2019 Gophers = 1998 Vikings - 15-1

GopherDog1

Section 143
Joined
Mar 17, 2019
Messages
497
Reaction score
310
Points
63
1998 was my last year as a Vikings fan but I see some similarities to this year's Gopher squad. Surprising and powerful on offense but unlike the Vikings in 1998, this Gopher squad has a defense that will stop people.

Tyler Johnson - Cris Carter
Rashod Bateman - Randy Moss
Chris Autman-Bell - Jake Reed
Rodney Smith - Robert Smith
Daniel Faalele - Dave Dixon (NZ but you get the idea)
..................- ..................
 

Easy Trigger (love your enthusiasm though)
 

You quit being a Vikings fan after that year?
 

You quit being a Vikings fan after that year?

Yeah a lifelong Vikings fan, I went to each playoff game that year and that loss to Atlanta broke me. The fans cared more than some of the players = $$$$$$$$.
 

Stay off drugs.

Also, your last sentence makes no sense. The Vikings were ranked 6th in defense in 1998.
 



Ahhh... There are no team weaknesses (in early July). Anyone know how you are going to divide up the travel between Indianapolis, plus the two rounds of playoffs? I think I can do a road trip for Indy which should keep prices down for that trip but between tickets, air, and lodging - I am concerned about my budget AND my vacation balances at work when I go to watch the Gophers playoff drive to the national championship.

How will the Gopher ticket office distribute championship game tickets? I'm assuming season ticket holders will get first dibs but what about the new Gopher Pass ticket holders? Do they count as season ticket holders for purposes of getting those tickets?

This is all so stressful. Why can't the Gophers just be like Wisconsin or Iowa - it is just so much easier planning for the Outback Bowl.
 


Ahhh... There are no team weaknesses (in early July).

How will the Gopher ticket office distribute championship game tickets? I'm assuming season ticket holders will get first dibs but what about the new Gopher Pass ticket holders? Do they count as season ticket holders for purposes of getting those tickets?

I have slightly lower expectations - Pasadena. Well not really an expectation, more like a hope, sometime in my life and just maybe...this year.
 



Ahhhh, Gopher Hole; where the slightest glimmer of optimism or show of enthusiasm is immediately greeted with the sloshing of wet blankets. And sarcasm.

You gotta love us Minnesotans. Must be the climate... or the mosquitos.
 

Stay off drugs.

Also, your last sentence makes no sense. The Vikings were ranked 6th in defense in 1998.

Not quite 6th overall, they were 6th in points allowed.

Passing offense 4,328 270.5 1st
Rushing offense 1,936 121.0 11th
Total offense 6,264 391.5 2nd
Passing defense 3,452 215.8 19th
Rushing defense 1,614 100.9 11th
Total defense 5,066 316.6 13th

They were sieve like at times.

13th out of 32 teams is not great.
 
Last edited:

The gophers this year look very promising... in a way we usually don't see.

But because we don't see it I think some fans maybe misunderstand how much of a sure thing "promising" is / isn't ....
 

I am not saying CFP this year but more like 10-2 and the Big Ten Championship game followed by the Rose Bowl is what I hope for. Obviously the 15-1 remark is for people who don't recall the '98 Vikings team record. Nobody saw that coming either.

EDIT: The 1997 Vikings were 9-7.
 
Last edited:



I had friends and relatives who stopped being Vikings fans after the '98 season. The same ones stopped again after 2000, too. Then once again after 2009, and lately after the 2017 season.
 

Ahhhh, Gopher Hole; where the slightest glimmer of optimism or show of enthusiasm is immediately greeted with the sloshing of wet blankets. And sarcasm.

You gotta love us Minnesotans. Must be the climate... or the mosquitos.

There is a tremendous difference between a "glimmer of optimism" and insane ramblings. But you already knew that, and yet posted anyway.
 

I think the 98 Vikes surprised some people and made fans of a whole bunch of other people. Is it irrational to say that season solidified a generation or more of Vikings fans?

I agree with the OP special seasons often come out of nowhere and not when “planned” schedule or otherwise. Sometimes success is just deciding to show up.

The defense comment may have referred to a depleted defense’s inability to stop Atlanta in the late going, otherwise agree off base.
 

I think the 98 Vikes surprised some people and made fans of a whole bunch of other people. Is it irrational to say that season solidified a generation or more of Vikings fans?

I agree with the OP special seasons often come out of nowhere and not when “planned” schedule or otherwise. Sometimes success is just deciding to show up.

The defense comment may have referred to a depleted defense’s inability to stop Atlanta in the late going, otherwise agree off base.
Correct and with a stout defense that could stop the Falcons, the Vikings win that game. The Vikngs would be Super Bowl bound and have a good chance to win it.
 

My story of crushing emotion related to the '98 Vikings: I had a good friend that was neighbors and had become friends with Georgia Frontiere - the Rams owner. My other buddies and I checked in with him to see if he'd be able to procure Super Bowl tickets through her. He could. We rented a house for super bowl week in Miami and made arrangements for airline flights (making sure we could back out or get vouchers if something went wrong, because, you know... Minnesota sports). But, Everything was set for an epic party in Miami to watch the Vikings and their unstoppable offense win the Super Bowl.

As the NFC championship game went to overtime, I grabbed the remote control and began to hover my thumb over the 'power' button. Then, as the Atlanta OT winning field goal split the uprights, I slammed my thumb on the power button fast enough that I didn't even see the ball hit the net, then directly marched up my basement steps to the phone, where I cancelled all my Super Bowl arrangements. One of the worst moments of my sport spectating life. Probably the worst that didn't involve my kid's HS playoff losses in their senior years of their sports.
 

My story of crushing emotion related to the '98 Vikings: I had a good friend that was neighbors and had become friends with Georgia Frontiere - the Rams owner. My other buddies and I checked in with him to see if he'd be able to procure Super Bowl tickets through her. He could. We rented a house for super bowl week in Miami and made arrangements for airline flights (making sure we could back out or get vouchers if something went wrong, because, you know... Minnesota sports). But, Everything was set for an epic party in Miami to watch the Vikings and their unstoppable offense win the Super Bowl.

As the NFC championship game went to overtime, I grabbed the remote control and began to hover my thumb over the 'power' button. Then, as the Atlanta OT winning field goal split the uprights, I slammed my thumb on the power button fast enough that I didn't even see the ball hit the net, then directly marched up my basement steps to the phone, where I cancelled all my Super Bowl arrangements. One of the worst moments of my sport spectating life. Probably the worst that didn't involve my kid's HS playoff losses in their senior years of their sports.

True Gopher fans would not rate that loss worse than the 03' Michigan game.:D
 

True Gopher fans would not rate that loss worse than the 03' Michigan game.:D

Well, if it is any consolation, I have a story for that loss too. I was not yet a season ticket holder in 2003 and I was up north, night trolling for walleyes during that Friday night Gopher/Michigan game. I was coming unglued, listening to it on the radio, allowing my mind race to the Rose Bowl. Then, when the game was blown I was crushed to a very similar level as that '98 Viking loss. Now, even 16 years later, I actually consciously avoid fishing on that spot on my favorite lake simply because every time I do, I begin reliving that Gopher loss and everything that went wrong to lose it.
 

I had friends and relatives who stopped being Vikings fans after the '98 season. The same ones stopped again after 2000, too. Then once again after 2009, and lately after the 2017 season.

It's tradition.
 

It’s far less likely to happen in college, because the talent gap is bigger from team to team than it is in the NFL. Having said that, there isn’t an unwinnable game on the schedule this season. Even the ESPN computer model gives us a 0.2% of running the table!

8-9 wins plus a bowl win is a reasonable goal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

I think the 98 Vikes surprised some people and made fans of a whole bunch of other people. Is it irrational to say that season solidified a generation or more of Vikings fans?

I agree with the OP special seasons often come out of nowhere and not when “planned” schedule or otherwise. Sometimes success is just deciding to show up.

The defense comment may have referred to a depleted defense’s inability to stop Atlanta in the late going, otherwise agree off base.
For me as a long time Vikings fan it was the end of my true passion for a team which opened up more time to follow the Gophers who have been in my blood since I was 10 years old in 1972.

On the ride home from the Atlanta game my friend and former college teammate started cussing at me and blaming me for going to the game! He became a New England Patriot fan and he still is. It was painful to be there. I also rate the Michigan 2003 game in the same pain level but I don't lose my passion for the Gophers.

For sure Randy Moss created the Viking fan base as it is, the Vikings were struggling to sell out the Metrodome until he came along in 1998. Since he joined the club they have enjoyed sellout crowds. One player can make a huge difference. (Rashod Bateman?)
 

For me as a long time Vikings fan it was the end of my true passion for a team which opened up more time to follow the Gophers who have been in my blood since I was 10 years old in 1972.

On the ride home from the Atlanta game my friend and former college teammate started cussing at me and blaming me for going to the game! He became a New England Patriot fan and he still is. It was painful to be there. I also rate the Michigan 2003 game in the same pain level but I don't lose my passion for the Gophers.

For sure Randy Moss created the Viking fan base as it is, the Vikings were struggling to sell out the Metrodome until he came along in 1998. Since he joined the club they have enjoyed sellout crowds. One player can make a huge difference. (Rashod Bateman?)

No offense, but your friend's reaction seems a little bit irrational, in my opinion.

Makes me wonder: when the Patriots lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl, did he think about switching again and becoming a Giants fan? I mean, losing in the Super Bowl has got to be even more devastating than losing a conference championship game.
 

For me as a long time Vikings fan it was the end of my true passion for a team which opened up more time to follow the Gophers who have been in my blood since I was 10 years old in 1972.

On the ride home from the Atlanta game my friend and former college teammate started cussing at me and blaming me for going to the game! He became a New England Patriot fan and he still is. It was painful to be there. I also rate the Michigan 2003 game in the same pain level but I don't lose my passion for the Gophers.

For sure Randy Moss created the Viking fan base as it is, the Vikings were struggling to sell out the Metrodome until he came along in 1998. Since he joined the club they have enjoyed sellout crowds. One player can make a huge difference. (Rashod Bateman?)

Is he a Yankees or Red Sox fan too? Loves the Golden State Warriors, and is a huge Duke basketball fan?
 

No offense, but your friend's reaction seems a little bit irrational, in my opinion.

Makes me wonder: when the Patriots lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl, did he think about switching again and becoming a Giants fan? I mean, losing in the Super Bowl has got to be even more devastating than losing a conference championship game.
I'm sure I have asked him that but can't recall his answer. Irrational, yeah I agree but as a MN Pro Sports Fan really, how many times can we be disappointed before we don't care? I think it happens at a certain age when all you have to look back on are losses and then bang, we lose a game which was thought of as a sure win. At least the Patriots have a history of winning and winning often. Not so for the Vikings.
 

Is he a Yankees or Red Sox fan too? Loves the Golden State Warriors, and is a huge Duke basketball fan?

Writing these down to ask him...... I don't know but it is good material for me to use and give him sh!t.
 

Yeah a lifelong Vikings fan, I went to each playoff game that year and that loss to Atlanta broke me. The fans cared more than some of the players = $$$$$$$$.

I hate to break it to you but guessing there are a few fans that care more about the Gophers than a couple of players on the team. It is just the way it is. Heck, sometimes it is probably harder for fans to get over some games than the players because the fans have absolutely zero control over what happens on the field.
 

Re: the Vikings. As an older fan, '98 pales next to the loss in the '70 Super Bowl. Nobody thought the AFL could stand up to the much tougher NFL. and even that game is nothing compared to the Drew Pearson push-off game in '75. Most crushing moment in MN sports history. No question.

as far as the Gophers - optimism is fine, as long as it's tempered with just a bit of realism. Yes, I will agree that, under the right set of circumstances, it is possible for the Gophers to have a 10-2 type season and maybe even win a West Division. But, it is equally possible that the team goes 7-5 or 8-4. And, given recent history, I would take 8-4 as a step in the right direction. that still gets you a decent bowl game. In my book, anything better than 8-4 is a bonus. Fun to think about, but you shouldn't plan for it. I used to get a Christmas bonus at work, and then we got new owners. last year, we got a freakin' card with no money. arrrgh.
 

True Gopher fans would not rate that loss worse than the 03' Michigan game.:D

I firmly believe to this day that the 2nd half of the 03 Michigan game was the greatest tipping point in the last 50 years of Gopher Sports.

I am a true MN fan but never before that point or any time after that have I ever been so devastated by a sporting event in my life.
 




Top Bottom