A few weeks ago, my wife Sharon and I had our four kids write out a Christmas list. Making a list usually helps the relatives and the grandparents the most, especially those out of town. Their lists included many of the typical toys you might find any young kids listing: Legos, Transformers, games, football cards, etc. We try to be very cautious with gift-giving, as we want our kids to celebrate the real reason for the Christmas celebration.
A while back I asked Adam, “Would you rather get a gift under the Christmas tree, or would you rather go to a Vikings’ game?” His answer was immediate, “I want to go to a Vikings’ game!” I told him that I didn’t know what would happen, or if we could even get tickets. I also told him Christmas might be different with no gift under the tree while his brothers and sister each had one. His answer was unwavering; he wanted to see the Vikings!
In any other year, this really wouldn’t be an option. We really can’t afford to get tickets or make the trip to the Cities. However, Adam loves football and he loves to watch Brett Favre and the Vikings. After a few conversations, Sharon and I decided to see if we could get tickets. In addition, we agreed that if any of our other kids had a passion to see or do something that we would then try our best to make that happen down the road.
While I have written about the adventures of getting tickets in previous columns, I kept looking for tickets on a weekend that was best for our family. In late October, Bernie Kukar, a retired NFL official and Viking season ticket holder, offered me his tickets to the Lions game. I was very touched and thankful that he remembered our conversation from earlier in the summer about tickets.
With the tickets now in hand, I knew we couldn’t tell Adam about the game until the last moment. If we did, I knew he wouldn’t sleep until the day for the game arrived! After school this past Friday, Sharon and I had a gift waiting for him after school. He opened the gift and his eyes lit up with excitement. Sharon had already packed his bags and we left for the Cities that night to stay at his Uncle Rich’s house.
Saturday we went to the St. Thomas vs. Northwestern game. Former Cook County stars Miles Drake and Tait Sande both suit up for St. Thomas, which is ranked #10 in the Division III national standings. We went down on the field after the game to see Miles and Tait. Adam was in his football zone. He didn’t miss a play and even questioned why one of the coaches declined a holding penalty.
Thenext day we got to the Metrodome at 9:45 a.m., more than two hours before kickoff. We entered the Dome at 10:00 and Adam enjoyed watching two hours of warm-ups even more than I thought he would.
I coached him on jumping up onto his seat if a big play happened. Big plays bring everyone to their feet, and if he didn’t get up on the chair, he would miss the play. Let’s just say: Adam didn’t miss a play. He held up better than I thought he would as a second grader in the Metrodome for five hours. He was so excited, that the only thing he ate were some peanuts during halftime. I think he thought he might miss something if he was busy eating.
On the way home from the game we stopped to get some pizza. I set him up with a pizza in the backseat as we got it to go. Aftera while I looked back only to see that over half of it had been devoured. I asked him, “Did you get enough to eat?” He smiled and nodded his head in agreement and then asked, “Do you think we could get the Cowboys vs. Packers game on the radio?”
Yes, it was the perfect football Christmas.
Mitch Dorr, a Cook County
Class of 1993 graduate, is
now a social studies teacher
and coach at his former alma
mater. Mitch coaches Vikings
football and boys’ basketball.
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