Skol, Minnesota

August 2, 2023 12:51 AM

In a follow-up to their histories of the Seattle Mariners and the Atlanta Falcons, Jon Bois and the team at Secret Base are releasing another team history - this time of the NFL's purple-clad Midwestern outpost - the Minnesota Vikings. (SLSecret Base)

Episode 1 of the series is out now.

posted by NoxAeternum (23 comments total)

I really like Jon Bois and will watch his one-off videos on practically anything, but I’ve never been able to gin up the enthusiasm to watch one of his and Alex Rubinstein’s multiple hour documentaries about teams playing a sport I ultimately don’t really follow. But this interview with Bois by Matthew Roberson about the Vikings series came as close as is possible for me to give it a shot. Excerpt:

How much Love Boat content do we get in this documentary? [Note: In 2005, 17 members of the Vikings participated in a sex party on Lake Minnetonka.]

So, that’s a funny one. I expected there would be a lot. But it turns out, the aughts Vikings had the busiest single decade that any sports franchise has, like, ever had. It’s crazy. It’s going to be our longest video for that reason. Because of that, we actually only spend about 45 seconds talking about the Love Boat. The Love Boat, for as crazy as it was, is probably the 14th craziest thing that happened in that decade.

I also learned what a Whizzinator was because of the Minnesota Vikings! [Note: Also in 2005, Vikings running back Onterrio Smith was caught at the airport with a Whizzinator—a fake penis and bladder system designed to beat drug tests.]

We didn’t even get to talk about the Whizzinator! The thing about the Vikings is that they never take a year off. Every single year they’ve ever had—and there’s been 63 of them—has had something going on. Whether it was feuds or dramas or heartbreaks or amazing players or off-field stuff, it’s really something.

posted by Kattullus at 1:18 AM on August 2, 2023 [4 favorites]

What I'd really, really like to see Secret Base cover is the ridiculous number of quarterbacks the Bears started during the Brett Favre/Aaron Rodgers years. Many of the names (Peter Tom Willis, Henry Burris, MOSES MORENO?!) are seared into my brain because, in every. single. Bears Packers game broadcast during the last twenty seasons, the broadcasters have never failed to bring up the list.

I want that. I want an episode for every quarterback the Bears had. Rick Mirer. Cade Mcnown. Hell, we even had Kordell Stewart for a moment, long past his expiration date.
posted by Ghidorah at 1:22 AM on August 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

The Vi-queens and Bois? I'm in.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:22 AM on August 2, 2023

I really, really liked their history of the Seattle Mariners, but I couldn't get through the first episode of the Atlanta Falcons documentary which in comparison seemed kind of "meh". Bois is a master storyteller (Section 1: A short film from Dorktown was absolutely riveting and a masterpiece) but the Falcons' history just didn't give me the same incentive to sympathize with the team the same way the Mariner's documentary had apart from the Falcons-vs-Patriots angle at the beginning.

Here's hoping the Vikings are a bit more fun to learn about.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:49 AM on August 2, 2023

What I'd really, really like to see Secret Base cover is the ridiculous number of quarterbacks the Bears started during the Brett Favre/Aaron Rodgers years

This works for the Vikings too...
During Green Bay's Favre/Rodgers era (1992-2022) (!!!) there were close to 20...and one of them was Favre!
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:28 AM on August 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Spam-loving Vikings.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 7:01 AM on August 2, 2023

I have followed this wretched franchise since prepubescence. It has been a curse. I have taken breaks now and then, when I am so sickened by the NFL or this team. Last year I was sucked back in and of course, Kirk Cousins did not disappoint: throwing behind the sticks to lose their playoff game. I will relish this almost as much as I will relish Drew Magary's always venomous Why Your Team Sucks: Minnesota Vikings. I have a feeling this year Drew will be visiting down the wrath of god on the Purple. Because hate is one inch from love.

I can still close my eyes and picture Brett Favre throwing across his body into coverage, Anderson's missed field goal, Darren Nelson's dropped pass... Unlike tears in rain these moments will not be lost.
posted by Ber at 8:20 AM on August 2, 2023 [7 favorites]

Background for people unfamiliar with how the Falcons fit into all this.

Was that really 25 years ago...?
posted by gimonca at 8:32 AM on August 2, 2023

I adore Jon Bois but I have to sit this one out, as a non-NFL fan living in MN I am so incredibly sick of hearing about how beaten down and haunted people in this state are by the misfortunes of the damn Vikings.
posted by neonrev at 10:54 AM on August 2, 2023

But that's why you should watch - neither Jon nor Alex are Vikes fans, so it's going to focus less on misfortune and more on crazy happenings and larger than life personalities.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:59 AM on August 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

Aw shit, I’m a Vikings fan now!
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:24 PM on August 2, 2023

I’ve been a Vikings fan since the Fran Tarkenton/Purple People Eaters days. It’s basically an abusive relationship.

They can beat any team and lose to any team. They have the seventh-best all-time winning percentage. Every other top 15 team has won the Super Bowl.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:13 PM on August 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

I remember after the Mariners series Jon Bois said something to the effect that the history of the Vikings was about as close as the NFL got to something like the history of the Mariners, so I was a little surprised when they did a series on the Falcons instead.
posted by ckape at 7:01 PM on August 2, 2023

They can beat any team and lose to any team. They have the seventh-best all-time winning percentage. Every other top 15 team has won the Super Bowl.

Bois does a whole section in episode 1 discussing this with graphics.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:25 PM on August 2, 2023

Thank you for these links, NoxAeternum. I grew up in MN and still root for the Vikings with my brother, who is a fanatic.

I think GQ calling the Vikings "miserable" is harsh. They are heart-breakers for sure, but it's pretty joyful to be a fan and there are plenty of wins to celebrate. Last season was nuts, and I'm glad they kicked this series off with it.
posted by tovarisch at 12:00 AM on August 3, 2023

As a Green Bay Packers fan, I always enjoy a beating of the Vikings in head-to-head action. Failing that, I will take solace in knowing they will finish behind the Packers in the standings. And on the rare years recently where they have a better record, I can take ultimate comfort knowing they won’t be winning the Super Bowl .

At this point, the closer they get before failing, the happier I am.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 4:39 PM on August 3, 2023

I fart in your general direction
posted by tovarisch at 1:22 PM on August 4, 2023

Episode 2, covering the first half of the 70s, is now up.
posted by NoxAeternum at 6:57 PM on August 8, 2023

Episode 3, covering the back end of the 70s, is now available.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:16 AM on August 16, 2023

The heavy Super Bowl focus of the videos will pay off nicely when they finally get to the part where the Vikings win one.
posted by ckape at 8:46 AM on August 16, 2023 [3 favorites]

Episode 4, covering the 80s and the slide from the peak of the 70s, is now available.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:25 AM on August 24, 2023

The 80s one was particularly painful to watch. I got into football around that time as a Washington fan so I remember all that stuff, especially how bad the Walker trade was.

The Pat Summerall call of that final play of the Washington-Minnesota NFC Championship, which I can no longer find on YouTube, is still one of the most dramatic things I've ever seen on television.

What I realize now is that after Washington won the Super Bowl that year, they had a disgruntled Pro Bowl-caliber QB that they had to get rid of, and the Raiders gave up a Hall of Fame left tackle to get him. The Vikings might have been able to get him for a lot less than what they paid for Walker. What if…
posted by Ampersand692 at 7:18 AM on August 30, 2023

Episode 5, covering the long decade that was the 90s, is now available.
posted by NoxAeternum at 7:39 AM on August 30, 2023