There is a lot of anger and sadness in Minnesota today. And I’m not referring to our 2010 Winter Carnival Snow Sculpture competition being highly affected by rain. (Though that did suck.) No, today we here in Minnesota are yet again faced with the crushing disappointment of our Vikings not making it to the Super Bowl during a season that was like something out of a fairy tale. But we’re getting fairly used to it. I like to think of it as some kind of karmic payback by the gods of the sport for granting us four previous trips that we never won, but I digress.

Before I make my salient point, let me first state that Adrian Peterson, the running back that 90% of this league would fall over themselves to have in their own backfield, needs to learn how to hang on to that fucking ball. Dear Christ Almighty on Toast, when the fuck is he going to learn? And Brett Favre…well that was an incredibly stupid pass from someone who has a pedigree that states they should know better by now. And as I understand it, Packer fans are very familiar with this happening as well when he was with them. Our defense did just about everything they could and held that supercharged offense of the Saints very well. But a team that coughs up the ball five times has no place in the Big Show.

But now I need to state something that was clear to anyone who watched that last series in overtime. I don’t care who you’re a fan of, these facts are indisputable; in the order in which they happened:

1. That was NOT a first down.
2. That was NOT pass interference.
3. That was NOT a catch.

In three calls, the referees handed that game to the Saints. Granted, they let all kind of leading-with-the-helmet calls go that were undoubtedly meant to injure our players, but that final series was nothing short of breathtaking in referee ineptitude.

But…I’m a Viking fan. I’m used to it. And, again, any team that coughs up the ball that many times should be looking at other things to reflect upon in the off-season. But I have to say it’s hard to be a fan with this much perceived favoritism in the NFL. Because sometimes it isn’t just perception. Just ask the NBA.