Vikings fans are stepping up – asking other fans to join in!

Recently, Vikings fans have been using their pent up frustration with the slow moving Legislature and the team’s poor performance to better the cause of keeping the Vikings in Minnesota. Let’s face facts, we as Vikings fans call into radio shows with our play calls and draft ideas, yell at our TV’s as if we are a coach standing on the sideline, play fantasy football as if we were Spielman and Frasier putting together a game day plan so it should come as no surprise that us fans have our own stadium plans and idea’s to help.

Here is some of our favorite fan efforts ranked in no particular order:

Billboards aren’t just for booze and cigarettes

Admit it, we all thought bringing Brett Favre back in 2010 was a great idea. We passed over QB’s in the draft, Childress pined like a 16 year old girl hoping for the Homecoming King to ask her to prom for Favre and the fans took matters into their own hands.

Jay Tappe and the folks over at 4millionVikesfans.com put up a billboard in the state of Mississippi asking Favre to come back, and he did. Hoping for the same success, Jay started an ongoing effort to fund a billboard outside the Capitol in St. Paul telling Lawmakers “50 years of blood, sweat and tears KEEP OUR VIKINGS HERE!”

Up to date, Vikings fans have contributed thousands of dollars to this effort and they need another thousand to keep the billboard up. We are in for $50.00 and all we need is 19 more fans to do the same before the end of the week. You can donate to this effort by clicking here.  

“You at a whole wheel of cheese, and pooped in the refrigerator? I am not even mad, that’s amazing!” – Ron Burgundy, Anchorman

Unless we are ordering a pizza, the last thing Minnesotans want delivered is cheese.  But according to TD Richter that is exactly what we are going to get if we don’t find a stadium solution, fast!

This fan put his movie making talents to good use by showing Vikings fans what they can expect if we don’t get behind a stadium solution. When we first saw this video, it was upsetting. We thought Packer fans were provoking Vikings fans but it turns out that is exactly the emotion TD Richter was trying to invoke to get fans involved in the stadium drive.

SavetheVikes.org wasn’t the only group to take notice. Kevin Seifert of ESPN wrote an article about the video, and it went viral. As we write this post, the video has nearly 50,000 views on YouTube which is no easy task.  

With two stadiums being built in L.A. and another community seeking the Vikings, let’s follow TD Richter’s lead and get involved before we are all forced to become Packers fans. 

Who says white guys can’t rap?

We put our hands up to these two fans from Duluth who are infamous for their cheeky rap videos on YouTube. James Erickson and Zach Finney (known as the Official Birthday Boys) pulled together a star studded cast for the “Stadium Shuffle” with the likes of Paul Allen, Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders, Viktor the Viking, the Viking World Order and SavetheVikes.org’s very own Nicole Lindaman.

When the video was first released KFAN and other press took notice and helped the Vikings promote this video which is approaching 9,000 views on YouTube. Take a moment and join in the stadium shuffle!

Capital One Barbarians? No, this is the Viking World Order!

Long before SavetheVikes.org or Minnesota Momentum there was the Viking World Order (VWO). These fans put the hard into hardcore. Over the years we have had the privilege to get to know this group and their undying support for the Vikings and their quest for a new home.

When Randy Moss played at home, he would run into the arms of another man after a touchdown and that man is the Five Star General of the VWO, Syd Davy. Syd and his group of fellow VWO members will stand in rain, snow and cold with the presence of an army which they did before the Vikings Bears game at TCF Bank stadium and have done for several stadium rallies.

At times when we here at SavetheVikes.org have needed a gentle nudge or a kick in the ass these guys have been the ones to give it – and we love their passion for keeping the Vikings in Minnesota. Most recently, they paid a visit to Governor Mark Dayton’s office to ask him to find a way to get a stadium deal done, keeping the Vikings in Minnesota.

Honorable Mention

@VikesStadium – This twitter handle has been a big supporter from the very first day that SavetheVikes.org went live. This individual has pushed the envelope and been a great ally in the stadium effort. When we need to take lawmakers to task, this twitter account has been a leader rallying Vikings fans to the cause. He is also very active on blogs and Vikings message boards.

Unfortunately, a stadium opponent stalked this individual’s family and others have threatened this person so they are now acting anonymously.

DailyNorseman.com – Vikings fans who like to blog have a home at the Daily Norseman. This is a fan driven site that on occasion tackles the stadium issue the way Jared Allen sacks quarterbacks – with malicious intent. This group of fans spit it the way they see it, and they don’t pull any punches. Skol Girl in particular does a fantastic job staying on top of the Vikings stadium effort and drawing in fan support.

PurpleJesusDiaries.com – If you like humor steeped in witty sarcasm, this self proclaimed “wiener” blog is for you. When PJD first approached SavetheVikes.org founder Cory Merrifield about doing an interview, it almost felt like he was going to get punked.

However, the interview turned out well and we received good fan mail from the Vikings hardcore fans saying it was nice to have some fun with the stadium discussion. Since then, PJD has put forward some interesting articles and one of our favorite comments of all time, “Why would I go to a game when I can sit home and watch the game with my hand down my sweat pants?”

Which brings me to my closing statement…

While some fans might think that comments like PJD’s don’t help the cause, we disagree. Clearly, he is being sarcastic and the large amount of people that PJD’s, Daily Norseman, @VikesStadium and SavetheVikes.org reach and educate about the stadium issue far outnumber the small amount of people who get “offended” or are already opposed to the stadium issue.

Let me put it another way… We are a group of people who obsess over a sport where you beat the hell out of your opponents with every hit and tackle. If our opponents talk smack or make a big play, we want our team to go out and knock that guy out. Our stadium effort is no different.

So if you are a millionaire tribal lobbyist who gets offended that after sitting through countless stadium hearings we make an observation about the demographics showing up – too bad.

If you are a Legislative Assistant from Rep. Matt Dean’s office calling for a retraction on a BLOG posting, keep dreaming. (Maybe call in person next time, Matt)

If you are a fan that is disappointed in something we say, tweet or don’t think we are PR savvy enough, to that we say feel free to hire our friends over at Tunheim Partners or Himle, Rapp and Company. This is a fan driven effort paid for by fans, not corporations. And just like all of the other fan driven efforts discussed here, we took the time, money and effort to work towards one common goal –keeping the Vikings in Minnesota. And we’ll do it any damn way we please.

So please, if you think you can help the Vikings stadium cause, do what these other folks have done and start an effort of your own to keep the Vikings in Minnesota!