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Smash Articles
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Piercing the
Veil Back in 1990, a corporate associate, a stodgy Miami Dolphins fan, uttered a distinct statement to me about his view of a proposed solution to an issue that our business needed to confront head on. My apologies to all, as there is no other way to say this. This particular statement has stuck with me ever since ... "It's like pissin' your cousin through a screen door." Today's passion for the Minnesota Vikings is allot like this haunting image. Back in 1970, the Dallas Cowboys had a sordid history. That organization was solidly immersed into the role of being the bridesmaid ... never the bride. Do you remember the ice bowl? That 1970 season featured the most ridiculous quarterback controversy in the history of the NFL. 1st down, Craig in ... 2nd down, Staubach in, Craig out. What? Finally, the decision was made to start Staubach. The result was the Cowboys first Super Bowl Championship which pierced that veil for all time with a total of five (5) Super Bowl championships. Meanwhile, MVP Joe Kapp, Mr. 40 for 60, asks for $100K and is summarily dealt to the Patriots for a season full of public beat-downs for Crazy Joe's folly. The stink of it is now an etched image. The 1970 Vikings end up 12-2 and are deeply immersed in the thick of it but are missing a major piece of that puzzle. Shula's Dolphins soon follow the Cowboys lead ... once at our expense. In 1974 we once again are matched with what was the most notorious franchise in the history of the NFL. At the time, the Pittsburg Steelers were the leagues greatest bunch of NFL losers ever known to man. Aaahh, the good old days! Today they hold six (6) NFL championships. On that January 12th day of 1975, the Steelers penetrated that proverbial veil for all time ... and have never looked back. Is it any wonder why today the ghosts of Odin stir so deeply within the hard drinking hearts that bleed only purple. So to the uninitiated, you might be thinking at this juncture of this story, "how could this possibly get any worse?" Well it does! Enter stage left ... the most hideous buck-tooth bridesmaid to have ever donned a helmet. Early on the morning of January 9th, of 1977 we were matched with NFL's winning-ness franchise in the history of the NFL ... that is except for one glaring problem. They had never one any championship whatsoever. Well on that day, they not only penetrated that veil ... they had a little bit more fun in store for the league. Since then, that organization has crapped all over what is now the NFL's corporate veil ... and they have never looked back. It's now over 30 years later and its been a long wait to allow those planets to align, which now brings me to my point. The perception out there needs to change, and it needs to change in a hurry. The Minnesota Vikings, its organization, its fans, its history will not be facing just another team or another organization. We are facing head long into the impenetrable corporate veil of the NFL, where I've been ready to shred it since I was just a bit of a laddie. To beat it down ... you have to know your real foe ... almost looking through and beyond that tackle to destroy what you cannot touch. Like sitting vigil upon the will of the menacing hand of death. As a child, I used to literally fly into my mothers couch at full speed, simulating a linebacker plugging a hole. Somewhat analogous to Super-Dude EJ Henderson, cape in hand, flying effortlessly upon and all over opposing running backs ... to taste that contact. I've spent the remainder of my life trying to punch my head through walls of brick and concrete, simply because it couldn't be done. Am I alone here or does anyone else get the feeling that championships are doled out to those that have pierced the veil as if the league was handing out candy? That leaves us on the outside looking in ... Virgins ... the Warm Up Horse ... Berserk, facing our sanity. So now you might be asking, on the soon to be eve of another NFL season, why do I chose to stir the pot of such dreaded thoughts. Well, at the time, I couldn't care less about those other organizations, and what they were forced to carry upon their backs. At the time, we were "The Bomb"! Today, the Philadelphia Eagles have assumed our role however; it is a very different story for the Minnesota Vikings. What is discerned from this yarn is that the ones that choose to ignore history, or choose to stand apart from it, as if it didn't matter, are doomed to repeat its failure and history has proven that it is the immortals that choose to tarry the load that to finally pierce that veil for all time. The greatest steels are forged under intense heat and pressure, with heat cycles simulating a roller coaster of heights, then plunging into the immediate depths. This is our history. We stand little chance of piercing the veil without carrying the labors and perils of that history. At that time, what I couldn't see was that for the ones that had pierced the veil ... there could be no other acceptable result. What does February 7th, 2010 hold in store for us? Has there ever been such a day? Does Odin reigns supreme? All I know Brett was that your daughter didn't just say that she wanted you to just play football ... she wanted you to win another Super Bowl. From the mouths of babes ... to the ear of ... The Viking Ghost
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