Thursday, August 30, 2007

Navigating the Viking Projections

This year has offered Viking fans an experience we haven't had in a long time.

Nobody is picking the Vikings to do anything this year.

I've already read a lot of previews and predictions. Most prognosticators have the Vikes under .500, in third or fourth place in the NFC North. Some have predicted the Vikings to be among the worst teams in the league. With the exception of some Viking fan bloggers, I have not seen any writers projecting the Vikings with a division title, a playoff appearance, or even a winning record.

While this is somewhat disheartening (I can't help but think the entire rest of the football watching world must be onto something), I'm really not sure we should care. Since I've been following the Vikings closely, I've seen both Dr. Z and Peter King predict the Vikings in the Super Bowl. Randy Moss was on the cover of Sports Illustrated's NFL preview once; Daunte Culpepper was featured prominently in ESPN the Magazine's NFL preview in a different year. Several years the Vikings were seen as an emerging contender in the NFC. I've seen dozens (possibly hundreds, but I try to avoid hyperbole) of predictions for division titles in the last five years.

None of those predictions of good things for the Vikings were correct. And so it is entirely possible that all of these predictions of bad things for the Vikings will be just as incorrect.

The optimistic preseason predictions we read for the previous five years weren't worth my toilet brush. Here's hoping all the pessimistic predictions we're reading now aren't worth my plunger.

These are the things I tell myself as I mull over whether to purchase season tickets tomorrow.

4 comments:

  1. Who knows what the Vikes will do this season.Sundays ill set aside for watching football regardless of the outcome.A pile of socks stacked on the middle cushion of couch.Kids 1 side me on the other. Havent figured out if kids hang out for the chips,pop or the sock throwing though.But they do enjoy hearing football tonight on big T.V. so maybe a mixture of it all.

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  2. Anonymous1:12 PM

    sportswriters have no clue about what will happen two minutes from now much less three months. a bunch of idiots masquerading as mystics.

    rk

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  3. Anonymous5:20 PM

    I have the Vikings as the NFC with the 6th best probability of making it to the NFC Championship Game! If that's any consolation.

    But they'll only win 8-9 games.

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  4. Anonymous5:21 PM

    *team*

    NFC team.

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