The Vikings...The Stomach Punch Syndrome

So here we are January 24th and the Vikings are in the NFC championship game.  Backtrack twelve months and tell yourself that.  Funny thing is, I don't know how to feel about it.  On one hand I am very excited about what lies ahead, but the rational side of me refuses to get too excited about a team that constantly lets everyone down.  I guess that says more about my state as a Minnesota fan than that of the Vikings team this year.  I guess I am just sick of the proverbial "punch in the stomach moments" that this team seems so adept at. 
Think about it, 4 Super Bowls...4 losses, The Cowboys Hail Mary Game, The Darrin Nelson Game, The Herschel Walker Trade, 1998 NFC Championship (My Stomach Still Hurts, I was 11 during the '98 season and I bled purple) The Dimitrius Underwood Draft, 41-0 NFC Championship, The Sex Boat, The Whizzinator, Mike Tice scalping Super Bowl Tickets....Mike Tice for that matter.  And thats just all off the top of my head.

Think about this for a second, since Brett Favre's consecutive game streak started, listen to the roll call of

Qb's for the Vikings and how they fared when we got them.

Wade Wilson- Old, Washed up
Rich Gannon- Was a good quarterback..........With the Raiders
Jim Mcmahon- He was good in 1985
Warren Moon- Past his prime, Could still fling it.
Brad Johnson-  Claim to fame-Won a Super Bowl with a dominate defense...Great game Manager

BTW Calling a quarterback a great game manager is like telling someone after a job interview that they are a great people person, its a nice thing to say but does it really mean anything.  Is there honestly a more backhanded compliment in sports?   Anyway I digress.

Randall Cunningham- Cunningham's train of thought during the '98 season.  Get snap, take deep breath, close eyes, count to three, throw ball high and far....Repeat.
Jeff George- Wow, we won a playoff game with him.
Daunte Culpepper-  Now I'm split here, Culpepper had some good statistical seasons but always and I mean ALWAYS shrunk in the biggest games.  He was like the LT of the early 2000's.  A fantasy owners dream, A fans nightmare.

Hold on tight cause now it gets really bad.

Todd Boumann- He played at St. Cloud State.....Ya and????
Spergon Wynn-(Silently Shaking my head)
Brooks Bollinger- Audible Silence
Kelley Holcolmb- ........... Claim to Fame- Was in a Qb battle with Tim Couch... Yeah that Tim Couch
Brad Johnson- Again?.....Really?..... He MUST be a great people person.
Tavaris Jackson- Jury's Out.  He had that one good game that one time though... Didn't he?
Gus Frerotte-  Honestly do they like torturing us?  Seriously, and Gus thought that he should only be brought back if he was going to start this year....and the Vikings considered it.  That hurts to think about.

There it is 15 different starting quarterbacks in the time Green Bay had 1.  And if you can remember back to July, the emphasis in camp was whether newcomer Sage Rosenfels would unseat Tavaris Jackson as the teams #1 signal caller.  WELCOME TO BIZZARRO WORLD.  The most important position in football, and for 20 years...TWENTY YEARS we have treated it like son in law we never wanted.

SO we mortgaged everything for the one thing, Brett Favre.  The results have been fabulous.  I have enjoyed this season as much as anyone out there, but my devotion has not been blind.  My rational side will not let the fan in me immerse myself into these victories.  Maybe it is because I am older and am really realizing that my life will not change one way or the other if these overpaid millionares, supposed role models, win a game.  But I blindly cheered for the Twins this season and hung on every pitch against Detroit.  For this reason I can't think that it is only, or mostly that.  The issue has more to do with what I would call the "Stomach Punch Syndrome"

You are probably wondering where this column is going by now as it has been very disjointed.  Look at that list of quarterbacks and tell me that isn't a huge punch to the stomach to anyone who has ever spent money on anything Vikings.  Look we are without a doubt one of the four or five most tortured franchises in NFL History.  We are on the Mount Rushmore of torture.  We just refuse to acknowledge it because we are from Minnesota.   Its the same reason we say, Meh it ain't that bad out when it is -20  with a blowing wind.  Minnesotans, as a general rule, refuse to complain about anything. 

Seriously travel anywhere and tell someone you are from Minnesota and one or two things will happen.  1.  They will chuckle and ask how you can take it up there or what kind of crazy you are.  or 2.  They will immediately strike up a conversation because we are amongst the nicest most interesting people in the country.  Either way the person you meet WILL like you and WILL be interested if not intrigued in you.  Thats Minnesota, don't beleive me, be conscious of it next time you travel.

That being said, I can't help but feel that if it doesn't happen this year, it won't happen.  The stars aligned this year for the Vikes like they haven't since 1998.  Favre comes back, has the BEST season of his career by doing all of the BRETT FAVRE!!!!! things and none of the what the favre???? things.   So i guess you could describe me as cautiously optimistic.  I do know though that I am cheering for the Vikings. I really do want them to win.  But I have been doing sit ups and crunches for the last month.