Metrodome Memories

The Vikings just played their final game in the Metrodome, and in only a couple weeks the Dome will be deflated for good. A variety of news sources have been posting their top “Metrodome Moments.” I was fortunate enough to spend a fair amount of time in the Dome, so I figured I would create my own list of top 13 Metrodome Moments (in no particular order).

Number 1 – In my senior year of college, my friend Jeremy caught 5 touchdown passes in the first 17 minutes of our final regular season football game. We had a 42-7 lead at the time, and the coaches pulled the offensive starters for the remainder of the game. Some of my extended family in attendance grumbled that paying 10 bucks to watch me play for 17 minutes was kind of a rip-off.

Number 2 – My friend Joe and I watched Adrian Peterson have a decent game in his rookie year against the San Diego Chargers. We left early to beat traffic and turned on the radio in our car to learn that after we left, AP broke the NFL record for my rushing yards in a game. Fool me once…

Number 3 – …but you can’t fool me twice. My brother and I were watching Brett Favre and the Vikings battle the 49ers. Favre was having a pretty brutal game and when the Vikings gave the ball back to the 49ers with just a couple minutes left to go, my brother and thousands of others stood up and said, “We are out of here.” I talked him into staying and sure enough, Favre found Greg Lewis for a last second touchdown. Older brothers are always wiser - well at least this time.

Number 4 – In 1998, George Strait brought Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and John Michael Montgomery with him for a big ole boot stomping stadium show. I sweet talked the security guard into letting my wife and me on the main floor, where we danced the night away. I got a bit carried away on one dip and my wife’s head slammed against the concrete floor. She left with a mild concussion, and Tim McGraw left with a new girlfriend (that would be Faith Hill, not my wife).

Number 5 – I played in the state championship football game as a junior in high school. The coaches moved me back to linebacker for one play. a position I had never played nor practiced in my life. I was scared to death and can’t remember much about the play. But the TV showed that I knocked Burnsville’s all state center onto his keister and made a good tackle on the running back. Glory days. I won’t mention that I spent the rest of the game getting trampled on by Burnsville’s dominant left tackle.

Number 6 – During a junior high field trip to watch a Twins game, a thunder storm developed. The Dome’s ceiling started rippling, and the huge lights above our hands started swaying perilously. When the roof finally ripped open and drenched one section of people, panic ensued as folks raced for the corridors. That moment certainly did not help my claustrophobic tendencies.

Number 7 – In my sophomore year of college, we played against Carleton in a highly touted matchup which was billed as the conference championship. After a Friday practice where I am pretty sure the scout team offense never crossed the line of scrimmage, we destroyed Carleton 70-7. And we will pretend our season ended right then and there.

Number 8 – My brother and I were showing our German friend Julia around the cities and decided to stop by the dome on the day after a Vikings game. I pulled the “She is German” card and security let us go run around on the field all by ourselves for thirty minutes. My brother and I played catch with used Gatorade cups and were in hog heaven.

Number 9 – Playing in the state semifinals football game in my senior year of high school, our not so brilliant assistant coach was so hyped up that he worked us into the ground during pre-game warm-ups - right up until the time the game started. Supposedly a leader on the team, I couldn’t catch my breath until halftime and played the lousiest thirty minutes of football of my life. By that time, we were already well behind. I’m no longer bitter. Really, I’m not.

Number 10 – The Gophers asked me to come on a recruiting visit during my senior year of high school. I was with a couple dozen other recruits watching the pre-game warm-ups when an assistant coach walked over to me with his right hand extended. Quite giddy, I shook his hand. He then extended his left hand and asked for the game program I was holding in my left hand. He looked something up in the program, said thanks, and walked away. It is stunning that the Gophers haven’t had more success in football given that strong type of recruiting.

Number 11 – I was playing in a touch football league on a team of bean counters when I faked a block and lumbered out for a pass in the left corner of the end zone. I caught the perfectly thrown ball for a touchdown, then tripped over my own feet and landed abdomen-first on the ball. The ref told me to give him the ball and then roll off the field so the game could continue. I wheezed for several minutes and now wince in pain whenever I see a player get the wind knocked out of themselves.

Number 12 – I attended Game 7 of the 1991 World Series when the Twins played host to the Atlanta Braves – that was the last time a Minnesota pro sports team won one of the four major sporting championships. However, my parents had given me some football pencils in elementary school, and as I thought the Atlanta Falcons one looked the coolest, I cheered for everything Atlanta. So, when Gene Larkin hit the game winning fly ball to center field, I hugged my mom, waved my homer hanky, and cheered along with 60,000 others, but inside I was crying.

Number 13 – I learned of an opportunity to do some volunteer tax preparation as part of Twins Fest, which was taking place at the Metrodome. I was disappointed when I arrived and saw that we would be preparing the tax returns at tables in the corridors. A co-worked asked, “What, did you expect that we would be setup on the field and that people would be cheering for us as we prepared tax returns?” Well, yeah.

Metrodome – thanks for the memories, and may you rest in peace.