This Sunday, I was fortunate enough to go to the Vikings-Dolphins game in Miami. Before the gates opened at Hard Rock Stadium, a buddy and I tailgated with a group called the South Florida Vikings.
We met in an abandoned parking lot before the more official tailgate Sunday morning. It may seem odd to meet up in a separate parking lot from the one we would be tailgating in. Still, there were over 50 Minnesota Vikings fans attending one giant party, and a caravan of over a dozen cars assembled to drive to the stadium lots in a purple caravan. Skol!
Of course, I assumed that the person leading the caravan had directions to the stadium.
I was wrong.
In a perfect metaphor for the Vikings’ offense later in the day, the entire convoy perplexingly missed the stadium exit and continued southbound on the turnpike. After realizing they were going the wrong way, the fans leading the convoy parked their cars to try and figure out how to get to their destination, forcing the other 10 cars behind them to stop. It didn’t take long for the people behind the Toyota conga line to start blaring their horns.
When we eventually reached the main lot, it dawned on us that we’d be stuck in the Florida heat for the next three hours with nothing to do except eat, drink, and play cornhole. It was a good time, but we just wanted the stadium gates to open up after a while. We were hoping for an entertaining matchup between the Vikings and Miami Dolphins to get our adrenaline going. Instead, the Vikings-Dolphins game felt much more like that tailgate party – slow-paced and disorganized, with memorable stretches of getting lost and going nowhere.
After a quick three-and-out for the Vikings offense to start the game, Minnesota’s defense trotted onto the field. A sea of purple jerseys roared with excitement, expecting the Dolphins’ third-string rookie quarterback to struggle with the crowd noise behind Miami’s poor offensive line.
However, as I predicted, Skylar Thompson looked solid on the opening drive. The Dolphins inched closer to my seat near the end zone, and it wasn’t too long before they were in field goal range. Fortunately, Patrick Jones sacked Thompson, which took Miami out of field goal range.
Early in the game, a drunk Vikings kept standing up regardless of down and distance. He upset a few people around him, including me. Some fellow Vikings fans tried politely telling him to sit down, but he refused, saying, “I can’t help it.” An old man sitting next to me wearing Dolphins attire gave him the finger.
At least I wasn’t missing much. Most of the first half was glacially paced. There were six consecutive punts by both the Dolphins and the Vikings, which took up the entire first quarter. Both fanbases started getting anxious. No one around me in the stands noticed that Thompson injured his thumb until Teddy Bridgewater took the field. Shortly afterward, the jumbotron said that Thompson was questionable to return. The reaction from Dolphins fans was muted. I think Tua Tagovailoa’s head injury made them numb to any subsequent QB maladies.
The crowd was noticeably more engaged when the Vikings got a good drive going. Minnesota’s first touchdown really helped set the tone for the visiting fans. It was harder to notice Miami fans because of the teal-and-white color scheme; the purple jerseys drowned out the lighter colors Dolphins fans were wearing. The ratio of Vikings to Dolphins fans made the stadium atmosphere feel, at the very least, like a London game.
An older lady sitting next to me had actually gone to the London game against the New Orleans Saints two weeks ago. She was fun to talk to early in the game, but it certainly didn’t take her long to get as boozed up as a Packer fan on a weekday evening. By the fourth quarter, she was screaming, “LET’S GO VIKINGS!” every play and demanding that any positive gain for the Dolphins be a penalty against them (which, fortunately for her, happened plenty).
Despite her belligerent nature, I was admittedly jealous of how she was able to enjoy the game while drunk. I’m the kind of guy who tries to focus on all the little things going on in the game. I can’t do that when I’m intoxicated.
By the fourth quarter, things started to get interesting. The Vikings scored a touchdown to take a 16-3 lead, but Miami responded with a touchdown drive of their own. The Dolphins even got a stop on defense, which gave them some momentum. Then Jaylen Waddle fumbled the ball, and the Vikings could capitalize and score another touchdown.
At this point, most Dolphins fans started leaving the stadium as the Vikings fans in attendance started singing their fight song.
Like the tailgate party, the Vikings’ game against the Dolphins was often slow-paced and disorganized. The teams may have taken a while to find their rhythm, but the fans surely didn’t. It didn’t matter if the fans were sober or tanked, they found ways to keep the good vibes going.
The best part of it all was getting to spend time with other Vikings fans who are just passionate as I am about the team. The Vikings winning on the road was icing on the cake.
