Disappointment. That’s what a lot of us Minnesota Vikings fans are feeling today. It was a hard game to watch last night, painful even. What could have been a ticket to the Superbowl for my beloved Vikings turned into a disappointing loss. And not even a nail-biter – I would have loved a nail-biter – but alas, it was not in the cards for us this year.

I’ve loved the Vikings as long as I can remember. Anyone who marries a Nicholson HAS to become a fan or they will be disowned (I can’t prove this because it has never happened). My family LOVES the Vikings. LOVES!

My dad:
I remember as a little girl I would be playing in my room and could hear my dad stomping on the ground and yelling at the tv (and if you know my dad he’s one of the most mild-mannered people you’ll ever meet!)

My younger brother:
He has a podcast where he recaps NFL games, stats, news, etc. (check out the podcast: Pro Football Juice, it’s absolutely hysterical). Probably the biggest fan of all of us, but everyone else will fight me on this one.

My older brother:
He has what I call a “man cave” and it is covered with Minnesota Vikings paraphernalia (and it was his birthday on game day!).

My mom:
Oh, my mom. I don’t even think my fingers would allow me to type what she said when Brett Farve retired from the Green Bay Packers and then returned to football as the Vikings quarterback (my mom is the best!). That was a dark season for our family.

Last fall we all ran a 5K in Minneapolis that ended on the 50-yard line of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium. So we could envision what it would actually look like to see our team at the Superbowl on our home turf. Needless to say, my family was pretty pumped for this game.

So obviously yesterday’s game was disappointing. My husband and I and the kids went to church yesterday decked out in Vikings apparel in anticipation for the big game (shout out to my husband for informing me that the Jared Allen jersey I chose to wear was number 69…I promptly changed, we were ushers for crying out loud!). We went bowling to kill time before the game started (look how happy we were).

And when it was finally game time we watched the game like this until they scored on the first drive.

And never scored again. I’m going to keep this blog short because I’m still at a loss for words. But what I can hang onto – and will hold on to for dear life this week – is the Minnesota/Minneapolis miracle of January 14, 2018. No one can take that away from us.