The Vikes won Sunday over hated rival Green Bay. One would think the local rags would have column after column speaking to yet another great game in this storied rivalry. So, let's take a gander of how the stories ran:

From the STrib

Kevin Seifert's leading paragraph: "Fifty-three men bounced, laughed, shrieked and stomped in unison Sunday afternoon. They stood not on a boat but on the Metrodome field, their gyrations wholesome and borne of a most appropriate kind of jubilation: professional success."

David Phelps' leading paragraph: "As the Vikings muddled through the first half of their eventual victory over Green Bay, fan disgust reached the point where free T-shirts flung into the crowd by Vikings employees were thrown back onto the field."

An excerpt from our good friend Top Jimmy's entry: "The Packers embarrassed the Nauti Boys for 30 minutes, taking a 17-0 lead. Owner Zygi Wilf had to be making a mental search for Tice's replacement (what is Les Steckel doing these days?), just as Tice had to be wondering whether it was time to bench The Teflon Daunte."

From the Pioneer Press

An excerpt from Tom Powers' entry: "No word on whether special game balls were awarded to Al and Alma."

From Sean Jensen: "Still under scrutiny for their involvement in a controversial Oct. 6 boat party on Lake Minnetonka, the Vikings were puzzled by the reception from the 64,278 fans at the Metrodome. At times during the first half, Packers fans overwhelmed their Vikings counterparts, who had little to cheer about as their team continued its erratic play. After the Packers took a 14-0 lead late in the second quarter, one Vikings fan ripped off his purple T-shirt and hurled it five rows in front of him."

I'm not saying that the I would have thought the media should have let go of the Love Boat altogether, but maybe 24-hours to allow the fans to bask in the glory of yet another cheese stomping would have been refreshing. Funny enough, the only beat writer to not bring up the scandal in his post-game coverage was Judd Zulgad of the STrib who was assigned the arduous task of actually living in Green Bay last season to provide Packer coverage for the STrib.

Mike Tice was given even less time to gloat, having to field Love Boat questions during the post-game press conference.

And that is what the Vikes will have to deal with the remainder of this season. And it may perhaps serve as no greater lesson for the players: Win, and still the story is about your off-field activities.

Tice Approval Rating

Tice sank to a 7% approval rating for the week following the Bears loss dropping him to a year low 44% approval rating average. What will his approval rise to this week fresh off the Packer victory? You can vote your rating to the left.

From My Seat

The fans were certainly disgruntled during the first half. It started with the lame non-introductions and the boos started to build as the team fell behind 17-0.

But one could feel ol' Momentum build following half-time. The defense brought the crowd back into the game early and the fans stayed with the game the rest of the way. It was a deafening roar that signaled the game winning boot as soon as the football left Paul Edinger's foot. I'll try and post some actual audio later this week.

No paper bags were seen in my section. No purple shirts being tossed onto the field. And the number of Cheeser's in attendance was lower than years past...and certainly much less vocal. Only one "Go Pack Go" chant got going and was quickly drowned out by Vikes fans.

Posted by maasx003 at October 24, 2005 8:27 AM