Anyone that knows me knows that I have my teams, and I root for them hard. No one questions my passion for the Jayhawks, Chiefs, Royals, and Wild. So I am certainly not questioning anyone else’s love of their teams. You can root for anyone you like*. But anyone that really knows me knows that, along with my teams, I have the teams that I hate, loath, and generally wish ill will upon. You have these teams too. They may be different than mine, but you have them. You know the ones where even if your team loses, it’s okay because they lost too. I wouldn’t piss on these teams if they were on fire. Though I might piss on them if they aren’t on fire.
*I do request that you have some legitimate reason for liking who you like. My future brother-in-law loves the Cowboys and the Oklahoma Sooners despite the fact that he appears to have never left the state of Missouri. He just jumped on a bandwagon in the 90’s. Now that’s irritating.
I have many reasons for hating a team. They may be a rival like the Vancouver Canucks. They may have players that I dislike like A-Roid. But the two teams that I hate more than any other two teams in the world have something in common: Their fans are arrogant for absolutely no reason at all.
The Minnesota Vikings and the Missouri Tigers
What have either of these teams ever done to warrant the amount of trash talking that comes from their fans? Nothing, that’s what.
What do you call a Viking with a Super Bowl ring? Thief. Yes, that is one of my favorite jokes ever. They have been to four Super Bowls, and lost them all. They haven’t been back to the big game since 1976. They have lost a couple of NFC championship games.* They lost one NFC championship to the Giants 41-0. Not exactly a resume that lends itself to shit talking. You shouldn’t be talking shit when all the other person has to do is tell that joke again.
*In college, my roommate Grant was a huge Vikings fan. On January 17, 1999 we were driving back to Des Moines after a weekend back home. The Vikings were playing in the NFC championship game against the Falcons. Grant begged me to let him put his little Vikings car flag on the passenger window of my car. I eventually agreed. However, Gary Anderson (who had not missed a field goal all season) pushed one left that would have sealed the game. Then the Falcons drove down, and tied the game with 49 seconds left. And then Morten Andersen nailed a 38 yarder to send the Vikes home. It may have been the most satisfying moment of my life seeing Grant slowly, manually crank down the window of my 1996 Chevy Cavalier, and let that flag just fly away into a cold field in Iowa some where.
Oh, Mizzou. Please Tiger fans, tell me why you are so great. Seriously, e-mail me at lwood@kcsportspodcast.com, and tell me. I just don’t see it. At least the Vikings can say they have been to the championship game. You can’t even get to the semi-finals. No final fours…EVER. No BCS bowl games…EVER. Even Kansas went to a BCS game, and KU football was a joke for a couple of decades. You haven’t had an All-American basketball player since 1994, and even then it was Melvin Booker! (Most of you probably didn’t even know that) You aren’t ranked this season, and won’t be. You might make the tournament, but will lose…again.
I can’t stand listening to Missouri fans claims that they were Big XII Basketball champs last season. You weren’t. You were Big XII tournament champions. There’s a difference. KU won the Big XII championship last season by beating just about everyone, and finishing at the top. You won the tournament by beating the 11 seed, 7 seed, and 9 seed. Good work.
I have already been hearing from MU fans here in St. Louis that they are sure that they will walk into Allen Field House on Monday and dismantle KU. How? If I were you, I would be more concerned about beating Nebraska on Saturday. As Bellwether said on the last podcast; call me when you break the top ten in the polls.
Bottom line is that no matter the outcome of the Vikings-Saints or Missouri-Kansas games, these fans will continue to boast about their teams until the end of time. And these boasts will continue to irritate me to the core. But I suppose that’s what makes sports great. Maybe I am being a little hard on some of you. Now that I think of it…
To all Vikings fans, good luck this weekend. I’ll still be rooting for the Saints, but I wish you the best. This may be your time. Enjoy Jared Allen.
And to all you Missouri fans…wait, I just can’t do it.
January 25th, 2010 at 12:24pm
Nice Vikes story. Yet another example of how the Vikings are synonymous with shitting your pants at the most inopportune of times.
(And I fully expect nobody to truly get that reference besides Logg)
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