When will it be us?

These NBA finals were a no win situation for folks like me, who frankly are just sick of our Minnesota teams not winning shit.

Either the Suns would win a title, which would check one more title-less franchise off the books, while we sit here with 3 of 4 teams never having won. Plus it would give the Phoenix sports market their first title in 20 years. 

Or the Bucks win, which would mean their 1st title in 50 years, ending obviously a long drought, and of course giving Wisconsin a title, although the Bucks are not a team I look at the way I do the Packers.

The latter occurred. The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA championship.

I feel nothing but frustration these days with nearly every championship won in every one of the 4 majors.

We have been in a now 30 year drought. But I used to enjoy seeing certain long suffering teams win. Red Sox. Cubs. Colts. A few others. 

Not anymore. I haven't felt anything better than apathy watching a big 4 title won in many, many years. And occasionally relief, when an even worse team could have won instead (i.e. any time Brady was involved).

I'm not dismissing the Lynx. They matter. I am personally much more invested in them than the Wolves or Wild. I was at 2 of their title clinchers, and those rank right up the with my favorite sports moments. But I'm not going to pretend that they wipe out the pain of seeing our big 4 go without the ultimate prize year after year after year. We never even get to the precipice. The 1991 series is still the last time we even had one of the final two standing.

Obviously it shouldn't have been. The Vikings should have at least won an NFC title in the last 30 years. The Twins should have at least won a pennant in the last 30 years. The Wolves should have won it all in 2004. The Wild should have at least made 1 real run in the now ended Parise-Suter era.

But they didn't. We have no trophies, no banners, nothing to show for 30 years of big 4 pro sports. Don't even get me started on all the players or coaches who have achieved glory only AFTER leaving Minnesota. 

I have blogged about this before, but we have seen a LOT of franchises and markets end long title droughts in recent years. We aren't just seeing the same old teams win all the time. Winning an NBA title may not exclusively be the right of a big market super team anymore.

But being a Minnesota sports fan feels like being the ugly kid at the school dance. Everybody else is getting picked but us. It is draining the enjoyment of sports out of me. I am tired of having the best outcome of every season simply being me NOT having to see my most hated teams win (Yankees, Packers, whoever that cocksucker Brady plays for).

We have 4 teams. Two have absolutely zero shot to end this purgatory. 

The Twins are never going to win another World Series. They have ownership that frankly does not give a shit about winning another title. They won't spend the money to truly compete in October. They have had chances in the last 20 years but have never been willing to make that all-in trade or signing to really go for it.

The Timberwolves have been the biggest laughingstock in pro sports for 15 years. They are so far from being a title contender it's ridiculous. And their future probably rests in another city anyway, unless the NBA forbids a move. But even if they stay here, we all know they can never win. 

Our only hopes are the Vikings and Wild.

The Wild seem primed to have a lengthy run of contention. The NHL lends itself to having title hopes as long as you are in the tournament.

The Vikings are the Vikings. Look, I'm ride or die for life with them. I will always think they are capable of someday winning a super bowl. I think they have a shot THIS year if a few things break their way. And the NFL (usually) is a league in which any team has a chance (if the refs permit it).

There are a lot of big 4 franchises and markets that have no titles or are mired in long droughts. We aren't completely alone in this. But we unfortunately DO stand alone at the top (or bottom) of the misery pile. Nobody else comes close to our collective drought. We're well over 100 combined seasons since our last title. 

I was in 7th grade when Gene Larkin drove Dan Gladden home to win game 7. I'm 42 now. It's been 30 years. I would kind of like to see us win another major title in this town before I am fucking dead.