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100 Things Vikings Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die
100 Things Vikings Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the ultimate resources guide for true fans of the Minnesota Vikings. Whether you're a die-hard booster from the days of Fran Tarkenton or a new supporter of Teddy Bridgewater, these are the 100 things all fans need to know and do in their lifetime. It contains every essential piece of Minnesota knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them all from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist as you progress on your way to fan superstardom.
- GenresNonfiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 27, 2025
Have you ever wondered 100 things about the Minnesota Vikings' history? If you haven't, I dont blame you, but if you're a Vikings fan, there's a chance it has crossed your mind once. I read the book 100 Things Vikings Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die by Mark Craig. The author wrote to book to inform many Vikings fans across the world about their history. The author's entire goal in the book was to inform people who read the book about the Minnesota Vikings and the most important or cool events in their franchise's history. This book is very cool and fun to read, but it gets long and repetitive.
The book obviously had many different topics and ideas, and is not one of the books where there is a genuine problem to solve. It is mainly just a long list of things informing you about stuff you may not know if you are a Minnesota sports fan. The main idea is just to inform you about the entire franchise, from the start to 2016, when it was published. It tells you about the culture and what it is like being a Vikings fan. Some great things about this book are that it is a must-have for new fans who want to learn more about their favorite team's past. It is also great because it has so many topics to talk about, and some people can get bored, while if you are a true fan, you will stay engaged the entire time. There are also some lousy parts about this book, in that some of the most important people or most important events dont have enough detail or information. An example of this is when they are talking about Jared Allen, a Hall of Fame player for the Vikings; they only have a page and a half describing him. They mainly only talked about his actions on the field and how mean he was. “People waited for Allen to get in trouble off the field. He never did” (Craig, 2016, p.154). Another lousy thing the book had was that it had a lack of pictures. It could have had much better detail if it included more pictures. Like pictures of games, players, or trophies. And one more lousy thing that it has is that it is not up to date. It was published in 2016, so it has a lot of information from the past, but it was almost 10 years ago, and now players are on the team breaking more records, so it is definitely due for an update.
This book is mainly made for a select number of people in the world. Obviously, if you are a Vikings fan, I would definitely recommend this book to you; however, if you are a huge NFL fan, it wouldn't be a bad book for you either. But if you are a Packers, Bears, or Lions fan, this is not a good book for you because they are all rivals of the Vikings. I would also recommend this book to new Vikings fans; that is the biggest recommendation I'd have for people to read it, even though it's not fun being a fan. As the book says, “For the second time in five years, Bud Grant's Vikings were dominated in the Super Bowl” (Craig, 2016, p.19). It is great for helping new fans learn all about their favorite team.
The book obviously had many different topics and ideas, and is not one of the books where there is a genuine problem to solve. It is mainly just a long list of things informing you about stuff you may not know if you are a Minnesota sports fan. The main idea is just to inform you about the entire franchise, from the start to 2016, when it was published. It tells you about the culture and what it is like being a Vikings fan. Some great things about this book are that it is a must-have for new fans who want to learn more about their favorite team's past. It is also great because it has so many topics to talk about, and some people can get bored, while if you are a true fan, you will stay engaged the entire time. There are also some lousy parts about this book, in that some of the most important people or most important events dont have enough detail or information. An example of this is when they are talking about Jared Allen, a Hall of Fame player for the Vikings; they only have a page and a half describing him. They mainly only talked about his actions on the field and how mean he was. “People waited for Allen to get in trouble off the field. He never did” (Craig, 2016, p.154). Another lousy thing the book had was that it had a lack of pictures. It could have had much better detail if it included more pictures. Like pictures of games, players, or trophies. And one more lousy thing that it has is that it is not up to date. It was published in 2016, so it has a lot of information from the past, but it was almost 10 years ago, and now players are on the team breaking more records, so it is definitely due for an update.
This book is mainly made for a select number of people in the world. Obviously, if you are a Vikings fan, I would definitely recommend this book to you; however, if you are a huge NFL fan, it wouldn't be a bad book for you either. But if you are a Packers, Bears, or Lions fan, this is not a good book for you because they are all rivals of the Vikings. I would also recommend this book to new Vikings fans; that is the biggest recommendation I'd have for people to read it, even though it's not fun being a fan. As the book says, “For the second time in five years, Bud Grant's Vikings were dominated in the Super Bowl” (Craig, 2016, p.19). It is great for helping new fans learn all about their favorite team.
February 27, 2025
For most novels, both favorable and unfavorable reviews can be written, depending on the reviewer's criteria. I recently read the nonfiction book 100 Things Vikings Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die by Mark Craig, which contains both "great" and "lousy" parts. There are very few "greats" or good parts of this book and many "lousy" or bad parts. Nonfiction writing is based on facts, real events, and real people, such as memoirs, autobiographies, biographies, or histories.
One of the most important aspects of this book is that it contains a lot of knowledge and information about the Minnesota Vikings. The book is broken into little stories so you can skip and read what you want. My personal favorite story in the book was Brett Favre against the Packers. Brett threw his best season that year, beating his former team, the Packers, twice. Aaron Rodgers fought his hardest against the Vikings but was sacked almost eight times in both games. “I hate to lose to whoever is at quarterback for them”(McDaniel, 2016. Pg. 78).
I didn’t find anything lousy since I’m a Vikings fan, but there are some parts of the book that I don’t like. A major drawback of the book is that there is so much information that it’s hard to memorize all of it. The worst and saddest part of the book is Korey Stringer’s death from heat stroke in 2001. “On a hot, humid day with a 110-degree heat index, Stringer, a six-year veteran coming off his first Pro Bowl season, pushed until his body temperature hit 108.8 degrees and couldn’t be cooled. He was taken by ambulance to Immanuel St. Joseph’s hospital in Mankato, where he died at 1:50 AM the next day”(McDaniel, 2016. P. 67).
I recommend this book to any Vikings fan ages ten or up. This book is great for history and the amazing players who played for the Vikings. The Vikings have had many legendary players that are in the Hall of Fame, such as Fran Tarkenton, Randy Moss, and Chris Doleman. One of the biggest reasons we are such a legendary franchise is that, in the 1987 season, the San Francisco 49ers were 13-2 and expected to win the Super Bowl with Montana and Jerry Rice but ran into Chris Doleman, who sacked Montana twice and ate the 49ers alive.
One of the most important aspects of this book is that it contains a lot of knowledge and information about the Minnesota Vikings. The book is broken into little stories so you can skip and read what you want. My personal favorite story in the book was Brett Favre against the Packers. Brett threw his best season that year, beating his former team, the Packers, twice. Aaron Rodgers fought his hardest against the Vikings but was sacked almost eight times in both games. “I hate to lose to whoever is at quarterback for them”(McDaniel, 2016. Pg. 78).
I didn’t find anything lousy since I’m a Vikings fan, but there are some parts of the book that I don’t like. A major drawback of the book is that there is so much information that it’s hard to memorize all of it. The worst and saddest part of the book is Korey Stringer’s death from heat stroke in 2001. “On a hot, humid day with a 110-degree heat index, Stringer, a six-year veteran coming off his first Pro Bowl season, pushed until his body temperature hit 108.8 degrees and couldn’t be cooled. He was taken by ambulance to Immanuel St. Joseph’s hospital in Mankato, where he died at 1:50 AM the next day”(McDaniel, 2016. P. 67).
I recommend this book to any Vikings fan ages ten or up. This book is great for history and the amazing players who played for the Vikings. The Vikings have had many legendary players that are in the Hall of Fame, such as Fran Tarkenton, Randy Moss, and Chris Doleman. One of the biggest reasons we are such a legendary franchise is that, in the 1987 season, the San Francisco 49ers were 13-2 and expected to win the Super Bowl with Montana and Jerry Rice but ran into Chris Doleman, who sacked Montana twice and ate the 49ers alive.
February 3, 2020
I love this book. Its got all you need to know as a Minnesota Vikings fan. If you are a Vikings fan, you need to read this.
February 26, 2017
Since 1961, the Vikings have (for better or worse) been a part of the Minnesota sports landscape. In this book, author Mark Craig compiles 100 facts, stories, and profiles of the moments that shaped the franchise.
"100 Things" would be a great purchase for two distinct readers:
1. The young fan eager to learn the history of the Vikings
2. The older fan who has "seen it all" but likes to reminisce and hear all the old stories again.
Another positive for "100 Things" is that it doesn't just focus on the "Purple People Eaters" era of the franchise, instead including stories of the entire 50+ year run.
Thus, "100 Things" could be a great addition to the literary collections of Vikings fans. It may not be filled with new or "breaking" information, but it does serve as a nice compendium, of sorts, for the history of the franchise organized in a very easy-to-digest format.
"100 Things" would be a great purchase for two distinct readers:
1. The young fan eager to learn the history of the Vikings
2. The older fan who has "seen it all" but likes to reminisce and hear all the old stories again.
Another positive for "100 Things" is that it doesn't just focus on the "Purple People Eaters" era of the franchise, instead including stories of the entire 50+ year run.
Thus, "100 Things" could be a great addition to the literary collections of Vikings fans. It may not be filled with new or "breaking" information, but it does serve as a nice compendium, of sorts, for the history of the franchise organized in a very easy-to-digest format.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews