Purple Rein turns to Purple Pain

I woke near 8am feeling well rested after more than 8hours of precious sleep. I was immediately reminded that this was a football Sunday - championship Sunday. I was a anxious, excited, and nervous about the Vikings opportunity to play in the Super Bowl if they won. While prepping coffee, I remembered, too, that this was a no-exercise day - a reprieve from sit-ups and push-ups. Not having to walk Sparky, left my morning about as open as it possibly gets. I spent a lot of time on the PC. Mindy asked that I deliver some coffee once ready. I probably delivered it near 830am. I did some writing for my blog for the next hour. Mindy got up around 930am. She reminded me that she planned to head into school to get caught up on report cards, I think. She showered while I did my usual Sunday three mile run. It had been raining quite a bit overnight but stopped during my run. It picked up again soon after I finished. Not only was it a rainy day, but it was quite warm too, perhaps the warmest day of the year. I checked the forecast for HV knowing that Bob & Mary Ann were checking in later in the day. The HV forecast was as bleak as ours - rainy and warm - temps in the mid 40s. Anything but good skiing conditions. In fact, it doesn't look like winter-type weather will make a return until Tuesday. Speaking of skiing, I have my eyes set on a day of skiing at MRM the following weekend when temps are expected to be near normal for the end of January. Soon after returning from my run, I filled the bird feeder out on deck, then took the new bag of seed to the garage for stowage. While there, I decided it was time to start the BM'er for the first time in maybe a month. Started right up. I left it run for a solid 15 minutes while I replaced the holiday spots lights ( red & green) with white fluorescents. Mindy left for school while I was in the middle of those chores. With the house to myself, I cranked up the iTunes then decided to clean up some Sparky final remnants. For starters, I pulled the cover off the sofa and put it in the washer. For the last several months he had developed a habit of peeing on it as well as one of the legs of a recliner in the living room. As angry as it got me, I was quite sad cleaning up the last of his miscues. Both areas cleaned up fairly easily with a combination of Resolve and Clorox bleach spray cleaner. I also cleaned a few spots on the carpet near where he took his last breaths. After finishing up the spot cleaning, I got out the folder that contained all of Sparky's medical records and old license tags. Amongst the paperwork, I found the original receipt from his purchase and his birth certificate. It's little wonder that we were so connected, he was a Virgo too, born on September 7th 1997. I had forgotten his actual birth date until the review. I found the breeder information too just in case I decide to pursue getting another from his bloodline. While doing chores, I snacked on my Bone Fish leftovers. Mindy had frozen beef stock in the crock-pot to make beef & noodles later in the afternoon. That concoction smelt terrific. As the afternoon began to move along, I finished up all the chores I wanted to get done, including reviewing a large pile of mail - a task I invariably abhor. I spent some additional time on the PC fooling around with iTunes before finally heading up for a shower. I was prepared to wear my Favre jersey, but not until the game started much later. I had it out and ready however. I gave consideration to getting out all three of my Viking jerseys (Moon, Moss, and Favre) but opted for just the one. I didn't want To jinx 'em in any way. As 3pm neared, it was time to tune into the AFC championship game - the Colts vs the Jets. Mindy phoned around 320pm to let me know that she would be home sometime after 4pm, and that the kids would be home sometime soon too. They were home 15 minutes later. She in turn arrived home around 415pm. The Colts started slow and fell behind by as many as 11 points, but the funny thing was, one never got the feeling that the Colts were panicking. Instead, they mounted a methodical comeback and scored 24 unanswered points. They ended up winning rather easily. As the start of the Viking game neared, I became more and more anxious. All three of us, Mindy, Bella and I donned our Favre jerseys. I offered one of my others to Jacob. He didn't accept. Mindy advised that the neighbors asked if they were welcome to watch the game with us. Of course. I figured that I could probably use the diversion. Kick-off was just before 7pm from New Orleans. As I hoped and expected, the pundits overwhelmingly picked the Saints, which was good. I much preferred the underdog role. The phone rang just before kick-off. It was neighbor Pat calling to see how I was doing. He nailed it. "You're probably pacing the floor and totally nervous - yes, absolutely. A basket case to be sure. The Vikings got the ball first. The noise inside the superdome was deafening. But that didn't stop Favre and the boys. They mounted a long TD drive to set the tone early. We wouldn't be intimidated. 7-0 Vikes. I was impressed with their poise. The Saints, however, wouldn't go away. I didn't think they would. Instead, they mounted their own long TD drive and tied it at 7-7. Not to be outdone, the Vikings scored another TD on their second possession making it 14-7. Yes, and SKOL! The Saints eventually tied it at 14. And just before halftime, the Saints gave us the turnover I had hoped for. We had the ball on their 5 yard line with less than minute in the half. Wahoo! Score, score, score! But instead of scoring, the Vikings fumbled the ball right into the hands of the Saints. Ugh! The first half ended 14-14. The second went back and forth with the Saints drawing first blood two different times, first going ahead 21-14 and then 28-21. The Vikings answered with a score of their won and tied it up each time. The Vikings D shut down the Saints in the second half. If it weren't for a number of Viking miscues, the game wouldn't have been close. But we had the scenario we needed - the ball with two minutes to go and the score tied. The Vikings drove down the field to the Saints 33 yardline and into field goal kicker Ryan Longwell's range (50 yards). They took a time out with 20 seconds left seemingly to plan their strategy for setting up the field goal. I was feeling all sorts of emotion. I needed pinched to assure myself this was really happening. During the timeout I had all sorts of thoughts going through my head. It was short break, however. The Vikings huddled for what was a 3rd down play. All of the sudden Brett Favre calls another timeout and a penalty flag flies. Somehow coming out of the timeout they had 12 men in the huddle - a five yard penalty. Not only that, you can't call back-to-back timeouts either. Suddenly a realistic shot a winning field goal was in jeopardy. My heart sank, reflecting back to 1998 when we self destructed in the waning moments of that championship game. Still, there were 20 seconds left and it was 3rd down. A five yard gain and we were well within Longwell's range for the win and the super bowl. I could almost taste it. I glanced Mindy's way feeling good about the position we were in after all the unfortunate turnovers and tough calls. Brett takes the snap, rolls right. He has lots of options visible to everyone watching. He has two receivers wide open on the right - one about ten yards up field. Not only that, he could've run for 6-8 yards easily. Instead, he threw an ill-advised pass across his body and across the field towards Sidney Rice who was covered well. A Saint stepped in front and made the pick. Opportunity gone, just like that. I was in shock! But even still, all hope wasn't lost. Regulation ended in a tie, 28-28. Overtime ... again. The coin toss is paramount in NFL overtime. First to score wins. The Vikings got to make the call. They selected heads, just as I hoped. The toss came up tails. Saints got the ball first. If they scored - game over - season over. Ugh! The drive was too ugly to describe in full detail. There were a handful of questionable calls all favoring the Saints putting them in fairly easy field goal range. Sour grapes aside, they deserved their shot. Bottom line, they kicked a 40 yard field goal for the win. Game over. Saints in the super bowl - Vikings going home. I was numb. One could easily lay blame at the feet Brett Favre, but I dared not. Without his heroic performance that day and then many others throughout the season, they wouldn't have been in that position in the first place. Still, the sting of defeat was harsh. Having been there before, I knew the anguish would settle in later, once I had more time to reflect. For the time being, I was amazed and entertained by an incredible football game. The game had barely ended when my phone rang. It was Bob Imber calling from HV (Cadillac Jack's) to console me after the loss. He briefly described the less than desirable ski conditions they were contending with. It sounded like they were doing lots of the next best thing, drinking beer. It wasn't long before Mindy & I headed to bed. For the first time ever, Jacob told me he was sorry about the Vikings when I tucked him in. I think even he was moved by the heroic performance put on by Brett Favre. Purple runs through my veins.