South Dakota mourns with Minnesota

Posted by Seth Tupper on 1/25/2010 at 8:44 AM in General News

For the most part, eastern South Dakota is Minnesota Vikings country. The Vikings are the closest NFL team, and many South Dakotans make annual trips to see games at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Today, along with millions of Minnesotans, thousands of South Dakotans are mourning the Vikings' heartbreaking, 31-28 overtime loss last night to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC championship game. It's especially heartbreaking for South Dakotans this year because of the presence of two South Dakota natives in the Vikings' starting linebacking corps.

Chad Greenway, who led the Vikings with eight tackles last night, is a native of Mount Vernon. Ben Leber, who had five tackles, is from Vermillion.

I would say there's always next year, but that doesn't mean much to Vikings fans, who've never celebrated a Super Bowl win. Vikings fans have been waiting for next year since 1962.