Categories: Uncategorized
| On 10 years ago

GUEST POST: The Elusive Vikings Super Bowl Win

By Arif Hasan

[NOTE FROM ARIF: Keep them coming! This guest post pairs well with (unintentionally or not) the previous post on “hope” and how it relates to Vikings fans, this time written by active Tweeter @LAHfreya23, otherwise known as Ligeia Heagy in meatspace.

To my knowledge, this is her first guest post as well! Again, email me at arifmhasan (at) gmail DOT com if you want to write a guest post]

By Ligeia Heagy

Every Vikings fan hopes for a Super Bowl win…before they die. It’s the age old joke between fans, and the twisted verbal knife from other teams.  The thought of a Vikings Super Bowl win is almost too much to hope for, considering history.  Some fans might argue that hope is a four letter word.  To date, a Super Bowl win for the Vikings has been entirely elusive. Is it possible?  Our quest begins with a trip down memory lane.

Vikings fans are inured to disappointment.  There was the 1970s run at the Super Bowl, only to be disappointed four times in one decade. The consolation prize was a series of NFC North and NFC Championships.  Fair enough.  No one is really complaining about those, until the 1998 and 2000 NFC Championship losses are broached. Enough said. Oh, but then there was the 2009 NFC Championship loss to add to an already boiling pot of misery.  Clearly, the Universe did not believe that 2009 had inflicted sufficient pain among the Viking brethren.  Almost on cue, the roof of the Metrodome collapsed in 2010.  Prophetic? Why think otherwise?

On the road towards a Vikings Super Bowl, there have been a number of questionable pit stops along the way.  Notably:

  1. The Herschel Walker trade (If you must ask, visit Wikipedia. It simply cannot be relived here.)
  2. The Love Boat scandal (Included because, well, the Vikings needed this like a hole in the head.)
  3. The acquisition of Brett Favre (Questionable from the point of view that he managed to win a Super Bowl for the Pack, but not for the Vikings.  In his own words, he choked.  Yes, yes he did.)
  4. The 2013 quarterback carousel (This fueled the image of the Vikings as a perennial laughing stock organization. Deepest of sighs.)

By the end of December 2013, the Vikings had secured their future as the laughing stock of the league. At times, being a Vikings fan is akin to stabbing oneself in the eye with thousands of needles daily.  Counter argument?  As they say on Twitter, meh.  But enough grousing.  Is there a Super Bowl for Viking fans on the horizon? 2014 appears to be a pivotal year for Viking fortunes.

Black Monday arrived with few surprises and additional agony for fans, who would surely be disappointed by the selection of a new coach.  Knife wounds to the gut are expected.  Fans carry first aid kits in anticipation thereof (at least one would hope they do).  But the unthinkable occurred.  In mid-January, Vikings brass interviewed Mike Zimmer.  Zimmerwatch commenced upon a tweeted picture of Zimmer at the Cincinnati airport on his way to Minneapolis.  Fans and media allowed themselves two full days of giddiness.  They bathed in it.  Because this kind of joy is so fleeting for Vikings fans.  In the end, Vikings brass hired Zimmer, ushering in a potentially whole new world for Vikings everywhere.

The hiring of Zimmer potentially flips a switch.  The position of Head Coach of the Minnesota Vikings is a first for Zimmer and fulfills a lifelong dream.  Zimmer is a no nonsense personality with a self professed chip on his shoulder.  Needless to say, the Vikings also have a chip on their shoulder and about 50 years of pent up Super Bowl adrenalin.  This is a marriage in Valhalla for Vikings fans.  The bottom line is that Zimmer wants to be the effing coach that brings the effing Super Bowl win to the effing Minnesota Vikings.  And, he is effing believable in his process.  Which brings us back to the possibility of a Vikings Super Bowl win.

Show of hands, who wants to be the one to tell Zimmer he can’t do it?

The room is empty ladies and gentleman.  Go ahead and effing HOPE!

Arif Hasan

View Comments

  • Nah, there's always hope, just not this year. The Vikes weren't as bad as 3-13 three years ago. They got hit hard by injuries, and blew several games in the last minute. Just the same, that draft netted some good players as a result. The 10-6 run was helped by few injuries and an early return of AP. Last year the odds caught up with them. I think the Vikes are two-three years away from a return trip, but the coaching staff is in place, and they have a good, young nucleus of players. Yeah, there's always hope, and Coach Zimmer is the effing one to bring the trophy to Minnesota.

  • MAN! That was hard to read.
    Not that it was written poorly, in fact, it was well written but that didn't stop the vomit from forming in the pit of my stomach as I re-lived those 4 Super Bowl Sundays I watched live in the 1970's.
    I have been a fan since day one.
    I'm definitely one of those old guys that are holding out hope the Vikings win a Super Bowl before I'm gone.
    It's getting too close for comfort. . .
    I am counting on YOU Coach Zimmer! (Please make sure the coach see's this)

  • I remember the last one...Raiders gave us a whoopin'. I was pretty young, thought "oh well...we'll be back again soon, maybe even next year." Yeah...38 years later.
    Good read Ligeia...there was also the 1987 NFC Champ game, Darrin Nelson just missed that ball. Later I saw it in real slo-mo...Darrel Green just got a finger on it, A. Carter was supposed to take D. Green deeper into the end zone. Damn.
    There is hope, I like Zimmer...like his style, time will tell. I think he can turn this D around...just gotta get that elusive QB.

  • It doesn't have to be this way. I am past feeling sorry myself as a Vikings fan. I just want to win, and I feel good about this coach and about our offensive coordinator. I think what I am most excited about is a restoration to defensive prowess. We some really good players on offense, and I have a strong feeling our offensive line will become even better after two more drafts. I am excited about Norv Turner being able to focus on only being an offensive coordinator. I think if we can draft Teddy Bridgewater he could stabilize the QB position here for a decade. Thinking about having an intelligent and accurate passer there for a decade makes me think we can win a super bowl. Zimmer will have this defense dominating within 2 drafts if not sooner. Adrian will get the ring he deserves as a Viking. I believe.

  • Stay away from sharp objects. The biggest stressor as a Viking fan is if they actually make it to another SB. God, all the bad history weighing on them, it'll be tough not to collapse. That would make 5. That's why you don't have a dead headed depressed coach like Frazier. He was NOT a leader. He was sorry. You don't try to win with science projects like Squander and T Jack. It's WHY you get a Norv and and ass chewer, straight shooter Zimmer... And I say roll the dice on a Manziel or Bridgewater. The Bears and Packers have won the superbowl. This really seems to be the best owners the Vikings have had. They've got to take risks and pull a guy like Squander out of the line up when it's clear he sucks. That's why the Seahawks excelled:The coach was smart enough to switch QB's, despite the big investment. . They marched straight to a SB win..This is the most likely Viking owners and GM to do it yet. Patterson and Peterson and an awesome top 10 defense. That our opportunity right now.

  • That's our opportunity. One thing no one ever mentions is that the Vikings did win the last NFL title before the merger. .,That should count for something.

  • I Cannot, for my soul, remember how, when, or even precisely where, I
    first became acquainted with the Vikings.

    thanks, Ligeia