Tim Mahoney, bless his heart, thought his beloved but tormented Minnesota Vikings were, after a 41-year hiatus, headed back to the Super Bowl. And the Super Bowl this season is in Minneapolis. Could you imagine?

“I even said it myself,” Mahoney said. “I thought it was destiny.”

It was not. The Philadelphia Eagles clobbered the Vikings in the NFC championship game, crushing the hopes of thousands upon thousands of Minnesotans. Those same Minnesotans this week will welcome legions of — what is the proper word here? — fervent Eagles fans into their establishments, homes and public spaces, whether the sting of losing has subsided or not.

Awk-ward.

“If it wasn’t for the entrepreneurial opportunity, of course I wouldn’t want to have the team that just beat us coming into our place — especially since they’re rowdier than average,” said Tyler Olson, 32, who manages short-term rentals for owners and guests. “But I recognize that it’s part of business. Others may not agree, but that’s my choice.”

Olson was 6 years old the last time Minneapolis hosted a Super Bowl, in January 1992, when Minnesota avoided this potentially uncomfortable situation by missing the playoffs. The 2017 Vikings tidied their path to a division title by knocking out the star quarterback of the rival Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers, and then defeated the New Orleans Saints in their postseason opener on a 61-yard touchdown as time expired.

Against Philadelphia last week, the Vikings were favored by three points. They lost by 31.

“If you’re going to hold a grudge against them, that’s not right,” said Mahoney, 56, an owner of the Loon Cafe, a popular Vikings bar in downtown Minneapolis. “There’s nothing wrong with a little friendly banter, and I’d hope it doesn’t escalate beyond that. Us and the Packers have been doing it for years. At the end we shake hands and have a beer and call it a good day.”

That might be true, but these circumstances are different. Never before had a team come as close as the Vikings to playing a Super Bowl in its home stadium. Imagine spending months planning a party and then being turned away at the door.

“I’m hoping just the passage of time will make things better,” said Brad Christopherson, 42, a real estate agent and Vikings fan originally from Fargo, North Dakota, who has lived in Minneapolis for two decades. “People here are pretty passive-aggressive. Maybe just some rudeness, potentially. Some glares and looks and things like that.”

Referring to Eagles fans, Christopherson added: “But if they come in all cocky and still going off about stuff related to the game, I can’t say what’s going to happen. Hopefully they’ve moved on and are focused more on the Super Bowl rather than the last game.”

In the land of Vikings, some Minnesotans are concerned about what they consider another marauding band: Eagles fans, whose reputation, deserved or not, precedes them.

Although Lincoln Financial Field, where the Eagles play, is generally not a hospitable venue for opposing fans, only a small segment tends to engage in appalling behavior. And, of course, Philadelphians are not the only ones who can act poorly when sports, alcohol and perhaps some stupidity mix together.

Based on conversations with friends, Laura Conley, 31, who is trying to rent out her home for the Super Bowl, said she could envision Minnesotans cheering for the New England Patriots because of how some Vikings fans were treated in Philadelphia.

Jim Fehrenkamp, 41, a co-owner of Mac’s Industrial Sports Bar in Minneapolis, said he will root for New England for the same reason but added that he does not anticipate much friction between the locals and Eagles fans this week. Think fewer rumbles on Nicollet Mall, more stink eyes, if anything.

“I have belief in my city,” Fehrenkamp said, laughing. “At the same time, I also know that if you’re in your hometown, people might be a little more defensive of things. But I’d think that the people who act like that are probably not going to be the ones coming to the Super Bowl.”