Contemplating a Move

Luft Krigare left a comment on Monday that has stuck with me since:

"To add to the negativity... LA could handle two teams sharing the Ed Roski dream of a stadium just like the Giants and Jets do (and maybe the 49'ers and Raiders in the future), so both the Chargers and Jaguars have got to relocate for the Vikings not to go to LA. But LA isn't the only landing spot, I could see London getting the team and suddenly they would be in a market bigger than New York."

So what if the Vikings' move is inevitable? What if, after 50 years in Minnesota, the Purple and Gold pack up their gear and follow the original Purple and Gold west to L.A. or follow the original Vikings to England? What do we do then?

I mean, I don't live in Minnesota anymore. I've been to two home games in the past four years, and I watch most of the games at a bar. Where the Vikings play their games really shouldn't matter too much to me. I could easily pull a Lietch and just continue following the team that I've been rooting for most of my life. That seems reasonable, right? Except, it just seems so wrong. For whatever sociological reason, people root for teams they have ties too. I'm from Minnesota-I root for the Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves and Gophers (most of the time-see my next sentence). I went to Georgetown, which means I root for the Hoyas, who, thankfully, finally won another game. My reasons are no different than most people's (you always have your bandwagon fans, or folks who have no geographic connection, but latched on and stayed on). So what happens when the Vikings sever my tie to them?

Now, I'll be honest-I'm a Vikings' fan first and a football fan second. I'm not going to just follow the NFL or pick a new team if I stop rooting for the Purple (mainly because I'm not going to forgive Mr. Goodell and his cronies if they move and I can't handle it). So what happens then? No more NFL?

I just don't know if I can give up watching the NFL. But I don't want to be like Leitch and just follow a team after it rips apart the basis for my relationship with it. It's almost like contemplating how you would handle a close friend or relative dying (hyperbole, I know, but still)--you just can't know ahead of time. Which means that 2011 and 2012 are going to be a boat load of fun.

That's probably enough negativity for one off season (unless the Vikings sign Favre--then all bets are off). Which means it's time to start thinking about how the Purple can improve for next year, something they need to do if they want to bring home a championship before things get ugly. Tomorrow we start with an overview of the Vikings' needs.