I'm Sad

I became a fan of the Minnesota Vikings somewhere around 1986. They were an up-and-coming team that sparked my interest, and I was a guy in search of a team to root for. Many times since then have I wished that I'd just picked the home team instead, and cheered the 49ers on as they won Super Bowl after Super Bowl.

But no, the Vikings are my guys. Since I became a fan, they've gone to the NFC Championship game five times. In case you're not a football fan, and have no idea what I'm talking about, the NFC Championship is the game that decides one of the teams that will play in the Super Bowl. The other team is decided in the AFC Championship game.

In 1987, they lost to the Washington Redskins 17-10, Darrin Nelson was unable to corral Wade Wilson's fourth-down pass to him in the end zone. A catch would have tied it up and sent it to overtime. He didn't catch it.

In 1998, they lost to the Atlanta Falcons in overtime, 30-27. Gary Anderson was their kicker. He'd hit every single kick he'd attempted the entire season, both field goals and extra points, but at the end of regulation time, when he lined up to kick a field goal that would have sealed the game away, he missed. It was his first and last miss of the year. He never got another chance to shank it.

In 2000, the New York Giants beat the living snot out of the Vikings 41-0. Then the Giants went to the Super Bowl and got the snot kicked out of them. I don't know if I ever felt better about a Super Bowl result, unless it was two Super Bowls before when the Broncos kicked the snot out of the Falcons that beat us in 1998.

In 2009, the New Orleans Saints beat us 31-28 in overtime. Once again, we had the opportunity to kick a winning field goal as time was running out. Instead, one of our offensive linemen committed a false start, moving us back five yards, and likely out of range for our kicker. Brett Favre, who was our quarterback that year, did what Brett Favre did best. He scrambled around, desperately trying to get those five yards back, and threw a terribly ill-advised pass which was intercepted, keeping us from even having a chance to miss that possibly game-winning field goal.

Then there was today. The Vikings made it back into the NFC Championship by crushing their competition throughout the year with a ferociously punishing defense. The defense was ranked number one out of all the teams in the NFL. They saved their worst game for last. They looked absolutely lost against the Philadelphia Eagles today. The Eagles are playing with their backup quarterback because their starter had a season-ending knee injury a month ago. But today it looked more like the quarterback was the starter and our number one defense was the backup. I frankly couldn't believe how bad we were.

Had we won the game, we would have been the first team ever to have a home game for the Super Bowl, because the Super Bowl is taking place in Minnesota this year. Kiss that shit goodbye.

Instead, it's 31 years and counting. Will I ever see my team in a Super Bowl. Maybe I need to do like my friend Mitch did, and switch alliances. The Patriots win a lot of Super Bowls don't they? (oh, I probably just jinxed them just by letting my cursed fingers type their name).