Pick an adjective, any adjective to try to describe the Vikings' season. And then understand this: It won't do it justice.
How do you sum up a season in which the roof literally caves in on the team?
That's what happened when the Metrodome's roof came tumbling down shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday, causing the NFL to move the Vikings' game against the Giants from Minneapolis to Ford Field in Detroit. Kickoff will be at 6:20 p.m. Monday.
The Dome's collapse even trumped the fact that Brett Favre's NFL-record starting streak of 297 consecutive games stands to come to an end because of a sprained throwing shoulder. Favre said as much via a text message to a USA Today reporter, telling him he doubts he will be able to play. But Vikings interim coach Leslie Frazier said on a conference call that there remains a possibility Favre could start.
Frazier finds himself attempting to get his team to ignore another major distraction in a season filled with them. The list includes Randy Moss' brief but tumultuous stay, Percy Harvin's migraines, Favre's wavering, Favre's injuries and the firing of coach Brad Childress.
That came on Nov. 22, a day after the Vikings' 31-3 loss to Green Bay in which the Metrodome roof only figuratively collapsed on a franchise that had Super Bowl aspirations when the season began.
"After all we have gone through this year, it's going to take a lot more than a building collapsing to break our focus," Vikings linebacker Heath Farwell said.
Now the Vikings (5-7) will attempt to win a third consecutive game under Frazier during the second of a three-game "homestand" with no certainty where they will be a week from Monday night when they are scheduled to play host to the Chicago Bears in a game that was supposed to be a celebration of their 50th season.
Officials with the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commissioner remained optimistic the roof could be repaired in time for the Vikings' regular-season home finale, but there already was talk of moving the game to TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus.
All of this is happening as Frazier is attempts to keep his team focused enough to prove that he should have the interim label removed. Vikings players found out Sunday afternoon that the game was being moved to Michigan, after being told Saturday night that they would play the Giants on Monday night instead of Sunday afternoon.
Players spent Saturday night at a downtown Minneapolis hotel before returning to Winter Park to go through a second-walk through in as many days.
"I don't think it really hit them until we were sitting down talking today at noon about what the plan was and the fact that everything was officially done and we were going to be going to Detroit," Frazier said. "That's when it began to set in that we were not playing at home for sure and we started talking about going home to pick up their clothes and do the things they had to do to travel. Our guys are resilient, they are professionals, this is what we do for a living and they'll adjust. We talk all the time about being able to handle adversity and they'll handle this."
The plan was for the Vikings to leave for Detroit on Sunday. The Giants, meanwhile, were in Kansas City after being diverted away from Minneapolis on Saturday because of the snowstorm that brought the Twin Cities to a standstill.
"We are excited to just know when and where we're playing," Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell said. "This has been one of the craziest 48 hours I've seen, but we still have a job to do."
Lions President Tom Lewand said Sunday before his team's game against Green Bay at Ford Field that the organization reached out to the Vikings and the NFL early Sunday to offer their facility as a possible venue. The league also gave consideration to possibly playing the game in Indianapolis or St. Louis.
"The league considered a number of other stadiums around the country that were domed and Detroit seemed the most logical, primarily because it was very close by and Fox already had its TV equipment there to broadcast the Lions game today," John Mara, the Giants' chief executive and co-owner, told the Associated Press. "Ultimately the league made the decision to go to Detroit, and we were fine with that."
Of course, what Mara really would have liked was for the game to be moved to the Giants home at the New Meadowlands in New Jersey. "We asked for that several times, and we didn't get very far," he said.
Because of the unique circumstances, free general admission tickets for fans will be available Monday morning at the Ford Field ticket office. The NFL also announced that anyone already holding a ticket to the game will be admitted and given preferred seating. The Vikings will give refunds to those who don't use their tickets.
There was talk Sunday of moving the Giants game to TCF Bank Stadium, but the university issued a statement that following the Minnesota Gophers last home game against Iowa on Nov. 27 the stadium was "winterized for the season and is not now immediately operational for football games."
It would take about four days to bring TCF out of hibernation for the Vikings-Bears game. "Enabling the Vikings to play at our stadium presents substantial logistical and operational challenges on such short notice," the university statement read. "We'll continue to explore all feasible options to make it possible to accommodate the Vikings on campus to complete their season in the Twin Cities, should that be necessary."
Among the issues would be that the capacity of the Gophers home is 50,805; the Metrodome, or Mall of America Field as it has been branded, can hold 64,000.
Mara did not like the thought of moving to the Minnesota campus for a few reasons. "They were predicting the wind chill would be minus-11. That would have created a lot of issues for us," he said. "We don't have any of our cold weather equipment out here with us and plus, from a safety standpoint, I thought it was unnecessary."
The Vikings, who will return to Detroit on Jan. 2 to face the Lions in their regular-season finale, have lost only once at Ford Field since it opened in 2002, but those seven victories have come against the usually woeful Lions.
The Giants (8-4) present a much tougher challenge in a season that has been filled with them.
"We would have loved to have played this game at home but we have to go and get done what we anticipated getting done at home regardless of the fact that we've got to go to Detroit to get it done," Frazier said. "Our goal is to get a win. We would have loved to have played in front of our fans, but hopefully some of our fans will be able to travel in Detroit, just because of the distance. If that's the case we will get some semblance of what we would have gotten if we had actually played at home."
Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/12/12/1462599/giants-vikings-game-moved-to-detroit.html#ixzz17wvWeCjC
How do you sum up a season in which the roof literally caves in on the team?
That's what happened when the Metrodome's roof came tumbling down shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday, causing the NFL to move the Vikings' game against the Giants from Minneapolis to Ford Field in Detroit. Kickoff will be at 6:20 p.m. Monday.
The Dome's collapse even trumped the fact that Brett Favre's NFL-record starting streak of 297 consecutive games stands to come to an end because of a sprained throwing shoulder. Favre said as much via a text message to a USA Today reporter, telling him he doubts he will be able to play. But Vikings interim coach Leslie Frazier said on a conference call that there remains a possibility Favre could start.
Frazier finds himself attempting to get his team to ignore another major distraction in a season filled with them. The list includes Randy Moss' brief but tumultuous stay, Percy Harvin's migraines, Favre's wavering, Favre's injuries and the firing of coach Brad Childress.
That came on Nov. 22, a day after the Vikings' 31-3 loss to Green Bay in which the Metrodome roof only figuratively collapsed on a franchise that had Super Bowl aspirations when the season began.
"After all we have gone through this year, it's going to take a lot more than a building collapsing to break our focus," Vikings linebacker Heath Farwell said.
Now the Vikings (5-7) will attempt to win a third consecutive game under Frazier during the second of a three-game "homestand" with no certainty where they will be a week from Monday night when they are scheduled to play host to the Chicago Bears in a game that was supposed to be a celebration of their 50th season.
Officials with the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commissioner remained optimistic the roof could be repaired in time for the Vikings' regular-season home finale, but there already was talk of moving the game to TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus.
All of this is happening as Frazier is attempts to keep his team focused enough to prove that he should have the interim label removed. Vikings players found out Sunday afternoon that the game was being moved to Michigan, after being told Saturday night that they would play the Giants on Monday night instead of Sunday afternoon.
Players spent Saturday night at a downtown Minneapolis hotel before returning to Winter Park to go through a second-walk through in as many days.
"I don't think it really hit them until we were sitting down talking today at noon about what the plan was and the fact that everything was officially done and we were going to be going to Detroit," Frazier said. "That's when it began to set in that we were not playing at home for sure and we started talking about going home to pick up their clothes and do the things they had to do to travel. Our guys are resilient, they are professionals, this is what we do for a living and they'll adjust. We talk all the time about being able to handle adversity and they'll handle this."
The plan was for the Vikings to leave for Detroit on Sunday. The Giants, meanwhile, were in Kansas City after being diverted away from Minneapolis on Saturday because of the snowstorm that brought the Twin Cities to a standstill.
"We are excited to just know when and where we're playing," Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell said. "This has been one of the craziest 48 hours I've seen, but we still have a job to do."
Lions President Tom Lewand said Sunday before his team's game against Green Bay at Ford Field that the organization reached out to the Vikings and the NFL early Sunday to offer their facility as a possible venue. The league also gave consideration to possibly playing the game in Indianapolis or St. Louis.
"The league considered a number of other stadiums around the country that were domed and Detroit seemed the most logical, primarily because it was very close by and Fox already had its TV equipment there to broadcast the Lions game today," John Mara, the Giants' chief executive and co-owner, told the Associated Press. "Ultimately the league made the decision to go to Detroit, and we were fine with that."
Of course, what Mara really would have liked was for the game to be moved to the Giants home at the New Meadowlands in New Jersey. "We asked for that several times, and we didn't get very far," he said.
Because of the unique circumstances, free general admission tickets for fans will be available Monday morning at the Ford Field ticket office. The NFL also announced that anyone already holding a ticket to the game will be admitted and given preferred seating. The Vikings will give refunds to those who don't use their tickets.
There was talk Sunday of moving the Giants game to TCF Bank Stadium, but the university issued a statement that following the Minnesota Gophers last home game against Iowa on Nov. 27 the stadium was "winterized for the season and is not now immediately operational for football games."
It would take about four days to bring TCF out of hibernation for the Vikings-Bears game. "Enabling the Vikings to play at our stadium presents substantial logistical and operational challenges on such short notice," the university statement read. "We'll continue to explore all feasible options to make it possible to accommodate the Vikings on campus to complete their season in the Twin Cities, should that be necessary."
Among the issues would be that the capacity of the Gophers home is 50,805; the Metrodome, or Mall of America Field as it has been branded, can hold 64,000.
Mara did not like the thought of moving to the Minnesota campus for a few reasons. "They were predicting the wind chill would be minus-11. That would have created a lot of issues for us," he said. "We don't have any of our cold weather equipment out here with us and plus, from a safety standpoint, I thought it was unnecessary."
The Vikings, who will return to Detroit on Jan. 2 to face the Lions in their regular-season finale, have lost only once at Ford Field since it opened in 2002, but those seven victories have come against the usually woeful Lions.
The Giants (8-4) present a much tougher challenge in a season that has been filled with them.
"We would have loved to have played this game at home but we have to go and get done what we anticipated getting done at home regardless of the fact that we've got to go to Detroit to get it done," Frazier said. "Our goal is to get a win. We would have loved to have played in front of our fans, but hopefully some of our fans will be able to travel in Detroit, just because of the distance. If that's the case we will get some semblance of what we would have gotten if we had actually played at home."
Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/12/12/1462599/giants-vikings-game-moved-to-detroit.html#ixzz17wvWeCjC
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