My co-workers can't figure out why I'm pro-Vikings in this weekend's NFC Championship game. I think that there are two reasons for their befuddlement. The first, and probably most obvious, is that they absolutely ripped apart my beloved Cowboys just a few days ago. You're supposed to be upset at the team that just trounced you for at least some sort of reasonable cooling off period (during the season that can usually last about a week... until you get a win, or you shift your ire to the next team that beat's yours, but it gets tougher when it's the loss that ends your season. Apparently in that case many believe that you must hate the team that knocked you out throughout the entire offseason). That reason doesn't apply to me I guess for a few reasons. First, every football fan understands that the likelihood of their team winning the Super Bowl in any given year is actually pretty slim. With 5 Lombardis, the Cowboys have won more (or as many) Super Bowls as any other team except Pittsburgh (6). The goal this season was to win a playoff game, which happened a week and a half ago in high-flying fashion with a rout of the despised Eagles. Obviously, the way the team had played of late created quite a bit of optimism in fans like me. They certainly seemed poised to go on and beat the Vikings and then the Saints and then whomever they faced in South Florida's Super Bowl. But the playoff win will have to do. Now I have a whole offseason to be optimistic about how good they'll be next year!
The other reason I'm in the Minnesota corner is because they're one of my favorite teams too! I love the Cowboys. I like the Broncos and cheer for them whenever they're not playing the Cowboys. I like the Vikings and cheer for them whenever they're not playing the Cowboys (in the event of a Vikings-Broncos matchup, I'd probably support the Broncos outwardly to my Denver friends, classmates, and co-workers, but I'd secretly be hoping for a Vikings victory). I also like Brett Favre. I know that he's waffled his way in and out of retirement (multiple times) and many think he weasled his way out of Green Bay, and last summer into Minnesota, but none of that really bothers me. He's a good guy who LOVES to play the game. If more 25-year olds played like they were little kids in the back yard again, maybe I wouldn't have to admire Favre so much for doing it himself at 40. There are plenty of other players on the Vikes to enjoy too (Jared Allen and Sidney Rice come to mind).
Those who don't understand my purple and gold loyalty this weekend also point to the Saints as the "sentimental favorite," and say that anyone who doesn't really have a horse in the race should be cheering for Drew Brees, the Saints, and the city of New Orleans because of what a Super Bowl would mean to the hurricane-devastated city. While I understand that sentiment, I find myself asking how many years post-Katrina we're expected to hope for a Saints Super Bowl? It's been, what, 4 years? I'm not trying to minimize the suffering of the people of the city or anything. I hope we're all still doing everything we can to care for the displaced families, and to help rebuild New Orleans and everything, but if it gets to be 2015 and the Saints still haven't won a Super Bowl, are they still the "sentimental favorite?" What about 2020? 2030? I guess I just think it could be argued that Brett Favre's story can be as sentimental as the Saints'.
Anywho... just my thinking.
(And in case you're wondering, I'd LOVE to see a Manning-Favre Super Bowl, and that's what I'll be cheering for.)
1 comment:
I like you. BTW on the whole Hurricane Catrina sentimental issue...I would honestly root against my favorite team and for the Saints if I thought that winning a super bowl would do any good what-so-ever in rebuilding the city. But if a super bowl is the thing that will finally get them off their butts and working to restore, they have deeper problems and issues to worry about than a big win. Following that logic, maybe we should franchise a team out to Haiti and stack them with great players...It's a stupid sentiment. Too often we allow our love for unjust capitalistic giants such as the NFL to veil our understanding of real justice. It's a crutch. Shame on the idiots who honestly think the Saints should win just to help hurting people. Sure does beat the heck out of helping them ourselves.
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