Bummed Minnesota ready for big stage
MINNEAPOLIS — Many of the feelings in Minnesota this week were a little colder and darker than the usual wintry conditions, even with Super Bowl LII coming closer into view.
The Vikings fell one win short of landing on the NFL’s biggest stage, leaving the local mood a bit less festive than the hysteria that would’ve enveloped an unprecedented appearance by the home team in the big game.
The Philadelphia Eagles will be here seeking their first Lombardi Trophy instead, trying to deny the New England Patriots a sixth Super Bowl title that would match the most of all time.
“It’s going to be hard to watch them come play in our stadium next week,” Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph said after the 38-7 loss to the Eagles in the NFC championship game.
This is Minnesota’s second Super Bowl, having hosted it at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome after the 1991-92 season, but it will also likely be its last. The NFL’s sporadic northern stops in the warmweather-areas rotation are simply fulfillments of promises made to municipalities for pumping public money into new stadiums like the $1.1 billion project that produced U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016. New Jersey had the most recent one four years ago, the only northern Super Bowl played outside to date. Indianapolis hosted two seasons before that. The Detroit area has had two.
After finishing 13-3 in the regular season and winning their divisional round playoff game on a last-play touchdown pass, now known as the Minneapolis Miracle, the Vikings were on track to be the first team to play a Super Bowl on home turf until the Eagles ruined that goal. The Atlanta Falcons are next in line to try next year.
The Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV and the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX played in their local market, but neither of those games were actually held in their home stadium.
Maureen Bausch, the chief executive officer of Minnesota’s Super Bowl host committee, was a little worried about the vibe while the Vikings were getting blown out last week. She checked the Facebook page for committee’s crew of volunteers in the fourth quarter and started to smile.
“I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, are we all going to be sad?’ ” Bausch said. “They’re the most amazing group. They were already posting on there, ‘You guys, this is too bad, but when we signed on, we signed on to represent Minnesota, and we are going to give the warmest possible welcome to the world no matter who plays.’ I was just so moved.”
Yes, despite the disappointment in the air over the home team’s latest deflating loss on the cusp of a Super Bowl, this is still the place where the trite-buttrue slogan “Minnesota Nice” was spawned.
“Once people are starting to let their wounds heal with the loss, in true Minnesota fashion, everybody will be friendly and welcoming,” said Jeff Hahn, who owns a restaurant and brewpub near the stadium. “I think people will be impressed with how beautiful the city is, even if it’s cold out.”