The Vikes are on the Move!

Now, if you ask a guy like me, there's nothing wrong with having...ah, a certain kind of party on a boat. I will neither confirm or deny if I've ever been involved in one. But when things go too far, and you're in the public eye, it can be big trouble. And when you're a team that's perfected fucking up, it's in your nature to drill yourself further into the ground until you hit layers of clay. Holy Mack! This Viking group sure is on a roll with this stuff. But despite the title of this entry, focusing on Denny Green's Jazz Fight Song for the team, we'll aim at the '80s.

Tommy Kramer sure liked to throw the ball. And once the Queens lost any real running back, he threw more. Now, if you've ever seen him throw you know that spirals aren't really his thing. Just get it to the receiver (or near him) as soon as possible, because you're about to get a helmet in the back. How a ball can vertically be thrown 20 yards defies time and space; don't ask me. But then again, I'm wowed by fish tanks so what do I know?

The word on the street back in '81-'82 was that Tommy was spending too much time on the 494 strip (back when you could). It sounds pretty swanky to me, and I don't see the problem. Neither did Tommy, until he went to rehab here in Orange, yet didn't tell anyone. Only a handful of the team knew, but not his wife or his agent. The apex of this includes a night in southwest Bloomington, and Tommy trying to walk a straight line for the cops...with no pants. Despite the DWIs, the team STILL hung on to him through the end of the decade before dumping him to New Orleans. I guess that's loyalty.

Is it the same loyalty that followed the team through mishandling of cocaine problems in the mid-80s? Was it the DWI's where players seemed only able to drive south, and at high speeds? Was it the player who was a registered sex offender, and the others arrested for sexual assault? When people think of rough, hellraising teams, the Raiders (any year) and the '85 Bears come to mind. Correct me if I'm wrong, Sandy, but these were not problems for said teams - especially for the Raiders: this lifestyle was a solution. You know who is the only member of the '85 Bears to get a DWI that season? DITKA. That's right.

Sure, this will blow over. Off season arrives, phony optimism installed. A few years from now (or months) something new will come up. And the fans, instead of telling this team they aren't going to buy tickets until they get it in fucking gear...well, they pass the box of donuts, fart, and wash those purple Zubaz one more time. Folks, this is a team this town deserves.