Get a grip, people.

With my Minnesota Vikings losing to the 0-10-1 Detroit Lions this past Sunday, many of my fellow Vikes fans were understandably not happy. Hey, I've been a Vikings fan for more than 40 years and thus have been so angry over tough losses that it's likely shaved minutes off my life. Thankfully as I've gotten older I've learned to rein in the yelling for the most part. 

With that being said, when I was at my absolute worst as a fan (i.e. screaming, cussing, throwing things, etc.), it never occurred to me to threaten players or coaches, to say nothing of their families. That's why I found this utterly appalling. 

That's from the Instagram page of Corri Zimmer White, who is coach Mike Zimmer's daughter. Reading this made me equally sad, angry and, as a longtime Vikings fan, downright embarrassed. Yeah, I get it. Of all the Vikings fans, only an infinitesimal percentage would behave in this manner, so I shouldn't feel as though I need to take on that burden. I guess it's the lack of perspective or basic human decency that really bothers me more than anything.

Fan bases can be saddled with bad reputations, especially if a high profile person is on the receiving end of the invective. I still recall a certain exchange on Twitter after the Vikings lost their 2013 season opener with the inept Christian Ponder as the starting quarterback. Some subhuman decided to share his displeasure with Ponder's wife.

Sam Ponder is now part the ESPN's Sunday NFL show, so she has a powerful voice in media, one which she used a number of years back to talk about her experience in Minnesota. It was so bad that, while pregnant with the couple's first child during that '13 season, she never left the house. In fact, they never made the pregnancy public for fear that the verbal harassment would be amped up to include the baby. 

I wonder if there's ever been a psychological study performed to determine what causes people to become so unhinged over their allegiances to sports teams. I know several people who could benefit from learning the results of such a study. 

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