It was a football tradition, the men of American families gathering throughout neighborhoods in anticipation of the beginning of the NFL football schedule.
Grills were fired up, American flags waved. Children ran around yards, footballs were thrown around, and to the chagrin of countless American wives, beers were opened early.
The NFL was the Labor Day weekend, and enraptured boys such as my brother and I looked forward to watching the Vikings as much as we did to Christmas morning.
Then in 2001, the big heads of the NFL and national advertisers forever took it away from us.