Now back to our regularly scheduled schadenfreude

Or, as Jan called it in a text to me yesterday, "extreme schadenfreude." This weekend could not have gone better for me, short of the Vikings actually playing in one of the playoff games. The two teams I was rooting against (and rooting against pretty vociferously), were the Saints and, duh, the packers.

Side note: I've never had a real problem with the 49ers. Class organization and they haven't won anything in long enough that the fans are hungry and humble again (for now). Plus, since I live here, it makes for conversation at the water-cooler and around my neighborhood. Also, Alex Smith has taken an enormous beating here for the past 7 years...it'd be good to see him shove it back at the media.

1) Saints - I have disliked the Saints for quite a while, dating back to before they beat the Vikes two years ago. That game simply cemented my hatred, as their defense basically admitted to being told to try and hurt Favre, which they did, but weren't called for a penalty. Combined with the way in which we gave the game away...ugh. I can't talk about it. But, what really annoys me about the Saints is that over the past five years, the media has begun saying things like: "No team's fans are more loyal than the Saints'". And, "no team means more to its city than the Saints." Really? Pre-Katrina I seem to remember a team whose games were regularly blacked out?! I get it...their role in the psyche of a devastated post-Katrina city was integral, but since when are their fans so awesome? I also seem to recall that Tom Benson (the owner) was about a millisecond away from moving the team to San Antonio before Katrina leveled the city, at which point he had no choice but to stay, for fear of being killed if he ever appeared in public.

2) This one shouldn't need an explanation, but I feel the need to do so anyway. On an irrational level, the packers are the Vikings' biggest rival, so I hate them by default. It's not just that, though. Part of the hatred is because they are everything the Vikings are not...stable, never a threat to relocate, outdoor stadium, multiple Super Bowls, etc. But it's not jealousy that fuels my fire. It's the arrogance of their fans, who think they are the greatest on earth and that they invented things like the forward pass, tailgates and facepaint. They also act like it's their birth right to have a competitive team. Guess what, dickheads, your team sucked for 20 years after all of your mythical championships in the days when there were 12 teams in the league (does the name Lynn Dickey ring a bell?). I also despise how much the media slurps up the whole small town, publicly-owned, season-ticket waiting list story. Look, it's a fluke that this team ended up in a small town...and because there isn't SHIT to do in this one-horse town, the team became a bit of a religion. Over the years, this stuff gets passed down from father to son, and to his son, etc. At the end of the day, the packers are like Nebraska football, or Kentucky basketball, or whatever. It's the only game in town (Brewers? Puh-lease...until this year, they had sucked for years. Bucks? Less buzz than the T-Wolves). packer fans are the guys who wear packer gear in the crowd at another sporting event, just to make sure everyone knows that they aren't [insert name of team playing here] fans. Losers. They also buy worthless shares of stock in the team. WHY? Go buy a poster or a fathead or something...it's actually probably worth more than a piece of paper and your mythical ownership.

Anyway, before I get too disjointed, I just wanted to conclude by saying that it was fantastic and awesome to see them choke yesterday. 15-1 regular season? Sound familiar? At least the '98 Vikes made the NFC title game. The packers just became the FIRST TEAM EVER to win 15+ games and lose their first playoff game. Their defense also surrendered the most passing yards in a season in league history! Oh, and their postseason record at Lambeau since 2001? 2-4. Looks like that mystique is gone...suggit.

On a lighter note:

1) Gophers just one two road games in a row for the first time since 2007

2) Ricky Rubio appears to be good...and exciting.

3) The Twins just signed Joel Zumaya (former Tiger), who always scared me because he throws 100 mph.