COLORS: Robin's Egg Blue and Gentle Yellow
OWNER: Andrew Lunstad
COACH: Andrew Lunstad
The 1999 league champions are one of the MFL's two surviving original franchises. Founded by Andrew Lunstad in order to "bring a little sunshine into the world each day" the Hummingbirds are known for their well-coached discipline, flamboyant end zone celebrations, and extended team shower sessions.
The Hummingbirds were a surprise winner of the 1999 Loki Cup. After a slow 1-3 start, Mankato's finest picked up their performance in the middle of the season and survived a difficult home stretch to sneak into the last playoff spot with a .500 record. However, after a controversial end-of-season trade with the Vadnais Heights Venom, the Hummingbirds shocked the favored Fridley Ferrets with a fifty point blitzkrieg. The upset set up an intrafamily championship game between Mankato and the Baldwin Wallabies, led by young Daniel Lunstad. In a hard-fought struggle, the Hummingbirds prevailed 33-17 to become MFL champions.
Mankato defeated Baldwin to claim their first Loki Cup.
Hummingbirds-Wallabies is one of the oldest MFL rivalries.
Because of their weak regular season performance, the Hummingbirds were not considered favorites to defend their title in the 2000 season. Nevertheless, Andrew Lunstad, one of the league's more controversial figures, promised to "show the league a few things it hasn't seen before." However, it was not clear from the context of his rambling statement whether he was discussing a new offensive philosophy, or was simply intending to publicize a few of his favorite adult Internet sites.
The Hummingbirds began the season with a two-game winning streak, with solid victories over the Freeze and Venom. But what the MFL had not seen before was a record-setting fourteen-game losing streak that began the following week with a twenty-three point loss to the eventual champions and did not end until the last game of the postseason. The normally voluble Andrew Lunstad had very little to say at the season's end, and it will be interesting to see how the franchise responds to this total debacle of a year. Mankato is far and away the league's most controversial team, and it may well be that the confusion that pervades the front office and locker room must be addressed before the Hummingbirds can hope to return to their winning ways in the Tiny Nest.
