Season ticket joy

The start of the 2013 Vikings regular season is just around the corner and with that for me is another year of season tickets.

I get told by more people that they would rather stay at home and watch the game. They would rather not deal with the traffic and potential extra money at the game such as food, drinks.

I feel it is worth every penny as I go into a game day I experience. The screaming, the loud music, the fans and what they may or may not do possibly foolishly is just part of why I enjoy my tickets. The way people dress up, hearing people boo or cheer you just cannot get that same feel at home. I do not put a dollar value on my tickets rather the enjoyment in being the part of my other 63,000 family members. The memories from games, the keepsakes such as programs, or hand out is all part of the ticket experience.

Yes, there has been 2 home preseason games, but the atmosphere is just not the same as a home game when the regular season kicks off.

We leave our house every Sunday 3 hours prior to the kickoff. We follow I-35 going north and with that comes the sight of many Vikings fans. As I drive I enjoy seeing the different license plates of Vikings fans on cars as they go by. The amazement each week is the non-Minnesota cars making the journey with people in their jerseys making the way to Mall of America Field.

We usually pull into our parking lot in Minneapolis around 10:30. The walk to the stadium continues to be beautiful as many hundreds of fans are making the walk as well. All the different clothing such as jerseys, different hats, and all the face paint people come with.

We are now at the stadium and the most beautiful sight of hundreds of people in Vikings colors out on the plaza eating, drinking, and socializing. The opponent usually has their share of fans which are easy to pick out since they are not in Vikings colors.

The plaza offers so much with different food vendors. You will find a dunk tank out on the plaza as well. This gentleman has sat in the chair as long as I can remember. He always has the opponent’s jersey on. He is so good at heckling fans and pushing people’s buttons. If you want a good laugh you have to watch this guy in action.

We now make our way inside to go to our seats in section 215. It is so fun to get into our seats and meet who we will be sitting by all year. The 2 preseason games we went to the seats by us were pretty empty so we have not met this year’s neighbors as of yet.

The team comes out group by group to arm up. A horn sound is made as each group enters the playing field. I enjoy watching as you can see if any player is missing that you did expect to be out there as they come out. I always wonder what the rookies think as the stadium noise builds. They go through their warm ups. In the end a team huddle is formed, they break and head back to the locker room.

The inflatable Vikings ship is lying lifeless while the players are warming up but once they are back in the locker room the ship is inflated amazingly fast.
There is not a better feeling in the world as a fan to see workers shake the ship giving the effect of a ship making its way as the players come running through it to a loud ovation more than I can describe. The chills that go through my body is something that just does not get old.

The national anthem is sang and as it is going fireworks are shots as the words rockets’ red glare is sang. The first time I heard the boom it caught me off guard but now know what to expect.

The coin toss is conducted. The teams take the field. The music blares as the kickoff occurs. You can feel the beat throughout your body. The clapping head bobbing to the music, cheering is at a fever pitch and the game is now started.

I hope all of you will make an effort to get to a game and get the experience and see what I am talking about. The 13 years of season tickets including playoffs, I have only missed one game and that was a preseason game.

This 2013 season more memories will be made as we hope to have a successful campaign. Go Vikes

Thanks for reading
Purplestick