The Vikings Vs. The Saints: What’s The Big Deal?

For those of you not watching Kim Kardashian get her face beat in on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, last night was a nail biter. The New Orleans Saints took on the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game (which would determine who’s moving on to play in the big, bad Super Bowl) and it was intense. As if the stakes weren’t stressful enough, both teams were tied for the entire game until overtime when Saints kicker Garrett Hartley kicked the 40-yard field goal of his life and won his team a ticket to Miami.

By Brittany

As an avid Vikings fan (and recent purchaser of a brand new Favre jersey) I have resorted to chocolate and the fetal position this morning. I’m devastated.

But I am willing to bet the rest of us are wondering why the Saints, Reggie Bush, Brett Favre, and the Vikings are filling up our Twitter trending topics list and taking over our Facebook News Feed. What is the big hype? Why are all your guy friends crying? And why is it such a big deal the Saints won and the Vikings lost (besides the world being one step closer to a Kim Kardashian wedding)?

Let’s take a closer look.

The Minnesota Vikings:
It wasn’t a fabulous night for Minnesota Vikings fan as the hopes for the Superbowl sailed into the hands of the Saints players.  Quite literally, quarterback Brett Favre may have thrown the most depressing interception of his life with seconds left to play and a chance for Minnesota to go to the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years.

But last night’s game wasn’t the only dramz for the Vikings; the story of the team really has been a fickle reality show for the masses. After announcing retirement with the Green Bay Packers, Favre dove back into the game with their biggest rivals, The Minnesota Vikings. For some Green Bay fans, the feeling was equivalent to your best friend dating your girlfriend. Like, ouch.  And as Favre was turning 40, many people wondered when he’d stop “playing the field” and stay home. Throughout the season he proved everyone wrong and carried the Vikings all the way to the NFC Championship with his intense spiral and his own rendition of “Pants on the Ground.” We Vikings fans had high hopes for the team and expected nothing but a Super Bowl celebration last night.

But after such an exciting season (and a long night spent gnawing on the sleeve of my new Favre jersey), the loss was more depressing than a One Tree Hill episode.

The New Orleans Saints:
Five years ago, after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city and destroyed the Super Dome, the New Orleans Saints did not have a home or certain future. Everyone wondered if the team could ever come back and if the city could ever have something to celebrate. And last night, New Orleans got what they’ve long deserved. The Super Dome echoed with cheers and happiness as the Saints defeated the Vikings. Now they are headed for their very first Super Bowl (yay!) against the Indianapolis Colts.  The support from the people of New Orleans (and perhaps the idea of a major hump sesh for Reggie and Kim) definitely pushed the team to victory and even I, a Vikings fan to the core, can’t help but feel a little good inside (deep, deep down) for the people of New Orleans.

So what happens next? We’ll have to wait until the Colts take on the Saints on February 7th to find out. Until then the questions remain:

Will Reggie Bush put a rock on Kim Kardashian’s finger?
Will the Saints win their first Super Bowl for New Orleans?
Will Favre finally retire? Or will he stay with the Vikings for another chance at the Superbowl? (Favre’s last pass for every team in his career has been an interception. The last pass he tossed last night sailed into the hands of a Saints player.  Coincidence for the Minnesota Vikings?)

This is juicier than a Gossip Girl episode, but unlike GG, I won’t have to wait 3 months to find out the ending.

[Photo courtesy of NBC Sports.]