Vikings fans of a certain generation are haunted by the organization's four Super Bowl losses. In person, on e-mails, via online comments on stories about the team, they preface comments by saying, "I'm old enough to remember …"
A lot of Vikings fans, though — perhaps even the majority? — are not old enough to remember. Tuesday marked the 41-year anniversary of the last time the Vikings even played in a Super Bowl, a 32-14 loss to the Raiders that was the Vikings' third Super Bowl loss in four seasons and the fourth in eight years.
For more recent generations of fans, the pain is focused more acutely on memories of great Vikings teams that had a Super Bowl appearance within its grasp, only to have it cruelly snatched away.