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 theI received a e-mail from Ohio this past weekend. It was one of those blast from the past type of messages:
"Hey bro, how the hell are ya? Found this old pic, thought you'd get a kick out of it. The carefree salad days of the old email list...Viking Jim"
The photo is from 1996. As far as Vikings fans across the world were concerned, a significant event happened off the field during the 1996 season. The early precursor to the Viking Underground Fan message board, Viking Fans On-Line, was formed. By the seasons end, Viking Fans On-Line boasted 500 strong and was represented by members in 47 states and 9 countries. It was directly responsible for the Vikings setting a single day attendance record on September 22, 1996.
The Viking Underground web site, begun by Dan Hildreth, was honored in The Net magazine as the best personal NFL football web site. The Viking Underground & the Mr. Cheer Or Die web sites were honored with The Gold Star Trophy award honoring the best in NFL related web sites. Viking Fans On-Line assisted in initiating, creating and developing the very first Viking Fan Club Convention during the 1996 training camp.
It was a heady time. If one were to develop a family tree of Vikings related web involvement these were your Adam and Eve, the Big Bang, the start of it all.
Have any found memories? Were you a member way back in the day? Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you.
And if you have any other photos from those days, e-mail to me and I'll post additional photos as the week proceeds.
Coming Saturday: My 1997 interview with then Vikings marketing director Stew Widdess....who just happens to talk about Viking Fans On-Line
FA's by the Numbers
Bernard Berrian, receiver, Vikings: $605,000 (2008); $2.395 million (2009); $3.7 million (2010); $3.9 million (2011); $6.9 million (2012); $7.9 million (2013).
Madieu Williams, safety, Vikings: $605,000 (2008); $620,000 (2009); $2.975 million (2010); $5.4 million (2011); $5.4 million (2012); $5.4 million (2013).
Lasik
I had a rather bad experience with a contact lens this past week. Because of that, I am starting to think about having Lasik (or similar) procedure performed. Have you had a Lasik procedure done? Would you recommend it? What's the good, the bad, the ugly of it all? Leave a comment below and let me know!
I joined the group late 1997. The website was the best!
Posted by: mike at March 10, 2008 07:47 AMI heartily reccomend the Lasik surgery. I have not regretted it for a minute. After the surgery you go home and sleep. When you wake up you will be a new man. The post-op treatment is a breeze - eyedrops a few hours a day. Your eyes could be dry at times for a varying period of time after the surgery, which, like with contacts is easily remedied through artificial tears.
The caveat is to make sure that you go to a doctor who has done a lot of surgeries - a reputable doctor is worth the extra money for your own piece of mind.
Just a great decision and you'll be kicking yourself for waiting so long.
Posted by: J. Lichty at March 10, 2008 03:17 PMHello Brian! I've been with you & Dan H. for a long time. I've hung out with you in front of the Dome a few times. We fly out from Calif. just to see the Vikings & hang out with you! My best memory was when you had a hot tub with bikini-clad ladies in front of the Dome b/4 a game! And it was freezing that day!! Glad you're back & I hope all is well with you & yours. All is well out here in Calif!
Posted by: Jesse Manriquez at March 10, 2008 07:29 PM