Minnesota Sports Forum

Never got the credit he deserved because he catagorically refused to kiss Grandpa Sport's ring. But his (and Dungy's) work those first three years saved that team. Also, his refusal to run the ball in the 4th lost them some games that could have been won. Long story short, he was who we thought he was. RIP.

Denny Green was a terrific coach for his time. I know the Vikings didn't win it all during his tenure but for me it was a pretty fun time to be a Vikings game. I know he wasn't well liked by some fans and some media but like Jason said I don't think he got the credit he deserved. He was a very successful coach and like the press release said he helped pave the way for other coaches. He seemed like a pretty good guy also. It's sad to hear of his passing.

WARNING: Dull LST flashback story ahead. Proceed with caution.

Denny was crazy in many ways, but based on my one personal experience with him, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for him. It was December 1992 and the Vikings were hosting the Packers in the last game of the season. My best friend was the world's biggest Vikings fan, and was sadly dying way too young of lung cancer, and we were invited to join a couple of the Vikings' owners in their box for the game. We got there early and my friend immediately spotted his hero Bud Grant. He approached him and told him how much he admired him. Grant gave him the cold stare, pointed to the buffet table and asked "have you tried the shrimp", and walked away. Denny watched this exchange and came over to talk with us. He introduced himself as the Stanford football coach (in my recollection, Jerry Burns had not yet announced his retirement and Green was not introduced as the new coach for at least another month), and we talked for the next half hour and off and on for much of the game. Maybe he focused on us because we were the only two guys in the box that weren't 20 years older than him, but I think he didn't like how Grant had treated my chemo-bald friend and wanted to do something about it. We talked some football, but actually talked more music...he and I were both drummers, and he knew as much about R and B and jazz as he did about football.

A little crazy? Of course. But at least on that day, and many other times that he did so much good in our African American community, a good man.

Interesting story LST. Even more interesting is the fact you are/were a drummer. I recently picked up the sticks again about a year ago after a lengthy absence from the drums with the goal of becoming more proficient at jazz drumming, something I was never able to do that well in my youth. It's got me listening to the old masters like Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, etc. Just incredible artists!

Q12543 wrote:Interesting story LST. Even more interesting is the fact you are/were a drummer. I recently picked up the sticks again about a year ago after a lengthy absence from the drums with the goal of becoming more proficient at jazz drumming, something I was never able to do that well in my youth. It's got me listening to the old masters like Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, etc. Just incredible artists!

Good to hear from a fellow drummer, Q, and that's quite a list. I would certainly add Elvin Jones to it. I'm playing more guitar these days than drums. Three years ago, my guitar teacher (also originally a drummer) started talking about Karen Carpenter. I chuckled, but he said...no, really...and showed me some video of her jazz drumming. I was blown away...loosest wrists I had ever seen other than my favorite Buddy Rich. He also reminded me how pissed off John Bonham was when Billboard named her 1976 Drummer of the Year over him. She always referred to herself as a drummer who sang. This isn't the video my teacher showed me (couldn't find it), but there's still some surprising stuff here...without question the finest female drummer ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H47v7yYRfjA

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Interesting story LST. Even more interesting is the fact you are/were a drummer. I recently picked up the sticks again about a year ago after a lengthy absence from the drums with the goal of becoming more proficient at jazz drumming, something I was never able to do that well in my youth. It's got me listening to the old masters like Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, etc. Just incredible artists!

Good to hear from a fellow drummer, Q, and that's quite a list. I would certainly add Elvin Jones to it. I'm playing more guitar these days than drums. Three years ago, my guitar teacher (also originally a drummer) started talking about Karen Carpenter. I chuckled, but he said...no, really...and showed me some video of her jazz drumming. I was blown away...loosest wrists I had ever seen other than my favorite Buddy Rich. He also reminded me how pissed off John Bonham was when Billboard named her 1976 Drummer of the Year over him. She always referred to herself as a drummer who sang. This isn't the video my teacher showed me (couldn't find it), but there's still some surprising stuff here...without question the finest female drummer ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H47v7yYRfjA

That's interesting LST. A couple years ago I found it interesting how many popular musicians were really drummers first but the causal fan probably has no idea. Carpenter adds to the list. A good friend of mine who is the best guitarist I personally know (maybe not saying much) said the best show he ever saw was Phil Collins who is a drummer. A couple years ago I was watching Lenny Kravitz YouTube videos and one of the comments said Kravitz was a hack (or something like that) and then went on to say how tight the drumming on the track was. They obviously had no clue Kravitz was the one who recorded that and a majority of the whole album's instrumentation and pretty much all the percussion.

It's fun learning new stuff. This weekend I realized my computer monitor had speakers. I've had the thing for like 6 years and didn't know that.

longstrangetrip wrote:WARNING: Dull LST flashback story ahead. Proceed with caution.

Denny was crazy in many ways, but based on my one personal experience with him, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for him. It was December 1992 and the Vikings were hosting the Packers in the last game of the season. My best friend was the world's biggest Vikings fan, and was sadly dying way too young of lung cancer, and we were invited to join a couple of the Vikings' owners in their box for the game. We got there early and my friend immediately spotted his hero Bud Grant. He approached him and told him how much he admired him. Grant gave him the cold stare, pointed to the buffet table and asked "have you tried the shrimp", and walked away. Denny watched this exchange and came over to talk with us. He introduced himself as the Stanford football coach (in my recollection, Jerry Burns had not yet announced his retirement and Green was not introduced as the new coach for at least another month), and we talked for the next half hour and off and on for much of the game. Maybe he focused on us because we were the only two guys in the box that weren't 20 years older than him, but I think he didn't like how Grant had treated my chemo-bald friend and wanted to do something about it. We talked some football, but actually talked more music...he and I were both drummers, and he knew as much about R and B and jazz as he did about football.

A little crazy? Of course. But at least on that day, and many other times that he did so much good in our African American community, a good man.

I like your story Strange. I also know someone who met Dennis Green and had kind words for him.

Karen Carpenter was a drummer!??!?!?! Isn't that like a weightlifter who can bench press twice their body weight?

Tough 12 months for Minnesota Icons. Maybe Louie Anderson, Robert Vaughn, and Jessica Lange should be extra careful crossing the street.

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Interesting story LST. Even more interesting is the fact you are/were a drummer. I recently picked up the sticks again about a year ago after a lengthy absence from the drums with the goal of becoming more proficient at jazz drumming, something I was never able to do that well in my youth. It's got me listening to the old masters like Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, etc. Just incredible artists!

Good to hear from a fellow drummer, Q, and that's quite a list. I would certainly add Elvin Jones to it. I'm playing more guitar these days than drums. Three years ago, my guitar teacher (also originally a drummer) started talking about Karen Carpenter. I chuckled, but he said...no, really...and showed me some video of her jazz drumming. I was blown away...loosest wrists I had ever seen other than my favorite Buddy Rich. He also reminded me how pissed off John Bonham was when Billboard named her 1976 Drummer of the Year over him. She always referred to herself as a drummer who sang. This isn't the video my teacher showed me (couldn't find it), but there's still some surprising stuff here...without question the finest female drummer ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H47v7yYRfjA

Wow, I didn't realize she was that good either. I think some people are just flat out natural musicians and can get really good at nearly any instrument they put their mind to getting good at. Meanwhile, the rest of us awkwardly stumble along, painstakingly going through our lesson books at a snail-like pace. You can add Prince to the list of people that could play nearly any instrument with a fair amount of ease and probably was one of the greatest guitarists ever.

Q12543 wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

Q12543 wrote:Interesting story LST. Even more interesting is the fact you are/were a drummer. I recently picked up the sticks again about a year ago after a lengthy absence from the drums with the goal of becoming more proficient at jazz drumming, something I was never able to do that well in my youth. It's got me listening to the old masters like Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, etc. Just incredible artists!

Good to hear from a fellow drummer, Q, and that's quite a list. I would certainly add Elvin Jones to it. I'm playing more guitar these days than drums. Three years ago, my guitar teacher (also originally a drummer) started talking about Karen Carpenter. I chuckled, but he said...no, really...and showed me some video of her jazz drumming. I was blown away...loosest wrists I had ever seen other than my favorite Buddy Rich. He also reminded me how pissed off John Bonham was when Billboard named her 1976 Drummer of the Year over him. She always referred to herself as a drummer who sang. This isn't the video my teacher showed me (couldn't find it), but there's still some surprising stuff here...without question the finest female drummer ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H47v7yYRfjA

Wow, I didn't realize she was that good either. I think some people are just flat out natural musicians and can get really good at nearly any instrument they put their mind to getting good at. Meanwhile, the rest of us awkwardly stumble along, painstakingly going through our lesson books at a snail-like pace. You can add Prince to the list of people that could play nearly any instrument with a fair amount of ease and probably was one of the greatest guitarists ever.

We may never know a musician as versatile as Prince...just incredible.

It's interesting that Monster mentioned Collins because he was one of the few drummers who was also a lead singer (Carpenter wasn't drumming very complex stuff most of the time she was singing)...so tough to sing and drum well at the same time. That's why Collins eventually gave up drumming because he felt it was limiting his vocals.

This thread went in an odd direction, but I'm guessing Denny would have approved. After all, he did have a drum set out at Winter Park and would use it often for stress relief!