Usually, I am as excited as anyone for the Super Bowl. We usually have some friends over, cook up some “game food” like burgers, nachos, chicken wings, etc., and then sit back to enjoy the greatest game on earth.
This year, however, I still have a pit in my stomach from the Vikings losing to the Saints in the NFC championship game. In past years, when the Vikings didn’t have any Super Bowl expectations, it was easier to watch the playoffs. This year, the Vikings are arguably the best team in the league. TheNFC championship game was one of those rare instances where the better team actually lost.
Like any fan knows, however, you can’t turn the ball over in the playoffs! Fumbles by the Vikings were a common sight and then the heart-breaking interception at the end of the game spelled doom and gloom for Viking fans everywhere. When the game ended, my seven-yearold son got off the couch and without saying hardly a word, went right to bed. He got his first dose of a Minnesota Viking fan’s reality.
To make matters worse, however, Viking fans now await the future of their team. Will Favre return for one more try, or did his body take 15 too many hits last Sunday, reminding him that a deer stand is a decent alternative?
If Favre does come back, Viking fans can relish in another legitimate chance at a title run. If Favre doesn’t return, Minnesota fans better hope that Viking management has a disaster relief program in place. If they don’t, that would be a Super Bowllike bummer.
Mitch Dorr, a Cook County
High School Class of 1993
graduate, is now a social
studies teacher and coach at
his former alma mater. Mitch
coaches Vikings football and
boys’ basketball.
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