The week that was, leaving much to think about

Its’ been a busy week for the Vikings in the news which gets me looking at my calendar and thinking not too much longer until my favorite team pulls into Minnesota State University Campus and the start of training camp.

Monday was the unveiling of the new stadium which will be a talker until it is built. The questions all week is how will we pay for it? I believe if there is a will there is a way.

Chris Kluwe was signed this week by the Oakland Raiders. I am happy for Chris that he found a home. I honestly had a feeling Seattle even if they did already have a punter they would still sign Chris. Antoine Winfield, Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice already a Seahawk and then sign Kluwe would be my luck. Good luck to Chris in Oakland!!

This brings up my thought going into training camp of who will be the new holder. Chris can be questioned on his punting ability but you cannot question the job he did holding the ball for Blair Walsh. Chris made it seem so easy and smooth so now who can we count on. We have a 2^nd year kicker, Blair Walsh and a rookie punter Jeff Locke. The key man in this team of three will be veteran long snapper Cullen Loeffler. I feel he will be needed more than ever to keep this group solidified.

One item to add on Jeff Locke is not only will he  try to replace Kluwe but we will see a left footed punter. It is strange to see how the ball comes off a left footer when the Vikes have played against one. There are not many, so it will be a unique chance to see our own. I am looking forward to camp and see how the return men cope with this. Ah yes, another reason to be a fan who makes a trip to Mankato.

The middle linebacker question of who should be the starter is getting real intriguing. I for one am on the Erin Henderson side. I have read like probably most of you that the name Brian Urlacher keeps popping up. I found a quote from Erin Henderson regarding this upcoming chance. He stated’ “I don’t think I have been this pissed in my entire life, to just hear people talk about stuff that they have no idea what they’re talking about, he told ESPN Twin Cities.  He also added “I guess it’s getting to the point where it’s like. “Dang. I just want a little bit of respect.”

I love Erin’s attitude as I have followed his whole career making it from the start as an undrafted rookie free agent and then becoming starting outside linebacker.

He added in the interview, “I’’ve got to hear they might bring in Urlacher,” Henderson said. “Cool bring him in. And if he’s better than me, if he can outplay me at this position then let him play.”

If I had to pick a position fight I am most excited about coming into training camp it will me the middle linebacker. I have 100% faith in Erin he can do it. The guy has a personality you want to see make it big. I am a huge Henderson fan.

The decision to move Joe Webb to full time receiver will be a blast to watch. I believe other than Adrian that Webb is the 2^nd best athlete on the team. It is about time the team sees what they have sitting on the bench. The team has nothing to lose and everything to gain by making this switch. His height, the leaping ability will all be on display coming late July, early August in Mankato. I hope you can make the trip and see the day in and day out battles.

If you ever have a question about anything regarding Training Camp or anything during the season please feel free to email me at breyerstick@yahoo.com. I would be more than happy to meet you in Mankato and we can talk football.

The defensive line will be a treat to watch in camp. We have guys on contract years. You think they won’t be hungry? The 2 starting defensive ends, Jared Allen and Brian Robison are free agents after this season. Pass rush specialist, Everson Griffen is playing for a contract as well as starting defensive tackle, Kevin Williams. I feel it in my heart we are going to see a lot of quarterbacks lying on their backs after a sack. I will even go as far as saying we will see the Purple People Eaters 30 years later. This group will be a top 5 sack group in the NFL I boldly predict.

These are 4 of the major thoughts I have for now and will keep on thinking as the time gets closer to camp.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Source: NFL.com

Chris Wesseling, Around the League writer

 

Taking in the Vikings unveiling of the new stadium plans

Monday May 13^th I made my way to Mall of America Field in hopes of being one of the luck 200 fans to see the unveiling of the new stadium plans.

I took the light rail and was sitting with my back to where we were going. The closer we got the more nervous I got. How many people would be in line? Would I be lucky to get a ticket? If I don’t, was it a waste of time to come? These are some of the questions rolling through my head.

We came by the dome and I saw gate B where tickets would be handed out. I had to look in hopes of thinking I had a chance.

It was 2:20 when I got to gate B and found myself to be 14^th in line. The first guy in line was there at 10:30am. I thought I was crazy. I pulled up a piece of concrete and sat my but on it for 2:40.

5:00 finally came and I felt like I was the winner of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory golden ticket. I am in and the feeling was like no other. The wait was so worth it.

The next step was going to the Guthrie Theatre where the event would take place. I went up to the Balcony level on the 5^th level.  They had a restaurant so we could grab a bite to eat.

We were told seating would begin at 6:15. I had never been to the Guthrie Theatre in my life so when I got to my chair I spent time looking around in amazement how beautiful the theatre was.

The event finally began at 7:15, 5 hours after I had started waiting for tickets. The presentation was absolutely wonderful. Paul Allen was the emcee and did an amazing job.

If you had a chance to watch this on line you had to be impressed. HKS, design principal, Bryan Trubey gave the layout of the stadium. I will not go through the details as you may already know or you can read about it on many websites. I am here to tell you sitting in the theatre the ooh’s and ah’s I was hearing. It was like a 4^th of July fireworks as people watch those.

It was a thrill to be there and see what the future has for a multipurpose stadium. I wish it was 2016 already. If I am shaking my head in amazement at picture’s I can hardly wait to be in there and take it all in.

The guests that were brought in were amazing. It was my first chance to see Governor Dayton in person. The welcome he got when his name was called brought chills knowing this is the man who helped get the project dome amongst many others.

Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak was amongst the speakers of the night. The owners Mark and Zygi Wilf, Leslie Frazier, Phil Loadholt and John Sullivan along with GM Rick Spielman also took their turns at the microphone.

I sat in the Vikings fans section in the balcony taking picture after picture. The fans stood up 3 times with one at the beginning, middle and end of the presentation singing the Vikings fight song. “Skol Vikings.” It was awesome to be a part of such passionate fans.

One of the last speakers of the night was Hall of Fame coach, Bud Grant. The standing ovation he got was simply amazing. The guy still looks the same. He just not seem to change, He had said he hopes he is still around when this stadium opens. I hope he does as well.

The night ended at 8:30 and we were provided with coffee and cookies. The special thing about these cookies is they were yellow and purple. It made them taste even better.

I was on my way out when I saw two Minnesota legends talking, Walter Mondale and Sid Hartman. They were talking with Vikings offensive coordinator, Bill Musgrave. What a thrill to see Mondale.

What a night as I made my way back to Owatonna thinking about everything I had taken in tonight. It was worth every minute. The excitement in the Guthrie Theatre is something I can’t put in one word.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Involvement in the new stadium as much as I am allowed

It was Saturday April 28th, I went to the State Capitol along with my wife and one of my daughters. We wanted to show the goverment how much we care about the stadium vote by coming.

I had my purple turtle neck, a jersey and my horns and braids on as we came in. The first thing we saw was a beautiful sight, a lot of purple, as fans were waiting in hopes of seeing some success today.

We went up to the third floor and sat in on the House of Representatives in hopes of stadium talk. It was for now, no avail. We left and went down to second floor where we ran into Owatonna's own, Korey Kath, a House of Representative. It was a fantastic question and answer session with him. We did ask the most important question. "Korey, can we get your yes on the vote?" Korey's response was, "You have it." This was exciting and encouraging.

We went back up to the third floor in the House in hopes with all the other Vikings fans. We did not have any luck as the House did not bring up the subject. We did get a pleasant surprise as House Rep from Cottage Grove, John Kriesel, a stadium supporter came up. He thanked all for showing up and gave us updates what he knew about the stadium. He did feel it was close, but to have this many people show can do nothing but help the cause.

We left and were headed out of the capitol when Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak came up to us to thank us for coming and showing support for the stadium.

The day was not successful as far as the government discussing the stadium. The day was succesful as we talked to three stadium backers in Kath, Kriesel and Rybak. I know Rybak has no control but it was still fun to talk to him.

We as Vikings fans did what we could and that was drive up to the capitol to show our support for a stadium. I would do this again in a heart beat and encourage all fans to voice their opinions.

 

On Tuesday night, November 13 I went to Rochester and attended a one hour talk about the new stadium. The event was at Doubletree by Hilton and went from 5:30-6:30.

It was held in a large conference room that had around 50 people including media there from several different TV stations. Rochester Mayor Thomas Richards and Rochester DFL rep Kim Norton from District 29B, were some of the dignitaries in attendance along with a few season ticket holders sprinkled in.

The guest panel included John Hutchings, a principal with the HKS architectural firm; Michelle Kelm-Helgen with the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority; and Lester Bagley, Vice President of the Minnesota Vikings.

Hutchings has been with the firm 26 years. The firm has 7 locations internationally and 20 throughout the US. The headquarters are in Dallas, Texas.

The last 2 stadiums designed by this firm have both hosted Super Bowls and those are Cowboys Stadium and the Colt’s Lucas Oil Field. They have been involved with baseball stadiums as well. Those are Miller Park, US Cellular, Dodgers Stadium, and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

This session Tuesday was the 2nd stop on the talking about the stadium. A little over 2 weeks ago the first session was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Tuesday was in Rochester and then in a couple of weeks they will be in Duluth.

It is a chance for this group to inform people and also a chance for people to ask questions. There was also as card handed out you could write things down such as ideas of what you would want in the new stadium and then hand it in on your way out.

 

Fri May 10th, 2013 was one year when Legislation and the Vikings agreed on a price and now the ball can get rolling.

Friday also was a big day as The University of Minnesota and the Vikings came to agreement on several issues that will allow the Vikes to call TCF Bank Stadium their home for 2 years and possibly 2 more after that starting in 2014.
 

My next step is to hopefully be one of the first 200 people at the dome on Monday to receive a ticket for the unveiling of the stadium plans.

 

I am willing to wait for hours as I am a fan who wants to follow this all the way. I will go to ground breaking as well if fans are allowed. I can not wait for 2016 and the opening of the new stadium.

 

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

A look at numbers regarding the upcoming season

The Vikings have been doing a nice job of keeping with their desire to go with a youth movement and building through the draft.

I looked through the roster to see just exactly how young we are getting. I found 7 players over 30 and that is it. There are 4- 30 years old and they are Matt Cassel, Chad Greenway, Brian Robison, and Joe Berger. Jared Allen is 31 and Cullen Loeffler and Kevin Williams are the oldest at 32.

The team is building through the youth and in 2014 may have to go heavier with the youth because 18 of the current players are in the last year of their contract.

This I believe is another reason to think the Vikes will be even better than last year with these guys playing for contract renewals.

The list is as follows for free agents to be after 2013:

Unrestricted Free Agents

Jared Allen DE

Brian Robison DE

Kevin Williams DT

Charlie Johnson OG

Jerome Simpson WR

Fred Evans DT

AJ Jefferson CB

Chris Cook CB

Toby Gerhart RB

Joe Berger OG/C

Everson Griffen DE

Seth Olsen OG

Troy Kropog OT

George Johnson DE

Lawrence Jackson CB

Jacob Lacey CB

Joe Webb QB

Marvin Mitchell LB

 

It is scary looking at the list and seeing the defensive line with the names we have gotten use to up. I could not imagine no Jared Allen.

Restricted Free Agents

Tyronne McKenzie LB

Larry Dean LB

Marcus Sherels CB

Andrew Sendejo CB

 

2013 season is going to be so exciting. I also came upon an article on power rankings in the NFL provided by one of my favorites, Brian Billick.

He has listed the teams and I see he believes all 4 of the NFC North are in the top 18 in the NFL.

The rankings:

1)      San Francisco

2)      Denver

3)      Seattle

4)      Atlanta

5)      Baltimore

6)      New England

7)      Green Bay

8)      Houston

9)      Cincinnati

10)  Minnesota

11)  Chicago

18) Detroit

It is so nice to see the Vikings getting some national support. We have a tough schedule and will play in a tough division.

As I write this article on Wednesday May 8 the first game of the season will be on Sunday September 8^th in Detroit. It is hard to believe 4 months until we kick it off.

 

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

Source: Foxsports.com

A flash from the past

As the Vikings come to the end of their years at Mall of America Field and moving into TCF Bank Stadium I have a fond memory of an experience at TCF one winter night in December of 2010. This is just one memory and I look forward to many more in this outdoor stadium. Will we see all the weather elements?

            It was a night to remember as my wife and I went to the Monday night game at TCF Bank Stadium, the 1^st outdoor game in 29 years to the day.

            The trip took about 3 hours but we made it and stood in line from 3-5 o’clock waiting to get in. It was so funny looking around as I am seeing human snowmen with snow just piling on people’s hats.

            The gates opened a little earlier than planned and what happened at our gate was ugly with fans pushing their way through. You could not get out of line if you wanted to. There was absolutely no bag check or pat down due to the amount of people coming. We could have any seat lower or upper deck. There was supposed to be bracelets handed out to determine lower or upper deck.

            I felt a responsibility to be honest so we sat upper deck on the 30-yard line 9 rows up behind the Vikings bench. I have no idea how they figured the attendance that night.

            The tractors were pushing snow and leaf blowers were in abundance as the fans in the front row of the end zone were getting face washes as the equipment went by.

            The pregame warm-ups were funny because there were 2 sets of hash marks with one for college and one for NFL. The kickers in pregame were on the wrong hash mark kicking.

            Another funny sight I saw also was in the upper deck with some empty bench seats fans running and sliding as far down the seats as they could. It looked so funny from across the stadium.

            The teams came out on the field as the Vikings had a snowmobile lead the charge with non other than Cris Carter riding on it. The Vikings came out but this time something I have waited for   2 years. The PA announcer announced the team captains one by one to a standing ovation with the last being Brett Favre.

            The honorary captain this night was Bud Grant. It brought so many memories as he came out with his breath coming through the air like old Met Stadium days. It was an awesome sight to see Bud. It was a true honor to witness this.

            The first touchdown of the game was so crazy not that the Vikings scored so fast but what happened in the seats was a snow throwing frenzy looking so awesome a blizzard of snow.

            In the first half, a fan decided to be part of the game. I happened to see a man about the 5-yard line walk all the way out to midfield. I could not believe no one stopped him. He walked up to the ref and pointed to the Vikings players. All of a sudden down the man went as the tackle of the game came from security and the police followed.

            The halftime show was unforgettable as the top 50 players with most being there introduced. It was so cool to see Kramer, Rashad, Sammie White, the Purple People Eaters and even Daunte Culpepper was there doing the “Daunte Roll.” The highlight of the halftime for me was when Bud Grant came out in a short sleeve shirt. The player carried him off the field on their shoulders. It was truly memorable.

            The stadium scoreboard showed clips from the past but the one that brought tingles was Kramer to Rashad Hail Mary pass to put the Vikings in the playoffs. The camera came live on Rashad and Kramer.

            The snowballs flying throughout the night was something but by the 4^th quarter security and police came up and started hauling people out one by one as they were being caught.

            The whole upper deck as far as I could see every single person stood for the entire game. It was just so fun to be part of it.

            I saw one vendor the entire game in our section. The steps were so slippery from the entire night of snow.

            The no liquor in the game I felt was not going to happen. I saw many flasks being passed. In fact, when we left our seats after the game we came upon a bench where someone had put 8-10 liquor bottles in a row. The funny thing is people would stop to take a picture.

            I feel bad for the cleaning crew with all the snow and the garbage in the snow in the seating area, How are they going to clean it up? You cannot sweep it up. It was a sight with 10 inches of snow and garbage all combined.

            That was our night at TCF Stadium

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Thank you, Chris Kluwe

On Monday May 6^th, Chris Kluwe was given his release by the Minnesota Vikings. It does not come much of a surprise to me. I am a huge fan of this man and wish him well in the future wherever he signs.

I have met so many Vikings players over the last 20 seasons but Kluwe was one of a kind and would like to leave you my thoughts in poem form.

CHRIS KLUWE, THE CROWD PLEASER

 I will always remember the days at Training Camp as players rode bikes, but only Kluwe was found walking.

He took time out of his days to spend time with fans taking pictures and talking.

The man’s heart was second to none

He would sign for fan after fan until they were done.

Game day at the dome the scoreboard would replay the taping featuring Kluwe as the host called, “Know your Viking” with different player guests.

Each week got laugh after laugh by me as he seemed to always bring out the best.

Purplestick

 

I will never claim to know Chris but will say I met him several times and will say I know it’s a business but I for one will miss this personality along with his football skills.

The holding he did on kicks I hope people will appreciate what he did through the years. I know we are all replaceable in all our jobs.

I am a huge fan and supporter of the team and I do know it is a business and with that I welcome our new punter, Jeff Locke. He is now a Vikings and now has my support throughout his career.

In a quote in the Star Tribune Kluwe said about Locke, “I wish him the best. I hope he breaks every one of my records.” This comes from a man who I believe is a true professional.

In 2012 I was shocked when the Vikings cut veteran Ryan Longwell in favor of rookie, Blair Walsh and look what happened. Walsh sets several Vikings records. We now face the same in losing veteran Kluwe and look to replace him with rookie, Locke. It can be done so the best things we can do as fans is support the decision.

Good Luck, Chris Kluwe and thank you for the last 8 ½ years you served as the Vikings punter.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Source: StarTribune.com

 

 

 

Training Camp is getting closer

It has only been a little over a week since the draft and now we are talking minicamp. The word minicamp alone gets me fired up as it is one step closer to the next word camp and that is Training Camp.

How weird was it to see on the news Friday night seeing the news guys in uniform? I cannot see the practice but can imagine the matchup of two first rounder’s, Cordarrelle Patterson and Xavier Rhodes going at each other in drills.

I would love to be at Winter Park taking this in. The big talk is Cris Carter’s son Duron who is trying to follow in his father’s footsteps. Carter was one of 34 rookie free agents invited for a try out. Duron stands at 6’5”. What a story line if Cris’s son gets a shot at training camp.

I saw pictures of Duron posted from Friday’s practice and I could not believe how much he looks like his dad. It will be a story to follow for sure.

Football is here all you football junkies.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick