Tonight was the ninth time the Minnesota Vikings have played in an NFC Championship football game. I have been alive for all nine of those games, though the first four occurred before I was old enough to understand what a football was, let alone know what the heck "Skol!" meant.....hang on, I still don't know what the heck "Skol!" means. So, disregarding the four championships played in the 70's, tonight's game became the fifth winner-goes-to-the-Super Bowl contest I've watched the Vikings play in. And once again, the purple were pummeled.
For the last couple of weeks I've heard and read various Minnesota sports media "experts" detail how this Vikings team was different than all the others. How this team was built to succeed in the playoffs. This team didn't have the weaknesses those "other teams" had. This team had more to play for than the Vikings teams who weren't playing for a chance to be in the Super Bowl at their home stadium. And on. And on. And on. In the end, here's the one big takeaway from tonight's game, this team, and this professional football franchise: When it comes to the Vikings, there is never anything different.
In '87, the first gut-wrenching Vikings loss I have memory of, they lost to Washington when Darrin Nelson decided to pad his defensive stats by batting down a sure touchdown pass to Anthony Carter as time expired in a 17-10 loss. Unfortunately Nelson was the Vikings' running back, and his deflection was actually an attempt to catch a pass that was intended for his teammate Carter. At that time it had been barely a decade since the Vikes had been to a Super Bowl. I was in my early teens, and while I was crushed by the loss I anticipated it would be only a matter of time before The Purple did make it back to the biggest game.
The "matter of time" has become three more decades. Along the way I've seen Gary Anderson miss his only field goal of the season in '98 to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against Atlanta in that season's NFC Championship. In 2000 it was the 41-0 shellacking at Giants' stadium - now known as the 41-donut game - in which nothing heartbreaking occurred for once.....but geez, 41-0! The '09 Championship game made up for 2000's lack of heartbreak with (take your pick of which one hurt the most) Adrian Peterson's fumbles, Brett Favre's interception, and the 12-men-in-the-huddle penalty. In a game lost in overtime. To the team that easily won the Super Bowl.
And then there was tonight. Team-Without-A-Weakness jumped to a quick 7-0 lead. The opposition, Philadelphia, entered the game as the underdog with a backup quarterback. A tough defense but a questionable offense. Again, this was the year things would be different for the Minnesota Vikings. It certainly was different: no overtime, no missed field goals, no shutout, and no dropped pass at the end. Instead, this loss was a beatdown, similar to the 41-donut game but hey - we scored! Once. And then watched Philly hang 38 straight points on the vaunted Purple defense. And once again Vikings fans everywhere turn their attention away from the Super Bowl and towards next season.
But as fans look ahead to next year, they would do well to remember - next year will be no different. You young Vikings fans must start to understand this RIGHT NOW! The narrative of life as a Vikings fan does. not. change. Ever. The snippets of defeat I've mentioned here are just the tip of the sinkhole that is Vikings' history. The Walsh shanked field goal. The Arizona touchdown. The Pearson push-off. The Steckel season. The pain and heartache and embarrassment run deep.
Which is why tonight's loss has bothered me the least of all the losses. I've stopped caring. I've learned my lesson and stopped building up hope, stopped thinking about "what ifs", and stopped hemorrhaging purple blood every time something bad happens to the Minnesota Vikings. Different players, different coaches, different stadiums - same results. It took many, many years, and far too many defeats, but I've learned my lesson. The day may indeed come when the Vikings reach the Super Bowl, but I've stopped wasting my life thinking it will.
Do yourself a favor, all you Skol chanters, and pour your passion into something different. 'Cause different is something the Vikings never are.
