The Agony Of Being A Minnesota Sports Fan

Most people think the futility lies with just the Vikings. It's much much deeper.

Being born in 1984 and growing up in a sports household outside of Minneapolis, I have witnessed years of sports futility. I was not aware of the 1987 Twins World Series, and was in 1st grade when the Twins won their 2nd and (to this day) final World Series Championship. After 1991, the 4 professional sports team that I have a reserved seat on the bandwagon have hit the skids, had spin outs, and sometimes are just thrown it in reverse.

A lot of people think that futility means not winning a championship. Oh no... it's much deeper than that. It's having the tools to win a championship only to watch it slip through the fingers that develops more and more agony.

Below is the list of 27 years that is the agony of being a Minnesota professional sports fan.

Key: Vikings in Purple, Twins in Red, Timberwolves in Blue, Wild in Green

• 1991: Twins win second World Series. None of the 4 Minnesota teams have played for a championship since.
• 1996: Timberwolves draft Ray Allen (Current all-time 3 point field goal leader) immediately trade him for Stephon Marbury
• 1998: 15-1 Vikings lose NFC Championship game on Gary Anderson's 39 yard field goal miss. Anderson was perfect on field goals and point after touchdowns until this kick.
• 2000: Vikings lose NFC Championship game 41-0 to the New York Giants.
• 2002: Twins win division, lose to Angels in ALCS.
• 2002: Wild swept by Anaheim in Western Conference Finals.
• 1997-2003: Timberwolves lose in the first round of the NBA Playoffs for 7 straight seasons.
• 2003: David Ortiz leaves Twins for the Red Sox. (After leaving the Twins, he went on to become a 10 time all-star, 3 time World Series Champion, World Series MVP, 7 time Silver Slugger winner, American League Home Run Leader, and 3 time Runs Batted In Champion.)
• 2003: Arizona Cardinals wide receiver, Nate Poole, hauled in a last-second touchdown to knock the Vikings out of the playoffs.
• 2004: Timberwolves guard, Sam Cassell, hurts hip while doing a taunting dance allowing the Lakers to beat the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.
• 2004: Twins win division and lose to the Yankees in the ALDS.
• 2005: Randy Moss traded to Oakland for the 7th overall pick. The Vikings use that pick to draft Troy Williamson. (In 3 seasons, Williamson caught just 3 touchdowns.)
• 2006: Twins win the division with the Cy Young award winner (Johan Santana) and the AL MVP/Batting Champion (Joe Mauer) only to be swept in the first round by the Oakland A's.
• 2007: Timberwolves are forced to trade Kevin Garnett to the Celtics who won a championship 2 years later.
• 2008: Wild win their first division title and lose to the Avalanche in the first round.
• 2009: Timberwolves draft both Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn over Steph Curry (2 time MVP and soon to be 3 point career leader) and DeMar DeRozan (4 time NBA All-Star)
• 2009: Twins win division in the 163rd game of the season only to be swept by the Yankees in the first round. 
• 2010: Vikings advance to the NFC Championship game and lose to the Saints amidst "Bountygate" where Saints players were being paid to injure players. Favre throws across his body for a late interception that allowed the game to go to overtime instead of attempting a last second field goal.)
• 2010: Timberwolves draft Wesley Johnson (no significant stats) over DeMarcus Cousins (4 time NBA All-Star), Gordon Howard (1 time NBA All-Star), and Paul George (4 time NBA All-Star).
• 2010: Twins win division and are swept by the Yankees in the ALDS.
• 2011: Vikings draft Christian Ponder 12th overall.
• 2011: Timberwolves have the worst record in the NBA and missed the number 1 overall pick due to the draft lottery. (Drafted Derrick Williams at number 2 instead of the number 1 overall pick, Kyrie Irving.
• 2012: Adrian Peterson misses the single season rushing record by just 9 yards. Vikings lose to the Packers in the first round of the playoffs.
• 2014: Wild lose to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2nd round of the playoffs.
• 2015: Wild lose to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2nd round of the playoffs. 
• 2016: Vikings lose to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs on a Blair Walsh missed 27 yard field goal.
• 2017: Wild set franchise record in points and lose in the first round to the St. Louis Blues.
• 2017: Twins blow a 3-0 lead to the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game.
• 2018: Vikings are blown out in NFC Championship game one week after the Minneapolis Miracle with the chance to be the first team to play in a Super Bowl at home. Vikings lose this game 38-7.

 To be clear, this isn't just sour grapes. This is just a list to let the casual fan understand the size of the monkey that's on the back of die hard pro Minnesota sports fans. Yes, the Lynx are the most dominate team in WNBA history, but sorry, the taste just isn't as sweet.