Nothing Minny about it
Vikings trying to end 56 years of misery — and The Curse of the Scrambino
PHILADELPHIA — The plane was still minutes from moving toward liftoff at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International on Tuesday morning when my phone started vibrating. It was one of the six longtime Vikings fans I know.
I’ll call him Steve because, well, his parents did.
“I gotta hear ... how was it?” Steve said in his raspy voice without wasting a second on hello.
He was referring only in part to the Minneapolis Miracle; the Case Keenum-toStefon Diggs prayer that was answered in front of about 67,000 delirious disbelievers at U.S. Bank Stadium two days earlier. Steve watched the game on TV, likely rocking back and forth in solitude the way most true diehards do in a win-or-done situation.
As for the final 10 seconds that represented one of the greatest sporting moments of our lifetime, I wouldn’t be surprised if he saw it 85 more times before calling. More importantly, Steve wanted to know about the atmosphere at a place he has visited under far less stressful circumstances.
I told him it was the wildest I’d ever experienced. At that point, his giggling stopped. “The curse of the Scrambino has been lifted!,” Steve blurted. The what? He repeated himself, then went on to explain that it was a spinoff of The Curse of the Bambino — the superstition Boston Red Sox fans used as logic to link the trading of Babe Ruth to their 86-year World Series drought.
I had figured that much. I had just never heard of the Scrambino.
“Fran ‘The Scram’ Tarkenton!,” Steve shouted, like he was talking to an idiot. “The Scrambler! “The Scrambino!” I watched Fran Tarkenton quarterback the Vikings for years. I knew he was a scrambler. I had just never heard him called the Scrambino, nor did I know of any such curse.
When the plane landed a couple of hours later in Philadelphia, I checked Google to see if it’s a thing. It’s not. What is very real, however, is the fact the Vikings have never won a championship. Born in 1961, their 56-year drought, according to buinessinsider.com, is tied for the third longest in professional sports — not counting franchises that have relocated.
Sharing the exact same amount of misery is ... yup, the fan base of the Philadelphia Eagles. They last won the NFL Championship in 1960.
So you can see what else is at stake in Sunday’s NFC championship at Lincoln Financial Field: The chance for long awaited relief.
The Eagles have only been to two Super Bowls. Their first was in 1980, when they had the league’s best defence but lost 27-10 to the Raider. And in 2004, when they were dropped 24-21 by the Patriots.
For you youngsters, Tarkenton spent the first six years (1961-66) of his career with the Vikings, before being traded to the Giants. He remained with New York until 1972, when he was dealt back to Minnesota for three players and two high draft picks.
The Vikings did not regret parting with five assets. Tarkenton led them to the Super Bowl three times in four years. They lost all of them: 24-7 to Miami in 1073, 16-6 to Pittsburgh in ’74, and 32-14 to Oakland in ’76.
In 1975, Tarkenton guided the team to a 12-2 record and was named the NFL Most Valuable Player of the Year and the NFL Outstanding Player Of the Year, but the Vikings were upset 17-14 by the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional playoff.
Tarkenton, who finished with six playoff victories but no rings, retired after the 1978 season and is remembered as one the greatest Viking of all time.
The Vikings haven’t been to the Super Bowl since ’76. They’ve reached the conference championship five times and they have a 9-15 playoff record, including a string of six consecutive post-season losses, from 1988-96.
Should they get past the Eagles, the Vikings likely will face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Boston’s team would be a fitting opponent for them to end their drought — especially with the chance to bury The Curse of the Scrambino in front of their own, long suffering fans.