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.
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