That Awkward Moment When You Realize It Is Your Birthday

Vikings Territory

Hey! It is Vikings Territory‘s birthday! Which birthday exactly?

We’re Five!

That’s right, folks. After about a five minute strategy session via Skype, and about three dollars worth of investment, and about three minutes worth of preparation, Brett Anderson and I flipped on the switch (actually, it was just him, he doesn’t let me touch the switches) that turned the lights on here at VT half a decade ago.

It has been a wild ride, with plenty of successes and failures along the way, but we are both proud of what we have created here… and where it is headed.

We started off celebrating the rare times when literally dozens of people were on the site at once. And now, today, we are privileged enough to celebrate the days when tens of thousands of people have graced us with their presence in a single day.

There have been a lot of things that we’ve accomplished, ones we could go on for hours about with pride and excitement, but this post was created with something more important in mind than patting ourselves on the back.

We want to take time to thank all of the many people that have given us a helping hand along the way. If not for them (and I’m sure I’m missing some), there is no way we’d have kept this thing afloat for five full years.

The Gang!

Of course, our current team of contributors, they all know how much we appreciate them. Carl Knowles and Brent LaBathe, two writers that have been with us since nearly the start, always willing to help us out and do their part to ensure VT is on point.

Our newer contributors have also been as amazing to work with as they are talented. Austin Belisle is someone we should probably just hand over the keys to, because anything we can do he can do better. Adam Patrick’s level sense of humor and knack for knowing the most up-to-the-second news are always helpful, in addition to his lovely wife gracing us all with her weekly yummy yums. And Sam Neumann who is like, you know, an actual professional writer that makes me look bad and has like 672 other talents that help us out.

Former Vikings Territory writers Lindsey Young (now with the Vikings media team) and Arif Hasan (now with 1500 ESPNCold Omaha, and probably like nine other places) were critical in making our popularity grow through their amazing ability to write about this team in such engaging and meaningful ways.

There are members of the Vikings organization, such as Mike Wobschall and Jon Ekstrom, that have done so much for us over the years and they probably don’t realize how much it means for us to not only be tolerated, but to be the beneficiaries of their kindness. There is absolutely no reason this team should allow us to cover the Draft at Winter Park or put boots on the field in Mankato… but they do.

Special contributors like Andy Carlson and Matt Engstrom have helped us take things to another level over the years. All of the friends we’ve made through other Vikings sites, often making guest appearances here at VT, are all so much appreciated… the online community of Vikings fans is like no other in professional sports, in my assessment.

The participation of Chad Greenway and Mike Zimmer in our #MoreThanWords campaigns have made certain that Vikings fans remain atop the NFL when it comes to boasting a passionate, genuine, and caring fan base.

But Our Heart Is Yours!

More than anything else, however, we want to thank you. The readers here at Vikings Territory, from the old original gang (you all know who you are) to the newest people to stumble upon us, we are all so greatly humbled by your decision to make us a part of your fandom.

We appreciate you. Every single one.

It is a privilege we don’t take lightly. We work as a group to kick out as much high-quality and consistent content as our time, resources, and abilities allow us. If there is a limit to how much better we can get, we haven’t found it yet, and we’re constantly looking for more ways to do a better job of delivering what you crave… Vikings news, opinions, analysis and rumors.

So, that’s it. It has been a wild five years… and if you’ll allow it, we’ll get busy prepping for the next five. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience when it comes to our growing pains… keep in mind, we’re all just a bunch of five year olds.

THANK YOU!

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