Most miserable sports cities: We’re No. 10!
Posted on April 14th, 2008 – 11:18 AMBy Michael Rand
Every time a list comes out about the “worst” or “unluckiest” sports cities, we instinctively look for Minneapolis/St. Paul near the top. Maybe it’s just honesty. Maybe there’s some sort of pride in being among the most beaten down of the downtrodden. Maybe we get a bad rap and shouldn’t be at the top at all. That said, there’s a new list out. Granted, it’s by Forbes — the same folks who said Kevin McHale was the best GM in all of sports about a year ago — so take this with a grain of salt, if not a few shots of tequila. Forbes says MSP is the 10th “most miserable” sports city in the U.S., and just like the McHale bit they have a fancy if somewhat nonsensical method to the madness. The money paragraph, though, is fairly damning:
Take away the powerhouse Minneapolis Lakers of 1947 to 1960, and the Twin Cities’ record in final round play drops to 2-7. The Vikings lost four Super Bowls between 1969 and 1976, while hockey’s North Stars and Wild have no Stanley Cups to show for 19 combined playoff appearances.
But that’s all going to change this year next year sometime?
Your thoughts? Are we ranked too high or too low? Are you proud to be miserable? Do you think, as we do, that a community’s expectations of failure (though expressed in a quiet, passive-aggressive manner in Minnesota) contribute to a team’s ultimate doom in the clutch?
120 Responses to "Most miserable sports cities: We’re No. 10!"
The methodology is silly because it doesn’t take everything into account, but is solely based on the premise that the thing that makes a miserable sports fan is getting close and losing. This is a factor - but doesn’t nearly capture all of it.
For example - over the last five years, who has been more miserable, Yankees fans or Devil Rays fans? What’s really worse, losing in the playoffs or having no hope, ever, at all?
Loveboat, Joe Smith Fiasco, losing Santana, Garnett, Moss, North Stars skipping town, Gophers BBall cheating scandal, Malik Sealy, Korey Stringer, Contraction, Kirby Puckett’s early retirement….an oh so many more…there have been many miserable moments in mn sports just in the last 20 years its unbelievable
That list is crap. Do the editors of Forbes also write for Star and National Enquirer? Or maybe they should just stay out of sports.
Philadelphia should probably be #1. Atlanta shouldn’t be on the list at all. The Braves won the division title like 50 years in a row and they still couldn’t even sell out the stadium most nights. You’re automatically disqualified for the list.
San Diego - Even if your team loses, its 80 degrees outside everyday.
Denver was in the World Series last year in a year they barely made the playoffs. How miserable for you.
Seattle probably should be somewhere in that list, especially since the D-bag owner of the Sonics is going to move the team. And he still had the cajones to declare April Fan Appreciation Month. He’s definitely in the lead for D-bag of the year.
That list has upset me. I’m going to go pick a fight over lunch with the first guy I see wearing a bluetooth headset and tell him “This is for the Sonics!”
Do we really care?
Maybe should get the message and just quit pissing money down a hole on new stadiums. Our stong suits in Minnesota are the arts and the environment in we are known to be world class…and which could use the millions of dollars we waste on Pro sports.
jon, i’d definitely say NYY fans are more miserable than rays fans. do the rays even have fans? how can you have any expectations with 29th payroll? it’s $200M losers that crush fans, imo. tampa fans just follow the bucs instead.
Do you think, as we do, that a community’s expectations of failure (though expressed in a quiet, passive-aggressive manner in Minnesota) contribute to a team’s ultimate doom in the clutch?
Yes.
The methodology is silly because it doesn’t take everything into account, but is solely based on the premise that the thing that makes a miserable sports fan is getting close and losing. This is a factor - but doesn’t nearly capture all of it.
Also yes.
Ironically, the Chicago Cubs fans seem to be some of the best fans in all of sports. They always sell out Wrigley Field and the surrounding rooftops. It’s not just about winning the championship. It’s entertainment.
It’s not the sports that make us in MSP/St. Paul miserable. It’s the weather…. It’s April 14th and there is still almost 2 feet of ice on the lakes. That’s all the needs to be said.
We will definitly move up the list if we cannot get a Vikings stadium done and they bolt like the Lakers.
Pretty sure I’d rather cheer for the Yankees over the Rays any day of the week. Am I alone here?
And, for the record, no, I do not believe a community’s expectations have anything to do with the outcome of the game. Am I alone here as well?
To answer Jon’s question in regards to would you rather be a Rays or Yankees fan: I would rather be a Yankees fan because at least when you make the playoffs every year you have hope, and hope springs eternal. Also you have 26 World Series championships to throw in peoples (mainly BoSox fans) faces. I’ll take that any day of the week. The Rays just have no hope at all and I just can’t see them doing anything for a long time.
Wow, and this study doesn’t even take into consideration the pathetic Gopher football and basketball programs. We’d be #1 if college sports factored into the equation.
Hope can do alot for a city, just look at Pittsburgh in the 1970’s. The steel mills were closing left and right and people were in despair but the Steelers and the Pirates (We Are Family) not only gave them hope but they gave them championships.
I love Kansas City. That being said, I would suggest KC is a far more “miserable sports city” than Denver, of all places. Idiots.
Bill Brasky says:
April 14th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Wow, and this study doesn’t even take into consideration the pathetic Gopher football and basketball programs. We’d be #1 if college sports factored into the equation.
HA HA HA HA HA HA Great comment The Golden Gerbals are “PATHETIC”
Wisconsin would be a definite top 10 if they had all their sports in one city. Take away the the Packers glory years in the 60’s and that state hasn’t had much to brag about outside of the ‘96 Super Bowl!
Also, how was the Gophers Bball team pathetic this year? I guess some people don’t watch or pay attention. Gophers football has been mediocre but not pathetic unless you judge the program based on last year alone.
I love the Vikings, but, sad to say, I think they deserve most of the credit for Minnesota sports fans’ misery.
Imagine a Metrodome version of the “Packer Walk of Fame.”
Where would the exhibit start? With the Staubach “Hail Mary”, followed by a video presentation of the numerous — NUMEROUS - - dubious NFL records set against the Vikes, and wrapped up by either the only missed field goal of the season when it really mattered or a lost trip to the playoffs when a touchdown is awarded to an out-of-bounds Arizona Cardinal?
And I’m leaving out more than could ever fit in this space.
There are psychotherapist offices all over the state filled with patients wearing Viking jerseys…
Yes…The state of MN is a joke for sports. If you want a good example, just look to the other side of the St. Croix. Packers are the top franchise in professional sports and the UW Badgers are a national powerhouse in many sports. MN is a JOKE…
These guys lost all credibility with me the second their GM list hit the streets.
These guys lost all credibility the second their GM list hit the streets.
The Gopher hoopsters were not pathetic this year but overall, the program is very medicore at best. They had their nice little run of NCAA appreances in the 90’s with a Final 4 that technically never happened. Aside from Northwestern and Penn State (who joined the Big Ten about 15 years ago) they have the fewest NCAA appearances in the Big Ten. They were a cute litle program for a 6-7 year stretch but other than that….BLAH.
Gopher football has been irrelevant for 40+ years.
You should send Forbes a copy of Rockets book and I bet MSP would gain at least a couple of spots.
Has Rocket gone Big Time and now too “Big” for RB?
Typical East Coast media bias. We suck way more than Philly.
The ranking is right, or even soft, but for the wrong reasons. The number of championships we lose by itself isn’t as big with me. Yeah, we lost 4 super bowls but at least we got there. And the Twins still hold a high place for what they accomplished. But what makes me think we are so pathetic is HOW we lose. Gophers football loosing not one but two games with 30 point leads against ranked teams, not to mention getting their butts kicked by a Div II school (two years in row if you don’t count the score). The Vikes going 15-1 and loosing to a fowl smelling team in the Falcons, (by a missed field goal by a never-miss kicker), Gophers hockey loosing to Holy Cross (Holy Cow). And these are only a few recent ones. A person could write a book on all the games we’ve ‘fumbled’ away in all sports. In the “Book of Phrases”, a picture of the Twins Cities should be next to “Defeat snatched from the jaws of Victory”.
I have to agree with the other Tom, the Cubs have been the perennial (excuse the expression) goat for the last 100 years, yet the fans flock to the maybe soon to be renamed Wrigley Field. The Twins had a great run in 87/91, but not much since and until the new stadium is finished and the owners decide to open their wallets it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon so we’re right where we belong 10th.
It’s Forbes. They said McHale is the best GM in sports. They don’t know shit about anything.
Wisconsin is not even close to a top 10. The Packers have had the best record in football over the past 10 years along with the Patriots. Lambeau has been sold out since the 60s WITHOUT corporate help. The Brewers have had decent attendance and managed not to make Bud Selig’s “contraction” list a few years back (remember that Twins fans???) And even though the Bucks aren’t worth writing home about, they are still better than the lowly Wolves. If you want to bring college sports into it, is there anything that the Gophers have been better than the Badgers in??? And no, hockey doesn’t work because the Badgers have more titles. So bring your battle somewhere else. Just admit it…Wisconsin is better than Minnesota (we even have more lakes!)
I think everyone has made some good comments. I have to say it is a combination of things. Owners, fans, legislature, media etc. There is a mindsset here that always seems to be…”We’ll get em’ next year!” That is a losers mentality. You have to build championship teams from every aspect. From the owners right down to the players. Everyone has to buy into the system or it will not work. In any sport, you need talent and a great coach. I think that holds true for a lot of sports. Take the Vikings for example, Dennis Green, he was a winning coach…but was he a championship coach? Nope. As I stated, It’s a mentality more than anything. And the mentality is, for most sports here, it is to just be good enough. Not lousy…just good enough. NFC North Championships are good enough. Central Division titles are good enough. Winning the NW division is good enough. That notion has to leave this town and right quick! I think this state, this area BREEDS it. Just being good enough. That stuff even permiates the schools. Not keeping score, mercy rule. What’s wrong with winning? I don’t mean winning at all costs either.
But what is wrong with wanting to win? Isn’t that the nature of sport?
Where is the winning mentality?
Minnesota will have less to worry about once the Vikings move because Minnesotans are too stupid and stubborn to build a damn stadium. But then again, by not spending tax money on a stadium, each taxpayer will have just about enough extra money to buy what…a tank of gas and a twelve pack? Well worth it.
LA Lakers’s
LA Vikings
hmmmm……
This got linked on the home page, didn’t it?
Simply put, Minnesota Vikings over the last five years, ten years, fifteen years and twenty years.
Wins Losses Games Percent Years
41 39 80 51.3% 5
88 72 160 55% 10
133 107 240 55.4% 15
178 142 320 55.6% 20
Enough said!!!
Can you imagine the rating if the Goophers were considered!!!
The way I see it is: If one wnats the glamour, limelight, nice weather, media attention, more advertising/marketing potential then you have to want to play in the likes of L.A., Anahiem, Florida, New York, Dallas, etc. If one wants to have less pressure (namely fan pressure and media pressure), a great place to raise kids, less pollution/traffic/crime and better job enviornment as a professional athlete, then Minnesota would be a great place to have a career!
Nuff said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very interesting stat Chris, how did you figure that out. I see we did the best during the Denny Green era.
The dumbest thing the vikings did recently in the past 5 years was get rid of Moss for Troy Williamson. Huuuuh. Enough said
Did you get those stats from NFL.com Chris?
Who gives a rats patootie. Ghesh. The psychos who find find this stuff important are exactly that. Whoooo-hooo. Psycho. Go pay your Grandma a visit and stop worring about over-paid steroid abusers. Seriously
I wonder if Williamson will catch in his career as many touchdowns as Moss caught last year alone.
To get the stats, I simply went to the Vikings website and pulled their records and ran a simple calculation. Basic math.
From cities/regions with all four pro teams, Minnesota has gone the longest since its last title game appearance (Twins in 91). I tried to think who would actually be ranked worse than Minnesota. Seattle has never won anything. Philadelphia has terrible luck. Atlanta rarely wins anything. I’d have to put Minnesota 4th on the list.
I wonder if Williamson will drop as many balls in his career as Moss has career touchdowns?
Cool, thank you Chris.
Viking1 -
There is nothing wrong with being a “homer,” so to say, but get a grip on reality. Trying to say that we Minnesotans are in a better spot than Wisconsinites? C’mon, that’s obsurd and obtuse. For whatever the reason, their mens’ football and basketball are always nationally ranked, they have the Packers who have been to the playoffs and won the North/Central division ten-fold over our Vikings, and the Brewers… well, they have one heck of a stadium to raise all those up-n-comers this year. Minnesota sports suck, period. We (and notice I use we in a context as the majority of us) are as fickle as our spring-time weather in this state. The Gophers have been good at one thing in the past ten years — wrestling — an no one comes out to support them, either.
Stu
How’d you know?
There is one major factor for which Minnesota is at the top of the category for: the most painful element of all - sensationalism and irony. Football: Vikings loss to KC still is perhaps the biggest championship upset in NFL history; Vikings were at the butt-end of Miami’s perfect season; and the Vikings’ loss to Oakland made that team the first wildcard team to ever win the Super bowl. The only saving grace of the MN Vikings super bowl appearances is that the loss to Pittsburgh was “a conventional loss”. Hockey: big-winded egotistical suburbanite snobs go around bragging about MN being “The State of Hockey” — well, how can it be then, that even the piddly ANAHEIM DUCKS have a Stanley Cup after only 5 or so years in the league, whereas Minnesota comes up zilch over almost 50 years?! Not to mention that the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup just a couple of short years AFTER leaving MN! Basketball: The T’Wolves have such a consistent string of disappointing performance, that MN society still treats them essentially like “a new sports franchise” even though they’ve been around almost 20 years now! A concluding comment: if a separate poll was done on losing sports FANBASES, Minnesota would likely be at the top of the list.
skolvikings says:
April 14th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I wonder if Williamson will drop as many balls in his career as Moss has career touchdowns?
I don’t think that would be possible if Williamson gets near 200 dropped passes he will have a very short career
the person who said this is a LOSER:
“… we lost 4 super bowls but at least we got there.”
INVISIBUL CHAMPIONCHIP
FIRE CHILDRESS!
T-JACK 4EVAR!!!!
Heh @ Stu and jama.
To the people who are saying Cubs fans are among the best: I recommend talking to someone from Chicago about that. Yes, Wrigley Field is constantly sold out. But that’s in large part because it’s Wrigley Field. The baseball IQ among the “fans” at Wrigley from game to game has to be among the lowest in the bigs, year in and year out.
Jama: lucky guess. Still, Michael gets a free cookie from participating Subway restaurants when he gets 50 comments, so good on him.
Everyone including myself thought that Young would be way more productive at the plate this year. So far young’s presence at the plate has been anemic at best. So far Young is a long ways away from what hunter is presently doing at the plate
does anyone ever feel sorry for the players we get at the NBA draft
Minnesotans are such losers - they can’t even lose at LOSING! The Buffalo bills lost THEIR four Super Bowls all in a row!
I’m not sure where you get your “facts” but saying the Brewers are better than the Twins based on a stadium is pretty obtuse and ridiculous. Brewers have never won a World Series and haven’t been to the playoffs since 1982. The Vikings have won more division titles than anyone else in our division. In the last 40 years the Packers only have one championship. As for the T-wolves vs. Bucks argument I’d respectfully call that a wash since neither has done much. If Gopher sports are so pathetic then why are they continously ranked in the top 25 for the Sears Cup year over year? And yes I know most people don’t care about anything but football and bball…but let me ask you this…when did the Badgers ever when a national championship in either sport? I would hardly consider Wisconsin a power house in either sport. When I think Big Ten FB I think Michigan and OSU not WI or MN. For Bball it’s Mich St. or Indiana.
Small market, cold weather, tight owners=losing frachises!
We should start doing over/under on when the comment thread will get stupid after a post goes on the home page…
Today it was 12:47 p.m. Congratulations to whoever picked the over…
Really - who cares?
Pro sports by and large are played by a bunch of rich jerks and college sports are played by semi-literate, semi-pros. I’ll take the natural beauty of the state, spending time outside, and if the Twins have a winning season, that’s just a bonus. As for the Vikings - don’t even think about asking me for money for a stadium that will get used how many times in the Fall…. The Gopher football stadium is dumb enough.
MN is Pathetic!: you apparantly forgot a few things in your rant. Wisconsin sucks worse than we do. Packers suck, and will even moreso now that Favre is retired. They haven’t won anything in a decade. How does sellouts make one not suck? according to that the Browns are just fabulous. Brewers suck and the only reason they were not up for contraction is b/c SELIG family owned the team and they just built a brand new stadium.
Your Bucks are also in the Eastern Conference…you know with New York, Philly, New Jersey, Indiana, Charlotte, etc.
Fine lets go college: how far back you want to go? Yes, hockey works..when was the last time UW won back-back anything? oops, suppose you forgot that one. So bring take your horseshit some place else. ‘Sconny sucks…always has, always will. Jeffrey Dahmer.
Do we enjoy our sports teams? Yes. Do we get frustrated at our teams? Yes. Do we lose any sleep over ANY of this? Good God no! Put THAT in your Forbes equation.
Rand, if this doesn’t make you want to have people sign up for WordPress before being able to comment, then God help you.
Jim Carlen with 9 months of cra_ weather here in your beloved Minnesota I have turned to sports as a way to not go stir crazy or mentally insane. Yes some of us do care about sports and do not want to go outside for the whole 2-21/2 months that the weather is tollerable.
I think Buffalo NY should be cities 1-4 on this list. Nobody loses harder.
We should be higher because to me, it’s not just about losing championship games–it’s about actually making it to the championship round. Take the list of cities in North America that have at least 3 of the 4 major sports and then go through it and add up all of the teams that have at least made it to the Finals in their respective sports over the last 10 years. Someone did this already (I wish I had the link to it) and the Twin Cities we’re horribly pathetic. I mean we are down there.
Learn to ski and snowshoe and learn to love snow in April. Ok I’m kidding about the second one. But come on, if you hate the weather, move. Actually ‘arfman’ had it right - follow the sports results, fine - but geeze, keep things in perspective.
YES LETS GO OUT AND WANDER AROUND AND ENJOY THE WARM JANUARY AND FEBRUARY MONTHS OF -12 DOWN HILL SKIING
Metro-Minneapolis a bad sports town? Maybe. Are fans miserable? Probably. Metrodome is home for MLB, NFL, and NCAA Div II Football team. Lakers bailed, No Stars bailed, Kevin’s(ex) Team will never average .500. No wonder the Wild plays in St. Paul. I would just like one team to (1) win a championship and (2) like where they’re playing (as in “stay”) I don’t think it’s ever going to happen in Minneapolis.
<>
Not all US fans of MN teams are like this… who died & made you king?!?
On the days when Boof pitches and it snows in April my odds increase towards shoving my head in a garbafe disposal
On the days when Boof pitches and it snows in April my odds increase towards shoving my head in a garbafe disposal
What is a garbafe disposal and where can I acquire one?
right next to the nock off brands area in a store you know where they sell Hike Shoes and Treebok’s jk Garbage disposal’s
What’s a nock off? Sounds like some sort of decapitation device. And if you ever say jk again, you will be sent back to the third grade and dunked in the kiddie pool.
Just wait until the new Twins Stadium opens. Then we can sit outside in the snow and watch baseball.
knock off brand
UofM2010 says:
April 14th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
What’s a nock off? Sounds like some sort of decapitation device. And if you ever say jk again, you will be sent back to the third grade and dunked in the kiddie pool.
I am way to big to possibly fit in the kiddie pool at 6′5 I dont think my head would go low enough to go below the waters surface
You mean “too” big, right? Third grade might be a good idea so you can learn your to, too, and two again.
I am way to big to possibly fit in the kiddie pool at 6′5 I dont think my head would go low enough to go below the waters surface
Lie face down…problem solved
+1 Dave MN
Here, let me try lying down. No to long to lay down but I tried anyway.
Does Midwestern mean cheap when it comes to sports usually
Does Midwestern mean cheap when it comes to sports
I read the full article and comments on the Forbes Web site. The posters make good, or at least repetitive, cases that Cincinnati, Detroit and/or Kansas City need to be included on any most-miserable-sports-city list. Perhaps we should show some Minnesota nice and graciously sacrifice our spot on the list to make room for one of them.
(To UofM2010: Nix on the spell check. Some of these typos add a whole new — and extremely comical — dimension to their posts)
The Packers are so exciting for the Wisconsin fans, because there isn’t that much else to do in Wisconsin besides watching football.
things should improve for Minnesota sports fans now that Paul Douglas is gone. The guy in my opinion was 100% bad luck.
The Packers are so exciting for the Wisconsin fans, because there isn’t that much else to do in Wisconsin besides watching football.
Drinking Thompson’s Water Seal doesn’t count as “something to do”? Since when?
Who cares? People are losing their jobs and homes right and left. Wages have stagnated for the past 6-7 years. College tuition and loans are going up, up and away, out of the reach of too many people where equal opportunity is “supposed” to be a way of life. We’re spending 12 billion trying to build a democracy in a country that’s been in and out of civil war for 600 years. Time to forget escapism and concentrate on doing something in the next election. VOTE FOR CHANGE.
12 billion A MONTH!
The TC is finally on another ‘bottom ten’ list other than weather! This list is worse in my opinion because I’m not taxed to pay for snow, I’m taxed for stupid stadiums that are loan for rich hoarders who can afford them otherwise. We should feel like we are a miserable sports market not because of our teams records, but our states record of forcing taxpayers to finance these losing programs.
Maybe we should create another lottery to buy better ball players?
I’d take a baseball game over an “art” display like last year’s Walker presentation of tiger poop in a cage. Less conceptual art, more baseball suits me just fine. I say spend more on stadiums! Get the Twins a roof and teach your kids math and physics.
With as Cheap as Carl Pohlad is, and as F’ing stupid as McHale, Wittman and Taylor coupled with the ineptitude of the Brad Childress lead Vikings…
We are aiming for the number 1 spot on that list!
Fire Childress, force Taylor to sell the Twolves, and let’s party in the streets at the inevitability of time in Pohlad’s case… he’s 301 years old… he will eventually shuffle the mortal coil so there is always hope right?
BC Beneke says:
April 14th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
With as Cheap as Carl Pohlad is, and as F’ing stupid as McHale, Wittman and Taylor coupled with the ineptitude of the Brad Childress lead Vikings…
We are aiming for the number 1 spot on that list!
Fire Childress, force Taylor to sell the Twolves, and let’s party in the streets at the inevitability of time in Pohlad’s case… he’s 301 years old… he will eventually shuffle the mortal coil so there is always hope right?
You nailed it BC. I have been preaching this for awhile.
to mn is pathetic I am trying to remember I think our collage wrestling is better than wiscuntsins
I am not from Minnesota or Wisconsin but why is it that Wisconsin’s athletic programs are so much better then the U of M’s
i have wondered for many years wondered why hundred of these nasty people from wisconsin who take the time to read about minnesota sports. living here in las vegas the last 10 years, i think i know a big reason is money. Minnesotan’s make over 15% more in annual income, they have many more doctors per capita which cost less to see ironically. minnesota graduates smarter kids (higher test scores, more teachers per pupil), minnesotan’s are 25% more likely to have a 4-year degree, violent crimes wisconsin is 30% higher!, minnesota’s unemployment rate is 25% higher. these FACT’s are from 2006 from Bert Sperling’s book. Bert Sperling? You know… “Sperling’s best places to live”. Minnesota ranks quite high. Please, if you need to manage your anger, don’t take it out on us, or your wives, or your kids. Stop drinking and see a therapist.
I think if we municipalized the teams, we’d be as happy as Green Bay.
Until then, forgetaboutit.
This thread makes me even more happy I moved out of the midwest. You people struggle.
Arguing on the Internet is like the Special Olympics: Even when you win, you’re still retarded.
Sure the teams are lousy (Gophers, Vikings, Twins, Wolves). But the worst part about Minnesota sports is the fans. The fans in Minnesota are the absolute worst in the country. We get what we deserve, horrible teams, bad facilities, and no winners.
When you’re from Wisconsin and your team wins - you’re still from Wisconsin
Let’s see: how did this become an overpopulated, politically-charged post forum off of some off-color magazine list that completely subjectively names us as #10 on an unqualified scale of emotion over sports failure??
Oh wait, this is the StarTribune and it was on the main page. I forgot that everything has to be about arguing and politics on here and not just a funny blog run by Rand that most of the time has nothing to do with sports whatsoever.
Leave the regulars here be and go back to whining about Nick Coleman and Katherine Kersten.
Hmm…Well at least one team from Minnesota brought home a championship this year…
Winona State men’s basketball, D2 National Champs. It may only be D2, but they are about the only MN team that managed to bring home any trophies this year…
Winning a division 2 title is meaningless. Nobody cares! WSU is lower than the swarm or arena league football. This town has piss poor teams, pathetic facilities, and terrible fans. The Twins should have been contracted and the Vikings should leave town.
I am shocked that we are not ranked #1. I have lived in a few different cities and this is easily the worst.
As long as the teams are making money ther’re isn’t any reason for the owners to produce winners. The players that excel always go to winning teams. The fans fill the stadiums, everybody is happy.
Win or lose, I’m still a fan of all Minnesota sports teams. Count your blessings we have any teams to cheer for. Try living in Omaha or Des Moines, Fargo or Sioux Falls. Not exactly a sports fan paradise. The Vikings, Twins, Wild, Gophers, Stars, Timberwolves have all given me great moments to remember. What bothers me the most about Minnesota fans is most don’t hop on the bandwagon until they win. Take a cue from the Packers and Cubs true fans.
ah yes. but when a MN team wins, the thrill is the greater for it!
To Vikings1:
OK, the Packers don’t have 3 titles in 40 years, but won the first two Super Bowls. And by the way, the Super Bowl trophy is named after ex-Packer coach Vince Lombardi. What tradition do the Vikings have in titles? I think it registers ZERO. A 1000 division titles doesn’t even equal one Super Bowl title.
And you don’t think Badger FB is big time at least in comparison to the Gophers? The Gophers are the last original Big 10 team to get to the Rose Bowl and the Badgers have three Rose Bowl victories between 1994 and 2000.
Also, embarrassing that MN calls itself “State of Hockey” when actually the Badgers have the Gophers beat in NCAA puck titles, 5-4.
Let’s also add that Marquette (Milwaukee) won an NCAA men’s hoop title in 1977 and the Badgers made the NCAA hoop Final Four in 2000. What MN DI hoops team has an NCAA title or has made the Final Four? Like your Vikings in SBs, answer is ZERO! Remember, the 1997 Final Four was taken away from the Gophers, because your paper (Pioneer Press) didn’t support them. Wisconsin has Minnesota whipped!
Three different NCAA teams from Wisonsin have won multiple NCAA basketball games since the Gophers have won a single game.
Three different NCAA teams from Iowa have won NCAA games since the Gophers have won a single game.
Every single Big Ten team has gone to the Rose Bowl since the Gophers have last gone.
The Vikings are a total joke.
The Wolves are a total joke.
The Twins can’t really compete anymore and they will build a small, no roof stadium by the garbage dump. The Garbage Dump!!!
Souhan put it best. The border battle is over. We lost. We lost to Iowa, Wisconsin, even North Dakota.
The mpls/st.paul/mn area should be #1 on that list. Three words:
WORST OWNERSHIP EVER.
And that goes for all sports franchises to ever call this area home. Also the dumbest fans anywhere. Fans here don’t give a crap about winning–don’t even know how to define it. Lookie here folks: if your team loses at any point in the playoff process YOU DIDN’T WIN!!!!! All that matters here is new stadiums. The unnecessary new twins stadium is the all time classic example of how stupid this area is. Pohland craps on the sporting public for almost 30 years even to the point where he tries to eliminate his own team for money. And how does the public respond? By handing him half a billion for a stadium during a time of war, $5.00 dollar a gallan gas and collapsing bridges. Classic.
Throw in perhaps the absolute most corrupt land grant university in the universe and you actually have a winner in something folks.
I would agree that this area is home to the dumbest and cheapest fans.
Cheesewin,
Your argument holds no water. The Badgers outside of hockey have never won a national championship…ever in football or basketball. My argument has always been about championships not who makes the NCAA Tourney or a minor bowl game in football. Even the Gophs have won national championships in football…6 of them to be exact. Alibi they were back when the Packers were winning their championships. The Vikes have won a NFL Championship in 1969 to but again we’re talking a long time ago. Making the Final Four is not making it to the championship game or winning a championship game. Badger football is not “big time”…ask anyone outside of Wisconsin. If Badger football was “big time” you’d be able to consistently beat Michigan and OSU. We both know that hasn’t happened.
What’s really embarrassing is seeing someone from Wisconsin rip on the “state of hockey” when your state can’t even support a NHL hockey team! Oh and by the way those 5 titles won in hockey by the Badgers were won by teams that had Minnesotans on them.
Enjoy the cheese with that whine!
Right on cue, the Twins take it up the @ss tonight. The Wild are sure to follow. Minnesota sucks!
Ah, this thread is kind of fun. I really like it when all the Wisconsin supporters spend their time posting on a Minnesota Web site. I can only assume that most of them do so to get the local news in the city/state that they moved to for some reason…
This thread is pathetic for so many reasons, not the least of which is GrimMNreality.
Grim, your post would have been very insulting - if it weren’t factually wrong.
Yes, the Raiders were the first wild card team to win the super bowl. But they did that in 1980-81 beating the Eagles. The Raiders won the division the year they beat the Vikings by going 13-1.
Also, yes, the Vikings lost a super bowl to Miami. But the year the Dolphins went undefeated they beat the Redskins in the Super Bowl. The Dolphins and the Vikings both had 12-2 records the year they played in the Super Bowl.
Yes, Grim, you can look both of those facts up.
Grim, there is much fun to be made at the expense of Minnesota sports. So many opportunities. And yet when you try, you fail miserably. Perhaps you should take a look at yourself in the mirror.
Vikings 1:
If it’s all about MAJOR titles, then why in your first statement were you gloating about numerous Viking DIVISION titles? You’re wrong about Wisconsin never winning a national title outside of hockey. The Badgers won a national basketball title in 1941. Yes, it’s old news, but you said “NEVER.”
As far as Wisconsin not having the NHL, it doesn’t bother me, because NHL’s TV ratings are lower than “Munster” re-runs. Also, the Vikings’ 1969 NFL Championship was still a runner-up year, as they lost the Big One to Kansas City. And while that may be true the Badgers had Minnesotan’s on their run to NCAA puck titles, Gopher football won NCAA titles with many great black out-of-staters as well. Yes, Minnesotan’s contributed, but won back then because the black studs they recruited were not accepted elsewhere. Today, blacks can play anywhere.
If the state of professional athletic events in the Twin Cities was the 10th worst (of 10 or of 100?)the evaluation did not include the money made or the time area residents have committed to focusing on the events. The Tribune and the Pioneer Press would go broke if they were only read by people wanting to know current events that might actually affect their lives. Professional sports is second only to weather for water cooler conversation by men and boys, regardless of the quality of play by local teams. That may be a sign of wasteful lives, or of contentment with trivia, but pro sports gets a lot of people from day to day.
Calm down everyone. Coach Burns, er, I mean coach childress with all the talent he has on this team is going to bring a much needed “Super Bowl” to the Twin cities this coming year. And No, I’m not just trying to sell “Hope” as the “Anchor”(foundation, if you will) of KFAN radio, The Common Man, often says. Coach Childress will definitelly use both Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson on the field at the same time, so as not to let the defense know who he’s going to hand off to and He’s also going to use peterson as a slot receiver at the same time Taylors in the backfield to spread the defense. You see, last year Coach Childress was just trying to throw everyone off that he really wasn’t to smart but this year, He’s going to get serious and use the Best running back in the game wisely. You’ll have to ask “Common Man” if this belongs in the “Hope Store” or not.
Cheesewine,
My comment about division titles was to the guy called “realist” who said that the Packers have “tenfold” as many division titles as the Vikes. Just to clarify.
I’m not sure what race has to do with titles…why bring that up? Comparing Minnesotans playing on a Wisconsin hockey team to blacks playing on Gophers football teams is a very thin argument.
Thanks for clarifying the 1941 Bball title.
Also, an NFL Championship is an NFL Championship whether it was Packers winning it in 1962 or the Vikes in 1969…just not the Super Bowl. This was before the merger of the AFL/NFL.
I think its hillarious that you have people from Wisconsin on this board trying to bash Minnesota. LOL, where are you all working? Why are you on a Minnesota site? Could it be because you need Minnesota? Hahahahahahaha
