What happened in 1992 to change everything is still unknown, but I am going to call it “The Curse of Goldberg.” How to lift the curse? If tying him to the goal posts and ripping shots won’t work, maybe nothing will. Someone cue the knuckle puck.

But since the release of “The Mighty Ducks,” Minnesota’s major sports teams have not been able to reach the heights of Gordon Bombay’s pee wee hockey team.

Combined, the Twins, Vikings, Wild and Timberwolves have zero championships despite 39 playoff appearances in 95 total seasons.

Numbers like that rank Minneapolis-St. Paul among the worst markets in professional sports.

Call it a curse, but unlike other sports curses, the Curse of Goldberg has three different cases to it.

Case I – The plucky underdog who comes up short

The 2017 Twins are perhaps the most prime example of this first case. Coming off the club’s worst season since they were named the Washington Senators with 103 losses in 2016, there were not any expectations for this team.

But suddenly, the Twins were in the playoff hunt come September. Come October, a trip to New York to play the Yankees in the Wild Card game.

There were just slight expectations, but then those expectations got ramped up. Two home runs in the first inning gave Minnesota hope. But as the way with the curse, it was not to be. The Yankees came out on top 8-4, but Twins fans were just happy to be there.

Case II – A really good team gets shut down

Reading through the history of the Vikings, this becomes apparent. Time traveling back to 2009 is perhaps the most painful. A Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson led Vikings team had claimed the NFC North with a 12-4 record.

All that stood in the Vikings’ way to their first Super Bowl since 1976 was the New Orleans Saints. Who dat?

Drew Brees, dat’s who. Despite out-gaining the Saints 475 to 257 on the night, it was the Saints who punched their ticket to Miami for the Super Bowl.

Fast forward eight seasons to last December. Playoff demons were vanished, as the Vikings got the last 61-yard laugh to beat the Saints 29-24. The “Skol” chant was alive, and the Vikings became the first Super Bowl host to appear in a conference championship.

An Eagles team without their starting quarterback? A home Super Bowl seemed like destiny.

Someone forgot to tell Nick Foles that, as well as the Eagles’ defensive front that ripped the Vikings to shreds.

Dreams firmly crushed.

Case III – Trying to get to the second round

Wild, now it is your turn. The newest franchise in the Big Four leagues in Minnesota is among the most successful in terms of playoff appearances. In 17 seasons of existence, the Wild have made it to the postseason nine times.

But with that, the Wild have only four playoff series wins in that time. In fact, of those four wins, three came in seven games, the other in six. Easy playoff wins are not in the team’s vocabulary.

Similar cases involve all Minnesota sports. In those 39 playoff appearances since 1992, Minnesota teams have won just 14 playoff series/ games. That is seven playoff wins for the Vikings, four for the Wild, two for the Wolves and just one for the Twins.

On just four occasions have a Minnesota team appeared in a conference championship. Those teams were the 2009 and 2016 Vikings, the 2002 Twins and the 2004 Timberwolves.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over. Here in Minnesota, all sports fans are insane.