The Agony and the Agony (the 2010 Vikings)

Gutted, absolutely gutted. I don't even know where to start. 2010 has now crept into the realm of 1998. This one may just sting even worse. Never has a game been that winnable. We were yards away from a kick to go to the Super Bowl. I've never experienced a Vikings Super Bowl. Guess I'll just have to wait longer. I bought into this team. I was a sceptic at first but once the season started the talent was undeniable. I got roped in. On November 24th, I wrote my post about the 1998 heartbreak. At the end of that post I added this sense of hope regarding this years team,

"Why did I decide to write about this? Because at about 3 AM on November 24, it occured to me that this current Vikings team has got me believing again. That same feeling of destiny I felt 11 years ago as a little boy is slowly coming back. I'm dreaming of Super Bowls again, and I love it."

I set my expectations for Super Bowl, and was disappointed. Hartley may as well have been Morten Anderson. We hoped, prayed that he'd kick it wide, but knew he'd make it. And there it goes straight through the uprights. We all know the feeling. Then, silence. It's a stunned silence. It's your first realizaton that it's over. In a way we were all in it together. I think most Viking fans are trained to expect the worse but hope for the best. That's definitely how I am. Watching today's game I just hoped we could win so bad. I wanted a Super Bowl berth at least. But all the while I almost expected something bad to happen. We're used to it by this point. We're one of the most tortured fan bases in the sport. We've now lost 5 straight NFC championship games. Why us? What'd we ever do to deserve this? We're just a bunch of Minnesotans who love our team. Minnesota is known for being friendly so why? "Why us?" is the question that keeps running through my mind. Why does it have to happen to us every time? Every bounce went the Saints way. Every call late in the game went their way. They didn't even beat us. We beat ourselves. The Saints should hardly be considered the winner in this game, it was just that we were the losers.

Words can't even describe how much we outplayed them. As a fan I am extremely loyal to my team's players. I will defend them to no end because I usually can't bear to bash them. A good example is the Twins this year. Everyone bashed Punto when we lost, but I felt for him. I stood up for him because I watched him give everything he had in him to that team. A better example is Gary Anderson. Most of my fellow fans use him as their punching bag. I just can't do it. I watched him hit so many kicks for us. Yes, he missed the big one but we were still up 7 and the D didn't stop them. I know I know, maybe Anderson was completely to blame but I never said how I think is rational. I just love my players. It's easy to play the blame game (the blame game might be the easiest game of all in fact, even more so than go fish), but football is a team sport in which a loss can not be blamed on any single person. Yes, Favre threw a costly (which is putting it lightly) pick. Yes, the throw was dumb, yes he should've thrown to Shiancoe along the sideline or ran which would've easily gotten us 8 yards. That's the most glaring error, but then we remember AP's fumbles, Harvin's fumble, Berrian's fumble. AP had the most costly fumble at the end of the first half. We were practically gifted points after Bush's fumble and the handoff was screwed up. A simple handoff that they've done tens of thousands of times. AP picked himself up after the fumbles and scored 3 TD's at least. Harvin's fumble may have been worse. He gifted New Orleans a touchdown by fumbling deep in our territory. There's just so many oppurtunities that were missed. You can go crazy thinking of all the ways that game should've been ours. We can't even blame the refs, although I'll never believe that Pierre Thomas got past the first down marker on that fourth down. I never will.

There's nothing worse than a season ending loss. Where do we go from here? It feels like we've spent 5 months climbing a mountain, then tumbled down when we were within site of the summit. It's a long, hard climb back up too. Is it all worth it? Of course it is. For a real fan anyway. It's worth it because when we finally do reach that promised land, the win will taste that much sweeter. Defeats like this are like spices that add to the dish when it's finally done. The dish would taste fine alone, but those spices add a little something extra. That is some optimism on my part.

Tomorrow, I will wake up (I assume). For a few moments I will be at peace, well sort of considering I'll be tired. The point is I won't yet recall what happened to my team yet. These few moments are the best time of the day. There's no worries, your mind hasn't yet collected itself. Then, BOOM!, your memories kick in and it hits you like a freight train. It's as if you're finding out all over again. "The Vikings season is over", I will think to myself. Then I'll remember all the ways we could've won that game. It's just a haunting experience that all fans know of. Then for years you will kick yourself saying things like "that was our year". Well we've now had two of those years. 2010 is 25 days old but it can't escape having the same stigma that 1998 does.

Finally, I just want to thank this Vikings team for being such a fun team to follow. I love the personalities we have and they genuinely looked like they all got along in that locker room. I know no one is more disappointed than they are right now.

Players Aren't Only Nervous Ones Before Big Game

In fact, fans might be even more nervous. We're the ones who have no control over what happens. Yet we invest our energy, money, and hopes in our favorite teams. Of course I'm referring to the Vikings NFC Championship game. You'll remember my post a couple months back about the 1998 version of this game that was my first taste of a crushing defeat. I summed the whole affair up in that post so I'll try not to repeat anything. It's now 12 years later and here we find ourselves again. Coming into the season nothing less was expected of this team. We had our ups and downs and even looked like we were fading towards the end, but there we were again against the Cowboys showing why we were a contender. Now, we run into the high-flying Saints. I'm not going to lie, the Saints scare the hell out of me. Of course the Cowboys did too. Even as a player in basketball, once playoffs hit every team we played seemed just a little bigger, stronger, and more athletic than they were when we played them before. Not that I was scared of those teams, it was just a reminder that no matter who we played I had to stay focused. Perhap it stemmed from the Orr debacle my sophomore year. Every Vikings fan knows the nervousness that's been felt all week. We are uneasy, somewhat confident, and excited all at the same time. Vikings fans have been tortured in the past by underachievement. We're one of the most unfortunate fan bases in all of football. The same could pretty much be said of the Saints fans, although they haven't lost 4 Super Bowls. After 1998, I know we all could use a boosting win today to give my generation it's first Super Bowl berth. 18 years of my life have been filled with Super Bowls that I had no rooting interest in. We've never been invited to that party, and I hear it's a rocking one. We have the talent to beat the Saints, and anyone else in the league on our day. Favre has struggled on the road this year, but with the Super Dome he seems to have found a home away from home. He's taken care of the ball all year and proven his doubters wrong. I would know because I was one of them. Perhaps I didn't factor in his shoulder injury when looking at his year last year. Yet even before that he was always a gunslinger. I didn't think he could change, but he has. I have no problem admitting I'm wrong (well sometimes), especially when it turns out to benefit my team. Favre, you went from my most hated athlete to someone I root for on a weekly basis. I never thought I'd say that. Brett Favre reads my blog by the way, in case you didn't know. He might just be my most famous reader. Now let's go to a breakdown of the matchup.

Offense:

Brees is a top 3 quarterback in the league these days. If you give him time he will pick a defense apart with a plethora of receivors that he's made into stars. Favre is Favre. What Favre has impressed me with the most is his ability to convert on 3rd downs. We haven't had that for years and today we will need him to come up big.

The Saints have 3 good running backs. They have Pierre Thomas, who is their most consistent back. Reggie Bush is the playmaker. Mike Bell is the 3rd down type. We have Adrian. He has had a bit of a down year by his lofty standards, but he's due for a big game. He needs needs needs to hold onto the ball. We can't afford crippling turnovers. Chester Taylor is a selfless player who takes over on key third downs.

I think our receiving corp is just as dangerous as the Saints. They have Colston and Henderson primarily, while we have Rice, Harvin, and Berrian. Rice has evolved into a superstar this year and looks to be Favre's favorite target. Harvin has overcome migraine issues and should be playing. Shockey for the Saints is questionable. Shiancoe has become a huge weapon that should feature prominently.

Defense and special teams

We absoluteluy must pressure Brees. If we don't, we may as well just give the Saints their normal 30-40 points. Allen and Edwards need to terrorize the backfield. The Williams wall needs to eliminate the rushing options for New Orleans. The biggest key on defense is our secondary. We've been weak at times this year and that will not cut it against a team as good at passing as the Saints are. Rookie Jasper Brinkley will be targeted as a weak link in the middle linebacker spot and he must step up.

Longwell has been near perfect all year. He's as reliable as they come. The Saints have Hartley who has done as well as expected all year. Bush is a threat on returns after his rampage last week, but Harvin is just as dangerous.

This game should be a good one and hopefully we can come out on top. The Sains have had some extremely fortunate breaks in the regular season, but that doesn't mean they aren't a daunting task. 1998 still haunts many of us fans, but 2010 is a new year with a new oppurtunity. Let's do what the Falcons did to us. Let's go to the Saints dome and leave their fans heartbroken. Let's give us young fans our first Super Bowl appearance.