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Why the Vikings??

"This is Twins Territory!" Or is it? On Tuesday night, the Twins got a game-winning double from newcomer Joe Crede to score Justin Morneau in the 11th inning of a 3-2 game. Why did the release of the NFL's 2009 schedule get significantly more playing time in the region than a great Twins baseball game?

April 16, 2009 at 10:53AM

"This is Twins Territory!" Or at least that was the Twins slogan a couple of years ago. But is it? Is it really?

I don't think it is. This is Vikings territory. This whole region is Vikings territory. It is April and a new Twins season is upon us. There are playoff expectations for this year's Twins team. And yet, what are the biggest sports stories in town? The 2009 Minnesota Vikings schedule being released and the NFL Draft later this month. From flipping around sports radio shows, the Twins are barely discussed, sometimes little more than a mention of the score and maybe a highlight or two.

Why is that? What have the Vikings done to earn this power over the entire region? Let's see...

The Twins and the Vikings both came to Minnesota in 1961. Since that time, how many Super Bowl championships do the Vikings have? I believe zero. How many World Series championships do the Twins have? I believe that the Twins have two World Series championships.

But they haven't won since 1991. That's true, so let's look at the success of the Twins and Vikings just this decade:

-- Since 2001, the Vikings regular season record is 61-67 (47.7%). The Twins regular season record is 707-589 (54.6%). Advantage - Twins.

-- Since 2001, the Vikings have won one division title and appeared in the playoffs twice. The Twins have won the AL Central division four times, and appeared in the playoffs four times. Advantage - Twins.

-- But in that time, the Twins have won only one playoff series. The Vikings? They have won one Wild Card game. Advantage - Push.

The Vikings have The Purple People Eaters, Chuck Foreman, Fran Tarkenton and Cris Carter. The Twins have Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Tony Oliva, Bert Blyleven, Kent Hrbek, Jim Kaat and Rod Carew - Advantage - Twins.

The Twins lost the likes of Johan Santana and Torii Hunter in recent years and still compete. The Vikings lost Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper and things were ugly for awhile. Advantage - Twins.

Both the Twins and the Vikings do a tremendous amount of work in the community. The Twins do the Winter Caravan and Twins Fest, build ball parks around the state and more. The Vikings go snowmobiling in Brainerd in the winter and make a lot of school and hospital visits on their off days. Fari or not, to some, the Vikings are also still living down that Love Boat incident. Advantage - Twins.

Please don't get me wrong. I am a Vikings fan. I watch each and every one of their games throughout the season. Despite watching nearly zero college football, I will probably watch the NFL draft later this month and will be interested in who the Vikings draft.

My point is that I do not understand why this entire region is so strongly Vikings Territory while the Twins seem to be a passing topic. I can come up with only two possible reasons:

First, the NFL, in general, is king. Their marketing is incredible and Sunday game days and Monday nights have huge followings. Major League Baseball simply can't compete on a national level with the NFL. But when it comes to the team's individual marketing departments, it would be hard to say that the Twins don't have a huge advantage. Their marketing department is award winning. So again, if we are talking about this region, the Twins do a great job of marketing themselves.

The other reason I think that the Vikings may be king is in the numbers... 16 and 162. The Twins play almost every day from April through September. The Vikings play 16 games that are all pretty important between September and December. Just one game per week It is easier to get up for the urgency of one game a week than it is to get up for 162 individual, take one-at-a-time games. But that is really only in the season.

It simply does not explain it completely for me. Why is this Vikings Territory all year around? Why isn't it Twins Territory, at least from April through September? That's all I'd want and ask for!

So I really would like your input on this one. Please explain to me why this is Vikings Territory. Why are the Twins generally an afterthought, even with their success since 2001? I just don't get it! I would like to hear from Twins fans and Vikings fans. And where do the Timberwolves and Wild fit into this discussion?