Guest post COW: Jon thinks hoc-key is only hope
Posted on January 14th, 2008 – 12:25 PMBy Michael Rand
With the words, “We want the pants, and we’re going to score,” a great responsibility was born. Jon needed to deliver a Commenter Of the Week post worthy of that comment. Did he come through. Only you can decide. Oh, and one more thing: Let’s try to keep the idle bickering in the comments to a minimum, or at least let’s make it relevant and/or funny. That’s all we ask. Jon?
Minnesota pro sports team won a playoff game or series. On January 9, 2005, the Vikings went into Green Bay and waxed the hated Packers, 31-17. It was the first time the teams had ever met in the post-season, and only the second time Green Bay had ever lost at home in the playoffs; in short, it was a good day.
But since then - nothing. The Timberwolves and Vikings haven’t been to the playoffs since. The Wild was summarily dispatched in its only appearance since 2003, and the Twins were swept in 2006, their only post-season trip in the last three years. If it hadn’t been for the Wild’s lone victory against Anaheim last spring, Minnesota would be completely winless in the playoffs in that three-year span. And it’s not like those years have been quiet, either. Think of the things we’ve had to deal with in the intervening three years: the Love Boat. The Whizzinator. Kevin McHale. KG’s resurgence in Boston. Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. The hockey lockout. Phil Krinkie. Mike Tice. A “kick-ass” offense. The Johan Santana trade saga. But everything is cyclical, right? What goes around comes around and all that? Surely, we must be headed for a renaissance on the local scene. Surely, soon it’ll be our turn to celebrate again. Surely, these three years can’t turn into four or five or ten … can they?
Yes, I think they can. The Vikings aren’t any closer to the ranks of the NFL elite than the day that Brad Childress first carried his mustache into town. The Twins busied themselves this off-season with the arduous task of making their team worse. And the Timberwolves are one of the most horrific
excuses for a professional sports team ever assembled. In short, what team in this group gives you hope for the next three years? The weather is about to turn colder, they say. It’ll be okay today and tomorrow, but then we can wave goodbye to 20 degrees until February or so. The days are short and the sunlight is weak and our toes are frozen, and our best hope for spring — and maybe for 2008 — is a fatally fickle hockey team. Everybody onto the Wild bandwagon; get your Aaron Voros jerseys and your Pavol Demitra foam fingers now. These guys are our last chance for something good. This is our last chance for hope.
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