Choke!
January 24th, 2010Yeah yeah yeah. I know. I’m not supposed to get emotionally attached to sports. Following sports really is stupid as people get passionate about things they can’t control.
Well, I say screw it. I’m entitled to my flaws.
Last Summer, we spent a week in Vegas and while there I couldn’t help putting some money on my beloved Green Bay Packers. Why the Packers? Because they’re my favorite team. Emotions aside, I also put money on the Vikings to win the Super Bowl as I had inside information that Brett Favre was going to join them. No, I will not disclose my source.
So the Playoffs come around and the Packers get eliminated right away. It’s too bad as they were 25-1 odds and had they won, I would have had enough to take Mrs. Z on a European vacation. There goes a 2010 European trip.
So I’m stuck rooting for the Vikings with 8-1 odds. Not enough for the European trip but it would have paid for an Alaskan cruise. Kind of weird for a die-hard Packers fan rooting for the Vikings, but they got my favorite player now in Brett Favre.
I’m watching the game and Favre and the Vikings immediately drive down and get a 7-0 lead. I’m thinking they got this one. Before long it’s 14-7. Then the problems begin. Vikings fumble. Favre throws an interception. Vikings fumble. And fumble again. And again. And again. The offensive line looks like swiss cheese as Favre takes one hit after another with two hits hard enough that they almost knocked him out of the game. Ouch!
With all these miscues, they manage to keep the game at 28-28 and get in the position for a long field goal. So what do they do? Choke. They’re the Vikings. That’s what they’re good at.
While in field goal range, they get a five yard penalty which puts them out of field goal range. So that means Favre has to throw. He rolls right and does the one thing you’re absolutely not supposed to do - throw it across the field. Heck, I knew that from playing in high school. You don’t see things when you do that so you simply don’t do that. Ironically, he had enough room to run for about 10 yards so that would have put the Vikings back in field goal position.
Needless to say, the pass gets picked off. The game goes into overtime.
Five fumbles, two interceptions, and the game is tied at 28-28. Visiting team gets the coin toss. Some stupid Viking picks heads. Idiot! What’s the one thing you learn as a child about coin tosses? Tails never _____. (If you can’t finish that sentence, you probably never were a child).
He picks heads. Of course it comes up tails.
The Saints march down the field and some rookie kicker kicks the most beautiful forty yard field goal I’ve ever seen.
Choke. So much for the Alaskan cruise.
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Yeah yeah yeah. There was a lesson there. That still doesn’t mean I won’t do the same thing. We’re probably going to hit Vegas again and while there, I’ll put money on the Packers and one other team to win the Super Bowl. Not sure what that team is yet.
As for Favre, he’s got to come back. He can’t end his career on this note. That would be like if Judas Priest broke up after releasing Turbo.
Sorry, but the news of their loss actually brightened up my Monday. I didn’t hear about it until I watched the news this morning. Maybe now they’ll quit lobbying our legislature to build them a friggin’ new stadium!
Heh. I forget you pay taxes there.
The Vikings put everything they had on Favre, and it backfired. He was tired going in, and the offensive line didn’t cover him, so OF COURSE the Saints took advantage of that. The Vikings didn’t play well tactically, and the Saints did.
Well said. Plus, it’s hard to win when you turn the ball over 7 times. Two of those were of course Favre’s fault.
I felt bad for the guy. I think he got hit 16 times.
It’s the same way his career ended the first time he retired: an overtime loss in the NFC Championship Game. Surviving another season and getting back to the NFC Championship is a pretty hard task. Anything short of that would be a more bitter ending to his career if he decides to come back.
The Vikings did choke big time though. If they hadn’t been playing hot potato with the football, they’d still be playing. That’s what this franchise does. Their 98 team with Randall Cunningham and Randy Moss went 15-1 and lost at home in the NFC Championship on a missed field goal.
Now the Vikings can go through the next four months putting everything on hold waiting for Favre to decide if he’ll come back or not.
I still think Favre is a great quarterback, but he’s been making questionable passes his entire career. He was remarkably restrained this year…untlil now that is.
hey did you see the Pants on The Ground song?? Well supposedly Favre was suppose to do it if they won a game in the last two weeks??? Jeff and I missed it.. Yikes.. I wish I could have seen that one..
Yeah, I saw Brett do the pants on the ground. The whole team got into it. He had to lead the team if they won, so he did it after the Cowboys game.
As for his questionable passes, geez, could he possibly time it worse? The whole year he’s been terrific. The Vikings should have really won that game had it not been for all those stupid turnovers.
And yes, they’re a franchise based off of choking. ‘98 team was incredible.