Scalper's paradise
Don't bother asking for Vikings playoff tickets
Posted: Tuesday December 22, 1998 08:04 PM
| |
Ready for some football: The conference title could be decided in Minnesota for the first time since 1976 AP |
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minnesota (AP) -- If you haven't already reserved your seats
for the Minnesota
Vikings' home playoff games, it's time to start thinking about where to
watch them on television.
Both games already are essentially sold out, fueled by a whopping 88
percent purchase rate by 1998 season ticket holders and the addition of
nearly 11,000 new season ticket holders over the past month and a half.
Remaining seats will be withheld for corporate sponsors, general manager
Tim Connolly said Monday.
"I doubt that there will be a public sale of any seats," Connolly said.
"Season ticket holders have absconded with the loot -- which is great
news."
The most impressive part of the playoff sales was the 88 percent of current
season ticket holders buying seats. The previous franchise high was 52
percent, Connolly said.
The Vikings (14-1) are guaranteed home-field advantage throughout the NFC
playoffs, the first dome team ever to earn that edge. The first game will
be January 9 or 10. If the Vikings win they will play host to the NFC
championship game January 17, which would mark the first time the
conference title was decided in Minnesota since 1976, when the Vikings beat
the Rams to advance to the last of their four Super Bowls. All he does
is ...
Former Philadelphia
Eagles coach Buddy Ryan long will be lampooned for saying Cris Carter only could catch
touchdown passes. Ryan might have been missing so many of the skills that
have made Carter one of the best receivers in NFL history, but at least he
recognized Carter's ability to get into the end zone.
Carter's 1-yard TD catch in Sunday night's 50-10 win over Jacksonville was
the 100th of his career, tying Steve Largent in second place on the NFL
list. Only Jerry Rice,
with 163 and counting, has caught more TD passes than Carter.
"You look at people who have accomplished this," Carter said. "I play with
a good quarterback that gets me the ball and it's a good system. For me,
it's probably the highlight of my career." Tough decisions
Dennis Green backed off a little bit Monday about the possibility of going
all out to beat Tennessee on Saturday.
Although the Vikings have a chance to tie the NFL record for regular-season
wins and would like to maintain their momentum heading into the playoffs,
Green might be more cautious because of his team's injury situation.
"Now the key thing for us is to finish up the year real strong this week
against Tennessee," Green said. "We would like to do everything we can to
try and win the football game. Our concern would be that we do have
numerous injuries."
Although none of the injuries are considered serious, the Vikings do have a
litany of bruised players. Offensive tackle Korey Stringer, who missed
Sunday's win over Jacksonville with a groin injury, remains questionable.
Green said rookie linebacker Kailee Wong, who sprained
an ankle against the Jaguars, would sit out Saturday. Linebacker Dixon Edwards also is
questionable with back spasms.
Other dinged players are quarterback Randall Cunningham (broken
hand), center Jeff
Christy (broken thumb), offensive tackle Todd Steussie (knee),
receivers Cris Carter (calf) and Randy Moss (ankle) and
tight end Greg DeLong
(ankle).
"Both Cris Carter and Randy Moss are somewhat hobbled, and I think that
they'll probably hobble through this game this week," Green said. "Maybe
not. We'll see exactly how they feel and then we'll determine how much time
they get off in the next week. We actually have about a week and a half
after the first game where guys can get fully recovered."
Still, Green is hoping to be able to give some of his key players at least
part of the day off.
"If the game dictates it we will take guys out," he said. "We've been
fortunate enough the last few weeks to have that happen, but I don't think
we can go into Tennessee counting on that. I don't think Tennessee would
like to hear that, so we'll go in with the idea that we want to win.
"Fifteen wins has only been done in the regular season a few times in the
history of the NFL. So that is not our ultimate goal. That is just one of
the many goals that go along the way."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
