There isn’t a more tortured major sports market in America than Minnesota. Since the Twins won the World Series in 1991, A Minnesota men’s team hasn’t even made a championship. The Minnesota Lynx had brutal losses in WNBA championship deciding games in 2016 and 2024, but the Lynx have won four championships and are the best run team in the league so they don’t belong in this conversation, and we will instead just focus on men’s sports.
When the Vikings joined the NFL in 1961, there were 22 teams, meaning every team theoretically had a 1-in-22 chance of winning a championship each season. Today, with 32 NFL teams, that chance is 1-in-32.
Using that formula for each franchise:
- The Vikings should have won 2.4 Super Bowls by now.
- The Twins should have won 2.5 World Series titles.
- The Timberwolves should have won 1.3 NBA championships.
- The Wild and North Stars combined should have won 2.4 Stanley Cups.
Add it all up, and Minnesota sports fans should have celebrated 8.6 championships.
Instead, we have two.
The Minneapolis Lakers did win NBA championships in the 1950s, when the league had only eight teams. And the Gophers football team won national championships, but unless your grandparents have an attic full of dusty film reels, nobody reading this has seen any of those games.
Let the Pain Begin
10. 4th Quarter Meltdown – Gophers Blow Lead Against Michigan
The 2003 Gophers football team was 6-0 and ranked 13th in the country going into their Saturday night home game against 19th-ranked Michigan. The Marion Barber III, Laurence Maroney, Thomas Tapeh, and Asad Abdul-Khaliq-led Gophers were up 28-7 going into the 4th quarter when the wheels completely fell off. Even after blowing the lead and falling behind 38-35, Minnesota still had a chance on its final drive when Khaliq ripped off a big run to midfield, but it was negated by a clipping penalty. Two plays later he threw an interception, and another painful chapter was added to the Gophers’ story.
This was the Gophers team that had a shot to play in the Rose Bowl, but that disastrous final quarter in front of a sold-out Metrodome crowd turned a dream season into a painful “what if?”
Minnesota hasn’t played in the Rose Bowl since 1962.
9. Loons Collapse in Western Conference Final
The moment we knew Minnesota United FC truly belonged in the Minnesota sports family was when it blew a 2-0 lead in the final 18 minutes of the 2020 Western Conference Final.
The Loons were just minutes away from their first MLS Cup appearance before Seattle scored in the 75th minute, equalized in the 89th, and completed the comeback with a heartbreaking header in stoppage time.
8. The Big Balls Injury – Cassell misses the 2004 Western Conference Finals
The 2004 Timberwolves had the best record in the conference, but they went into the Western Conference Finals shorthanded after Sam Cassell injured his hip doing the “Big Balls Dance” after hitting a huge shot in the previous round against Sacramento.
Cassell, who was the Wolves’ second-best player, tried to play in the Western Conference Finals, but he was too limited and had to shut it down. To make matters worse, the Wolves’ backup point guard Troy Hudson was also hurt.
Despite that, the Wolves took the Lakers to six games and made it close enough to think that if Cassell had just celebrated with a fist bump, they could have won the series and advanced to play Detroit in the NBA Finals.
7. One Catch Away – Vikings Lose NFC Championship Game in Washington
The 1987 Vikings caught fire at the perfect time. They opened the playoffs with a win in New Orleans before shocking the heavily favored 49ers in one of the biggest upsets in NFL playoff history.
That set up an NFC Championship Game in Washington. Trailing 17-10 with less than a minute remaining, the Vikes had a 4th-down from the 6-yard line. Wade Wilson threw to the end zone for Darren Nelson, but Nelson couldn’t hang on after taking a hit from Darrell Green.
Most fans remember it as Darren Nelson’s drop. The film review shows Anthony Carter, the hero of the upset over San Francisco a week earlier, didn’t complete his route, allowing Green to leave Carter and help break up the pass.
As a devastated 6-year-old Vikings fan, the loss crushed me, and I immediately threw away all of the football cards I had of Washington players while crying.
Washington went on to crush Denver 42-10 in the Super Bowl.
6. Losing the Kid – Garnett traded to Boston
When Kevin Garnett was traded in 2007, it was the right move for the franchise to cash in an aging superstar and begin rebuilding with younger players. But the trade also brought into focus all of the things that prevented KG from winning a championship in Minnesota: Stephon Marbury demanding a trade because Minnesota was “too cold,” the loss of three first-round draft picks as punishment for the under-the-table Joe Smith contract, Latrell Sprewell pouting because the three-year, $21 million contract offer wasn’t enough to “feed his family,” and massive contracts handed out to players like Trenton Hassell and Troy Hudson.
Garnett won an NBA championship in his first season with the Celtics which started a trend of star players leaving Minny to immediately win championships elsewhere.
Until recently the Timberwolves were the most pathetic franchise in all of sports in terms of overall winning percentage, but those KG years had the chance to be different. Only winning two playoff series in Garnett’s time here is one of the reasons we are Loserville, USA and this article is about heartbreak instead of championships.
5. The Sudden Goodbye – Kirby Retires Because of Glaucoma
Kirby Puckett is the greatest Minnesota athlete of all time. He had an outstanding spring training in 1996, but just before the regular season started, Kirby woke up with blurred vision in his right eye. He was later diagnosed with glaucoma and forced into retirement. Puckett had just turned 36 years old and was still playing at an elite level.
Back when I was a sports reporter, I did a story with Torii Hunter, who credited Puckett as his biggest mentor while coming up through the minor leagues. Hunter said Puckett’s influence was the reason he went out of his way to provide that same mentorship to Byron Buxton when he came up with the Twins.
It’s crazy to think about, but if it weren’t for glaucoma, Kirby likely would have still been on the team in the late ’90s when Torii Hunter, David Ortiz, Doug Mientkiewicz, Corey Koskie, Cristian Guzmán, Jacque Jones, and A.J. Pierzynski were called up.
4. Drew Pearson’s Push-Off Hail Mary
The 1975 Vikings went 12-2 behind NFL MVP Fran Tarkenton and the Purple People Eaters defense. Minnesota hosted Dallas in the Divisional Playoffs and led 14-10 with 32 seconds left when Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach threw up a prayer for Drew Pearson who came down with it for a backbreaking 50-yard touchdown.
Vikings fans were furious as they thought Pearson shoved cornerback Nate Wright to the ground before making the catch, but no offensive pass interference was called. Fans showered the officials with debris as they left the field, and back judge Armen Terzian was struck in the head by a whiskey bottle that cut his head open and briefly knocked him unconscious.
Dallas went on to lose the Super Bowl 21-17 to the Steelers. The Vikings had already lost three Super Bowls before the Hail Mary, and they returned the following season to lose a fourth.
3. The Favre Year NFC Championship Game Loss in New Orleans
The 2009 Vikings season was a blast. Brett Favre turned from foe to favorite by joining the team and having one of the best seasons of his hall of fame career. But all year Packers fans kept telling us, “just wait, he’s going to eventually make a bad decision that will destroy your season.” After demolishing the Cowboys in the division round the Vikes went to New Orleans for the NFC championship game and outgained the Saints by 218 yards and finished with almost twice as many first downs. But… they had five turnovers!
The game was tied with 1:06 left and the Vikes had a 1st and 10 at the Saints 33-yard line.
-1st Down: Run for no-gain
-2nd Down: Run for no-gain
-Coming out of a timeout the Vikings had 12-men in the huddle!!! And were penalized 5-yards!!!
-3rd Down: Favre rolls out and instead of tucking the ball and picking up 3-5 yards on the ground he throws across his body and is intercepted!!!!
The game goes to overtime, and thanks in part to a preposterous pass interference call on Ben Leber, and a would-be interception that tipped perfectly to Tyrell Johnson and was dropped, the Saints got into position to kick a game winning field goal. When the kick sailed through the friend I was watching the game with flipped over his glass coffee table and we sat in stunned silence for minutes surrounded by broken class. The Saints went on to win the Super Bowl and after the season, the league changed its overtime rules so teams would get a chance to respond if the opening possession ended with a field goal.
2. Norm Green Sucks – North Stars Move to Dallas
A heartbreaking playoff loss is brutal, but at least you get another shot next season. When owner Norm Green moved the North Stars to Dallas in 1993, Minnesota lost a beloved franchise.
The move came just two years after the North Stars’ Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final. Green wanted public assistance for a new arena, and when Minnesota wouldn’t give him the deal he wanted, Dallas rolled out the red carpet with a favorable arena lease, financial incentives, luxury suites, and a larger corporate market.
Green also had another reason to leave. He had become deeply unpopular in Minnesota after settling sexual harassment lawsuits brought by former employees.
The North Stars left the State of Hockey, where virtually every high school had a hockey team, for a city where there wasn’t a single high school hockey team. More than 30 years later, “Norm Green Sucks” remains one of the most recognizable chants in Minnesota sports. I still remember thousands of fans at a random Twins game erupting into a “Norm Green Sucks!” chant in the middle of an inning.
After seven seasons without an NHL team, hockey returned to Minnesota in 2000. The only problem? They named the new franchise the Wild instead of bringing back the North Stars.
1. Wide Left – 1998 Vikings Lose NFC Championship Game
It was the Vikes best team ever, a dominant 15-1 regular season led by a record setting offense, and very good defense. They even had a reliable punter in Mitch Berger and a kicker in Gary Anderson who didn’t miss a single field goal or extra point all season… until his final kick.
Minnesota went into the NFC Championship Game as 11 point favorites. There have only been two NFC championship games with a higher spread than that, and only one AFC championship game that was expected to be more lopsided. In those other three cases, the heavily favored team won.
The reason this is #1 on the list is not only because this was our best team, but because of how they lost. The Vikes were up 20-7 late in the first half when Randall Cunningham was stripped from behind, the Falcons recovered and scored a touchdown to cut the Vikings lead to 20-14 by halftime.
With 2:11 to play in the game the Vikings were up 27-20 and Gary Anderson had a chance to put the game away with a 39-yard field goal. He hooked it just left. Anderson had made 122 straight field goals and extra points. The Falcons went down to score a touchdown to tie and then Vikings head coach Denny Green had Cunningham take a knee with 30-seconds left and two timeouts on a 3rd and 3 from the 27-yard line.
Of course, in overtime the Falcons kicked a field goal to win but it needs to be noted that the Vikings had two possessions in OT.
I remember as a 17-year-old kid, I was so distraught I didn’t watch a second of the Falcons-Broncos Super Bowl.
The 1998 Vikings were loaded with Hall of Fame talent. Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Randall Cunningham, John Randle, Randall McDaniel, and Gary Zimmerman were all part of that team.
None of them ever won a Super Bowl.
#Loserville
Honorable Mention Heartbreak:
- Luka Doncic buried a step-back three over Rudy Gobert with three seconds left to give Dallas a 109-108 win in Game 2 of the 2024 Western Conference Finals.
- Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal in the final minute of the Vikings’ 10-9 home playoff loss to Seattle in January 2016.
- Minneapolis North basketball star Khalid El-Amin, one of the nation’s top high school recruits, committed to the Gophers before changing his mind and signing with UConn instead.
- The Twins took Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS against the Yankees and had an extra inning lead in Game 2. Closer Joe Nathan was asked to stay on to pitch a third inning, and Nathan surrendered the tying and go-ahead runs. The Yankees won the game and took the series. The Twins are 2-16 in the playoffs against the Yankees.
- The Vikings got completely destroyed in the 2000 and 2017 NFC Championship Games. The Giants beat them 41-0, and the Eagles beat them 38-7.