A State of Sorrow

At the time I've started writing this blog, it is the morning after the Minnesota Vikings overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints to once again be denied a chance at the Superbowl. Unfortunately, Minnesotans are used to these kinds of disappointments. In both the realms of college and professional sports, Minnesota sports teams usually suck. Then they will have a year that gets your hopes up only to eventually crush your soul in dramatic fashion. Not since the 1991 World Series have most Minnesotans had a championship team. The reason I say most is because certain teams with smaller fan bases have had periods of success. I'm a Gopher Hockey fan, and although they are painful to watch this year, we were able to enjoy a couple of national championships in 2002 and 2003.



Like most lists, I'm pretending to be the highest authority on a subject while everyone else in the world disagrees with me. I'm 28 years old, so this list consists of relatively recent events. Recent debacles tend to hurt more, as we have not had time for the wounds to heal. And if I wasn't alive when the pain was inflicted, it really didn't bother me. Also, football is by far my favorite sport, so the epic losses hurt that much more.

I tried to include a video link with each event, but most major sports don't allow you to use their footage, so they aren't the best.

Here they are. Try to make it through the list without crying. I dare you.

10. Gopher Football 2006: The Gophers head to the Insight Bowl in a matchup against Texas Tech. The Gophers lead by a whopping 31 points in the second half, but somehow that isn't enough to hold off the Red Raiders. This game cost Glen Mason his job and rightfully so.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUD-cyKn4w4

9. Vikings Football 2000: Purple Pride is once again alive after the 1998 heartbreaker, but it didn't last long. The Giants destroy the Vikings 41-0. No link with this event anywhere. Apparently the entire world is trying to forget this game.

8. Gopher Football 2007: This whole season could be considered a "worst moment", but the defining moment was the Gopher's loss to division-1AA North Dakota State. For those that don't follow college football, BCS conference teams don't lose to 1AA teams, it just doesn't happen...unless you're the Gophers.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2qlat3O6mk

7. North Stars Hockey 1993: I was going to leave this off of the list since it isn't an actual moment during competition, but how can I not include the slap in the face that was the North Stars moving to Dallas. Really? Fucking Dallas? You move an NHL team out of Minnesota to Texas? Do they even know what hockey is? If I ever make a list of most hated people in Minnesota sports history, Norm will be on that list.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNtx8p2vlXI

6. Vikings Football 2003: The Vikings are poised to win the NFC North and make the playoffs. Even better, if the beat the 3-12 Cardinals, the Green Bay Packers are watching the playoffs from their couches. The Vikings underwhelmed fans by letting the Cardinals stick around, but everything was well in hand as Arizona needed a hail mary in the final seconds to pull it out. Since this game is #6 on this list, I'm sure you can guess what happened.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcA-NEhWVfI

5. Timberwolves Basketball 2004: The Timberwolves end their stretch of 1st round playoff eliminations as they enter the 2004 playoffs as the #1 seed. After beating the Kings in a dramatic 7 game series, all they have to do is get past the evil empire (LA Lakers) to reach the NBA finals. There weren't any good links of this game, but this one should get the point across.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP5TRRoBhFQ

4. Twins Baseball 2008: The Twins battle to force a 163rd game with the hated Chicago White Sox for the division title and playoff berth. Blackburn pitches an absolute gem, but it isn't enough.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Mz9v8OLVQ

3. Vikings Football 2009: Maybe #3 is high, but the wound is still fresh, so here it is. The Vikings were not the favorite going into this game, but could easily have won had they not fumbled the ball 6 times, had 12 men in the huddle while in field goal range for the win, or had their hall of fame QB simply ran for an easy 15 yards for the probable field goal instead of throwing a pick. No link...probably too soon. You're getting off easy by not having to re-live this one.

2. Vikings Football 1998: I'm guessing this would be #1 for most people, but its #2 on mine. The Vikings have a dream season in 1998. They go 15-1, crush the Cardinals in the NFC Divisional game, and Gary Anderson was perfect on the season...WAS perfect.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvLmG5Ls-kw

1. Gopher Football 2005: A rivalry game against Wisconsin where the Gophers simply had to NOT have their punt blocked for a TD and they win. Guess what happened. Since college sports are not as popular in MN, a lot of people will disagree with this being #1. But hey, its my list and this was the worst I have ever felt as a MN sports fan. The Gopher/Badger rivalry is intense even though it hasn't been much of a rivalry in football for the last decade. This cemented that fact.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfIA7lhsSKs&feature=PlayList&p=1A4DE4D1678F7C5E&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2