Throwback Thursday: December 17, 1978

With all the ugliness and frustration that has surrounded this stupid lockout, I'd like to drift back to a more innocent time. December 17, 1978 is a day that should be honored by all. Marked as a holiday at least. December 17, 1978 was the first time that I saw the Minnesota Vikings in person. This historic event was at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum against the Raiders. I had saved my paper route money for months to buy six prime tickets. They were actually horrible seats, first row on the 10-yard line. The view of half the field was often blocked by the Raiders players. The seats were magnificent! I bought the tickets for myself, my father, my best friend, his father, my brother and his friend. Some of my favorite people then, as now. I found out later that my best friend was running a serious fever that day. A day that did him no favors by raining. From the day that I purchased the tickets in July until December 16, the 17th couldn't arrive soon enough. I even slept with the tickets under my pillow that last month.

Two years earlier, the Raiders had beaten the Vikings in Super Bowl XI. While the Vikings had started to decline since that championship game, they were still competitive. Head coach Bud Grant and most of the stars like Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman, Ahmad Rashad, Sammie White, Jim Marshall, Ron Yary, Mick Tinglehoff, Carl Eller, Paul Krause, Jeff Siemon and Bobby Bryant were still there. Unfortunately, Alan Page was not. Page had been a favorite of mine. He was released earlier that season due to a disagreement over his appropriate playing weight. It was a sad day in franchise history. On game day, my brother brought us closer to the game by catching an errant Ray Guy punt during pregame warm ups. The game started horribly for the Vikings and remained that way throughout the first half. Late in the game, the Vikings stormed back. Two Tarkenton to Rashad touchdown passes in our corner of the field made it 27-20. Sadly, that is where it remained. Happily, the Packers lost to the Rams the same day. The Vikings clinched another division title.

1978 marked the beginning of the end of the Minnesota Vikings glory (minus a Super Bowl) days. Page was released that season. Tarkenton retired after that season. Marshall and Krause retired a year later. Eller went to the Seahawks. Yary to the Rams. Foreman to the Patriots. On December 17, 1978 all the Vikings greats were right there in front of me. It was beautiful.