Hold Steady's Craig Finn Wary of Minnesota Vikings' Success

After Sunday's loss to Arizona, Vikings fans and sports columnists are wondering if the team is heading for a December swoon behind quarterback Brett Favre. Still, the season has been enjoyable for the Minnesota faithful but many, like Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn, aren't going to rest easily yet.

"I'm pretty happy this fall about the Vikes," Finn tells Spinner. "It's been fun to watch Brett Favre this year, that's for sure. We have a great team. Adrian Peterson and now this Percy Harvin dude are really exciting players. The Vikings always have the potential to really disappoint you, both on and off the field, so I tread with caution."

Another point of contention among many Vikings fans was signing Favre, who spent almost his entire career with the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota's hated rival. Until recently, Finn was in the same boat.

"Truth be told, I always hated Favre until like two years ago when I was like 'Wait a minute, this is like one of the best living football players I'll ever get to see,'" he says. "I really became a fan during his last year with the Packers because he's so gutsy so I was happy to see him. Obviously, if Favre had been a Viking throughout his career, I probably would name my dog after him. You can only hate him because he's so good and he's on the rival. Now he's on our team. It's pretty easy to like him now."

Finn has also made peace with his beloved Twins getting swept in the playoffs by the eventual World Series champion Yankees. "I'm way more of a Twins guy. I get emotionally involved in the Twins," he says. "I was pretty happy to be there. Winning game 163 was very sweet. That felt like winning the playoffs. It's harder to lose to the Yankees but they're so good you can't really expect to do anything but lose to them. I think we did pretty well without Justin Morneau in the lineup. I wish we had taken one game. We had some pretty rough baserunning errors as well, just like late-inning meltdowns. I'm optimistic for next season, which is a good feeling."

And though he's had some harsh words for the Yankees in the past, Finn doesn't have any extra hatred for the team with the highest payroll in the league. "I just blame the fans because they celebrate like it's an even match," he says. "If I was a Yankees fan, all I could feel is relief. Like, 'Oh, thank god we didn't lose.'"