Another truly horrible day for Minnesota sorts fans!

Otis

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Lots of experts were picking the Vikings to threaten for the Super Bowl and Teddy goes down in a non-contact injury for the season.

Same day, the no.2 ranked basketball recruit in the state commits to Texas.

Have there been worse days in Minnesota sports? I can't think of any right now.

Kirby Puckett waking up with no vision in one of his eyes? The Stars Canadian owner moving them to fricking Texas!

Tim Brewster being hired? Lou Holtz taking his recruits to Notre Dame?

What is your worst day in Minnesota sports?
 

Prior to this it was a field goal kicked wide to the left in The Bank.

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Yesterday isn't in the top 100 for bad Minnesota sports days. Not even close.
 

I feel bad for Teddy. Knee injuries suck, but Adrian Peterson can probably give him rehab pointers. Adrian seemed to rebound pretty well from his knee injury.

Like Mike Zimmer said yesterday, "Seven years ago, my wife died. The sun still came up, people still went to work. We will get through this."

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Didn't the Clem Haskins academic scandal story break the same day that Stephon Marbury asked out of Minnesota? If they did, that would be my vote. Forever altered two "franchises".
 

Didn't the Clem Haskins academic scandal story break the same day that Stephon Marbury asked out of Minnesota? If they did, that would be my vote. Forever altered two "franchises".

Wow, good memory. Per google Marbury was traded to the Nets on March 10...Clem story appeared the following morning.

Since learning his moves on the asphalt courts of Brooklyn, Stephon Marbury has dreamed of playing in New York as a pro.
He's happy to settle for a few miles outside Manhattan.

Marbury joined the New Jersey Nets Friday, eager to reach his lofty basketball goals just outside the city called the "Mecca of Basketball."

Hours before the Nets' game against Philadelphia -- about a dozen exits south on the New Jersey Turnpike -- Marbury was introduced at a news conference with his mother and father seated in the front row. A day after being traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a nine-player deal, Marbury signed a $70.9 million, six-year contract with the Nets and proclaimed his lifelong dreams fulfilled.
 

Wow, good memory. Per google Marbury was traded to the Nets on March 10...Clem story appeared the following morning.

Since learning his moves on the asphalt courts of Brooklyn, Stephon Marbury has dreamed of playing in New York as a pro.
He's happy to settle for a few miles outside Manhattan.

Marbury joined the New Jersey Nets Friday, eager to reach his lofty basketball goals just outside the city called the "Mecca of Basketball."

Hours before the Nets' game against Philadelphia -- about a dozen exits south on the New Jersey Turnpike -- Marbury was introduced at a news conference with his mother and father seated in the front row. A day after being traded by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a nine-player deal, Marbury signed a $70.9 million, six-year contract with the Nets and proclaimed his lifelong dreams fulfilled.

Thanks for doing the checking Maximus. Not technically the same day but I vividly remember sitting in my car listening to talk radio thinking "are you kidding me" as they were discussing both stories.
 



Thanks for doing the checking Maximus. Not technically the same day but I vividly remember sitting in my car listening to talk radio thinking "are you kidding me" as they were discussing both stories.

same 24 hour period! Good one!
 

Name them

I'm not ranking them 1-100, but here are some off the top of my head. This took me a few minutes to think of. I can add 75 more easily with a bit more time.

Ganglegate same day as MEbury forced trade
Vikes SB loss #1
Vikes SB loss #2
Vikes SB loss #3
Vikes SB loss #4
Vikes loss to Cowboys on Pearson push off
Black Sunday loss to Falcons
OT loss to Saints
41-0 in Giants
Korey Stringer death
Kirby death
Kirby forced retirement
Malik Sealy death
Flip death
Herb Brooks death
Madison rape scandal
U forced to forfeit games
Monson loss to Clemson at home
Monson teams getting swept by 3 bad teams in tournament
Sex Tape
Mega Tongue
Gary Tinsley death
83 points allowed to Nebraska in football
Holtz bolting in middle of night
Norm Green sucks, moves North Stars
Assuming we are using Jericho Sims as a reason why this was in part a bad day, then we have to have separate days for losing each of the following recruits who were all more significant than Sims: El-Amin, Tyus, Vaughn, Reid Travis, Joe Mauer to Fla St, Larry Fitzgerald, Cole, (I could go on and on here, as losing a Top 50 recruit is not good, but we've had much worse on recruiting)
AP season long suspension and black eye
Love Boat
Passing twice on Flynn
Iowa fans carrying goal posts out of Dome after humiliating us

Every single one of those days were worse for MN sports than yesterday.
 

Yesterday is hard to rank, because we'll never really know what the 2016 Vikings might have been. If it had happened in week 17 when they were already 13-2, it would be far more devastating.

For me, I'll probably always say the day in 1997 when the first major Twins stadium bill failed. It went from 'they're getting a new stadium, we're just haggling over details' to 'they're moving to NC' within about 6 hours. Gangelhoff/Marbury day #2. 1998 Vikings #3. 2003 Michigan #4. I can't believe no one listed it yet.
 

I'm not ranking them 1-100, but here are some off the top of my head. This took me a few minutes to think of. I can add 75 more easily with a bit more time.

Ganglegate same day as MEbury forced trade
Vikes SB loss #1
Vikes SB loss #2
Vikes SB loss #3
Vikes SB loss #4
Vikes loss to Cowboys on Pearson push off
Black Sunday loss to Falcons
OT loss to Saints
41-0 in Giants
Korey Stringer death
Kirby death
Kirby forced retirement
Malik Sealy death
Flip death
Herb Brooks death
Madison rape scandal
U forced to forfeit games
Monson loss to Clemson at home
Monson teams getting swept by 3 bad teams in tournament
Sex Tape
Mega Tongue
Gary Tinsley death
83 points allowed to Nebraska in football
Holtz bolting in middle of night
Norm Green sucks, moves North Stars
Assuming we are using Jericho Sims as a reason why this was in part a bad day, then we have to have separate days for losing each of the following recruits who were all more significant than Sims: El-Amin, Tyus, Vaughn, Reid Travis, Joe Mauer to Fla St, Larry Fitzgerald, Cole, (I could go on and on here, as losing a Top 50 recruit is not good, but we've had much worse on recruiting)
AP season long suspension and black eye
Love Boat
Passing twice on Flynn
Iowa fans carrying goal posts out of Dome after humiliating us

Every single one of those days were worse for MN sports than yesterday.

Do you mean passing twice on Curry?
 




I would also add Jerry Kill taking his first ever loss at Minnesota when leading at halftime, against our rival with a bid to Indy on the line. Losing Jericho Sims stinks, but I'm not a Vikings fan, and I would guess Teddy's injury is a much bigger deal for most Minnesota sports fans. Does the average Vikings fan even know who Jericho Sims is?
 

David Cobb got cut too yesterday

...and don't forget the Twins' 12th consecutive loss. Quite a day.

They were talking on the radio of the all-time most heartbreaking occurrences in Viking history. El Amin covers them in laundry list format above, but which ones are the worst? Here are my top five in reverse order:

5. Korey Stringer's death. A different kind of heartbreak and could easily be number one. The shock and the horror are still with me, so much that the Bridgewater episode yesterday dredged up the memory.
4. 2009 conference title game loss to the Saints. Only ranks behind #3 because the Vikes were on the road and not favored, so it shattered fewer and less intense dreams.
3. 1998 conference title game loss to the Falcons. That's where this f***er went from snakebit to cursed.
2. The "Hail Mary" loss to the Cowboys - divisional round, 1975. Still too painful; don't want to talk about it.
1. Vikes lay an egg in Superbowl IV. Only the top spot in retrospect, however. At the time, there was no reason to believe the team wouldn't rebound and be the dominant team of the 70's. But they were never favored in a Superbowl again. Because of this after-the-fact and ongoing realization, this one is the gift that keeps on giving.

Honorable mentions:
- Last second loss to the Cardinals, Week 17, 2003. Has all the bells and whistles including that it let the Packers into the playoffs.
- 1987 conference title game loss to the Redskins. Worth noting: even if Disco Darren had caught that pass, he might not have gotten across the goal line, and if he had, they still would have lost in OT.
 

I feel bad for Bridgewater because he really does seem like a good person, but all those those heartbreaks and the Zyg's greed have pretty much cured me of giving a damn about the Vikings. Sticking to the Gophers: learning Kill was resigning, Mason blowing that huge lead against Michigan, Pryzbilla quitting the day after the Gophers beat Indiana, Lou Hudson breaking his hand, and the brawl against Ohio State were way more painful to me along with the previously mentioned Gopher bad days.

Oh, and as much as I dislike the little b*stard now, I'd have to put learning Holtz was leaving us for Notre Dame as a really bad day also.
 

I would also add Jerry Kill taking his first ever loss at Minnesota when leading at halftime, against our rival with a bid to Indy on the line. Losing Jericho Sims stinks, but I'm not a Vikings fan, and I would guess Teddy's injury is a much bigger deal for most Minnesota sports fans. Does the average Vikings fan even know who Jericho Sims is?

Yeah, I'm not sure Sims even cracks the top 5 recruiting misses of the last 20 years. It certainly never seemed like we had him, the way it was for Reid Travis, etc. That was a much bigger kick in the gut.
 

- 1987 conference title game loss to the Redskins. Worth noting: even if Disco Darren had caught that pass, he might not have gotten across the goal line, and if he had, they still would have lost in OT.

I'm pretty sure it would have been a first down though!

It's hard to find days where two things happened that day. I know there are more crushing moments, 2009 we had like 600 yards total offense in that game and still lost!(5 or 6 turnovers didn't help) 1998 when Denny told them to take a frickin knee! And of course the "Drew Pearson push-off" play which I refuse to call a Hail Mary.

I was just saying it was a bad day for Minny fans.
 

I would also add Jerry Kill taking his first ever loss at Minnesota when leading at halftime, against our rival with a bid to Indy on the line. Losing Jericho Sims stinks, but I'm not a Vikings fan, and I would guess Teddy's injury is a much bigger deal for most Minnesota sports fans. Does the average Vikings fan even know who Jericho Sims is?

As a Gopher basketball fan, I had no idea who Jericho Sims is until this morning.

I'm way more distraught over The Big 10 closing than losing him to Texas. Not even close.
 

A few thoughts:

1965: Twins lose 7th gm of World Series to Dodgers needs to be somewhere on the list.

The Vikes loss in the Super Bowl against the Chiefs was definitely a shock. Back then, the NFL was seen as superior to the AFL, and the Vikes' defense was expected to dominate the game.

The Drew Pearson push-off game was equally shocking, due to the manner of how the game ended.

I think the announcement of the North Stars leaving for Dallas has to be up there - losing a pro sports Franchise is pretty d*mn significant, especially for the "state of hockey."

I think the big difference with Teddy is that it happened in an era of social media, twitter, instant reaction and the internet. I saw the first tweet about the injury, and I heard a co-worker start swearing almost simultaneously.
 

...and don't forget the Twins' 12th consecutive loss. Quite a day. They were talking on the radio of the all-time most heartbreaking occurrences in Viking history. El Amin covers them in laundry list format above, but which ones are the worst? Here are my top five in reverse order: 5. Korey Stringer's death. A different kind of heartbreak and could easily be number one. The shock and the horror are still with me, so much that the Bridgewater episode yesterday dredged up the memory. 4. 2009 conference title game loss to the Saints. Only ranks behind #3 because the Vikes were on the road and not favored, so it shattered fewer and less intense dreams. 3. 1998 conference title game loss to the Falcons. That's where this f***er went from snakebit to cursed. 2. The "Hail Mary" loss to the Cowboys - divisional round, 1975. Still too painful; don't want to talk about it. 1. Vikes lay an egg in Superbowl IV. Only the top spot in retrospect, however. At the time, there was no reason to believe the team wouldn't rebound and be the dominant team of the 70's. But they were never favored in a Superbowl again. Because of this after-the-fact and ongoing realization, this one is the gift that keeps on giving. Honorable mentions: - Last second loss to the Cardinals, Week 17, 2003. Has all the bells and whistles including that it let the Packers into the playoffs. - 1987 conference title game loss to the Redskins. Worth noting: even if Disco Darren had caught that pass, he might not have gotten across the goal line, and if he had, they still would have lost in OT.

Losing a home playoff game by missing a 27 yard field goal has gotta be on the list. Also can reserve a special spot for the Herschel trade.
 

I'd add the following to the top 100.
- Wolves get the 3rd spot in the 1992 draft lottery
- Morneau gets a knee in the head during an MVP year.
- Mauer concussion moves him from behind the plate
- Archambault decks El-Amin
- Liriano blows out his elbow after outpitching Cy Young winner Johan Santana down the stretch of 06.
- Jason Kubel tears up his knee
 

Only one mention of Michigan 2003? Without question that's tops for me. Waiting FOREVER the see the Gophers beat Michigan, and when its finally within reach.......WHAM!!! The Vikings failures in 98 and 09 were brutal, but man, 2003....ouch. Also worth a mention is the Wisky game on 2005 and Gopher Hockey vs. Holy Cross. Please, please, please beat UW this year and start the healing!!
 

I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread...depressing memories. For me the worst day ever was the day of the NFC Championship game loss to the Falcons. I can still recount 5-6 plays off the top of my head that were total flukes and or easily preventable Viking mistakes that had any one of those plays not happened exactly how they happened the Vikings were in the Super Bowl and if they won would have gone down as the Offensive version of the '85 Bears: You had the decision to try to put more points on the board before halftime which lead to a Cunningham fumble and a Falcons late score, you had Robert Smith run out of bounds several times on the drive before the Anderson miss, thanks to NFL films years later we found out that before the Anderson kick, Cris Carter lobbied during a timeout for the 3rd down play to be a pass instead of a run, of course you have the Anderson miss, then you have Hitchcock inexplicably letting a receiver behind him for a big gain on the ensuing Falcons drive, then you had Griffin drop the game sealing interception, in OT you have Cunningham badly, BADLY under throw a wide open Moss on what would have been a game ending TD...Moss literally had to come to a complete stop and try to come back for the ball, finally the Falcons big play in OT to set up the FG occurred because the Vikings had so many injuries to their linebackers during the game that they had to put an injured guy back on the field (Dixon Edwards or Bobby Houston)who then got beat by TE OJ Santiago.

It wasn't the worst day at the time, but the Eric Harris injury during the 97 Tournament ranks extremely highly in hindsight. Not having Harris was huge against Kentucky and the Gophers were a terrible match up for Arizona with the size and strength of Thomas and James inside and Jackson/Harris would have matched up well with Bibby/Simon. I was so happy to see a Final Four at the time that I was disappointed with the loss but ecstatic with the season. Going two decades without even a Sweet 16 appearance makes me think back with regret about that bad luck more.
 

Timberwolves miseries are numerable, but the Sam Cassell injury in the 2004 playoffs cost us a trip to the Finals with an in his prime KG. The back-up point guard went down too and we ended up seeing Garnett forced to bring the ball up the court, pass off, establish himself in the post, get the ball back and run the offense against a double team. I hate the Lakers.
 

It wasn't the worst day at the time, but the Eric Harris injury during the 97 Tournament ranks extremely highly in hindsight. Not having Harris was huge against Kentucky and the Gophers were a terrible match up for Arizona with the size and strength of Thomas and James inside and Jackson/Harris would have matched up well with Bibby/Simon. I was so happy to see a Final Four at the time that I was disappointed with the loss but ecstatic with the season. Going two decades without even a Sweet 16 appearance makes me think back with regret about that bad luck more.

That's why I can't watch a replay of the Clemson game, even though it was a great and legendary game. Harris' injury essentially put a stop to the Gophs' national title run. Talk about an easily preventable mistake: had Quincy Lewis made one or two of his free throws with 8 seconds left in regulation, Clemson would probably not have tied the game, and Harris would not have been injured in overtime.
 

Kentucky played that final 4 without the SEC player of the year as they had lost him to injury. WORST days for me would be finding out Clem Haskins regime was fraught with fraud and corruption and the Vikings losing at home to the Falcons.
 


It wasn't the worst day at the time, but the Eric Harris injury during the 97 Tournament ranks extremely highly in hindsight. Not having Harris was huge against Kentucky and the Gophers were a terrible match up for Arizona with the size and strength of Thomas and James inside and Jackson/Harris would have matched up well with Bibby/Simon. I was so happy to see a Final Four at the time that I was disappointed with the loss but ecstatic with the season. Going two decades without even a Sweet 16 appearance makes me think back with regret about that bad luck more.

Given that we were playing Kentucky, I figure 8-on-5 on the level we normally experience in Madison would have kicked in if we'd had a lead. Even so, it's hard not to wonder how close we would have come with Harris.
 




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