The weekend that was Part 3 of 3

This last weekend was one of the best weekends ever. Friday night was the Dave Matthews Band. Saturday was tailgating and the I-State vs. Army football game. Sunday I was at the Vikings vs. 49ers game in Minneapolis (maybe the best finish I have seen in person).


Last up is the Sunday Vikings vs. 49ers experience.

I got home around 11:30 from the Army game. A little too excited to sleep so being the uber geek that I am rolled my toon CTMcGee around Northrend for a few hours, that was dumb as I was having Zac come over to my house at 5AM to leave for Minny.

Zac was there right on time. Zac was going up because the 49ers are his favorite team and his b-day was in August so I convinced Jamie Lou that I should get him tickets for his birthday. It is a little tricked I learned from Jamie Lou to get a little juice for yourself. More commonly seen by buying yourself things you need right before Christmas and your birthday so that when gifts come that you already have you can take those back and get new things. Double dipping I'll call it.

Up North we headed, uneventful trip, intern Steve slept in the back seat most of the way up. Steve too loved the 49ers, and had a ticket so he tagged along with the brothers Christensen. on a side note I really need to start taking pictures of these trips... I have really none from it.

When we got to the cities we parked about 6 blocks from the dome off of 5th. the street spots were all taken but we found a lot for 6 dollars. While the walk is a bit far it is more than paid back by being 34 bucks cheaper than the lots closer to the dome and being able to leave town in a jiffy after the game as the ramp to the interstate is 3 blocks away from where we park.

We then wandered up past the dome and a few blocks beyond to Grumpy's. Zac and I had some egg bake and beers while Steve opted for buffalo wings and beer. It was a bit strange to be on a patio with smokers now that it is verboten in Iowa, but the sun and good times made that not such a big deal.

After Grumpy's it was off to the dome, we got there 45 minutes before kickoff. Always fun to boo the visitors as they come out of the tunnel to warm up and to hear that viking horn blow and cheer the boys in purple. Particularly fun for me was the fact the Jim Marshall blew thew horn to call out the team, he is a big BIG man. you can kind of see him int he photo below:




The first half was going famously, getting ready to go up 16 - 7 and receive the ball in the second half only to have the field goal blocked and returned for a TD by San Fran. Memo to Steve Hutchinson: you are great but you have to get up out of your stance when the ball gets hiked...dick. So instead of 16- 7 and getting the ball we were now down 13 - 14. I will say though that so far this year we have had to special teams TDs against us and we won both those games, so maybe it is a good luck kind of thing....maybe.

An amazing kickoff return by future RoY Percy Harvin got the crowd back into it. He is so amazingly fast in person. And to be able to run 101 yards and not have a finger touch you is even more amazing.

Vernon Davis' touchdown with around 9 minutes put San Fran up 4 but I still had a good feeling. When the Vikes went for it on fourth down and failed to convert at midfield, I didn't have such a good feeling. When the people started streaming out even though we still had 3 timeouts I felt a little worse. The the niners we ultra conservative with 3 runs in a row I felt a little better. When they kicked it in the end zone and we only need an 80 yard TD with 1:29 I even felt a little better. When Greg Lewis caught a 50 yard laser from Favre for the game winner with 2 seconds left, I really couldn't believe what I saw. I had never been to a game that finished like that. I have seen goal line stands, I have seen field goals made and missed to win games. But I have NEVER seen in person an ending like that.

The poor 49er fans went from happy to sad with the flick of a wrist. Even with thousands of people having left early that is the loudest I have ever heard that stadium get. It may have even been a touch louder when the play was confirmed.

Some even more exciting things coming up form me in the coming week or two. You can read about those fun things here when they are posted.