Let Skol

Ralph's latest voyage with the Vikings all too familiar

Ralph at SoFi, October 24, 2024 - Vikings at Rams

I’m a fan of only two teams - The Stars and The Vikings.

You’d think after spending 40 years in sports broadcasting, I’d be fully immuned to the ups and downs as a fan following a team. I am - but with two notable exceptions - The Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Vikings.

These teams are the passions of my youth. I didn’t care about the Twins, or the Gophers, or the TWolves when they came to town. But the Vikings and I both were born in Minnesota in 1961. The North Stars and I go back to 1967.

A quick word here on the Stars. I was a fan well before I was hired by the team in 1990. In those early days I had to learn to not be a fan on the air. Then that evolves into full-on, hired corporate spokesman. That means that on the air - I wasn’t as critical as I could have been - not by a long shot. My job was to put a good face on anything that happened. If a Stars player or the team was horseshit on any given night - I would dance around it - that’s the job. “They could be better here - you don’t want to take that penalty there - could have really used that save but we’ll get it next time…”

I’ve noticed some Stars fans now not knowing what to with me now that I’m not a paid home broadcaster and a fan just like you. More in a post on this next week. (“Hey Stars fans - Please allow myself to introduce myself… again…”)

The Minnesota Vikings & Me

Me early 70’s in a Vikings Clint Jones Jersey

If your team has won a Super Bowl in your lifetime - then you can not appreciate what this is like. If your team in the Super Bowl era hasn’t made much noise - only occasionally qualifying for the playoffs - never getting to a Super Bowl - (Detroit…) then you can not appreciate what this like. Buffalo and their fans are the closest comp. Really good team, always around it, 0-4 in Super Bowls - we understand each other.

There is no NFL team in the Super Bowl era with this body of work and no Lombardi Trophy.

• 31 Playoff Appearances

• 21 NFC North Division Titles (Packers have 17)

• 9 NFC Championship Games (have lost their last 5)

• 4 Super Bowl Appearances (0-4)

And some crazy huge kicks to the balls.

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY????

Brett Favre after throwing “The Pick” in 2009 NFC Title Game

Gary Anderson, about to miss for the fist time all year - and it costs the Vikings a 5th Super Bowl Appearance.

• “The Hail Mary” (Roger Staubach finds Drew Pearson on a last second prayer - I was in the stands - I was 14 years old, 1975)

• “Nelson’s Drop” (Redskins 17 - Minnesota 10. Wade Wilson puts the ball on Darren Nelson’s hands at the goal line on 4th down and 2 with under a minute remaining. Nelson drops it. 1988) (NFC CHAMPIONSHIP)

• “Anderson’s Miss” (This is a missing ring, and an almost unfathomable ending - The Vikings went 15-1 in 1998. Randal Cunningham, Randy Moss, Robert Smith - this team was the shit. Our kicker, Gary Anderson during the regular season was - ready…? - 35/35 on field goals and 59/59 on PAT’s. He has a chance to put the NFC title game away with a 38 yard field goal. Indoors in the dome. He MISSED IT. It still gives us nightmares to think about. (NFC CHAMPIONSHIP)

• Favre’s Pick (Or as I call it - Brad Childress’ bonehead 12 men in the huddle penalty) - Brett Favre gave us one of the most exciting and compelling seasons in franchise history. We blow the Cowboys out so badly in the divisional round that even my pal Brad Sham called the Vikings “classless” for running up the score. We go to New Orleans for the 2009 title game.

The final stats of that game reveal one of the most lopsided games in NFL playoff history.

- Vikings 475 yards of offense - Saints 257 (Favre 310 yards - Brees - 197) - Vikings 31 first downs - Saints 15 - Vikings Peterson rushed for 122 yards-3 TD’s - Saints Thomas 61 yds - 1 TD

The story behind the story here was - Vikings had 5 turnovers including on a critical late drive to kick the go ahead field goal. This was also the Saints bounty game - AND - NFL Playoff OT rules were changed following this game - to make sure both teams had the ball once in the session. (NFC CHAMPIONSHIP)

That’s the backdrop. Every self-respecting long-time Vikes fan like me - just knows - KNOWS - something bad will happen. We don’t know exactly what - exactly when - we just know - and it always happens. Until someday when maybe it doesn’t.

THIS IS THE CITY, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA…

SoFi Stadium from my seat - Vikes at Rams - October 24, 2024

But, we soldier on. We’re - scarred for sure, but who are we - who am I if I’m not the guy perpetually doing this every Sunday during football season. Knowing that it’s not gonna end well and that it might end horribly again.

It’s harder now - I’m older - and going to NFL games is a bitch. Tickets are expensive, shitty food is priced like a five-star restaurant, parking’s tough, etc etc etc. I live in Southern California so I drove it - 110 miles - about 2 1/2 hours. Not horrible but the traffic. Yikes. Got a hotel room walkable to the Stadium and spent the night. Drove back this morning. Now I’m writing this.

Less than a week ago - the Vikings were 5-0 and the talk of the league. Any real Vikings fan was waiting for a shoe or two to drop. A big one fell out of the sky last night and hit us super hard. Vikings offensive LT - maybe the best at the position in the NFL, Christian Darrisaw suffered a season-ending knee injury right before my eyes.

For people thinking this might be the Vikings year, this is a huge blow. Yes every team has injuries. Big ones. But accounting for the fragility of the fan base, the vibe that existed just a few days ago for a pretty young team on the rise, the strength of the NFC North this year - this is really tough.

If favored Chicago and Green Bay win this week - The Vikings - who were 5-0 and running 5 days ago - will be in last place in the division.

Last night’s game was a game we’ve all seen a million times. Good start. Close game. And then - and then… and then…

From my seat - Sam Darnold and the Vikings Offense on the move

Stafford’s got his boys back and looked like the Super Bowl QB he was just a few years back. The Rams were great. They protected well and answered every Vikings jab with a stiff right hook.

Vikings fans today are focused on the missed facemask on Darnold on the game’s final drive. Both the uncalled foul and the fan reaction are very on brand for my football team.

I’m a little more philosophical now. Maybe all those years inside the sausage factory has made me a little more objective about all this.

But in my garage is a large crate. I had my tombstone quarried and etched some years ago and I see no reason to amend it - it’ll play no matter when my time here is up. It says;

Here lies Ralph Strangis, he never lived long enough to see the Vikings win a Super Bowl.