The Minnesota Vikings have appeared in four Super Bowls, losing each time. On the bright side, four teams have never made it to the big game.

When it comes to the well-known Minnesota sports fans' heartbreak, no team has delivered a healthier dose of it over the years than our beloved Minnesota Vikings.

From the more recent pains of 'almost' making it to the championship (1998/Gary Anderson's miss, and 2009's Farve/Saints Bountygate as a couple of examples) -- to the four iconic Super Bowl fails:

  1. 1970 in New Orleans: Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7.
  2. 1974 in Houston: Miami 24, Minnesota 7.
  3. 1975 in New Orleans: Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6.
  4. 1977 in Pasadena: Oakland 32, Minnesota 14.

<sigh>

That's the story behind the well-known stat of the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills being the only teams that have been to the Super Bowl four times without a win.

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Quick, so let's do something to feel better about ourselves. The four teams that have never made it to the Super Bowl are the Browns, Lions, Jaguars, and Texans. (I've said it many times: As much as it can hurt to be a Vikings fan, how would you like to be in Detroit?)

Not that I care (BECAUSE I WANT A SUPER BOWL WIN), but the Vikes did win the NFL Championship in 1969, the last year prior to the NFL/AFL merger and the dawn of the Super Bowl.

Figures. We won it all the the year before the first Super Bowl, then lost four out of four since. My guess is we will advance to the title just before Armageddon -- but hey, better than becoming the first team to lose five, right?

Pete Hanson is on 98.1 Minnesota's New Country weekday mornings from 5:30 to 10:00.

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