Vikings Game Can Still be an Outdoor Experience

Some fans have said they feel like they are outside while in the new Vikings stadium. Our neighborhood made it a true outdoor experience on Sunday.

I watched Sunday's game outside projected on a large canvas drop cloth attached to a neighbor's back deck. It helped that is was a beautiful night. Not to mention that it was a night game. The projected image wouldn't have been visible with the sun up.

All 25-30 of us at Mike and Toni's house loaded up on insect repellent and brought some food to share while sitting around the fire. So we did miss out on some of the game-day experiences that the 66,000 people witnessed in person during the win over the Packers. No long lines for food. A commercial break was more than enough time to reload my plate with wings, pulled pork and seven-layer salad. No $12 adult beverages. I just reached down to the cooler at my feet.

Although my neighbor was very loud in cheering for the Vikings and against the Packers, my ears weren't left ringing from the ebb and flow of the game. My biggest challenge was Boomer, the neighbor's dog, who seemed to have some interest in my food. No long lines at metro transit to get home afterward. I just faced a two-minute walk down the street.

On the other hand, we didn't see the halftime performance of the Minnesota Orchestra and we didn't do the "Skol" cheer that may become the new mainstay at home games. It wasn't like being there, but I was more outside for the Vikings game than I am for most Owatonna games where color commentator Brad Fischer, producer Rich Will and I sit inside a press box. Maybe we will get the view from inside the Vikings press box when the prep playoffs go to U.S. Bank Stadium.