The Minnesota Vikings are in London right now. It's their home for the rest of the week as they prepare for a home away from home home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't really like these London games. I was fine with preseason games played in other countries but I've never liked regular season games moved overseas. I don't think that it's fair for the home fans to lose one of their home games. Roger Goodell and his peeps are always preaching about how fan-friendly the NFL strives to be. Fans get eight regular season home games. Taking away one of them doesn't sound very fan-friendly to me. I don't think that it's fair for the players to lose a real home game. No matter how much the NFL says that one of the teams in the game is a home team they most certainly aren't at home. If the Vikings had to lose one of their home games to London, I was hoping that it would come during the next two seasons when their home will be moved to the University of Minnesota football stadium as their fancy, new home is being built. Instead, they lose it this week. If things go well in London, the Vikings might return next season and/or the season after.
It wasn't until this Vikings road trip to their temporary home in London that I discovered that the NFL actually had procedures in place to make it a home away from home. I assumed that both teams traveled to London at the same time. Or, they at least had the option of traveling whenever they wanted during the week. I was wrong. The designated home team, in this case the Minnesota Vikings, travels on Monday and sets up their new home. They are bringing their own food. The designated visiting team, in this case the Pittsburgh Steelers, travels at the end of the week. They don't get the time to adjust to the English ways. I never knew this until the Vikings were involved. Imagine that.
I still don't like these regular season games being played in London.
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