George Ferguson Column: Loving the Vikings is like loving the Cubs all over again

It was maybe two months ago that I sat here and lamented to my readers that by beloved Chicago Cubs are probably not going to win a World Series in my lifetime.

And while baseball season is actually not that far off, and, the experts are trying to tell me the Cubs should indeed win the World Series in 2016, like when last baseball season ended, I’m now right back in that same dark place.

You see, I’m a fan of teams that like to blow the big game. I’m a fan of teams that always letdown their loyal fan bases. I’m a fan of teams, at least when it comes to the NFL and MLB, of teams that consistently break my heart.

And, as most of the world saw on Sunday, the good old Minnesota Vikings did it once again.

Now, I’m not going to sit up here and say I thought, or even hoped the Vikings would win the Super Bowl this year, and honestly, when I went to bed Saturday night, I didn’t even think they’d beat the Seahawks. But, when Blaire Walsh lined up for a 27-yard field goal, which is now shorter than an extra point, I at least was ready to relish in the fact that my Vikings were going to at least win one playoff game — and that’s something we Vikings fans don’t get to enjoy often.

Of course, everybody knows what happened next. Walsh missed a kick that NFL, college and even good high school kickers would normally make — and he missed it badly. It never had a chance, and of course, it left me asking, did the Vikings ever really have a chance to begin with?

And the answer to that question more often than not is, no, the Vikings are just not a team, a franchise, that is going to be consistently at the top of the NFL heap. And, that bad attitude comes from years and year of experience with being let down by Minnesota.

I won’t go back and list all the times I’ve actually cried over the Vikings … yes, I said cried, because I actually have. Well, in reality, the Vikings have been so futile most of my life that I think I’ve only cried twice, because that’s how many times I’ve actually seen them have a chance to get to a Super Bowl, let alone win one.

Now, for Vikings fans a little older than I, there were glory years. The old Purple People Eaters. But every one of those great Vikings teams, with Fran Tarketon and Bud Grant, let Minnesota fans down eventually. Yes, that’s right, the Vikings have never won a Super Bowl.

And that fact brings me right back to the same place I was when the Cubs were blasted out of the playoffs in October. Only now, it’s actually the dark days of winter, where there’s hardly any sunlight, where Havre seems colder than ever, and where summer seems like its forever away.

It’s also different now because I can’t escape the rest of the NFL playoffs. It’s everywhere. The world, right down to most everyone I know personally, is fixated on these last few weeks of the NFL season, and let’s face it, it’s just a much, much bigger deal than baseball is.

In other words, I could ignore the rest of the baseball season fairly easily. The rest of the NFL season, no way. And, I probably wouldn’t try anyway because I really do love the NFL playoffs. But, I sure don’t want to listen to Packers Fans and Seahawks fans, and all the fans who just happen to love Carolina now. Because of what happened to my Vikings last Sunday, I really wish there was a way for me to tune it all out.

But, I know I can’t, so I’ll just go on covering a major amount of local basketball games over the next two months, and I’ll enjoy that. And, hey, spring training is only a month away. Then I can jump right back into the life of being a Cubs’ fan.

Ughhh.