Flashback to 1998: Et Tu, Favre?

New Orleans - January 24, 2010.  There is a fundamental flaw in the NFL vis-a-vis the NBA. In the NBA's seven-game playoff format, the better team always wins. Athletes can rest assured that all their hard work will pay off and not get flushed down the crapper by statistical aberrations. You don't defeat a superior team four times out of seven. But you can defeat a superior team on any given evening, which is what happened tonight...

As the kicker for New Orleans lined up for the overtime field goal, the nameless inexperienced kicker who had no business determining such things as NFC Championships, my mind flashed back to 1998. 

His kick, just like Morten Anderson's 38 yarder in overtime 13 years ago, went right down the middle. Like that, our season vanished in a cloud of smoke, consumed by the anguish of losing to an inferior team by mere aberration. 

Thirteen years ago, I recall I was just hitting adolescence. I was growing more aware of my surroundings, of myself, and of how the world worked. But that game would make me moody and haunt me for many years, because it was unrighteous. Why should an inferior team get the right to play for a championship?

The 1998 Vikings were better offensively, better defensively, and better on special teams than the 1998 Falcons, and had earned home field advantage. They had the game won, until Gary Anderson, who hadn't missed a kick all season, missed a chip shot inside 40 yards. 

It wouldn't do well for my soul to revive more memories of that game, but suffice it to say that the better team lost due to multiple aberrations. What hurts is that the same thing happened, thirteen years later. 

The 2010 Vikings are better offensively, defensively, and on special teams than the 2010 Saints, who boast an incredibly pathetic front seven. In the NFC championship, the Vikings:

Had 475 yards total to 257 for the Saints.

Had 31 first downs to 15 for the Saints.

Had possession 37 minutes to 28 for the Saints. 

The Vikings lost because of two fumbles inside the Saints 10 yard line, and because they lost a coin toss to begin overtime. How statistically significant is that?

The Vikings also lost because on the final drive, the Saints were the beneficiary of three incredibly dubious calls. One was a dropped pass by Meachem that the officials ruled complete even though the ball touched the ground. Another was a highly questionable passing interference call. A last was a 4th and inches attempt that did not cross the first down marker.

All three plays were originally ruled in favor of the Saints. All three went to an official booth replay. The referees were unable to find indisputable evidence on any of them to overturn. These gratuitous fortunes allowed the nameless kicker to win the game on a chip shot. 

It is clear that the inferior team won the game. It happens. For example, in the 2001 NBA Finals, the Sixers led by Allen Iverson won Game One in overtime against the Lakers. But would it be righteous if play stopped and the championship were given to the Sixers that year? The Lakers came back and steamrolled the Sixers four straight to complete the most dominant post-season run in recent history. 

What hurts even more is that Brett Favre put on an inspirational display of courage and grit tonight that I have never seen and galvanized his entire team. It ranks higher than Elway's end-zone leap in Superbowl XXXII.

To be able to stand back up, to come back into the game, and then continue to march down for scores, after taking those vicious cheap shots by the Saints, is mind boggling.

That multiple hits were called personal fouls underscores the fact that even the referees, who, God bless their souls, blew the game in overtime, noticed that the Saints were breaking the spirit of the game. 

Trying to injure a player in football is breaking the spirit of the law. It worked against Kurt Warner, but Favre wouldn't back down tonight. In a way, it is like Jordan getting knocked down by the Bad Boy Pistons. Except Jordan was young and had plenty of chances to come back. 

Not Favre though. Tonight was his final game. There will be no justice served. The Saints clobber and bumble their way into a Super Bowl they don't deserve, and the anguish with a postmodern tilt sinks around me once again.