Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:30 pm
I've spent a total of $0.00 supporting the Vikings. I've only ever been to one game where an old buddy had tickets and invited me. I've never bought any merchandise, to my recollection, maybe a t-shirt at Target or Savers once.........because I do remember owning a Vikings t-shirt back when I was married and wearing it on Thanksgiving and Christmas visits to Milwaukee while watching the Packers stomp the purple.
I'm like 9manfan, and follow football and other sports on a lot of different levels....in a lot of different ways. What I like most about it, other than thinking it's solid entertainment, is that it's very relatable....it's a common bond that connects people....behind the weather, if you're stuck in line at the DMV, talking to randoms at a bar, waiting on a bus bench, or at the LRT station.......only the weather itself is a more common ground, universally relatable subject for conservation than the Vikings. Or football anywhere.
Going spring snow goose hunting in Nebraska? Being able to bullshit Huskers football in relation to Gophers football will turn open farm doors into open fields and ponds. Ditto for NDSU in SEND (Southeast North Dakota). If you're vacationing/skiing in Colotado? Being able to bullshit the merits or lack thereof between Broncos and Vikings football will make your stay more enjoyable by enhancing the handful of true interactions with the people you stumble upon while there......
....and the list goes on and on for sports anywhere. It's a great conversation starter that lends to more open and enhanced conversation later, once it opens those doors for you.
Beyond the obvious entertainment factor, that's what I like about it. And it's not like you need to devote a ton of time to it either. You can actively follow any sports team and their respective standing in ten minutes of time or less a week. I spend a lot less time on sports than I do following hunting or fishing, and a hell of a lot less time than actively going hunting or fishing. I can watch any and every football game on my phone for free....NFL app comes free to every Verizon subscriber.....so it's not hard to velcro my phone to the dash and have the game heard on my boat speakers via bluetooth while I'm trolling for walleyes.....or listen to the game on the radio while I'm driving around scouting....or have the game on the TV as I nod off to an early afternoon nap while I'm hunting somewhere and staying in a motel.
I think what some people don't get, the people who openly disdain sports, is that it's not something we actively participate in that define us. There are a lot of people who really enjoy following sports that think it's kind of....or really gay.....to spend a bunch of money going to games wearing face paint, but to each their own.....that many guys less that are on the water cutting me off on my trolling route, or downwinding me on a slough....so I have no problem with people that want to do that.
Honestly?
The people who really seem to disdain sports put way more thought and energy into them than a passive yet fairly fervent fan like myself.
It's just pop-culture entertainment, no different than streaming a show on Netflix, listening to your favorite bands, or watching the news. Try not to take it so seriously and you might actually find yourself enjoying it too.
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"Ogaa-Gichi-Manidoo"