New Year's Day- Vikings Style

Did you spend your New Year's Day hungover or were you up and at 'em?  We went to the see the last Vikings game of the year.  Due to us being up late the night before, we didn't tailgate.  We were able to park at a meter very close to the dome for free though since they don't enforce meters on holidays.  We played the Chicago Bears and I thought we were going to win because the Bears aren't that good without some of their key players as well as the fact that it would have meant a higher draft pick for the Vikings.  They did lose though, 17-13 which secured the Vikings a 3rd pick in the draft.  Now let's see what they can do with that pick.  There were a lot of open seats scattered throughout and lots of Bears fans too.  Bears fans are truly some of the worst fans I know.  They have more attitude than most other team's fans.

The MOST EXCITING part of the game was that Jared Allen had 18.5 sacks for the year going into this game.  The NFL record is 22.5.  Most would think you wouldn't have a chance to get 4 sacks in one game but on rare occasions, it happens.  Unfortunately, Jared fell just a half of a sack short of tying the record or one sack short of breaking the record.  He got 3.5 sack for this game and ended up surpassing the Vikings sack record (21) that was previously held by Chris Doleman, who was on the sidelines to congratulate Jared Allen on his accomplishment.

It was also potentially the last time the Vikings will play in the Metrodome since their lease has now expired and they are homeless.  Who knows what will happen with that situation.  Anyway, M said that maybe I should take one last picture of the dome in case it is our last time here for a game.  While I was taking the picture, the crowd erupted.  I, by accident, got a photo of Jared Allen's 22nd sack.  Unfortunately, you can't see much of what's going on but just know that's what it is.  If you zoom in, it's a perfect picture of him in action.

Another event that happened on Sunday was the retirement of tight end Jimmy Kleinsasser.  He's been on the team for 13 years, his whole football career.  He's seen the ups and downs of the team since 1999 and now he can retire healthy and uninjured at an age 10 days younger than me.  He's a great guy on and off the field.  Good luck Jimmy!

Finally, we took our last picture of us in our purple and gold gear for the year.  As much as love football, I'm always excited at the end of the season as I am at the beginning in August.  I'll of course watch the playoffs but I'm ready to focus on other things, especially after our 3-13 season!