.
There is probably less of a lure about "being there."
The ones who still
feel that lure, where the Vikings are concerned, are "20-somethings"
who wish to act rambunctious and blow off steam or whatever. A thorough
op-ed in the Star Tribune last fall documented this. Families with young
children are advised to be wary.
Big-time football has a problem with saturation. Troy Aikman pointed this out in public comments not long ago.
This is a common problem with all popular products. The public
demands more of it. To an extent they'll get it, although the team
owners are aware of the potential diminishing of value. Nevertheless
they'll dispense more because there's money to be made. A line might be
crossed. The public begins to yawn.
The league ensures more passing as opposed to the running game.
Until, passing begins to develop a cheap quality. Frequent scoring has
been no pathway to popularity for arena football. Does arena football
still exist? I thought arena football had great potential when I first
read about it. Good thing I'm not an investor. Singer Tim McGraw saw
potential. Stick to your singing, Tim.
The NFL has been the epitome of the golden goose. When I was
pre-school age, living in St. Paul I might add, neither the Vikings nor
Twins existed. (We rented the house of a snowbird couple one winter and
were supposed to take care of their cat, named "Pepper." The cat never
accepted us. We've been dog people since.)
Today we're told the Vikings "need" a new stadium. Back when I was
about kindergarten age, we marveled at the mere existence of the
Vikings.
The Vikings have had two stadium homes up until now. Of course, we
were told the Vikings "needed" the Metrodome. It was probably an easier
argument to make for the Vikings than the Twins. The winter weather can
be too punishing. But when it wasn't, the original stadium was a quite
acceptable and pleasant place.
We're talking about Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, where today
we have the Mall of America. I like to remind people that "the Met"
could be a truly wondrous place. And it surely was on September 17,
1961, when our purple Vikings debuted.
Pete Rozelle himself was here. The opener date seems late compared
to today. Weather blessed that historic first Vikings game. "Brilliant"
was one word that was offered.
The Vikings were a totally new team unlike the Twins who moved here
from Washington D.C. Expansion teams in that era were known to get
roughed up a lot, exhibit 'A' being the 1962 New York Mets.
So, how would the Vikings fare? Our purple crew took the field to
play the venerated Chicago Bears. You might not remember the name of our
first general manager. It was Bert Rose. Bert actually was not pleased
with the opener attendance: 32,236. Yes, it seems like quite the modest
turnout. But I'll wager that crowd was 100 per cent more civilized than a
typical fan turnout for a game today.
Bert had hoped for 35,000 fans. His hopes were fueled by how the Vikings performed.
The players weren't nearly as big or fast then, as they are now, so
injury issues weren't as pressing. But was football any less fun to
watch? The Vikings beat the Bears 37-13. Fran Tarkenton was 21 years
old. He wasn't the day's starting quarterback. Instead it was George
Shaw taking the snaps. Shaw ended up a trivia answer.
And Tarkenton? He impressed himself into Minnesota history. It was
both a heroic and tragic story as he would end up losing three Super
Bowls. There was a fourth: the Super Bowl we lost with Joe Kapp as
quarterback.
Four Super Bowl losses! It gave the state's boomer population a bit
of a defeatist outlook, finally salved to a degree when the baseball
Twins won the championship in 1987.
Tarkenton entered that first-ever game as Shaw's replacement late
in the first quarter. We led 3-0 at the time. Here's another trivia
answer: Mike Mercer kicked a field goal on the game's opening drive.
Hold on to your seats. Here comes the "Georgia Peach," Tarkenton, and he
passes ten yards for a touchdown to Bob Schnelker.
Tarkenton ended up completing 17 passes in 23 attempts - phenomenal numbers - for 250 yards and four scores.
George Halas was still coaching the Bears. He said afterwards "I
helped Minnesota get into the league, but I never intended to be this
cooperative."
Mel Triplett was our fullback. Our middle linebacker had a terrific
name for that position: Rip Hawkins. The coach was Norm Van Brocklin
who failed to develop rapport with Tarkenton.
Bud Grant made his debut at the Met as head coach on September 10,
1967. The Monkees were all the rage. The Viet Nam war was at its worst.
Grant presided for the four Super Bowl losses. He was a father
figure to us boomers. He never liked the fact the Met was built for
baseball. He was quoted saying "the Twins made sure that we knew
everything was theirs."
I don't recall football fans being too down on the Met. The
occasional extreme cold had to be unpleasant. We prided ourselves on our
hardy qualities.
Metropolitan Stadium had a big league feel in every way. And to
think that in 1960, we had neither big league baseball nor football. In
1960 we still had the Minneapolis Millers. Before 1956 all we had was
Nicollet Park, home of the Millers.
Today we have developed delusions of grandeur about what our big
league sports venues should be like. We have allowed the business
tycoons of sports to lead us around, delude us, intimidate us and
downright scare us. These aren't bad people, they're just business
people. They always try to get the best deal they can.
And on the other end we need someone stronger than Mark Dayton. We
need someone representing the state's interests competently. We need
someone who realizes that wholesale changes aren't always necessary.
Sometimes we just need to tweak the decor as with a restaurant.
We all better just do a Hail Mary when that new Vikings stadium
rises up. It will be populated by those 20-somethings. Heaven help us
all.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment