Cold? What cold?Leave it to Bud Grant, coach of the Minnesota Vikings during their glory years in the late 1960's and early '70's, to provide the most hilarious moment of the first weekend of the playoffs (Jan. 9-10). Famous for not allowing a heater on the home team's sideline during cold weather games at old Metropolitan Stadium back in his day, Grant, now 88 years old and an honorary captain for the Vikings' game against the Seattle Seahawks, walked onto the field for the coin toss wearing a short sleeve shirt (photo on right). Oh, did I mention the gametime temperature was -6 degrees? A couple of days before the game a co-worker had asked me if Grant was still alive. And after seeing him on the field, I thought to myself that he might not be alive much longer after pulling a stunt like that. While Grant no doubt wasn't at all bothered by the frigid conditions - it was the 3rd coldest game in NFL history - no doubt all of the players were, even with all the hand warmers and heated benches and cold gear available nowadays. The cold stopped the Seahawks' offense cold; but it didn't matter - they were playing the Vikings.
Throughout their history the Vikings have made an art form of the gut-wrenching playoff defeat; and they added another beauty to their collection, missing a chip-shot, 27-yard FG attempt with 22 seconds remaining in the game to allow the Seahawks to escape Minneapolis with a 10-9 victory.
