“Just when I think I’m out they pull me back in.”
*Michael Corleone, Godfather III
It’s probably not a good idea to compare myself to a mobster..even if it’s a movie mafia mobster… but I know exactly how Michael Corleone felt when, in spite of his best efforts at going straight, he just couldn’t shake his past and like a mosquito to a bug zapper, the Godfather was helplessly drawn back into the light of evil that made him and would eventually kill him.
And so it is that for the umpteenth time in 45 years of agonizing disappointments, I have been lured out of complacency and back into the bright lights of the Metrodome where, like La Cosa Nostra recruits, the Grandfather (me) has allowed the purple flame of hope to be ceremoniously burned in the palms of my outstretched hands.
(Too dramatic?)
After losing four Superbowls..then blowing the 1998 NFC championship game when the Minnesota Vikings were clearly the best team in the league..then getting our hopes up again with years of good starts followed by horrible collapses, I was done with the Vikings. Well, maybe not done but certainly not planning my Sundays around watching their games.
I really don’t follow college football that much or the NFL draft either so I didn’t know anything about Adrian Peterson when the Vikings picked him up.
I figured it was kind of appropriate, though, that a team called the Vikings should have as many Norwegian players on it as possible.
The little we saw of Travaris Jackson at the end of last season and start of this one, didn’t give fans much to cheer about and after he got hurt, the two back-ups looked like wide-eyed high school quarterbacks just trying to keep from getting whacked.
The only reason I watched at all was to see Peterson (who I guess isn’t Norwegian) run the ball.
The Vikings have never had anyone as great as him..including Chuck Foreman.
Then Peterson goes and gets his knee messed up and those of us used to having our dreams crushed by this bunch, naturally assume that its all over…AGAIN.
But wait, suddenly Chester Taylor picks up the slack at running back..slamming through holes in the line or scampering for first downs on end-around plays.
The Vikings pass defense, worst in the league, has come to life and is earning respect making plays and interceptions.
Jackson, with a much improved offensive line, is demonstrating the kind of skills, poise and good judgment that Brad Childress (who I no longer want Luca Brasi to put on his “to do’ list) has been saying all along that he had.
Then Peterson comes back as good as ever.
So now, here they are..three wins in a row. They’re 6 and 6 with a good shot at making the playoffs.
And here I am like the mythical sailor Odysseus being lured by the enchanting song of the sirens.(Skol Vikings let’s win this game, Skol Vikings honor your name)
Yes, I believe in you again oh great purple ones.
I will no longer throw my Vikings foam brick at the television set while watching your games.
I will loyaly wear my Vikings sweatshirt with pride and confidence each Sunday as you pummel all opponents that dare stand in your way.Then, together, we shall finally achieve the ultimate reward which has eluded us for so long: that silver trophy named after Don Vito Lombardi.
But fail me again..and you can sleep with the fishes.