The late Bob Fowler wrote it like he saw it

The Green Bay Packers defeated the Vikings 28-16 at Met Stadium on Nov. 27, 1966.

Jack Goodwin wrote the game story in the next afternoon's Minneapolis Star. He offered as a lead coach Norm Van Brocklin's defense of running the ball late in the first half when trailing 21-3.

Charles Johnson, the Star's columnist, called the game extremely unusual and pointed out the Vikings trailed only 21-16 with three minutes left.

Sid Hartman, writing his column in the morning Minneapolis Tribune, recalled Packers defensive end Willie Davis vowing to be "up" for this game after losing to the Vikings three weeks earlier.

This is what those of us who faithfully followed Minnesota sports had come to anticipate: that our home teams employed reasoned strategies, and when waylaid, it was because of such things as odd twists of fate or fired-up opponents.

Bob Fowler, a young sportswriter from Michigan, had joined the Tribune staff a year earlier. He wrote the Tribune's game story the next morning and took a different approach. This was his lead:

"Bring on the Falcons!

"The defeat left the Vikings solidly entrenched in the cellar of the National Football League's Western Conference with a 3-7-1 record. It also further enhanced Minnesota's chance for an early pick in the 1967 college draft."

The eyes opened wide on a neophyte working the St. Cloud Times sports desk that morning. "Read Fowler's lead," he said, tossing the Tribune to his boss. "He buried the Vikings. 'Bring on the Falcons!'"

We agreed: If Van Brocklin didn't kill him, his bosses at the Tribune would.

As it turned out, Fowler's demise would come 43 years later, and the culprit would be ALS. He was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago and died last weekend in suburban Orlando.

Fowler worked in the Twin Cities from 1965 into 1980. He spent a couple of years at the Tribune, took a short-lived job as P.R. guy for the ABA's Minnesota Muskies, became the baseball writer for the St. Paul newspapers and then covered pro sports and wrote columns for the Star.

He showed us that candor was OK. He showed it was OK to ridicule a home team when its performance dictated. He showed that doing so with a sarcastic twist was even better.

The Atlanta Falcons were in their first season in 1966. Van Brocklin's Vikings had gone so completely in the tank that an upcoming game against an inept expansion team might be their only hope.

"Bring on the Falcons!"

It was so good that Fowler both started and concluded his Monday morning game story with that phrase.

Fowler brought this edge with him from Michigan, where he had grown up reading the sports columns of Doc Greene and Pete Waldmeir in the Detroit News and Joe Falls' game stories on the Tigers in the Detroit Free Press.

Fowler would talk about the impact of all three on his approach to sportswriting. We traveled together for five years on the Twins beat in the 1970s and talked frequently of the craft, most often over beverages.

Dave Wright, sports guy around town, remembered a Fowler lead from one of those years when NHL teams numbered in the low 20s and the top 16 went to the playoffs.

The North Stars were among the teams with a game on the season's opening night. Fowler's column the next day in the Star opened with "The Playoff Race at a Glance."

He ran standings with the few teams that had recorded points on opening night, followed by a long listing of teams (many of which hadn't played) with zero points.

As Wright recalled, "Louie [Nanne] went crazy" -- which was the point, of course.

"Bring on the Falcons!"

Beautiful.