How Minnesota fans have suffered through 32 years of heartbreak

Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff WriterJan 25, 2024, 06:00 AM ET

CloseKevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia. You can follow him via Twitter @SeifertESPN.

THE BALL SAILED off Gene Larkin’s bat and over the Atlanta Braves’ drawn-in outfield as teammate Dan Gladden jogged home to score the winning run of the 1991 World Series, the Minnesota Twins’ second championship in five seasons.

The notoriously raucous Metrodome, with a crowd of 55,118, erupted.

At that particular moment, there was so much to anticipate in Minnesota sports. The Twins appeared on the verge of a dynasty. The NHL’s North Stars were fresh off an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. The NBA had recently returned to the market after a 30-year absence, in the form of the expansion Timberwolves. Super Bowl XXVI was to be played in the Metrodome in January 1992, followed by the men’s basketball Final Four that spring and golf’s U.S. Open that summer.

“It was Minnesota sports Camelot,” said Twins president/CEO Dave St. Peter, an intern for the team in 1991.

Twins fans wave their homer hankies at the Atlanta Braves during the 1991 World Series at Fulton County Stadium. Focus on Sport via Getty Images

Alas, the end of Camelot came quickly. Since that moment, none of Minnesota’s four major pro sports teams — MLB’s Twins, NBA’s Timberwolves, NHL’s North Stars (later the Wild) and the NFL’s Vikings — have advanced to a championship series or Super Bowl, much less won. The span of 32 title-free years, extended at times via comically unlikely scenarios, is the longest active streak among the nation’s 13 markets with all four leagues present. It’s a decade longer than the next-most starved market in Arizona.

The malaise, elevated further in the national sphere by the Detroit…

Source link : https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39378335/minnesota-vikings-twins-wild-timberwolves-fans-suffer-heartbreak

Author : Kevin Seifert

Publish date : 2024-01-25 11:00:21

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