Can Minnesota United succeed where Vikings and others have failed?

A very odd 2020 Major League Soccer season was on the verge of having an even stranger conclusion: A major Minnesota men's professional team was just minutes away from advancing to the championship round of its league — something the Twins, Wild, Vikings and Timberwolves haven't done, let alone win it all, in the three decades since the Twins were crowned World Series champs in 1991.

But then the very familiar happened: Minnesota United, playing on fumes against a better-rested and favored opponent, couldn't hold a 2-0 lead. Seattle drew within 2-1 in the 75th minute, pulled even in the 89th and scored the winner in stoppage time, ending the Loons' season and memorable playoff run just short of the MLS Cup Final.

I talked to both Star Tribune beat writer Jerry Zgoda and new Loons midfielder Wil Trapp on Thursday's Daily Delivery podcast about the team's aspirations to get back to that point — and beyond — in a season that begins Friday.

If you don't see the podcast player, click here to listen.

Minnesota history and sports/human nature would suggest the Loons have a difficult task ahead in trying to take another step forward, though it is hardly impossible.

The Vikings have reached the NFC title game six times since their last Super Bowl appearance, losing all six times. In each case, they likely believed with good authority that they were on the verge of greatness and could take the next step the following season.

The first three times they at least got back to the playoffs, but they lost in each case in the division round. The last three times, following trips to the NFC title game in 2000, 2009 and 2017, the Vikings didn't even make it back to the playoffs and twice fired their head coach (2001 with Dennis Green and 2010 with Brad Childress) while mired in dreadful follow-up seasons.

The Timberwolves? The magic of 2003-04 faded quickly the next season when an NBA Western Conference Finals trip gave way to a season missing the playoffs. They've only made the postseason once since that trip.

The Wild? They made it to the West finals in 2003. They missed the playoffs in 2004. They've never been back to the conference finals.

You see a pattern here, and it's not just restricted to a large swath of Minnesota teams. Those are just the ones that tend to stick with me.

The reasons are varied, but it probably has a lot to do with this: A combination of the burden of expectations and the fact that trips to the conference final are just hard to replicate because they are often seasons in which many things go right. Assuming (or at least hoping) that strengths will remain in place while weaknesses will be addressed seldom happens seamlessly.

And so teams take a step back. Minnesota United has gone to great lengths and has used a good deal of intention to prevent that from happening. Several veterans were brought in to bolster a core that made what in some regards was a surprising playoff run last season.

Trapp was a key starter for Columbus in 2015 when it made a run to the MLS Cup final, losing 2-1 to Portland. The Crew had high expectations the next season but finished with a losing record and didn't qualify for the postseason.

"You can't sit there and automatically assume that because we were so close that it will happen once again," Trapp said. "The level of effort and focus and application for the group will need to be even more than it was last year. For our group (in Columbus) in 2016 after losing an MLS Cup, I don't think we did a very good job of realizing how hard it is to get there. Taking things for granted was a big issue that we had that season. I don't think I've felt that at all from this group this year in preseason, but it was definitely something I struggled with and went through as a teammate in 2016."