From the editor of the book the Vikings Reader, Armand Peterson through his publicist Heather, here are some more compelling stories included that would be of interest to Vikings Tailgaters:
1. Marquee running back Hugh McElhenny’s arrival at the team’s first training camp in Bemidji in 1961, humorously described by Jim Klobuchar in “A Dutchman and 36 Stiffs.”

2. Younger Vikings fans who have suffered possible TV blackouts of home games may enjoy reading a chapter two story from 1970, “Viking Spectators Felt the Cold, but TV Viewers Saw the Snow,” by the Star Tribune’s Brian Anderson. In those days the NFL required that no home games could be televised, but rabid fans and establishments tried to pirate TV signals from as far away as Des Moines.

3. The story is 20 years old now, and some fans may have forgotten the players’ strike of 1987, when NFL owners hired replacement players. In chapter four the Star Tribune’s M. L. Smith described the scene at the Vikings first home game with the replacements in “Union Workers Join Football Players on Picket Lines.”

4. Also in chapter four, Gregg Wong described GM Mike Lynn’s 1990 plan to send the Viking to a clinic in Santa Fe, NM normally used by Fortune 500 companies in his Sporting News story, “Attempt to Foster Unity Puts Vikings on High Wire.”

5. Remember when Dennis Green declared he was “the new sheriff in town” and the Vikings built an advertising campaign around his tough, new approach? The Star Tribune’s Dennis Brackin described fans’ reactions in “Most Fans Enjoy Vikings’ Get-Tough Ads.”

6. Some controversies have erupted over the years about playing games on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.In chapter seven, Lutheran minister Peter Geisendorfer-Lindgren put things in perspective in his poem, “Thanks to Football, a Really Silent Night,” written to the rhyme of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

Of course, there are game stories and pre- and post-game analyses from the highlights and lowlights of Vikings history.

1. The euphoria of a victory in the franchise’s first game in 1961 — “Vikings Blast Bears 37-13 in Debut,” by Jim Klobuchar.

2. The crushing defeat in Super Bowl IV, seen through the eyes of Sports Illustrated’s Tex Maule in “Wham, Bam, Stram!”

3. The LA Times’ Jim Murray disrepect for the Vikings on the eve of Super Bowl XI, “Vikings: Super Losers.”

4. The astonishing “hail Mary” pass from Tommy Kramer to Ahmad Rashad to clinch the Central Division title in 1980, described by the Star Tribune’s Joe Soucheray in “Vikings Win Title Again, but . . . It Was No Less Than Astonishing.”

5. Who can forget the Herschel Walker trade? In case you did, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King brings the memories back in “Sudden Impact; a Megadeal Sent Herschel Walker to Minnesota, Where He Ran Wild.”

6. Vikings fans were on top of the world during the improbable run in 1998, when backup quarterback Randall Cunningham led the team to the NFC championship game. Sports Illustrated’s Austin Murphy wrote of Cunningham’s remarkable return after a year away from the game in “Second Coming . . .”

7. The Pioneer Press’ Nick Coleman wrote of the devastation following the overtime loss in the 1998 NFC Championship Game, “Facing the Unfortunate Truth: We’re Minnesotans, So We Lose.”

8. Vikings’ fans are eternally optimistic. They jumped back on the bandwagon again in 1999 and in 2000. The Star Tribune’s Randy Furst described the euphoria in 2000 in “Vikings Fever on the Rise.”

The book is also full of profiles and stories of Vikings players and officials, such as Tarkenton, Zamberletti, the Purple People Eaters, Grant, Kapp, Lurtsema, Siemon, Foreman, Marinaro, Kramer, Wilson, Steckel, Lynn, Green, Headrick, McCombs, McDaniel, Moss, Carter, Randle, Smith, Stringer, Birk, Tice, Wilf, Culpepper, Childress, Allen, Peterson and many others.

There are 2 upcoming events for this book (so far):

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
7:00 pm
Magers & Quinn Booksellers
3038 Hennepin Ave. South
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-822-4611

Thursday, September 10, 2009
7:00 pm
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
HarMar Mall
2100 N. Snelling Avenue
Roseville, MN 55113
651-639-9256

Go to the book’s web page on the University of Minnesota Press website, , or call 1.800.621.2736 to order by phone.

As a group of tailgaters for the modern day Vikings, we often forget our history. In particular we often forget about our hardy parking lot ancestors who popped beer cans with pull tabs and cranked tunes on an 8-track casette. Whenever I discover historical documentation about these Met Stadium Forefathers, I am compelled to share it. So it is with great delight that I recommend a new book called “The Vikings Reader” edited by Armand Peterson, University of Minnesota Press.

I consider myself lucky to have been asked to do an advanced reading of this book, due out in September 2009. I had a tough time putting the book down, immersing myself into stories about the Old Met and the early Vikings teams and fans. The book reads like a complete history of the team in Minnesota without the corporate spin of the Vikings Public Relations department. It is a compilation of articles written by the best sports writers from the Twin Cities and National Media. Starting from the teams inception in 1961 to the current day, the author ties all the stories together with commentary to provide an excellent flow through history.

It is the quintessential book of Vikings football legacy in Minnesota. If I was a professor of State history I would add this book to the required reading list.

For tailgaters who visit this blog, there are several things to glean from stories in the book. In a chapter two story, from 1971, “Pigskins Preceded By Pâté on Asphalt,” Sports Illustrated’s Jerry Kirshenbaum wrote that Minnesota had supplanted Green Bay as the tailgating champion of the NFL. My favorite part of this article described a Minnesota tailgater wedding in the parking lot of Met Stadium with a post ceremony feast of “steamed lobsters and three varities of oysters.”

Later the book describes the last great tailgate party at Met Stadium. After the Vikes lost to the Chiefs in 1981, St. Paul Pioneer Press’ writer Ozzie St. George described the extravagant set up of one tailgating camp. In the article “The Party’s Over,” he wrote,

“The (44 –foot semi) trailer was equipped with color Tvs, one with a six foot screen, folding chairs for 30 persons and a videotape machine… At the far end of the tailgating spectrum- a lone can of beans sat unattended amid a few glowing charcoal brquets piled in the snow.”

There is so much more than tailgating in this book. From the early days of Fran Tarkenton to the rushing records of Adrian Peterson, from the bleachers of Met Stadium to the locker rooms of the Metrodome, The Vikings Reader revels in the plays that have brought generations of purple and gold fans to their feet-or left them groaning in their seats-and brings Vikings football to life for fans everywhere:

• Fran Tarkenton’s four touchdowns as the Vikings beat the Chicago Bears in their first game on September 17, 1961
• the inspirational “40 for 60″ team of 1969 and the Vikings’ first Super Bowl appearance
• the dominance of the 1970s, the vaunted “Purple People Eaters” defense, and three more crushing Super Bowl defeats
• the 1998 Vikings’ NFL scoring record, led by Cunningham, Carter, Moss, and Smith
• roller-skating cheerleaders, the “Last Great Tailgate Party” at Met Stadium, ownership controversies, and Adrian Peterson’s single-game rushing record
• classic reportage from Jim Klobuchar, Sid Hartman, Frank Deford, Patrick Reusse, Peter King, Jim Murray, and many others

There are also 2 upcoming events for this book (so far):

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
7:00 pm
Magers & Quinn Booksellers
3038 Hennepin Ave. South
Minneapolis, MN 55408
612-822-4611

Thursday, September 10, 2009
7:00 pm
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
HarMar Mall
2100 N. Snelling Avenue
Roseville, MN 55113
651-639-9256

Go to the book’s web page on the University of Minnesota Press website, , or call 1.800.621.2736 to order by phone.

By Chamber the Blogger Guy
Brittney Spear’s life has become like a train wreck. You don’t want to look, but out of morbid curiosity you can’t tear your eyes away. Well, that is the way I felt on Sunday watching the Vikings/Detroit game. Just like Brittney the Vikings “did it again”.

The Vikings, as is becoming the norm, had 12 penalties for 96 yards (hey guys you are moving the ball the wrong direction). However, these mistakes were overshadowed by 5 Viking turnovers, the last resulting in the game winning field goal by Detroit, in overtime. Detroit, as well, tried to give the game away, committing 7 penalties for 44 yards and turning the ball over 5 times.

Even though the game was painful to watch, I did feel like I was back at school. Grab your back-pack, your playbooks, and your pens & pencils because here are the 5 most important things I learned on Sunday:

1 – Travaris is not quite ready for the NFL: I think we all knew this coming. We have a veritable rookie running the show and should expect some “brain-fart” moments (just not this many, 4 interceptions). He definately showed is inexperience under pressure by just heaving the ball down-field instead of throwing it away. Question to Childress: Travaris is definately not ready, why did he only get one series in the final pre-season game?? Let’s not give up on Tavaris just yet, but he has a lot of maturing to do this year.

2 – Travaris can’t throw ball down field: Anything longer then 25 yards and we should say it’s open season on ducks… The few times we tried to go up the field with the ball, it was grossly underthrown. Unless Travaris gets on a Barry Bonds type program, he should just be content with the short stuff.

3 – The refs still enjoy screwing the Vikings: Roughing the Passer on 3 and 22, PLEASE. What are they smoking? According to Childress they have stills of Spencer Johnson making contact while O’sullivan still had the ball in his hand. NOT ROUGHING! Is it because he “slammed” him to the turf? How do you explain to a lineman that hits a quartback while he still has the ball, to “be gentle” when he hits the ground? I think we need to be asking the NFL to review the refs if the have been making any “bets” (take a page from the NBA).

4 – Calvin Johnson’s reputation must proceed him: How else do you explain this rookie being aloud to push off a vetran conerback in the end-zone. One of the definitions of pass interference is that hands on a defender are acceptable, but if you “extend” your arms to create space that is a penalty. Well, that is exactly what THE ROOKIE did to the VETERAN Cedric Griffin in the third quarter! I thought only T.O. or Randy Moss got those kind of calls, or lack of calls.

5 – The Detroit Lions are better then last year, but they better hope Kitna is healthy all year. The Vikings are lucky that Kitna got his bell rung. I know the Vikes are all about the bend but not break defense, but Kitna was picking them apart early. Hell, O’sullivan, as lost as he looked, moved the ball at times against our defense.

Bonus: Marcus McCauley can not cover an NFL receiver. Williams, Johnson, hell even Furry was open when covered by McCauley… all….day…long. He was playing off the receiver 8-10 yards every play and his first step was back. This either says he doen’t have enough speed to keep up with these receivers or the talent to defend them (or both). If they keep him there, he will need some help!

In summary, neither team played well enough for the win. This is one time I would vote for bringing back the tie. It was fitting that a game that had 10 turn overs and 19 penalties would be decided by a field goal in OT.

Pet Peeve of the week: Why do the Vikings always have coaches that make dumb game day decisions? Hello, we picked up Kelly Holcomb for a reason. If Travaris is injured or just plain melts down (both happened on Sunday) then we have a decent back-up. I think we all agree that Kelly out played Brooks Bollinger in the pre-season. Mr. Childress said that Kelly has a limited knowledge of the playbook at this point. GREAT, that would be preferable to Brooks. Heck, we only needed him for one series. Let him run the plays he knows. Just tell him to hang onto the ball!

Next up: Vikings (1-1) vs Kansas City (0-2)

Chamber