Thursday Open Thread: May 13, 2021
It’s Thorsday!
Happy Thursday, everyone!
Man, we took the boat out for a cruise on the river last night, and it was an absolutely perfect evening. Little to no wind, warm and sunny, the boat was running like it was brand new, and we had an enjoyable evening. We pulled back to the dock early since kiddo had school in the morning, which timed out perfectly, I had the boat strapped down on the trailer, and we were relaxing down by the river, building things in the sand and watched a perfect sunset. One of those nights when you really notice nature, you take in everything around you, and you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that someone is up there guiding the ship. What a night.
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Hall of Fame Head Coach and fellow Vikings Ring of Honor member Bud Grant enjoyed a deep relationship with Burns that extended before and after their time together on the Vikings sidelines. Following Burns s death Grant issued the following statement: I met Burnsie at Iowa when he picked me up from the airport when I was visiting down there, and from that point on, we started talking football and never stopped. We were on the same page a lot. When I went to Winnipeg, I d have him come up as a guest coach. Our friendship grew over the years, and we became very close friends and so did our families. When I got the job in Minnesota, I talked to him about coming here, but he had a contract with Green Bay. The first year I was at the Vikings, I coached one guy short. I was holding the job for Burnsie until he could come the next year. He was a very astute football mind. He could see things on the field immediately. He was as important to my career as anyone I ve been invol
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Don Coryell arrived with a cutting-edge blueprint in the late 1970s, but his pass-happy teams fell short in January. Dan Fouts five INTs doomed the 79 Chargers against a depleted Oilers team; the Bolts regrouped to deploy a then-unprecedented three 1,000-yard receivers (John Jefferson, Kellen Winslow, Charlie Joiner) in 1980. The Raiders then secured a Super Bowl XV berth in San Diego. Air Coryell s peak and low point occurred in January 1982. After an epic OT win in Miami, the Chargers played in the NFL s coldest game (wind chill: minus-59 degrees). The Bengals Freezer Bowl rout nixed a tantalizing Coryell-Bill Walsh Super Bowl. San Diego s run ended soon after.