Those vociferous Vikings

Minnesota's dome-field advantage a headache for opponents

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Posted: Wednesday January 13, 1999 12:09 AM

Home sweet home: The Vikings are 9-0 at home this season, winning by an average score of 36-13 AP

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The blaring music, pounding drums and screaming fans. The Metrodome din gives the Minnesota Vikings as much of a home advantage as the Green Bay Packers hold on an icy day at Lambeau Field.

The Vikings aren't apologizing for the manmade help that has put them within one win of their first Super Bowl in 22 years.

"Who cares if it's fair or not. We earned it," running back Leroy Hoard said. "Everybody has the same opportunity that we had to get home-field advantage. We got it. It's got to be good for something -- that noise."

That noise is something the Atlanta Falcons will have to deal with in Sunday's NFC championship game. The Arizona Cardinals couldn't contend with it in the divisional round last weekend.

The racket helped rattle Arizona quarterback Jake Plummer into three turnovers that led to 17 points for the Vikings in their 41-21 victory. The decibel level wasn't the difference for Minnesota -- its offense was -- but it helped.

At one point just before kickoff, Cardinals tackle Lomas Brown and some teammates tried to communicate by screaming while standing next to each other. They couldn't hear.

Neither could Hoard nor Robert Smith, who were side by side on the Vikings' side of the field. Plummer said there were times during the game when he couldn't hear offensive coordinator Marc Trestman, who was speaking directly into his helmet from the coaches booth via microphone.

"[The] crowd was a big part of it," Atlanta coach Dan Reeves said of Minnesota's victory Sunday. "[It] gave Arizona a lot of problems early in the game. Those are the type of things we've got to be ready to deal with. You can't change them. They're going to be there."

The most annoying, and some say most disrupting part of the dome noise, is the roar through the speaker system. The Vikings blast heavy metal music and other canned noise into the arena to help whip the fans into a frenzy.

The Packers complained loudly about the piped-in noise after their 28-14 loss at the dome Nov. 22. Their biggest beef was about on-field speakers the Vikings say they use to channel the music to the cheerleaders.

Vikings vice president of business operations Rand Gottlieb contends the team stays within league rules for stadium noise, including turning off all artificial sound when the opposing offense breaks the huddle.

But that's when the fans take over, with 64,000 screaming as the quarterback slips behind center. That's helped the Vikings (16-1) go 9-0 at home this season, winning by an average score of 36-13. They are 11-point favorites against the Falcons.

"With the loudspeakers and crowd noise, our communication was messed up all day," Arizona center Aaron Graham said. "It was almost non-existent. It forced us into trying things we haven't tried before."

That's the dome-field advantage, something the Minnesota Twins used to win World Series titles in 1987 and 1991. No dome team ever has made it to the Super Bowl, but Sunday's matchup guarantees one finally will.

Thanks to their enthusiastic fans, the Falcons (15-2) enjoyed a similar edge against San Francisco last weekend at the Georgia Dome. Now they'll feel what it's like to be in what Vikings owner Red McCombs calls the noisiest stadium in the NFL.

And the Vikings aren't concerned with what anyone thinks of that advantage.

"You want me to feel sorry for it?" Hoard said. "I don't."

 

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