Stickin' it ... to the Packers

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November 21, 2005
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Mike Vandermause

Losing records don’t mean rivalry still isn’t heated

Life might be boring around here if it weren’t for the Minnesota Vikings, who have long ago surpassed the Chicago Bears as the biggest rival of the Green Bay Packers.

If you’re a Packers fan, you tend to look down your nose at the Vikings, and for good reason.

The Vikings are classic choke artists. They gagged away a 3½-game NFC North lead over the Packers two years ago, then for good measure bungled another chance for a division title last year when the Packers rallied from a 1-4 start.

The Vikings find ways to fold even when the Packers aren’t directly involved. Who can forget the 1998 season, when the Vikings surged to an NFL-best 15-1 regular-season record only to feel the collar tighten around their necks in the NFC title game in a shocking home loss to the underdog Atlanta Falcons?

The Vikings’ last Super Bowl appearance came in 1977, which is probably just as well considering their 0-4 record when an NFL championship is on the line.

While the Vikings are 0-for-the-last-half-century in league titles, the Packers have won six during that same span and an NFL-best 12 overall.

If the Vikings aren’t spitting up all over themselves on the field, they’re engaging in stupid activities off it.

It was reported over the weekend the Vikings organization issued a 77-page code of conduct to players, coaches and other team personnel on Saturday.

The action stemmed from an embarrassing, much-publicized players’ boat cruise last month allegedly involving sex acts and strippers.

Something is wrong when grown men need to be reminded, in a document nearly the size of a paperback novel, how to behave. Let’s safely assume there are few sharp tools in the Vikings’ shed.

Any honest assessment of this rivalry reveals the Packers have more loyal fans, a far better stadium and a much richer tradition.

But give the Vikings their due. In their 45-year existence, they have battled the Packers to a 44-44-1 standoff in the all-time series.

During Mike Holmgren’s seven-year reign as Packers coach in the 1990s, the Packers were just 5-9 against Dennis Green and the Vikings.

For all the distractions current Vikings coach Mike Tice creates — like painting his house green and gold or scalping his Super Bowl tickets — he always seems to have his team ready to play the Packers.

After getting swept by Green Bay in the 2004 regular-season series, Tice brought his 8-8 team to Lambeau Field last January and whipped the Packers in a first-round playoff matchup.

The Vikings were left for dead last month when they trailed the Packers 17-0 at halftime, but Tice somehow rallied his troops to an improbable 23-20 victory at the Metrodome.

Tice’s 3-4 overall record against Green Bay includes losses by a combined total of just 13 points.

Sure, the Vikings have endured their share of troubles, but they still know how to stick it to the Packers.

That’s why tonight’s game, despite featuring two teams with losing records, remains an intriguing matchup.

There are few dull moments when the Packers and Vikings get together.


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You guys ever notice (?) --- Detroit and Chicago, also, "always bring their A game" ... to the Packers! In fact, it's been pretty apparent to me, for years, that just all of the Teams, in the NFL, make it a point ... to "bring it to da Packers"

Now - how often do we see the Packers bringing it ... to at least our own Division?
 

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