Vikings vs. Jaguars Home Opener

Sunday, September 9th was the home opener of the Minnesota Vikings vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Before I talk about tailgating and football, I have to talk about the night before.  I just did a post on a Night at the Races yesterday.  That night, the night before home opener, we got home just before midnight.  M's dad had an hour plus drive ahead of him so we told him to spend the night.  Since we don't really have a guest bedroom set up, he had to sleep on the couch.  By the time I made his couch bed and we settled down and got into bed, it was about 12:30 am and we were tired and it looked grim making it out to our tailgate lot at 8 am.

Just a couple of minutes before 1 am, the most incredibly loud sound started going off.  It was our house alarm system.  In the 5+ years I've lived here, I've never heard it.  We woke up and was confused but our adrenaline was pumping through our bodies.  M went downstairs to turn it off.  You would think it would have scared the crap out of M's dad lying on the couch but it didn't seem like he cared too much. The alarm ended up going off again and M had to turn it off for a total of four times.  M came back upstairs and we were curious as to why the alarm company didn't call like they are supposed to.  After about 5-7 minutes in bed, we see flashlights all around our house and M looks out the window just before hearing a big pound on the door.  Two Ramsey County Sheriffs came over and asked if everything was ok.  M told them yes and they asked to see ID.  Of course this isn't the time not to find your ID, but M couldn't find it.  I ended up finding it in his computer room but not before I had to go down and show my ID as well.  They were very nice and left.

We got back into bed and both the adrenaline was still running high for both of us.  By the time we settled down and finally fell asleep, the phone rang about 30 minutes later.  It was the alarm company asking if everything was ok.  M asked why they didn't call earlier and said that the code that went off for them was a panic code where they don't call because the intruder still may be in the house but just send the cops instead.

So what happened?  M had his keys in the car while we were at the races and they fell into the cooler.  The cooler shorted out the alarm key fob and set the alarm off.  The cops said that we should take the battery out the alarm for at least the night.  Once it dried out, it's been fine ever since.

We woke up late and ended up not getting out to the tailgating lot until 10 am.  We still parked within a few spots of our normal spot.  The weather was beautiful and I didn't need the extra shirt underneath the debut of my Jared Allen jersey that I received for my birthday.  We didn't have any friends that came with us but we did see our buddy Josh in our lot so we hung with him a bit before going inside.

Once inside, the Vikings starting offense was announced and everyone was cheering and once they called Adrian Peterson, the crowd erupted and it was so awesome to see him on the field ready to play for the first time since his Christmas Eve tragedy of tearing his ACL and MCL. I lost it and started tearing up...hard.  It's pretty embarrassing to be wiping tears away from your face at a Vikings game.  (They may make you cry at the end of a lot of games this year though.)

Jordis Unga sang the National Anthem. 

The Vikings were down 23-20 with 20 seconds left.  M wanted to leave, so we did.  By the time we got to the parking lot, we heard loud cheering from inside the dome.  There were people watching the game in the parking lot and they said, "We're going into overtime!"  What?!  Our rookie kicker, Blair Walsh kicked a 55 yard field goal to tie and send the game into overtime. While in OT, the Vikings kicked another field goal.  With the newer OT rules, the Jaguars also had a chance to score and didn't so Vikings win, 26-23.  And we didn't see it.  And Adrian Peterson passed Robert Smith as the all-time rusher in Vikings history.  And we didn't get to see that either.  And I'm over it.  Really, I am.  Ok, maybe not completely over it but I'm getting there.  

We learned our lesson...and we NEVER leave early!  As much as we'd like to sometimes, we endure the pain that is the Vikings and finish the game, for better or worse.  

The Vikings did not sell out the home opener.  This is sad/bad news.  They have sold out every single game since 1998, around 140 consecutive games.  There were so many visible open seats of entire rows throughout the upper level of the dome and it's probably going to get worse for this year.  We'll see.