[OneVike]

(Real Vikings, who were not afraid of cold, mud, or frozen turf.
Notice that Joe Kapp is wearing a short sleeve jersey)

Watching the accompanying video made me mad to begin with because the friggin reporters were making excuses for these overpaid useless jokes of the grid iron. I am registered as chicovike with the Star Tribune, and below is the comment I left about this story. I formatted my comment here, I did for the paper also but when it was posted it wasn't formatted.

I am getting real tired of a bunch of multimillionaire pansy's, constantly complaining about having to play a game they chose to play. When I am told by my boss that I need to do something that is well withing the parameters of my job description, I do it without complaining.

Millions of Americans wish they had any job to go to, and you guys want to bitch about a little cold you have to deal with for less then 3 hours. What about the fans who pay your salary? I don't hear them complaining about the cold, but all I hear anymore is you lazy multimillionaires complaining about everything. Think about the men who laid everything on the line for pennys compared to you as they built this league. Now you guys get to live the life of kings while complaining about a sore toe. Tell that to the original Purple People eaters who played in short sleeve shirts without bench warmers.

I'll tell you what you pampered pansys need to do. When your sitting inside the warm locker room and hearing the fans over the loud speakers cheering the old men who played the game the way it was invented to play, I would advise you wimps to take off your helmets and bow your head in shame. You have not proved to this old Viking fan that you men deserve to be called Vikings yet, let alone be associated with the men I watched play when I was younger.

You guys are just a bunch of wanna-be Vikings. Any Viking player that is afraid to play the game outside in the snow on frozen dirt, makes me sick and ashamed to be a Viking fan! Stop your sniveling and keep your disappointment to your self like a real man would. Then, when the game is over, win or lose, I expect you guys to cheer the fans who have paid with their hearts as they watched and waited for over a quarter of a century to see their team play a game outside at home again.

[Royal Wulff]

Wouldn’t they otherwise be playing on Astroturf? A thin plastic mat over concrete? How much harder can a frozen field be?

[SF_Redux]

another consideration is how good they can look while making a play

sort of like they ended the ‘ double dribble ‘ call in basketball so they can show off slam dunks easier

[Daveinyork]

“The United States has become a place in which professional athletes and entertainers are mistaken for people of significance”

Robert A. Heinlein

[Hot Tabasco]

Yesterday morning as I was driving to the gym, the temperature outside was 7 degrees.

On one stretch of road where they're putting in a new sewer system, there was a guy on his knees with a bucket of grease who was greasing up the edges of the new sewer segments that were going to go into the ground. I thought to myself those are tough dudes who do that kind of outdoor work in the winter....

[dead]

They don’t want to get frostbite on their vaginas.

[Dixie Yooper]

They might be called Vikings, but they’re a far cry from being Purple People Eaters. The 69 Vikings were the best ever!

[Peet]

That, right there, is why this viewer since the mid-1960s has recently given up on football.

I didn’t leave football; football left me.

[spankalib]

Nice rant, Vike - hey you’re up in St. John’s country, right?
I bet they’re playing real football.
I’d drive a snow plow to get to see them!
I think “Gags” is still coaching...

http://www.gojohnnies.com/staff.aspx?staff=9&path=football

The best football book I’ve ever read: “The Sweet Season”
Check it out FRiend!

[Roccus]

I wanna see players in cloaks huddled around wood fires set in 55 gal. drums on the sidelines!

(Yeah...I live in the past)

[dfwgator]

The Met was referred to as the “23rd Viking.” It’s no coincidence that they haven’t been back to a Super Bowl since they moved into the Dome.

[ken5050]

Gotta disagree somewhat. These players are making big $$, and most NFL contracts are NOT guaranteed...so, they’re right to be concerned. Look as one who thinks the Ice Bowl between Packers and Cowboys may be one of the greatest games ever playeed..it’s a diffeent era today. Average shelf-life of an NFL player is what, 3-4 years, and for99/9% fo them, no way they can ever make that kind of $$ again the rest of their lives. So, it’s prudent to assess the risk.

[kevkrom]

"But at the same time, we have to go out there and play, and we'll play hard."

It's week 15, why start playing hard now?

[texmexis best]

I don’t watch NFL football anymore because of this type of incident.

I am more of a rugby kind of guy. No pansies need apply.