I am a Minnesota Vikings fan.  I'm not sure if everyone comprehends exactly what that means, but that's okay.  All you need to know is that I have been a Vikings fan my entire life, as has my entire family. It has been bred into me.

On Sunday, January 24th, the Vikings lost to the Saints in the NFC Championship.  Many Vikings fans, including myself, had flashbacks to the 1998 NFC Championship game where the Vikings (see: Gary Anderson) choked away a Superbowl birth.  And right now, I can agree with the comparison and say that it hurts.  It hurts real bad.  It burns to the core.  While the Vikings loss on Sunday will undoubtedly stay with me the rest of my life, I think I will eventually look back on it with more fondness than the '98 incident.

Before I get to my thoughts on the game, I wanted to take a look back at some of the moments that made the 2009 season a special season.  There were a lot of good moments and a handful of great moments that I just couldn't let by without mention.

Brett Favre: I don't want to rehash the Favre saga, but it has to be mentioned.  Brett Favre, the epitome of evil for all Vikings fans, comes out of re-retirement to play for the team.  I hated Favre just as much as the next guy, but when I heard the news I felt much more, "Let's see what he can do," than I did, "Nooooooo!" because we've had quarterback problems for what seems like ages.  Tarvaris Jackson can only be so good.  Brett Favre can potentially be great.  It was a risk, but I was willing to accept it.

Favre had one of the best seasons of his career.

The Miracle TD: September 27th, 2009.  49ers at Vikings.  Vikings are on the 32-yard line.  00:12 left on the clock.  Vikings need a touchdown to win.  As thephilomath put it, "Every single Vikings fan was thinking the exact same thing.  This is why we got Brett Favre."  The ball is snapped.  Favre is scrambling.  He escapes a sack.  He chucks it downfield as he goes to the ground.  The ball soars for what seems like an eternity.  Then it happened.  Did that guy just come down with the ball?  Was he even in bounds?  There was a momentous pause.  Touchdown.

I couldn't believe it.  You could tell the Vikings couldn't believe it.  They actually won the game.  They did it!  They actually did it!

At this point in the season I was still on the rails if the Vikings were legit.  They had won all their games, but their opponents had been questionable.  Even this game was closer than it should have been, but the touchdown at the end was special.  Things like that just don't happen for the Vikings.  It was a special moment that began a special season.

The Miracle FG Miss: October 18th, 2009.  Ravens at Vikings.  Vikings 33, Ravens 31.  After some clock mismanagement by the Vikings, the Ravens were set up for a 44-yard field goal with seconds left on the clock to win the game.  It seemed all too familiar.  The ball is snapped.  The ball is placed.  The kick is in the air.  Then it happened.  Did he just miss?  Did he really just miss?  The Ravens were stunned. Vikings win.

Again, these things just don't happen to the Vikings.  Of course, it doesn't feel as good to win because the opposing team screwed up as it does a last second TD, but it was another example of an event that fell the Vikings way where for countless seasons it hasn't.

Beating the Packers.  Decisively.  Twice: The last time the Vikings swept the Packers was 2005. The time before that was 1998, a more comparable season in terms of wins. It doesn't happen a lot.

Obviously the media hyped these games up like no other, but this game was more than just Favre vs. the Packers. Any Vikings fan knew that these games were going to be big no matter who was at quarterback. Favre just made it even more important. The Packers and Vikings were picked as playoff teams before the season started. The games would determine the division.

And it wasn't even close. The Vikings dominated the Packers. When all was said and done the Vikings were 7-1 with a tiebreaker over their division rival.

Surviving December: Every Vikings fan knows it isn't over until it's over. We've all seen our team collapse late in the season. We've all seen our playoff hopes crushed. By the time December hit, this season wasn't looking much better. Not only were the Vikings almost statistically out of contention for the #1 playoff seed, their hopes of a #2 seed were fading as well. The Vikings lost three out of four in December.

But, in their final December loss to the Bears, the Vikings came back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game. Even with a heartbreaking overtime loss, it reignited the Vikings.

In Week 17, the Vikings defeated the Giants 44-7. With that win, and a little help from the Eagles, the Vikings secured the #2 seed and a first round bye. They went on to defeat the "hottest team in football," the Dallas Cowboys, 34-3 in the divisional round.

NFC Championship: We finally get to the Championship game, the one that will go down in infamy.  The day leading up to the game nearly gave me a heart attack because of the stress it was causing.  Vikings vs. Saints for a trip to the Superbowl.  But the Vikings couldn't actually win, could they?

Some of my friends told me they thought the Vikings would win.  They said it so nonchalantly.  For me, I could barely comprehend such a statement.  I couldn't, and sadly still cannot, even imagine how I would react if the Vikings made it to the Superbowl.  It is literally the moment that I have been waiting for my entire life.

The NFC Championship game was probably the most back-and-forth Vikings game I have ever seen.  It was certainly the most emotional rollercoaster-ific game ever.  Every single play was huge.  Every score gigantic.  It was exactly what an NFC Championship game should be.

Of course, we all know how it ended.  The Vikings committed 5 turnovers, including the final Favre interception that will go down in history.  There were only seconds left on the clock, tied game, and the Vikings were trying to get a few extra yards for a final second field goal.  Favre dropped back, ran to the right, and threw across the field.  It was picked.

There has been lots of anger at Favre because it certainly looked like he could have just kept the ball and ran for another 5 yards.  Many asked why he would even consider a pass in that situation.  Here's my personal theory.  Favre had been getting clobbered all day.  I would imagine that stuff gets to you.  Your options are to take a knee, run for it, or throw it.  Favre wanted more yards, so he didn't want to take a knee.  He knew if he ran for it, he'd probably take a big hit, not to mention the fact that he was already hobbled.  So he saw what he thought was an open receiver and threw it.  Obviously a huge mistake, but not as unreasonable a decision given his mindset.  I'm not trying to defend it, just trying to explain it.

The game went into overtime where the Saints won the coin toss and scored a FG. It was painful to watch the Vikings lose without ever getting another shot on offense, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes.

Even after all of that, I still think the game will age better than the '98 debacle has.  For instance, the '98 Vikings were essentially a shoe-in for the Superbowl.  The Falcons were just some good team, but no one expected them to actually win.  It all came down to a FG that would have essentially locked up the game for the Vikings.  Gary Anderson, prolific kicker extraordinaire, choked, missing a 38-yard field goal.  It was his first miss all season.  The Vikings defense couldn't hold and the Falcons scored a TD to tie the game, sending it into overtime.  We all know how it ended.

The '09 Vikings were basically in a dead heat for the Superbowl behind the Saints all season until the end when the Saints pulled away.  There was talk of the Vikings self-destruction, but they turned it around and made it to the game everyone wanted to see all season, Vikings vs. Saints.  And it was an amazing game.  Yes, the Vikings committed 5 turnovers, but even so, they were in it until the very end.  You can look at it the other way and say that the Saints needed the Vikings to commit 5 turnovers to beat them.

You can always ask "what if?" or say, "if only," and it won't do any good, so forgive this next paragraph, because I'm going to go there.  It really did take 5 turnovers to beat the Vikings.  Take away any one of those turnovers and the Vikings could have won.  Take away 2 or 3 and the Vikings could have dominated.  Take away a questionable pass interference call or add a missed roughing the passer call and the Vikings could have won.  There were so many things that went against the Vikings, yet they were in it the whole game.  They almost seemed destined to win simply because they were toe-to-toe with the Saints the entire game despite everything.

In the end, it was one turnover too many.  But the '09 Vikings are more like that great girlfriend that just didn't work out in the end, as opposed to the '98 Vikings who are that girlfriend who lied to you and stabbed you in the back.  Yeah, the '98 sex was great, but I think I'll reflect more kindly on the '09 season when all is said and done.