What It’s Like Watching Vikings Football in an Iowa Bar
One of the worst decisions my father has made in his entire life was being a fan of the Minnesota Vikings. That was passed down to me and it's been 31 years of letdowns. In typical Vikings fashion, they always seem to be good enough to get our hopes up, but not good enough to actually win the big one. I was talking to a co-worker last week about how I don't even care if the Vikes won the Superbowl. I just want to see them play in one, just so I know championship games are possible. How sad is that?
When my fiance and I moved to Iowa, one of the things I was pretty excited about was learning which NFL team Iowans cheer for. There isn't a professional football team located in Iowa, so Iowans can pretty much choose whichever team they want to cheer for.
Yesterday, I was at a local bar watching the second half of the Vikings game. I normally like to watch the games at home so I can yell from the comfort of my couch. I decided to go check out the NFL Sunday bar scene for the first time this season.
I wore my old-school Fran Tarkenton #10 Vikings jersey and wasn't sure what to expect from other people in the bar. Would I get razzed for the Viking jersey? Would I run into a bunch of Packers or Bears fans? Yes, and Yes. I loved it. It felt like home. Iowa nice strikes again!
It was really fun being able to enjoy the game with other people while supporting my favorite team. I'm not really sure what I was so anxious about but you never really know what fans of other teams will be like during a game. While there was some fun banter back and forth during the game, everyone who was there, waiting for the noon games to start, was really nice. There were also some other Vikes fans on hand, so I did have some backup.
Back in June, I was curious about which NFL team has the biggest fanbase in Iowa, and it turns out, there are a lot of Vikings fans. It's always been a lot of fun finding out which NFL team Iowans cheer for. There is such a huge variety of answers from Iowans and reasons why they support their favorite team. Where I grew up in Minnesota, it's pretty much split down the middle. You either cheer for the Vikings or the Packers. There isn't a ton of variety.
Iowa is one of the few states where I've been to where I've run into die-hard Jacksonville Jaguar fans... there aren't many of those where I grew up in Minneapolis.