Re: What's your story?
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 10:16 pm
He was born and raised in Minnesota. Joined the military, which is why I was born in CA and raised in WA.
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Unreal story Kapp! Love ya brother!! Lets #BringItHomeJ. Kapp 11 wrote:Here's the rest of my story. Several guys here know it, since I've told it before.
In January of 1977, the Vikings played the Raiders in the Super Bowl. I was 16 and loved the Vikings with an absolute passion. My dad and older half brother both hated the Vikings as much as I loved them, and they delighted in busting my chops about them. They called Fran Tarkenton "The Little Fairy," which made me want to punch them both in the face. They also knew I was a hothead who had no ability to take teasing, so they poured it on every Sunday. I didn't live with my dad -- he and my mom were divorced when I was 5 -- so I only got to see him on Sundays. Football days. Which turned into fight days.
Going into this game, I was just SURE my Vikings would finally win The Big One. They were such a good team. Of course, they got blown out, 32-14. My dad and brother absolutely had a field day with me, and I was blind with rage. Finally, when it was all over, I screamed at my dad as I stomped off to my room, "I hate you. You're such an a$$hole. I wish you were dead."
It was the last thing I ever said to him. The next morning, we found him dead of a massive heart attack in the bathroom. Dead before he hit the floor.
The whole episode really f--ked me up. I loved my dad. Hated how he treated me on game days, but loved him beyond measure. I didn't kill my dad, but try telling that to the 16-year-old version of me.
As a result, I started having serious problems in school, experimenting with drugs, getting into fights, drinking a lot, acting out. Really took a bad turn. One night at a basketball game, I drank so much gin that they had to rush me to the hospital to have my stomach pumped. My stepfather didn't think much of my antics, and I got in a huge fistfight with him about a month before I graduated high school (still not sure how they actually let me graduate). I moved out the day after graduation. Ended up homeless about 6 months later, with warrants out for my arrest for writing bad checks. After a week on the streets of Des Moines, Iowa, in a very cold February of 1980, I finally made the only good decision I'd ever made to that point in my life -- I walked into the U.S. Navy recruiting station and enlisted. They got my legal issues straightened out, put me on a plane, and sent me off to boot camp. I weighed 134 pounds and had barely eaten in a month. Now I had a roof over my head and 3 squares a day. Boot camp was a breeze.
I eventually met the woman who would become my wife, and she wouldn't put up with any bullsh-t. As a result, I got my act together in a big way. It also helped that she was a Vikings fan. Today, we've been married nearly 37 years, have almost enough money to retire comfortably, have two boys, two daughters-in-law, and two granddaughters, with a third on the way in February. I got my college degree at age 37 and have had a good career. My wife is CFO of a large company. Life is good ... way better than I thought it would end up when I was hungry and freezing my butt off in February of 1980.
There's just one thing I need to make my life complete. Somewhere, I believe my dad is rooting for the Vikings to win this thing. So let's do this!
Hey Bro, thanks for sharing. That's a pretty powerful story, thank you for your service! Bring it home, #SKOLJ. Kapp 11 wrote:Here's the rest of my story. Several guys here know it, since I've told it before.
In January of 1977, the Vikings played the Raiders in the Super Bowl. I was 16 and loved the Vikings with an absolute passion. My dad and older half brother both hated the Vikings as much as I loved them, and they delighted in busting my chops about them. They called Fran Tarkenton "The Little Fairy," which made me want to punch them both in the face. They also knew I was a hothead who had no ability to take teasing, so they poured it on every Sunday. I didn't live with my dad -- he and my mom were divorced when I was 5 -- so I only got to see him on Sundays. Football days. Which turned into fight days.
Going into this game, I was just SURE my Vikings would finally win The Big One. They were such a good team. Of course, they got blown out, 32-14. My dad and brother absolutely had a field day with me, and I was blind with rage. Finally, when it was all over, I screamed at my dad as I stomped off to my room, "I hate you. You're such an a$$hole. I wish you were dead."
It was the last thing I ever said to him. The next morning, we found him dead of a massive heart attack in the bathroom. Dead before he hit the floor.
The whole episode really f--ked me up. I loved my dad. Hated how he treated me on game days, but loved him beyond measure. I didn't kill my dad, but try telling that to the 16-year-old version of me.
As a result, I started having serious problems in school, experimenting with drugs, getting into fights, drinking a lot, acting out. Really took a bad turn. One night at a basketball game, I drank so much gin that they had to rush me to the hospital to have my stomach pumped. My stepfather didn't think much of my antics, and I got in a huge fistfight with him about a month before I graduated high school (still not sure how they actually let me graduate). I moved out the day after graduation. Ended up homeless about 6 months later, with warrants out for my arrest for writing bad checks. After a week on the streets of Des Moines, Iowa, in a very cold February of 1980, I finally made the only good decision I'd ever made to that point in my life -- I walked into the U.S. Navy recruiting station and enlisted. They got my legal issues straightened out, put me on a plane, and sent me off to boot camp. I weighed 134 pounds and had barely eaten in a month. Now I had a roof over my head and 3 squares a day. Boot camp was a breeze.
I eventually met the woman who would become my wife, and she wouldn't put up with any bullsh-t. As a result, I got my act together in a big way. It also helped that she was a Vikings fan. Today, we've been married nearly 37 years, have almost enough money to retire comfortably, have two boys, two daughters-in-law, and two granddaughters, with a third on the way in February. I got my college degree at age 37 and have had a good career. My wife is CFO of a large company. Life is good ... way better than I thought it would end up when I was hungry and freezing my butt off in February of 1980.
There's just one thing I need to make my life complete. Somewhere, I believe my dad is rooting for the Vikings to win this thing. So let's do this!
UKNo1Viking - I’m from Bradford living in Leeds.UKno1VIKING wrote:I am from the UK, and unlike today when i first started following the game (99' season), it wasn't as readily available on the TV. We were lucky to get 1 game a week.
But in my first NFL season, the Vikings had a rather magical team (as i'm sure you all know), and the way they lost to Atlanta that year, almost endeared them to me even more. I am a Leeds United supporter in our version of "football", and we have been underdogs all my 35 years on this earth. And the way the Vikings got beat that year, felt almost Leeds-esque. I love an underdog.
I was lucky enough to have access to an American Air Force base, as one of my friends from school lived there. He was a Bears fan, but that helped build a healthy rivalry with him. This meant i had access to more games than most here in the UK.
What was just being a normal fan, has turned into an obsession. Winter months everything is based round the Vikings. Something my better half has adopted well, bless her. We have a Vikings themed 'Man cave', and my wardrobe is mostly vikings related.
Obviously, i didn't experience the superbowl defeats in the 70's, but we've had enough heartache over the last 18 years, that this Saints win and hopefully a SB appearance is incredibly emotional.
We are over to Minneapolis next season on our honeymoon road trip across the US, and it would be great to watch the superbowl champions.
For me, Sunday was our Superbowl. To deal that club a bit of justice after '09, was a fantastic feeling. A superbowl would be nice, but even if we go out on Sunday and lose to Philly, this has now been a successful season.
SKOL.
Nice to meet a fellow Yorkshire Viking! SKOLThe Limey wrote:UKNo1Viking - I’m from Bradford living in Leeds.UKno1VIKING wrote:I am from the UK, and unlike today when i first started following the game (99' season), it wasn't as readily available on the TV. We were lucky to get 1 game a week.
But in my first NFL season, the Vikings had a rather magical team (as i'm sure you all know), and the way they lost to Atlanta that year, almost endeared them to me even more. I am a Leeds United supporter in our version of "football", and we have been underdogs all my 35 years on this earth. And the way the Vikings got beat that year, felt almost Leeds-esque. I love an underdog.
I was lucky enough to have access to an American Air Force base, as one of my friends from school lived there. He was a Bears fan, but that helped build a healthy rivalry with him. This meant i had access to more games than most here in the UK.
What was just being a normal fan, has turned into an obsession. Winter months everything is based round the Vikings. Something my better half has adopted well, bless her. We have a Vikings themed 'Man cave', and my wardrobe is mostly vikings related.
Obviously, i didn't experience the superbowl defeats in the 70's, but we've had enough heartache over the last 18 years, that this Saints win and hopefully a SB appearance is incredibly emotional.
We are over to Minneapolis next season on our honeymoon road trip across the US, and it would be great to watch the superbowl champions.
For me, Sunday was our Superbowl. To deal that club a bit of justice after '09, was a fantastic feeling. A superbowl would be nice, but even if we go out on Sunday and lose to Philly, this has now been a successful season.
SKOL.
Small world.