Monday night we had the awesome opportunity to see the preseason Vikings vs. Raiders game at the Metrodome. A friend of my friend Kristy had some tickets they couldn't use, so she thought of us and send them up from Des Moines! We had a great time seeing some of the new players and trying to guess who will get some playing time this season. Rookie Tarvaris Jackson was looking like a good back-up QB. A downer was when former Iowa standout Chad Greenway got injured in the 1st quarter. Word is he may be out for the season...BUMMER!

As always, when I'm in a crowd of people I am continually amazed at the wonders of humanity. And yes that was a sarcastic statement. To make a long story short, we encountered a teenager who wouldn't stand during the National Anthem, a mother with a very young (3 weeks maybe?) baby in the midst of one of the loudest sports arenas in football, and an older woman who gave us a very hard time (and not in a good way) for having to pass by her to get out of our row.

Stadium Solution??

We were talking about this at home, and Brett made an interesting point. If the Viking had an outdoor stadium, some of these issues would be alleviated, because these people wouldn’t come. Do you think a 80+ year-old woman with a walking issue would sit in 80 to 90 degree heat to watch the game? Would a mother bring a tiny baby in that kind of heat, or if it was 10 degrees and snowing? This was his argument for an outdoor stadium - it would weed out some of the people who are not what he would call “true” fans.

Food for thought. Though I guess the flip side of that is that the Metrodome allows a Vikings or Twins game to be accessible to a greater number of people, people that could become “true” fans as a result. But the way I see it, there will always be something. Outdoor or not, chances are you’ll end up next to “that guy.” And he’s probably got his face painted and a pair of Viking horns on his head. He bleeds purple and gold. And he can still be annoying.