Juggernaut … for naught: Vikings fans still haunted by memories of 1998 season's finish
Fan enjoyment of the 13-3 Vikings has been tempered by haunting memories of 1998.Vikings fans of a certain generation are haunted by the organization’s four Super Bowl losses. In person, on e-mails, via online comments on stories about the team, they preface comments by saying, “I’m old enough to remember …”
A lot of Vikings fans, though — perhaps even the majority? — are not old enough to remember. Tuesday marked the 41-year anniversary of the last time the Vikings even played in a Super Bowl, a 32-14 loss to the Raiders that was the Vikings’ third Super Bowl loss in four seasons and the fourth in eight years.
For more recent generations of fans, the pain is focused more acutely on memories of great Vikings teams that had a Super Bowl appearance within its grasp, only to have it cruelly snatched away.
The best of those teams was the 1998 Vikings, a juggernaut that went 15-1 and set a record (at the time) for points in a season. That team’s overtime loss in the NFC Championship Game to Atlanta left a mark that remains today.
It’s a significant part of the reason Vikings fans haven’t been able to simply enjoy this year’s 13-3 team or fully allow themselves to believe a Super Bowl appearance at the Vikings’ home of U.S. Bank Stadium is within reach. This year’s Vikings finished with the best record since 1998 — the only other season in franchise history with at least 13 victories.
Coach Mike Zimmer emphatically said last week that the Vikings do not have a “curse,” but plenty of Minnesotans still are wondering: Is it OK to watch with both eyes open when the Vikings open the playoffs Sunday against New Orleans, and is this finally the year that doesn’t end in heartbreak? To deconstruct that question and search for answers, let’s travel back in time almost two decades...
http://www.startribune.com/juggernaut-for-naught-vikings-fans-still-haunted-by-memories-of-1998-season-s-finish/468708293/
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
@"StickyBun" said:@"AGRforever" said: All I got to say is Fuck Gary Anderson and Greg Williams
The guy you should be mad at for 98 is Robert Griffith: he dropped the easiest INT EVER. Would have ended the game in regulation. I mean it was stupid easy.
It was the perfect convergence of the entire team contributing to a loss that should never have happened. Cunningham pissed down his leg, OMG the overtime miss to Moss who was wide-open for a sure TD, Robert Smith running out of bounds with under 2 minutes, that Griffith drop of a key interception.The Anderson miss...
Bad s hit. Only thing that we never discuss is that we lost to a pretty darned good 14/2 Dirty Birdie team. 14/2!!
@"StickyBun" said:@"KingBash" said:@"StickyBun" said: Jesus, the sad sack Twin Cities media. Seriously. They can't and won't let go of this old baggage. Its a self fulfilling prophecy if you can't move past this and treat each new opportunity as unrelated to the past.We all have the scars as fans, but if you can't enjoy the ride, then why bother being a fan at all? Just tune in each year to the Superbowl in early February and bypass the rest. A bunch of woe-is-me Eeyores. :/
The term "victim shaming" is getting thrown around a lot in the media these days, but this is the best example I can see of it. We've been abused for years and suddenly we're supposed to just get over it? No, sir.I'm going into this weekend actively telling myself that I need to enjoy the game, win or lose, as could be the last time we'll see the Vikings take a snap (that counts) until September, but...
LOL, victims of what exactly?Calling this abuse makes light of real abuse. Its entertainment. Actually, lol, nothing 'entertaining' about '98 and 09'. Long suffering fans? Yeah, I can see that. It ain't abuse, its just football. But very disappointing for sure.
Maybe I was being tongue in cheek?Of course it makes light of real abuse, I'm just being an asshole.
@"KingBash" said:@"StickyBun" said:@"KingBash" said:@"StickyBun" said: Jesus, the sad sack Twin Cities media. Seriously. They can't and won't let go of this old baggage. Its a self fulfilling prophecy if you can't move past this and treat each new opportunity as unrelated to the past.We all have the scars as fans, but if you can't enjoy the ride, then why bother being a fan at all? Just tune in each year to the Superbowl in early February and bypass the rest. A bunch of woe-is-me Eeyores. :/
The term "victim shaming" is getting thrown around a lot in the media these days, but this is the best example I can see of it. We've been abused for years and suddenly we're supposed to just get over it? No, sir.I'm going into this weekend actively telling myself that I need to enjoy the game, win or lose, as could be the last time we'll see the Vikings take a snap (that counts) until September, but...
LOL, victims of what exactly?Calling this abuse makes light of real abuse. Its entertainment. Actually, lol, nothing 'entertaining' about '98 and 09'. Long suffering fans? Yeah, I can see that. It ain't abuse, its just football. But very disappointing for sure.
Maybe I was being tongue in cheek?Of course it makes light of real abuse, I'm just being an asshole.
I hear ya, dude. Hard to always get tongue in cheek or sarcasm in written word.Fun fact: I've never been an asshole on this board once. :p
@"purplefaithful" said:@"StickyBun" said:@"AGRforever" said: All I got to say is Fuck Gary Anderson and Greg Williams
The guy you should be mad at for 98 is Robert Griffith: he dropped the easiest INT EVER. Would have ended the game in regulation. I mean it was stupid easy.
It was the perfect convergence of the entire team contributing to a loss that should never have happened. Cunningham pissed down his leg, OMG the overtime miss to Moss who was wide-open for a sure TD, Robert Smith running out of bounds with under 2 minutes, that Griffith drop of a key interception.The Anderson miss...
Bad s hit. Only thing that we never discuss is that we lost to a pretty darned good 14/2 Dirty Birdie team. 14/2!!
I still think there should have been a penalty called for roughing the kicker. Gary got absolutely demolished immediately after kicking the ball, and I fully believe that having two guys barreling down on him from the right side could have easily been part of the reason he kicked the ball left.I still don't understand how that wasn't called.
@"Purplewhizz" said:@"Canthony" said: I think I was more devastated over 09. I think that team was a much better overall team. 09 would have been a for sure Super Bowl year as we would have dismantled the Colts. Not sure we would have won it in 98@"Canthony" said: I think I was more devastated over 09. I think that team was a much better overall team. 09 would have been a for sure Super Bowl year as we would have dismantled the Colts. Not sure we would have won it in 98I see them as equal. We would have won borh of those Super Bowls. The Vikings were the best team both of those years.I will respectfully disagree. The Broncos were the better team in 98. Remember, they were going for the undefeated season. They lost week 15 and sat their starters in week 16 I believe. They proceeded to play their starters in week 17 at the start.
I think we would have lost that SB against the Broncos. That was a great team.
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