Thanks for the great ride Brian. Hopefully we can still get a few of your thoughts now again at Vikes Geek.

Thanks for everything Brian! Enjoy your retirement! You more than deserve it! You have documented an important time in Vikings history. It is sad to see you go, but I certainly understand why you have made this decision. Keep in touch!

Brian,
I wanted you to know your blog made football fun again and I found myself keeping better tabs on the team. Where ever vikes geek ends up, I look forward to maybe seeing a guest article from you sometime during the season.
Best of luck to you and your family and thanks for the great articles over the past year that I've been an avid reader.
From your fans in South Dakota,the Viking Underground will be missed.

I've been reading your blog for the past 9 months all the way down here in New Zealand, and it beats the hell out of Strib, PP or Viking update for vikes info and analysis. Like the others said hope to see a couple of guest articles on vikesgeek's new site, maybe a training camp review if we could be so lucky...
Good luck in your future endeavours Brian

Thank you for providing a Viking alternative to Viking Update. I enjoyed reading your opinions, and the comics always made me laugh. Thank you for the coverage on the Vikes mini-camp. I also will be reading Vikes Geek and watching for a guest article when we win the Super Bowl :). Good Luck.

hey brian
i have had your blog bookmared for the longest and have checked it every time (almost every day) i read all the viking papers. it has become the best source for viking info - you tell it like it is and do so with great humor. i'm very sad to see it go because in my opinion it is my favorite source of viking info on the web. take care and good luck. i'm being selfish here when i say it really sucks to have you gone but it really does. have fun with your free time - you were awesome!
fran

Oh well, another excellent blogger shot down in his prime. You will be missed. This was definetly my favorite Vikings blog, but Id prefer 20 hours of my week to creating a blog no matter how good it was.

Wish you the best.

I was saddened to see that you are stepping back from the web, although I do understand why. Believe me, I do. You have done a fantastic job and have been one of the best resources on the internet for Viking fans. I for one will miss your entries every year. Take care and again, congrats on a job well done. Go Vikes!

Thanks for everything Brian. If you ever have some Vikings talk that you want to share, you'll always be welcome to the Viking-Army fansite.

Once again, thanks for some great times, you and your site have always been very well respected among the fans.

Matt.

I just found your site after a long dark tea time of the soul.

I will miss you thoughts and perspectives while cheering for your renewal of personal time. I am sure that this project will give you a greater love for that ever elusive concept, 'free time'.

Live well for we shall all die some day, let it be on the battlefield of your choice! I'll see you in Valhalla!

Carl B. Freeman (a lurker from the earliest days of the underground)

Thanks for sharing your views with us over the views, from the days of the original Viking Underground until now. It has always been refreshing to read and made me look at things from a different perspective on some issues.
When things become a chore and no longer enjoyable then its time to pack them in.
Hope you enjoy your 'retirement' and, like us, get to see that elusive SB win before too long

Skol!

You will be missed. You did a excellent job on the Vikings much better than VU. I also enjoyed the non-Viking stories very much. I wish you well and Skol. Thanks again from your friends in South Dakota.
Lonnie

Brian,

Living in Chicago, it's hard to get good Vikings information. Really appreciate all the time you put in on the blog. Good content, interesting commentary, and timely information. Can certainly understand your desire to get 20 hours back a week. I just wish there was something I could quit to get back 20 hours (maybe my job?)

You were well read here in Chi-town bud.

Tom

I unnderstand, I hope you still kep some type of website to give alittle news and some pictures when you get the urge.

thanks for your time and everything you have done!!

Dear Brian, Wait a minute. I just found you a couple of months ago. I've been a Vikings fan since 1961-62 when members of the team showed up at Zayers Shopers City in NE Minneaplolis. My dad bought me a helmet and pads, and I had them signed by one of the new Vikings. Don't know who that was now, and the items are forever lost. To not hear from you now will be the same as losing that gear. Please, of course, take some time off, but stay with us. The VIKINGS are going to win a Super Bowl, and soon. We should all be there when it happens. I'm 55 now, and forever hopefull. Thanks for your blogs, they have been great, but something wonderful is going to happen. Stay there! TG

Here's to COD & the best damn Vikings page on the net! It was fun while it lasted, good reads & good times.

The Commish

Thanks for the fantastic reads every morning at work. It's about the only thing I look forward to most mornings, even in the off-season.

Let's not get sappy though, your family and your life are much more important that writing columns for the rest of us geeks to enjoy. You really seem like a stand-up guy and I wish you the best. Thanks!

Jeremy

you might want to change the part where you say:

"I've ended up incestuously fretting over how to top the last entry!"

to incessantly...

yeh I know... some days nailing my sister is all I can think about too....

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Say it isn't so. Tell me it's another April Fool's joke (you actually got me, by the way, on the old helmet change...and I never fall for that stuff). I love your blog; it will be greatly missed. Truth be told, I'd actually endure the ugly V's on the helmet if you'd continue your blog...on second thought, no. Enjoy your time off!

I can see how keeping up with this blog at this pace can be tiring and unfulfilling, however I'd have to disagree that lately there hasn't been much good material on the site. The coverage of the free agency, draft, and minicamps has been 2nd to none (better than Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, and usually even better than Viking Update and KFAN) and this is why it's become so popular.

Your inside source that foretold the draft, the analysis of what happened in the 2nd round, and the cool pics and Podcasts of the minicamps kept people coming back for more although I could tell you no longer wanted to go to the minicamps or write much lately and VikeGeek was pretty much taking over.

For the offseason, there sure has been a lot of material lately. If I could give any suggestion, it would be to keep the blog going and if you're tired of it just have VikesGeek take over. Football season will start up again and with all the excitement going on it probably won't be as much of a burden anymore. I don't think anybody expects a new article every day, just when new developments happen (which can be rare in the offseason.) Heck, I bet you may even be able to make some advertising revenue off it.

Forgot to mention, the vikesgeek.com URL still brings people to this site. I'd like to know where it will end up pointing to.

Thanks brian for a great site. i looked at it every day during lunch. your blog will be greatly missed. maybe if you rest up you would want to post your thoughts after games. i like the way you analyze the different situations. i expect that you are going to training camp. i am trying to go for a day or two so i hope to meet you then. you have done a great job. THANKS!

SCREW IT. We don't care about your family. We don't care about your time. We don't care if you're burned out! We don't care if you're tired!

Give us what we want or we'll.... we'll... we'll stop coming here. Yeah that's the ticket. We won't ever come back to read what you aren't writing anymore.

So there!!

(now which button do I push to get that sarcasm font?)

Brian...
Thanks for the memories! I have enjoyed reading your blog for the past two years and I check it every day to see if there is anything new.

Your photos and commentary of especially the new players at minicamps, etc., have been my favorites. This is one fellow North Dakotan who is going to miss you. I'll be sitting in the opposite end zone, row 7, for the Sept. 17th Carolina Panthers game. I'll look through my binoculars to see if I can get a glimps of you.

If you ever have the inspiration to do a guest commentary or post some football photos in the future, please do so!

Thanks for the time and effort you have put into your blog and to your family for allowing you to pursue such an endeavor. You'll be missed!

Mike

Thanks for sharing your zeal for the Vikes. Your outlook shall be missed.

Godspeed

Thank you Brian.

I've been reading your blog for quite some time now, have it bookmarked and read it everyday. I will certainly miss your thoughts and not to mention media coverage of the vikings.

If your ever in Ireland i'll buy you a pint of Guinness, a real pint.

Barry.

Man, first The Far Side, then Calvin & Hobbes, then Twins Geek, now The Underground? How come it's always the best ones who have to retire?

I do appreciate the amount of work it must take to make VU what it was day in and day out. 20 hours a week is no hobby; it's a part time job.

Your field work, your photos, your informed insight, your April Fools jokes and your draft-time info from The Insider were irreplaceable. There was nothing like you anywhere.

You will be missed.

Thanks Brian! for all the hours! As a danish fan it was a great porthole to Minisota, your work will be missed...... Any chance the podcast will still be avail??

Brian,

This is a major bummer! This is one of the only blogs that I read and I found it when I couldn't find a better Vikings blog anywhere.

It will be missed!

i looked around today looking for some informed viking info on other blogs and nothing even close. you can retire as having the best vikes blog ever. thankyou again. i lied when i said i just checked cheer or die at lunch. i checked it 3-4 times per day to get your input on anything new put out by the media. perhaps, you should pursue a guest spot at star tribune...your thoughts were much closer to reality than jim souhan, pat rouse?, or sid. thanks for all you did. again if you want to reconsider we would all hire you back. dan

Really appreciated your work, Mr. COD. The training camp photos were phenomenal and really brought that experience to life--like nothing I'd ever seen in professional sports. Made the Vikings organization seem far more intimate and personal than anything the media can recreate or impart.

At base, professional football is a kids' game played, watched, and enjoyed for fun and out of a desire for competition and comeradere. You heightened that experience of closeness and fun for those of us tired of hearing the cynics tell us endlessly about how it's just a "business."

I understand the pressure of blogging. It's exhausting--especially if you're successful in gaining a following. We'll miss your perspective.

But I just ask one thing: could you try to ensure that the type of behind-the-scenes access you made possible is kept alive on the internet by some young protege? Some kid with a camera, a nose for the spotlight, and a passion for the purple? Perhaps it will be Vikes Geek who picks up where you left off. If so, great. And I'm sure he'll let you guest-blog whenever the spirit moves you.

Enjoy the freedom. And if someday you feel so inclined, don't hesitate to knock out a no-strings-attached guest post at Vikes Geek for old times' sake. Spontaneous updates on your fandom and general well-being would be much appreciated.

Thanks again.

Brian,

Your departure is going to leave quite a hole. I found myself checking in a ridiculous amount of times during the day for any bits of info and opinion.

I know that you have raised the bar so high that all other blogs will come up short. Good luck to you. We all need to spend more time with our families.

Brian,

I will miss your thoughtful commentaries and witicisms. I enjoyed meeting up with you those two times in Valhalla. You were friendly and kind to a stranger from out of town who loved the Vikes since I was nine, and you shared some of your enthusiasm with a non-local fan like me. You are a great person, and a fellow pharmacist to boot! Please keep in touch somehow!
Yours in friendship and shared love of Viking Football and Pharmacy,

Don Kelleher
Dover, Delaware.

At the very least, you can have this site forward to the new Vikesgeek site and have him take over from where you left off.

Im really going to miss this blog. The training camp coverage and pictures were second to none. Id just like to give you some major props because i have been comming here for about a year or so and always get good info. Thanks for everything.

Your family is really lucky, Brian. They have learned first-hand how following one's dreams with drive and dedication can lead to greatnesses and affect so many people "around the world" as The Viking Underground has. What a wonderful example to set for your children and others. I'm sure that you will approach your 20 hours per week of freed-up time with the same passion you brought to VU. It's been an honor to submit to your blog. Thank you.

They have been able to share in your passion for the Vikings and now

This is too bad, but i understand the reasoning. i would like to thank you, brian, for all the wonderful information & insight that you have shared with us. This is the first Viking site that i visited since i known NFL. So, Thank you Brian!

Well your site has definately been the best Vikes page out on the Wide World of mostly junk. I believe you would make a great vikes beat sports writer for any paper or magazine. You have a long list or references right here. But family must always come first and free time is always rare especially with a child and a full time job. Enjoy your well deserved retirement. Good luck. Let's all pray the vikes finally get the elusive SB win. Thanks for the great info and entertainment. (Damn now I have to read the dreaded Strib. smile.)Thanx Kevin
p.s. Could you possibly post the Vikes geek's new site link when it comes online? Thanks.

Well your site has definately been the best Vikes page out on the Wide World of mostly junk. I believe you would make a great vikes beat sports writer for any paper or magazine. You have a long list or references right here. But family must always come first and free time is always rare especially with a child and a full time job. Enjoy your well deserved retirement. Good luck. Let's all pray the vikes finally get the elusive SB win. Thanks for the great info and entertainment. (Damn now I have to read the dreaded Strib. smile.)Thanx Kevin
p.s. Could you possibly post the Vikes geek's new site link when it comes online? Thanks.

Well your site has definately been the best Vikes page out on the Wide World of mostly junk. I believe you would make a great vikes beat sports writer for any paper or magazine. You have a long list or references right here. But family must always come first and free time is always rare especially with a child and a full time job. Enjoy your well deserved retirement. Good luck. Let's all pray the vikes finally get the elusive SB win. Thanks for the great info and entertainment. (Damn now I have to read the dreaded Strib. smile.)Thanx Kevin
p.s. Could you possibly post the Vikes geek's new site link when it comes online? Thanks.

oops sorry about the triple post. In my grief I hit the button one too many times. j/k sorry.

Well, I am so glad to meet someone who is also tired of writing. Unfortunately I was not a regular reader of your blog, actually it is the first time I came across it just at random. But your writing style appeals to me, I wish I could express myself so well. Maybe then I will get a higher grade for my
research paper. I do not know how but my college made me hate writing. I can't wait till i graduate and all my writing will be exchanging sms with my boyfriend. Have a nice life without writing any more.

Thank you for all of the time and effort you've spent on entertaining, informing, enlightening Vikings fans all over. You will be missed.

-Peter
-Denver, CO

Pretty stark, what with the apocalypse and all. Good to see that only the blog, not the blogger, is riding off to the beyond.

I can't imagine putting so much effort into a site, but rest assured that it was appreciated by more people than you think. Thanks for letting me tag along behind the scenes in your purple world.

Thanks Mr. COD for keeping me updated about the Vikings far, far away over in Switzerland. There is not a lot of such information available here. Enjoy your "new" life.

I should have done this long ago but i really thank you for what you have brought to us in the past. You will be missed but maybe we will see on a message board somewhere sometime.

thanks for all that you have brought to our attention and enjoy your new found freedom

Lee

Thanks for the wonderful info and insights. Good luck in your future endeavours. And, of course, Skol !

Hey Brian, i was just recently turned on to your site by a few fellow Vike fans and relly enjoyed coming over and checking it out. You did a great job with it and i loved checking out the mini camp stuff you threw up here. You deserve a "Big Thank You" for all your hard work and effort.
Props to you Vike fan, enjoy your new found free time.

GO VIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~peace

Brian

Thank you ever so much for keeping all of us "Vike-o-holics" informed throughout all these internet-years. May God Bless you and "the Family"(R). Thanks for the Double-Broom thing, too! You're FREE now, man, RUN! RUN!! :o)

I knew the day would come - just didn't know when. I would like to say I understand but I would guess only other bloggers would. However, I've joined, quit, re-joined, etc... the various email lists but I always go back for the fix. The nice thing is there are little expectations and not much persoanl time taken. Thanks, again, for all of the memories, COD. Hope to see you at a game soon....
--
SwoboVike

PS Does this mean Jackie is quitting her gardening blog as well?

Brian,

Thanks for all of your efforts over the past couple of years on the writing, podcasts, and video updates of your blog. It has been a pleasure to read. Enjoy your retirement from blogging.

Hey Brian...

I accidently came across your website while looking for something completely different, and not even sports related. I just wanted to say screw you, and who cares you useless, medicore hack.

Brian,

I have only been visiting your site for a few months, but I have always enjoyed it immensely. Thanks for all of the hard work you've done! Enjoy your "retirement" and go Vikes!

I apologize for TimC. He got up early Saturday morning to do a Google search for "purple discharge burning sensation." You can understand his frustration.

I have read your site for years I will miss it
see you at the games Skol C.O.D maybe you will have time to tailgate again!

Your Friend Cheese Free

From one Vike - and Bison - fanatic to another, it's been great. Thanks for all your work and insight, and enjoy your well-deserved "retirement."

I'll miss your input.

I remain, forever purple.
Cindy

Brian,
Thank you for all the effort and enthusiasm...your hours of hard work were always appreciated...Your information and sence of humor will be missed on a daily basis by many Viking fans from all parts of the world....The best to you and your family....looking forward to meeting up with you in November...Enjoy your "retirement"

I'm sad... your site was the best Vikings site out there; it's going to hurt to delete it from my favorites menu.

I hope you some day reconsider and start this baby up again.

Brian,

Enjoy your retirement, man! You earned it! Thanks SOOO much for your years of going beyond the call of duty of any Vikings fan. Thanks for all the local tailgates you've hosted over the years. Thanks most of all for bringing a local fans perspective to us out-of-state Viking fans. You are an incredible guy and you and your family deserve this time together. I don't think many of us realized you were spending so much of your time on this. Take care, man! Best of luck to you.

Shane Ford
Nashville, TN

GO VIKES!!!!!!

I will miss the site and all it's contents! Job well done. All the photo links were a huge bonus and will leave a gaping hole for Viking fans everywhere. Consider it an "off-season" and reconsider a comeback!

Good luck, I'll miss your thoughts. It's going to be difficult to walk away when the Vikes continue to make decisions like hiring Rick Spielman.

Do I sense one last column? Make it happen.

Thanks again,

E

BRIAN!!!! You have been a great source for any Viking fan. You will be missed.

Your training camp/mini camp coverages were the best of any publication around and I hope you consider still going to them and posting pictures. I guess when I look at the pictures I live through you and feel like I am there!

If not, again, Thank you for your work.

Tim

Ok, it's been a week of cold turkey. I've got the shakes and I feel like shit. Please, Brian just throw something up one last time. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go after this "goes dark". I think I even miss the Geek.

Well I can see why you may be sick of it but it's not right to deny Vikes Geek his home. Let him take over.

Thanks for all your hard work. It's hard to get a lot of NFC info, much less Vikes information here in Chiefs country.

Is there any chance you will leave the site up so we can reference the archives, links to other sites, great photos, etc. for nostalgic purposes?

Good luck in your future endeavors.

Dave