Blue Moon
- wadE
A little more Vikings talk on a chilly Monday.
Last week
I said the following:
(The Vikings)... is a team that could make the NFC Championship!?!
Believe it or not! Green Bay has been far from consistent this year. They have shown to be beatable
at home, in the cold, that last two years. And we all know the trouble Philly has had in the playoffs.
Of course all the Vikings need to do is to play two solid defensive games, not make mistakes on
offense, and get a few of those patented Favre interceptions.
Surprisingly enough, I was right! The defense played even better than solid, in fact it was their best
overall effort of the season.
It certainly helped that the Packers were falling apart with injuries, and Favre produced one of
his classic melt-down games. A bad bounce here, a couple good defensive plays there, and a couple
badly run routes, and the Vikes ended up with 4 (and what should have been 5, but thankfully wasn't)
interceptions. They also forced 3 fumbles and sacked Favre twice.
All last week I predicted a blow-out...by either team. This wasn't going to be a game decided by
a field goal. While I felt confident that the Vikings could win, next week won't be so easy. The
Eagles are still cursed in the post-season and won't have a talented receiver on the field.
The game will more than likely come down to the play of our linebackers. If they can play as
well against Philly as they did against Green Bay, this crummy 8-8 team has a chance to go to the
NFC Championship game. If our linebackers and can stop the run, and perform above average in
pass coverage...oh, and keep McNabb from running, then the Vikes will win.
No easy task, but anything can happen in the NFC this year.
Anyway, as for Moss' celebration dance of pantomiming mooning the crown at Lambeau field, I think
Joe Buck said it best when he said something like this, "I'm sorry our cameras were on that, that
was the most distasteful, classless act I have ever seen".
...er, wait... No, no Joe didn't say it best. Yes, the mooning was a bad idea and was in very
poor taste, but does anyone outside FOX and ESPN care? No. Even the
Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel doesn't mention it at all.
Wouldn't it have been worse if
Moss had run out to the center of the field and spiked the ball on the giant "G"? Wouldn't that
have caused the crowd to call for blood? I guess what I'm saying is that I've seen worse things.
What about Jake Plummer giving the finger to the crown on the sidelines? Isn't that more
distasteful than a fake moon?
Does Moss deserve to hear from the NFL? Yes. Does he deserve a fine? Yes. Was that the most
disgusting, distasteful thing to ever happen on a football field? No. If Nate Burleson had done it,
would we be talking about it on Monday? No.
Personally, I wish Randy would get it together and stop acting like an asshole and giving the talking
heads all this fodder; but the Viking fan
inside of me loved every moment of it. Anyway, no matter what happens next week, I couldn't have asked for
a better season. To dismantle the Packers in the first-ever playoff meeting, and to do it at
"Lambert" Field was priceless.
Skol Vikings!
1/11/05 Update: Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy -- a former Vikings assistant -- offered
some historical context.
"Probably no one in the country can appreciate what is behind that," Dungy said. "What happens ...
when you leave the parking lot in Green Bay, that's kind of a tradition their fans have. They stand
next to the fence as the buses go out and they moon the buses.
"Randy has had about six or seven years of those guys mooning him as he's left after a loss and I
think that was his way of saying 'OK, appreciate the fun -- you guys had your fun, here's a little
shout back at you.' That's what that was all about."
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feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.
