Skol, Vikings

Let's win this game.

Our Minnesota Vikings open the season here in Chicago on “Monday Night Football” tonight. And I was this close — this close — to being in the building.

Third row, right behind the Vikings’ bench.

Close enough to smell the Soldier Field grass. Close enough to hear coach Kevin O’Connell call plays. Close enough to have gotten caught by television cameras losing my God-given mind — shirt off, face painted, horned helmet proudly on.

That’s how good the seats were.

For a pair, I would have paid just $1,800 — and I’d have only regretted my decision if we lost.

If you’re wondering, no, I can’t afford tickets at that price.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have the money. I did, and I do.

On the same day that I considered purchasing those seats, I had sold a small stake in Coinbase. The sale marked my first-ever 1,000 percent gain in the stock market.

I almost got crazy.

I had watched that investment sit, climb, dip and eventually take off over the course of a couple of years. When I finally sold and pulled in more than a $2,500 profit, it delivered the kind of financial high that shifts your thinking.

“Can I afford this?” became, “Why not reward myself?”

“What will this set me back?” turned into, “Isn’t this what I’ve worked hard for?”

I’ve lived in Chicago for eight years now and have never been to a Bears game. We live a short 20-minute drive from the stadium.

But my first five years here were fraught with debt. With lint-filled pockets and meager accounts, I couldn’t even think about it. Over the past three years, though, I’ve become the best steward of my money I’ve ever been. And now I have options. I can make different decisions.

There might not be a better time.

The game is down the street. It’s the season opener. Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is making his debut after missing last season due to injury. Star wide receiver Justin Jefferson is healthy, and we just reunited with his old sidekick, Adam Thielen.

And there might not be a better weather day for Vikings-Bears in Chicago than the first day of the second week of September. No negative temps. No rain, snow or wind chill. Just an ideal 70-degree late-summer night. Perfect for losing our voices cheering for the visiting team.

Our offense should be explosive. Our defense has reloaded.

I have us going to the Super Bowl.

If I was willing to throw down two grand for the first game of the season, imagine what I’m going to spend next February to get to San Francisco.

But it’s wild how fast your mindset can shift. That Coinbase sale wasn’t just a win. It was validation. Proof that maybe I’m starting to understand this money game. That maybe I could actually excel at it.

I’m learning more every day how to generate income more efficiently. How to make my money work for me instead of just burn. And what I’ve found has forever changed my relationship to money.

And you know what’s funny?

I’m playing a game not too dissimilar from fantasy football. The core principles are eerily similar.

Pick an asset (company stock vs. players), do some research (earnings reports vs. player stats) and pray they don’t tank (market crash vs. a torn ACL).

Only with the market, the payout is so much sweeter than bragging rights.

But I won’t be in the building tonight. Instead, I boarded a plane to Seattle on Sunday morning.

For much less money, I’m spending a few days in the Pacific Northwest. Today, I’m taking a train to Vancouver, a place I’ve never been, but always heard good things.

I’ll share more from my trip soon.

But tonight, I’ll be watching from a bar in Vancouver. A new city. A new experience. The kind I wouldn’t have pursued a few years ago.

This time, I made a different choice.

Not because the seats weren’t tempting. Not because I don’t believe my Vikings will get it done tonight. But because I’m learning what it means to think long-term.

To say no, not out of fear or scarcity, but out of clarity.

To build wealth instead of burning it.

To lean into possibility. The kind that says I don’t need to be in the building tonight to be all in.

And that missing one game in September might just be the reason I’m in San Francisco in February.

For now, skol, Vikings.

Let’s win this game.