Gopher Football & Brewster Just Sold Me 2 Season Tickets

I just bought two Gopher season tickets for $507.00. I want to take my kid to outdoor football, and have him grow up watching a team that will put forth an effort, a team who can talk it and walk it, and after 41 years of watching the Vikings, I am just sick of it all. I am sick of watching other teams with former Viking coaches make the playoffs, and win the Super Bowl, and I am sick of the stadium fight that reeks of the "Minnesota Tree Hugger Public" and "Pseudo Wanna be Player" Politician" ignorance for thr true value of Pro Sports in our state.

We Vikings fans are stuck in a rubber-filled fun house with no real NFL tailgating environment. The Vikings football program, try as it might, is not varsity in the NFL. I will do everything I can to help them get their god damn stadium, but I feel it's time for me to pony up the dough, put my money where my mouth is, buy in the Gophers football program as well.

So today, I am officially committed to this program from this point on (with a very loyal semi allegience to my old team, the Penn State Nittany Lions, and a place in my heart for the Texan Longhorns, of course). I will make it more of a focus to raise my son as a part of Gopher Nation. I look forward to many seasons of going to Big 10 Games, outside on a campus in an evolving big time college atmosphere.

The past few months I have been giving much thought to gobbling up as many Gopher tickets as possible. Buy low, sell high the old adage states, and it all started for me in the Vikings tailgate lot this last season, when I found myself defending the U of Minnesota's football program in one of those spontaneous, passioniate discussion topics that are so eminent among diehard Vikings tailgating fans.

It was early November and Glen Mason was still the Gophers Head Coach. Many of my fellow Vikings fans were fed up with the old ball coach. In particular, his statement that after 10 years on the job, the Gopher program "was still being built" raised the ire of Vikings fans. To the fans in the lot on that day, it was time for Mason to go.

"Dude, how can say that they are still rebuilding? Cripes, he's been here for a decade, and he has taken them as far as he can go. The program has not advanced, not will it ever advance to the next level."

I rushed in to defend his statement not so much because he was a great football mind, but because I believe that any program starts with loyalty by those closest to it. Take note Tree Huggers and Politicians:

If one doesn't have support, loyal support, the program will fail, not because of a coach, but mainly because those, who stand to benefit most by its success, somehow refuse to contribute to it. What happens in this scenario is that a sort of "pack mentality" perpetuates a scenario of negativity which then allows for an almost false belief of failure. Recruits who could attend a school and help it, or in the Vikings case, politicians and taxpayers who could pledge support to viable economic boom to the community they are part of, see no reason to put forth the committent.

The inevitable results are challening for any college head coach or pro football ownership group. It becomes a futile challenge for anyone to sell it. It becomes a frustrating experience for those on the outside who actually care. For the press it becomes fuel to help sell their stink ragged media as shock value (their product).

After the Gophers blew the biggest lead in the history of Bowl games, losing to Texas Tech in the Insight.com Bowl, Glen Mason lost his job. I was sad for Mason. The program had improved, and was better off with him then it had been without him. As lifelong Penn State fan, I knew that it took Joe Paterno 41 years to build the Nittany Lions to icon status. The school evolved from pasture in a fly over location to one of the greatest college football institutions the history of the NCAA. Along the way the University also became one of the best academically acclaimed institutions in the United States. Rome was not built in a day. I think this is sort of what Mason was trying to say in his "rebuilding a program" statement.

The Gophers now have a new coach, Tim Brewster. There is no better time for me to become a committed season ticket holder. The program has a nice new stadium to build itself on. It has GREAT college football history to sell itself on (6 National Titles people! C'mon! Only six other programs are historically better; Notre Dame (14), USC (11), Alabama (10), Oklahoma (10), Michigan (7), Ohio State (7) and then the Gophers (6)) and it now has ME!

Of course, to get these tickets, I had to compromise with my wife. I had to give something up, I had to play politics and economics. Take note again "Tree Huggers" and "Politicians" it's time for you step up and do the same. You see, I cannot afford Twins, Vikings, Wild AND Gophers season tickets. but I see value in all of them. Pro Sports are my entertainment, my Guthre Theater if you will. I spend money on things that entertain me, and by doing so, like thousands of others, I help the economy of business in our state. My compromise is to start splitting costs with other friends and settle for partial season tickets. The Vikings do not offer a package for this, so I will have to make arrangements with someone (scalpers in the lot?) to acquire 3-4 games a year.

Politicians can get creative to appease the public, their voters as well. How about a plan that will finance as stadium, if the Vikings Community fund helps pay for new schools, or the environment? How about a plan that will use the evil lottery to pay for a stadium and also finance public shools and the environment? There are tons of options out there. Taxpayers and individuals can willingly help pay for a stadium if it is made obvious to them that other programs are being funded as well. Use your head people, work together for once. Finance business and entertainment and repurpose a small parf of profits to the programs that are so valuable to the Minnesota belief system.

I will attend every home game (except pre-season, which is a waste of money anyway) and will still arrive in the tailgating lot, 6-8 hours before game time for every home game, but I will no longer make the time to attend every minute of home games INSIDE the teflon roof. Of course, if the purple loads up with Randy Moss, Paul Posluszny, and other viable NFL caliber talent that lights it up every Sunday, I might pinch out some money from personal stash and get to more games inside. Last year I found it much more enjoyable to just hang out in the lot and watch the games on TV.

I will still maintain the VIKINGSTAILGATE.COM website, and as a matter of fact, I will probably become more of a pro at the skill of tailgating. I will still be getting up super early, hitting the lots earlier, and maybe even returning home earlier (in many cases before the first half completes itself.) I just don't want to waste money on pre-season games, and I don't want to take financial losses for games that the Vikes play that are over after the first drive anyway, ya know?

Maybe in a year or two, I will actually re-enter the season ticket world of Vikings.

Here Comes the Fire Sale

One can't blame Vikings fans for jumping off the ship after the horribly painful season we just endured, and who could blame them for jumping off the bandwagon, burning their old jerseys, and dumping their season tickets. But a Fire Sale?

I was recently contacted by Dave, who wants to sell this really cool Vikings Tailgating Fire engine, "Just a photo to share, this tailgating fire truck is up for grabs....best offer."
Thanks, Dave

The Truck:

Now, I not accusing Dave of jumping off any bandwagon, as a matter of fact he has a good reason:

"I am selling it due to a financial obligation.....bad business decisions on many items in 2006."

Dave is looking to just sell it to the right person. If interested drop Dave a Line and Let him know what's up

It has new tires, paint, pull out charcoal grill, lights and siren work, runs perfect, 10,000 actual miles.

Personally, I would love to have this vehicle. I mean the vehicle is about as cool as it can get, right? Imagine sipping some beers in a tailgate lot next to the dome four hours before game day, enjoying the company of other rogue NFL fans from other parts of NFL Nation. Imagine that this is stadium is brand new, and the Vikings are the fear of the NFL, on the verge of being a serious threat to Super Bowl dominance. Talk about a conversation piece.

Reality Check: There is no way I could possibly justify it's presence in my life to my wife. But I mean really? This is the type of vehicle I have been waiting for my entire tailgating life. I would love to pull up to the lot driving this?