On to London...
Under first-year general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and first-year head coach Kevin O’Connell, the Vikings do extensive research before making all sorts of decisions. And that was the case before the team decided when it would leave for next Sunday’s game in London against New Orleans.
When the Vikings played in London in 2013, they left Monday night and arrived Tuesday morning. When they played there in 2017, they left Wednesday night and arrived Thursday morning. For the game against the Saints, they will depart Thursday night and arrive Friday morning.
“I do rely heavily on the sports performance side of things,’’ O’Connell said. “I have not made the trip to London, so this will be my first. I will say that we spent a lot of time talking about how we’re going to handle it, (including) consulting with the players of which have made two or three of those kind of trips. So we do feel good about our plan.”
While the Vikings left at different times for their previous two Sunday games in London, they won both. They defeated Pittsburgh 34-27 in 2013 under head coach Leslie Frazier and Cleveland 33-16 in 2017 under Mike Zimmer.
The Vikings were the home team in 2013, the road team in 2017, and again will be the road team against the Saints. The Saints will fly to London after their game Sunday at Carolina and arrive Monday morning.
“It’s a heck of a travel no matter how you do it, and I think there are a lot of philosophies to it,’’ O’Connell said.
The Vikings will fly home immediately after the game. Unlike after their two previous games in London, they will not have a bye the following week. They will return to face Chicago at home on Oct. 9.
O’Connell said the Vikings will plunge quickly into preparation for the game against New Orleans after they face Detroit on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings will practice at the TCO Performance Center on Wednesday and Thursday and in London on Friday. O’Connell said they will “condense some meeting times a little bit” during the week.
Equipment manager Dennis Ryan said he has been working diligently on getting ready for the trip since it was officially announced May 4 that the Vikings would play in London. He said the team long has been assembling a list of items for a manifest that must be turned into customs in the United Kingdom.
“It’s quite a lengthy document, and right away we started going through it,’’ said Ryan, saying the Vikings must include the value of everything they bring and in what country items were made.
Ryan said the Vikings will bring about 20,000 pounds of equipment, a similar amount to their last two trips to London and more than the roughly 17,000 pounds taken for a typical regular-season game. The difference in going overseas is the Vikings need equipment for practices, and the traveling party is larger.
Ryan, who has been with Minnesota since 1975, has accompanied the team on all of its international trips. Prior to their first regular-season game abroad in 2013, the Vikings played preseason games in London in 1983, in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1988, in Berlin in 1993 and in Tokyo in 1994.
For the London game in 1983, Ryan said the traveling party was much smaller, and the Vikings only took about 7,500 pounds of equipment.
The Vikings will face the Saints at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the fourth different stadium used in four trips to London. They played at the old Wembley Stadium in 1983, the new Wembley Stadium in 2013 and at Twickenham Stadium in 2017.
Ryan hasn’t yet been to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but has “heard it’s impressive as far as an NFL facility” and that it has a big locker room. The surface is Turf Master, which will make it the first time Minnesota has played on artificial turf in Europe.
https://www.twincities.com/2022/09/23/vikings-wont-be-in-london-very-long-for-game-against-saints/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Gonna have to set my alarm clock for this one.
The whole London game thing irritates the hell out of me. Both teams that play in these games deserve a bye the week after.
It’s ridiculous that the Vikings have to fly home, adjust to a different time, and then in the Vikings case, play a divisional game against a team that didn’t have to travel.
@"Riphawkins" said: The whole London game thing irritates the hell out of me. Both teams that play in these games deserve a bye the week after.It’s ridiculous that the Vikings have to fly home, adjust to a different time, and then in the Vikings case, play a divisional game against a team that didn’t have to travel.
they actually requested a later bye…
Msp to London is an 8hr flight.
NYC to LAX is 6hrs.
So its not a ton different.
Bloody Mary/Mimosa game. I'm ready.
@"StickyBun" said: Bloody Mary/Mimosa game. I'm ready.
Damn....forgot about how early those games are. That's a 7:30 kickoff in Denver. Might be the only game where the Viking bar isn't filled to the gills an hour before kickoff. Might be just as fun to stay home and do a sort of Viking/Bloody breakfast with the kids. I wonder if you can make Lutefisk for breakfast.
5:30 am kickoff Alaska time
@"Akvike" said: 5:30 am kickoff Alaska timeMight as well just stay up Saturday night
@"1VikesFan" said:And just drink until the game comes on. Maybe a good Canadian Whiskey (is there such a thing?).@"Akvike" said: 5:30 am kickoff Alaska time Might as well just stay up Saturday night
I guess I'm one of the few that enjoy these morning London games, but......if the Vikings lose it really sucks watching the rest of the NFL day games. lol. So hey Vikings, don't lose so ol' Sticky can enjoy the rest of his NFL Sunday.
@"Kentis" said:@"Riphawkins" said: The whole London game thing irritates the hell out of me. Both teams that play in these games deserve a bye the week after.It’s ridiculous that the Vikings have to fly home, adjust to a different time, and then in the Vikings case, play a divisional game against a team that didn’t have to travel.
they actually requested a later bye…
Could they've requested a later London game as well so they could still have a decent bye following the long ass flight?
@"AGRforever" said: Msp to London is an 8hr flight.NYC to LAX is 6hrs.
So its not a ton different.
How often are NE teams asked to play in SoCal or AZ and then fly back home for a home game, or vice versa? IIRC some of those situations in the recent past the teams have opted to stay on that coast and will use a college facility or other for that weeks practice to avoid those long flights if they end up having conservative games away from home, or they have treated them like a London game where they have flown out early.
Its not unprecedented travel, but it seems if they are going to do it they could come up with a plan so that the participants are put at a competitive disadvantage the following week. Make it 2 games per week in London and set the schedule so that the following week the teams that played in London will then face each other back home so all teams have had the short week of prep?
@"StickyBun" said: I guess I'm one of the few that enjoy these morning London games, but......if the Vikings lose it really sucks watching the rest of the NFL day games. lol. So hey Vikings, don't lose so ol' Sticky can enjoy the rest of his NFL Sunday.
Same....earlier the better. 7:30 kickoff here in Denver. Super excited about watching the Vikes at the crack of dawn and then having the entire day open. Might go check out the Aspens.
In Arizona, the game starts at 6:30 am. I'm going to have to set my alarm clock for this one...First breakfast game I ever watch...eggs and bacon instead of steak and beer...or not.
Coffee and Bailiey's game for me (a shot of cinnamon whiskey maybe needed too). :) I'm not sure what to expect from the Saints other than a very tough D and a good running game. Hopefully we're an improving team and play strong.
@"ArizonaViking" said: In Arizona, the game starts at 6:30 am. I'm going to have to set my alarm clock for this one...First breakfast game I ever watch...eggs and bacon instead of steak and beer...or not.
thinking I am going to DVR the game and start it a little later in the morning so I wont be judged.... quite as harshly. bourbon and brunch sounds much less fucked up than boubon and breakfast.
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"ArizonaViking" said: In Arizona, the game starts at 6:30 am. I'm going to have to set my alarm clock for this one...First breakfast game I ever watch...eggs and bacon instead of steak and beer...or not.
thinking I am going to DVR the game and start it a little later in the morning so I wont be judged.... quite as harshly. bourbon and brunch sounds much less fucked up than boubon and breakfast.
It's only considered bad if you go to the meetings... :)
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"ArizonaViking" said: In Arizona, the game starts at 6:30 am. I'm going to have to set my alarm clock for this one...First breakfast game I ever watch...eggs and bacon instead of steak and beer...or not.
thinking I am going to DVR the game and start it a little later in the morning so I wont be judged.... quite as harshly. bourbon and brunch sounds much less fucked up than boubon and breakfast.
I'll be having that first Bloody at 10:00 am Eastern.....but taking it very slow. Long day of football, don't want to be napping before I even see Scott Hansen!
:p
Ugh, realized last night the game is on the NFLN, which isn't carried by DTV stream.... and the bars aren't open yet so....WTF :#
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