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January 22, 2010

Long-suffering Vikings fans optimistic for Sunday

By Chad Courrier Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — Mike Willaert vividly remembers walking into the Metrodome on Jan. 17, 1999, fired up to watch his Minnesota Vikings take on Atlanta in the NFC Championship game.

“There was so much enthusiasm walking in,” he said. “We were the favorites to win, and the game was going well. Then things took a turn before halftime, and we lost. I’m just getting done with therapy now. Thanks for bringing that up.”

That 30-27 overtime loss, plus the 41-0 egg the Vikings laid against New York in the NFC Championship game two years later, has made Willaert, a longtime Vikings fans from Mankato, a little hesitant to go all-in emotionally for Sunday’s conference title game at New Orleans.

“I’m optimistic,” he said. “I think this is our year.”

Lon Anderson, another long-suffering fan from North Mankato, shares the cautious optimism. The conservative approach that the Vikings took against the Falcons keeps him from forgetting the past and fully investing in Sunday’s game.

“When we took a knee (late in the first half), I just looked around at (other fans),” Anderson said. “That’s not the way we played all year. Then when Gary Anderson  missed (the potential winning field goal), I thought that was a bad omen.”

It’s an interesting psychology that sports’ fans share. There are fatalistic fans who always fear the worst, sometimes so much that they can’t enjoy the present. There are those that have been burned in the past and won’t enjoy a game until the outcome has been decided.

And there are still fans that wildly celebrate the team’s achievements, unafraid of the letdown accompanied by losing. Season ticketholders Mike Sieberg and Jerry Wegman have been in this spot before.

Sieberg, who’ll be watching the game from a metro-area hotel because of a Monday morning flight, has broken down how the Vikings can make the fifth Super Bowl in organization history.

“If we can get 100 yards from Adrian Peterson and no turnovers, we should win,” Sieberg said. “If we play like we did against Dallas, if we can get through the crowd noise, we should win.”

Wegman thought he had tickets for Sunday’s game, but that connection fell through. He’s pretty confident he can secure Super Bowl tickets when the Vikings win the NFC Championship game.

“I’m really excited to get to the Super Bowl,” Wegman said. “From the day they brought (Brett) Favre in, I think this is our game. When we beat the Giants (in the regular-season finale) and beat the Cowboys, I knew we could go all the way.”



Chad Courrier is a Free Press staff writer. To contact him, call 507-344-6353 or e-mail at ccourrier@ mankatofreepress.com.

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