Sunday, February 07, 2010

Remains


part one in a sporadic offseason of blogging.

I spent the evening rubbing raw some wounds that had spent two weeks scabbing over, so if you don't mind, I have a few things to write. I feel like we gave it to the Saints, and the Saints took it from the Colts.

If you're curious
2009 marks the 12th time the Minnesota Vikings lost a playoff game to the eventual Super Bowl champion ('69, '71, '73, '74, '76, '77, '82, '87, '88, '89, '99, '09).

You might be surprised to learn that PV thought about the Minnesota Vikings while reading a poem.
From Milton's Paradise Lost:

I give not heaven for lost: from this descent
Celestial virtues rising, will appear
More glorious and more dread than from no fall,

Satan is trying to talk himself into something here. After being cast out of heaven during a disastrous failure to wage war against the throne of God, Satan suggests that when they finally do defeat God and take back heaven (a total impossibility), it will be much more glorious than if they had won without falling first.

This is what some might say to console Viking fans. Chin up: after all these disappointments, it will just be that much sweeter when the Vikings finally do win the Super Bowl. But there are two problems with this consolation. First, why the certainty that it will eventually happen? Ask Cubs fans how certain you can be that your favorite team will win it all in your lifetime. Second, weren't there already enough disappointments that would have made 2009 epically sweet? What, 48 years of existence with no championship wasn't enough? An 0-4 Super Bowl record wasn't enough? The endings of '75, or '87, (or if you'll only allow me the disappointments I've experienced) of '98 (especially!), of '00, of '03, weren't enough? We needed a more disappointment in 2009 to make it even sweeter in some mythical hopeful future?

I don't ACTUALLY believe this (not really)...
Some spiritual entities watching over sports won't allow a team to go 0-5 in the Super Bowl. There were three 0-4 teams: the Vikings, the Broncos, and the Bills. The Broncos weren't allowed to go back to their fifth Super Bowl until they were ready to win it, and the Vikings and Bills won't be allowed back until they're ready to win it.

If I think I took it bad...
My wife spent the last two weeks telling anybody who brought up football that she didn't want to talk about it. I thought I had used avoidance and distraction as a defense mechanism: she turned it into an art form (when we turned to The Soup to get away from our football thoughts, Joel McHale started with a joke about Brett Favre throwing an interception in the Puppy Bowl, so it hasn't exactly been easy to forget about). She really might have been more disappointed than I was. She barely looked up while I was watching the Super Bowl (we've watched each Super Bowl together since the Buccaneers beat the Raiders, which, considering the current states of those teams, certainly seems a long time ago), but she's already excited to watch the draft, which somewhat flummoxes me (she's hopeful, I guess). And she's currently encouraging me to keep up this blog.

And now the Saints won
I've avoided allowing myself to think about what I'd be feeling tonight if things had gone just a little differently (like, say, no 12 men in the huddle penalty). Luckily, my imagination keeps that thought abstract and distant, not quite so close to reality as it actually was. But usually after the Super Bowl I start thinking "Someday. Someday. Maybe even next year." I have trouble doing that now. I try to tell myself things though (we've got Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice!). And there are a lot of teams that won the Super Bowl the year AFTER their apparent best shot (the '96 Broncos were the AFC #1 seed but won the Super Bowl in '97,the '04 Steelers were a 15-1 #1 seed but won the Super Bowl in '05, the '05 Colts were a 14-2 #1 seed but won the Super Bowl in '06). But it feels as far away as ever.

Winter
It's constantly cold, and it's quickly dark. Another year without a Viking championship. It's Minnesota. But the Timberwolves are kind of coming around? They've won four straight, right? Right?

(public domain image--by William Blake--from Wikipedia).

5 comments:

  1. PV..I live in Louisiana...but I'm not happy either. I'm a Favre Fan. I formerly followed the Packers from the early 60's. Though the Vikes and Bears were serious rivals back then...never did hate them. When Favre came on the scene..that's when I fell in love w/football. He made football fun and exciting.
    When BF got "kicked" out of Green Bay...I was so mad. What idiots. Where is loyalty?
    Anyway from there to the Jets to the Vikes! The Vikings were wonderful to BF. I soon got used to seeing BF in the Vikings uniform. He helped the Vikes to have a great season. But like you...I feel your loss. I adopted you as your team adopted Brett.
    I am angry, upset, hurt and want revenge. I stand w/you Vikings. You deserve a win in the NFC title and in the Superbowl.
    Not sure who I will cheer for post Favre. I still feel the sting of the disappointmentw/the Packers and the Jets. Maybe I will follow the Vikes!
    Regardless...I now wish you all the best and I too believe there is a SBowl win for the Minnesota Vikings.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:41 AM

    I am a Vikings fan!
    When I see what N.O and the NFL did two weeks ago, it pisses me off.
    1. 1st down even if the running back fumbles?
    2. Pass hits the ground, and it is a catch?
    3. Pass interference, and it is not even close?
    4. Illegal hits on the QB and it is not called?

    We need a natural disaster. Does the NFL not realize we are getting snow? It is terrible to live under these conditions. We need something to feel good about.

    They win OUR Super Bowl. Roger Goddell can kiss my lily white a--.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:04 PM

    Easy big fella.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous8:26 PM

    i agree give the saints the overtime since we couldnt even get a shot at a field goal at the end of regulation which is just inexcusable for any team at any level let alone to go to the big dance . Im still mad.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7:16 AM

    Your quote from Paradise Lost is a lot more comforting than a lot of the more frequently used cliches that I've had thrown at me since the loss to the Saints... I'm particularly bitter about the classic "There's always next year".
    The only other one I quite like is Alfred Lord Tennyson's "'Tis better to have loved and lost / Than to have never loved at all." Just remember that as heartbroken as we all are, at least we don't support the Lions!

    ReplyDelete