Vikings and Minnesota fans rank 3rd in fan misery index
By Adam Carlson
Odds are that if you follow the Vikings and other men’s Minnesota sports teams that you haven’t had a great time watching them play over the last 20 years.
Being a Minnesota Vikings fan isn’t easy. Since the franchise came into existence, the quest for a Super Bowl win has always come up a little short. And while that can be tough for fans to swallow, the other men’s professional sports teams aren’t quite relieving any of that stress with their own performances as of late.
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With the Twins floundering, the Wild not meeting their potential, and the Timberwolves rebuilding, it looks like patience will have to be a virtue for those hoping to see Minnesota host a celebratory parade for any of the major men’s sports any time soon if they don’t rely on the Vikings to get it done.
But just how miserable does that make fans of Minnesota sports?
Over on ESPN.com, staff writer Bill Barnwell made up his own metric to see just how miserable each of the fan bases are based on their local sports teams. This comes on the heels of learning that Minnesota now holds the longest championship drought of any sports area with three or more teams in major sports leagues.
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For the purposes of this article on ESPN, Barnwell excluded the Minnesota Lynx, who are quietly building what could be a WNBA dynasty. With three championships in the last 5 seasons, they surely would have skewed the numbers for Minnesota. However, with the focus on men’s sports, the gap since the Twins won the World Series in 1991 has been a long, painful one.
"“Minnesota hasn’t even made a single trip to the finals in any sport over this time frame, with the Vikings failing three times as favorites in the NFC Championship Game, with two overtime losses and a 41-0 shellacking at the hands of the Giants in 2001. And this doesn’t even include any additional points for that breathtakingly painful defeat against Seattle in the playoffs last season.”"
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Of the four major sports in Minnesota, Vikings fans have to feel the most hopeful. After a NFC North championship and pushing the Seattle Seahawks to the limit in the Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs, the team only looked to improve upon itself this offseason and may be just what the state needs to get out of the men’s championship rut they are currently in.