I suppose there have been worse Sundays than last Sunday when the Vikings, anticipated Super Bowl participants, gave away what they had won. The No. 1 ranked Minnesota Gophers’ 1960 Rose Bowl loss and the Vikings’ fourth Super Bowl come to mind.

Our 2008 Vikings gave the game to Indianapolis. If either the offense or defense had played decently in the fourth quarter, the Vikes would be 1-1 instead of 0-2. Surprising how much better 1-1 sounds.

They again wasted a marvelous effort by Adrian Peterson. How long can they expect this from Peterson, before he gets injured, worn out, or the opposing defense begins to play an eight-man line?

Can you imagine the man hours spent between the quarterback coach, the offensive coach and Childress. The years spent on the practice field with 10 other players. The plays built around Jackson and the mindset of the team. It boggles the mind. It’s no wonder Childress hates to give up on Jackson. If he gives up on Jackson, he’s saying he’s been wrong for three years.

Much as if you spent three years building a house, finding and buying the lot, choosing the builder, design and floor plan, digging the basement, framing, erecting and finishing it to the best of your ability. Then deciding you don’t want it, turning your back and walking away. Hard to do! You bet, but rather than waste another season, it’s the thing to do. If they cannot contend with Jackson, give the team to someone that can, or better yet Zigi, find another builder.

Our Twins had a bad Sunday, too. They lost to a rookie pitcher they never did figure out and then watched as the White Sox won a doubleheader. The Twins went from tied for first to a game and half behind. The White Sox wins must have been hard to watch on ESPN.

My wife wanted to see the Coco Chanel biography with Shirley MacLaine. I thought she certainly deserved to after a weekend of sports. I switched to the game during commercials which seemed to occur every five minutes and kept track of the Sox. They won the first and then darn near lost the second as Detroit made a comeback. The Sox then won going away, after losing a seven-run lead. A team of destiny? Maybe!

A concern I have heading into the stretch drive is that two of the young pitches are having a tough time. Both Perkins and Blackburn have not done well in recent starts. Has the league caught up with them or are they tired? It may bear watching.

One Minnesota team did win over the weekend. Tim Brewsters’ Minnesota Golden Gophers beat Montana State. Wow! Did anyone care? A few diehard Gopher fans I guess. There were over 40,000 at the game. Maybe a lot of Montana folks made the trip. Does playing a bunch of softies make a better team? Not necessarily, but it gives you a better record and counts toward the six wins needed to qualify for a bowl game.

It’s a good idea for the coach. It kept Glen Mason at Minnesota for a decade. Did you know that Mason still hasn’t landed another coaching job? Perhaps that tells us something about his tenure at Minnesota.

Another quick comment: Have you noticed all the Mid-America Conference teams the Big Ten schools are playing? And the Mid-America’s are winning their share. Is the Big Ten sliding toward mediocrity? Thank goodness for Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin.