Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to the
Views and Personal Photos on the Vikes from the Inaugural Hall of Fame fan.
Brought to you by Mr. Cheer or Die and the Vikes Geek, welcome to theIt is April! Spring is here! And a very Happy April Fools Day! Many of you are reaching for this classic Who song about now.....
So, did you get suckered into my annual prank yesterday like many of you did last year? I must admit, it is getting more difficult to fool people, but it was certainly fun to watch April Fool's Day 2006 blossom across Vikings related message boards and such on Friday. Let us recap:
One: Set the Trap
First, to make the prank really stand out, it has to be near and dear to the heart. What is nearer and dearer to our collective hearts than the legendary horns on the helmet? A sure attention grabber that everyone has a opinion on.
During the last few weeks I set the stage with uniform updates. I planted a seed about a possible change to the helmet. The story was credible as changes to the uniform was covered through the local media. Earlier this week I alluded to being made privvy to a glimpse of the new helmet itself.
Two: Drop the Hammer
I posted the supposed new image on 3/31. This causes people to wonder out loud that it may not be a April Fools Day prank. Then there are the AFD purists who yell "foul" by baiting everyone a day early. Boo-friggin'-hoo. I set the trap the day before and drop the hammer the day of. Mark your calendar for next year.
The horns are staying on the helmet. They will just be updated a bit. So the image I posted yesterday on with the simple golden "V" was false.
The whole gag was in jeopardy on Wednesday when the Wilf story hit that the horns would stay. I traded some e-mails with my contacts at Winter Park (who suggested I run with a Jeff George for backup QB story which could have been good as well!) and ultimately made the call to run with the helmet gag anyway. Thanks to Shane of the Greet Machine who came up with the very realistic image.
If nothing else, I gave everyone some exciting message board fodder on a boring Friday!
Three: Truth Part One
It is true that I plan to attend a mini-camp session on Friday, April 7 and photos will be coming as early as April 8.
Four: Truth Part Two
It is true that the Vikings first ever draft pick, Tommy Mason, will be a part of a roundtable discussion at the Vikings Draft Party on April 29th.
See you Monday! Unless you are really, really pissed at me. In that case, just ask yourself "were you entertained Friday?"
"Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance." Sam Brown (Washington Post, 1977)
Who Dat?
As I stated, many message boards were ablaze with the AFD prank on Friday. None surprised me more than a New Orleans Saints message board here. Like the Saints fans have anything to crow about! And if you are a Saints fan back to check things out......go look up Anthony Carter circa 1/3/1988.
New Wilf Approval Poll
The March edition of the Zygi Wilf Approval rating is closed and the April one is now up. Zygi finished with a 80% approval rating, his lowest of the year thus far. How will he fair in April? I'm sure the draft will play a role in that decision and you may consider holding your vote until then. You can find the approval poll along the left frame.
And a new poll is also up. Which position should the Vikes address first in the upcoming draft? QB? LB? RB? Vote to the left directly below the approval rating poll.
Saturday Video
Many of you probably have seen this video. For those that haven't.......
No Fun League
I might have to write on this some more next week. But on the heels of llimiting what type of TD dance a player can celebrate, the NFL is now going to remove local TV affiliates from the sideline during games, thus ending their ability to shoot footage for news programs and other shows.
That ought to clear up certain sightlines on the sidelines since there will be a limited number of cameras, but what about our Sunday ritual of watching highlights on our favorite local sports wrap show? I bet this one is going to get some major coverage in the coming weeks.
Coming Monday
A entry by Vikes Geek and a new podcast covering the new stadium effort. See you then!
Gee, your a funny guy.
Posted by: Dave at April 1, 2006 9:16 AMBastard! You got me, although the sperm comment had me scratching my head. Here in SD when a new school (Sioux Falls Roosevelt)that let the students vote on the name of the mascot they voted "Rough Riders" for Teddy. Well the right wing went nuts and it made news for about 2 weeks that "Rough Riders" were a condom made by Trojan. So I thought heck with all the hub-bub about the boat.... maybe. But anyway I only give 1/2 the credit because it really wasn't April 1st.8>)
Posted by: Lonnie at April 1, 2006 9:50 AMThat was one of the most gut-wrentching April Fools Day pranks of all time.
Posted by: Tyler at April 1, 2006 11:41 PMThe misinformation you post?...uniform changes...etc. A simple joke on the day of 4-1 might be acceptable, but that you set up your jokes for a week or two ahead of time before you drop your 'hammer'. Just a waste of my time. If i want anti Vikings jokes, ill go read at a Packer website. I rarely visit this site..and this sort of stuff is the reason why not.
Posted by: skol at April 2, 2006 9:28 AMHey skol, you're a dumb baby.
I fell for the prank too, but you don't see my crying and pooping in my diaper about it.
Posted by: Peter at April 3, 2006 9:17 AMAt the risk of sounding like a poor sport, it hardly seems fair to pull an April Fools Day joke on March 31. At least SBG got the day right.
Posted by: Jeff A at April 3, 2006 4:55 PM