Unheralded

TOM COYNE: Back In Circulation — 2020 Visions For Long Suffering Minnesotans

New Year’s resolutions are easy to make. Promising to lose weight, give up fast food or exercise every day always feels doable when you’re working with a clean slate. Talk to us by the end of the month, and our convictions often are already waning. The same would seem true when it comes to faith in our Minnesota sports teams. …


Unheralded

TOM COYNE: Back In Circulation — What’s In Your Wallet, Viking Fans?

It’s been nearly 41 years since the Minnesota Vikings last played in a Super Bowl. We’ve had seven presidents in that time. The price of gas has risen about two bucks a gallon since the Purple fell to John Madden’s Oakland Raiders back on Jan. 9, 1977. While the Vikings played in relative splendor that day in Pasadena, Calif., Twin …


TOM COYNE: Back In Circulation — Can Teddy Bear Up Or Is Case Your Ace?

Super Bowl LII is only 80 days away. It’s coming to Minnesota before you know it.  But if you follow pro football, you know a lot can happen in much less time than that. To properly illustrate this point, let’s go back just 65 days. It’s late Monday night, Sept. 11. Your Minnesota Vikings have just disposed of the New …

TOM COYNE: Back In Circulation — Purple Pain Just A Part Of NFL’s Bane

A chilly Sunday morning gradually blossomed into a gorgeous, late summer afternoon. But being a golfer of marginal talent and fully aware that our local football team had an enticing matchup in Pittsburgh, I still wondered if I’d made the right choice. Our annual fraternity scramble was on tap at the University of Minnesota course, and I’d reluctantly agreed to …

TONY J BENDER: That’s Life — Counting Chickens

I’ve been thinking about my dad. It’s been 24 years since he died, so when I think about him these days, it’s not about the way it ended — cancer — but about the way he lived and lives on in the stories I tell my kids. He would have loved them and they him. India and I went to …

TOM COYNE: Back In Circulation — Are We Allowed To Get Excited Yet?

If you bleed purple, then you know the feeling. Just about the time you think your favorite football team is finally ready to win the BIG ONE, something happens that only a Minnesota Viking follower would understand. 65 Toss Power Trap.  41 Donut.  Wide Left.  12 Men in the Huddle. If you not only make sense of these phrases, but …

TOM COYNE: Back In Circulation — A Stand For The Brand Or The Need For Greed?

About 20 years ago, I was teaching a Television Editing class at the then Brown Institute. The focus of the class was to help students learn how to use video cameras, edit tape and put together short commercials or news stories. One of the challenges was to identify newsmakers and line them up for interviews. As the years progressed, our …

TOM COYNE: Back In Circulation — Purple Pride Can Be Painful

After Sunday’s still painful Minnesota Vikings’ playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, most of us who follow the Purple are again left shaking our heads. How can such a proud and storied franchise continue to have so many historic heartbreaks? Amidst the aftermath of that frigid football finale, it’s time to accept that this is simply a part of our …

TOM COYNE: Back In Circulation — The Last Chance To Be Cold … And Love it

When my cellphone rang the other day, I was tempted not to answer it. After all, I was comfortably relaxed on the couch, cuddled up with a blanket, watching another ballgame on the big screen. Not to mention, our gas fireplace was hard at work nearby, making it extremely difficult to move more than an inch, let alone respond to …