I like to think I am a loyal person, but the Minnesota Vikings put my faithfulness to the test. I want to root for our home team—but it’s hard when the green-and-gold team across the border keeps playing in such an impressive manner. And our Purple People Eaters keep disappointing us.
It’s getting so bad that when my husband Chuck sits down to watch a game, I ask, “Who are the Vikings going to lose to this week?”
I can relate to Sven and Ole in the old joke—you know the one: Sven and Ole go to hell. After a lifetime in frigid Minnesota, our Scandinavian friends were happy that they could finally get warm. The devil stops by to check on them and is irritated that they are having a good time in hell. He cranks up the heat.
Sven and Ole don’t mind. They strip down to their boxers and kick back, still enjoying the heat. This irritates the dickens out of the devil. He decides to fix our Scandinavian friends and make them once again feel the bitter cold of Minnesota. He blasts a blizzard through hell, freezing all in sight. But to his surprise, Sven and Ole still don’t mind. In fact, when he looks in on them, he sees them dancing and cheering up a storm.
Really angry now, he demands to know why the Scandinavians are not miserable. Sven and Ole happily reply, “Hell has frozen over! That means the Vikings have finally won the Super Bowl!”
I can relate to Sven and Ole. I am doubtful that the Vikings will ever pull off a Super Bowl win. In fact, in the last few years they haven’t even gotten close.
And, I’m beginning to truly suspect that I may be the jinx of the Viking team. I try not to watch, because I’m tired of being disappointed. So I don’t watch pre-season games. I don’t watch the first few games of the season. But then I hear someone talking about how good the Vikings are doing. I decide to watch a game—and they inevitably lose.
It almost seems like they can’t win if I’m watching. I wrote in Unorganized Territory about my jinx theory a few years ago. I thought I was only bad luck if I watched a game from start to finish, but after the recent game versus the Denver Broncos, I feel like the jinx has moment to moment impact. I know it’s crazy, but let me explain.
The grandkids were visiting so I was busy and I didn’t watch the beginning of the game. When I wasn’t watching, the Vikings did fine. They were ahead in the second quarter. I peeked during the third quarter—they were still ahead. At the start of the fourth quarter, it was looking pretty hopeful so I sat down to watch the game.
I was just in time to see a throw from bright new quarterback Christian Ponder to my favorite Viking, Percy Harvin, for a 52-yard run for a touchdown. Very impressive! With Adrian Peterson out with an ankle injury, Percy got to show his stuff. It was really fun to see him celebrating in the end zone and handing the game ball off to some little kids in the stands. I had to watch now.
I shouldn’t have. Because as soon as I started watching, the momentum shifted and Denver scored. The game was tied, 29-29. I forced myself to stop watching—there was laundry to fold. And maybe, just maybe, my jinx theory was right.
From the laundry room a little while later, I heard Chuck cheering. The Vikings had scored a field goal so we could possibly win this game! The score was 32-29.
I was sucked back in. I could finish folding later. I sat down to watch the game. I watched the Broncos score a field goal to tie it up again, 32-32. I was foolishly hopeful that the Vikings could still make a comeback. However, that was not to be. As I watched, the Broncos scored another field goal, winning the game 35-32. Another example of me jinxing my favorite team?
I know it’s really not. The Vikings train all year long. They study other teams and strategize and prepare for games and they play how they are going to play. There are many things that can affect the outcome of a professional football game. One Minnesota fan watching up here in the Northwoods can’t jinx a game far away in the Metrodome—can she? In life, as in football, you won’t go far unless you know where the goalposts are.
Arnold Glasgow
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