Mr. and Mrs. Kraus Blog

My heart was racing on 3rd down with 19 seconds left in the game.  My beloved Vikings were a Ryan Longwell kick away from storming into the Superbowl for the first time in my lifetime.   My Vikes were going to pull it off!  So many turnovers, and they still had a team good enough to beat the number 1 seeded Saints.   Then the whistle blew– a flash of yellow.  What? Why?  12 men in the huddle.  The resulting 5-yard penalty pushed my team out of field goal range.  Then, another turnover.  My heart crashed into my stomach and bounced back into my chest.  Disbelief.  But still hope.

Overtime.  An unlucky coin flip, a killer kick return, a drive with many second looks.  An opposing team’s winning field goal as straight and true as they come.  I watched the kick I was so excited to see with 19 seconds left to go, when my team had the ball, when it would have sent the men in purple running onto the field, arms held high.  My heart sank again, and did not resurface.  Game over.  Season over.

The morning after, I woke up to a man and woman on the radio talking about how Emmett Pearson won’t be able to shave his beard for another year (he won’t shave until the Vikings win the superbowl).  Even the state’s weather was in mourning, as school kids were sent home early because of blizzard conditions.

After work I called my dad, and afterwords an old friend from college who is a big Vikes fan.  Now I’m feeling better, and I can’t help but think how remarkable a football game can be.  About how one game of football can take you through such a range of emotions.  And I realized, the loss last night won’t change that.  I’ll be right back there the next time, banging on my air conditioning vents when the Vikes score, throwing my hands up in disbelief when they don’t, and gasping for breath when a game-winning field goal is lining up.

Thanks for a great season guys.  You were a joy to watch this year.  Thanks Brett, for playing like you always wore purple.  Have a good rest, and hope to see you again.

Chad Kraus Minnesota Vikings

As I was leaving band practice Thursday night I heard a voice from across the parking lot, “Hey Kraus! Your last blog is about the Minnesota Twins! What’s the deal??” I guess I just don’t have much new to talk about these days. Life has kind of worked itself into a nice groove and I have no complaints. But I suppose I could work up a series of random thoughts for my buddy Adam (and my 3 other readers…).

The Mrs. has finished another semester, and is very happy to have a month break now. I asked her the other day, “So… now that you have a month before you have to do anything, can you handle the laundry during the day while I’m at work?” I had gotten in the habit of helping out with the laundry because she was so busy with studying for her classes. I thought maybe during this month she could just handle it. She responded, “No! If I take over laundry duties, you’ll forget to start helping again when I go back to school.” I opened my mouth to protest, but she’s probably right.

This Saturday I went to the cities with my wife, mom, step-dad and sister for a Christmas get-together with my mom’s side of the family. I hadn’t seen that wing of the family since before I graduated high school, something like 10 to 12 years ago. It was a great time seeing them again. It’s mostly my mom’s aunts and uncles and her cousins and their families. Kinda like the other family Christmases I go to each year where it’s all my aunts and uncles and my cousins, but like shifting a generation. Very cool.

Let’s talk sports! The Vikings are looking pretty good today. As I write this, they are up 35-14 on the Arizona Cardinals, with T.J. at QB. He’s thrown 4 TD passes, wow. Pat Williams went down though. It’s nice they didn’t suspend the Williams Wall, but then one of them goes down. Hmmm, hopefully he’s ok.

I’m reading an interesting book called “The Case for a Creator” by Lee Strobel. I’m 63 pages in, and so far it’s quite good. If you’re looking for something to read, pick it up. It’s written by a journalist who became convinced of Darwinism from his studies in high school and college, and became a stout atheist. One day his wife came home and informed him that she gave her life to Jesus Christ, and had decided to follow Him. His response was a sarcastic, “What has gotten into you?!” Over the next few months he would come to wonder, “What HAS gotten into her??” She started to become such a kind and wonderful person, that he just had to investigate the whole God thing again. The book goes through a number of his interviews with experts in different scientific fields. The arguments he came to accept in his studies have become obsolete and new research is supporting the conclusion that the universe was intelligently designed.

Well… that’s about it for now. Hope everyone has a great week.

Comments from old site:

Written by Chad
Posted: Monday, January 12, 2009 at 6:01 AM

Yeah no kidding, that’s the last time I name any articles after you, fella… maybe.

Written by Adam
Posted: Sunday, January 11, 2009 at 9:33 PM

I’m so glad that I could be the impetus for this wonderful installment. Also, notice how long it took me to finally read it. I must really have been waiting with baited breath.

Chad Kraus church, holidays, Minnesota Vikings