The dean of Twin Cities television sports reporters -- Ch 4's Mark Rosen -- told us on June 23 that Brett Favre and the Vikings have come to a contractual agreement with heavy incentives and that the team's equipment manager already had ordered No. 4 purple jerseys with his name on it.
Who could blame Rosen, who has a good source close to the situation, for that report? Favre underwent surgery in May, when there was only one reason to do so -- to play in 2009. Then weeks later, while on a show with HBO's Joe Buck, referred to the Vikings as "we". Next, we found out about this new Sears commercial where he pokes fun at himself for his indecisiveness. But, a nightmare has come to fruition. Someone locate Vikings play-by-play announcer Paul Allen. He shouldn't be alone -- for a long time. Brett Favre -- for now -- will remain retired.
KFAN's Dan Barreiro, on his show Tuesday, called Favre MN sports enemy No. 1. He has surpassed former Stars owner Norm Green. For a bit, ripping Twins general manager Bill Smith for his inactivity thus far at the non-waiver trade deadline seems miniscule.
This is a MN sports letdown of epic proportions. With a healthy Favre -- and when not hurt the first 11 games of 2008 was very good -- this team had a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl. They have as many elite players at other positions as any team in the league. But, with Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels at the QB helm, they have about as good a chance to win a championship as Jessica Simpson does of getting back together with Tony Romo. Blackouts here we come?
With the news just hours old thanks to tremendous work by the Strib's Judd Zulgad, the hardest working man in the business, we're attempting to figure out where it ranks all-time when it comes to MN sports letdowns. From a non-game standpoint, it has to be No. 1. The Vikings are the clear-cut No. 1 team in town so automatically anything associated with them is put on the highest pedestal possible.
This list is during my lifetime (1980 - present), and even more specifically my time here in the Twin Cities (1987 - present)...The four Super Bowl losses and other events deserve mention, but would make this list longer than the number of reasons why Rihanna shouldn't get back together with Chris Brown. Sports fans in this market have been conditioned to deal with defeat.

  1. January 17, 1999 -- NFC championship Game -- The Vikings were two-touchdown favorites to beat Atlanta. Plans were already made for Miami, the site of the Super Bowl. I remember interning at Ch 5 that day and hearing the 911 calls coming into the dispatching system. They were suicide watch related.
  2. January 14, 2001 -- NFC championship game -- Before my chili was ready, it was 14-donut NYG. The rest is history, arguably the biggest embarrassment in any modern day NFL game.
  3. Today -- This was supposed to be a done deal. Favre knows this offense better than Brad Childress. He would've had the best running back on the planet and as recently as two years ago, played at an extremely high level. There is nothing behind him. This team's future QB is either in college or on another's team roster (no, it's not Mike Vick).
  4. 1995 NFL draft -- I will never forget where I was (Sandy's house in St. Paul with Zack). When pick No. 11 came and DT Warren Sapp was on the board, it was a dream come true. Then, the Vikings took a D-lineman (Derrick Alexander)...and it wasn't Sapp? I turned to my Nintendo and played the Legend of Zelda for nine consecutive hours...and when done, was still mad!
  5. NBA draft lottery, May 1992 -- The Timberwolves, thanks to a joke of a season, had the best chance to land the No. 1 pick and earn a surefire Hall of Famer -- Shaquille O'Neal. Instead, they got Christian Laettner.
  6. Kirby Puckett's off-the-field issues become public -- You have to know before I was jaded by sports in some ways, Kirby was my favorite player. In many ways, despite what Charles Barkley thinks, he was my hero. To later find out how messed up his personal life was -- it was a massive letdown.
  7. Finding out Clem Haskins was a cheater -- I attended his basketball camps at the Univ. of St. Thomas in the mid-90's...he was another guy I admired a ton...and to find out he had to bend the rules -- for average players -- got to me.
  8. 2001 baseball draft -- Thanks to Terry Ryan and others, everything has worked out perfectly. But, at the time, I thought Mark Prior was the obvious choice.
  9. The North Stars leave -- For many, this will be higher. I was never raised to be a hockey fan. Over the years, I have developed an appreciation for the sport, but still follow the other major three way more closely.
  10. March 25, 2006 -- Don Lucia's bunch loses to Holy Cross -- My alma mater is on the losing side of the greatest upset in college hockey history. There was some talk of them winning a national championship that year.


I feel especially bad for John David Booty. He lost out on thousands of dollars from the sale of his No. 4 jersey.
Undoubtedly -- racing to type this in between Saints and Twins work -- I forgot about a myriad of events. Please feel free to comment below.