Sunday, May 20, 2012

Wait...what is this feeling I'm experiencing?

So let’s get this straight. I leave town for the weekend, with minimal access to sporting news until Sunday afternoon…and the Minnesota sports scene goes bat sh*t crazy? I don’t need to talk much about McNabb (yet), as I’ll give my opinion on that in a separate post. I also don’t need to talk about the Twins completely bombing at the chance to improve their prospect stock at the deadline. That leaves us with a little bit of training camp talk…and a LOT of Bryant McKinnie talk.

As many of you know, I was not the biggest Brad Childress fan. But I can’t help but notice this feeling I’m getting about the Vikings. This isn’t an unrealistic “homer” feeling either…it’s…well...hard to explain...but I’ll give it a shot.

I feel like a five year old getting all excited about the first day of school. Sure, I understand that going to school isn’t the most exciting thing in the world…and EVERY kid knows it. But you are still excited to go right?! That’s how I feel this season is going to go for the Vikings. I’m not overly excited about how the end result will be (6-10 if we’re lucky), but I’m down right giddy over the way Leslie Frazier is handling his duties as Head Coach.

Take his interview on KFAN with Paul Allen on Monday from Mankato. Frazier sounded like he was having FUN. He wasn’t dodging questions or trying to keep some sort of top secret game plan away from the media. Nor was Frazier butting heads with PA as he asked some really good questions. He was doing…dare I say it…HIS JOB. I think this small sample speaks volumes of what we could expect this year.

Maybe it’s me and my personal preference of liking coaches who are honest, upfront and in your face (which is why I like the Mike Singletary addition). Maybe it’s that we were SOOOO fed up with Brad Childress’ stupid games that anyone without a nickname so accurate to his personality (Chilly…get it?), would get us excited. But I think it’s more than that. Frazier has been there…he is one of those “gets it” guys. And maybe we won’t win a ton of games this year, but I do think players will respond to his style of environment. Work your ass off…and you’ll see the field. That’s how it should be. Where as Childress had things working on the system of “work your ass off, and I’ll decide if you are worthy or not to play in to this kick ass offense…oh, but I have my favorites and they’re my projects, so you have to wait your turn”.

Bottom line is this. Sure, maybe sitting in class all day might not be the most enjoyable…but that bus is coming to pick us up in a few weeks…and we don’t know where it will be taking us. The bus driver will be nice, your friends will be all around, and you might even score some “back to school” Jordan’s out of the deal. It’s something to look forward to……..for a change.