On the Field before the Vikings & Raiders Preseason Game
Todd Swank's Diary Entry for August 11, 2024
Work brought me to Austin, Texas this week. I may have been alone, but I wasn't going to let that spoil the fun. I hung-out for awhile at the hotel's rooftop bar and soaked in the 105 degree heat with a complimentary drink they were nice enough to give me.
I was bored so spent some time entertaining myself by making TikTok videos.
Guess where i am?
@toddswank Feeling weird in Austin. #weird #austin ♬ Lord have merthyy - Sally Brizo 𓄀
On Friday night, our good friends Portia and Doc invited us to Jordan, Minnesota for a night full of debauchery.
We started out the evening at a place called the Pickled Pig Pub. They told us to meet them in the patio area which was a bit hidden due to construction. I didn't realize it was a biker bar until we arrived so I'm sure I fit right in with my bright blue shirt amongst the leather-clad patrons. It was fun walking through the bar 3 times before we finally figured out where we were going.
After dinner, they wanted to take us for a walk to a nearby park which had a beautiful waterfall. Miss Sheri has always told me I shouldn't go chasing waterfalls. She thinks I'd be better off sticking to the rivers and lakes that I'm used to. Really she knows that I'm gonna have it my way or nothing at all. She just thinks I may be moving too fast.
Portia pointed out this tree in the water and suggested we walk out onto it. The spouses didn't think it was such a great idea, but I'm always up for a challenge. Probably not my wisest move, but lucky for us we were able to stay completely dry and not turn into a cautionary tale.
Saturday brought us to US Bank Stadium for the Minnesota Vikings & Oakland Raiders first preseason game of the year.
Bring a season ticket holder gives us some extra perks. There was an email that went out earlier this week offering a chance to be in a drawing to go on the field during team introductions and hold the team flag. Lucky for us, we were selected!
Before we went out on the field, one of the Vikings Cheerleaders tried recruiting Sheri to join the squad and go out and do some dance moves with them. Unfortunately I had to insist she say no and stick with me in case I had any challenges holding the flag.
Turns out I needn't have worried. It wasn't that hard at all to hold it. It had some convenient little straps and was actually pretty easy to lift. Hope I didn't spoil her dreams.
She looked pretty happy to be there as well and we ended up being in the right place to see a whole bunch of the Raiders players as they ran right by us multiple times. Here's a video that shows our experience:
@toddswank On the field to start the Minnesota Vikings/Las Vegas Raiders NFL preseason game. #nfl #minnesota #vikings #lasvegas #raiders ♬ Game Day - ROKKA
Being a preseason game, there's usually not too much exciting to watch. This year was different because it gave us our first glimpse of seeing our rookie quarterback, JJ McCarthy, in action. He started off a little rough with an early interception, but came back in the second half and threw a couple of beautiful touchdowns. Could we finally have our franchise quarterback? We're quite overdue for one.
The game itself actually ended up being pretty exciting. I didn't realize it going into it, but Minnesota had lost it's previous 10 preseason games going back several seasons. They were down 23-21 all the way to the very end when their rookie kicker hit a 38 yard field goal at the buzzer to seal the win. Some might say these games are meaningless, but I'm pretty sure this is the Vikings year to go to the Super Bowl after witnessing this performance!!
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