Purple People
The Crazy Culture and Customs of Minnesota Vikings Fans, the Best Fans in the NFL
$20.00
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Purple People The Crazy Culture and Customs of Minnesota Vikings Fans, the Best Fans in the NFL |
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Buy Now $20.00
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ried Holien
Phone: 605-886-4330
Email: riedpuma@wat.midco.net
Address: 702 North Broadway
Watertown, SD 57201
For More Information Visit: www.purplepeoplebook.com
NEW BOOK PROVES VIKINGS FANS THE BEST IN NFL
Although the Minnesota Vikings never reached the pinnacle of pro football, a new book contends that Vikings fans are the best in the NFL. To prove this bold premise, Purple People: The Crazy Culture and Customs of Minnesota Vikings Fans, the Best Fans in the NFL cites everything from sports psychologists to government studies, and in a twist from typical football books, features famous Vikings players talking about the fans.
“There’s lots of books about specific teams but nothing on the fans, and that’s missing the point,” argues author Ried Holien. “Pro sports wouldn’t exist without fan support, and fans stay with a team longer than anyone inside the organization. They’re the most important asset any team has.”
To illustrate rabid fan loyalty, Holien interviewed hundreds of Vikings fans to get an understanding of what it means to truly bleed purple. Roughly fifty fans get profiled in the book. The list contains members of both sexes, young and old, rich and poor. There’s the lady who attended the first ever Vikings preseason game in 1961 who still buys tickets into the Metrodome. There’s couples who give their children Vikings-related names like “Tarkenton” and others who dress newborns in purple and gold while still in the delivery room.
“Because everything in pro sports changes, fans are really what provides a team with its identity,” Holen says. “Athletes change teams. Owners sell out when the price is right. New stadiums get built…eventually. Even uniforms change. The fans, however, stay loyal through all the good and bad times.”
With essays like “Best Vikings Memories,” which features individual reminiscences upon their greatest moments as fans, and “Worst Vikings Memories,” the book covers both the positive and negative of cheering on the Vikings. “Not to give it away, but everyone’s—and I do mean everyone’s—worst memory was of that NFC Championship loss to the Atlanta Falcons after that remarkable 1998 season,” Holien says.
Still, the book shows it is the heartbreak that makes Vikings so remarkable. They’ve endured more for their team than have fans from any other NFL team. They also don’t have old titles to rely on. “Other fans rely on past glory to validate their existence,” Holien says. “Vikings fans don’t have that crutch to rest upon, and that makes them stronger.” Knowing this contention could provoke controversy, the author interviewed nationally renowned sports psychologists to bolster this contention.
Among the other pieces in the book are fourteen “Insider” essays featuring famous Vikings veterans like Joe Kapp, Bill Brown, Mick Tinglehoff and Bob Lurtsema. The book also contains interviews with ex-owner Red McCombs, the team’s mascot Ragnar, and employees from inside the organization.
The other main sections are “Fanaticals,” which focuses on individual fans, and “Testimonials.” The testimonials come from outside sources speaking to the greatness of Vikings fans. There are players from other NFL teams, nationally syndicated journalists, and even the federal government’s office on noise safety all testifying how Vikings fans make the Metrodome the loudest stadium in pro sports.
While Purple People is not an officially licensed product (the NFL will not risk alienating fans from other teams by marking one team’s fans better or worse than another), Holien does say he received much help from the organization, and that a portion of all proceeds will be donated to the Viking Children’s Fund that helps youth with serious illnesses receive medical care.
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Purple People: The Crazy Culture and Customs of Minnesota Vikings Fans, the Best Fans in the NFL is a 288 page book with color and b+w photographs throughout. Published in 2006 by Puma Publishing. Please contact Ried Holien for further information (605-886-4330 or email at riedpuma@wat.midco.net)