Called my dad yesterday, a fairly frequent occurrence after a Vikings game over the years.
I told him the manner in which I watched the game. I said, I don’t know what the deal is with me. Maybe it’s the times we’re in, or the fact that I already knew what was coming (game happened exactly as I predicted), but I just sat there and watched the whole game peacefully. It was almost like I was watching a Browns–Bengals Game…no real urgency. I never swore, I never got mad. Not a typical Vikings game experience for me. I guess maybe if you know it’s coming, you can’t sit, gripe, and complain about it when it happens the way you knew it would. Or Maybe I was just in a weird mood and not actually ready for football yet.
At the end of telling him all that I capped it with a “I don’t know, Maybe it’s just me…”
He Immediately responded, “Oh, hell I got all pist off on that deep ball before the half and Cousins throwing that interception and letting them score again, they should’ve been in the locker room…” Haha. I didn’t really hear anything after that, I’m sure he had countless things. I just kept thinking about how I threw my own ‘take’ out there and for some reason figured he’d automatically have the same viewing experience, only to hear the same shit I’ve heard for 25-30 years after a loss. I was thinking maybe I had showcased some Viking fan maturity, and maybe he would be on the same page. Then, the man 30 years older than I, for once in his life, came off as the nonsensical guy in one of our conversations.
It was a pleasure.
It reminded me of an incident in my parents house in 2009, when the Vikings had Favre and it was apparent early in the season that the team was going to be good enough to make a run at the super bowl. It was during the DVR era but my dad had his whole way of doing things and they didn’t have but 3 channels and PBS. My parents, no matter how much they had in the bank, have always refused to be nickel and dimed, or taken advantage of. Out of principal, they won’t ever spend an extra cent. And it’s served them well over the years. DirectTV, which was the hottest thing at the time, had made them angry, and they had cancelled. It was for all these reasons they didn’t have a 100% secure Tivo/DVR/show recorder at the time. It was some sort of rabbit ears set-up that he somehow had working to record stuff he wanted, but he never had a reference point to if it worked or where the starting point of the show was. It was still sort of based on a timer. It was basically old VHS recording protocol without the actual VHS tape.
So it was during this time that he recorded a Vikings game. I was living back at my parents house then (one of many stints as an adult). All of us were busy that day so the plan was to go radio silent and watch the game together that night. As we’re watching the first quarter my mom grabs the remote to adjust the volume, and in doing so hits a button that somehow sends us well into the 4th quarter, score on the screen, and a frenzy ensues.
My dad lost it, but not in a way you’d picture most people losing it. Even when he gets mad he still just sort of raises his pitch and becomes more firm. When you’re around him so much growing up, then see him every once in awhile go to that place, it’s easy to say he lost it, but realistically it’s never been that bad.
Anyway, he grabs the remote and tells her to sit down and not mess with it. My mom is sort of immediately heartbroken and chooses not to sit down but rather head straight upstairs. My dad quickly rewinds it, but it’s a struggle to get it back to where we were, and in the meantime we’re both seeing all scores that were at different points of the game we wouldn’t have gotten to yet. He’s muttering and cussing under his breath the whole time. I’m not that happy either, but I’m more in awe of him in the moment.
He eventually got it back to where we were and then it was just the two of us enjoying the action. About a half hour later I headed upstairs to get a beverage, my mom sees me and says “Don’t you think he was a little mean to me down there?”
I’m surprised she asked me the question. She should’ve known better. Of everyone in the world, she, of all people, should know that I’m a completely different person during the three hours of a Vikings game. I was not fit to answer her question objectively at that time.
Instead I launched into a rant about how my dad does everything around here, he’s the most unselfish person around, he fixes everything that needs to be fixed, cooks half the meals, puts up with a lot of shit, and all he asks is for you to leave that remote alone for three hours on Sundays.
I have no idea why added that in. It’s a total MAC story.
I used to be addicted to the Hokey Pokey but I turned myself around…
