The Minnesota Vikings may want to hang on to that 'Skol' chant for a bit. It seems to be working. But what does it mean and where did it come from? According to the Vikings Vice President of Content and Production, Bryan Harper, the asked the Icelandic National Football team - also the Vikings - for permission as we needed an exciting war cry to ring in the new US Bank stadium.

At every game, someone begins with two beats of a gigantic drum. The crowd silences and raise their hands for one above-the-head clap and a chant of 'Skol!' The process is repeated a little quicker than the last until 66,000 people have sufficiently flustered the visiting teams. The incredibly loud ordeal is followed by a blast of the massive Viking horn in the upper echelon of the stadium.

A few years ago, New Orleans head coach Sean Peyton apparently wasn't a fan of it as he mocked the Vikings home crowd with his own Skol chant after New Orleans took the lead with 25 seconds to go. He said a few days later that he was just having some "playoff fun." The purple and gold fans weren't buying it. We remember all-too-well the Bountygate of 2009. Karma's a bitch, ain't it?

I don't need to remind anyone on this planet how that game ended but the Vikings won with no time remaining in what is now known as the "Minneapolis Miracle."

As far as the actual meaning of the word, it dates back over 1,000 years - which is what seems like since our last Super Bowl appearance. Spelled with an "a" instead of an "o" in the Swedish form, 'Skal' means bowl, which was usually filled with beer. We're just going to take that as a good sign.

Of course, there are much darker Icelandic interpretations in which 'Skol' derives from the root word 'skull' from which the victors of battle drank from.

Even though the term 'Skol!' has been cheered on since the only beer at the home games was a semi-cold Hamm's or Grain Belt for .25 cents, it seems like 'Skol' finally has a rhythm and new life with the fans and players.

The Minnesota Vikings are not having the year they'd hoped for but a victory over the Packers Sunday was a little consolation...right?

Skol!

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