Crowds down, but fans are optimistic

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

MANKATO -- Dennis Green is confident. The players are confident.

Even the guy with the season riding on his large shoulders -- Daunte Culpepper -- is confident.

So where is all that Purple Pride?

Since the start of Vikings training camp Monday, the number of fans at Minnesota State-Mankato has been down from the past two years. Thursday, the number of fans attending the morning practice was estimated at about 1,500 -- less than half of a typical practice last preseason.

Attendance at the Thursday afternoon practice was even worse -- about 700.

"There are fewer people here," Nissa Stolp of North Mankato said. "Even Mankato is less busy. It's a lot less busy than in the past few years. I think it's just the difference in the seasons."

Last preseason, crowds packed the stands and fans lined up sometimes five or six deep at the fences surrounding the practice facility. The autograph gantlet leading to Otto Arena was virtually a mob scene.

But the Super Bowl expectations of the Vikings and their fans were dashed by a 10-6 season and a rout in the playoffs by the St. Louis Rams. Mankato has taken on a more subdued atmosphere.

There were seats available in the main bleachers on the east side of the practice fields even during the morning practice. There were plenty of good vantage points along the fence.

Several smaller stands surrounding the fields were nearly empty in the morning. Traffic flowed relatively smoothly along Stadium Road between Otto Arena and the practice fields despite the ongoing construction at the Taylor Center.

But the fans who did attend were unfazed. Most were too preoccupied to notice.

"I think there's a good crowd here," Charles Rick said. "To me, it's fun to watch and I don't care how many people are out here."

The Gaylord resident took the day off and brought along his 14-year-old son, Abe, to the morning practice. Both acknowledged there are questions to be answered about the Vikings, but are optimistic.

"I think they're actually going to do quite well," Abe Rick said. "I think Daunte will come through and they'll have a great season."

The Ricks' optimism brought them to Mankato to sit in the stands on a warm and humid morning, but others were less interested. Stolp admitted she wouldn't have come out to the morning practice if not for babysitting 8-year-old Jonny Paulsen of Mankato.

Stolp, along with Paulsen and several of his friends, was making her fourth appearance this week. While Paulsen and his friends stood at the autograph gantlet, Stolp sat against a chain-link fence under a bright sun and read a book.

"He loves coming here with his friends, they are huge Vikings fans and this is the prime thing of the summer for them," Stolp said. "But if it wasn't for them, I'd probably be working somewhere else."

Still, there were diehard Vikings fans in attendance. Long-time fans Sheila Daughtrey of Paris, Texas, and Randy Wilkie of Thunder Bay, Ontario, attended the morning session.

"We've traveled the last two summers together and we've made a point of taking in the training camps," Wilkie said. "That's largely for me to get ideas, but Sheila's a tremendous football fan, so this is part of what we do together."

Wilkie is the defensive coordinator for Sir Winston Churchill High School in Thunder Bay, and Daughtrey is a coach as well -- she's entering her 22nd year as the varsity girls basketball coach at North Lamar High School in Paris.

"We both enjoy doing this," Daughtrey said. "I don't just come because he's a football coach. I really enjoy watching the Vikings and being here. I'm athletically-oriented and team sports are something I'd rather watch than do just about anything else."

The couple is on their way to Texas from Thunder Bay for the rest of their annual summer vacation. They plan to attend the Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Last year, they visited the New Orleans Saints training camp in La Crosse, Wis. -- the Saints' last preseason in Wisconsin before relocating to Thibodeaux, La.

Having attended the training camps of other NFL teams gives the couple some perspective. Neither Wilkie nor Daughtrey believe the Vikings training camp attendance shows a lack of support by the teams' fans.

"We feel that this is a great turnout," Daughtrey said. "We're impressed with the enthusiasm of the fans that are here. They just seem to be behind the Vikings all the way."