A botched punt, blocked and taken in for a touchdown. A blocked field goal, snuffing out hopes for a win in the waning seconds. A four-loss season, with two of them to the Purple People Eaters. A 13-game losing streak to those football Nordsmen.
The Minnesota Vikings come to town this Sunday, and again they are dominating the Lions. Not all that tough to do nowadays, I know, but they still have the Lions' number more than the Packers or Bears. It's something like 10 out of 12 now, and counting. Unlike the Packers, who the Lions can't beat on the road but can beat, occasionally, in Detroit, the Vikings beat the Lions no matter where they play the games.
That's exactly what the Vikings did from 1968-74: beat the Lions, no matter where. No matter how. No matter what kind of team the Lions fielded -- which sometimes were pretty good back then. Thirteen times in a row.
The Lions, from 1969-72, were highly competitive. In those four seasons, they went 9-4-1; 10-4; 7-6-1; and 8-5-1. But darned if they couldn't beat the damn Vikings in any of those seasons. Usually it was something flukey, as I mentioned in the opening paragraph. Sometimes the Lions just got the tar beat out of them. But mostly the games were close -- and always with the Vikes coming out on top.
I hold no team in the entire NFL with more hatred than I do the Minnesota Vikings. And it started in 1970, my first season following Lions football. Detroit had that glittering 10-4 record, but two of the losses were to Minnesota, who won the Central Division with a 12-2 mark. Yet the Lions, had they been able to get past Dallas in the playoffs, would have played the 49ers in the conference championship instead, because San Francisco beat Minnesota in the other playoff game. But the Lions lost that bizarre, maddening 5-0 game to the Cowboys, dashing any Super Bowl hopes.
The Vikings were always finishing first, the Lions were always finishing second, and it was largely because the latter could never beat the former.
FINALLY, it ended. It was in 1974, in Minnesota. Looking up the score, I find it to be 20-16, Detroit. I remember Lem Barney intercepting a pass in the end zone to salt it away. The Lions had their first win over the Vikings since December, 1967!
Crazy things are still happening in this long series. Remember a few years ago, when Pal Joey Harrington led a stirring fourth quarter drive, only to have the Lions botch the extra point snap? Or how about last year in Minnesota, when the Lions had the Vikings beaten and their crowd silent late in the third quarter, before imploding in the final 18 minutes?
The Vikings are coming to town and you'd better be prepared for anything. Because that's pretty much what's been served up when these teams get it on. It's just that most of the bad stuff has happened to the boys in Honolulu Blue and Silver.
I hate the Vikings. Always have. Always will. Somehow I doubt there's a Minnesota blogger who hates the Lions; after all, why would you hate someone you can routinely count on for two wins every season?
3 comments:
I knew someday we'd have to have a parting of opinion. I grew up a Vikings fan and remember always rubbing it in to my neighbor, the Lions fan, year after year. It even continued after I left the state and got married. I'd send him sympathy cards a couple times a year. Now I suppose I'll have to add you to my sympathy card list. ~grin~
and thanks for reminding me, I need to go change my Pigskin pick'ems choice for Det-Minn. The purple one's will reign again...
OK, so the Lions won, congratulations. But the spread was 3.5 ~grin~
Now I'll go wait by the mail box for the cards to start pouring in...
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