QUICK START: Here are highlights you’ll find in Sports Take.

NFL DRAFT: Useful info for the draft (tonight through Saturday) and for afterward, as college players from throughout Minnesota and border schools get their shot at turning pro. And will the Vikings do what the experts are expecting?

WILD: An epic Game 3 went until almost 1 a.m. and deep into double-overtime before Dallas took a 4-3 win and a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in St. Paul. The winning score came after a delay-of-game penalty on Danila Yurov, who smacked the puck over the boards following a Stars scoring threat.

WOLVES: Game 3 is tonight at Target Center (8:30 p.m., Prime) and the Timberwolves have home court advantage after an emotion-packed Game 2 win in Denver. It took the Wolves five quarters against the Nuggets before they combined intensity and execution to play up to their potential. Will it last?

GOPHERS BASKETBALL: The women are hitting the transfer portal like a national power. The men added two players from NCAA champion Michigan and one of Coach Niko Medved’s former Colorado State players in the last few days.

LYNX: TV and streaming plans are set for after the imminent shutdown of FanDuel Sports Network. Are the Lynx blazing a trail for the Wild, Wolves and Frost? Also, a road map to TV and streaming the WNBA this season. There will be games on every day. You just have to know where to find them.

FROST: Positioning themselves for a three-peat in the third year of the PWHL and hoping to have the league’s MVP. The Walter Cup Playoffs start next week.

TWINS: Solid play didn’t last and things I warned you about last week came to pass, including bullpen fails that led to the Twins’ last three losses and a sweep by Cincinnati that featured decisive defensive misplays in every game.

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LIFE AT BLAKE: The Blake Bears entered the state boys’ basketball playoffs without being taken seriously. They were a No. 9 seed, meaning they played all but one of their section games away from their gym in Hopkins. But the Bears persisted, making the Class 2A state tournament with a five-game tournament run, including victories over two teams that had beaten them during the regular season. It was only the second time the school had ever played at state. Then, last week, school administrators told Coach Tyler Biwan his contract wasn’t being renewed. It set off a week of anger in the Blake community.

INTENSE UPROAR: Social media reacted strongly to the original decision to fire Biwan, including angry posts by two of Blake’s top players. One posted on X: “I’ve never felt more embarrassed and ashamed to be a Bear.” The other posted: “We just went to state as the 9 seed in our section and they think to fire the guy who led us there? Nobody on the team besides maybe 1 or 2 people support this.” Coaches from around the state weighed in, including the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association, and an online petition circulated that gathered more than 600 signers. as of Wednesday. Biwan’s post on X last week about his dismissal gathered replies from numerous coaches around the state. One former coach called him, “One of the best 10 or 15 coaches in the state, and a better person.”

DISPUTE RESOLVED: After a meeting Thursday morning involving Biwan and school officials, the dispute was resolved. Biwan asked those who were seeking his reinstatement to stop their efforts. He declined to go into further detail. VERBATIM: “Blake shared with me the reasons for its decision, and it is our intention and hope that those reasons will remain between the school and me. After hearing from Blake, I want you all to know i support the decision and believe it is in the best interests of the program, the school and me to part ways on good terms.”

BIWAN BACKGROUND: The former Blake coach is a U of M graduate who was a men’s basketball team manager under former coach Tubby Smith. He was hired by Blake in 2016. He is a senior vice president at Circana, a market analytics company, and previously worked at General Mills and Best Buy. Biwan said he learned of his dismissal last week during a 10-minute meeting with Blake’s interim athletic director. In a social media post about his departure, Bivan wrote: “Learning under Tubby Smith, he often preached ‘always leave it better than when you found it.’ We did that at Blake. Onward.”

LETTER FROM PARENTS: A letter signed by 32 basketball program parents had been sent to school officials and Blake’s board of trustees seeking an “independent investigation.” The school responded with a letter from Head of School Anne Stavney and interim Athletic Director Hugh Brown that was distributed to the entire Blake community. VERBATIM: “Leading a Blake athletic team is about much more than wins and losses (though those are important too!). It is about creating a culture that nurtures all of our student-athletes, and leading with behavior consistent with Blake’s values. When we have documented reasons to believe that is not happening, we do not renew seasonal coaching contracts. Families do not decide this; donors do not decide this. This decision is made entirely by Blake leadership, and that was the case here.”

PARENT LETTER: PAGE 1 | PAGE 2

RESPONSE LETTER TO BLAKE COMMUNITY: TAP HERE

UPDATE: In a follow-up to Blake families, Stavney attached Biwan’s letter and wrote, “I regret that this has been a difficult week for many in our community. We will continue to move forward focused on the best interests of our students.”

WHAT’S NEXT? Stavney is leaving Blake this summer and a new head of school has been hired. In addition, a new athletic director will start this summer. Blake has already posted the opening on its web site, one of seven coaching openings being advertised by the 126-year-old K-12 private school. Asked if he would return to coaching, Biwan said he’ll mull that over later. “Especially with how it’s been a chaotic week. It’s good to move forward. . . . Time will tell.”

MY TAKE: In a year of high-profile stories about high school coaching dismissals, resignations and leaves of absence, this was an unique situation because a private school doesn’t operate with the same transparency as public schools. Blake is an extraordinary academic school and would not routinely be a place that students leave over athletic issues. Sports don’t define schools such as Blake as much as they enhance them. Settling this on mutually agreed-upon terms is the best way for Blake to get focus back on what makes its an attractive K-12 option.

BLAKE SCHOOL WEB SITE | BLAKE ATHLETICS

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FEELING THE DRAFT: The first round is tonight (7 p.m., ABC and ESPN), but the drama carries on through the weekend. During my tenure as web sports editor at the Star Tribune, the most active day of the year — based on the number of updates and readership — was the Saturday of the draft. The combination of the final day picks, the fast pace of the picking and the analysis and coverage of moves made during the first two days was a holiday for Vikings fans. As of now, the Vikings have five picks on the final day. They’ll pick 18th in the first round and 49th, 82nd and 97th is the second and third rounds on Friday. Of course, that’s subject to change in a moment’s notice via trades. Here’s a guide for getting you through the coming days:

THE FIRST-ROUNDER: Via Ben Goessling at Star Tribune. Conventional wisdom and logic has the Vikings picking Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman, who will be cast as the likely successor to Harrison Smith. VERBATIM: “The Vikings love safeties with the kind of instincts and versatility Thieneman showed at Oregon. As they prepare for a major shift at the position (possibly as soon as this fall) after Harrison Smith’s retirement, Thieneman could be a perfect successor. He ran a 4.37-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, putting to rest questions about his speed, and in Minnesota, he would have a chance to learn from Josh Metellus (and Smith, the Vikings hope) about how to direct the team’s ever-shifting defense.”

WHAT IF? Should Thieneman be gone with the Vikings pick, options are safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren of Toledo and defensive tackle Peter Woods of Clemson. As he does annually, Goessling scopes out Vikings picks — trades and all — for the entire draft. GOESSLING’S DRAFT: https://fluence-media.co/bensdraft0423

VIKINGS CHALLENGE: Via Alec Lewis at The Athletic. It’s simple. Do better. Vikings executive Rob Brzezinski, who has been running the draft preparation since the firing of GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, understands the assignment. There is more uncertainty than certainty on the current roster, in part because of recent draft failures. VERBATIM: To set the stage, here is perhaps the most underdiscussed Vikings organizational factoid, a tidbit that should occupy headlines as much as the team’s quarterback conundrum: Minnesota’s roster currently contains two players who were drafted in the second round, three who were drafted in the third round and one who was drafted in the fourth round. To summarize, six of the 61 players on the Vikings’ roster were selected in what is typically viewed as the meat of the draft, the fewest of any team in the NFL by a wide margin. . . . When you don’t find starters in the middle rounds, everything else has to overextend. This doesn’t prevent winning seasons. It does, however, limit the margin for error.”

MORE: “With former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in charge, the Vikings landed just four solid starters over four seasons: receivers Jalen Nailor and Jordan Addison, kicker Will Reichard and left guard Donovan Jackson. Others, such as safety Jay Ward, edge rusher Dallas Turner and quarterback J.J. McCarthy, could join the mix, but the dearth of impact is hard to deny.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/challenge0423

MINNESOTA GUYS: Two intriguing players with state connections. EMMETT JOHNSON: The Nebraska running back played at Holy Angels in Richfield and was the Big Ten’s leading rusher last season. He’s viewed as a probable third- to fifth-round pick. (Top running backs don’t go as high as they once did.) JACK STRAND: This is a fun one. The Minnesota State Moorhead quarterback set a batch of Northern Sun Conference records during his time at the Division II school, which was the only one that offered him a scholarship. He’s seen as a seventh-round pick or getting a larger-than-normal bonus to sign with a team as an undrafted free agent. He’s ranked as the 15th best quarterback in “The Beast,” the comprehensive draft guide from The Athletic.

STRAND’S STORY: Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. Strand played high school football in Bloomer, Wis., and wasn’t even planning to try college until his coach convinced him to make a highlight tape. Ne caught the attention of MSU Moorhead coach Steve Laqua at football camps in North Dakota. VERBATIM: “ ‘I remember just talking to our wide receiver coach and just saying, ‘If we end up with this guy at quarterback, we might have broken hands on half of our receivers,’ because he throws the ball so hard,’ Laqua said. . . . Strand stepped into the starting spot midway through his true freshman year, and as he developed touch to go with the arm strength, the numbers started to pile up in his sophomore season.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/strand0423

BELLY OF THE BEAST: Here’s are several Minnesota-themed draft charts compiled from The Beast, the Athletic’s exhaustive preview. HOW EXHAUSTIVE? 402 profiles, 2,700 rankings, 45,000 verified measurements and almost 300,000 words.

GOPHERS AND TOMMIES: None are likely to be drafted, but here’s a list of 17 — 15 from the U and two from St. Thomas — who could sign as undefeated free agents. The list is headed by Gophers kicker Brady Denaburg and defensive tackle Deven Eastern. https://fluence-media.co/gophstoms0423

AROUND THE STATE: In addition to Strand, here are 10 players from the Northern Sun (D-II) and MIAC (D-III) who have undrafted free-agent potential. Next on the list after Strand is Carleton quarterback Jack Curtis. https://fluence-media.co/miacnsic0423

ON THE BORDER: There are 34 players ranked from the four border colleges — North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota and South Dakota State — that played in the FCS Missouri valley Conference last season. NDSU is moving to the FBS-level Mountain West Conference in July. The list is topped by NDSU wide receiver Bryce Lance, tabbed as a third- or fourth-round pick, and NDSU quarterback Cole Payton, prediction for the fourth round. https://fluence-media.co/border0423

THE OTHER BORDER: Three players from Division III champion Wisconsin-River Falls, which had a roster with a majority of Minnesotans, are expected to get undefeated free agent looks. They are quarterback Kaleb Blaha (Fridley), center Hunter McKinney (Pipestone Area) and linebacker Gage Timm of Shawano, Wis.

MORE LINKS: NFL.com has a real-time draft tracker that is organized by PICKS | TEAMS | PROSPECTS

GUT PUNCH, COUNTERPUNCH: Via Joe Smith at The Athletic. The lasting images from the Wild’s Game 3 loss to Dallas in double-overtime will be how the Wild squandered opportunities — and how Dallas tied the score and got the game-winner by taking full advantage of the few times it controlled the puck. The Wild has five unsuccessful power plays in the third and period and overtime while the Stars tied the score on a third-period power play and got the game-winner on another one. VERBATIM: “The Wild were handed this one on a silver platter. It was there for the taking. They had rallied from a 2-0 deficit, with Matt Boldy’s gutsy playmaking — after he was temporarily pulled by a concussion spotter — close to becoming forever part of Wild lore. Marcus Foligno’s bloody face after his tussle with Matt Duchene would have been put on T-shirts. The Wild held the Stars to just two shots over a 33-minute period. They had SEVEN power plays, including two in overtime. They went 1-for-7. The puck was on the stick of the best player in franchise history, Kirill Kaprizov, who hit the post with 3:57 left in the first overtime. Nobody has scored more OT winners here than him, but his snap shot from 20 feet away clanked harmlessly off the post.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gamethree0423

GONE MISSING: Via Dane Mizutani at Pioneer Press. Superstar Kirill Kaprizov, who had a goal and two assists in the Wild’s 6-1 Game 1 victory, has barely been a factor since. Kaprizov has been stymied in part because of the absence of teammate and BFF Mats Zuccarello, who hasn’t played in the two losses since because of an upper-body injury. VERBATIM: “Though it wouldn’t be fair to place the blame solely on Kaprizov at this point, he needs to be better for the Wild if they’re going to have a chance moving forward. He simply hasn’t been good enough. The recent struggles were underscored by the fact that Kaprizov only managed to muster up a pair of shots on goal in Game 3 despite logging a whopping 36 minutes, 22 seconds of time on the ice. He also failed to produce on the power play and was a big reason the Wild as a whole went 1 of 7 with the man advantage. It’s not a coincidence that Kaprizov’s downturn has coincided with Mats Zuccarello missing time with an upper body injury. They are best friends off the ice and have almost a telepathic connection on the ice that often unlocks everything for the Wild in the offensive zone. It’s pretty clear that Kaprizov has been lost without Zuccarello.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/kirill0423

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THREE-PEAT? The Frost end their season Saturday at Vancouver (6 p.m., FDSN) and will finish the PWHL season in third place. They won’t know their semifinal playoff opponent until afterward for two reasons. (1) Montreal and Boston are still battling for first place. (2) The first-place team gets to choose its first-round playoff opponent from the third- and fourth-place finishers. The semifinals and finals are both best-of-five. Keep in mind the Frost won the Walter Cup, named for the PWHL’s founders, after finishing fourth in the 2024 and 2025 regular seasons. PLAYOFF GUIDE: https://fluence-media.co/pwhl0423

PANNEK FOR MVP? Via Theodore Tollefson at Pioneer Press. While the Frost are going for their third straight title, Kelly Pannek is making a bid to become the team’s first PWHL Most Valuable Player. The former Gophers and Benilde-St. Margaret’s star leads the league in goals (15) and points (32). She’s also tied for third in assists. Those totals increased Wednesday with a goal and two assists in the Frost’s 5-4 loss at Seattle. VERBATIM: “She’s putting pucks in the net, she’s playmaking, she’s winning face-offs, she’s reliable every night,” Frost Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said. “It’s been awesome to see her get rewarded, but I think she’s always been this good. It’s just people are now talking about it because of the points being put up on the board.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/pannek0423

TIMBERWOLVES SMACK BACK: Via Anthony Slater at ESPN. Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels opted to turn up the verbal heat after his team tied its playoff series with Denver at one game apiece. He went after Denver’s defense, showing the same ferocity that both teams displayed in Minnesota’s 119-114 Game 2 victory. He named names. VERBATIM: “Jaden McDaniels called several Nuggets players ‘bad defenders,’ identifying Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cam Johnson by name. ‘They’ve just been saying a lot,’ Johnson said in response. ‘All season, all series. Let them talk. Let them get everything they want off their chest.’ . . . After practice on Wednesday, Johnson, coach David Adelman and starting guard Christian Braun were asked about McDaniels’ comments. ‘I can't wait for his podcast,’ Adelman said sarcastically. ‘He's a really good player. Everyone has a sounding board these days. It'll help his social media.’ “

BRAUN’S RESPONSE: "It's part of the rivalry. I don't think it caught anybody off guard. He's kinda speaking his truth and what he believes. We'll allow them to do that. We kinda want to take care of our own." MORE: https://fluence-media.co/talk0423

WOLVES GOOD FOR BUSINESS: Via Chris Hine at Star Tribune. Combine words off the court and action on the court and you have a smoking-hot rivalry that’s great for the NBA. VERBATIM: “Timberwolves vs. Nuggets is a full-fledged modern NBA rivalry, and it’s great for the game. So, too, are McDaniels’ chirps. Viewers get interested in sports when there are villains and rivalries. It’s just as important for people to root against certain players or teams as it is for them to support their favorite ones. That’s what drives casual viewership, and it’s one reason why the NFL, especially when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were perennial contenders, always got huge ratings. If you’re a casual fan who saw McDaniels’ comments on social media, you might now make it a point to watch Game 3 to see how Denver responds. If you’re an old-school hoops fan, and you enjoyed the 1980s and 1990s, when players like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird wanted to crush their opponents at all costs, Timberwolves-Nuggets is for you.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/rivals0423

WOLVES VS. WILD: My friend Scott Winter, a sports journalism professor at the U, offered me his Minnesota playoff take. “Angry Wolves are better Wolves. Embrace villainy. But that doesn’t work when you get two-minute penalties in hockey. So the Wild need to stop that.”

PORTAL SUCCESS: The Gophers women are reloading in the transfer portal like an elite team after reaching the Sweet 16 and losing to eventual national champion UCLA. Their big issue was losing two post players who completed their eligibility — and replacements are coming from other Big Ten schools. Gracie Merkle, a 6-foot-6 center who was fifth in the conference in scoring (19.8 points per game) and led Division I by making 72.5% of her field goals. Also added is 6-foot-3 Tayla Thomas, who averaged 10 points, 7 rebounds and more than a block per game for Northwestern. They also added point guard Leah Harmon who is coming from Central Florida after playing one year at Miami. Minnesota also has four freshman players coming in, a class ranked 19th in the nation by ESPN It’s fair to have even higher expectations for the 2026-27 Gophers, who are morphing into a team that opponents circle on their schedules. MEN: Coach Niko Medved has worked the edges of the portal, picking up two reserves from national-champion Michigan — including 7-foot-2 center Malick Kordel — and one of his former Colorado State players — guard Kyan Evans — who started every game for Medved as a sophomore and saw his junior year playing time reduced as the season went along at North Carolina.

HOCKEY UPDATE: The men’s hockey transfer portal closes Monday and, so far, the Gophers have taken in six players while having seven leave from last year’s team. The women’s portal closed on April 6. To see comings and goings for all men and women in D-I and D-III men, you can follow the Gopher Puck Live transfer tracker.

LOONS BACK: After a sloppy start, Minnesota United is moving up the MLS standings, tying a team record Wednesday with their fourth straight win — 1-0 at Dallas, which had an 11-match winning streak at home. At 5-2-2, the Loons have climbed into a third-place tie in the Western Conference. They play Saturday at Allianz Field against LAFC, which also has a share of third place. (3:45 p.m., FOX). STANDINGS

LYNX TV FIX: FanDuel Sports Network will go dark soon after the first round of the Stanley Cup ends and the Lynx have announced that streaming service Victory+ will carry 26 of their regular-season games. The others will be part of the league’s broadcast and streaming package on an assortment of networks. Victory+ is a streaming service that includes a group of pro teams, as well as an assortment of other sports. I set up the Victory+ app on Roku and it seems easy to navigate. Games will be streamed without charge this season. TWO QUESTIONS: Will the Lynx continue to stream for free after this year? is this the route that other teams that are currently on FanDuel — the Wolves, Wild and Frost — will take in the future?

FOLLOWING THE W: Here’s the schedule of which networks will show WNBA games and when. MONDAY: Peacock and USA. TUESDAY: ESPN. WEDNESDAY: USA. THURSDAY: Prime. FRIDAY: Ion. SATURDAY: ABC, CBS. SUNDAY: NBC, CBS, ABC, ESPN. Got that?

LYNX TV SCHEDULE: https://fluence-media.co/lynxtv0423

TWINS BLUNDERS: It took a visit from the Twins for the Mets to end their 12-game losing streak and the bullpen — once again — was to blame. Relievers spit up leads on Saturday and Sunday vs. the Reds and came back weakly for an encore on Wednesday. With two outs and the game tied at 2 in the eighth inning, Taylor Rogers walked a batter and Justin Topa entered to walk another one before a game-winning bloop single. Yet another example of how slim of a margin for error the Twins have.

HA! Twins fans don’t have much reason to laugh at their rivals, but there was a precious moment in Minnesota’s win on Tuesday over the Mets. After a New York reliever failed to retire any of the five batters he faced in the ninth inning, when the Twins scored their winning runs, his replacement struck out Royce Lewis, setting off an “M-V-P!” chant from the crowd.

GRAND OPENING: Via CCX Media. Brooklyn Park’s Zanewood Recreation Center (a/k/a “The Wood) has its formal grand opening celebration from 4 to 7 p.m. today to show off the new building at 7100 Zane Ave. N. The $9.8 million facility expansion includes a new gym, arts space and a “Teen Tech center” sponsored by Best Buy. The space was funded by a 2018 referendum and grant money, including a $100,000 gift from the foundation created by former Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen. VERBATIM: “You talk about helping youth reach their full potential, you think of resources and opportunities,” said Thielen. “This is a space that creates both of those: resources, beautiful resources, beautiful opportunities with the programming and the space to be able to do [that] programming. It’s a perfect opportunity to help these youth be at their best and to be who they want to be.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/zanewood0423

AND FINALLY: Via CCX Sports. Even without the controversy surrounding Blake, I would have shared this video about what the school did for a rival at the end of the regular season. Brooklyn Center had played its entire schedule on the road because of problems with its gym floor. Biwan reached out and offered to let Brooklyn Center be the home team in Blake’s gym so the Centaurs could hold a Senior Night celebration. Here’s what happened:

THANKS FOR READING AND REACHING OUT.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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FIRST-PLACE TWINS: The first three weeks of a six-month season can be filled with illusions. Hot starts give way to cold reality as the daily grind casts aside teams that aren’t built to last. Whether the Twins’ early success is an illusion or the product of quality few people associated with them is up for debate. Sweeping Detroit in four games and then winning two of three from Toronto and Boston boosted the Twins to the best record in the American League (11-8) and has made Target Field a fun place to be for now, even if they’re playing to substantially more empty seats than filled ones.

‘HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS?’ A friend texted that to me during Tuesday’s 6-0 win over the Red Sox, which followed the Monday game when the Twins scored 11 runs in the first two innings off Boston ace Garrett Crochet. MY REPLY, SLIGHTLY EXPANDED: (1) The starting pitching and hitting has been better than expected, and that’s covered for a mediocre bullpen that will need to be upgraded. (2) The team minimized the sloppy defense and at-bats that soured the opening of the season. A week nine-game start has been followed by a strong 10-game run. (3) I suspect that that after the 3-6 start, Manager Derek Shelton found a way to ask the team “WTF is going on here?” Shelton appears to have a command of the team that Rocco Baldelli didn’t — a supportive but stern elder replacing a mellow modern dude. I could be overthinking and it may not be more that the Twins responding to a fresh voice. We’ll see how Shelton ages with the players (or if the players age Shelton).

POSITIVE/NEGATIVE: POSITIVE: Below-average defense can be neutralized by making smart decisions. Starting pitchers Taj Bradley and Mick Abel, two of the acquisitions during last summer’s roster purge, have been excellent. Outfielder Austin Martin and the catchers — Ryan Jeffers and Victor Caratini — are off to hot starts. NEGATIVE: The bullpen is untrustworthy. None of the Twins relievers would inspire confidence if asked to protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning, a situation that has yet to occur in their first 19 games.

A REMINDER: The successes are reminders of what could have been if management had taken a couple more steps over the winter to rebuild the roster by adding a proven closer and another quality right-handed bat in the outfield. If other teams drift toward mediocrity, those players would become available — and the organization needs to get after them. The meager attendance so far shows that trust still needs to be built.

BULLPEN THEORY? Via La Velle E. Neal III at Star Tribune: Derek Shelton explained that he sets up “pockets” of potential matchups for his relievers in each game, which could come up starting in the fifth or sixth inning. VERBATIM: “It’s going to take probably a full month to have actual defined roles of where we’re at,” Shelton said. “Then again, we may not. We just may mix and match the whole time.” MY TAKE: “Actual defined roles” will happen when the Twins have pitchers who can actually fill them. And that’s not coming from the current group. FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/bullpen0416

MLB STANDINGS | TWINS STATISTICS

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DISAPPOINTING LYNX FANS: You could hardly find a voice among WNBA fans who didn’t side with the players during the contract talks that led to their groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement reached last month. But now it isn’t hard to find Lynx fans upset that (1) players decided to cash in on their new opportunity and go elsewhere for big money or (2) that Lynx Coach/GM Cheryl Reeve couldn’t keep last year’s roster together.

NUMBERS 101: Players are cashing in. Four key members of the 2025 Lynx are gone through free agency. Alanna Smith went to Dallas, getting a raise from $150,000 last season to a three-year deal that averages $1.25 million. Jessica Shepard, also gone to Dallas, made $79,000 last season and now has a two-year deal that averages $1.025 million. Natisha Hiedeman made $605,000 combined in her first seven years in the WNBA. She signed with Dallas for two seasons at an average of $762,500. DiJonai Carrington made $472,000 in her first five pro seasons and will make $650,000 this season in Chicago.

NUMBERS 201: The team salary cap has gone from $1.5 million in 2025 to about $7 million this year. The 2026 salaries of the four players who left and the three key players who have reached deals with the Lynx — Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams and free-agent Natasha Howard — add up to about $6.65 million. And that doesn’t include the qualifying offer of $1.4 million made to superstar Napheesa Collier, who has yet to sign, that kept her from becoming a free agent. The departed Lynx weren’t going to get anything from the Lynx close to what other teams offered.

SOAPBOXING: The huge salary cap bump reinforces that relationships between WNBA players and their teams are just as transactional as relationships in the major men’s pro leagues. Anyone thinking it would be different was horrifically naive.. To her credit, Cheryl Reeve created a culture that made Lynx players that much more in demand in free agency. Now, it’s on her to find the right replacements on a tight budget. The Lynx may not be better in 2026, but women’s sports will be better for what the WNBA player’s union accomplished.

IN CONCLUSION: You can’t support the players without supporting them taking full advantage of their new-found wealth.

INCONVENIENT TRUTH: The Lynx suffered one of the biggest in-game meltdowns in Minnesota pro sports history last season when they blew a 20-point second-half lead to Phoenix in Game 2 of the semifinals and lost in overtime. The Lynx lost their next two games to drop the series. Maybe a reset is a good thing.

MILES AND MORE MILES: Reeve made the call that the Lynx needed to draft a player who could run their offense more than they needed a post player as part of their reset. Enter point guard Olivia Miles, the No. 2 overall pick after a standout college career at Notre Dame and Texas Christian.

UNDERSTANDING THE LYNX: Via Anika Besst at MPR News. At a press conference Wednesday, Miles made it clear she understands the important role the Lynx have played in the growth and development of women’s sports. VERBATIM: “It’s special, I think, to have the opportunity to look up to such amazing, strong women who have truly seen it all. I can't wait again to be a sponge and soak up all of their information and everything that they have to share Nothing they say, basically, will be too much for me, and I can't wait to take it in and follow in their footsteps and carry that responsibility forward.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/miles0416

HIGHLIGHT REEL: This video makes a solid case for why Miles was the second overall pick — and why you’re going to hear comparisons to Hall of Famer Lindsay Whalen.

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VIKINGS DRAFT DRAMA: At this time last week, prevailing wisdom among NFL mock drafts was that the Vikings would take Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman as a major move in revamping their secondary. Over the last few days, however, revised drafts have moved toward the Vikings filling other needs with their first-round pick, currently the 18th overall. ONE EXAMPLE: Todd McShay, the former ESPN analyst who has moved to The Ringer, has the Vikings taking wide receiver Denzel Boston of Washington. VERBATIM: “The Vikings had real issues catching the football last season, and the situation hasn’t exactly improved. With Jalen Nailor now in las Vegas, the Vikings are planning to give Tai Felton and his three rookie receptions a starting role. That’s a problem.” MORE ON BOSTON: https://fluence-media.co/boston0416

OTHERS: Here’s what some of the highest-profile mock drafts have the Vikings doing with their first-round pick.

Dane Brugler at The Athletic: Jermod McCoy, CB, Tennessee. “McCoy is a tough player to project in a mock draft — some teams are comfortable with his 2025 knee injury, while others won’t consider him in the first round. I don’t know how the Vikings feel, but adding his level of talent to a Brian Flores defense would be fun to watch.”

Adam Rank at NFL.com: Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, S, Toledo. “I'm going to give it to you straight, Vikes: You need to find a long-term answer at safety, with Harrison Smith likely at the end of the line. McNeil-Warren is the solution. Like Smith, he's the kind of guy you grow to appreciate -- or, if he's not on your side, you grow to hate seeing.”

Tom Fornelli at CBS Sports: Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame with the No. 9 pick after a trade with Kansas City. “The Vikings have a need at running back and nine picks in this draft. Rather than sitting back and hoping Love falls, they get aggressive and snap him up.”

Mel Kiper at ESPN: Thieneman. “Along with many evaluators, I've been projecting Thieneman to Minnesota since before the combine. There's still uncertainty around Harrison Smith's status, but it's sort of irrelevant because the Vikings have to start planning for the future at safety whether or not Smith is back there in 2026. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores would have Thieneman lined up all over the place to create havoc”

MOCK DRAFTS: The Athletic | ESPN | The Ringer | NFL.com | CBS Sports

AND ONE MORE OPTION: Via Matthew Coller at Purple Insider. Vikings right tackle Brian O’Neill still doesn’t have a new contract and left tackle Christian Darrisaw is an elite player who has been compromised by knee problems. So what about drafting for the offensive line in the first round? VERBATIM: “Acting GM Rob Brzezinski talked at the NFL Combine and the owner’s meetings about building a draft board objectively to pick the best players, not adjusting the rankings for need. Well, this draft appears to be strong with offensive tackles. Mock Draft Database lists six tackles (among its) top 32 players on its consensus big board.”

DEEP, DEEP DIVE: Mock Draft Database is what the name implies, data from multiple sources that’s used to create prospect rankings. DIVE IN: https://fluence-media.co/mock0416

TOMMIES TAKE A HIT: Via Chip Scoggins at Star Tribune. After losing their Nos. 2 and 3 scorers to the transfer portal, there was hope at St. Thomas that an offer could be made that would keep leading scorer Nolan Minessale at the school. Didn’t happen. Smaller D-I schools like St. Thomas — “mid-majors” is the popular term — are simply going to be feeder schools for more powerful programs. VERBATIM: “Minessale loved his two seasons at St. Thomas. He often spoke glowingly about Coach Johnny Tauer and the program in interviews. But he is a skilled wing who undoubtedly will earn a six-figure contract from some school a level above St. Thomas. And it’s likely that his contract will be closer to seven figures than five figures.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/nolan0416

WEALTH MANAGEMENT: I’m going to be conservative here. let’s say Minessale can save $600,000 from whatever offer he gets from his next school. With a 6% annual return for 40 years, that gives him almost $6.2 million in 2066. At 8% annually, that $600,000 becomes $13 million in 40 years. Not a bad payoff for attending college, right?

GOPHERS GET ONE: Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. Nolan Groves, the Orono High star who played only 5.8 minutes per game during his freshman year at Texas Tech, will be joining the Gophers. The 6-foot-5 forward averaged only 5.8 minutes and 0.9 points per game at Texas Tech, where he went after originally committing to Yale. In high school, he led Orono to the 2025 Class 3A tournament and had a career-high of 57 points against St. Louis Park. VERBATIM: “Groves now fills one of five scholarship openings for the 2026-27 roster. Two key remaining needs include a starting-caliber guard and primary center.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/groves0416

HIGH SCHOOL TRANSFERS: Via Strib Varsity. The Star Tribune’s high school section is on the front end of a two-week series about high school athletes who change schools for athletic reasons. Thursday’s reporting explains why the issue is front-and-center. VERBATIM: “Transfer students make up just 1% of Minnesota’s high school athletes, but their impact on top teams is far greater — and increasingly visible on championship stages. . . . A Strib Varsity review of top teams found nine of the Top 25 boys basketball teams in the state began the year with a key contributor who transferred in during high school. In girls basketball, eight of the top 12 teams had the same, including the entire top five. Seven of the 12 hockey and basketball teams that won boys or girls state titles this winter had a transfer student playing a key role.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/transfer0416

IMPERFECT SYSTEM: The Strib Varsity reporting included a lengthy Q&A on how the system is supposed to work, including an explanation of the Minnesota State High School league’s version of the “transfer portal.” There’s also a question about whether Minnesota should follow some other states and let students make one free transfer. It’s a good read, even if it’s hard to take some of what respondents are saying at face value. READ IT: https://fluence-media.co/qa416

ARCHAIC, AMBIGUOUS, ARBITRARY: Via Stinson LLP. The Minneapolis law firm offers this guide and critique of the MSHSL transfer system geared toward parents. VERBATIM: “The MSHSL Bylaws are intended to prevent unfair competition, but are archaic, ambiguous and vague. To make matters worse, MSHSL rules are frequently applied arbitrarily to the detriment of parents and students, and the cost of appealing an adverse decision is high. As such, it is prudent that parents and students understand the MSHSL rules before transferring so they can avoid an ineligibility determination and subsequent loss of their right to participate in their chosen activity.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/stinson0416

BOILING IT DOWN: The transfer rules don’t really matter. As one coach told me, “Rules are only enforced if the ADs choose to enforce.”

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SOFTBALL POWERHOUSE: St. Mary’s of Winona, which went to the D-III World Series last season, is currently ranked No. 4 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches poll. The Cardinals are 24-2, including 10-0 in the MIAC, with doubleheaders today vs. St. Olaf, Saturday at Macalester and Sunday vs. St. Catherine’s. The Cardinals’ top player is Makayla Steffes, a junior from Winona, who is batting .486 with 15 steals and has a 13-1 record and 1.39 ERA in 14 starts as a pitcher. STATISTICS | LIVESTREAM | MIAC STANDINGS

MINNESOTA COACHES TAKE OVER: After losing its head coach to Utah State following an NCAA men’s basketball tournament berth, Northern Iowa has hired Kyle Green. He graduated from Washburn High School and Hamline before getting a master’s degree from St. Thomas. Joining him as an assistant and the team’s general manager is Abe Woldeslassie, a St. Thomas Academy grad and former Macalester head coach who was an assistant last season at Denver. Green is the father of Milwaukee Bucks guard A.J. Green. BIO: https://fluence-media.co/green0416

KOZ RETIRES: Via St. Olaf. St. Olaf is looking for a new men’s basketball coach after Dan Kosmoski announced his retirement. Kosmoski coaches at St. Olaf for 32 seasons after an eight years as an assistant at Minnesota under Jim Dutcher, Clem Haskins and Jimmy Williams. His teams had a 395-404 record and went to the D-III Sweet 16 in 2015. VERBATIM: "The great gift in this journey is for all my players to learn one of the most valuable lessons in life: how to work together to achieve your dream of a winning championship. The pursuit of excellence knowing that sometimes you never quite arrive, as John Wooden would say." MORE: https://fluence-media.co/koz0416

DISCLAIMER: Ellen Kosmoski — “Mrs. Koz” — catered our wedding in 2010!

AUTHOR/COACH RETIRES: Via Great Teams Better Leaders. Lake City basketball coach Greg Berge used his newsletter to announce his retirement after 20 years as the school’s boys’ basketball coach. He will stay on as principal. Berge’s teams had a 394-146 record and went to state three times, finishing second in the 2024 state 2A tournament. VERBATIM: “Coaching is one of the greatest jobs in the world. You get to impact kids. You get to build something bigger than yourself. You get to be part of moments that last a lifetime. But it also asks a lot. Time. Energy. Emotional investment. At some point, you have to ask yourself an honest question: Can I still give this what it deserves?”

MEMORIES: Berge’s departure newsletter included 20 memories from 20 seasons of coaching. READ: https://fluence-media.co/berge0416

INJUSTICE FOR THE WILD: Via The Athletic. The NHL system of seeding playoff teams is a bad one and the Wild vs. Dallas series is another exhibit why. VERBATIM: “Everyone knows the NHL’s playoff format is unjust; the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild aren’t the first teams to be screwed by the format and certainly won’t be the last. Still, this series feels like a new low for Gary Bettman’s NHL. Minnesota earned significantly more points than the fourth-best team in the West and will be rewarded for that incredible regular season with a matchup against the second-best team in the West. Unjust doesn’t even begin to describe it. A great team is going home early after what should be a very tight series. And it could be either one.”

ON THE ICE: The series is pretty much a toss-up, with a slight lean to Dallas. The Stars have been to the last three conference finals; Minnesota has lost their last eight first-round series. (Tap here for current odds) The Athletic’s detailed preview goes deep on how the acquisition of star defenseman Quinn Hughes made the Wild better even if their winning percentage didn’t change after he was acquired in December. VERBATIM: “The Wild’s early-season record was floated primarily by their goaltenders. In 12 pre-Hughes appearances, Jesper Wallstedt put up a .937 save percentage, saved nearly 13 goals more than expected, shut out four opponents and went 9-1-1. Filip Gustavsson, in 20 appearances, was solidly above average, as well. Those two helped wallpaper over intensely mediocre offensive numbers at five-on-five. . . .Wild general manager Bill Guerin recognized that, so he swung a blockbuster trade for an ultra-high-end player. Simple enough. And in the months since, Hughes has been as advertised: An offensive engine on the back end, capable of connecting effectively with Minnesota’s elite forwards and mitigating a lack of down-roster game-breakers.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wild0416

WOLVES MUST FLIP SWITCH: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. The Wolves-Denver series starts Saturday and Minnesota is a huge underdog. (Tap here for current odds.) The Nuggets will enter the playoffs on a 12-game winning streak while the Wolves sputtered their way through much of the season. VERBATIM: “The Wolves forfeited the right to be dubbed plucky by overestimating their commitment to a championship mentality, specifically by reneging on their promises to build teamwork and momentum game-by-game over the course of the season. ‘I’ve said it all year. We know this team — who we can be and who we have been,’ said head coach Chris Finch after practice on Tuesday, referencing the Wolves previous two years making the conference finals and its tendency to lock in and play the league’s best teams on equal terms this season. ‘It’s about whether we can maintain that. We don’t ever really want to be a flip-a-switch team but we do have a switch to flip and we have to flip it now. And when we do that, everybody becomes the best version of themselves and brings out that continuity and connection that we need.’ “

DIALOGUE: “So you do think there is a switch to flip?, asked Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “I mean, we’ll see,” Finch said with a short, rueful laugh. “We’ll see.” PREVIEW: https://fluence-media.co/wolves0416

TWINS INVESTIGATING INCIDENT: Via Dan Hayes and Jen McCaffrey at The Athletic. Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran told Boston media after Tuesday game against the Twins that he made an obscene gesture toward fans at Target Field who were heckling him about mental health issues he’s been open about during his career. So far, the Twins have not been able to verify his account. VERBATIM: “Because Duran didn’t alert his teammates, coaches or security personnel, a Twins official said the club was unaware of the alleged incident until after the game. A league source said multiple people seated in the area had been interviewed. One person with knowledge of the event said fans were bragging afterward that Duran had raised his middle finger at them after they had mocked his swing. Though the announced crowd was 16,220, only about 10,000 fans were in attendance at Target Field. In spite of the subdued crowd noise, field and television microphones didn’t pick up fans yelling for Duran to harm himself or mocking his swing. Additional audio or video of the incident has yet to surface on social media or in the public sphere.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/taunt0416

FRESHMAN BOOSTS U TO NATIONALS: Via Grace Praxmarer at Star Tribune. Gophers freshman Arianna Ostrum is a rarity in college gymnastics, competing in all four events that comprise the all-around competition. Typically, a first-year competitor would participate in only one or two. But Ostrum came to the Gophers from Stevens Point, Wis., with impressive credentials on a national level and was named Big ten Freshman of the Year. VERBATIM: “It hasn’t happened in a while where we’ve had [someone] compete in the all-around as a freshman, but she’s really risen to the occasion and embraced it,” Gophers coach Jenny Hansen said. “She’s done everything she can to not only compete on all four events, but really be a huge contributing member for the team.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gymnast0416

HOW IT WORKS: The Gophers compete at 8 p.m. tonight (ESPN2) against Oklahoma, UCLA and Arkansas. The top two teams advance to Saturday’s finals at 3 p.m. on ABC. You can also watch a livestream focused on Minnesota and get live scoring updates here.

ANOTHER NATIONAL POWER: Carleton College’s ultimate team (“Ultimate frisbee” isn’t the proper term) is among the nation’s best of all schools regardless of size. The Carleton women are 19-0 this season and ranked No. 1. The men are 20-2 and No. 3 behind Colorado and Oregon. The men won the USA Ultimate championship in 2025, their sixth national title, and the women finished second. The team was founded in 1977. HISTORY: https://fluence-media.co/ultimate0416

AND FINALLY: Via Katie Heindl at The Ringer. The word nice has a negative connotation in sports. Nice guys finish last, and all that. Calling someone’s game nice is a good thing. Calling someone nice often isn’t. VERBATIM: “Mamba Mentality, which redefined Kobe Bryant’s image and influenced a generation of players, was based on being a solitary, selfish, singular asshole. Nice, we hear over and over, is antithetical to winning. It won’t get you a signature shoe, and it’s not going to get you paid.”

ENTER MIKE CONLEY: Wolves veteran Mike Conley is generally regarded as the NBA’s ultimate nice guy. VERBATIM: “Conley is unanimously the nicest guy in the league — the person whom players, fans, and anyone orbiting the game will point to as the most considerate, thoughtful, and generous with his time. And, of course, he’s also the most principled; he has zero career technical fouls in over 1,200 games, which speaks for itself. . . . ‘t’s a false narrative, in a sense, that people think you have to be the asshole,’ Conley says. ‘In my mind, inside every bone in my body, I want to go and score 40 points and dominate you and be as ruthless as I can on the court.’ Conley and several other Nice Guys around the NBA are changing the rules for how players can act. They’re competitive, but they’re also considerate and empathetic, and their self-awareness allows them to maintain a presence without taking up all the oxygen in a room.” GREAT READ: https://fluence-media.co/nice0416

THANKS FOR READING, STAYING IN TOUCH AND BEING NICE.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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IT’S ON. ALL OF IT: WNBA free agency opened Wednesday and player signings can start Saturday. Most of the league’s veterans are free agents after timing their previous contracts to end at last year’s expiration of the old collective bargaining agreement. The WNBA draft is Monday, with the Lynx having the second overall pick following some fancy trade maneuvers. The Timberwolves’ regular season ends Sunday with the NBA playoffs starting a week from Saturday. The Wild’s regular season ends Tuesday with the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting a week from Saturday. The college basketball transfer portals are filling with the Gophers men and women rosters needing another makeover and the St. Thomas men seeing two of their top three scorers enter. And Vikings draft chatter will be nonstop leading up to the NFL Draft on April 23-25, with the general manager search as an encore.

AND MORE: What’s up with the mysterious medical condition of a recently acquired Minnesota United standout? How bad good are the Twins? A Gophers team scored a stunning upset to reach a national tournament next week? Has Kirk Cousins found a place where he’ll be appreciated? Sports Take gets to all of these.

FOUR HOT TOPICS

HOT TOPIC 1: Want a textbook-sized guide to the NFL Draft? The Athletic has published The Beast, which it calls “the world’s most detailed NFL Draft guide: 402 profiles, 2,700 rankings, 45,000 verified measurements and almost 300,000 words.” I’ll start you out with this link to 15 players from Minnesota, two from St. Thomas and seven from the MIAC. THE FULL BEAST: https://fluence-media.co/beast0409

HOT TOPIC 2: The WNBA draft is Monday (6 p.m., ESPN) and the Lynx are in the center of the action by having the second overall pick, the end result of a 2024 trade and follow-up moves that started with Minnesota and Chicago swapping the seventh and eighth overall picks so the Sky could draft Angel Reese, who they just traded to Atlanta for two first-round picks. We’ll get to some options and mock drafts below. One thing for now: If Lynx fans could vote on the pick, the Internet winner would be 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts, who just led UCLA to the NCAA title.

HOT TOPIC 3: Have you figured out the Timberwolves yet? Are they postseason frauds who will perish quickly in the playoffs based on their inconsistent play? I’m clinging to the more optimistic view that things will come together when the stakes are higher, but I don’t blame you if you feel otherwise. One thing looks certain: They’ll finish sixth in the Western Conference and start out on the road against the third-place finisher, which is currently Denver. By NOT finishing fourth or fifth, that means the Wolves would avoid a conference semifinal series against defending-champion Oklahoma City if they get past (probably) Denver or (maybe) the Lakers in the first round. NBA STANDINGS AND PLAYOFF PICTURE: https://fluence-media.co/nba0409

HOT TOPIC 4: College hockey excellence bypassed Minnesota this year, but the Frozen Four begins tonight with North Dakota playing Wisconsin at 4 p.m. and Michigan playing Denver at 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2). The title game is at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. There are 20 players from Minnesota on the rosters: Wisconsin has seven, North Dakota and Denver have 5, Michigan has 3. Tap the links for the rosters and read on for the fan who came from Saudi Arabia to cheer on hos beloved team. BEST COVERAGE? Spend $3 for a trial subscription to the Grand Forks Herald

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WILD SHOWDOWN TONIGHT: Via Michael Russo at The Athletic. Tonight’s Wild game at Dallas (7 p.m., Hulu, ESPN+) will go a long way toward deciding whether the Wild get home ice advantage for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After their March stumbles, the Wild are on a four-game winning streak and enter the game (1) Two points behind Dallas with four games remaining and (2) In better health than the Stars. Winning in regulation is vital for the Wild because Dallas holds the tie-breaker of non-overtime victories (35 to 30). Russo makes a case for the Wild being able to make a serious playoff run after losing in the opening round of their last eight playoff series, a streak that dates back to 2015 and includes four head coaches.

RUSSO: “The Wild have never had a roster like this, boasting three legit stars: 40-goal scorers Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, and 2024 Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes. Hughes’ defense partner, Brock Faber, has developed into a tremendous defenseman since playing six playoff games against Dallas in 2023, when he was fresh off the Frozen Four ice. Wild goalies Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt have combined for the best save percentage in the NHL. Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon have been an elite shutdown pair since the Olympics. And two-way center Joel Eriksson Ek is playing his best hockey after getting cheated out of essentially the entire Dallas-Minnesota series in 2023, when he broke his leg blocking an Evgeni Malkin shot late in the regular season.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/wild0409

MORE: NHL Standings | Playoff format | Wild schedule

ANOTHER BAD, BAD BEATDOWN: Last week’s Sports take posted an MIAC line score that featured a 14-run pitching meltdown by St. Olaf that allowed Macalester to rally for a 17-10 win. There was quite an encore in Northfield on Wednesday afternoon. Four Carleton pitchers combined to give up 32 runs in the first three innings in a 42-9 loss to St. Scholastica. (For the record, Carleton led the second game of the doubleheader 9-3 when play was suspended in the ninth inning.)

BY THE WAY: Want to see the full box score, which includes 22 walks, 19 hits, 11 wild patches and eight hit batters yielded and thrown by Carleton pitchers? IT’S HERE: https://fluence-media.co/boxscore0409 WANT TO SEE MORE? Carleton is hosting crosstown rival St. Olaf in a doubleheader today. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Prayers up for the pitchers! VIDEO

SO MANY OPTIONS: There isn’t an obvious first overall pick in Monday’s WNBA draft, which means there will be serious drama when Dallas makes its choice and the Lynx make the next selection. There are four players who could be taken at the top who would all be reasonable choices: 5-foot-10 point guard Olivia Miles of Texas Christian, 5-foot-11 shooting guard Azzi Fudd of UConn, 6-foot-4 center Awa Fam of Spain and 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts of UCLA. All could fit just as well with the Lynx as they would with Dallas. How are the mock drafts playing out?

ESPN: Fam goes to the Lynx and Dallas takes Miles. VERBATIM: “Fam, who is averaging 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds for Valencia in Spain, is just 19 with a ton of potential. It comes down to how quickly and how well coach Cheryl Reeve and the Lynx believe Fam can adjust to the WNBA and how high they believe her ceiling is, especially considering how well UCLA's Lauren Betts played her senior season. Betts has to be considered for this spot, too, if the Lynx pick a post player.”

CBS SPORTS: The Lynx take Miles and Dallas takes Fam. VERBATIM: “Miles is one of the best playmaking prospects we've ever seen. She can throw every pass in the book with either hand, and has an innate ability to see the floor and create opportunities out of nothing. She would give the Lynx the true point guard they've been missing the last few years, and Minnesota's defensive infrastructure would be able to cover up for some of her issues on that side of the ball.”

THE ATHLETIC: The Lynx take Fudd after Dallas takes Fam. VERBATIM: “Fudd has become a ballhawk with 2.5 steals per game, and she has the best on-off impact on UConn’s defense. Minnesota wouldn’t be drafting Fudd to turn into a primary on-ball creator. There is little evidence that she can be the engine of an offense, and her free-throw attempt rate is pretty low. Still, her gravity as a shooter — both at a standstill and in movement — makes her an ideal secondary option, not unlike the role Kayla McBride currently plays with the Lynx. Considering that McBride will turn 34 this season, it’s not a bad time for a succession plan.

USA TODAY: The Lynx take Miles after Dallas takes Betts. VERBATIM: “Minnesota doesn't struggle to move the ball, but adding Miles into the mix gives the Lynx the ability to take their offensive movement up a level. The TCU guard has a high basketball IQ, which should help her with the rookie learning curve on a team with championship aspirations. Head coach Cheryl Reeve can also bring out the best in Miles defensive skills as she adjusts to WNBA play.”

BLEACHER REPORT: The Lynx take Miles after Dallas takes Fam. VERBATIM: “There are only a handful of point guards in WNBA history who can read the floor like a supercomputer and create their own shot from anywhere. That group is basically Diana Taurasi, Chelsea Gray, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers and soon enough, Olivia Miles. It’s reasonable to be concerned about her defensive projection . . . but it’s not like we haven’t seen offensive superstars supersede those kinds of defensive shortcomings. Miles is an all-time passing prospect, with real counters as a driver and pull-up scorer that keep defenders guessing at all times. If there’s an organization that can maximize what she does best, it’s the Minnesota Lynx.”

MOCK DRAFTS: ESPN | CBS SPORTS | USA TODAY | THE ATHLETIC | BLEACHER REPORT

MY TAKE: I don’t know and I don’t think — if you’re reading this before the weekend — that the Lynx know either. All four players would bring different strengths and projections, and it may well hinge of who the Lynx sign (and who they lose) in the first three days of free-agent signings before the draft. It could well be a front office debate that goes into the final minutes before the draft begins and Reeve tells the draft room who they’re taking.

VISIT CONFIRMED BY LYNX — AND BALLOONS: Via Cassidy Hettesheimer at Star Tribune. A source confirmed that veteran star Nneka Ogwumike is visiting the Twin Cities and could sign with the team. She was second team all-WNBA with Seattle last season and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft. The news was actually broken by a Minneapolis company — Amazing Balloons — that posted a video on social media of a custom bouquet it created for the Lynx. The company deleted the post, but not before it was reposted by others. CAUTION: The visit does not mean Ogwumike is signing here, despite the conclusions being drawn by some re-posters. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/nneka0409

THAT BALLOON VIDEO: Watch it here.

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“RING OR BUST” LOOKS LIKE BUST: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. After citing the season’s shortcomings, which intensified as the season wore on, it’s hard for Robson to imagine the Timberwolves pulling together for the playoffs. VERBATIM: “This is a rescue mission. The Timberwolves may still ‘luck out’ and wind up facing a Lakers team recently ravaged by injuries to their two best players, Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves; or a Rockets team without a point guard that has real issues closing out games. They have also traditionally played Denver tough. None of this excuses the fact that the Wolves weren’t ready for a ‘ring or bust’ style commitment and are consequently playing catch-up after being hindered by the sort of travails that befall most contenders over the course of the season. If they do manage to get past the first round, they will almost certainly face one of the top two teams in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs, in round two, and then the best team, the reigning champion Thunder, in the conference finals. But we are a long, long way away from those pipe dreams. First things first: A motto that has been ignored and bedeviling to these shortcut specialists throughout the 2025-26 campaign.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wolves0409

AT LEAST THERE’S PEACE: Via Star Tribune. Today is the third anniversary of the Wolves 2023 season finale against New Orleans. You might remember it as the game when Rudy Gobert punched teammate Kyle Anderson during a time out and was given another time out when he was sent home early by Coach Chris Finch. And Jaden McDaniel broke his hand punching a wall in frustration. The shorthanded Wolves went on to lose their first-round playoff series to Denver in five games. STORY, VIDEO: https://fluence-media.co/punch0409

PORTAL PAYOUTS: Via John Shipley at Pioneer Press. Few people really know how much college athletes are getting from revenue sharing and NIL deals, and Gophers basketball coaches Niko Medved and Dawn Plitzuweit have staked out different positions on whether the numbers should be public. VERBATIM: “Plitzuweit said she’s still holding onto a ‘Utopian’ idea of college athletics, and at heart she doesn’t want those numbers — essentially salaries — to be made public. Being a high profile college athlete is difficult enough, she said. BUT: “ ‘What’s challenging now is that in the world of college athletics, there is no transparency of what the numbers are.’ She still believes those numbers shouldn’t be made public, but added, ‘I’m teetering to the side of understanding the value of making the information public.’ “

NIKO’S VIEW: “Medved has fewer issues with making players’ pay public. ‘I do think transparency benefits everybody, so yes, overall I’m in favor of it. But I do think it’s tricky until there is some sort of real cap, or collective bargaining of sorts, with the athletes. That’s tricky to do. And while, yeah, as a whole I think everybody wants it, I think they still have their head in the sand a little bit. There need to be some radical changes made.’ ”

MONEY QUOTE (LITERALLY): Medved cited Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who chided university administrators for taking years to make decisions that need to be made in months. VERBATIM: “We’re kicking the can down the road on a problem that we really need a lot of smart people to understand. It’s professional sports, but a different kind of professional sports. There’s still is an education piece, and not everybody is a star player. We need to be a lot more nimble than we are. We need to act fast and put some committees together to discuss this. It’s like AI, it’s all happening so fast and we don’t really understand it.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/money0409

TOO SOON, BUT: There are a lot of “these would be good fits” for Gophers basketball right now and most aren’t worth the speculation. But two deserve examining.

KYAN EVANS? Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. Medved tried to bring the former Colorado State point guard to Minnesota last year, but Kyan Evans chose North Carolina instead. He didn’t play much and has re-entered the portal. The Gophers need a point guard. VERBATIM: “Evans, a 6-foot-2 guard from Kansas City, Mo., averaged 4.0 points and 2.5 assists in 17.7 minutes per game for the Tar Heels last season. Those numbers fell off from his standout sophomore season with Medved in 2024-25. That year, Evans averaged 10.6 points, 3.1 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game. He started all 36 games as the Rams made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/evans0409

AUDI CROOKS? Via Jack Maloney at CBS Sports. The Gophers women need a post player with centers Sophie Hart and Finau Tonga being out of eligibility — and 6-foot-3 Iowa State star Audi Crooks, who averaged 26 points and 8 rebounds per game, has entered the portal. She was first team All-Big 12 and a second-team Associated Press All American. VERBATIM: “It's easy to imagine Crooks sliding into Hart's spot and replacing much of the offensive production Minnesota got from her, as well as senior guards Mara Braun and Amaya Battle. Furthermore, the Golden Gophers have the shooting to space the floor around Crooks.” DOWNSIDE: I asked a high-profile former coach about how Crooks would fit at Minnesota. The reply: On offense, she would fit the Hart/Tonga role. On defense, it would require major adjustments. “She can’t guard anybody,” the coach said, which is probably why Crooks, even though she’s eligible for the WNBA draft, is planning to stay in college. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/crooks0409

TEST FOR TOMMIES: Via Jace Frederick at Pioneer Press. Two of the top three scorers on the St. Thomas men’s team have entered the portal. Guard Nick Janowski was the Summit League’s Freshman of the Year and averaged 16.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu averaged 105 points and four rebounds per game. St. Thomas was the second school for each: Janowski came from Nebraska and Johnson-Arigu from Miami. BIG CHALLENGE: Can the Tommies keep leading scorer Nolan Minessale, who averaged just under 20 points per game? VERBATIM: “Should Minessale — who would instantly become a target for many high-major programs — go looking for another program, Tommies coach Johnny Tauer would be tasked with a major roster reconstruction this offseason. But if Minessale stays in St. Paul — something that will undoubtedly require a hefty financial commitment from the Tommies — he will have St. Thomas right back in the Summit League championship conversation next season, and the news would signal that the Tommies can compete in a meaningful way at the Division I level not only on the floor, but off it, as well.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/toms0409

TRANSFER PORTAL TRACKERS: Big Ten men | Big Ten women | Summit League

ADVICE FOR TWINS FANS: Live in the moment. It’ll be the best way to get through the season if the first two weeks are any indication. After watching the first week’s stumbles who would have thought the second week would bring wins in the first three games against AL Central favorite Detroit and a chance at a sweep this afternoon (12:40 p.m., TwinsTV)? Much less a sweep featuring wins against two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and free-agent hire Framber Valdez. Both are left-handed, or the kind of pitchers the Twins flailed against during the opening week. Despite the success, little has changed the feeling this will be a season of struggles.

WHY? The bullpen is thin and shaky. It struggled to close out Tuesday’s 4-2 win over Detroit — following a magnificent start by Taj Bradley — and came close to spitting up a seven-run lead in Wednesday’s 8-6 win. The defense, Byron Buxton excluded, makes too many routine plays look difficult. The left-leaning roster is still a disorganized mess. EXTRA ANNOYING: If ownership issues over the winter hadn’t distracted the team from making a few needed improvements, this could actually be a good team. Manager Derek Shelton is basically running a lottery of untrustworthy relievers and there’s a crying need for right-handed batting. The defense will be an ongoing minus with the current roster.

KEEP IN MIND: The Twins have yet to play a team with a winning record so far this season and their next two series are against Toronto (5-7) and Boston (4-8). Not until they host Cincinnati, starting a week from Friday will they play a team that’s off to a strong start. ADVICE: Enjoy the wins when they happen and don’t let the front office off the hook for its off-season failings.

IT WON’T LAST, PROBABLY: But I can’t help but share. CARLOS CORREA, Houston starting third baseman/shortstop: .262/.354/.381 average/on-base percentage/slugging. 1 home run, nine RBI, $32.8 million salary. TRISTAN GRAY: Twins reserve third baseman/shortstop: .286/.353/.571, 1 HR, 8 RBI, $820,00 salary. It’s a small sample size but I . . . don’t . . . care.

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VIKINGS DRAFT: Via Nick Baumgardner at the Athletic. In this mock draft of the first 100 picks, the Vikings get Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman of Oregon with the 18th overall pick, Notre Dame running back Jadarian Price with the 49th pick, Mississippi State wide receiver Brenen Thompson with the 82nd pick and Auburn center Connor Lew with the 97th pick. VERBATIM: “A complete athlete with a nose for the ball and enough versatility to play either safety spot (and a bit in the slot), Thieneman feels like almost too good a fit for the Vikings for it to come true. He’s exactly what they’re looking for.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/mock0409

GO TO THE VIDEO: Via Star Tribune. Football writers Emily Leiker and Ben Goessling go deep on why Thieneman is the consensus choice among drafters on their Access Vikings podcast.

HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE VS. GOPHERS: Via Joe Christensen at Strib Varsity. The state boys’ basketball tournament was pushed back a week this year because the Gophers put a hold on Williams Arena for their women’s basketball team if it qualified to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, which ended up happening. Next year, there could be a bigger conflict with the girls’ tournament, which is set for March 17-20, 2027. The Gophers again want to keep Williams Arena open for the women and the NCAA has made Minneapolis a site for the first two rounds of the men’s tournament that weekend. Options could include Maturi Pavilion at the U or the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena at St. Thomas, although both are smaller than The Barn. The state hockey tournament is the weekend before at Grand Casino Arena, but it’s unlikely the Wild could be booted from their home ice on consecutive weeks late in the season. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/tourney0409

THREE NEW SPORTS? Via Joe Nelson at Bring Me the News. The Minnesota State High School League is expected to vote in June on sponsoring girls’ flag football, girls’ dual wrestling and esports for the 2026-27 school year. VERBATIM: “Girls’ flag football has exploded in the past two years behind support from the Minnesota Vikings and the Minnesota High School Girls Flag Football Coaches Advisory. Fifty-one Minnesota schools had a girls’ flag football team in 2025, and there are 106 teams registered ahead of the 2026 school year. If accepted, girls’ flag football would be labeled an ‘emerging’ sport, possibly being fully sanctioned by the MSHSL in future years. The same goes for girls’ dual wrestling. To date, girls wrestle with boys in league-sanctioned events, though schools are allowed to schedule up to eight girls-only events, while the MSHSL has a girls division in the individual state tournament.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/mshsl0409

SAUDI ARABIA TO FROZEN FOUR: Via Tom Miller at Grand Forks Herald. Max Anadon went to elementary and middle school in Grand Forks before moving to Minot, N.D., — and moving again and again and again in his work as an accountant. He made the trek from Neom, a futuristic and environmentally friendly region under construction in Saudi Arabia, and was watching North Dakota practice Wednesday in Las Vegas. VERBATIM: “ ‘I had to drive to the closest city of Tabuk. From Tabuk to Jeddah. To New York. To Minneapolis. To Minot. Minot to Las Vegas.’ Anadon developed a passion for UND hockey while living in Grand Forks from 1967 to 1981. He recalls games at UND’s old Winter Sports Center, which predates both Ralph Engelstad Arenas. ‘They had the old barn, a Quonset, and my parents would take me, and we’d go with blankets and hot chocolate because it would snow inside.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/undfan0409

KIRK COUSINS, HYPE VS. REALITY: Via NFL.com and Spotrac. After being linked to a return to the Vikings — as well as the Jets and Packers — Kirk Cousins, 37, has signed with Las Vegas, where he should open the season as the No. 1 quarterback while the team grooms Fernando Mendoza, the expected first overall pick in the draft, to take over the role. HYPE: Technically, Cousins signed a five-year contract worth $172 million. REALITY: $11.3 million is guaranteed this season by the Raiders and he’s expected to be leaving Las Vegas at season’s end. VERBATIM: "Going into Year 15 now, I'm trying to set a standard in the locker room. Just trying to be an available resource to everybody in the locker room that would want to ask questions or want to learn about what my journey has been like in this league, I'd love to help them anyway that I can." MORE: https://fluence-media.co/cousins0409

U GYMNASTS GOING TO NATIONALS: Minnesota’s gymnastics team qualified for nationals April 16-18 in Fort Worth, Texas, by coming in second behind UCLA in a four-team regional competition. The Gophers upset Utah, which had been to 49 consecutive national meets, and Alabama, which has won six national titles. Minnesota will be trying for its first national title and last went to nationals in 2022. Minnesota, Utah, Oklahoma and Arkansas will compete for two spots in the finals (3:30 p.m. April 16, ESPN2) and the finals are set for 3 p.m. April 18 on ABC. LSU, Stanford, Georgia and Florida are the other semifinalists. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ugymnastics0409

WHAT’S UP WITH LOONS STAR? Via ESPN. It was a big deal when James Rodriguez, a veteran of high-profile European clubs and captain of Colombia’s national team, signed a contract with Minnesota United in February. But he has appeared in only two of the team’s matches — both as a substitute — and was hospitalized after suffering “severe dehydration” following a match between Colombia and France late last month. Little was revealed about his health, save for a statement from Colombia’s football federation that it was not related to an on-field injury. The news took an odd turn this week when Minnesota United put out a media release denying web rumors that Rodriguez was suffering from rhabdomyolysis, a condition that causes rapid muscle tissue breakdown. VERBATIM: “The club and our medical professionals can unequivocally state there has been no clinical or laboratory evidence of rhabdomyolysis. We respectfully ask members of the media and the public to refrain from further speculation regarding James' health. Any additional updates will be communicated directly by the club through official channels.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/james0409

READ ABOUT RODRIGUEZ: “The gasoline that fuels him” | Career statistics

OOPS: I messed up something in last week’s newsletter and I’m betting — given this audience skews toward the politically knowledgeable — a number of you caught it. In my writing about the late J Robinson’s strident opposition to Title IX, I cited a quote from former Board of Regents chair Dean Elton Johnson about the wrestling coach’s firing from the University of Minnesota in 2016. I identified Johnson as a “former Republican state legislative leader.” That part was accurate. Johnson was the Senate minority leader in the 1990s but switched parties in 2000 and, as a member of the DFL, was the majority leader from 2004-2007. Thanks to reader Roger Greiling for the cheerfully worded email adding the context.

AND FINALLY: Carleton’s lopsided baseball loss reminded me of the school’s 2015 football loss to St. Thomas, when they took an early 3-0 lead — and ended up losing 80-3. The Knights’ sports information staff handled the loss wonderfully, making sure to point out the early lead, that the Tommies went for a two-point conversion after their first touchdown and deferring mention of the final score:

You can read that game report here and next week you can read here about Carleton athletic teams that are among the nation’s best regardless of enrollment.

THANKS FOR READING AND STAY IN TOUCH.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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THE OPENER: As Sports Take nears its second anniversary, I am struck by all the choices we have in the sports marketplace. That’s provides both challenges and opportunities when compiling the newsletter. I hope I’m giving you new ways to look at the topics that take up a lot of our attention and introduce you to things you might not otherwise know about. This week, I was intrigued by much of the reporting and remembering about J Robinson, the program-changing U of M wrestling coach who died last weekend and left a complicated legacy that went well beyond the national titles his teams won. I tried to sort out some things. — Howard Sinker

THIS IS GREAT: Unless it busted your bracket or you have a connection to Duke, I’m betting you shed no tears over the UConn buzzer-beater than kept the Blue Devils from advancing to the Final Four. I watched this every-single-angle video a few times and kept seeing new stuff. I recommend the whole four minutes. But if you want the highlight of highlights, go to the 1:45 mark for the reaction by Christine Hurley, the mother of UConn coach Dan Hurley, whose team will be trying for its third title in four years. Good thing she wasn’t mic’d up.

CAN IT GET WORSE? If you find a bigger bullpen meltdown than this one, let me know.

CAN IT GET WORSE II? Do I need to do more than show you this section from The Athletic’s fifth-annual Hope-O-Meter of MLB fans. The Twins came in 30th among 30 teams — and with a stunning drop in optimism from a majority of their fans in 2025 (and before) to 1 in 25 being optimistic about this season. It’s hard to become that unpopular that quickly without committing fraud, right?

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HATE TO SAY IT: But this one is warranted. The absolute and only ray of hope is that new controlling owner Tom Pohlad has come to understand how messed up things were before the family deposed his younger brother Joe. I can only imagine what Tom is finding as he digs through the mess, and I’m not sure how quickly a new generation of Twins leadership can make things right.

SORTING THROUGH IT: Via Adam Platt at Twin Cities Business. In this interview, Pohlad comes across as thoughtful. Some of that stems from knowing there’s still a lot for him to learn, as well as things that are outside his control — namely the upcoming MLB labor negotiations that will be strident and cloud clear projections about the future. For now, Pohlad’s credibility comes from his willingness to acknowledge how far the organization went off the rails: VERBATIM: “ ‘I think we thought we owed it to the fans to always be competitive,’ he says, alluding to the question of whether teams must go through winning droughts to achieve full-throated success. ‘If always being competitive comes at the cost of truly being able to compete for a world championship, then I have to question that approach. Also, what is competitive? Is it getting to the postseason? That’s been our [philosophy]. My definition is: ‘Let’s build a team that can truly compete in the postseason,’ rather than, ‘Let’s see if we get lucky.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/pohlad0402

ON THE FIELD: The Twins looked at bad as advertised during the first week of the season. At their best, the Twins have a slim margin for error, and the opening five games of the season coughed up an array mental errors, misplays and mediocrity. The ill-fitting batting order hardly strikes fear and the defense has made the pitching look worse than it’s actually been — and the pitching staff needs all the help it can get.

FRUSTRATING DECISION: In Sunday’s 8-6 loss to Baltimore, Manager Derek Shelton opted not to remove pitcher Mick Abel sooner in a 3 1/3-inning stint in which he yielded eight hits and four walks after replacing Bailey Ober, who weakened after his first time through the Baltimore batting order. Sticking with Abel was more in line with exhibition-game strategy instead of regular-season play, and was all the more frustrating because the Twins blew an early 4-0 lead and gave up the final three runs after rallying for a 5-5 tie. The Twins also had three runners tagged out on the bases, struck out five times with the bases loaded and ran out of challenges when Matt Wallner challenged a called third strike on a pitch that was clearly in the strike zone. (He did the same thing Wednesday night in Kansas City.) I don’t want to say this, but the Twins looked like a 100-loss team during Week 1.

OF COURSE THERE IS: There’s a website that tracks Automated Ball-Strike decisions in granular detail. DATA: https://fluence-media.co/challenge0402

J ROBINSON’S DEATH: No one can deny that J Robinson, who died Sunday at age 79, built one of the nation’s elite college wrestling programs at the University of Minnesota. He coached at the U for 30 years with his teams winning three national titles and 14 wrestlers winning individual national titles. He was named Big Ten coach of the year eight times. Robinson was fired in 2016 after a U investigation into Robinson’s handling of alleged prescription drug sales involving team members. But too much of the writing about his life has neglected his virulent opposition to Title IX because of its perceived impact on the sport. Yes, many schools eliminated their wrestling programs. But blaming it on mandates for equity, as Robinson did, was (and is) a thinly disguised attempt to oppose fair treatment of women’s sports. To his credit, the Strib’s Randy Johnson included Robinson’s anti-Title IX stance in his obituary

QUOTE: From a Strib profile of Robinson during the 2002 season, when the Gophers were on their way to a second consecutive NCAA title. ROBINSON: "Interest has to play a role in a free society. More men like to play sports. More girls like to play with dolls. Are we going to make a law forcing boys to play with dolls? I think things are changing though. You can only push a dog so far back into the corner before he will bite you. I think women see that and are afraid. When men get organized, it's going to be great." FULL PROFILE: https://fluence-media.co/profile0402

WOMEN AFRAID? Not then, not now. In fact, The U’s Morris campus was the first in the nation to establish a women’s wrestling program in the early 1990s. It was terminated, along with the men’s program, as part of budget cuts and a de-emphasis on athletics by the school in 2004. In 2009, a girl from southwestern Minnesota, Elissa Reinsma, became the first to quality for the state wrestling tournament and had a career record of 64-17, with all but one of those matches against boys. In 2022, the first girls-only state wrestling tournament was held, although girls still have the option to compete against boys. In 2024, Caley Graber of Northfield became the first girl to win a match against a boy at state and finished fifth in the 107-pound division of Class 3A.

2004 COMPLAINT: Via Minnesota Daily archives. A former U official noted a 2004 gender discrimination complaint filed by Robinson with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights against the school. VERBATIM: “Though the Gophers coach declined to discuss the details of the complaint, he said the university has created a class system inside the athletics department, in which decisions are made based solely on gender. ‘If you coach a women’s sport, you get all kinds of advantages based on just coaching women – just coaching the gender,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing else. It’s pretty simple. It’s pretty indefensible really.’ “ FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/complaint0402

HIDDEN HISTORY: What people don’t remember is that Robinson was placed on leave by U athletic director Mark Coyle in his first day on the job in June 2016. The firing came about three months later. The chairman of the Board of Regents at the time — the former Republican state legislative leader Dean Elton Johnson — heralded the move. VERBATIM: "In case anyone has not noticed, we do have a new sheriff in town and his name is athletic director Mark Coyle. There's little room, little tolerance for missteps in participating and representing the University of Minnesota.”

BEST CONTEXT: Via Marcus Fuller and Joe Christensen at Star Tribune. This story, published at the time of his firing, is an excellent retrospective of Robinson’s career. VERBATIM: “In 2002, Tonya Moten Brown, then the U vice president and chief of staff, said, ‘J represents a quandary for the university. On the one hand, the wrestling program is a competitive success and J enjoys tremendous loyalty and respect. But at times it feels like the university spends more time, energy and resources investigating issues involving wrestling than the other 22 sports combined. And it never seems to end."

‘LOYALTY AND RESPECT’: “To his wrestlers, Robinson was a father figure who boldly turned teenagers into strong men. Damion Hahn, a two-time NCAA champion in the early 2000s and current Cornell assistant wrestling coach, got choked up when talking about what Robinson meant to him. ‘He was a father figure for me when I was in college. He really pushed me to reach my potential.’ ” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/j0402

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A TAKE ON COYLE: Coyle doesn’t get enough credit for being an activist athletic director willing to make changes when he feels they’re needed, even if they aren’t popular. Firings of Robinson, football coach Tracy Claeys, women’s basketball coach Lindsay Whalen and last month’s purge of hockey coaches Bob Motzko and Brad Frost weren’t well received to varying degrees by Gophers fans. I suspect Coyle’s moves would be better understood if he made himself more available to fans — directly and through the media — rather than using his current reliance on news drops-via-press release. Coyle ought to be as accessible in 2026 as he was in 2016.

BRZEZINSKI FOR VIKINGS GM? Via Matthew Coller at Purple Insider. Vikings management has been using a lot of words to say very little about the search for a new general manager, except to let on that the process will play out promptly after the NFL Draft later this month. After attending the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix this week, Coller made a case for promoting Rob Brzezinski, the team’s executive vice president of football operations who has been the interim GM. VERBATIM: “They couldn’t ask for someone who has more experience or is more invested in the fate of the franchise. All indications are that Brzezinski and Coach Kevin O’Connell have great respect for each other and have managed this offseason well together, despite the lack of headline-worthy moves. Hiring Brzezinski would also alleviate the uncomfortable nature of bringing in a new GM to work with a head coach who has had his ups and downs.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gm0402

THE QUARTERBACK ROOM: Via Ben Goessling at Star Tribune. At the owners meetings, O’Connell talked about the open competition for the starting quarterback job — a 180-degree shift from this time last year when J..J. McCarthy was the presumed starter with lesser talented and inexperienced QBs taking positions behind him. The main takeaway is a competition between Kyler Murray and McCarthy, with veteran Carson Wentz in a mentoring role and as a fallback candidate. VERBATIM: “The Vikings seem to have a better plan in place than they did before last season, although Wentz is recovering from a season-ending shoulder injury. Does Murray have the smarts and talent to be the key to the Vikings’ first playoff win five years into O’Connell’s tenure? ‘We feel really good about the combination of depth, talent and the fact that we’ve got a room that’s going to push each other,’ O’Connell said. ‘All those guys are gonna have great off-seasons and be ready to rock and roll.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/qb0402

MORE KOC: O’Connell sat for an interview with Mike Florio and Chris Simms of Pro Football Talk at the owners meetings.

WILD PLAYOFF CONCERNS: With eight games left in the regular season, the Wild are in solid playoff shape with 94 points — third in the NHL’s Western Conference, trailing only Central Division rivals Colorado (108) and Dallas (100). WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? The Wild haven’t won consecutive games since the first week of March and are 4-7 since then. Also, Filip Gustavsson has yielded 10 goals in his last two starts. VERBATIM: Via Jason Chen at Hockey News, who dropped the Wild from sixth to eighth in his most recent power rankings: “The more you watch the Wild play, the more you wonder whether they have one too many holes in their lineup. They're an excellent team, but they lack centers, and their goaltending has suddenly looked very mortal. They have only won once in regulation over the past three weeks.” STANDINGS | WILD STATISTICS

BEST OPPONENT FOR WOLVES? Via Jace Frederick at Pioneer Press. With seven games to play, it would be hard for the Wolves to finish below sixth place in the NBA’s Western Conference. That would make their first-round playoff opponent the Lakers, Nuggets or Rockets. Breaking down the potential matchups, Frederick thinks playing Houston provides the most favorable way to get Minnesota to the conference semifinals. WHY? The Rockets don’t have a game-changer similar to Luka Doncic of the Lakers or Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets. (Sorry, Kevin Durant.) VERBATIM: “Houston consistently plays with physicality and wouldn’t be an easy opponent for any team, but the Rockets’ roster in its current form lacks anything scary for which to gameplan. The Wolves would have a clear talent edge here.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/playoffs0402

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McCARVILLE JOINS LYNX: Via Minnesota Lynx. Former Gophers star Janel McCarville is joining the Lynx staff as an assistant coach. After starting her WNBA career with Charlotte and New York, McCarville played center for the Lynx in 2013, 2014 and 2016. The 6-foot-2 center was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 WNBA draft. She was suspended by the Liberty in 2011 when she didn’t show up for training camp and also sat out the 2012 season before coming to the Lynx in a trade. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/janel0402.

GOOD NEWS: The Strib has finally moved Cassidy Hettesheimer into the newly created job of full-time women’s sports reporter that was posted last summer. She jumped in this week with a timeline of what’s ahead for the Lynx in the fast-track run-up to the WNBA season caused by the extended negotiations for a new labor contract. The expansion draft, in which they could lose two players, is Friday (2:30 p.m., ESPN). Free-agent players, a group that includes almost all of the league’s veterans, can sign contracts starting a week from Sunday. The rookie and foreign player draft is April 13, training camp starts April 19 and the opener vs. Atlanta is May 10. DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/wnba0402 EXPANSION DRAFT RULES: They’re here.

HETTESHEIMER: She joined the Star Tribune staff as an intern after graduating from the University of Georgia and hasn’t left. READ ABOUT HER: https://fluence-media.co/cassidy0402

RIVER FALLS THREE-PEAT: Via KARE-TV. UW-River Falls won its third straight Division III women’s hockey title last weekend with a 4-0 victory over Nazareth University of New York. River Falls is 87-4 over that three-year run and this season’s roster was entirely from Minnesota, except for one player from Hudson, Wis., and another from California.

GOING OUT STRONG: Via Jim Souhan at Star Tribune. The Gophers women’s basketball team set a high bar for its future by getting to the Sweet 16 of the women’s tournament before being overwhelmed by Final Four-bound UCLA in the Sweet 16. Coach Dawn Plitzuweit not only has not only made her team a national factor, but she’s done it in the way vital for contemporary coaches. VERBATIM: “The Gophers weren’t just stunningly good down the stretch this season, they were fun. In the transfer portal area, cultivating a fun atmosphere isn’t merely endearing. It might be necessary. This is not Bobby Knight’s college basketball world. You can’t intimidate and berate your players and survive. They can leave. Modern coaches look more like Plitzuweit, St. Thomas men’s coach Johnny Tauer, Gophers men’s coach Niko Medved and Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, who understand they need to have productive two-way relationships with players to win.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/uwomen0402

GOING QUIETLY: It may have been for the best that the Gophers men’s basketball season ended with a game that started about 45 minutes late. The 67-48 loss to Baylor in the opening round of the College Basketball Crown tournament wasn’t representative of the grit that the undermanned team showed when playing at its best this season. NAME TO KNOW: Sophomore guard Cameron Carr, who had 15 points and nine rebounds for Baylor, is the son of former Timberwolves guard Chris Carr. BOX SCORE: https://fluence-media.co/box0402

ANOTHER RANKING: Via Max Preps. Among the 250 players on the rosters of the women’s Sweet 16 players, where did Minnesota rank? HERE: https://fluence-media.co/rank0402

MINNESOTA HOCKEY TAKES A HIT: Via NCAA.com. Neither Minnesota entry in the men’s Division I tournament advanced to the Frozen Four on April 9 and 11 in Las Vegas. Minnesota State was knocked out 3-1 by No. 4-seed Western Michigan in the first round and Minnesota Duluth lost 4-3 to No. 1 Michigan in the quarterfinals. Michigan will play Denver in one semifinal and No. 2 North Dakota plays Wisconsin in the other. STORIES, HIGHLIGHTS: https://fluence-media.co/frozen0402

JERSEY REVEAL: Via Minnesota Aurora. The women’s soccer team unveiled a new jersey for the 2026 season, released in collaboration with the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Designed by local artist Lindsay Nohl, the jersey celebrates Aurora’s upcoming fifth season. A jersey launch party is set for 5:30-8 p.m. Friday at the team’s headquarters in Eagan. There will be food trucks. DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/aurora0402

FUN FACT: Nohl is also a tattoo artist in Uptown. LOOK: https://fluence-media.co/tattoo0402

AND FINALLY: Writing about J Robinson reminded me of an excellent story by the Star Tribune’s Chip Scoggins and Aaron Lavinsky from a few years back about Nari Miller, who was captain of the wrestling team at Edison High School before competing at Texas Women’s University, where she qualified for the national women’s tournament in 2024. VERBATIM: “ ‘Wrestling reminds me that I’m alive every day,’ she says. That awareness is a testament to Title IX. . . . A girl without an athletic background not only finds her place in sports but rises to become a recipient of the prestigious Athena Award as her school’s top senior girl athlete competing in three sports: wrestling, football and track and field.” The words and photos are excellent and made me wonder: What did J Robinson think about her? FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/nari0402

THANKS FOR READING AND FOR REACHING OUT ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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ON THE WEB:
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THE OPENER: — The Twins open their season today. The Wolves and Wild are moving toward the playoffs. The Vikings are a month from the NFL draft. The Lynx are about to embark of a frenzied run of free agency and drafts (college and expansion) before their May opener. A fascinating boys’ basketball tournament is ending the winter high school season. But none of that compared to the quantity and quality of Gophers news at a time that it normally pretty quiet for the U. It ranges from excellent to exasperating with a side order of WTF. After a week away, I’m ready to dive in. Let’s go! Howard Sinker

SOUNDTRACK: Headphones on, please.

HOLD ON A SEC: The Timberwolves played perhaps the craziest basketball game ever — or at least that I’ve ever seen — in Wednesday’s overtime win over Houston. Outscored 24-2 at the end of regulation and start of overtime, Minnesota rallied to score the final 15 points to win 110-108. No NBA team had ever recovered from a 13-point OT deficit to win a game in at least 30 years — and the Wolves did it with a lineup that would likely win fewer than 30 games if forced to play a full season. Anthony Edwards is still injured, Jaden McDaniels left injured in the fourth quarter. Rudy Gobert fouled out with nine seconds left in the fourth. Naz Reid was ejected in overtime. You can pull apart the game a dozen ways to make your case about the Wolves. But the biggest takeaway is that if they can conquer the stretches of reckless/immature/disinterested basketball that have pockmarked their season, they can be a special team in the playoffs.

SUMMING IT UP: Via Jon Krawczynski at The Athletic. VERBATIM: “They sprinkled a little magic on this confounding season of theirs Wednesday, and walked out into the Minnesota night with a feeling of satisfaction that has been hard to come by this year. ‘We deserved to win that game,’ Coach Chris Finch said. ‘We were the better team all night, and we gave them a chance to steal it from us. But we stole it right back.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wolves0326

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BACK TO U: We were watching the Gophers vs. Ole Miss game at 8 a.m. Sunday morning on Maui with, among other things, a plate of Spam-fried rice. A fun way to start another day in paradise. An excellent game finished off by a thrilling comeback that speaks highly of the work done (and standards set) by veteran players who stuck together through a dramatic coaching change — the firing of U legend Lindsay Whalen — and their improvement in three years under Coach Dawn Plitzuweit. Playing No. 2-ranked UCLA (6:30 p.m. Friday, ESPN) in the Sweet 16 is a tremendous challenge and tremendous opportunity. Minnesota now has the right stuff to be a destination for top-tier players in the transfer portal as opposed to a safety school for those overlooked elsewhere. There’s also a solid batch of first-years coming in. Add some size via the transfer portal and the U should be loaded for 2026-27.

BEST OF THE BEST? Haven’t seen this reported elsewhere in Minnesota media, but Gophers commit Natalie Kussow, a 5-foot-10 lefty guard, was named Wisconsin’s Gatorade Player of the Year for the second year in a row this week. Kussow scored 34 points with 10 rebounds and six assists earlier this month to lead her team to the state title in the division that includes Wisconsin’s biggest schools. Maddyn Greenway of Providence Academy, who’s heading for Kentucky, won Minnesota’s award for the second straight year and Paige Bueckers was a three-time winner at Hopkins from 22018-20. ON KUSSOW: https://fluence-media.co/kussow0326.

STATE TITLE VIDEO: Watch and you’ll see why I think Kussow will contribute from the start of her Gophers career. https://fluence-media.co/title0326

MINNESOTA’S GATORADE WINNERS: Girls’ basketball | All sports

VEGAS, KIDS! The U men when caught a break when enough teams opted out of postseason play to land them a spot in the College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas, which has an eight-team field of middling schools from Power Four conferences. Minnesota plays Baylor (9:30 p.m. Wednesday, FS1) in the quarterfinals. The tournament is made-for-TV exposure — (READ: good for recruiting) — and teams are competing for a $500,000 NIL prize pool. Playing well in Vegas would give Coach Niko Medved a boost in building his own team for 2026-27 as opposed to rebuilding the mess he inherited this season.

HOCKEY COACHES. AIM HIGHER? Sports Take was on the front end of calling out the wretched Gophers men’s hockey season and wondering how long Bob Motzko would remain as head coach. Still, I was surprised the end came without giving him another season’s chance to make things right. Athletic director Mark Coyle also ran out of patience with the title drought in the women’s program and sacked Coach Brad Frost after 19 seasons of compiling a .788 winning percentage. We have questions about their replacements. Most are filed under whether Minnesota has dropped from the elite list of hockey programs that coaches consider to be destination schools. Replacing Frost with his assistant, Greg May, doesn’t feel like the jolt needed for the women’s program. Hiring Brett Larson away from St. Cloud State isn’t the needle mover of the last three coaches — Motzko, Don Lucia and Doug Woog, whose tenures date back to 1985. St. Cloud State’s 30-40-2 record over the last two seasons, with fifth and eighth place finishes in the NCHC, hardly provokes excitement regardless of the challenges Larson may have faced. (His career record with the Huskies was 158-116-23.)

GOOD QUESTIONS: Via Michael Rand at Star Tribune. VERBATIM: “Is Coyle putting enough of a priority on hockey if these searches ended with these hires? That’s not the same as saying these are bad coaches, because clearly they are not. But was the process as exhaustive as the ones that yielded P.J. Fleck as football coach, Keegan Cook as volleyball coach, Dawn Plitzuweit as women’s basketball coach or Niko Medved as men’s basketball coach?” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/questions0326

TWO TAKES: (1) A red flag about the men’s program: That former Gophers assistant Garrett Raboin turned down Minnesota’s overtures to stay at Augustana, which just finished its third season as a D-I program in Sioux Falls. His action speaks louder than all the upbeat words about Larson’s hiring. That Raboin played and coached for Motzko tells me he has unique insights into the Gophers program that could have factored into his decision as much as any love he’s developed for running a hockey team in South Dakota. (2) The women were a hockey dynasty with six national titles in a stretch from 2004-16. Yes, it’s still a winning program. But Wisconsin and Ohio State have become the USA and Canada of women’s college hockey while the U has fallen into a secondary role, much like Finland. It’s not unreasonable to expect better.

ONE QUOTE: Via Trent Singer at Sioux Falls Live. Raboin went deep on his commitment to Augustana this week. VERBATIM: "There's a belief in a continued build at Augustana. There's reasons why Augustana and the Sioux Falls community is a place I find greater belief in. As time passes, this is a hockey program that I believe can win. This university attracts student-athletes that are most important in that process that I believe we can win with and continue to elevate our men's hockey program, but outside of the job of being the head coach of this program, this is one of the best communities in the United States.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/raboin0326

FLECK HIRES FIRED COORDINATOR: Long-ago Alabama head coach Mike Shula (2003-06) has signed on with P.J. Fleck as a special offensive assistant, in large part to work with quarterback Drake Lindsey. Shula has been an assistant with eight NFL teams and was most recently an assistant at South Carolina, where he was fired as offensive coordinator nine games into last season.

WHY THE FIRING? Via Lulu Kesin at Greenville News. With Shula in charge of the Gamecocks’ offense, the team was last in the SEC in total yards per game (294.1), 15th in passing yards of 16 schools (193.3), last in rushing yards (108.8) and last in points (19.7) per game. VERBATIM: "I made the decision last December to promote him and believed it was the right decision for a lot of reasons," Coach Shane Beamer said. "Frankly it just hasn't worked like I wanted it to work." MORE: https://fluence-media.co/shula0326

SO YOU KNOW: Mike Shula is the son of NFL coaching legend Don Shula. His boss, Gophers offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr., is not related to accomplished veteran head coaches Jim and John Harbaugh.

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WRESTLING GOLD: Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. Sophomore Max McEnelly won the NCAA 184-pound title over the weekend, defeating Penn State’s Rocco Welsh to avenge a close and controversial loss to Welsh in the Big Ten finals. Winning the bigger prize isn’t enough for McEnelly, who is from Waconia and pictures himself as a three-time NCAA titlist. VERBATIM: “McEnelly was dominant for most of the season, finishing 24-2 overall and 15-2 versus ranked opponents. Half of his win total came by technical fall and two more by major decision. He plans to stay at 184 next season and add to his legacy in his junior and senior seasons. ‘The road doesn’t end here. This is only the start of it. . . . The goal is definitely to become a three-time NCAA champ.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/max0326

TECHNICAL FALL? That’s when a match is stopped because a wrestler takes a 15-point lead. Kind of like the 10-run rule in baseball or the eight-run rule in softball.

BACK OUTSIDE: The Gophers baseball team, seeking its first winning record in the Big Ten since 2019, moves outside this weekend with a three-game series vs. Ohio State at Siebert Field. The U is 16-8 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten. Games are at 3 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday (BIG+) TICKETS

WELL, IT’S STARTING TODAY: I wish I could bring you a counternarrative of optimism for the 2026 Twins season. Not to boast, I’m pretty good at finding rainbows after a storm. If you can find the Star Tribune’s 1987 baseball preview — my last season covering the team — you’ll find my case for how the Twins could improve from their 71-91 previous season to winning a championship. (It’s in the April 5, 1987 edition, if you want to check newspapers.com.) The 1987 Twins took serious steps to better themselves. The 2026 Twins are betting on a limited lineup of $2 beers to keep fans engaged. The 1987 Twins were the first full season of Tom Kelly managing the team after taking over from unsuccessful Ray Miller. The 2026 Twins are Tom Pohlad’s first full season as their main owner after booting his brother Joe from the job. The 1987 Twins added ace closer Jeff Reardon to their bullpen. The 2026 Twins are adding reliever Zak Kent, who was acquired and let go by the Guardians, Cardinals and Rangers during the off-season. I’ll stop there.

MODERN TIMES: Via Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic. VERBATIM: “For anyone looking for reasons to believe in the 2026 Twins, there’s this: In both 2015 and 2017, the Twins were projected to be awful after being so bad the previous season that it got the manager or general manager fired. And in both 2015 and 2017, they surprised everyone with a winning record.”

REALITY CHECK: “On the one hand, it’s fair to suggest the Twins could have avoided a 90-loss season had they not sold so aggressively at the 2025 trade deadline. On the other hand, it’s hard to put much weight into that when they played like a Triple-A team down the stretch and have since done so little to rebuild the gutted roster. In fact, the Twins’ only notable offseason changes came off the field. There are new leaders in the manager’s office, front office and owners’ suite. Yet even those moves could be perceived as half-measures, because none of the three ‘new’ people in charge are actually new to the Twins.”

IN CONCLUSION: “I see a team that was abysmal after the fire sale and did little to restock the talent shelves this offseason. I see an owner whose words are disconnected from the reality of another payroll drop. I see a disjointed roster that’s short on stars and depth, and severely lacking in defense and reliable relief.”

THE FULL GLEEMAN: https://fluence-media.co/preview0326

THIS BAD? Via Anthony Dabbundo at The Ringer. In this power ranking, you don’t have to look far to find the Twins. That’s because it starts at No. 30 and works toward the top. VERBATIM: “There are teams with worse rosters than Minnesota’s that have a more favorable ranking on this list. But I docked the Twins because of their horrendous vibes entering 2026, following the great sell-off at the 2025 trade deadline. Minnesota had won the AL Central in three of the past six years. It had a talented roster, although many of its key players had underperformed considerably in the first half of 2025. But the franchise decided it was more than an off year and elected to blow everything up. The Twins traded 10 players — including top relievers Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax, as well as shortstop Carlos Correa — at the deadline. . . . Right now, it seems like the Twins are in a long, uncertain reset.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/power0326

RAY OF OPTIMISM: Via ESPN. These rankings have the Twins grouped among a bunch of mediocre teams under the heading, “We’re saying there’s a chance.” That’s one rung above “Already playing for next year.” VERBATIM: “How they can be 2026’s biggest surprise: The Twins drafted Royce Lewis in the first round in 2017, Trevor Larnach in the first round in 2018, Matt Wallner in the first round in 2019 and Brooks Lee in the first round in 2022. All of them, to varying degrees, are still waiting to make their imprint in the major leagues. With the Twins flailing, the pressure off and opportunities vast, this is in some ways a fork-in-the-road year for all of them. And if you think it’s too late for some, consider how long it took Byron Buxton -- a first-round pick in 2012 -- to fully come into his own.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/hope0326

THE ROYCE FACTOR: Via La Velle E. Neal III at Star Tribune. After a poor 2025 season, Royce Lewis batted only .133 during spring training. Number can be deceiving during spring training, but those numbers provoke more than a bit of caution. VERBATIM: “Generally speaking, I would say spring training stats don’t matter,” former Twins player Roy Smalley said. “I have seen it in spring training, and the bell rings and they are not the same player. I will tell you that a manager looking at guys they are counting on and are looking at guys getting 30 at-bats and hitting .090, they are worried. They want to say it doesn’t matter, but they are worried. I want to still be in the camp that Royce Lewis will figure it out and things will be different when the bell rings, but you just don’t know at this point.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/royce0326

FINDING BASEBALL: Via Awful Announcing. We know that MLB did a major overhaul of its TV and streaming homes during the off-season. But do you know where to find everything? Here’s a guide that covers all seven platforms where you can find games beyond the Twins cable, streaming and over-the-air presence. VERBATIM: “Fourteen months ago, commissioner Rob Manfred called ESPN a ‘shrinking platform’ in a memo to teams and used it to justify opting out of a $550 million-per-year deal with six years left. The memo set off a chain reaction that has fundamentally reshaped how Major League Baseball will be watched in 2026 and for the foreseeable future. The result is the most fragmented, most expensive, and arguably most interesting media landscape in the sport's history.” GUIDE: https://fluence-media.co/watch0326

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VIKINGS WANT 2028 DRAFT: Via Ben Goessling at Star Tribune. The NFL has turned its draft into a fan destination, so much so that about 600,000 people were in Green bay for the event and everything surrounding it last year. The draft is in Pittsburgh this year and Washington, D.C. in 2027. Will Minnesota be next? There’s a committee chaired by high-end Minnesota business leaders as well as an infrastructure that has been successful at bringing over major sporting events here. But the realistic view is that sometimes a city needs to go after the event more than once to get it, according to Matt Meunier, a senior official with Minnesota Sports and Entertainment. VERBATIM: “In talking to other draft cities that have hosted, often times it does take multiple attempts to secure future drafts,” Meunier said. “And so certainly if 2028 doesn’t work out, we would need to pivot to a future year. We’d try to figure out what is the earliest available year, because we do want to bring this event to our community. It would be a massive, massive impact. So, we’re focused on ‘28 now, and we’ll just wait until the league tells us otherwise.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/drafthost0326

SPEAKING OF DRAFTS. With its labor issues settled, WNBA teams will submit lists of five protected players by Sunday to prepare for the expansion draft next Friday that will stock the new Portland and Toronto franchises. The main thing to know is that teams will only be allowed to lose two players from their rosters. MY TAKE: The Lynx will protect Napheesa Collier, Alana Smith, Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman — and that Bridget Carleton will end up in Toronto and Dorka Juhasz, who played in Europe last season, will go to Portland. AN ALTERNATIVE: The Lynx risk losing one of the StudBudz while protecting Juhasz. DRAFT RULES: https://fluence-media.co/expansion0326

THEN, THE SCRAMBLE: WNBA free agency opens April 7 and almost every veteran player in the league will be available, as most players signed deals that ended after last season in anticipation of the new labor agreement that will greatly increase future contracts. The WNBA draft is April 13, with the Lynx having the No. 2 overall pick. TWO TO WATCH: While you’re watching the Gophers-UCLA Sweet 16 game keep an eye on Lauren Betts, the Bruins’ 6-foot-7 center who is among the top candidates to end up with the Lynx. Also, UCLA guard Gianna Kneepkens, an elite three-point shooter, is a graduate of Duluth Marshall and a probable first-round pick.

GREAT PERFORMANCES: Via Strib Varsity. His team lost, but 6-foot guard Deron Russell of Waseca tied a state tournament record Wednesday night with 51 points in his team’s 77-69 loss to Minnehaha Academy in the Class 2A quarterfinals. Russell also scored 51 in his team’s section semifinal victory over Glencoe-Silver Lake. He plays in an 8 p.m. consolation game tonight vs. The Blake School at Concordia University. As a junior, Russell scored 38 points against Breck School in the 2A semifinals and 32 in Waseca’s title-game loss to Albany. Russell has committed to play football in college at North Dakota State. VERBATIM: “Deron Russell is as good as advertised,” said Minnehaha Academy coach Jadee Jones. “We had a good scheme for him and I felt like we did a pretty good job. He did make some shots. However, I felt like the strength of our entire squad was just too much for him to overcome.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/deron0326. STREAM WASECA VS. BLAKE.

RETURNING TO STATE, KIND OF: Perhaps no top team suffered more quality transfer losses than Breck, which won the Class 2A title in 2024 and reached the semifinals last season. Three key guards from last year’s team are starting for schools that are in the state semifinals: DeAngelo Dungey plays for Class 3A Totino-Grace, Waleed Muhammad is at 3A Richfield and Ayden Green is at 2A Minnehaha.

THREE-PEAT POSSIBLE: Wisconsin-River Falls goes for its third straight D-III hockey title with a game against Amherst. Game time is 7 p.m. Friday in River Falls with the title game set for 3 p.m. Sunday. River Falls is 28-1 this season. All but two of the 25 players on the team are from Minnesota. Top scorer is forward Megan Goodreau of Centennial, who has 74 points in 29 games. The team’s top goaltender, Jordan O’Kane, is from Alexandria. The other semifinalists are Norwich and Nazareth. ROSTER | TICKETS | LIVESTREAM

NEW TOMMIES COACH: Via Joel Rippel at Star Tribune. After leading her team from the No. 8 (and bottom) seed in the D-II Central Regional to the region title, Mandy Pearson has left Minnesota Duluth for the women’s basketball coaching job at St. Thomas. She is replacing the retired Ruth Sinn. VERBATIM: “Pearson directed Minnesota Duluth to a 208-105 record, two NSIC regular-season titles, four NSIC tournament titles and six appearances in the Division II NCAA tournament. Under Pearson, the Bulldogs made two trips to the Elite Eight, including an appearance in the championship game in 2023. The team’s season ended in this year’s Elite Eight with a loss to Colorado Mesa on Tuesday.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/pearson0326

ANNIVERSARY: Via Dan Whenesota on Bluesky. Today is the 66th anniversary of the final game played by the Minneapolis Lakers before their move to Los Angeles. It was a Game 7 loss to St. Louis in the Western Conference finals despite 33 points from Elgin Baylor. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/lakers0326

AND FINALLY: Via Bill McKibben at the New Yorker. Afton’s Jessie Diggins didn’t medal in her final weekend of Nordic ski racing before her retirement. But she once again won the hearts of fans from throughout the world, including those from Minnesota who went to Lake Placid, N.Y., to watch her do well enough to win her fourth World Cup overall title. VERBATIM: “In Lake Placid, the Minnesota state flag was prominent around the course, and American flags flew, too, if not a sea of them. In fact, many of the Minnesotans in attendance wore buttons that expressed their opinions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers; many of those who cheered Diggins on two years ago spent this winter blowing whistles to protect their neighbors. (The sport definitely skews liberal.) . . . But for every shirt bearing a slogan, there were ten cheeks covered in (biodegradable) glitter like the kind that Diggins sprinkles on her face before every race. Diggins, for all her grit, has also brought a sparkle to the sport. The love for her was palpable; you could follow her progress around the course just by listening for the cheers that would arise as she turned each corner. She perhaps arrived too worn from the Olympics to dominate the proceedings; she mustered a fifth-place and a ninth-place finish in the first two races, but it didn’t matter. Handmade ‘Thank You, Jessie’ signs waved around the track.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/diggins0326

A LOOK BACK: No Minnesota journalist — and few elsewhere — had as much access and wrote as prolifically about Diggins as retired Star Tribune Olympics writer Rachel Blount. Here are three stories from her archive.

2018: The ski’s the limit for Diggins

2022: Diggins bears the weigh of Olympic gold happily

2023: Star Tribune Sportsperson of the Year

THANKS FOR READING AND WRITING.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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ON THE WEB:
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Instagram: @howardsinkermn

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howard-sinker-80921813/

ESPN’s comprehensive TV and streaming service listings: https://fluence-media.co/watch

WHY IT WORKS: The NIT wants teams from major conferences. That’s Minnesota. St. Thomas finished the season with the highest NET ranking of any team in the Summit League. Tommies Coach Johnny Tauer told me his team is still practicing in hope of an NIT bid; Gophers Coach Niko Medved could give Gophers fans one more chance to show affection for the six-player rotation that carried the team through the final weeks of the season.

MEDVED VERBATIM: Two quotes from Wednesday’s postgame press conference. (1) “I don’t know if these guys could have given us any more than they gave this year.” (2) Asked about postseason play: “It’s too early to say. Let’s give these guys a few days and then see what the opportunities are and whether it makes sense.”

DEAL KILLER? The College Basketball Crown is an eight-team tournament in Las Vegas that will include two spots for Big Ten teams. If nine Big Ten teams make the NCAA field, as ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi believes, the next two teams in the final conference standings are Indiana and the Gophers. But three teams that finished below the U have higher NET rankings (Washington, Northwestern and USC). Nebraska and USC played in the Crown last year, with the Cornhuskers taking the title. Teams offered a spot in the Crown, which has NIL prize pools for the top four finishers, are not allowed to turn it down to play in the NIT.

MY TAKE: Fans on both sides want the game and it’s a sure bet to draw better than a usual first-round NIT match-up. Take the lemons that dropped on both teams this season and turn them into lemonade.

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KYLER MURRAY DAY: The former Arizona quarterback is set to visit the Vikings training facility today and the question will be whether that will mark the end of his job search. We shared a deep dive into Murray last week, so we’re not going to repeat ourselves, beyond saying the move makes sense for the Vikings on the field and financially. The remaining question is whether it makes sense for Murray.

KOC BETS BIG (ON HIMSELF): Via Michael Silver at The Athletic. Coach Kevin O’Connell has basically turned down safer QB options in favor of hoping to resurrect Murray’s career. VERBATIM: “As much as O’Connell may have winced watching Sam Darnold help the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl LX victory last month . . . getting drowned by regret is not a winning strategy. Reviving a motivated Murray, who’s reeling from a midseason benching that ended his six-and-a-half-year stint as the Cardinals’ starter, absolutely could be. For O’Connell, who remains the most powerful presence in the Vikings’ universe, it better be. The Vikings are expected to hire a new GM after the draft, but this is very much O’Connell’s show.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/koc0312

ANOTHER OPTION? Posted on the X feed of Arizona Sports football writer John Gambadoro:

HUH? Via Billy Heyen at Sporting News. Gambadoro is saying that a starting job is the goal, but does it have to be for 2026? Murray could position himself as a backup to an established quarterback who may only play for one more season. Maybe the Rams and Matthew Stafford or the Steelers if they bring back Aaron Rodgers. VERBATIM: “That would be a fascinating choice for Murray -- essentially choose to take a redshirt year, learn from Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford, and hit the ground running after a presumed Stafford retirement. Obviously, if Stafford chose to keep playing, that plan could backfire. Minnesota seems like a great fit. Murray could beat out J.J. McCarthy for the starting QB job, and he’d have a ton of offensive talent around him. It’s always good to have alternatives, though, and the Rams would probably be a solid one for Murray.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/murray0312

THE GOOD NEWS: This almost certainly gets settled in the next few days.

MORE: Via Star Tribune. Vikings free agent tracker | Access Vikings podcast on free agents.

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GRACE: Class A state hockey typically takes a back seat to the big-school tournament. But this year’s Class A final should be remembered for the thrills on the ice and postgame humility from the Warroad player who scored in overtime to give his team a 5-4 victory over Hibbing. Warroad tied the game at 4 with 46 seconds left after Hibbing rallied with three third-period goals to take the lead. Then, Ryan Shaugabay scored the game-winner one minute into OT. The goal was pretty, the on-ice celebration was emotional and Shaugabay couldn’t get through his postgame TV interview without tearing up. It was a sequence full of good. VIDEO: Here’s the goal. The emotions get real (for both teams) starting at the 40-second mark — and good on the announcers for knowing when to let the images speak for themselves. Here’s the postgame interview, when Shaugabay is asked about sharing the moment with his father, a Warroad assistant coach.

FUN: Via Olivia Hicks at Strib Varsity. This story got buried in the innards of a longer story about the state tournament. Moorhead’s potato mascot, Spuddy, made frequent on-camera appearances in front of the Moorhead student section during the Class 2A tournament. BACKSTORY: Tournament Spuddy has no connection to Moorhead beyond the costume and a sense of whimsy. In real life, Spuddy is Bennett Wieland, a senior at Blake School in Minneapolis. Joining the student section was an idea that came about after Moorhead won its section title. VERBATIM: “He emailed Moorhead orchestra teacher Brian Cole with a simple request. ‘In order to do great things, one must fully commit to the bit,’ Wieland wrote. ‘I want to offer up my services. I understand this may seem like a prank, but I’m being so incredibly serious. If you need a Spud in the stands, I’m your Spud.’ “ BONUS QUOTE: “The vibe of the Spud just embodies something about the tourney that I just love,” Wieland said. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/spud0312 (Scroll down to find the story.) Photo courtesy of Brian Cole.

OVERREACTION: There was lots of social media chatter about many of Minnetonka’s players taking off their silver medals right after receiving them during the awards presentation following their overtime loss to Moorhead for the Class AA title. Poor sportsmanship from entitled suburban kids was the theme. TWO THINGS: (1) Many Hibbing players did the same thing after the Class A title game but it wasn’t noticed. (2) In both cases, it was a reaction to painful losses where a state title was within reach and slipped away. It wasn’t disrespect. It was agony. Somewhere in our house there’s a runner-up medal from a long-ago section basketball final that never got worn or displayed. Similar situation, smaller stage. If you’ve been there, you get it.

EDINA: The roughhouse end of Moorhead’s 3-1 semifinal win over Edina gathered an interesting collection of headlines. It was described as everything from a mass brawl in one game report to a postgame skirmish in another. On social media — the worst place for analysis — this was generally painted as an “Edina issue” that went beyond the usual glee over the Hornets losing. In fact, the situation was created and accelerated by one player responsible for a questionable play at the game of the game, throwing punches afterward and then being skated off the ice by an official. The player did not play in Edina’s third-place loss to Rosemount. Most of the Edina players stayed clear of the situation and off the ice until the postgame handshake line. Yes, it was an ugly ending. But many players kept it from being worse. BRAWL OR SKIRMISH? Somewhere in the middle. VIDEO (Choose your platform): FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | BLUESKY | X

TWINS ROSTER PROJECTION: Via Aaron Gleeman and Dan Hayes at The Athletic. Opening Day in Baltimore is two weeks from today — and the unsettling Twins roster may be settling in through default. The most interesting take here is that Alan Roden, the outfielder acquired from Toronto in the Louie Varland trade, may not make the final cut because major league mediocrity may trump youthful potential. James Outman is out of minor-league options and Trevor Larnach has a guaranteed contract for almost $4.5 million. VERBATIM: “If Larnach were removed from the mix, it would open up a regular job for Roden, make it easier to find a role for Kody Clemens, improve the defense by shifting Josh Bell more to DH and clear a bench spot for a right-handed bat to be used as a platoon partner for the various lefties.”

AND THIS: "The bullpen is a problem. The projection is for four lefty relievers, none of whom strike fear into opposing batter, and four right-handers, with the Twins hoping that Liam Hendriks, 37, rediscovers the form that once made him a top-end closer. VERBATIM: “They’re also banking on Cole Sands pitching like the 2024 version, not the 2025 version. I see the right side of the bullpen as perhaps the Twins’ biggest weakness, and that’s saying something.” FULL PROJECTION: https://fluence-media.co/twins0312

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IT’S JUST BUSINESS: Via Ben Goessling at Star Tribune. The headline that Harrison Smith has been released by the Vikings looks like a shocker. But Goessling explained how the move makes sense for reasons beyond the $25 million salary that would have been guaranteed for 2027 if the move wasn’t made by Friday. VERBATIM: “It means he's off the Vikings' roster, at least for now, for the first time since the team drafted him on April 26, 2012, but the team would welcome him back if he decided to return. It seems unlikely Smith would play anywhere else at this point; the question will become whether he wants to do it again in Minnesota. The Vikings' move Wednesday gives him some space to make that choice.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/smith0312

THANKS, KEV: Via Michael Rand at Star Tribune. Daniel Jones turned his short stayover in Minnesota into a huge, new deal with Indianapolis after the quarterback didn’t think he’d be given a serious shot at the Vikings starting QB job last season. The end result, coming off season-ending Achilles surgery, is a two-year contract for $88 million with $50 million guaranteed and incentives that could bring it to as much as $100 million. VERBATIM: “He should send two bouquets to Kevin O’Connell: One for trouncing KOC’s Vikings in the 2022 playoffs, leading to his first payday with the New York Giants, and another for O’Connell helping him land on his feet and eventually cashing in with the Colts.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/jones0312

THANKS, SAM: The Vikings will get a compensatory third-round pick in the 2026 draft as a result of Sam Darnold’s signing and success with Seattle. The placement of compensatory picks is determined by a formula that includes a player’s value, amount of playing time and postseason honors. The pick is the highest of the 34 compensatory picks handed out by the NFL.

MISERABLE GOPHERS HOCKEY FINISH: Via Tony Liebert at SI.com. The Gophers men’s hockey season stumbled to a sad conclusion with a 6-3 loss at Penn State in the Big Ten quarterfinals. The 11-22-3 record is the team’s worst in more than a half-century. VERBATIM: This season was Bob Motzko’s eighth at the Gophers head coach, and they’ve been trending in the wrong direction since losing in the NCAA Championship game in 2023. This season will be their first not in the NCAA Tournament since his very first with the program, excluding the 2020-COVID campaign. Motzko has built up plenty of goodwill, but he now faces serious pressure after a historically bad season. After deciding not to add any players from the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) last offseason, there was a lot of criticism of their team-building strategy. They’ve already changed their tune with that idea, adding a commitment from Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys on Wednesday. Their incoming recruits give them potential for a significant improved roster next season. Is that enough to overlook a declining 64-year-old head coach? That is a question Mark Coyle and the rest of Minnesota's administration will have to decide. It will be a fascinating offseason in Dinkytown.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/uhockey0312

HOW BAD WAS IT? Gophers men’s hockey records through the years are here.

U REFUSES REQUEST: Via Alexandra DeYoe at Star Tribune. The University of Minnesota declined the Strib’s request for information about how much athletes are being paid under new NCAA rules and NIL agreements. The decision troubled open records advocates and those who are concerned that Title IX regulations about treating men’s and women’s sports equally are being bypassed. VERBATIM: “By arguing that student athletes are not employees of the school like a professor or a coach, the school cited student privacy when it refused a request to reveal specific athlete payments. When asked for a payment breakdown by individual sport, the school denied the request by citing a law protecting trade secrets. Government transparency advocates say the decision runs counter to the spirit of the Data Practices Act, which requires public entities to disclose how they spend taxpayer money. ‘If they’re a public institution and they’re paying funds out, the public needs to understand what’s going on,’ said Matt Ehling, a board member for Minnesotans for Open Government.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/pay0312

GOOD GOPHERS NEWS: The NCAA women’s basketball field will be announced Sunday and ESPN, CBS Sports and Yahoo currently have the Gophers hosting games in the first two rounds as one of the nation’s 16 best teams picked by the NCAA. All have Minnesota as a No. 4 seed. The CBS bracket has the Gophers playing No. 13 Western Illinois in the first round with the winner playing No. 5 Notre Dame or No. 12 McNeese. ESPN’s has them playing UC-Irvine in the first round with the winner playing No. 5 North Carolina or No. 12 Gonzaga. Yahoo has the Gophers-Irvine matchup with the winner playing either No. 5 Mississippi or No. 12 Green Bay. PROJECTIONS: ESPN | CBS | Yahoo

TOP HOCKEY HONOR: Gophers and Team USA Olympic star Abbey Murphy is one of three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the top player in women’s college hockey. She reached the final 10 nominees after the last two seasons. The award will be announced a week from Saturday during the Frozen Four at Penn State. The others are Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey and Penn State’s Tessa Janecke, who were also on the Olympic gold-medal team. WHO WAS KAZMAIER? https://fluence-media.co/kazmaier0312

HOME HOCKEY SATURDAY: The Gophers women are the No. 4 seed in their NCAA tournament and play Northeastern at 2 p.m. Saturday at Ridder Arena (BIG+). Unseeded Minnesota Duluth and Yale play in Columbus, Ohio, at 5 p.m. today (ESPN+) with the winner facing No. 1 seed Ohio State on Saturday. GOPHERS TICKETS | BRACKET

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PROBLEM OR SITUATION? Via Jess Myers at Pioneer Press. This story handled one of my reactions to all of the Wild’s player moves at the deadline: How do players feel about going from playing time with their old team to potentially watching with their new one. Obviously, that’s not an issue for Quinn Hughes. But what about some of the others? VERBATIM: “In his first 48 hours as a member of the Minnesota Wild, defenseman Jeff Petry got a taste of the excitement and the reality of life with his latest NHL employer. The excitement comes via his move from Florida, which is likely to be a spectator when the playoffs start next month. Minnesota, meanwhile, is all but a lock for the postseason and has designs on much more than just a playoff spot. The reality came Friday night in Las Vegas, where Petry watched much of the Wild’s 4-2 win over the Golden Knights from the T-Mobile Arena press box. He’s one of the odd men out on a team that, when fully healthy, will have some tough choices to make about who makes the line chart on any given night.”

VERBATIM: “They’ve obviously put themselves in a good position with the crew that they have,” Petry said, acknowledging that the Wild were upfront about his role when they called to welcome him to Minnesota. “Whether that’s me stepping in, playing a handful here and there, whatever the situation is, that’s something that I’m fully ready to be with. (I’m) just excited to be a part of this.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wild0312

TRADE GRADES: Via Joe Smith and Michael Russo at The Athletic. VERBATIM: “The Wild’s heavy lifting was done with their mid-December blockbuster for Quinn Hughes, who has absolutely been a game-changer for the franchise. At the deadline, they basically overhauled their bottom six. Michael McCarron brings some size, snarl and strong faceoff ability to the fourth line and the penalty kill. Bobby Brink brings some speed and skill to the middle six, plus he fits Minnesota’s defensive identity and forecheck. Robby Fabbri is a four-time 15-goal scorer who is open to any role and can help with his experience in the room. Nick Foligno, the former Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks captain, is another potential fourth liner/depth piece who may not play much, but Chicago is doing the veteran a solid to give him a chance to chase the Cup with his brother, Marcus. Nick Foligno has played center all year, so that gives the coaching staff options. The addition of Jeff Petry (for a seventh-round pick) offers an experienced, right-shot defenseman who is OK being a seventh or eighth defenseman. Overall, the Wild didn’t make any flashy moves at the deadline — the Hughes addition brought plenty of that — meaning GM Bill Guerin and company still have useful assets they can parlay into a bigger move this offseason.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/grades0312

DONE SPINNING THE WOLVES: A five-game winning streak followed by three straight losses of 14, 25 and 27 points, including a while-we-should-have-been-sleeping 153-128 humiliation by the L.A. Clippers Wednesday night. The Wolves have 16 games before the postseason and the only question is whether they’ll conquer their disinterested tendencies in the playoffs. If they don’t, it will be yet another Minnesota sports embarrassment. If they do, it’s logical to ask why we should pay any heed to the NBA regular season in the future. STANDINGS AND PLAYOFF PICTURE: https://fluence-media.co/nba0312

SURPRISE RUN: One of the metro-area surprise teams in section boys’ basketball playoffs is Blake School, which upset top-seed Holy Family and No. 4 Minneapolis North to reach Friday’s title game against No. 3 Maranatha Christian. The game is at 7 p.m. Friday at Augsburg. The Bears are the lowest-seeded team to reach the boys’ section finals in all four classes. Blake is led by Carson McMichael, a 6-foot-1 guard who is shooting 41% on threes this season and will play college basketball at Macalester. VERBATIM: “I’ve been head coach at Blake for 10 years, 13 overall as a head coach in Minnesota,” said Coach Tyler Biwan. “This team walks into the gym with more belief and more energy than any team I’ve coached. Defensively, assistant Max Bohrer has led tremendous game plans for each upset, that our guys go and execute flawlessly. Offensively, our ball movement and shot selection has never been better. We’ll continue to ride that wave into Friday and keep doing the things that got us here.” TICKETS

GAMES TO WATCH: Here are the high school basketball games I’d pay extra attention to over the next three days. GIRLS: At the state tournament, No. 1-seed Hopkins plays No. 4 Maple Grove at 6 p.m. tonight in Class 4A and I’m hoping for a Class 2A title game between No. 1 seed Providence Academy (Maddyn Greenway’s team) and No. 2 Duluth Marshall (Chloe Johnson’s team) at 6 p.m. Saturday. Both games are at Williams Arena and on Ch. 45. BOYS: In Class 3A, the top four teams in the final Pacesetter Poll all play tonight. No. 1 Totino Grace plays Becker at St. Francis, No. 2 DeLaSalle hosts No. 4 Mahtomedi and No. 3 Richfield hosts No. 10 Orono. All three tip off at 7 p.m. and are being streamed by NSPN.TV. On Friday, Class 4A defending champ and No. 2 ranked Wayzata hosts No. 5 Hopkins at 7 p.m. Strib Varsity stream. GIRLS’ TOURNEY INFO: TICKETS | BRACKETS | PROGRAM

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WNBA TALKS IN PLAY: Via Alexa Phillipou at ESPN. Not much new to say except that talks were in high gear two days after the WNBA’s Tuesday “deadline” for starting the season on time. VERBATIM: "At the end of the day, we want a season," WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike told reporters. "We want to play. We've heard that from the other side as well. We need to see a more robust demonstration of that as we continue on in these negotiations." MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wnba0312

D-III UPDATE: Men — Winning twice at home last week earned Gustavus a boost to No. 7 in the latest D-III basketball poll and a game at 4 p.m. Saturday at No. 6-ranked University of Chicago with a spot in the national quarterfinals to the winners. Quarterfinals and semifinals will be in Fort Wayne, Ind., next Thursday and a week from Saturday. The title game will be in Indianapolis on April 5 — the Sunday and site of Final Four weekend. Women — Bethel and Concordia-Moorhead are in the Sweet 16. Bethel plays at Washington and Lee at 7 p.m. Friday and at 7 p.m. Saturday against Denison or John Carroll if the Royals win. Concordia plays Johns Hopkins at 3:30 p.m. Friday in Scranton, Pa., and at 6 p.m. Saturday against Scranton or Bates if the Cobbers advance. Semifinals and finals are next Thursday and a week from Saturday in Salem, Va.

D-II STARTS: First- and second-round games are this weekend. Women — Minnesota State hosts St. Cloud State at 5 p.m. Friday with the winner playing Central Missouri or Washburn University. Concordia-St. Paul hosts Northwestern Oklahoma State at 2:30 p.m. Friday with the winner playing Fort Hays State or Harding University on Saturday. Those games are also in Mankato. The Mavericks are the top seed in the Central Region and Concordia is second, despite beating Mankato in two of their three games this season, including the Northern Sun title game. UMD in the bottom seed among the eight teams. Men — No. 4 seed St. Cloud State plays Missouri Western at 8 p.m. Saturday right after No. 8 UMD plays Washburn. Both games are in Topeka, Kansas, with the winners advancing to play each other.

D-III HOCKEY: Men — St. John’s plays at Aurora College at 2 p.m. Saturday and UW-Stout hosts Anna Maria College of Massachusetts at 7 p.m. Saturday in the 14-team tournament. The semifinals and finals will be March 27 and 29 in Utica, N.Y. Women — Three MIAC teams are among the 14 in the tournament. At 3 p.m. Saturday, Augsburg hosts Elmira and Hamline hosts Endicott at TRIA Rink in downtown St. Paul. St. Benedict, which won the conference title, plays at Amherst at 2 p.m. Saturday. No. 1 seed UW-River Falls has a first-round bye. TICKETS: Augsburg | Hamline POLLS: Men | Women

LIVESTREAMS FOR ALL D-II AND D-III GAMES

AND FINALLY: Via Breaking the News at KARE-TV. Last March, veteran Minnesota hockey writer David La Vaque was in his usual spot covering the state tournament for the Star Tribune. Soon after, his health took a sad turn when David was diagnosed with leukodystrophy, a central nervous system disorder that forced him to give up his writing, but not his love of hockey. La Vaque attended this year’s tournament as a spectator, visited one team’s locker room before a game and was featured in this Ch. 11 report that explains his place in the state’s hockey universe.

There is a GoFundme to help with David’s medical expenses. You can donate here.

THANKS FOR READING AND WRITING. Taking next week off and back in two weeks.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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A FEW QUICK OPINIONS:

*The girls’ basketball tournament isn’t until next week. But the “real” 4A title game is tonight when No. 1 Hopkins plays host to No. 3 Wayzata at 7 p.m. You can watch for free here if you’re a Star Tribune subscriber. Ticket info is here. BONUS OPINIONS: (1) Get to the Royals Athletic Center early. (2) All section finals should be played at neutral sites.

*Kyler Murray would be the best competition for Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Murray will be released by the Cardinals next week, will continue to be paid by them and has a truckload to prove. There’s an excellent case for Murray later in today’s Sports Take. At the same time, I’m not ruling out that a challenged McCarthy would prevail. The “legal tampering period” for free agents opens at 11 a.m. Monday and signings can start Wednesday.

*I’ve never heard so little spring training buzz about the Twins. The screen grab below is the ticket map for the lower rows of Section 119 (behind the third-base dugout) for the home opener as it stood late Wednesday morning. The red seats are available. Spring training scores are meaningless, but it doesn’t help that the Twins are 2-8-1, allowing 10 or more runs in four of those losses. Also, the defense looks pretty bad despite all the Florida talk about fundamentals. More on that later, too.

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NOTABLE AND NEWSWORTHY:

VIKINGS ROSTER MOVES: Via Ben Goessling at Star Tribune. The Vikings need some heavy salary cap management to prepare for free agency and the draft. The Strib’s lead Vikings reporter is being told the team will cut defensive tackle Jonathan Allen next week and noted previous reports that defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and running back Aaron Jones are prime candidates for release. Several of the moves will make it even clearer that last year’s surround-McCarthy-with-veterans plan was a flop from every angle. VERBATIM: “Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard could be a trade candidate if the Vikings decide not to meet the request for a new contract he is reportedly seeking. The Vikings could also decide to cut or restructure the contracts of tight end T.J. Hockenson and center Ryan Kelly, while considering a contract extension for Brian O’Neill that could reduce the right tackle’s $23.12 million cap hit.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/vikings0305

TALK IS CHEAP, DEFENSE IS BAD: Via Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic. "Among ‘10 things’ he saw at spring training, the long-time baseball writer said that the Twins defense won’t be good. It’s another example of the awkwardly constructed roster. VERBATIM: “Like every new manager, Derek Shelton has talked a lot about cleaning up fundamentals and playing better defense, but the roster simply lacks the fielding chops to make that a reality. After ranking among MLB’s worst defenses last season, the Twins’ biggest offseason pickups were first baseman Josh Bell and catcher Victor Caratini, both of whom are bat-first players. Aside from Byron Buxton, no projected regular is an above-average fielder and several are well below average.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/defense0305

THAT TIMBERWOLVES BENCH: Via Jace Frederick at Pioneer Press. After finding their young players surprisingly lacking, the Wolves pivoted to a veteran-infused bench that will serve them well in the postseason. Bones Hyland was signed toward the end of last season. Ayo Dosunmu was picked up at the trade deadline last month. Kyle Anderson was reacquired as a free agent last week. Mike Conley returned to be a bit player with a wise voice. Naz Reid hasn’t needed to fill in as a starter because those five players have generally been healthy. VERBATIM: “Through trades and affordable signings, basketball boss Tim Connelly – with the assistance of a new ownership group that ultimately agreed to pay the luxury tax for the second time in two years of team control – has cobbled together a more playoff-suitable bench that not only touts more bankable attributes, but also addresses needs and accentuates the strengths of the team’s top six players. . . . The Wolves are a bigger threat moving forward because of it.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bench0305

SO MUCH SPORTS: As promised, here’s how crowded the sports calendar is in the next week.

GOPHERS: Women’s basketball earned a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament for its fourth-place finish. They’ll start in the quarterfinals against Ohio State, Indiana or Nebraska at 1:30 p.m. Friday (BIG). Winning likely gets them No. 1 seed (and No, 2 in the polls) UCLA at 1 p.m. Saturday. Women’s hockey (seeded No. 3) plays in the WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals at St. Thomas at 7:30 tonight vs. No. 2 seed Ohio State (FOX9+). TICKETS. Baseball, which is off to an 8-3 start, hosts the Cambria Classic on Friday-Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Opponents are UNLV at 7 p.m. Friday, South dakota State at 7 p.m. Saturday and Omaha at 6 p.m. Sunday. BIG+ | TICKETS Men’s basketball closes its regular season at 8 .m. Saturday vs. Northwestern at The Barn. The conference tournament opens Tuesday, Men’s hockey closes its season vs. No. 2-ranked Michigan State at Mariucci tonight (7 p.m., FOX9) and Friday (7 p.m., FOX9+). The Gophers will be on the road for a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday. Softball has a three-game series Friday-Sunday at Indiana BIG+ | SCHEDULE. WRESTLING is at Big Ten Championships at Saturday and Sunday at Penn State (BIG). GYMNASTICS is at No. 15 North Carolina at 5:45 p.m. Friday ESPN+

STATE HOCKEY: Class 2A quarterfinals are all day today. Class AA semifinals are at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday with the title game at 7 p.m. Saturday. Class A semis are at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday with the title game at noon Saturday. (Ch. 45 and kstp.com). TOURNAMENT PROGRAM | BRACKETS | TICKETS

ST. THOMAS: Men’s hockey is seeded No., 2 in the CCHA Playoffs and starts at best-of-three series vs. Lake Superior State at 7 p.m. Friday. Games 2 and 3 are scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday. MIDCO+ | TICKETS Men’s basketball is seeded No. 2 in the Summit League tournament and plays No., 7 South Dakota State at 8:30 p.m. tonight (MIDCO). If the Tommies win, the semifinal is at 9:30 p.m. Saturday. The title game, for an NCAA berth, is at 7 p.m. Sunday (CBS Sports Network). Women’s basketball is seeded No. 5 at plays No. 4 Oral Roberts at noon Friday. (MIDCO). Semifinal would be at noon Saturday (MIDCO) at the title game at 3 p.m. Sunday (CBS Sports). Both tournaments are in Sioux Falls.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: Girls’ section finals are tonight and Friday. In addition to tonight’s Hopkins-Wayzata game (see above), best options are Mounds View at. Maple Grove for the Section 5 title in Class 4 at 6 p.m. tonight and Maranatha Christian vs. Providence Academy for the Section 5 title in Class 2A at 7 p.m. Friday at Augsburg. FULL SCHEDULE. Boys’ sections are in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. Tartan, No. 1-ranked in Class 4A, hosts a Section 4 semifinal vs. St. Paul Central 7 p.m. Saturday. In a Section 6 semifinal, No. 2-ranked Wayzata will play Edina or St. Louis Park at 7 p.m. Tuesday. DAILY SCHEDULES

PARALYMPICS: Via Noah Bloch MPR. The games run from Friday through March 15 in Italy and there are seven athletes with Minnesota connections. Liam Cunningham and Landon Uthke, ice hockey; Aaron Pike, Max Nelson and Sydney Peterson, cross-country skiing; Mike Schultz, snowboarding, and Oyuna Uranchimeg, curling. TV INFO | BIOGRAPHIES: https://fluence-media.co/para0305

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: It starts today and Team USA, which includes Byron Buxton, opens play at 7 p.m. Friday vs. Brazil (FOX). The tournament runs through March 17. SCHEDULE | ROSTERS

DIVISION III: NCAA play in men’s and women’s basketball is Friday and Saturday. WOMEN: Four MIAC teams are in the women’s field. Bethel and Concordia are hosting four-team regionals, with the Royals playing Millsaps of Mississippi in the first round at 7:45 p.m. Friday and the Cobbers playing Wisconsin-Superior at 8 p.m. Friday. Gustavus plays Chicago in Whitewater, Wis., and St. Mary’s plays Wisconsin Lutheran in Oshkosh. Both games tip off at 4:45 p.m. Friday. Second-round games are Saturday. MEN: Gustavus, which won the regular season and post-season titles, plays UMAC champ Bethany Lutheran of Mankato at 7:20 p.m. Friday in St. Peter. LIVESTREAMS | MEN’S BRACKET | WOMEN’S BRACKET. MIAC men’s and women’s hockey finals are Saturday in St. Cloud. Gustavus plays St. Benedict at 4 p.m. in the women’s final and Gustavus plays St. John’s at 7 p.m. in the men’s final. VIDEO | TICKETS.

OTHER BIG STUFF: The NHL trade deadline is 2 p.m. Friday and the Wild always seems to be on the verge of making one more move. The Big Ten men’s basketball tournament runs Tuesday through next Sunday. The state girls’ basketball tournament starts Wednesday morning. NFL free agents can sign starting Wednesday afternoon. Is that enough?

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THE CHOICES WE MAKE: We can literally go nonstop from late morning to late night through the weekend, go triple screen (TV/tablet/phone) much of the time and still miss stuff. Here’s how (I think) I’ll be spending most of my next four days.

THURSDAY — TV: Gotta watch the hockey tournament because it’s what Minnesotans do, right? TABLET: I’ll add the St. Thomas vs. South Dakota State men’s game in the Summit League tournament to the mix in the evening. PHONE: Twins vs. Yankees during the day and Hopkins-Wayzata in their girls’ section title game in the evening. SOMEHOW: Check in on Gophers vs. Ohio State in the WCHA hockey semis. PRO TIP: if you have the right Xfinity package, you can watch the Summit League men’s and women’s tournaments on MIDCO (Ch. 1270).

FRIDAY — TV: Gophers women’s basketball — the best-to-follow team in town right now — gets the big screen in the afternoon for its Big Ten quarterfinal (vs. either Ohio State or Indiana) and Class 2A hockey takes over in the evening. TABLET: I’m a D-III guy so I’ll flip among the five NCAA first-round games in the late afternoon and early evening. Curious to see if the Gustavus men are as good as their No. 7 national ranking or whether a down year in the MIAC inflated their standing. PHONE: Keep up with the last day for NHL trades during the day and switch to baseball. Team USA in the World Baseball Classic opener vs. Brazil and the Gophers vs. UNLV in the Cambria Classic. SOMEHOW: Check in on St. Thomas in the first game of CCHA hockey playoffs.

SATURDAY — Things get iffier here. TV: If the Gophers women win their first game, they get the big screen for their Big Ten semifinal, probably vs. UCLA. The night-time doubleheader is the Class 2A hockey final followed by St. Thomas in the Summit League men’s semis (providing the Tommies advance), which has a 9:30 p.m. tip-off. TABLET: WCHA Final Faceoff title game at 2 p.m. followed by whatever teams are still alive in the D-III basketball playoffs. PHONE: TBD. Maybe I’ll just read all the texts I missed.

SUNDAY — Gotta see what happens Thursday through Saturday depending on who's still playing. BEST BETS: St. Thomas in the Summit League men’s title game and needing a Game 3 in the CCHA hockey playoffs vs. Lake Superior State. FALLBACKS: Wild and Frost. Or maybe I’ll go to A Bar of Their own and power watch the eight women’s conference title games scheduled between noon and 5 p.m. Or maybe I’ll go for a long walk.

TIPS AND THOUGHTS: sportstake100@gmail.com

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EX-TWINS PITCHER GETS LIFE IN PRISON: Via Jessica Hill at Sacramento Bee. Dan Serafini, the Twins’ first-round draft choice in 1992, has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his father-in-law and attempted murder for the shooting of his mother-in-law. Serafini, 51, was convicted in July 2025. He pitched for the Twins from 1996-98 and was with five other teams in the final four seasons of his career. VERBATIM: “Serafini reportedly hated his wife’s wealthy parents, prosecutors said, telling friends that he would offer $20,000 to whoever would carry out their killings. Ultimately, Serafini took the task into his own hands. . . . ‘Dan Serafini executed my dad and left my mom to die,’ daughter Adrienne Spohr told reporters following Serafini’s sentencing. ‘My mom fought with everything she could and did not let Dan Serafini win. Dan Serafini is finally being held accountable and will spend the rest of his life behind bars.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/serafini0305

2 STATE TOURNEY PLAYERS SUSPENDED: Via Jim Paulsen at Strib Varsity. Hibbing/Chisholm’s leading scorer Cole Swanson served a one-game suspension during Wednesday’s Class A quarterfinal win over Dodge County for making an obscene gesture after his No. 1-seeded team won its section final. In today’s Class 2A quarterfinals, Rosemount goalie Drew Sherman will sit out “at least the start” of his team’s game vs. Grand Rapids for doing the same after the Irish defeated St. Thomas Academy to win their section title. Tate Swanson, the Star Tribune’s All-Minnesota Player of the Year, acknowledged his brother’s situation in a postgame press conference. VERBATIM: “ ‘Everyone knows he made a mistake. It’s not the type of person he is. He’s learned from it.’ A representative from the Minnesota State High School League ended the postgame news conference after Swanson’s comment.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/suspension0305

ASKING A QUESTION: I texted a retired veteran Hall of Fame coach for thoughts about a player making an obscene gesture toward fans. VERBATIM: “When I saw the clip on the goalie from Rosemount, the first thing I said was, ‘I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that.’ Not sure I have a good answer. My first inclination was ‘he’s done’ and as a coach I had somehow failed him.”

GAME STOPPED EARLY: Via WCCO-TV. Richfield, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A had its section quarterfinal game against Westonka stopped with 15 minutes to play after a dunk by Gideon Horne shattered a backboard. The final was 67-28. Richfield hosts Holy Angels at 2 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. VERBATIM: “I feel like Shaq right now.” TICKETS: https://fluence-media.co/richfield0305

WNBA LABOR BATTLE DRAGS ON: Via Mark Giannotto at USA Today. Three main things to know: (1) The league has told players that Tuesday is the deadline for reaching an agreement without the season being delayed. (2) The players’ union called the latest proposal “not worth taking.” (3) Two League superstars and executive committee members wrote to the union’s executive director, criticizing her for not keeping the players more involved in the talks. VERBATIM: “Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart, in a three-page letter sent earlier this week to players' union executive director Terri Jackson, cited ‘a lack of adequate player involvement in the process’ thus far and warned of the harm a potential work stoppage would do to the league's financial outlook.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/talks0305

FROM THE LETTER: Via ESPN. VERBATIM: “When we and other players have attempted to express concerns about negotiations, we have been made to feel as though we are acting against the interests of the PA. Many other players across the league feel these same frustrations and have expressed them to us, but feel afraid or unable to speak out.’ ESPN previously reported that there has been a strong debate within the executive committee in recent months over how to proceed in negotiations, with a split over willingness to hold out or to take a deal more in line with the league’s latest proposal.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wnba0305

HOLTZ AND THE GOPHERS: Via MPR and Associated Press. College football coaching legend Lou Holtz, who died this week at age 89 after entering hospice care in February, is typically identified and revered for the time he spent at Notre Dame, leading the school to a 100-30-2 record and the 1988 national championship. Many of us remember that he went to Notre Dame after two seasons at Minnesota (1984-85), where he took over a team that went 1-10 in the year before he arrived. The Gophers went 10-12 under Holtz, including beating Clemson in the 1985 Independence Bowl. VERBATIM: “But by that point, Holtz had already accepted an offer to coach Notre Dame, his dream job. ‘When I went to the University of Minnesota, I firmly believed in the bottom of my heart that would probably be the last coaching job I would ever have. However, the only stipulation we did put in was, if Notre Dame ever did contact me, I would be free to go. And they understood that from Day 1.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/holtz0305

ON PROBATION: Via Los Angeles Times archive. The Gophers were put on NCAA probation and banned from playing in a bowl game for one year because of two Holtz violations that are laughable in the context of current college sports. The findings were part of a larger investigation that put the U on probation for two years because of 17 violations in men’s basketball, wrestling and football. VERBATIM: “Holtz gave $250 to an athlete to pay for a course that allowed the athlete to remain eligible for competition. Holtz also was found to have given between $25 and $40 to Roselle Richardson to reimburse the former quarterback for the loss of a wallet.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/probation0305

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‘BRIDGEWATER BILL’ PASSES FLORIDA SENATE: Via Grant Gordon at NFL.com. Last year, former Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater lost his coaching job at a Miami high school for giving money to help players with personal expenses — help he was very public about providing. In response, the Florida senate has approved a bill allowing coaches to provide up to $15,000 per year to help their players. The bill passed unanimously and awaits action by the state’s House of Representatives. VERBATIM: “Officially, the act requires, ‘the Florida High School Athletic Association to adopt bylaws authorizing a head coach to support the welfare of a student by using personal funds to provide certain effects to the student; requiring the head coach to report such use of personal funds to the association; providing that such use of personal funds is presumed not to be an impermissible benefit, etc.’ " MORE: https://fluence-media.co/teddy0305

MINNESOTA PARALYMPICS CO-HOSTS: Via Neal Justin at Star Tribune. FOX9 reporter Courtney Godfrey and veteran Paralympian swimmer Mallory Weggemann of Eagan will be part of the NBC and Peacock coverage of the Paralympics, working from network studios in Connecticut. Godfrey, who lost her left leg in a 2017 boating accident, is a snowboarder good enough to compete on the U.S. Para Snowboard Team. VERBATIM: “Going all out to earn a place on this year’s team would have meant even fewer hours at Fox 9 News, where she shifted from full-time reporter to a freelancer two years ago, and more time away from her husband and kids, who are 3 and 6. ‘This allowed me to feel like I’m still part of the Paralympics movement without having to sacrifice so much and highlight what I’m truly good at. I love snowboarding. But the truth is I’m a better broadcaster than a snowboarder.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/godfrey0305

VERY GOOD NEWS: Via GoFundMe. Carleton quarterback Jack Curtis, whose story of receiving chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma while continuing to play for the Knights was first reported by Sports Take in September, has announced that his cancer is in remission. Curtis threw for 29 touchdowns and completed 72% of his passes in leading Carlton to a 6-4 record. VERBATIM: “I am excited to announce that in my first remission appointment, we found no cancerous activity! I am officially in a healthy remission, and I could not have done that without all of your help! Thank you all, and god bless you! . . . Outside of my health updates, I am now preparing to pursue a career in the NFL and professional football. At the same time, I am preparing for my graduate school path to continue to study Aerospace Engineering with a focus on super/hypersonics.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/curtis0305

THE CASE FOR KYLER: Via Matthew Coller at Purple Insider. Based on past performance with the Arizona Cardinals — and despite his inconsistency — there are reasons why quarterback Kyler Murray is the right choice to compete with J.J. McCarthy to be the Vikings starter. While you read this, keep in mind that every potential option — Kirk Cousins, Malik Willis, Aaron Rodgers, Geno Smith — involves risks. VERBATIM: “Last year, McCarthy struggled mightily to find Justin Jefferson, which proved very costly to the Vikings passing attack. When Murray had a receiver of similar caliber in DeAndre Hopkins, he completed 71% of passes in his direction and registered a 109.5 QB rating throwing to his WR1. The Vikings also made a huge investment in tight end T.J. Hockenson that did not pay off last year as McCarthy struggled to find him. In Arizona, Murray completed 76% of throws to TE Trey McBride at 7.8 yards per attempt with a 94.7 QB rating. What do we get when we add up all the information on Murray? He’s the best quarterback (likely) available in this year’s market. If there are no other politics involved, like the desire to give McCarthy a chance to still become the Vikings franchise QB, then Murray’s top-end performance would give the Vikings the best chance to compete in the NFL North and under the perfect circumstances potentially be dangerous in the postseason.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/murray0305

PRAISING PLITZUWEIT: Via Marcus Fuller at Strib Varsity. Whose opinions matter most when it comes to college sports? I’d rank players and prospective players at the top — and Gophers women’s coach Dawn Plitzuweit appears to be doing quite well by that standard. Fuller’s story has current high school players, including Crosby-Ironton standout and future Gopher Tori Oehrlein, competing to see who can dish the most praise. VERBATIM: “I’d say a lot people didn’t have faith,” Oehrlein said. “I knew Dawn would be able to turn the program around and surprise a lot of people. I knew Dawn was that type of coach that really pushes her players and gets everything out of them. She has a great IQ for the game, and you can see them putting that into play at the end of the season.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/dawn0305

MARCH MADNESS HOME GAMES? The Gophers women are currently seeded 15th by the NCAA tournament selection committee. if they remain in the top 16, that will let Minnesota be host at Williams Arena for the first two rounds of the tournament. Winning Friday’s quarterfinal Big Ten tournament game should enough to earn the spot. RANKINGS: https://fluence-media.co/seeding0305

ST. PAUL TEAM TO WATCH: After starting the season 8-6, Concordia-St. Paul has won 16 straight games and earned the Northern Sun’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament. MOST IMPRESSIVE: Concordia ended Minnesota State’s bid for an undefeated season in the final game of the regular season, beating the Mavericks 96-75. For an encore, the Golden bears beat No. 3-ranked Mankato 79-71 for the NSIC title on Tuesday in Sioux Falls. ABOUT: Leading scorers are senior guard Lydia Haack from Elk River (18 points per game) and junior forward Lauren Wilson of Springville, Iowa (17.3) Wilson is also the leading rebounder with 8.7 per game. Eleven of the 15 players are from Minnesota. The tournament field will be announced Sunday night.

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MOORE TELLS ESPN TO GO AWAY: Via Sam Neumann at Awful Announcing. Timberwolves podcaster Dane Moore is getting tired of ESPN asking if it can use his content. After the Wolves beat Denver on Sunday, the network messaged Moore to ask if it could use a clip from Anthony Edwards that Moore posted on X. VERBATIM: “You do not have permission to use it, as I’ve told you numerous times in DMs. Shouldn’t have laid off all those reporters if you wanted locker room content.” STORY AND VIDEO: https://fluence-media.co/dane0305. WATCH: Dane Moore Podcast on YouTube.

AND FINALLY: My favorite statistic of the year so far comes from Strib Varsity’s Marcus Fuller in this week’s Basketball Across Minnesota report: Niko Medved has more Big Ten wins (seven) than healthy rotation players (six).

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EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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APOLOGIES EXTENDED, LOOKING BACK, MOVING ON: It’s 100% clear that what could have been a unifying moment to celebrate the gold medals won by Team USA’s men’s and women’s hockey teams has been trashed by political posturing. The irony is that the instigators — one of my favorite hockey terms — came from the (political) right wing, which is typically the loudest to urge athletes to keep quiet and just play their games. (In contrast, the left specializes in outrage over who shows up at sporting events.) For me it would be great if the most political thing that happened would have been U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck catching grief from Canadian hockey fans upon returning to play for the Winnipeg Jets. Put a mouse in his beer, eh. Rarely are things that simple, anymore.

QUICK REVIEW: The U.S. women won their gold medal on Thursday. The men won on Sunday. Both teams beat Canada in overtime. Neither U.S. team was an underdog, which should have muted comparisons to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” amateurs who defeated the Soviet Union’s top professionals in the semifinals. Things veered from celebratory to political when Team USA (and Minnesota Wild general manager) Bill Guerin invited FBI director Kash Patel into the understandably raucous postgame party. Patel reached President Trump on his phone. Trump invited the team to the State of the Union address and the White House — and joked about how he’d need to invite the women’s team or he “would be impeached.” Players laughed. On Tuesday, politics took center stage in Washington. On Wednesday, there were apologies revealed and damage control. The end? We’ll see. We hope.

TAKING THE BAIT: Via John Shipley at Pioneer Press. VERBATIM: “The women’s team understandably declined the president’s invitation. Because they know when they’ve been insulted. Because they’re not living in arrested adolescence. Because they know what it’s like to be treated as second-class in their field and beyond. Is it lost on anyone that the president has used his support of women’s athletics to vilify transgender women while out of the other side of his mouth belittles a U.S. team’s remarkable Olympic success? It’s almost as if it has always been straw-man political capital. In case anyone wondered, he just said out loud, on television, that he considers women’s sports a punchline. It’s understandable that a group of tipsy 20-somethings get swept up in a call from the president of the United States. And to be perfectly fair, nervous gratuitous laughter at stupid jokes is not unknown among anyone, including the press corps. But at some point in this life, you grow up and decide who you are. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bait0226

WEDNESDAY’S WORDS I: Three-time Olympian, Frost player and former Gophers star Kelly Pannek in the Pioneer Press: “I think the video is what it is. You’d have to ask them about their feelings on it, but I think there’s also elements to it, with the phone call specifically, (that) is not that surprising, to be frank. So I don’t know why we expect differently.”

WEDNESDAY’S WORDS II: U.S. team captain Hillary Knight at a press gathering on her return to the Seattle Torrent of the PWHL, reported by the Athletic and others: “I just thought the joke was distasteful and unfortunate. I think the way women are represented, it’s a great teaching point to really shine light on how women should be championed for their amazing feats. And now I have to sit in front of you and explain someone else’s behavior. It’s not my responsibility.”

WEDNESDAY’S WORDS III: Jake Oettinger, a backup goalie on the team and former Lakeville North star, during a Wednesday interview reported by the several sources: “My opinion on that is there’s no one that supports women’s hockey more than me. I know a lot of those girls personally. I think if you would’ve been at the bar watching the game with me where I was, watching the women’s hockey, there was no one as excited as me when they won the gold medal. They’re incredible, and they deserve all the credit in the world. They’re dominant. I was just so happy for those girls. To get to know a few of them personally made it that much cooler. The fact that the men and the women both have the gold medal right now is pretty cool.”

WEDNESDAY’S WORDS IV: Jeremy Swayman, the other U.S. backup goalie, during an interview after his return to the Boston Bruins. “We should’ve reacted differently” to Trump’s joke.

ONE MORE THING: How could this have been avoided? Guerin shouldn’t have invited Patel into the locker room, where the focus turned to his beer guzzling and the phone call with Trump. ONE MORE THING: If one gets invited into the inner sanctum, one should know how to behave.

PUBLISHERSVIEW: The reality is that any official of any administration would have been invited into the locker room. Not everyone would have slammed beers, but then again, most administration officials aren’t huge hockey people, like Kash Patel. One would argue that the ceremonial spraying of beverages during championships is not just a male tradition – in fact, the Lynx and Frost are the last Minnesota teams to earn the honor of such celebration. The audience and algorithms are driving this story for politics – not the players, and not the politicians. It’s a clear example of choosing your narrative, and there are plenty of non-political, very human and sports stories from the women’s victory, and the men’s victory. Compartmentalize your sports and your politics – it might be more enjoyable. In the meantime…GO USA!

DO BETTER: Timberwolves. So many losses to weak teams has marred a season that started with hopes of being at the level of the NBA’s best and making an even stronger title run than the Western Conference-final eliminations of the last two seasons. But the team is stuck in sixth place and in a maddening rut with fewer than two dozen games until the playoffs. Their issues are not overblown, as a Star Tribune columnist contends here, and Coach Chris Finch’s disappointment was on full display after Sunday’s loss to the 76ers. The disappearing defense of Anthony Edwards — more on that below — sets a sour tone. So does acknowledging problems without acting on them.

DONE BETTER: Gophers women’s basketball. Despite their nine-game losing streak ending vs. Michigan State on Sunday, coach Dawn Plitzuweit finally has the right combination of players to bring the success expected when she was hired away from West Virginia three years ago. The Gophers are a team that fields four versatile players surrounding 6-foot-5 grad student Sophie Hart, who is a delight to watch in the post. A strong Big Ten tournament run could get the Gophers a Top 16 NCAA seed — and home games for the first two rounds of March Madness.

DO BETTER: Vikings front office. Placing all the blame for the team’s issues on fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is a fool’s position. The Wilfs need to hire better. The front office needs to work better together. Coach Kevin O’Connell needs to work with what he has rather than what he imagines.

DO BETTER: J.J. McCarthy. The path to starting quarterback will be earned not given.

DONE BETTER: Byron Buxton. In 2025, it was sweet to see Buxton play more (based on plate appearances) than in any of his previous 10 seasons with the Twins — and play as well as he did despite the team’s crummy, turbulent showing. It was also good to see him maintain his commitment to remaining with the Twins after all the teardown talk and to chide management for not squashing trade speculation in real time. (“All it takes is somebody at the top going to the media, ‘We’re not trading you,’ “ Buxton told reporters at spring training. ) May he play 125+ games for the Twins for the rest of his career.

DO BETTER/DONE BETTER: Tom Pohlad. Representing his family and Twins management, the team’s new controlling owner has acknowledged there’s damage to the team’s standing in the community that needs to be repaired. After some initial stumbles, Pohlad has been more on message. Whether words will be followed by deeds in the great unknown. I am hopeful for better things, if only because I don’t think Wild owner Craig Leipold would have signed on to the ownership team if he thought the Twins would sink further in the muck.

DO BETTER/DONE BETTER: Niko Medved. Victories over three Top 25 teams with a hastily rebuilt roster is a hopeful tease of what could be ahead if (1) Medved brings aboard more of Minnesota’s best high school talent and (2) becomes more than Last Chance U for players buried in the transfer portal. The skinny roster underperformed at times but played way over its head at others — including the first 30 minutes of Wednesday’s 77-67 loss to No. 3 Michigan. If Medved matches the Plitzuweit timeline — her team’s expected NCAA berth in Year 3 — he’ll meet the Done Better threshold.

DONE BETTER: Cheryl Reeve. On every level from coaching to involvement in the community, Reeve is the standard by which I judge the words and actions of other coaches and sports executives. She speaks out, shows up, wins titles and orchestrates deep playoff runs. The Lynx’ renaissance of the last two seasons should be setting the stage for a fifth WNBA title.

DO BETTER. WNBA leadership. Pay the players what they’re worth because everyone watches more people than ever watch women’s sports. Don’t squander the momentum.

DO BETTER: Bob Motzko. The Gophers men’s hockey team continues to be the most under-analyzed story in Twin Cities media. Motzko’s decision or inability to recruit newly eligible Canadian junior players is the darkest cloud on a 10-19-2 season going into this week’s Thursday/Friday series at No. 2-ranked Michigan. Minnesota’s .351 winning percentage is the lowest in 55 seasons. I’m betting there’s enough good will that Motzko will get the opportunity to do better in 2026-27. But what if it doesn’t get better?

DO BETTER: Minnesota Aurora. Undefeated seasons are getting boring. You’re 43-0-5 over four seasons since joining the USL W. Now it’s time to graduate from Division Titles to a League Championship. Seriously, keep putting on a good show. Just extend it.

DONE BETTER: Free Lutheran Bible College men’s basketball. After breaking a 47-game losing steak in November, the Conquerors won a second game in February — and added a third when an early-season loss was reversed by forfeit. I wrote about the under-the-radar Plymouth college in November, noting the atypical first question that Coach Logan Strand asks of his recruits and some of the wildly lopsided losses that were part of the streak.

DONE BETTER: Wisconsin-River Falls football. An inspiring story for football’s small college also-rans — and there are plenty of those in Minnesota. After nine losing seasons (including one that was winless and another with one victory), UWRF’s fifth straight winning season finished with the Falcons taking the Division III title in December. Coach Matt Walker led a majority-Minnesotan roster to a 14-1 season capped by beating North Central, an Illinois school that has been in the last five championship games, winning three of them. More on Walker below.

Who else needs to do better or has done better? Let me know: sportstake100@gmail.com

FIRED ALREADY: Via ESPN. Eric Ramsay, who left Minnesota United last month to coach West Bromwich Albion of England’s Championship League, was fired this week after his team failed to win in his eight games with the team. His tenure lasted 44 days and featured four ties and four losses. VERBATIM: “Supporters turned against him following a 3-0 defeat at Portsmouth and during Saturday’s 2-0 home loss to Coventry, chanting ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ and ‘Eric Ramsay, your football is s---.’ In his final news conference, Ramsay admitted the overall picture is ‘not good enough’ and feels his side took ‘a step backwards.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ramsay0226

HIRED ALREADY: Via Kevin Borbo at NBA Sports Bay Area. The San Francisco 49ers have rehired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who worked in the football research department for the 49ers from 2013-2019. VERBATIM: “It kind of happened organically,” said 49ers General manager John Lynch. “Kind of humbled that as a friend, Kwesi called me right when [the Vikings fired him] and just kind of as a throwaway, ‘Kwesi, we always loved having you, so just know you got a place with us.’ And that developed into more substantive talks, and we’re bringing him back in kind of a personnel executive role that, after the draft, I think we hope to give more finality to.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/kwesi0226

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STATE HOCKEY POWERS FALL: Two traditional private school hockey powers were knocked out of the Class 2A boys’ hockey field this week when seventh-ranked Rosemount beat No. 4 St. Thomas Academy 3-2 in the Section 3 final on Tuesday and unranked Gentry Academy stunned No. 8 Hill-Murray 4-2 in the Section 4 semifinal on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Edina is going to state for the fifth straight year and seeking its 11th title after beating Wayzata 3-1 in the Section 6 final.

CRAZY GOAL: Via Olivia Hicks at Strib Varsity. Edina’s Bode McConnell scored all three goals for the Hornets. His first one is epic. VERBATIM: “With 1:46 on the clock, McConnell launched a shot off the glass that eventually rolled onto the top of the goal, off the crossbar and bounced off Wayzata goalie Ryan Pellinger.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/goal0226

PUBLIC SCHOOL PRIDE: Via Heather Rule at Strib Varsity. The trip to state will be Rosemount’s first in 34 years and Coach Ricky Saintey didn’t hold back his feelings afterward. VERBATIM: “This is for every single one of those people that believe in Rosemount, stayed in Rosemount, trusted it. Because guess what? You don’t need to go to a private school to get better, to do your thing. Believe that it’s here. And we just proved that being in Rosemount for every single one of these kids, that it can happen here in Rosemount.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/rosemount0226

BIGGEST NIGHT TONIGHT: Nine section finals are set for tonight. HOTTEST GAMES: No. 2 Minnetonka vs. No. 15 Chanhassen in Section 2AA, 6 p.m. at Ridder Arena. No. 18 Centennial vs. Andover in Section 5AA, 7 p.m. at Furniture and Things Event Center in Elk River. No. 8 Blake School vs. No. 6 Delano in Section 2A, 7 p.m. at St. Louis Park Rec Center. The last section title game is Friday in Class 4AA between White Bear Lake and Gentry Academy, 7 p.m. at Aldrich Arena. State tournament seeds will be set on Saturday.

HOCKEY TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE | SPECTATOR GUIDE

FINAL STATE RANKINGS | SECTION RESULTS

BIGGEST TOURNAMENT WEEKEND: Based on number of participants, this is the biggest weekend for state high school tournaments. The state wrestling tournament started Wednesday and runs through Saturday at Grand Casino Arena. Boys’ swimming and diving goes through Saturday at the University of Minnesota. Adapted hockey is on Friday and Saturday at Bloomington Jefferson. Details, including schedule, ticket and streaming information, are here: WRESTLING | SWIMMING | ADAPTED HOCKEY CI | ADAPTED HOCKEY PI

WALKER LEAVES RIVER FALLS FOR D-I JOB: Via Des Moines Register. Matt Walker is leaving UW-River Falls to become the head coach at Drake, a Football Championship Subdivision school. Drake plays in the Pioneer League, which doesn’t offer scholarships and is at the lower end of schools participating at that level. Drake plays Pioneer League opponent St. Thomas on Nov. 14 in St. Paul. VERBATIM: “Matt inherited a program routinely at the bottom of its conference and turned it into one of the best programs in the country,” said Brian Hardin, Drake’s athletic director. “His identification and development of young men will serve him well at Drake and I look forward to the heights he will guide our team.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/walker0226

VIKINGS QB UPDATE: Via Ben Goessling at Star Tribune. Vikings management used a lot of words to say very little about their quarterback situation during a press session at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Rob Brzezinski, the executive VP for football operations, made a short story long. VERBATIM: “What we do know is we need a level of baseline quarterback play for us to be effective. A lot of this is, has been J.J. McCarthy in an unfortunate [situation] with some of the injuries and things that he’s dealt with. But we’re going to explore every opportunity. We can’t manufacture what’s not there. So, number one, where are the options? Is it reciprocal? Is it financially doable? All of those things. There’s just a lot of factors that go into it." MORE: https://fluence-media.co/combine0226

LONG STORY SHORT: Via Matthew Collar at Vikings Insider. VERBATIM: “It’s a lot of words to avoid the statement, ‘J.J. McCarthy is our quarterback.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/qb0226

LOONS COLD OPEN: Winter soccer comes to Allianz Field on Saturday when Minnesota United hosts Cincinnati in the MLS home opener. Match start is set for 3:30 p.m. and the high temperature is expected to be 20 degrees with a 40% chance of snow. At least there’s a knit cap giveaway for the first 10,000 fans. TICKETS: https://fluence-media.co/opener0226

GOOD NEWS: If you’re an Apple TV subscriber, you don’t need to pay extra for Loons and other MLS broadcasts — a change from last season. BAD NEWS: Soccer expert Jon Marthaler will no longer be covering MNUFC for Star Tribune. A position posted last summer for a college sports reporter who would also cover pro soccer has yet to be filled. Marthaler wants to move from freelancing to full-time work.

THAT ANTHONY EDWARDS ISSUE: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. Simple takeaway from a detailed breakdown: Edwards is obviously the player most vital to Timberwolves success and his defensive issues are an obstacle to Minnesota being taken seriously as a title threat. VERBATIM: “(Defensive lapses have) been a chronic problem throughout Ant’s career, but it feels especially acute this season because two trips to the conference finals have upped the stakes and expectations, because Ant is theoretically more mature in year 6, and because Ant and the team specifically pledged that this would be a point of emphasis to fix a flaw heading into this season. Instead, if anything, the problem has gotten worse. A somewhat crude but generally accurate way to measure it is to look at how many points the Wolves defense allows per 100 possessions when Ant is on the court compared with when he is off it. Through Sunday night, the team had allowed 6.6 more points per 100 possessions with Ant playing (114.4) than when he wasn’t playing (107.8). That’s the biggest gap of his career, with the next one being his rookie season (+6.1 more points allowed per 100 possessions) and then last season (+5.6).” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/edwards0226

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC NEXT WEEK: The World Baseball Classic begins next Thursday with two games in Tokyo. The United States starts pool play next Friday in Houston vs. Brazil. The 20-team tournament concludes on March 17 in Miami. Twins pitcher Joe Ryan, who is working through back soreness, hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll pitch for Team USA. Taj Bradley has given up his spot with Mexico to stay in Twins training camp. Bradley’s role with the Twins has the potential to be more vital with Pablo Lopez’s elbow injury sidelining him for the season. Six other Twins are set for WBC play. Outfielder Byron Buxton (USA), Gio Urshela (Colombia), Dan Altavilla (Italy), Matt Bowman (Israel), Luis Quinones (Puerto Rico) and Eduardo Salazar (Venezuela). WBC HOMEPAGE | SCHEDULE

BADER MAKES IMPRESSION: Via Maria Guardado at MLB.com. Former Twins outfielder Harrison Bader, now with San Francisco, smashed a home run Wednesday that left a dent in a food truck parked beyond the outfield wall. Afterward, he autographed the dent. VERBATIM: “That’s pretty good, I’m not going to lie,” Bader said. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bader0226

LIVE. LOCAL BASEBALL: After a week in Florida, the Gophers are hosting Kansas in a four-game series at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Jayhawks won the opener 8-7 on Wednesday, dropping Minnesota’s record to 5-2. The series continues at 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Games are being streamed on BIG+. TICKETS

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HUGE NIGHT FOR BENILDE ALUM: Via FOX Sports. Former Benilde-St. Margaret’s star Olivia Olson scored a career-high 31 points, including a game-winning jump shot with three seconds left in overtime, to give No. 8 Michigan an 88-86 win over No. 13 Ohio State on Wednesday. The sophomore guard is averaging 19.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for Michigan. STORY AND VIDEO: https://fluence-media.co/olson0226

MAPLE GROVE COACH SIDELINED: Via Cassidy Hettesheimer at Strib Varsity. Mark Cook, coach of the No. 2-ranked team in Class 4A, has been placed on a leave of absence from his teaching and coaching duties at Maple Grove. The Crimson finished second in the state last season and Cook was named Class 4A coach of the year. He is also on the Osseo city council. VERBATIM: “According to sources familiar with the matter, school administrators addressed the team before its 81-38 quarterfinal victory over Irondale on Feb. 24. One source described Cook’s absence as an ‘administrative leave.’ Cook is in his 21st season as head coach of the Crimson girls basketball team and surpassed 400 career wins in January. Cook is also on Maple Grove’s football and softball coaching staffs.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/coach0226

AND FINALLY: If the gold medal dust-up hadn’t happened, the lasting Team USA postgame image for many of us would have been players bringing Johnny Gaudreau’s children on the ice for postgame photos. Gaudreau and his brother Matthew died in August 2024 when they were struck by a driver while bicycling in New Jersey. Gaudreau, who played for Columbus, was a likely member of Team USA. Watching in real time was both sad and sweet.

THANKS FOR READING AND WRITING

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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THE OPENER: Sports Take has Olympic tales, an ill-timed injury, Vikings draft speculation, angry parents and the hottest team in Twin Cities sports. But we’re starting with a hockey team of 12-year-old girls who advanced in their district playoffs by winning a game that was played over three nights and went to a shootout . . . after 12 overtimes. Regulation and six overtimes were played Monday, four overtimes on Tuesday and the final two plus the shootout on Wednesday. Play lasted for about 6 1/2 hours. Thanks to KSTP-TV and Chris Long, we have game-ending video and the postgame reaction after Ashlyn Anderson scored in a shootout Wednesday to give the Park Cottage Grove 12U team a 2-1 victory over St. Paul. Listen for the money quote from Ashlyn about what was at stake for her in the game. Savor the joy in this story and hold on to it when sports make you cranky. — Howard Sinker

MY TAKE: Ashlyn’s goal even one-upped the overtime goal that was seen around the world a few hours before, when the Wild’s Quinn Hughes waved off a replacement and scored a few seconds later to give Team USA a 2-1 win over Sweden in the Olympic quarterfinals. Here’s the video of Hughes’ goal, which was set up by Wild teammate Matt Boldy. Hughes’s quote in the postgame TV interview, about why he didn’t want to leave the ice, is a model of low-key understatement: “In the moment, I felt like I could have an opportunity to do something.”

NEXT: Team USA plays Slovakia in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday. (TV: NBC, Peacock, almost every bar in Minnesota.) Hughes, Boldy and Brock Faber will likely be facing Iowa Wild goaltender Samuel Hlavaj, who made 27 saves in Slovakia’s 6-2 quarterfinal victory over Germany.

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HOTTEST TEAM IN TOWN! That’s the Gophers women’s basketball team, which broke into the Associated Press poll at No. 23 this week, and may still be underrated after beating No. 10 Ohio State 74-61 at the Barn for its ninth straight win and a 21-6 record. The only bad things about the game were the 6-for-30 start from the field by the Gophers and Wednesday’s rotten weather which kept down the size of the crowd. Center Sophie Hart and guard Amaya Battle had double-doubles, the Gophers tightened up their defense after the first quarter and played delightfully loose on offense in the second half.

3 FACTS: (1) Winning moved the Gophers into fourth place in the Big Ten. That’s important because the top four teams get byes in the first two rounds of the conference tournament next month. (2) If the Gophers can win their final two regular season games and make a strong conference tournament run, they could end up seeded among the nation’s 16 best teams — and get a chance to host first- and second-round games in the NCAA tournament. (3) The final regular season home game is at 5 p.m. Sunday against No. 18 Michigan State. (FS1, TICKETS)

AND ONE: Minnesota ranks eighth in the nation in the NCAA’s NET ranking, one of the main criteria used by the NCAA is seeding teams for March Madness. SHORT VERSION: NET takes into account how teams perform, especially against quality opponents, with added emphasis on winning road games. The system does not favor games played later in the season, so the Gophers are working to maintain their elite ranking as much as anything. Beating Ohio State moved Minnesota from ninth to eighth and dropped Ohio State from 17th to 18th. There are 11 Big Ten teams among the NET Top 30. NET EXPLAINED: https://fluence-media.co/net0219.

CURRENT NET RANKINGS: https://fluence-media.co/netrank0219

ACTIVIST POHLAD? Before the family coup that included the addition of minority owners, the Pohlads were saying very little — or the wrong thing when they did speak. Tom Pohlad, the new Twins controlling owner, has so far steered a different course. He was a significant presence at TwinsFest and has been so far at training camp in Fort Myers. Yes, fans still have ample reason to be skeptical of how seriously they pursued Framber Valdez, who was the last big-name pitcher on the market before signing with Detroit. And the players acquired recently — with the exception of former Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda — are more interesting than impactful. But Pohlad has voiced thoughts that haven’t been business-as-usual.

ON VALDEZ: Via Bobby Nightengale at Star Tribune: “It would’ve been fun to make a splash and show the organization and the fans that we’re committed. I do know that payroll matters to people. I mean, it wasn’t just about adding to the payroll. It was a decision that (General Manager Jeremy Zoll) thought was in the best interest of the team, and if he thought that, then I was going to be willing to go there for us.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/pohlad0219

ON HIS NEW ROLE: Via Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic. “In a perfect world, would I love to have been in this role six months ago as we entered the normal cycle of free agency and have Zoll in his spot? Yes, I would have loved that. But we are where we are. I got here two months ago and we’ve done what we can do between now and then.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/morepohlad0219

SKEPTICISM REMAINS: Via Chris Schad at Zone Coverage. VERBATIM: “Everything the Twins have done recently suggests Pohlad is more of a transitional owner. He could be cleaning up the mess of a $500 million-plus debt so they can sell the team after what could be a lengthy lockout beginning in 2027.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/talk0219

MY TAKE: Losing staff ace Pablo Lopez for the season due to an elbow injury 24 hours after talking about how things need to change gives Pohlad a chance to act on his words. The Twins have made major spring training moves over the years and something beyond patchwork needs to be done to replace Lopez. New GM Zoll is on the clock to execute something substantial and convince skeptics that the Twins are more interested in winning than containing costs. And the need for pitching isn’t the only issue that needs fixing on an awkwardly assembled roster neglected by management inaction while the leadership situation was in flux.

NEXT MAN UP? Via Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic. VERBATIM: “Lucas Giolito, Zack Littell and Max Scherzer are the only unsigned starters ranked among The Athletic’s top 50 free agents. Giolito and Littell are presumably willing to settle for one-year deals at this point. Scherzer is 41, so he’d also likely settle for a one-year deal, but it’s not clear the likely future Hall of Famer would want to spend the twilight of his career in Minnesota. It’s also not clear whether the Twins are focused on replacing López by bringing someone in, whether via free agency or trade. . . . ‘We spent a lot of this offseason talking about the strength of our roster being in the rotation depth, and view it as a real opportunity as a next man up,’ Zoll said. ‘In a lot of ways, we view this as a real opportunity for someone to step up and take advantage.’ ”

WORDS TO LIVE BY: “You can’t shrink your way into relevance.”

WHO SAID THAT? How’s this for an “ummmm, well, you know” moment? Those words were spoken in 2017 by, of all people, Jeff Bezos at a newspaper conference in Italy. That was back when he was putting resources into the Washington Post. Those were wise words. But given his apparent intent on diminishing the Post by cutting more than 40% of newsroom staff and shutting down its sports department, it’s also a reminder that talk can be cheap and disingenuous.

SAME QUOTE, DIFFERENT TAKE: I’ve noticed a sharper edge to the Star Tribune sports section in recent weeks. Live updates on the Olympics and spring training have been satisfying and columnists are hitting higher-profile targets. But the good work also highlights areas that are being ignored as a smaller staff scrambles to cover a calendar that only gets busier through end of winter sports and the start of baseball and the WNBA season. The lack of beat writers for Gophers men’s and women’s basketball is especially glaring given the success of the women and the interest in (and struggles of) first-year men’s coach Niko Medved. Every pro sports beat will fray because of travel cuts and staffing — except for the Vikings, who are currently covered by four reporters. Not being in Italy for the Olympics to tell the stories of Jessie Diggins, Lindsey Vonn and the Minnesota-infused hockey and curling teams is an even more regrettable choice as the Games play out.

THE STORIES THEY COULD TELL: My top-of-head list of stories that would have benefited from a reporter or columnist with a Minnesota perspective. (1) Hughes and Boldy combining for that dramatic game-winner vs. Sweden, which also had a Wild contingent on its roster. (2) Duluth curlers Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin winning their silver medal. (3) Lindsey Vonn’s dramatic downhill crash. (4) Jessie Diggins’ final quest for medals and the pain she’s enduring. (5) Team USA vs. Canada in yet another gold medal women’s hockey game. (6) Gus Schumacher’s surprise silver medal in the Nordic team sprint. He’s from Alaska but was the unexpected champion in the 10k World Cup race at Wirth Park in north Minneapolis two years ago. (7) The Nordic skier from Mexico, Regina Martinez Lorenzo, who finished last — and started skiing while in medical school at the U. (8) Others we don’t know about because there weren’t writers with a Minnesota perspective in Italy. Is this enough to revisit the decision in time for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles and the 2030 Games in the French Alps?

TYING THINGS TOGETHER: In the same way that Twins fans expect more commitment from billionaire ownership, it’s right for sports enthusiasts to expect more from Star Tribune owner Glen Taylor, whose net worth is listed at $3.4 billion by Forbes. Taylor did good for Minnesotans by purchasing the Strib in 2014, when his net worth was reported at $1.8 billion. Minnesota fans will respond when the Twins create buzz and play well. As an avid Strib reader and former employee, I will be near the front of the line to donate more to Taylor’s “Local News Fund” when I see Taylor commit to growing his news platform with his money. Sports teams and the media are among community jewels of the Twin Cities. Those who own and operate them have an obligation to not let them shrink into irrelevance.

WEALTHIEST MINNESOTANS? Here’s an October 2025 list via Discover the Cities.

THESE WOMEN HATE EACH OTHER: Via Haley Salvian at The Athletic. You may be reading this while the gold medal women’s hockey game between the United States and Canada is being played — or shortly afterward. Whatever the case, if you need the backstory about the animosity between the teams, here’s a deep dive. The contempt has extended from hotel elevators to fights during exhibition games. VERBATIM: “Canadians and Americans now play together in college and in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which launched in January 2024. But that doesn’t mean the rivalry is any less heated on the ice. And despite the frequency in which the two sides meet, the games always deliver. ‘I played for the Toronto Furies (in the now-defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League), so I got to know some of the Canadian girls,’ said American defender Megan Bozek. ‘But when you played it was friends off, because you are fighting blood, tooth and nail to make sure that you are going to win that game.’ “ FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/rivalry0219

BAD CALL, NBCUNIVERSAL: Relegating the USA-Canada game to USA Network and Peacock instead of NBC.

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MOCK DRAFT KICKOFF: The Vikings currently have the 18th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft, which will be held April 23-25 in Pittsburgh. Based on the poor drafts that helped get Kwesi Adofo-Mensah fired as GM, there isn’t a high bar for his interim replacement — Rob Brzezenski — to exceed. And there’s no shortage of help from the cabal of media draft analyzers. Here’s what the earliest mock drafts predict for the Vikings:

REPLACING HARRISON SMITH? Via Daniel Jeremiah at NFL.com: Safety Dillon Thieneman of Oregon. VERBATIM: “After studying Thieneman’s impressive 2025 tape at Oregon, I went back and watched the film from his career at Purdue, where he played in 2023 and '24. His range and playmaking skills were evident back then, too. He would be an excellent replacement for Harrison Smith.” NOTE: Thieneman just completed his junior season and is likely to be replaced at Oregon by Minnesota transfer Koi Perich, who hopes to be in a similar position for the 2027 draft. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/1mock0219

A VERSATILE D-BACK? Via Field Yates at ESPN: Cornerback Brandon Cisse of South Carolina. VERBATIM: Cisse is one of the most unique prospects in this class, as he’s a cornerback with uncommon strength and athletic ability; if he tests at the combine, get ready for a show. While a perimeter corner at his core, Cisse took occasional slot snaps at South Carolina. He was a force against the run from either alignment and can plaster perimeter wideouts in man coverage, staying physical and matching them stride-for-stride. Cornerback is a need for Minnesota, as Isaiah Rodgers is entering the final year of his deal. Plus, defensive coordinator Brian Flores has the ingenuity to deploy Cisse in many ways. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/2mock0219

HOW ABOUT A TRADE? Via Tom Fornelli at CBS Sports: Guard Olaivavega Ioane of Penn State after trading with the Jets to get the No. 16 pick. VERBATIM: “The Vikings need help on the interior of their offensive line, and Olaivavega Ioane is the lone guard in this class I view as a first-round player. So Minnesota moves up to get him and makes sure Detroit can't.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3mock0219

VIDEO: Thieneman | Cisse | Ioane

DEEPER DIVES: Here are three-round mock drafts from The Athletic, Pro Football Focus and Purple Insider

CLEARING CAP SPACE: Via Ben Goessling at Star Tribune. The Vikings need to clear at least $40 million in salary cap space by releasing current players or restructuring their contracts. The amounts in play range from modest 2025 contracts, such as Jalon Naylor and his $960,165 cap hit, to pricier teammates including running back Aaron Jones ($14.55 million) and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel ($19.25 million). CANDIDATE FOR RELEASE? Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. VERBATIM: “The Vikings would save $10.45 million by cutting Hargrave, who might be one of their most likely release candidates. He played just 50.2% of their defensive snaps and posted only 3½ sacks last season after signing a two-year deal in March 2025.” FULL REPORT: https://fluence-media.co/cap0219

VIKINGS CONTRACTS: Via Spotrac. Includes length, value and assorted notes. https://fluence-media.co/vikings0219

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WNBA SEASON IN MORE DANGER? Via Alexa Phillipou at ESPN. The WNBA Players’ Association offered some concessions in its latest contract proposal, which was submitted to the league on Tuesday. By Tuesday night, the WNBA dismissed it as unrealistic. VERBATIM: "The Players Association's latest proposal remains unrealistic and would cause hundreds of millions of dollars of losses for our teams. We still need to complete two drafts [a two-team expansion draft and college draft] and free agency before the start of training camp and are running out of time. We believe the WNBA's proposal would result in a huge win for current players and generations to come."

STILL FAR APART: Players are seeking an average of 27.5% of the WNBA’s gross revenues over the contract’s life. The league has offered 70% of net revenue, which amounts to about 15% of gross revenue. VERBATIM: “Amid the now 16-month negotiation, the league has continually emphasized the importance of business health and sustainability. A source familiar with the situation told ESPN the league projects that the WNBPA's new plan would result in losses of $460 million over the lifetime of the agreement. . . . The union believed its revenue sharing model would still put the league in a ‘profitable position,’ a separate source close to the negotiations said, and called the league's projected loss figure ‘absolutely false,’ citing a difference in whether expansion fees are factored into those calculations.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wnba0219

DATES: The WNBA draft is scheduled for April 13 with the Lynx having the No. 2 overall pick as the result of moves that started with a deal in 2024 between Minnesota and Chicago that allowed the Sky to draft Angel Reese with the seventh overall pick. . The WNBA regular season is scheduled to begin on May 8. The Lynx opener is set for May 10 at Target Center vs. Atlanta. Dates for the expansion draft and free agency have yet to be set.

CONLEY RETURNS: Via Jace Frederick at Pioneer Press. After being sent to Chicago at the trade deadline, veteran guard and locker room influencer Mike Conley is back with the Wolves. The move was made possible between Conley was traded a second time — to Charlotte — before returning to Minnesota. The deadline deal brought Ayo Dosunmu and Julian Phillips to the Wolves. Conley’s return was delayed for salary cap reasons and gives the Wolves a required 14th player on their roster. The Wolves resume play with home games against Dallas on Friday and Philadelphia on Sunday. VERBATIM: “Even if he doesn’t play much, Conley’s voice and guidance will be valuable for Minnesota over the final third of the regular season and into the postseason.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/conley0219

STAYING RETIRED? Via Sarah McLellan at Star Tribune. Marc-Andre Fleury was on the ice with the Wild on Wednesday, filling in during a practice because the team’s goaltenders — Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt — are at the Olympics with Sweden. He downplayed reports that he’s considering coming out of retirement. VERBATIM: “Fleury, who played an exhibition game with the Penguins as a Pittsburgh send-off, reiterated that he’s staying retired and enjoying his added time with his family. ‘I’m good. I’m just trying to help out our guys a little bit.’ He did, however, acknowledge that he does miss the camaraderie of being on a team.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/fleury0219

BEER BUZZ: Via Mike Mazzeo at Sports Business Journal. The Twins captured some marketing buzz last week by announcing they’ll offer $2 beers to season-ticket holders before every game and to all fans on Fridays and Saturdays. VERBATIM: “Twins EVP & CRO Sean Moore explained that early in the offseason, the Twins brought together a cross-functional group of their most fan-focused staff to see where fan sentiment stood and where they needed to improve. The result was a list of initiatives that are now part of their No Place Like Here campaign for the 2026 season, including the $2 beer promo. ‘It may seem simple, but it’s a meaningful step in showing that a day at the ballpark can be approachable, value-based, and fun for all types of fans. We wanted to send a clear message that we’re listening and that we’re committed to making the Target Field experience exceptional.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/beer0219

FROST PLAYER-COACHES: Via Heather Rule at Written Rule of Sports. Two Minnesota Frost players are also serving as assistant coaches at the high schools they attended. Claire Butorac is on the staff at Andover, which is playing in the Class 2A tournament, and Kelly Pannek is at Benilde-St. Margaret’s. VERBATIM: “That program means a lot to me,” Butorac said. “I was there for five years. I started when I was in eighth grade all the way until I was a senior. The coach is the same coach as when I was playing. Just getting to go back and give back to her, who gave me so much as a player but then also just be around those girls. A lot of the girls that I coach now, I’ve been around them since they were 10 and 12.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/coaches0219

ICE CAVES OPEN, CLOSE: Via Alex Chhith at Star Tribune. The Apostle Island ice caves at Lake Superior opened Monday for the first time in 11 years, attracting thousands of visitors to the area around Bayfield, Wis. On Tuesday, they closed because of a winter storm that damaged ice on the lake. On Wednesday, the National Park Service announced they wouldn’t reopen this season. VERBATIM: “Sustained subzero temperatures are key to forming strong ice miles out from the shore, said Joseph Moore, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Duluth. Without that, “ice formation again will be nearly impossible.” UPDATE: https://fluence-media.co/weather0219

DAY OF WONDER: Via Andrew Krueger at MPR. VERBATIM: “For those who made it to the ice caves on Monday, it was a stunning day along the lakeshore — making up for the hours-long wait for shuttle buses to the start of the hike. Foggy conditions in the morning gave way to sunshine by the afternoon, the blue skies contrasting with the white ice and orange cliffs. The ice caves — located a few miles east of Cornucopia, Wis., — are formed by water seeping down through the sandstone cliffs and freezing into icicles and other ice formations, similar in appearance to rock formations in a cave. The icy display also can be enhanced by spray from Lake Superior waves. The caves, minus the icicles, are accessible to kayakers during the summer. But access on foot requires a solid, stable ice pack along the shore — something that hadn’t happened since 2014 and 2015.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/icecaves0219

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70 POINTS IN RIVALRY GAME: Via Strictly Bball. Roseau vs. Warroad is almost always thought of as a hockey rivalry. But 5-foot-10 guard Jordan Borowicz scored 70 points Tuesday — and passed the 3,000-point career mark — in Roseau’s 86-78 basketball win over its Canadian border rival. Borowicz is leading the state with 35.7 points per game this season, per Strib Varsity. The state record is 90 points by Cash Eggleston of Minnesota Transitions in 2005. VIDEO: https://fluence-media.co/jordan0219

REMEMBERING THE BULL: Via Patrick Reusse at Star Tribune. Ronnie “Bull” Henderson, who led Marshall-University High to a state basketball title in 1976 and played on national tournament teams at Augsburg died earlier this month. He was 68 and stayed involved in the game as a high school official. VERBATIM: “Henderson was an assist machine, and he became a 2001 Auggies Hall of Fame inductee and a 2019 inductee in the Minnesota High School Basketball Hall of Fame. What Bull didn’t receive was the Mr. Basketball Award for which he was a strong contender in 1976. The committee went with a fellow 15 inches taller from Hibbing named Kevin McHale.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ronnie0219

COACH SURVIVES PARENTS: Via Jess Myers at Pioneer Press. Lakeville North opened the Class 2A girls’ hockey tournament Thursday morning against No. 1 seed Hill-Murray. It was vindication for coach Buck Kochevar, who was almost denied a 21st season of coaching the team due to issues raised by parents. VERBATIM: “A complaint was filed against Kochevar by a small group of parents regarding the coach’s communication with his team. It was fueled by disagreements over playing time. After a six-month investigation by the school, Kochevar was asked to resign his coaching position in early October. He declined, and he was placed on administrative leave. Just a few days later, a Lakeville School Board meeting witnessed 19 Panthers players and several parents testify publicly in support of Kochevar staying on as coach. His administrative leave was lifted the next day.”

KOCHEVAR: “All I know is that’s not the way I wanted to go out, and it wasn’t going to be that way if I had anything to do with it,” he said, stressing that he felt it was vital to push back against what is seen as a growing youth sports culture where coaches have been targets. “That’s when you have the community back me, the school board back me, the girls, the parents and my staff. I did it for all coaches. If you live the job, you’re gonna fight for it, and hopefully that sent a little message to everybody.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/lakeville0219

THIS COACH HASN’T . . . YET: Via Joe Christensen at Strib Varsity. Lakeville South starts play in the Section 1AA boys’ tournament as the No. 2 seed — and without its coach. Coach Josh Storm was placed on “forced leave” and has been replaced by Kurt Weber, the school’s girls’ hockey coach. Storm, 44, graduated from Lakeville in 2000 and played college hockey at Bethel. No details have been provided by the school because the district’s investigation is in progress, said activities director Eric Albright. Lakeville South plays Rochester Mayo at 7 p.m. today at Haase Arena in Lakeville. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/storm0219

BOYS’ HOCKEY SECTION BRACKETS | GIRLS’ STATE TOURNAMENT BRACKETS

WINTER STATE TOURNAMENT DATES, RESULTS AND SECTION INFORMATION: https://fluence-media.co/state0212

GAME TO WATCH: Undefeated Tartan (22-0), ranked No. 1 in boys’ Class 4A, hosts Alexandria (16-5) at 2 p.m. Saturday. Led by sophomore guard K.J. Wilson, Tartan has a regular-season winning streak of 54 games. The game was rescheduled after the Edina Tip-Off Classic in December was cancelled because of security concerns. TICKETS

FLAG FOOTBALL BOOM: Via Cassidy Hettesheimer at Strib Varsity. Two years ago, the Vikings sponsored a pilot girls’ flag football league with four teams. This spring, the league will grow to 104 schools, more than double the 51 that played in 2025. Participating for the first time will include Edina, Maple Grove, Stillwater and Wayzata — and all but one of the state’s 20 largest schools will field teams. The season will run from late April to early June. Mahtomedi is the defending champion. VERBATIM: “I think our recruitment this year was a little bit more hands off, just because there was so much success with the first real year,” said Emily Weinberg, the Vikings youth and high school football coordinator. “It was schools recruiting other schools in their area saying, ‘Hey, this was a really great opportunity for our students. We think you should join as well.’ ” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/flag0219. MORE INFO: https://fluence-media.co/details0219

AND FINALLY: A qualifying race in the Olympic women’s team sprint Nordic ski competition was crashed by a four-legged finisher. Watch it below or here.

THANKS FOR READING AND WRITING: Back with more next week.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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ESPN’s comprehensive TV and streaming service listings: https://fluence-media.co/watch

THE OPENER: Shouldn’t we be feeling good about sports right now? The Olympics are going on and spring training, the most hopeful of sports rituals, is starting up. The Super Bowl at least gave us a super halftime show, in addition to vindication for Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold. The Wild are starting the Olympic hiatus tied for the second most points in the NHL and the Wolves are winning at more than a 60% pace. But things feel off-kilter right now. I’m hoping my annoyances are a passing thing. But you came here, so I’m going to share some of them. Then, we’ll get to the good stuff, I promise. — Howard Sinker

HOPE SPRING ETERNAL? Pfffft. That’s the traditional phrase cited by struggling baseball teams as their pitcher and catchers report to soring training, even if its proper roots trace back to the 18th Century English poet Alexander Pope as opposed to, say, the 1987 promotions department of the Twins. I don’t think I’ve ever felt less enthusiasm in my midst for the start of baseball. This Star Tribune player-by-player look at the 62 guys heading for Twins’ training camp is filled with these tidbits of mediocrity: “He didn’t play a ton at spring training but his attitude is rewarded . . . A .138 career hitter in the big leagues who can play shortstop and center field. . . . Nine homers and 28 doubles in 140 games for Miami last year while posting a below-average .674 OPS. . . . Excluding rehab assignments, he has played only 96 games over the past two seasons. . . . He didn’t play well when given the starting shortstop job last season.” You can find all those phrases here. ROSTER PREVIEW: https://fluence-media.co/roster0212

WHAT ELSE IS WRONG? How about the Timberwolves failing miserably last weekend in losses to horrible Utah (17-37) followed by a disorganized 19-point loss to the Clippers (25-27). Winning their next two games did little but cement the inconsistency that has them closer to the play-in tournament than the top of the standings table. The week-long All-Star break starts today and I’m coming off my previously stated position that all will be well in time for the playoffs. This team just may not be coachable, at least for any extended period of time before the bad habits return. STANDINGS: https://fluence-media.co/nba0212

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AND THE VIKINGS: One living-room discussion during the Super Bowl centered on how quickly and readily former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was bashed around by unnamed Vikings personnel after his firing. The organization appeared to go from standing-as-one mode to a free-for-all of criticism. How did this happen when the Vikings are the most closely covered team in Minnesota? Where was the source-informed speculation that something was amiss before Adofo-Mensah was let go? My comparisons are to the Rocco Baldelli firing by the Twins at the end of last season (most recent) and date back to run-ups in changes of head coaches by the Wild and Timberwolves, the firings of Gophers football and basketball coaches and the reporting that surrounded the Wolves ownership battle. Those were multipart dramas. The Vikings mess was a tornado that swept through with no time to prepare.

U HOCKEY COLLAPSE: Via Jess Myers at Pioneer Press. My vote for the most under-reported Minnesota sports story of the winter has been the brutal collapse of the Gophers men’s hockey team and the reasons behind it. In fact, until Wednesday’s Pioneer Press story, the U’s struggles had been pretty much an untold tale. CONTEXT: If the Gophers finish the season with their current .362 winning percentage, it would be their worst season since 1971-72, when they went 8-24 (.250). So we’re talking about multi-generationally bad season, right? WHAT HAPPENED? The Gophers failed to bring in fresh talent when college hockey eligibility rules changed to allow players from Canada’s top junior leagues to play. Also, six players left the team for pro hockey after last season, although only three are currently playing in the NHL. A case can also be made that Minnesota suffers compared to schools where hockey is the front-and-center sport and offering more in NIL and other financial benefits.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Gophers are planning on several top Canadian junior players joining the team in 2026 and 2027, including former Wayzata star Jacob Kvasnicka. Still, coach Bob Motzko doesn’t sound like a coach intending to take aggressive, if belated, advantage of the new rules. VERBATIM: “As college hockey evolves, Motzko sees the Gophers program evolving with it, for the better. ‘Is it changing? For sure it is. It just broadens where you’re looking and what you’re paying attention to. . . . Are we ever going to go heavy into all of it? No. We’re going to navigate the waters the way we need to navigate the waters.” STORY: https://fluence-media.co/uhockey0212

GOBERT VS. FINCH: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. The lack of effort shown by the Wolves became a hissing match between center Rudy Gobert and coach Chris Finch during the homestand that ended Wednesday. Gobert went off after last Friday’s loss to Utah, saying that if players don’t hold themselves accountable, the coaches need to step up. GOBERT: “It should start with ourselves but it seems like we don’t have that, so at some point I think from the coaches, yeah. It is not an easy position for a coach to take guys out of the game. It’s not something that you want to do, but I think if the players don’t show any effort, at some point, no matter how talented we are as a team, if you don’t have that you just can’t be a winning team. It starts with me. If I’m not showing effort, bench me. Take me out of the game. Everybody else will follow. Our best players, leaders, if you don’t show any effort, it doesn’t matter if you score 50, we’re not going to win. At some point, if we’re not mature enough to have that accountability ourselves, that might be a solution.”

FINCH’S REBUTTAL: “Anybody who knows how we do things knows there is a high degree of accountability. Secondly, I handle all my conversations with ourselves in-house. It’s disappointing he felt the need to go outside. Nonetheless that’s been addressed already today. There’s never been a team who’s won anything meaningful that has substituted their way there.” ROBSON’S TAKE: “Gobert’s postgame sentiments were borne of understandable frustration and ratified what any longtime viewer of Wolves basketball has seen, particularly this season. Before Gobert spoke, the status quo was a preseason of this team thumping its chest over its commitment to the focus and accountability necessary to compete for a championship, followed by steady, intermittent bouts of them blatantly reneging on that pledge out on the court.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/conflict0213

ALEXANDER-WALKER’S GRATITUDE: Via Jace Frederick at Pioneer Press. It was a sweet moment at Target Center on Monday when Nickeil Alexander-Walker came to town with the Atlanta Hawks and received both a warm ovation and a scoreboard tribute video. Considering his status as a reserve in Minnesota, the video was above and beyond what he expected. VERBATIM: “Alexander-Walker noted it was ‘pretty cool’ to see a tribute video dedicated to him. It’s an honor for anyone, but particularly for someone who describes himself as a ‘role player.’ He wasn’t drafted by Minnesota, and spent just two and a half seasons with the organization. Yet he received a hero’s welcome. ‘It was just really cool, you know? You dream of those things as a kid, getting the tributes, getting the love from the fans, the standing ovations. Minnesota has been nothing short of amazing to me, from the organization to the city, everything. Honestly, watching (the video), it was hard not to smile and just appreciate it.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/naw0212

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THIS IS BLEAK: Via USA today. A five-person panel posted their MLB predictions for 2026 and picked the Twins to (1) finish last in the AL Central and (2) have the third-worst record in MLB at 65-97. VERBATIM: “Hard to believe the Minnesota Twins could supplant the White Sox in the cellar with Joe Ryan and Pablo López still around. Then again, maybe they won’t be in July.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/predict0212

THIS IS BLEAK, TOO. Via Bobby Nightengale at Star Tribune. I would recommend that Tom Pohlad not hold his breath when it comes to waiting for the ask he’s making here. VERBATIM: “The Twins are carrying an estimated $103 million Opening Day payroll, their lowest figure since 2017. That is about $25 million under where they ended last year and nearly $60 million lower than where payroll sat in 2023 when the Twins earned their last playoff appearance. ‘I’d love to get off this payroll thing for a second,’ Pohlad said during a recent news conference. ‘Let’s get halfway through the year to the end of the year, and let’s judge the success of this year on wins and losses and whether we’re playing meaningful baseball in September.’ Pohlad’s quote will likely hang over the season, either a prescient or foolish outlook from the new principal owner.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/pohlad0212

BUT THERE’S BEER AND ICE CREAM! Via Twins media relations. The Twins are selling $2 beers to fans with My Twins ticket packages before every home game and $2 beers to all fans on Fridays and Saturdays. Also, there’s free ice cream for kids on Sundays. Cheap beer and bad baseball could be an interesting brew. FINE PRINT: “Pregame deals are available from gate open through scheduled first pitch at select concession stands throughout Target Field. $2 beers are 12-ounce cans of select varieties.”

FLECK GETS A RAISE: Via Randy Johnson at Star Tribune. Combining his $6 million salary, $1 million retention bonus and $100,000 for getting the Gophers to a bowl game, Coach P.J. Fleck hauled in $7.1 million for Minnesota’s 7-5 football season. That was enough to earn an annual $700,000 “management bonus” that will increase his pay to at least $7.9 million in 2026, in addition to revised incentives. Won’t share them all here. But Fleck would have gotten $100,000 for winning eight regular-season games last season and another $100,000 for a ninth victory. Starting this season, he’ll get $150,000 for winning five of the team’s nine Big Ten games, $500,000 for winning six and $750,000 for seven. He is signed through 2030. MORE CONTRACT TERMS: https://fluence-media.co/fleck0212

ONE MINUTE OF DARNOLD: Via Seattle Seahawks. Super Bowl-winning (and Vikings castoff) quarterback Sam Darnold was lauded for his low-key classiness after his team defeated New England. He told fans at his victory celebration, “A lot of people didn’t believe in me. But it didn’t matter because the ones that are close believed in me, including you all. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/sam0212

BE LIKE SEATTLE? Via Purple insider. This podcast features former Vikings lineman Jeremiah Sirles visiting with host Matthew Coller to talk about what the Vikings could learn from the Super Bowl champs. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/insider0212

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OLDEST WINTER OLYMPIAN: During Team USA’s one-sided loss to Switzerland in the opening men’s curling match Thursday, alternate Rich Ruohonen was inserted late in the match and became the oldest person to participate in the Olympics at age 54. He replaced team skip Danny Casper. The personal injury attorney from Brooklyn Park also made headlines earlier this week when he spoke out against the ICE surge in Minnesota. VERBATIM: “I’m proud to be here, to represent Team USA and to represent our country But we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least mention what’s going on in Minnesota and what a tough time it’s been for everybody This stuff is happening right around where we live. And I am a lawyer, as you know. We have a constitution. It allows us freedom of the press, freedom of speech, protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures, and makes it so we have to have probable cause to be pulled over. And what’s happening in Minnesota is wrong. There’s no shades of gray.”

MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE RINK: Team USA’s all-Minnesota crew of skip Tabitha Peterson Lovick, Tara Peterson, Cory Thiesse and Taylor Anderson-Heide won its opening match 8-4 against South Korea on Thursday. The women had their second match vs. Sweden, which started at noon Minnesota time. The men play Canada at 2 a.m. Friday.

MORE MINNESOTA OLYMPIANS: In addition to the athletes, three former state college hockey players are serving as officials during the women’s ice hockey tournament. They are Sarah Buckner (Augsburg 2012-2016), Melissa Doyle (Gustavus 2010-14) and Alex Clarke (St. Scholastica (2011-15). All three work at various levels of hockey, including the PWHL. READ ABOUT THEM HERE: BUCKNER | DOYLE | CLARKE

OLES HUGE TURNAROUND: St. Olaf’s men’s basketball team had a 4-21 record last season — including a dozen by 15 points or more. This year, with largely the same group of players, the Oles are 11-2 and second to Gustavus in the MIAC. I asked the Oles coach, 32-year veteran Dan Kosmoski, what went right. VERBATIM: “Our team last year had 10 new players on a roster of 15, and of the five returning, Kobe Kirk was a returning all-MIAC player, and only two others had any actual game experience. I knew last year we were going to have to face some tough days. Maybe not as tough as they actually were. Many times last year you could find us playing with four first-years on the floor at the same time. It was one of the most difficult coaching years that I’ve had for a number of reasons. Despite the record, the Ole players became a family that knew there was a bright future ahead. The players bought into the journey in training, both in and out of season. They were ‘all in!’ “

MORE FROM KOZ: “I took the team to Italy in late May for an educational/game experience. Along with the historical experience, we played two games and won both of them. A team that was decimated in many games last year had to learn how to win again. I felt that was the beginning. I can honestly tell you that the Ole basketball team is building this year and for years to come. Many of last year's practices and games were challenging; we have not had one bad practice to date! Maybe a couple that fell below the competitive line, but they have brought it to the hardwood every day. I have been blessed with great young men to work with and build around our senior leadership in Kobe! They are dedicated and are currently in a season where ‘who knows where it goes?' There is no magic formula. It’s recruiting smart, talented players that can come together as a team.”

SATURDAY: St. Olaf plays at Augsburg, one of the teams that beat them, at 3 p.m. in Minneapolis. TICKETS | LIVESTREAM

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NDSU STEPS UP: Via In-Forum staff. As noted previously in Sports take, it was only going to be a matter of time before North Dakota State was going to make the leap to the Football Bowl Subdivision. That time came this week when NDSU was announced as a football-only member of the Mountain West Conference starting immediately. The school will remain in the Summit League in all other sports except wrestling, where it is a member of the Big 12. The move will cost the school $17.5 million in fees to the NCAA and Mountain West, all of which will be privately raised. VERBATIM: “We’ve built something special here by being thoughtful, disciplined, and willing to take bold steps when the time is right,” said outgoing NDSU president David Cook, who is leaving to become Iowa State’s president. “We’ve made a move like this before, and it strengthened our university in lasting ways. Joining the Mountain West builds on that legacy and reflects our confidence in the people, programs, and purpose that define NDSU. It allows us to extend our impact, expand our national connections, and create new opportunities for our students and community while staying true to our mission.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ndsu0212

WHO’S IN? NDSU is one of three schools joining the Mountain West for football. The others are Northern Illinois and Texas-El Paso. Holdover members are Air Force, UNLV, Hawai’i, Nevada, Wyoming, New Mexico and San Jose State. Five schools — San Diego State, Boise State, Colorado State, Utah State and Fresno State — and leaving to join the reconfigured Pac 12.

GOPHERS ANGLE: Via Tony Liebert at SI.com. NDSU becomes the second closest program to the Gophers in terms of distance at 240 miles. Only Iowa State is closer. There are 30 players from Minnesota on the Bison’s 2026 spring football roster and the school should become a bigger competitor now for Minnesota high schoolers and transfers looking for a new home. In addition, there’s the prospect on a renewed rivalry between the U and NDSU. The teams have played three times after NDSU joined FCS from Division II, with the Bison winning twice. The last meeting was in 2011. Minnesota’s nonconference schedule is booked through 2028. VERBATIM: “There's not an opponent Minnesota could schedule out of conference that would generate more buzz locally than NDSU. It's almost guaranteed to be a sellout, and it would result in a lot more interest than playing an FCS team like Eastern Illinois or a MAC team like Akron, which are two games currently on Minnesota's 2026 schedule.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/rivalry0212

U WOMEN’S HIGH STAKES: the Gophers go for their seventh victory in a row at 7 p.m. Thursday vs. Nebraska at The Barn. Minnesota is 9-4 in the Big Ten and trail Iowa by one game for fourth place. Finishing fourth or higher in the conference would earn the Gophers a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament, which runs March 4-8 on Indianapolis. The Gophers defeated Iowa last week in Iowa City and hold the tie-breaker advantage if the teams end up with the same conference records. TICKETS | SCHEDULE

TOP 25? The Gophers received the most votes of any team that didn’t make the Top 25 in the last NCAA poll. Beating the Cornhuskers and Wisconsin on Sunday could result in them finally being ranked. POLL: https://fluence-media.co/poll0212

MAVERICKS NO. 1: Minnesota State’s women’s basketball team is 24-0 and is within four games of an undefeated regular season. The Mavericks, who received all 23 votes in the latest D-II poll, will face their biggest obstacle in the final game at second-place Concordia-St. Paul a week from Saturday at 1 p.m. Minnesota State won the Division II title in 2024.

HALL OF FAMERS: Sports journalists Charles Hallman and Larry Fitzgerald Sr. are among five people selected to the inaugural class of the Southside Sports Hall of Fame in Minneapolis. Also selected were Bob Williams, the first Black player on the Minneapolis Lakers; retired Boys and Girls Club executive John Hardemann III and G. Sankara Frazier, CEO of the Circle of Discipline boxing gym. A ceremony is set for 6 p.m. on Feb. 27 at Sabathani Community Center. INFORMATION: https://fluence-media.co/hall0213

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AURORA’S TICKET CHALLENGE: Minnesota Aurora season tickets went on sale this week, with a donation of $5 for every ticket sold going to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. $1 will come from the team and $4 from Twin Cities Realtor Nate Pentz and Pentz Homes. Aurora plays in the Heartland Division of the USL-W and have a 43-0-5 regular-season record since their 2022 inception, with the side’s only losses coming in the postseason. TICKETS: https://fluence-media.co/aurora0212

SOCCER AND ACTIVISM: Via Theo Lloyd-Hughes at The Athletic. No sports team in Minnesota is as much about activism at the Aurora. Team president Saara Hassoun explained how she and others in the organization are juggling their business roles with reaching out to the community during the current ICE action. VERBATIM: “Hassoun calls it ‘cognitive dissonance’ to swing like a pendulum back and forth — from meetings about ticket sales, budgets and scouting reports to checking in to make sure people made it back safely from being out in the streets. However, in her view, that’s what makes putting on the Aurora jersey different from many other teams. ‘When you come to play on this team, you are joining a community, you are representing something that means a lot to people, and there’s a responsibility that comes with that.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/community0212

GIRLS’ HOCKEY FINALS: The field for next week’s state girls’ hockey tournament will be set by the end of Friday night. Four teams — Lakeville North in Class AA; Breck School, Luverne and Proctor-Hermantown in Class A — have already qualified. BIGGEST BATTLES: No. 1 Hill-Murray vs. No. 6 Woodbury in Section 4AA, 7 p.m. Thursday at Aldrich Arena; No. 5 Edina vs. No.8 Benilde-St. Margaret’s on Section 6AA, 7 p.m. Friday at Parade ice Garden; No. 3 Warroad vs. No. 12 East Grand Forks in Section 8A at 7 p.m. Thursday at the EGF Civic Center. Tournament seeds will be announced Saturday and the quarterfinals are Wednesday in Class A and Thursday in Class AA at Grand Casino Arena. LIVESTREAMS: 4AA | 6AA | 8A

WINTER STATE TOURNAMENT DATES, RESULTS AND SECTION INFORMATION: https://fluence-media.co/state0212

OLYMPICS LINK FARM: Rerunning this from last week because watching and following the Olympics can be like a game of Whack-a-Mole.

OLYMPIC SCHEDULE GRID | RESULTS AND STANDINGS

TV AND STREAMING LISTINGS | STAR TRIBUNE LIVE BLOG

NBC OLYMPICS COVERAGE | MEDAL COUNT

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BEFORE YOU GO: After watching Bad Bunny’s fabulous halftime show at the Super Bowl, I felt compelled to remind you of the 1992 Super Bowl entertainment at the Metrodome. Times change, kids.

THANKS FOR READING AND WRITING: Back with more next week.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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ESPN’s comprehensive TV and streaming service listings: https://fluence-media.co/watch

NO GIANNIS FOR NOW: ESPN’s NBA reporter Shams Charinia posted this on X just after 11 a.m., marking an end to the chance that the Wolves would swing a major trade deadline deal for Milwaukee superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

PRO AND CON: You could make a good case on either side for such a dramatic shakeup at the current time. The deciding factor for me — on the con side — was that Antetokounmpo will likely be out of action until the end of the month because of a strained calf. So the Wolves would have been shorthanded (with an already depth-impaired roster) and then trying to figure out how to work him into the lineup. I wouldn’t rule out a major deal during the off-season.

QUOTE: “I don’t think Giannis was as available as people assumed,” Grant Liffmann, NBC Sports analyst and former Atlanta Hawks vice president during a Thursday afternoon interview of NBA-TV.

INSTEAD: The Wolves made a savvy move picking up versatile Ayo Dosunmu from the Bulls on returned for Rob Dillingham and four second-round draft picks. Each team also moved a deep reserve — Julian Phillips to the Wolves and Leonard Miller to the Bulls — in the trade. Dosunmu brings skills to Minnesota that resemble those of Donte DiVincenzo in some ways, which means he should be a good fit for the Wolves’ push-the-ball and three-point heavy attack. (Dosunmu is shooting 45% on threes this season.) Also think of him as a replacement for the Nickeil Alexander-Walker role on the roster after he left for Atlanta through free agency.

DILLINGHAM’S DEPARTURE: Via Chris Hine at Star Tribune. VERBATIM: “The unfortunate reality for Dillingham and the Wolves is that to become the player the Wolves think he could be when they drafted him, Dillingham needs to be in a situation where he can play guaranteed minutes without looking over his shoulder at the bench. That is not the Wolves, who have been to two consecutive Western Conference finals. That became more apparent as the season went on, that the mix of player and situation was not aligning.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/trade0205

CAREER STATS: Dosunmu | Phillips | Dillingham | Miller

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EARLY WINS: USA mixed doubles curlers Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse of Duluth debuted Thursday with a 6-4 win over a team from Norway and followed that up with a 7-4 win over Switzerland. Next match is at 3 a.m. Friday vs. Canada (Peacock), which is off to a 3-0 start. WOMEN’S HOCKEY: Team USA defeated Czechia 5-1 this morning in their opener, outshooting the losers 42-14. None of the scoring was done by Minnesotans. Next game is against Finland at 9:40 a.m. Saturday (USA Network). STATS: https://fluence-media.co/boxscore0205

LIVED UP TO HYPE: Via WCCO-TV. I mentioned Buffalo’s surprising boys’ basketball team in last week’s Sports Take and noted their next game was against Wayzata (Class 4A’s top team). The game was big time with Wayzata winning 97-96 in overtime. The game was tied at 41 at halftime, 87 after regulation and was decided on a basket by Christian Wiggins with 1.9 seconds left. “We witnessed what might be the most electric atmosphere in Minnesota high school basketball until the playoffs start,” said WCCO’s Ren Clayton. HIGHLIGHTS: https://fluence-media.co/thriller0205

UP NEXT: No. 3 Buffalo plays at Edina and No. 1 Wayzata hosts No. 5 Maple Grove at 7 p.m. Friday. (Maple Grove defeated Wayzata when they played last month. TICKETS: Buffalo-Edina | Wayzata-Maple Grove | Livestreams

ALLEN BACK: Via John Shipley at Pioneer Press. KFAN 9-to-noon host Paul Allen returned to the air after a week off following his misinformation-pandering and ill-advised “paid protesters” quip last week. He’ll also be returning as Canterbury Park’s track announcer and to his work as Vikings play-by-play announcer. Calls to station management about whether the time away was a suspension or paid time off weren’t returned and the story included a line that bears following. VERBATIM: “According to a team source, Allen will keep his job with the Vikings ‘as it relates to Vikings games and coverage.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/pa0205

TWINS PASS RETURNS, PRICE DROPPED: The Twins are returning their season-ticket “Twins Pass” that provides access to all home games. This year’s pass is available for $229 through the end of the month. Last year’s price was $324 before the start of the season. Officially, it’s a standing-room pass. Realistically, plenty of good seats should be available most of the time. The price goes up to $249 on March 1. DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/pass0205

LIST OF 100+ OFFICIAL COMMITMENTS: Via Strib Varsity. Starting Wednesday, high school athletes in sports other than football who didn’t make commitments official during the early-signing period in November could do so. Here’s a list of about 100 athletes from around Minnesota and their Division I and Division II choices. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/committed0205

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FALVEY’S EXIT: Last Friday was a brutal day for leadership in Minnesota sports with Twins president Derek Falvey’s departure announced in the morning and Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s firing by the Vikings revealed a couple hours later. In Favley’s case, he got out of a near-impossible predicament. Under his watch, the Twins gutted their roster at the 2025 trade deadline and looked to be on the way to a substantial rebuild. Then, in a C-Suite coup, Tom Pohlad took over from his brother Joe as the team’s top executive and vowed the Twins would contend in 2026. Apparently, when expectations didn’t match what Falvey thought were resources necessary to achieve them, the break-up took place. That’s the one-paragraph version of what could be a juicy mini-series.

“MUTUALLY PARTED WAYS”: Via Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic. VERBATIM: “Falvey was a good soldier, which is why ‘mutually parted ways’ is officially how the nine-year relationship ended. But if the breakup happened because Falvey was simply tired of fighting this increasingly unwinnable battle, it’s yet another Pohlad-created mess in search of a new scapegoat to clean up. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/parted02052

ROCK SOLID TAKE: Via Nick Nelson at Twins Daily. Why did it happen? This cuts to the heart of the matter. VERBATIM: “The die was cast for the 2026 season at the deadline when the front office traded three top relievers under team control, as well as Carlos Correa with no expectation of backfilling his salary. If the Twins were going to have a shot at rebounding from those losses, it was going to take higher-scale moves than adding Josh Bell, Victor Caratini and an army of waiver claims or scrap-heap signings. The Twins are projected in Vegas for 72-74 wins, which seems a very fair expectation objectively. Derek Falvey knew it, helping explain his decision to jump ship. He was in line to be a scapegoat this summer, following in the footsteps of Rocco Baldelli, and he got out ahead of it.”

MORE: “As for the motivations of Tom Pohlad and the Twins? Those are harder to reason, both in this instance and at a broader level. Parting ways with Falvey at this peculiar moment feels more like a denial of reality than an inspired shakeup. ‘We're in the business of winning baseball games,’ Pohlad said back in December when he took over the reins. But therein lies the problem: business savvy doesn't win baseball games. It takes visionary baseball leadership and sound big-picture decision-making. The departure of Falvey leaves a huge experiential void in that department, while the Twins navigate aimlessly into a season that is bound to disappoint. FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/falvey0205

HISTORY: The Twins reached the postseason four times in Falvey’s nine seasons with the Twins. He took the job after the 2016 season with the understanding that he wouldn’t replace Paul Molitor as manager right away. The Twins were a wild-card team in 2017, which bought Molitor one more season. His tenure ended when the Twins failed to make the playoffs and finished under .500 in 2018. In other words, Falvey knew the drill.

BIGGEST FAILURE ON REPEAT: Nelson points out that Falvey made repeated missteps at the trade deadline.

SACKED BY THE DRAFTS: Via Matthew Coller at Purple insider. In the aftermath of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s firing, we’ve been reading and hearing all kinds of internal intrigue. But you could make a case for the firing based on his series of bad drafts alone. Consider this: The four Adofo-Mensah drafts resulted in only eight players (of 28 taken) who have played more than 600 snaps in the NFL — and four are currently with other teams. Only half of those 28 are still on the Vikings roster. VERBATIM: “For four years of drafting to only yield one high-quality No. 2 receiver, one promising pass rusher, one promising guard and a good kicker is a pretty damning indictment of the front office. But it does not tell the whole story.”

MORE EVIDENCE: VERBATIM: “Since 2022, the Vikings have eight selections in the top 100 picks and The Athletic’s draft analyst Dane Brugler pointed out this week that they have not taken a single player between picks 25 and 100 over the last three drafts. How does that compare to other franchises? Just within the Vikings’ division, the Chicago Bears have taken 14 top-100 players since 2022, the Packers have taken 12 and the Lions have picked 15. . . . It’s hard to win the lottery when you never play.” FULL REPORT: https://fluence-media.co/kwesi0205

KNIVES OUT: Since the firing, we’ve heard about all sorts of ugliness in the Vikings front office. Disagreements over J.J. McCarthy’s abilities. Resentment between those with a background in football vs. a background in analytics. Controversy over Adofo-Mensah taking a paternity leave even though he worked remotely. Were Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell putting on a united public front — especially about McCarthy — while battling behind the scenes?

QUESTIONS AND SKEPTICISM: I emailed veteran Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder sportswriter Charles Hallman for his view. VERBATIM: “Was he a good talent evaluator? How much blame goes to ownership in spending money wisely — such as Sam Darnold not offered enough to stay? How much blame on the Vikings coaches on developing McCarthy as a NFL QB? . . . My skeptical self openly questions how hiring Adofo-Mensah four years ago was an unconventional hire but four years later it was a mistake. If he was qualified then what makes him not qualified now? Will the team look again to hire a Black man or woman in a leadership role since historically all Blacks are painted with the same 'not qualified' brush but others are seen as more qualified, whether or not they have a football background, experience, etc. And please no more about Adofo-Mensah taking paternity leave. If he wasn't fired, when would we have known about it?”

ONE MORE THOUGHT: Via Arif Hasan at Wide Left. With so much coverage of the Vikings, why wasn’t there a media build-up to the firing based on things that have been written in the last week? VERBATIM: “At least one staffer thought that Adofo-Mensah had a strong understanding of analytical principles, but didn’t have the spine to enforce them in his approach. Whether it was a lack of conviction, leadership, or some other factor that prevented him from implementing these guidelines, it was ultimately a failure by someone meant to be a general manager. Is it unfair that all of this is coming out after he had been let go? Certainly. Some of this is the nature of reporting; it seems unnecessary for journalists to dump on a general manager who might just have poor interpersonal skills while he still has a job. It would be a story without a point. Some people don’t like him, so what? But, with the added context of his dismissal, there’s more teeth to the story. Interpersonal conflicts, individual quirks, perception and political capital — all of that matters more when we know the end result.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/intrigue0205

PERICH GOT HOW MUCH? Via Marshall H. Tanick at Minneapolis Times. P.J. Fleck was part of a U of M entourage that met with school boosters and other Minnesotans in Naples, Fla., recently. Among other things, Fleck claimed that he knew last year that star safety Koi Perich would be leaving at the end of the season and claimed that he received “a $2 million package” to play at Oregon for what’s expected to be his final season of college football. CONTEXT: The $2 million figure has not been reported elsewhere and is well-above market value for players at his position, according to reporting elsewhere. The Athletic reported last month that packages for safeties are typically in the $250,000 to $900,000 range. A formula devised by the college website On3 places Perich’s estimated package at more than $1.4 million combining NIL and payment from the school. On3 explains how it determines “NIL valuation” here.

THE WAY THINGS WORK: Fleck told his Florida audience how things work in contemporary college football — and that he doesn’t like it. His words also felt like an appeal for a moneyed audience to help the team more through its Dinkytown Athletes NIL collective and donations to the U. VERBATIM: “The lack of any protocols compared to the very ‘structured’ National Football League (NFL) different makes college football like the ‘wild, wild West,’ Fleck observed. With ‘no policing’ and money being a dominant factor for recruitment of incoming players, college football today is ‘like a soap opera.’ Fleck said that ‘every player on the team’ has a contract, renewable or terminable each year, and most of them have agents as well. This fluidity is unlike the past when most recruited players were guaranteed four- or five-year scholarships, but now can be dismissed or voluntarily leave after a single year.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/perich0205

DINKYTOWN ATHLETES WEB SITE: https://fluence-media.co/dinkytown0205

COMING AND GOING: Via Randy Johnson at Star Tribune. College athletes aren’t the only ones committing and decommitting within weeks. VERBATIM: “Bobby April III, who joined the Gophers football program as rush ends coach in early January, is leaving Minnesota to become outside linebackers coach for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. . . . The Gophers hired April after moving C.J. Robbins from rush ends coach to defensive line coach. Robbins replaced Dennis Dottin-Carter, who was let go after the 2025 regular season.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/april0205

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STANDOUT COACH DIES: Jerry Wohler, who coached Bird island-Lake Lillian to Class A boys’ basketball titles in 1980 and 1981, died last week at age 89. Wohler’s son, Barry, was the standout on that team and is currently the coach at Orono, one of the state’s best in Class 3A. Bird Island won its titles in the two-class era and both of its state title games were won in double overtime over Lake of the Woods (1980) and Winona Cotter (1981). Wohler retired from teaching and head coaching after the 1981 season and became a loan officer at the bank in Bird Island. He was named to the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2018. On a long-ago trip to Bird island, I watched a presidential debate with Jerry. Won’t share his politics. Will share that he was a source of wisdom for my writing more than once. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Bird Island. OBITUARY: https://fluence-media.co/wohler0205

SPORTS DEPARTMENT ELIMINATED: Via Sean Keeley and Ben Axelrod at Awful Announcing. The Washington Post announced Wednesday that it will be laying off about one-third of its staff and shutting down a sports department that was been home to legendary writers for decades. Some sports reporters will move to the features department and a few will remain to do sports in the print version of the Post. The New York Times shut down its sports department in 2023 but, at the same time, bought The Athletic to provide web sports coverage. VERBATIM: “The Washington Post sports desk was, for much of the last 100 years, the apex of the business. Once the sportswriting home of Shirley Povich, George Solomon, Thomas Boswell, Jane Leavy, Sally Jenkins, John Feinstein, Tony Kornheiser, and Michael Wilbon, it had remained one of the pinnacles of the American sportswriter’s dream until recently, when prominent names accepted buyouts, editorial standards dipped, and the quality of local coverage began to suffer.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/post02065

LOSING STREAK ENDS: It’s far from a turnaround, but the Gophers men’s hockey team ended its eight game winless streak (seven losses and a tie) by sweeping Wisconsin last weekend at Mariucci Arena, knocking the Badgers from eighth to 13th in the latest poll. The Border Battle drew capacity crowds both nights — 10,113 on Friday and 10,652 on Saturday. Wisconsin has now lost six in a row. The Gophers host Ohio State this weekend (7 p.m. Friday, Fox9 and 8 p.m. Saturday, BIG). The Gophers and Buckeyes are fifth and sixth in seven-team Big Ten. STANDINGS | TICKETS

THIS ONE DOES, TOO: Via Andrew Krammer at Star Tribune. This looks backwards, right? The Gophers men’s basketball team is 11-12 overall, 4-8 in the Big Ten — and 3-3 against nationally ranked teams after shocking No. 10 Michigan State 76-73 on Wednesday at The Barn. It also ended a seven-game losing streak that was marked by blown leads and painfully close defeats. The upsets make the kind of statement at Coach Niko Medved can use when he tries to retain current members of the team and pitch higher-end players in the transfer portal on coming to Minnesota. VERBATIM: “It creates belief. I hope for us, this year, that we’re creating belief with those guys and we’re creating belief in our program that: ‘Hey, we’re on the right track. We’re doing the right things. Our culture is good, and this is the way if we keep staying with it and keep going, we can win this way.’” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gophers0205

AND, YES, THEY STORMED THE COURT: Watch HERE and HERE

BASKETBALL BRACKETOLOGY: It’s that time of year for NCAA basketball tournament speculation. Expert picks will career from week to week, but right now both ESPN and CBS Sports — my top-two go-tos — have Minnesota making the women’s field with interesting matchups. CBS Sports has the Gophers as a No., 7 seed playing No., 10 in the first round, with the winner advancing to likely face No. 2 seed LSU. ESPN has them as a No. 8 seed playing Mississippi State with the winner meeting No. 1-seed UConn. ST. THOMAS MEN, ANYONE? Both ESPN and CBS have North Dakota state as the Summit League representative, which will go to the winner of the conference tournament. The Bison are undefeated in conference play. The Tommies are second after losses to the Bison and North Dakota in their last four games. ESPN: Men | Women. CBS: Men | Women

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ONE MORE DARNOLD STORY: Via Judy Battista at NFL.com. From punchline to Super Bowl quarterback, we know that Seattle’s Sam Darnold has traveled a rough and tough road to get to Sunday’s game, including his season with the Vikings. It’s also a fact that he’s the first quarterback from the talented group drafted in 2018’s first round — along with Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson — to reach the Super Bowl. His resiliency, playing for five teams in eight seasons, was a product of his upbringing. VERBATIM: “He remains as chill now as he was as a California kid throwing a football in the surf, unaffected and unpretentious enough to still wear the same Vans sneakers he always has, to show up to his first Seattle press conference in a flannel shirt. He chalks every twist and turn to learning experiences that helped him become the player he is now. That was not a coping mechanism he developed in the NFL; he got to the league that way. ‘I think a lot of it stems from my family. My dad was a plumber, my mom was a P.E. teacher. No matter what kind of days they had, they were always in the best mood for me and my sister growing up. No matter what happened at work, my dad was always out there playing catch with me after work. I feel like I naturally learned to be resilient and take it one day at a time.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/darnold0205

SPRING TRAINING ON TV: 22 Twins spring training games will be on TV, including nine of FOX9 and FOX9+. Outstate markets served by Gray Media through stations in Rochester, Mankato and Duluth will have 15 games on over-the-air TV. The full schedule can be seen without charge by creating an account on MLB.TV and by cable/satellite subscribers whose packages include the Twins designated channel. The broadcasts will be a combination of simulcasts with radio, opposing team broadcasts and three done specifically for Twins TV. As the Twins try to recapture interest, it will be worth noting how many regular-season games will be shown on :free” TV. SCHEDULE: https://fluence-media.co/twinstv0205

WINTER TOURNAMENT SEASON: Section tournaments in girls’ hockey started this week and the state Alpine and Nordic ski meets run Tuesday through Thursday in Biwabik. TOURNAMENT SECHEDULE AND BRACKETS: https://fluence-media.co/state0205

GIRLS’ HOCKEY FAVORITES: Via Cassidy Hettesheimer at Strib Varsity. You want the 16 teams that will go to state for the tournament, which opens Feb. 18 at Grand Casino Arena, and the paths they’ll take to get there? Which team has the best shot at stopping Edina from making its 12th straight trip to state in Class 2A? And will the Class 1A title game be a battle between metro-area private schools? Those choices and many more are here. PICKS: https://fluence-media.co/picks0205

BETTER FOR THE EFFORT: Last week, we noted that Liberty Classical Academy of White Bear Lake was the only ranked metro team in the 1A boys’ and girls’ basketball polls. The Lions, then 18-0, stepped up in competition last weekend to play Rushford-Peterson, a team getting votes in the 2A poll. Liberty lost 95-59 before rebounding to win two games this week. POLLS: https://fluence-media.co/hoops0205

GUIDE TO THE OLYMPICS: I am looking forward to waking up for the next 2 1/2 weeks and getting an Olympic fix to start the day. I may even do a middle-of-the-night wakeup to watch Jessie Diggins go for another gold medal, Lindsey Vonn battle through her torn ACL in the downhill or the USA curling squads if they’re in medal contention. The hardest part is (1) Keeping track of the Minnesota Olympic connections and (2) Keeping track of anything else. Here are some links to help out, and a few stories about state-connected Olympians.

LOCAL COVERAGE: KARE-TV morning anchor Alicia Lewis will be reporting from Italy, mostly features and behind-the-scenes stories as opposed to event coverage. Lynx radio and BIG volleyball broadcaster Sloane Martin will be calling curling remotely from NBC headquarters in Connecticut. Neither the Star Tribune nor Pioneer Press are sending staff to Italy. Both news platforms will rely heavily on Associated Press content. The Strib plans a live blog with updates during the day. Pioneer Press sports editor John Shipley pointed out that the seven-hour time difference between here and Italy will allow coverage to be in the newspaper as well as on the web.

WELCOME TO THE LINK FARM:

OLYMPIC SCHEDULE GRID | RESULTS AND STANDINGS

TV AND STREAMING LISTINGS | STAR TRIBUNE LIVE BLOG

NBC OLYMPICS COVERAGE | MEDAL COUNT

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MINNESOTA’S OLYMPIANS. Via Star Tribune. There are 37 from Minnesota or with Minnesota ties. That includes 15 hockey players and 11 curlers. Here are short biographies and when each is scheduled to compete. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/minnesota0205

22 MORE TO KNOW: Via Star Tribune. These are athletes with Minnesota ties competing for seven other countries, including five members of the Wild and four members of the Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/international0205

AROUND THE GLOBE: Via The Athletic. Here are 26 international athletes to watch. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/olympians0205

FIVE MOUNTAINS AND THAT HILL IN BURNSVILLE: Via Jake Steinberg and Ellie Lin at Star Tribune. As Lindsey Vonn prepares for her fifth Olympics at age 41, this is a look at the six venues that have shaped her career from Buck Hill along I-35 to Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, where she had eight World Cup wins before trying to retire six years ago. The story’s graphics take you down each of the runs. STORY: https://fluence-media.co/vonn0205

CASPER’S CURLING COMEBACK: Via Macklin Stern at NBC Sports. Dethroning Iron Ranger John Shuster as the skip of Team USA’s men’s curling team was a big part, but hardly the biggest challenge faced by Danny Casper, who grew up in New York and now lives in Richfield. The biggest challenge came in 2024 when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome, a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks its nerves and can result in paralysis. It took three months for doctors to figure out what was wrong and most of a year before Casper, 24, could return to competition. Fast forward to a slow recovery, defeating Shuster’s rink and then qualifying for the Olympics — and you have an incredible comeback story that has yet to be wisely shared outside of the curling world.

MORE: Casper is a rowdy figure in a typically low-key sport. Shuster acknowledged that getting into a trash-talking battle with him — on the ice or elsewhere — is a losing proposition. VERBATIM: “Wherever he is, Danny brings the energy. He’s a social butterfly, the life of the ‘sheet,’ perpetually hyping up teammates and chirping at opposing players. In a gentleman’s sport where trash-talking is far from the norm, Casper pushes the envelope. ‘My barber is always like, ‘You’re such a kind guy,’ and I’m like, ‘You know, when I’m curling, I’m kind of an asshole.’ “ FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/casper0205

ST. PAUL’S SPEEDSKATER: Via Anya Armentrout at Mac Weekly. Conor McDermott-Mostowy, a 2024 graduate of Macalester College, will be racing in the men’s 1,000-meter event on Wednesday. McDermott-Mostowy, a neuroscience major who plans to attend medical school after he’s done speedskating, has competed for the United States four times — including three whole he was in college. VERBATIM: McDermott-Mostowy’s training schedule was intense, often causing him to miss classes to travel and compete, but he found the administration and individual professors to be wholeheartedly supportive. ‘My last semester at Mac, I was leaving every single weekend for the first month of the semester, so I missed every single Friday. I would schedule my classes so that I wouldn’t have classes on Thursday, and then I could leave on Thursday, compete at World Cups Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then fly back Sunday night.’ ”

ONE MORE DISTINCTION: McDermott-Mostowy said he’s the only openly gay man on Team USA. VERBATIM: “I look at it almost as an obligation, especially right now, to be out. And I think that it’s important [for younger athletes] to know that queer people are in sports, and also that you can be in sports if you are a queer person.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/skater0205

ATHLETES SPEAK OUT: Via Doha Madani at NBC News: Several Minnesota Olympians, as well as other Team USA members, have spoken out about the government’s immigration surge in Minnesota. There’s a history of political expression at the Olympics that dates back to 1906 when Irish track athlete Peter O’Connor finished second in the long jump and scaled a flagpole to replace the British flag with an Irish nationalist banner to protest having to compete for Britain before Ireland gained independence. VERBATIM: “Figure skater Alysa Liu, who is from California, has been sharing posts to her Instagram Stories this week about the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. She also shared a post on Thursday urging people to call their representatives in Congress to oppose the current funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees immigration enforcement.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/protest0205

JESSIE DIGGINS POSTS: Via Instagram. VERBATIM: “I want to make sure you know who I’m racing for when I get to the start line at the Olympics. I’m racing for an American people who stand for love, for acceptance, for compassion, honesty and respect for others. I do not stand for hate or violence or discrimination. I get to decide who I’m racing for every single day, and how I want to live up to my values. For everyone out there caring for others, protecting their neighbors and meeting people with love — every single step is for you. YOU are the ones who make me proud to carry the flag, and I hope I can bring you joy over these next few weeks.” POST: https://fluence-media.co/jessie0205

AND FINALLY: Take 71 seconds and watch Anthony Edwards be Anthony Edwards. (Parental advisory: Charming child alert.) https://fluence-media.co/ant0205

THANKS FOR READING AND WRITING: Back with more next week.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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SHUT IT DOWN? Via Jim Souhan at Star Tribune. His column chastised the disconnect between small business owners that shut down for the general strike on Friday and the “open letter” signed by more than 60 large Minnesota businesses — including all six major pro sports teams — “calling for state, local and federal officers to work together.” VERBATIM: “By avoiding taking sides, by not acknowledging what is actually happening, these supposed leaders accomplished nothing. Now it’s time for our rich sports owners to take the baton. Shut it all down until it’s safe for every Minnesotan to drive to a sports venue without being rammed, beaten, abducted or killed. Hold news conferences where you put yourselves on the line and defend your employees who could easily be targeted. Use your wealth, and the power that accompanies wealth in America, to protect your fans and employees, any of whom could be shot, beaten, gassed, rammed or abducted the next time they encounter federal agents.” COLUMN: https://fluence-media.co/souhan0129

READ THE LETTER: https://fluence-media.co/letter0129

BUSINESS AS USUAL? Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. Twins chairman Tom Pohlad was asked about canceling TwinsFest, the annual two-day event that started on the night of the strike. VERBATIM: “Listen, no matter what you think, we all see what is going on in our community and we understand what we’ve all been through in the last five years. It’s heartbreaking. Is there an argument to be made to cancel TwinsFest? Sure. But I think the Twins are about bringing people together and the community together. It’s for a good cause. The Twins community fund does great things. . . . I think it was the right thing to move forward with the event.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/cancel0129

ELSEWHERE: Athletes and those connected to them made an assortment of statements, ranging from ICE OUT shirts worn by one Minnesota college basketball team and the Minnesota Slam Squad, which performed at Sunday’s Wolves-Golden State game, to social media posts. Here are a few:

And there is a place for humor in troubled times. My friend, Twin Cities digital designer Jaime Chismar, found legendary Star Tribune sports columnist Sid Hartman kitted up in the cold.

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THE PAUL ALLEN MESS: KFAN 9 a.m. to noon host Paul Allen remained off the air Thursday in the aftermath of comments he made about “paid protesters” on his radio show last week. He also deleted a Saturday post about a local TV basketball commentator in which he used the term “firing bullets.” Allen recorded an apology that was played on the air Monday morning, adding that he would be “taking a few days off.” Eric (Nordo) Nordquist filled in for Allen on Thursday after other substitute hosts worked earlier in the week.

HOW IT STARTED: Via John Shipley at Pioneer Press. VERBATIM: “Before tens of thousands of protesters marched in Minneapolis on Friday to demand Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents leave Minnesota, they were mocked by the voice of the Minnesota Vikings. The protestors marched from Commons Park at the edge of downtown to a rally at Target Center in temperatures that hovered around 10 degrees below zero. While discussing the cold with former Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway, Allen said, ‘In conditions like this, do paid protesters get hazard pay? Those are the things that I’ve been thinking about this morning.’ The moment was saved by the web site awfulannouncing.com and can be heard here. . . . The remark, which pushes a baseless narrative that protesters are paid by left-wing groups, is commonly made to undermine the importance of social protest.” FULL STORY AND FOLLOW-UP: https://fluence-media.co/pa0129

MORE: Via Max Winters at Daily Mail’s U.S. Edition. VERBATIM: “Allen also deleted an X post Saturday after using the phrase ‘firing bullets’ to describe Big Ten Network college basketball analyst Parker Fox’s on-air work: ‘My man @Parkerfox24 firing bullets on #HockeyDayMinnesota,’ Allen wrote in response to Fox’s interview with a youth hockey player. ‘Such a cool annual day, and PFox taking part is a nice touch.’ Later, Allen said he deleted the post because he did ‘not know at that time about the shooting of a man in MPLS.’ “ STORY: https://fluence-media.co/tabloid0129

ALLEN’S APOLOGY: Via Awful Announcing. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/apology0129

HARTMAN DEFENDS PA: Chad Hartman, the WCCO-AM afternoon host, defended Allen in an X post. VERBATIM: “(Allen) has been my friend for 30 years. I get that my objectivity could be questioned. I didn’t like the joke, considering our times, absolutely inappropriate. PA is not political! If you listen at all, you know that. He made a bad mistake. We are humans, they happen.” POST AND REACTIONS: https://fluence-media.co/chad0129

WHAT’S AHEAD? There are several stakeholders in Allen’s future: The three main ones are KFAN, the Vikings and Canterbury Park, where he is the track announcer (and one of the best in the nation). MY TAKE: Allen will be shown grace by the radio station and the race track. His future with the Vikings is safe unless owners Mark and Zygi Wilf decide otherwise. HISTORY: In 2001, the Vikings hired a play-by-play announcer who was forced to resign before the season started after Minnesota Spokesman Recorder journalist Larry Fitzgerald Sr. wrote about a series of racist comments the broadcaster had made while working in California. Allen became the voice of the Vikings one year later.

READ THAT STORY: https://fluence-media.co/vikings0129

WALKING IT BACK: Gosh golly, the Vikings have some unfortunate connections to next weekend’s Super Bowl. There’s Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold, of course, who was cast aside for J.J. McCarthy last year, when he couldn’t get the Vikings beyond their first playoff game after a 14-3 regular-season record. The Vikings also did a major makeover of their offensive line, which yielded sack after sack (nine total) in that playoff loss to the Rams. And there’s New England center Garrett Bradbury, who was fired in that makeover, and has reemerged as a fierce protector of Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. Let’s go to the apologies:

APOLOGIES, Pt. 1: Via Chip Scoggins at Star Tribune. Throwing aside an excellent season because of a season-ending loss to Detroit and the Rams meltdown wasn’t smart. VERBATIM: “I was wrong about Sam Darnold. Dead wrong. . . . Darnold face-planted against Detroit. Blame for the Rams debacle belonged as much with an overmatched offensive line and head coach Kevin O’Connell’s play-calling as Darnold’s ineffectiveness. That was a collective failure. Those two performances clouded all that preceded it, convincing the Vikings and many outside observers that the original quarterback plan remained the best option. This is where a series of miscalculations began.” FULL APOLOGY: https://fluence-media.co/sam0129

APOLOGIES: Pt. 2: Via Mark Craig at Star Tribune. After scapegoating Bradbury, the Vikings signed free-agent center Ryan Kelly, who’d been with Indianapolis. VERBATIM: “Like many, this observer took the cheese and loved the Kelly signing initially. He was bigger, stronger. He looked the part more so than Bradbury. Then the season started. And we discovered that not only was Kelly older than Bradbury, he was also woefully less durable. Three concussions increased Kelly’s career total to six and were the leading cause of him missing nine games. A year after he missed seven games. Kelly played 329 snaps. That’s 72% of the eight games he appeared in. Bradbury played 1,072 regular-season snaps. That’s 98% of the 17 games he played. And, oh yeah, Bradbury has allowed only one sack in 20 games this season. . . . Dear Garrett, Sorry, man. My bad.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/garrett0129

LOOK AHEAD: Via Purple Insider. The newsletter is running a multipart series looking at issues facing the Vikings for 2026. Five parts have been published so far, including the quarterback situation. An interesting chart shows the performance of “quarterbacks through 10 starts since 2010 who were either first or second-rounders but were not drafted in the top five picks, ranked by Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt.” McCarthy ranks 33rd of the 40 QBs just ahead of . . . Christian Ponder. It needs to be noted that Josh Allen of the Bills and Geno Smith of the Raiders rank below the Vikings duo. VERBATIM: “The bottom line is that there is no way the Vikings coaching staff or front office can be sure that McCarthy can take the franchise back to the playoffs in 2026. . . . The Vikings have to do better than a high-quality backup. The question is: Do they have to find legitimate competition or do they have to find a starter?” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/purple0129

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PROBLEM AND A DEADLINE: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. The NBA trade deadline is 2 p.m. next Thursday and the struggling Timberwolves need to figure out how to handle their biggest issue — the lack of quality play from its bench. Three second-year players who were counted on at season’s start — Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Jaylen Clark — haven’t lived up to expectations. Veteran Mike Conley only helps sporadically in his back-up role. Naz Reid and Bones Hyland have been the only reliable second-teamers. VERBATIM: “Fortunately, Wolves president Tim Connelly is exceedingly well qualified for this. A congenital networker who gives glad-handing a good name, he can sort bluffs and believe-its with rare acuity, or simply bypass the shenanigans with well-placed honesty among his brethren. That’s not in doubt. The mystery is what cards he holds and wants to play. Is Dillingham a mistake to be parted with? Is Shannon exposed or still intriguing? Given the scarcity of first-round picks at his disposal, can he make any meaningful roster tweak without touching his top six? Would karma punish him for trading the classy Conley?” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/wolves0129

TOP 30 TRADE CANDIDATES: Via Ricky O’Donnell at SB Nation. In his list of the 30 most likely players to be traded in 2026, Dillingham is No. 21 and Shannon is No. 28. No. 3 on the list is New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns. VERBATIM: “Towns probably won’t get traded at the deadline, but the probability that he’s traded will rise significantly this summer if the Knicks fail to make the 2026 NBA Finals.” LIST: https://fluence-media.co/trade0129

ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION: After one promising season and two terrible ones, the Twins unloaded infielder Edouard Julien on the Colorado Rockies, who lost an MLB-worst 119 games last season, along with pitcher Pierson Ohl, who finished the season on the staff after the trade-deadline dismantling. The Twins received minor-league pitcher Jace Kaminska, who missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery. Kaminska was considered the No. 20 prospect in the Rockies’ organization in 2025, according to Keith Law of The Athletic.

BIG TIME WANNABES: Via Chris Murray at Nevada Sportsnet. FCS superpower North Dakota State would like to move up to the NCAA’s highest level, the Football Bowl Subdivision, and wouldn’t mind a phone call from the Mountain West Conference, which currently has nine members for football. The Bison have won 10 of the last 15 FCS titles. Also, of the 16 schools that have won FCS titles in the last 30 years, half are now playing at the FBS level. AD Matt Larsen told Fargo radio show host Dom Izzo that he understands the constant queries from team supporters. VERBATIM: “I think the reason I get asked that is the same reason there’s a level of interest on campus is because of where our football program, what we’ve been able to accomplish collectively as an institution, as a fan base, all of those things and looking at potential upside. I completely get the questions and I don’t get frustrated by them. I get frustrated by not having a different answer.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ndsu0129

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CURL CONTROVERSY REKINDLING? Via Lesley Ryder on Bluesky. Last month, Frost forward and Olympian Britta Curl-Salemme sat for an interview with The Athletic in which she tried to walk back her previous social media activity that supported opposition to participation by transgender women in women’s sports. Among other things, she said that her “likes” on social media were more bookmarks than support and that the perception of her is a “misunderstanding.” QUOTE: “The person that has been painted and what has been shared, that sounds like a s—-y person. Someone who’s racist, transphobic, hateful and wants people to not exist, I wouldn’t like them either.” MORE: Along with her husband, Curl-Salemme reached out in various ways to the LGBTQ+ community and had been granted grace by some for her efforts. That grace will be tested after Curl-Salemme posted an Instagram video to her page and to the page of a group called FIERCE Athlete, a Catholic-based organization whose fund-raising page says that it fights “Transgender Ideology in Sport,” promotes “true femininity in sports” and whose X feed includes posts from high-profile anti-trans influencer Riley Gaines. INSTAGRAM VIDEO | FIERCE ATHLETE BLOG

READ: The Athletic article. WATCH: Curl-Salemme’s video explanation posted last year.

PATH TO SAINTHOOD: Via Lauretta Brown at OSV News. This feature story on Curl-Salemme references her involvement with FIERCE Athlete and hockey’s role in her life. VERBATIM: “Ultimately, Curl-Salemme does see hockey as one of her ‘paths to be a saint.’ She said there’s a lot to learn from ‘the daily ins and outs of being on a team and being with tons of different people with different backgrounds and different personalities and the way that, as a team sport, you’re tested to sometimes die to yourself and put the team ahead of yourself. It’s such good practice for greater life and things that Jesus is asking you to do. I kind of see it as like a little training, a little training table for heaven and for how I’m supposed to be.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/britta0129

REQUEST DENIED: Curl-Salemme scored two goals for the Frost in their 4-1 victory over Vancouver on Wednesday, the last game until March 1 because of the Olympic break in the PWHL schedule. She was not one of the two players made available for the postgame media session — despite a reporter’s request — and instead did an on-ice interview with Kevin Gorg. The Frost are in second place with 28 points through 15 games, two points behind Boston.

WOMEN’S RUGBY FOR BEGINNERS: An entry-level women’s and gender-inclusive rugby team, the Nokomis Lake Monsters, is forming with the intent of playing in the lowest level of the Minnesota Rugby Union. “Our primary goal is to help expand access to rugby in the Twin Cities, while also working with queer organizations to connect youth with queer-friendly physical activities,” said Finn Odum, the team’s organizer. More about the team and contact information is on Instagram

GOFUNDME FOR PREP HOCKEY WRITER: Former Star Tribune reporter David La Vaque was saluted at Tuesday night’s boys’ game between Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Bloomington Jefferson. La Vaque, 50, has been diagnosed with leukodystrophy, a disorder that impacts the central nervous system, and is currently living in a Twin Cities assisted living facility, where Benilde coach Ken Pauly is a frequent visitor. As part of a pregame ceremony, La Vaque was presented with a jersey from his alma mater, St. Paul Johnson, where he graduated in 1994. A GoFundMe to help with his expenses has been established here.

THEY LIKED THAT: Via Ben Axelrod at Awful Announcing. Taking over for Matt Ryan, who was recently named president of the Atlanta Falcons, former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins earned major praise for his work as a studio analyst on the CBS broadcast of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game between Denver and Buffalo. VERBATIM: “Unlike his reputation as a quarterback, Cousins’ performance on television was anything but polarizing. Throughout CBS’ pregame, halftime, and postgame presentation, the 4-time Pro Bowl selection received praise from a variety of viewers impressed by his acumen as an analyst.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/cousins0129

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TARTAN, WAYZATA . . . AND BUFFALO: Via Marcus Fuller at Strib Varsity. The Lake Conference is filled with the glamour teams of Class 4A boys’ basketball. Wayzata, Hopkins, Maple Grove, Eden Prairie. But the conference has been shocked by the surprising emergence of Buffalo. The Wright County school, 40 miles from Minneapolis, has a 15-1 record and is No. 3 in the latest 4A state poll behind Tartan and Wayzata. The wins include a three-game run of road victories at Hopkins, Maple Grove and Minnetonka in an eight-day stretch earlier this month. Friday night brings a 7 p.m. rematch at home with Wayzata, which thumped the Bison 91-60 on Jan. 6. LIVESTREAM | TICKETS

MORE: The team is led by sophomores Eli Hegle (22.5 points per game) and Thomas Jordan (19 ppg). Hegle played junior varsity last season; Jordan, the tallest starter at 6-foot-4, was a varsity reserve. VERBATIM: “Buffalo won’t blow you away with size or athleticism, but its brand of basketball is a beauty to watch. There’s excellent ball movement and execution with offensive sets. Every player who steps on the floor defends and will outwork opponents with intensity, effort and discipline. The bench brings energy by celebrating each play. Double teams? No problem. Hegle and Jordan find teammates in stride for backdoor cuts and wide-open three-pointers on kick-out passes. They both can drive to the basket or knock down shots from deep range, but they also love post touches. FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/buffalo0129

SMALL SCHOOL, BIG HOPES: Liberty Classical Academy of White Bear Lake is the only metro-area school in the latest Class 1A basketball rankings, boys or girls, with its boys’ team moving into 10th place in the latest poll. The Lions are 17-0 and have topped 100 points eight times. They’ll get a tough challenge Saturday when they play Rushford-Peterson (15-3) at 1:15 p.m. in the Kasson-Mantorville Invitational in southern Minnesota. POLLS: https://fluence-media.co/polls0129

BEST RESORT COURSES 2026: Via Jason Lusk at Golfweek. Temperatures hovering on either side of zero don’t mean you can’t start thinking about golf. The annual Golfweek ranking of Top 200 resort courses in the United States includes four in northern Minnesota. The Quarry Course at Giants Ridge in Biwabik is ranked at No. 35, Wilderness at Fortune Bay in Tower in No. 88, The Classic Course at Madden’s on Gull Lake is No. 106 and the Legend Course at Giants Ridge is No. 123. VERBATIM: “This list focuses on the courses themselves, not the resorts as a whole or other amenities.” FULL LIST: https://fluence-media.co/golf0129

AND FINALLY: Via Mitchell Atencio at Sojourner. Among the most outspoken Twin Cities sports voices since the ICE surge in the Twin Cities has been Timberwolves chaplain Matt Moberg, a graduate of the seminary at Bethel University in Arden Hills. VERBATIM: “As a lifelong resident of Minnesota’s Twin Cities and a minister trained in de-escalation, Matt Moberg has spent many of his past mornings at the Whipple Building in Minneapolis alongside those protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement descending on their cities. He’s spent his nights at the 19,000-seat arena in the Target Center, as a chaplain to the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves. ‘Sports can be done and sports can be held—and I think the Timberwolves in particular do it well— not as a distraction from real-life unfoldings,’ Moberg told Sojourners. ‘It’s a way to go, we’re still going to come together, not in spite of that, but because of that, and figure out how we can move forward together.’ “

MORE: “Now, Moberg’s found himself in a small spotlight after his words reflecting on faith and social justice went viral on social media, where he chastised churches for ‘posting prayers for peace and unity today while my city bleeds in the street. Don’t dress avoidance up as holiness. Don’t call silence ‘peacemaking. Don’t light a candle and think it substitutes for showing up.’ ” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/chaplain0129

MOBERG’S INSTAGRAM POST: https://fluence-media.co/post0129

THANKS FOR READING: Back with more next week. Be safe.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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ON THE WEB:
Bluesky: @howardsinker.bsky.social
Instagram: @howardsinkermn

ESPN’s comprehensive TV and streaming service listings: https://fluence-media.co/watch

SOLID YOUNG MEN: Via Jim Souhan at Star Tribune. Two sophomore wrestlers at Mounds View High School combined to do a great thing for a River Falls opponent. Competing against a wrestler with Down syndrome, Christian Uy and Julian Sherman grappled with their opponent for almost their entire matches before allowing Kolton Claflin to pin them. Uy’s loss got Claflin into the winners bracket; Sherman’s resulted in Claflin finishing in third place. VERBATIM: “I thought they’d let Kolton get to the end and then pin him, so their wrestler would get third place,” Claflin’s mother said. “Then he let Kolton pin him. Kolton was so happy. He went around high-fiving everybody, and when we got in the car, he said, ‘Mom, that’s the best day of my life.’ In a world where everything is so messed up, my son got to feel like everybody else feels when they win.”

MONEY QUOTE: “I just felt like it would be a nice little deal,” Uy said. “I felt, during the match, that it’s just a match and I’ll have more. This kid, I believed that he should win. It would make him really happy.” TWO THOUGHTS: Some folks taught the Mounds View wrestlers well. Also, when Souhan goes into storytelling mode, his columns are a must-read. FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/wrestle0122

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ADRIAN HEATH KIDNAPPED: Via Paul Tenorio at The Athletic. “As the sun disappeared beneath the horizon on a drive across the northern tip of Morocco, Adrian Heath couldn’t help but think of the places football had taken him. . . . Then he turned to look at his kidnapper in the driver’s seat of the four-door sedan and wondered whether it would be football that now ended his life.” That’s the opening of an astonishing story about former Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath, who though he was going to Morocco in November 2024 to sign a contract to coach a football team in Saudi Arabia. It was a scam. Heath was being kidnapped and held for a six-figure ransom. Instead of a five-star hotel, he was taken to an apartment and held at knifepoint. “You obviously realize that this isn’t what you thought it was going to be. This is how it’s going to work: You’re going to send us money.” Extraordinarily quick and smart thinking by his wife, Jane Heath, and other family members led to his release without paying up 24 hours later — events that also involved a stunning mistake by the kidnappers. The Heaths told their story to Tenorio, the Athletic reporter, last month after hearing from the FBI that the scam had been pulled on another coach.

VERBATIM: “When Adrian thinks back to that final drive in Morocco, he realized how much the sport still means to him. He wants to work again, if only to have football bring something positive to his life, as it has for so long. ‘I’ve got a new respect for how good our life is and how good I’ve had it,” he said. “I’ve worked hard, but I’ve had a great life. We’re talking about a year ago, virtually now, and I was sitting there that night thinking, ‘This is it and I’ve still got so much I want to do. And so I still want to coach. I still want to get back out there. I’ve still got the enthusiasm. I know it sounds stupid, I’m thinking this is it, this is the end of it all. But the next part of it is really me talking about it and then getting back into it now.’ For Heath, it’s a mission to reinforce what he felt that night when he imagined the worst: that he wasn’t done yet” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/heath0122 (If the link hits a paywall, another version of the story is here.)

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CONSUMING SPORTS: The two stories above are prime examples of why it’s necessary to make the pivot from the old ways of following sports. The old ways are gone. Stack them with your DVD player, checkbook register and COVID vaccine card.. My last full-time job was editing the sports web site at Star Tribune, and I still get asked how I follow Minnesota sports. It took a while to figure things out, but I think what works for me can work for you. It’s a shift, but only a seismic one if you’re still stuck wholly in the past.

*Print newspapers are dead to me. There were early deadlines and smaller sections before Star Tribune shut down its presses last month and moved printing the paper (and the Pioneer Press) to Iowa. The “print edition” had already become useless for late news and for a comprehensive report. Now, it’s even more so. The daily sports section has become a news magazine of stories, many of them having appeared on web sites days earlier. And it’s only a matter of time before daily print disappears entirely. As a former Twin Cities news executive recently said on social media: “You need to make digital king for sports and breaking news. That requires a different staffing model. The print product should look like a NEWS magazine. But the bottom line, folks, is yesterday’s gone.”

*The problem: Shrinking staffs mean less quality coverage. Sports departments at the Strib and PiPress aren’t automatically staffing events – Gophers home games, pro teams on the road – that used to be routinely covered. Other topics are ignored or covered sporadically. As their replacement, web coverage still hasn’t filled the void. Some days, for example, I can find a St. Thomas basketball result. Other days, I can’t. Adequate staffing is a problem. Resistance to change is still an issue. Each web site has its strengths: Star Tribune has a larger staff and goes deeper on Vikings and high school coverage; Pioneer Press writers pinball from topic to topic and the section makes better use of part-time staff to cover local stories. That’s why I need to read both daily.

*The solution: Well-read Minnesota sports fans need to diversify their portfolio and look for value while doing so. (Sorry to sound like my financial advisor.) The regular rate for a Star Tribune subscription, for example, is $260 per year. But there are frequent discounts, most recently a $50 offer for one year. The Pioneer Press offers even more deeply discounted introductory rates for one year. You need to track your expiration dates and cancel before a full-price automatic renewal. Going through that process may result in another discounted offer being made. Or cancel and start over with a new discount.

*Other stuff: I use ESPN for national news and subscribe to The Athletic, which also offers discounts, and regularly read several strong local sites. The Athletic is tough competition for the locals on men’s professional sports and national WNBA news, in part because its Twin Cities-based staff is backed up by a team of national writers. I read MinnPost for its sports analysis; Matthew Coller’s Purple Insider for its Vikings coverage, and Twins Daily. I follow Charles Hallman at the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder. Gophers pages operated by Sports Illustrated are a mix of commentary and links to stories on other sites. Heather Rule’s hockey Substack is the best source of Minnesota Frost game coverage. Some things I pay for; others I go as far as free versions will allow. And, yes, I go to team and league sites – knowing that objectivity isn’t king. I use my social media feeds, especially Facebook, to take me to stories I might not otherwise see. That’s where I first saw the Heath story posted above.

*Overall: Legacy media isn’t doing itself any favors with its hit-or-miss approach to many sports topics, but subscribing and using their web sites supports talented writers and resourceful reporting that isn’t available elsewhere. (I’d pay just to read Chris Hine cover the Wolves for the Strib and Andy Greder breaking Gophers and Minnesota United news at the Pioneer Press.) As readers, we’re not being dealt a great hand anywhere right now. Until that changes — and it needs to — we need to forage to feed our sports appetite and pay for things we find satisfying.

WHAT ELSE DO YOU READ?: Share with me. sportstake100@gmail.com

ANOTHER ANNOYING LOSS: Following a pattern discussed in last week’s Sports Take, the Timberwolves folded at Utah on Tuesday night, their third loss in a row. The Jazz are 15-29 and were playing without several key players. The Wolves were at full strength and looked disinterested on defense, blowing a 15-point lead in the second half — a season-worst breakdown. The Wolves were outscored 43-26 in the fourth quarter. I’m still reasonably certain the Wolves can make a strong playoff run, but that’s down from the total certainty I’d like to carry.

LACK OF LISTENING: Via Chris Hine at Star Tribune. In Hine’s weekly newsletter, Anthony Edwards admitted “most of the time, we don’t listen to the game plan.” Mike Conley, the 38-year-old point guard, said: “It's just maybe the day and age of young players now. But it’s something that, all jokes aside, we have to be better at; we have to be more serious collectively.” Coach Chris Finch offered an admonition and some spin. VERBATIM: “Certainly part human nature. Part of it’s just in our DNA. As much as we want it to be different, every team has its own personality. This team has shown the ability to get bored at times. We got to do a better job of meeting some of the lower moments. This team always meets the high moments. And I think what Ant was really saying is not that we disregard [the] game plan, it’s that sometimes we look for shortcuts and easy ways out, and that’s not going to get it done on a night-to-night basis.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wolves0122

HOT NEW RIVALRY: Via Jared Weiss and Jon Krawczynski at The Athletic. If you watched Saturday’s Wolves-Spurs game, you probably remember that the Spurs won 126-123, snuffing out a huge Wolves comeback try. More memorable, though, was the late-game shot-making-battle between Anthony Edwards and San Antonio’s 7-foot-5 Victor Wembanyama. Edwards scored 55 points, Wembanyama scored 39. The rivals traded clutch fourth-quarter baskets that turned the arena rowdy. Is Ant vs. Wemby going to become the newest NBA rivalry following the path Bird vs. Magic, and Kobe vs. Shaq, among others? VERBATIM: “It’s an honor and it’s the best thing to have the best players go as hard as they can,” Wembanyama said. “First of all, it makes us better, it makes me better. And it’s a show of respect, of progress stepping up because now the standings make us that we are a respectable team.” STORY AND HIGHLIGHTS: https://fluence-media.co/rivals0122

STICKER SHOCK: Via Michael Rand at Star Tribune. Wolves season-ticket holders received their renewal notices this week and several reported steep increases. VERBATIM: “Two different fans who have season tickets in the lower bowl said they saw increases of 25% and 37%, respectively. Fans with upper bowl tickets reported smaller increases. The cheapest season ticket, in the upper level, is now $21 per game.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/tickets0122

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BRIAN FLORES TRACKER (WEEK 2): Via Andrew Krammer at Star Tribune. The drama appears to be over. Brian Flores signed a new contract Wednesday to remain as Vikings defensive coordinator — unless he leaves to become head coach for Pittsburgh or Baltimore, two teams that have interviewed him for their openings. VERBATIM: “The identity of our defense is a reflection of his leadership and preparation,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “On a personal level, I’ve really valued the relationship we’ve built over the last three years, and that shared trust, alignment and high standard will continue to be critical to our success.”

STAFF CHANGES: “There will be changes to the Vikings’ coaching staff regardless of Flores’ status. O’Connell is searching for a new offensive line coach after letting Chris Kuper’s contract expire at the end of this season. Safeties coach Michael Hutchings left to be Cal’s defensive coordinator. Defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator Daronte Jones has been requested for four interviews for defensive coordinator openings.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/coach0122

BIGGER PICTURE: Via Matthew Coller at Purple Insider. Keeping Flores is especially important because their NFC North rivals — Chicago, Green Bay and Detroit — all have elite offenses. His return will compel the Vikings to turn the majority of their attention to the offense. VERBATIM: “The consistency of the defense makes it easier to focus efforts on the offensive side. The historical data suggests that teams who reach the Super Bowl generally outscore their opponents by somewhere in the ballpark of 100 points or more over a season. This year’s four finalists produced +191, +172, +170 and +90. The Vikings were +11 as Flores’ defense held up its end of the bargain by ranking seventh in points allowed. But the 26th ranked offense would need to gain at least 90 more points to put them in serious discussion as a contender. With Flores back, the onus turns to Kevin O’Connell to get much greater production out of the quarterback position.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/offense0122

LYNX RELEASE SCHEDULE: The Lynx announced their 44-game schedule Wednesday. The opener is May 10 vs. Atlanta at Target Center. Obviously, the schedule is contingent on a labor agreement being reached, but the release allows WNBA teams to sell tickets, create ticket plans for 2026 and formalize arena dates. WORTH NOTING: 1. The Lynx host Caitlin Clark and Indiana on Aug. 2 (a Sunday noon) game and on Sept. 24 to close the regular season. 2. Paige Bueckers comes home with her Dallas team on June 9 and Aug. 9. 3. The Lynx have consecutive home-and-away games against Washington, Connecticut, Toronto and Indiana. 4. The Commissioner’s Cup series will be played from June 1-17 with the championship game on June 30, Minnesota won the cup in 2024 and lost in the title game to Indiana last season. SCHEDULE: https://fluence-media.co/lynx0122

NEGOTIATIONS: Via Jackie Powell at NBC Sports. Here’s a big-picture view of the issues and where each side stands. https://fluence-media.co/labor0122

BUECKERS CASHES IN: Via Cat Ariail at Swish Appeal. In addition to being the third-leading scorer in Unrivaled, Paige Bueckers won $50,000 by winning the league’s free-throw competition that was held over the first two weeks of the season. She hit all 13 of her free throws during the season’s first five games. Bueckers is averaging 23.4 points per game and leads the three-on-three league with 6.8 assists per game. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/paige0122

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TOO COLD FOR HOCKEY? Via Joe McCoy at KARE-11. Organizers of the U.S. Pond Hockey championships have cancelled the opening party scheduled for tonight on Lake Nokomis and Friday’s games because of the big chill coming through Minnesota. Games are still set in the 250-team tournament for Saturday and Sunday. In 2024, the tournament was also called off — because it was too warm. VERBATIM: “It definitely poses logistical challenges, but condensing the event into two days is the best option,” said tournament commissioner Scott Crowder. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/pond0122

OR IS IT? Via Drake Bentley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Most Hockey Day Minnesota events scheduled for today through Saturday on an outdoor rink in Hastings were still a go, as of Thursday morning. That includes a minor-league game between the Iowa Wild and Milwaukee Admirals set for 5 p.m. Friday. There are six other games scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The story includes a note from a Hockey Day post on Facebook. VERBATIM: “Fans attending Hockey Day Minnesota games on Friday and Saturday are encouraged to dress appropriately with multiple layers and blankets. Heated tents and fire pits will be available for fans to use throughout the complex.” STORY: https://fluence-media.co/hockeyday0122

ONE CHANGE: The Hockey Day game scheduled for Thursday afternoon between girls’ teams from Edina (No. 5 in Class AA) and Warroad (No. 1 in Class A) has been moved to Edina’s Braemar Arena at 2:35 p.m. LIVESTREAM

WEB UPDATES: Hockey Day Minnesota | U.S. Pond Hockey

TWINS ROASTED: Via Chad Jennings at The Athletic. In an article headlined, “Which teams are actually trying this winter, and which are sitting it out,” the author divided the 30 MLB teams into 10 tiers. Guess who’s among three teams in Tier 10. VERBATIM: “Last year’s trade deadline was a masterclass in fire-sale rebuilding. But rather than continuing full-steam in that direction, the Twins have held onto their remaining trade chips (starters Joe Ryan and Pablo López) while adding some third-tier free agents (first baseman Josh Bell, catcher Victor Caratini and infielder Orlando Arcia). If the rebuild is over, is this how the actual building begins?” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/twins0122

ROGERS RETURNING: Via Bobby Nightengale at Star Tribune. The Twins are bringing back former closer Taylor Rogers, who has pitched for five teams since being traded with outfielder Brent Rooker for pitchers Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan ar the start of the 2022 season. Rogers had 28 saves for the Padres that season, but hasn’t been used as a closer since then. He split 2025 between the Cubs and Reds. The 35-year-okd lefty had a 3.38 ERA in 58 games.

BASEBALL DIASPORA: Via Will Ragatz at Sports Illustrated. You don’t have enough fingers, toes, arms, legs and facial features to count the number of players who appeared in a game for the Twins last season who are no longer in the organization. A total of 31 players left in varying ways and 10 are still looking for work. Here’s a list of their current situations. VERBATIM: “If you recognize all of those names, you are officially a Twins sicko.” LIST: https://fluence-media.co/extwins0122

SADLY FOR THE TWINS: While the team’s ownership situation was in flux, other teams got a head start on pursuing relief pitchers, which is Minnesota’s biggest need. VERBATIM: “In most years, free agent relievers are typically the last position group to see much movement during the offseason because so many of them sign one-year contracts. This winter was different. Teams prioritized the top bullpen arms, especially ones with experience as a closer. Team President Derek Falvey acknowledged the Twins had a late start to their winter because ‘we were still trying to work through where we were organizationally, transition with ownership and lots of things going on.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/rogers0122

LOONS GETTING DEFENSIVE HELP? Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press: VERBATIM: “Minnesota United is interested in signing 20-year-old Dutch right back Cherrion Valerius from club NAC Breda, a source confirmed to the Pioneer Press on Thursday. MNUFC’s preseason pursuit of a right back could be filled by Valerius, a 6-foot-4 prospect with 34 games experience in the Dutch top flight, the Eredivsie. The Loons have been targeting a new player for that defensive position, which, in turn, would allow last year’s primary right back, Bongi Hlongwane, to return to more-natural attacking positions. . . . Dutch reporter Joost Blaauwhof first reported the Valerius news on Thursday. He said Valerius has drawn interest from Scotland and Spain’s La Liga, but the Loons came first with a ‘substantial amount.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/loons0122

CHALLENGING SCHEDULE: The Gophers women’s hockey team, ranked third in the nation, takes on No. 15 St. Cloud State in a home-and-home series this weekend — 6 p.m. Friday in St. Cloud at 2 p.m. Saturday at Ridder Arena. Both games are on BIG+. Things get spicier next weekend with a home series against No. 1 Wisconsin and in three weeks at No. 2 Ohio State. AND THE MEN? Unranked and with a six-game winless streak, the U men are at No. 2 Michigan State this weekend. (6 p.m. Friday on BIG+, 5 p.m. Saturday on BIG.) POLLS: WOMEN | MEN

OLYMPIC COUNT HITS 35: Via Star Tribune. When Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson Lacombe, from Eden Prairie and the U, was added to the men’s hockey team, he became the 35th athlete with Minnesota ties to join Team USA. UPDATED LIST: https://fluence-media.co/teamusa0122

GAME TO WATCH: No. 3 Wayzata plays at No. 1 Hopkins in Class 4A girls’ basketball at 7 p.m. Friday. Wayzata has a nine-game winning streak, including wins by more than 30 points in its last two games against Eden Prairie and St. Michael-Albertville. Hopkins is 15-1 with its only loss by one point against Dowling Catholic of Iowa — Caitlin Clark’s alma mater — in a Thanksgiving tournament. TICKETS | STATE BASKETBALL POLLS

NEW SUBURBAN SPORTS COMPLEX: Via Mars King at Pioneer Press. A $7.1 million youth sports complex is scheduled to open next year in Apple Valley. It is a partnership between the city and the area’s school district. Funding was approved by voters in a 2023 referendum. Part of the land for the project is owned by the school district that includes Apple Valley, Rosemount, Eagan and Eastview High Schools, said Eric Carlson, Apple Valley’s parks and recreation director. VERBATIM: “The land provided by the district is part of the Westview Elementary School site. . . .Once the project is completed, Westview students will have access to the new facilities for gym class and recess. High school sports teams for ISD 196 will use the facilities for softball, soccer, lacrosse and football, Carlson said. Also using the new facilities will be Valley Athletic Association, a nonprofit organization that serves students of ISD 196 communities, and Eastview Athletic Association, which offers sports programs to families living within the Eastview High School enrollment boundaries as well as the city of Apple Valley.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/complex0122

BUZZER-BEATER: Via Red Lake Youth Sports. Maybe it was that four players touched the ball in five seconds with only one dribble . . . or the team running over to greet a fan and then circling back for the handshake line. But I’ve watched this game-winning shot from a JV game between Red Lake and Nevis a bunch of times — and it keeps making me smile. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/shot0122

GOPHERS WIN NATIONAL TITLES! Via University of Minnesota. Wait, you didn’t know the U is a cheerleading and dance powerhouse? The Gophers just defended their national cheer and dance titles in Orlando, Fla. Minnesota has 30 national titles, 24 of them in the dance competition. The only injustice was Goldy Gopher finishing second to Ohio State’s Brutus Buckeye in the mascot contest. More NIL money for Goldy, please! Also, Minnesota State won a national dance title in its division. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/cheer0122

AND FINALLY: Via Madeline Hill at Impersonal Foul. What’s it like to compete at the dance nationals. VERBATIM: “Think of UDA Nationals as the dance world’s Super Bowl.” STORY AND MORE VIDEOS: https://fluence-media.co/dance0122

THANKS FOR READING, WATCHING AND DANCING: Back with more next week. Stay warm and safe.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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BRIAN FLORES TRACKER: This may become a weekly thing until we know what’s going on with Vikings’ defensive coordinator Brian Flores, whose contract has expired. The playing field shifted significantly when Mike Tomlin announced his resignation as Pittsburgh’s head coach on Tuesday after 19 seasons. HOT ANGLE: Before Tomlin went to the Steelers, he was the Vikings’ defensive coordinator for a season under Mike Tice. Many teams look to change direction with a coaching hire — including the Vikings going from Mike Zimmer (defensive background) to Kevin O’Connell (offense) and the Bears replacing Matt Eberflus with Ben Johnson. So why would Pittsburgh not follow that path?

VERBATIM: Via Mike DeFabo at The Athletic. “Shortly after the Dolphins fired Flores after a three-year run during which he compiled a 24-25 record, he brought a lawsuit against the NFL alleging a pattern of racist hiring practices by teams and racial discrimination during the interview process. At the time, he was somewhat of a pariah when the Steelers opened their doors to Flores, hiring him as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the 2022 season. The move helped Flores get back on track, and now, after three years as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator, he’s one of the hot names in this coaching cycle. A creative and innovative defensive mind, Flores would fit neatly into the Blitzburgh identity and could help make the most of a roster full of expensive, aging defensive stars.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/flores0115

A CASE FOR LEAVING: Via Jace Frederick at Pioneer Press. If Flores doesn’t land a head coaching job, his route to that goal may be best served by leaving the Vikings. VERBATIM: “Flores was brilliant this season, but the shine on his achievements was somewhat muted by the team’s flubs. If he went somewhere else — say, Washington or Dallas — and turned around a second defense in a short window, perhaps leading to championship-level team success thanks to the cemented quarterback play on the other side of the ball, that would be impossible for any organization to ignore.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/move0115

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REALLY THAT GOOD? COULD BE: The Timberwolves and Wild want to be viewed as title contenders this season and I will give them the benefit of any doubt about that. I have more doubts about the Wolves claiming that status, but I’m not going to argue it here or be overly concerned about some recent results. But I do have one fan-based concern to share.

ON THE WILD: The Wild won their first four games in the adrenaline rush that followed the Quinn Hughes trade. Since then, they’ve lost seven of 11 games, including three by shootout and one in overtime. A wacky schedule caused by the World Juniors moving into Grand Casino Arena forced a seven-game road trip into the recent schedule, but they also lost the final games before leaving town last month and their first two since returning last weekend. The Wild have a dozen more games before the three-week Olympic break, and then two dozen before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. Despite their recent results, the Wild are third in the Western Conference, with a seven-point gap on the fourth-place team. Good goaltending and another roster enhancement before the March 6 trade deadline would be the biggest keys to a title run. SCHEDULE, RESULTS | STANDINGS

ON THE WOLVES: This one is more interesting and more concerning. The Wolves have won seven of their last 10, including Tuesday’s 33-point thumping of Milwaukee and the weekend’s thrilling rally to beat the Spurs 104-103. The problem? The three losses in that stretch were to Brooklyn, Atlanta and Cleveland — all by 12 points or more against teams that are mediocre or worse. The 27-14 record is nice, but seven of the 15 teams in the West have a winning percentage of .600 or better. I have two main concerns: (1) Will losses to inferior teams cost them in playoff seeding? (2) No matter how good the Wolves are at their best, are they good enough for a playoff challenge that will likely include two of these three teams — defending champ Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Denver? I need to be convinced the Wolves are that good. SCHEDULE, RESULTS | STANDINGS

ANOTHER VIEW: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. The writer is bullish on the Wolves’ playoff chances for a number of reasons. VERBATIM: “I’ve been critical of the indifferent character of this team for much of this season, allowing themselves to be lulled into mediocrity by inferior opponents. But after losing seven straight games to opponents with winning records, the Wolves are locked and loaded and thriving against much tougher competition.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wolves0115

MY OTHER ISSUE: Aside from the NFL’s 17-game sprint, most title teams go through tough stretches on their way to championships — something we may forget here because, umm, Minnesota teams (aside from the Lynx) aren’t familiar with championships. I do have a consumer issue with the lackluster stretches from a consumer perspective because paying to see an NBA or NHL game feels wasted when a team’s effort is less than 100% After the 123-107 loss to Brooklyn (11-26) last month, Anthony Edwards acknowledged and understood the booing from fans and added “I guess this is just Timberwolves basketball.” It shouldn’t be. Not when the average ticket price is $73 for the Wolves (2025-26 data) and $112 for the Wild (2024-25). Multiply by two tickets (or four), add beer (or pop) and parking.

SOLUTION: Don’t let pro and major college sports be the default. Go to a small college or high school game, get your kids close to the action, park for free, buy cheap concessions. On the day the Wolves slumbered through their loss to the Nets, i went to see two of the top three boys’ basketball teams in the state at the time — Tartan vs. Maple Grove. “Courtside” seats, cheap soda and 110% effort. I got the better deal.

WORTH IT? How much are tickets to the Indiana-Miami NCAA title game on Monday? It’s a lot. CHART: https://fluence-media.co/tickets0115

REVENGE GAME: Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. After struggling on the court and off in his two seasons at Minnesota and leaving from a year in Tulsa, senior guard Braeden Carrington returned to The Barn on Tuesday and scored a career-high 21 points in Wisconsin’s 67-64 victory over the Gophers. Carrington, who was Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball as a senior at Park Center, hit seven three-pointers in 12 attempts and had some fun with Minnesota fans who trolled him throughout the game. VERBATIM: “I just wasn’t as confident as I am now, I think it obviously came down to, I was young, and I just let little things affect me a little more. As I grew, especially last year helped a lot with that. (The) coaching staff (at Tulsa), they instilled a lot of confidence in me. And coming here (to Wisconsin), it’s kind of the same thing. I’ve got a coaching staff that believes in me, knows what I can do, and obviously I have guys around me that believe in me, too. They want me to shoot the ball. They want me to go out there and perform.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/carrington0115

PORTAL CLAIMS COACHING VICTIM: Via Ned Seaton at Manhattan Mercury. Chris Klieman rose to prominence as head football coach at North Dakota State, where he was part of the Minnesota-fueled dynasty that has won 10 FCS titles, before leaving for Kansas State in 2019. Klieman, 58, didn’t take questions at the press conference when he announced his retirement, quietly slipping away and taking a quick trip to Fargo, where his son coaches and where a friend-of-Sports Take spotted him at a restaurant the next night. But he finally sounded off in an interview with Kansas State’s football beat writer a few days ago. TAKEAWAY: The transfer portal and all of its trappings made him do it.

VERBATIM: “I’ve been doing this for 35 years, (but) I’d die if I kept doing this job, I’d die. . . . I was gonna have a heart attack or I was gonna have a stroke. My blood pressure was through the roof. The stress and anxiety, not of winning and losing — my legacy is going to be fine on winning and losing.”

MORE: “I don’t blame any of these kids. It’s not their fault, but you get done playing Colorado, and come Monday, man, there’s 20 (agents) that want to know a number, or they’re ready to go into the portal. . . . That’s all I’m going to do the whole month of December and January, is work with whatever 80 of our kids to see if we can keep them, and if not, go work with 580 kids to fill the 30 spots we’re going to need, and that’s all of December and January. That’s not recruiting. That’s just finding ways to make deals. You’re just putting compensation packages together. And once again, that’s not me. That’s the way college football is, and I’m OK with that, but I don’t have to be a part of it if that’s the way it’s going down." FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/klieman0115

WHAT’S THE DEAL? Via Yahoo! Sports. Klieman made $5.25 last year and had $42.25 million remaining on a contract that ran through 2032. The contracts called for him to pay $6 million to Kansas State if he left with more than five years remaining on the deal. But that figure is likely to be renegotiated. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/deal0115

THE PERICH DECISION: Koi Perich would rather chase a national title by transferring to Oregon than play for his home-state school. It was a logical decision for the No. 1-ranked safety in the transfer portal, where he’ll join former Nebraska starting quarterback Dylan Raiola and former Baylor safety Carl Williams IV, also among the biggest names in the transfer portal at their positions. (Oregon lost six defensive backs and safeties through the portal.) QUESTION: Is this just a one-year stop for Perich, in light of quote from last year’s Minnesota media day? “I would just skip through college if I could and just gone straight to the Vikings. But you’ve got to do your three years.” REVENGE GAME? Won’t happen because Minnesota doesn’t play Oregon until 2028.

MY HALL OF FAME BALLOT: Results of baseball’s Hall of Fame balloting will be announced Tuesday. I’ve been a voter since in 2019, when I reached the required 10 consecutive years of membership in the Baseball Writers Association of America. My ballot is posted above. I added Felix Hernandez and Chase Utley this season to the six players I voted for last year. (You can vote for a maximum of 10.) I’m pretty certain Carlos Beltran will be elected this year and that Andruw Jones will either make it or miss by a handful of votes in his ninth year of the 10 that a player can be on the ballot. DRUG GUYS: Yes, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez were suspended for drug violations during their careers. That was a deal-breaker for me until Bud Selig, the commissioner who oversaw the “steroid era,” was inducted. You admit management, then you have to admit the workers. ADDING GUYS: People sometimes ask how can a player get added to your ballot? Did he suddenly become a hall of Famer? Valid questions. When you talk to experts and reassess data every year, opinions can change.

TORII HUNTER? Nope. I’d vote for him for the Hall of Very Good. No hometown favors. OTHER VOTES: You can see the ballots of voters who have made their ballots public on Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame Tracker, which currently includes the selections of about 45% of the voters. VOTERS: https://fluence-media.co/tracker0115

TWINS TOP 40 PROSPECTS: Via Aaron Gleeman at the Athletic. Gleeman’s annual list, which he’s done for 20 years, is the best of the deep dives into the Twins’ minor-league system. Among the current Top 10, three players were first-round picks, including No. 1 prospect Walker Jenkins, and three more were acquired during the July trading frenzy. VERBATIM: “It’s reasonable to think as many as seven of the Twins’ top 10 prospects will spend part of 2026 in the big leagues, including one of MLB’s elite prospects and several other consensus top-100 talents. Nearly every national ranking has the Twins’ system in the top 10 and it’s ready to start paying dividends.” LIST: https://fluence-media.co/prospects0115

IN LESS OPTIMISTIC NEWS: The Twins’ off-season player moves have so far been limited to second-tier first basemen and possible roster reserves. It’s been like a trip to Five Below for stocking stuffers. It would be nice to see some significant bullpen help, don’t you think? TRANSACTIONS: https://fluence-media.co/moves0115

THE WEIRDEST INJURY: Via Jayson Stark at The Athletic. The veteran baseball writer compiles an annual list of baseball’s quirkiest injuries and topping the 2025 list was former Twins infielder Jose Miranda, whose troubles only got worse last season after he was demoted to St. Paul following a major base-running mess-up. Now in the San Diego organization, we hope there isn’t a sequel to a story that involves a trip to Target and a case of water. THE STORY: https://fluence-media.co/jose0115

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FINDING THE ‘SECRET’: The Gophers women’s basketball team spit up big leads in the second half of games against Top 25 teams Maryland and Michigan earlier this season. On Sunday, they figured out that the secret to beating ranked teams may be to lose a big lead early and then rally. Minnesota jumped to a 10-0 lead and then fell behind 30-20 — and later by as many as 13 points — before a second-half comeback to beat No. 21 USC 63-62 on Sunday at the Barn. It also snapped a 36-game losing streak against Top 25 poll opponents that dated back to 2019. But the Gophers couldn’t run the streak to two, losing 76-58 to No. 3 UCLA on Wednesday. The Gophers are 12-5 on the season, 3-3 in the Big Ten and don’t face another ranked opponent until going to Iowa on Feb. 5. SCHEDULE, RESULTS | STANDINGS

WNBA FREE AGENCY STALLED: Via Annie Costabile at Front Office Sports (FOS). This would have been the week that WNBA free-agency would have started. But the labor dispute between the league and its players has resulted in a moratorium on signing until a deal is reached. That agreement was reached after players reacted strongly to a recent league memo telling teams they could begin the free agency process. VERBATIM: “The moratorium will apply specifically to free agency, sources told FOS, including the sending out of qualifying offers, core designations, signings, and all negotiations. An email was sent to front office executives on Monday evening explaining the terms of the moratorium, league sources told FOS. The free-agency pause will end once a new collective bargaining agreement is ratified.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wnba0115

FUN TO SEE: Via Chris Hine at Star Tribune. The Timberwolves blowout in Milwaukee on Tuesday featured teenage rookie Joan Beringer getting rotation minutes for the first time because of Rudy Gobert’s one-game suspension for flagrant fouls. Coach Chris Finch had a glowing review of Beringer’s 30-minute, 13-point showing. VERBATIM: “Hustle plays, just kept a number of balls alive. Got a couple tip-ins around the basket. Energy plays, hustle plays, challenged everything, loose balls, everything at the rim was contested. From where he was before he went to the G-League until now, you can just see he’s figured out the composure of how he needs to play and how to use his energy.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/beringer0115

LOGICAL BUT LOW PROFILE: Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. New Minnesota United head coach Cameron Knowles kept a low profile after joining the club five years ago and has served in a variety of roles, including interim coach between the departure of Adrian Heath and hiring of Eric Ramsay one month into the 2024 season. VERBATIM: “Over the last two years, I’ve seen nothing but growth in both his leadership (and) how he connects with the players, how the players respond to him,” chief soccer officer Khaled El-Ahmad said. “Then, when you know the whole situation with Eric moving on, (our) philosophy was very simple. We already knew what we wanted to do, and that’s why we acted very swiftly.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/knowles0115

BATTLE OF THE BEST: Via CCX Sports. Maple Grove, No. 4 in the most recent Class 4A poll, knocked off No. 1 Wayzata 77-75 on Tuesday. The Crimson were led by North Dakota State-bound point guard Max Iversen, who scored 25 points and 21 from junior forward Baboucarr Ann, who has an offer from the U. Maple Grove, which also features 7-foot-1 junior center Jack Thelen, plays at Edina at 7 p.m. Friday. MAPLE GROVE VS. EDINA TICKETS | STATE RANKINGS

BATTLE OF THE BEST II: Via Tris Wykes at Pioneer Press. No. 4 St. Thomas Academy avenged a 3-2 loss to No. 3 Edina earlier this month with a 3-2 victory in Tuesday’s rematch. St. Thomas is making another state tournament run despite losing 10 players from last season’s tournament team. Replacements include four seniors who were on the JV through their junior season. Are they good enough? VERBATIM: “I think so, but I’ll have a better idea a month from now,” coach Mark Strobel said. “We’ll see where our minds are heading into the playoffs. You have to get lucky but it’s hard work and buying into your team’s system in your own end. Because not a lot of high school kids want to play defense.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/stthomas0115

NEXT: St. Thomas plays Two Rivers at 7 p.m. tonight at West St. Paul and hosts Benilde-St. Margaret’s at 2 p.m. Saturday. TICKETS | STATE POLLS

‘HOCKEY DAY’ GETS HUGE: Hockey Day Minnesota started in 2007 as a one-day event in the border community of Baudette. Since then, it has moved around the state and grown. This year’s HDM is Jan. 24 in Hastings, but the event has expanded to a full week featuring more than 30 games at various levels that begin with four high school games on Saturday, entertainment, VIP access and shuttles to the site if you want to avoid the $20 parking fee. Organizers are expecting 10,000 fans to attend this Saturday’s games. The actual Hockey Day games on Jan. 24 feature the Hastings boys’ and girls’ teams as well as St. Thomas Academy. The hotter attractions are during the week, including Warroad vs. Edina in girls’ hockey at 4:30 p.m. Thursday and the Iowa Wild playing Milwaukee in an American Hockey League game at 5 p.m. Friday. SCHEDULE, TICKETS AND MORE

GOPHERS HOCKEY PLUMMETS: Hope that Minnesota’s men’s hockey team would regroup and come back stronger after a holiday break were dashed last weekend in a pair of losses at No. 9-ranked Penn State. The Gophers are fifth in the seven-team Big Ten, 8-12-1 overall and host No, 1 Michigan this weekend at Mariucci Arena. (7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday, FOX9+) HOW BAD IS IT? The Gophers haven’t finished under .500 since 1998-99, which was Doug Woog’s final season as head coach. One thing is clear. The Gophers and Coach Bob Motzko need to take advantage of the loosened rules on recruiting players from Canadian junior teams, which they didn’t do this season.

DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN: Via Joe Christensen at Strib Varsity. It’s tough enough to get tickets to the Class AA boys’ state hockey tournament, but it got even more difficult last year for the biggest fans of teams that advanced to the tournament semifinals and title games. Access codes intended for fans on the winning schools’ priority lists were being shared with others. Here’s how it played out for Stillwater, which lost to Moorhead 7-6 in the title game. VERBATIM: “Ponies activities director Nate Cox had a plan. At the designated time, he would release the code to the coaches and hockey families. Then, he would release the code to students and staff, then to Stillwater’s greater community in 10-minute intervals. ‘By the time that the code was emailed to students and staff and to our community, the tickets were already gone,’ Cox said. ‘I don’t want to throw my community under the bus, but when you make it to the state tournament for the first time in eight years, we just went nuts over it.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/tourney0115

AND FINALLY: Via Olivia Hicks at Strib Varsity. Want a next-level high school hockey experience? Have $63,500 for tuition, plus another $15,000 or so to cover hockey-related and other expenses? Say yes and you may be considering Shattuck St. Mary’s, the former military school and seminary that dates back to the 19th century in Faribault. Now, the school focuses in intensive programs in sports, academics and arts, including a hockey track for boys with pro hockey dreams. Sidney Crosby went there. So did Zach Parise and Macklin Celebrini, the No, 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft who plays for San Jose. The school’s teams play a national schedule and players have access, among other things, to a rink 24 hours a day.

VERBATIM: Tom Ward, Shattuck’s director of boys’ hockey, explained the admissions process. “To be one of the program’s 160 players, the process is similar to a college admissions cycle. Families fill out an inquiry form or contact the school anywhere from six to 18 months in advance. Then, Shattuck’s hockey staff vets players through video analysis before they make a trip to campus. While players are required to meet certain athletic qualifications, Ward couldn’t describe exactly what glimmer of potential he sees, just that he knows a hockey player when he sees one. ‘Hockey sense or moxie or whatever term you want to use,” Ward said. “We do hockey, and we do know hockey players. We know what one looks like and what one smells like at our level to be a good player and be competitive.’ “ FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/shattuck0115

ALSO: MORE ABOUT SHATTUCK ST. MARY’S, including an open house for prospective students on Monday.

THANKS FOR READING: Back with more next week.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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BACK TO WORK: — Happy 2026! Did you miss Sports Take while we were on vacation? Sports Take missed you and we have a lot to talk about. FIRST THINGS FIRST: I’m not making any New Year’s resolutions for myself or for any of the things we discuss here. But I was at a high school basketball game just after Christmas and was struck by this slogan on the Rochester Mayo warm-up jerseys: BE ABOUT IT. That’s going to be my expectation for the new year, whether it’s about what I write or what we should expect from the teams and athletes that get covered here. EXAMPLES? For the Wild, it means winning the Stanley Cup after the big Quinn Hughes trade. For the Twins, it’s restoring credibility after swapping out Pohlads and last summer’s roster demolition. For the Gophers and St. Thomas, it’s NCAA tournament berths. For Lindsey Vonn and Jessie Diggins, it’s more Olympic gold. Be aggressive, be all out, be better than expectations. Sometimes “be about it” is an admonition; sometimes it’s encouragement. No half-measures. Anything that gets done well can be done even better. That’s my stand for 2026. Let’s be about it! — Howard Sinker

YOU GO, NIKO! Via Chip Scoggins at Star Tribune. In addition to being the right coach for the Gophers — based on what we’ve seen so far — Niko Medved has a knack for saying the right thing. The latest example came after Minnesota’s upset of No., 19 Iowa. The Gophers aren’t playing like a hastily thrown together group that is down to a seven-player rotation owing to injuries and a talent gap at the end of the bench. VERBATIM: “‘Sometimes when there are no choices, you’re either going to embrace it or you’re going to give in. We’re not going to give in. We’re going to fight.’ Fans of basketball should love this team. They compete incredibly hard and play the right way.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/niko0108

NEXT: Home games at The Barn on Friday vs. USC (7:30 p.m., BIG) and Tuesday vs. Wisconsin (6 p.m., BIG). Announced attendance for the Iowa game was only 8,976. Getting a seat shouldn’t be a problem. TICKETS | STANDINGS

MORE MEDVED: Via Ryan James at Gopher Illustrated. VERBATIM: “College basketball matters in the Twin Cities. It really does. It's our job to make it matter. It's games like this that start to get that going again. I love having the students rush the court. It's supposed to be fun. You want them to come to the game and enjoy being there and rush the court. See us win. Enjoy it. They go home. They had a blast and you know they are probably going to show up Friday too. And they'll probably bring their friends. I hope they do. But that's how you get it back.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gophers0108

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LOONS COACH LEAVING: Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. After two seasons with Minnesota United, coach Eric Ramsay is leaving for West Bromwich Albion, which plays in England’s second-tier Championship League. The team is currently 18th in the 24-team league. VERBATIM: “Ramsay is under contract with the Loons for the upcoming 2026 season, and MNUFC will likely call for compensation from West Brom. A MNUFC spokesman had no comment on the news when contacted Thursday. . . . The timing is inopportune for MNUFC. Loons players report to training camp in Blaine this weekend, and the first training session is scheduled for Monday. Ramsay was expected to lead those sessions going into United’s first regular-season game Feb. 21 at Austin FC.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/mnufc0108

THE PERICH PROBLEM: Via John Shipley at Pioneer Press. Safety Koi Perich, who won local hearts by spurning Ohio State and others to sign with the Gophers out of high school, has opted to enter the transfer portal. Some of the writing about it has been in likely to depart mode. But the reality is that, despite a second Minnesota season that didn’t measure up to his freshman-year debut, Perich wants more than he’s getting from the U — on the field and in his bank account. VERBATIM: “Whether it’s more money, more national exposure or a more likely path to the NFL — debatable — Perich has decided it won’t happen at Minnesota. As a college football fan, one has to wonder if watching most of your school’s best players go look for the bigger, better thing after every season is palatable. And as a Gophers’ fan, one has to accept that this just doesn’t bode well for the program’s viability as, for all intents and purposes, a small-market professional football franchise. One could look at what Indiana has done the past two seasons and see a crack under the fence just big enough for those without a ticket to crawl through. We know that, for now, it’s possible for an also-ran Power Four program to genuinely contend for a national championship. But Minnesota appears to be moving the other way at an inopportune time.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/koi0108

WHERE TO, KOI? Via Braulo Perez at Canes Warning. I’m betting on Miami, which hired defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman away from the Gophers after last season and is playing Mississippi tonight in the FBS semifinals (6:30 p.m., ESPN). VERBATIM: “Hetherman has been a blessing for Miami, as he has completely turned around the defense. Last year, Miami's defense kept the program out of the CFP. Fast forward to this year, and Miami is one win away from reaching the National Championship Game. Hetherman can further cement his status as a stud coach for the Canes if he helps reel in Perich as well.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/miami0108

OTHER CHOICES: Via Randy Johnson at Star Tribune. A source said Perich will be visiting Texas Tech and Oregon, playoff teams with deep-pocketed boosters. VERBATIM: The Red Raiders, who won the Big 12 championship, have billionaire oilman Cody Campbell as a donor. Campbell, a former Texas Tech offensive guard, founded the Matador Club, the school’s official name, image and likeness (NIL) collective, which reportedly has donated $60 million to Red Raiders athletes since 2022. At Oregon, Nike co-founder Phil Knight has donated more than $1 billion to the university, with a substantial portion going to athletics facilities. He remains active in NIL donations.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/visits0108

AT WHAT PRICE: Via Sam Khan Jr. at The Athletic. Can’t be sure of what Perich was getting at the U or could get elsewhere, but the Athletic recently produced a college football pay scale for different positions. Unfortunately for Perich, safeties are typically at the low end of the scale — at $250,000 to $900,000 per season. VERBATIM: “A hybrid safety/outside linebacker, if he’s a true impact player, can get high six figures. Safety is a place where some front offices spend less, unless it’s an elite top-end player. There are a few top safeties whose deals surpassed $800,000 this year, but for the most part, teams have looked to spend a little less than what they have for corners.” SALARY SCALE AND STORY: https://fluence-media.co/scale0108

PERICH THOUGHT: One former Minnesota player, who frequently celebrates Gophers “victories” in the transfer portal, called Perich a “traitor” on social media. Not fair. All he’s doing is following the lead of coaches who leave big money for bigger money. If all goes well for Perich, he gets more money and better preparation for pro football. If the NFL doesn’t work out for him, at least he’s getting the money when he can. That’s college sports now.

HIGH SCHOOL FALLOUT: If you think your local high school star isn’t getting the major-college attention everyone thought they’d get, it’s not an illusion. Here’s what a D-I assistant coach told me recently: “We’re recruiting high schools less compared to junior college, the transfer portal, international students. That might change if rules change. But right now it’s about getting older and trying to stay old. You’re seeing players leave and now you’re trying to replace those guys.”

IN OTHER WORDS: The transfer portal is killing the teen dream for many high school athletes. Deal with it. (Yes, I’m stealing a line from a 1990s cult movie.)

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TWO VIKINGS THEMES: This has been kind of a hangover week for the Vikings as we recover from a season that went off the rails early on and never got righted. We’ll boil the bigger list of 2026 issues down to two big ones: The (still) premature rush to judgment on J.J. McCarthy and whether defensive coordinator Brian Flores will remain in Minnesota.

ON McCARTHY: I feel the need to keep talking about McCarthy because he’s only played 10 games over two seasons due to injuries and it is foolish to draw any conclusions beyond the reality that the Vikings need a veteran as his back-up instead of Max Brosmer and the others who were brought in on a just-in-case basis. Coach Kevin O’Connell brought on a lot of this by talking about all that McCarthy learned while being sidelined, but he deserves more time before being related to Christian Ponder status.

JUSTIN JEFFERSON’S TAKE: Via Emily Leiker at Star Tribune. VERBATIM: “We need to get J.J. out of the little, small bad habits that he had throughout the season,” Jefferson said. “But he’s still young. He still has room to grow. He still has time to really blossom as a quarterback. This is his first real year playing. People need to give him a little bit more leniency, but we definitely will go back to work and still put in that work to get where we need to get.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/jj0108

ON FLORES: Do the math. There were eight head coaching openings as of Thursday morning. (Dolphins, Raiders, Cardinals, Falcons, Giants, Browns, Raiders and Titans.) There are also about 10 defensive coordinator openings. Brian Flores’s three-year contract just expired. That’s a lot of leverage for Flores. It wouldn’t take long odds for me to bet on Flores becoming the next defensive coordinator in Dallas.

LEBER BASHES McCARTHY: Via KFAN and Jonathan Harrison at Vikings Territory. Former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber didn’t like how McCarthy removed himself from Sunday’s game against the Packers after completing a pass in the second half. VERBATIM: "I don't love the theatrics of it. I don't love the optics of it. There's so much drama that's surrounding that. You don't need to place a towel over your hand. It's not melting. There's not a bone sticking out. It's not disfigured. It's not harming anybody by looking at it," Leber said on KFAN's Power Trip Morning Show. "I think that he's got a lot to learn about the body language, the behavior, the outward optics of how things look." MORE: https://fluence-media.co/leber0108

LISTEN: Leber’s complete answer and his thoughts on whether McCarthy will work out in Minnesota are here.

WELL DONE, RIVER FALLS: Via Bob Burrows at River Falls Journal. Few people without a bias gave Wisconsin-River falls a chance to win the Division III football title, but the Falcons shocked four-time champion North Central of Illinois 24-14. in the title game Sunday. MINNESOTA ANGLE: 67 of the 119 players on the River Falls roster played high school football in Minnesota, including quarterback Kalen Blaha, who played at Frldley and won the Gagliardi Trophy, named for Saint John’s coaching legend John Gagliardi and given to the outstanding player in D-III. 180 DEGREES: River Falls used to be a pushover in its conference of Wisconsin state schools, similar to Hamline and Macalester in the MIAC. VERBATIM: “These current players always should get the most credit, and they do,” Coach Matt Walker said. “But It felt like we were playing for a lot more than just our players today. These guys, they know guys that were on my 0-10 teams and 1-9 teams and 2-8 teams. They know guys in the community that love Falcon football. It felt like we were just playing for so many more people today and I’m so proud of everybody involved.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/riverfalls0108

ULTIMATE UNDERDOG: The River Falls title is ever more astounding when you consider the patience the school had with its head coach. Walker had a 20-67 record in his first nine seasons (2011-19), but has gone 44-13 in his last five. Clearly, even while losing on the scoreboard, Walker was learning things that would help him create a winning program. BIOGRAPHY | ROSTER

PALM UP: Via Coach and Coordinator. VERBATIM: “When Walker arrived at River Falls football, the program sat in disarray—just 44 players and only a handful of wins over the previous decade. To rebuild, he didn’t start with playbooks or recruiting slogans. Instead, he began with a mindset—the foundation of what would become the Palm Up culture. ‘We use this term Palm Up,’ Walker said. ‘It’s the idea that we’re all relentless givers to the program—that we’re never going to be palm-down people.’ Palm Up is literal. Players raise their hands palm up when breaking the huddle as a reminder to give, not take. In contrast, Palm Down represents selfishness—grabbing attention, losing composure, or draining energy from the team. This simple gesture embodies humility, composure, and contribution. It shows up everywhere—from helping a teammate off the turf to how players react to mistakes. ‘It’s as small as reacting the right way when things don’t go well. Are you going to throw your helmet and scream, or are you going to get your ass up and get ready to go?’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/walker0108

MOST UNPOPULAR OWNERS: Via Lumaris Research. The main finding shouldn’t be a surprise but the details are interesting. A Minnesota Community Survey of about 1,200 state residents showed that the Pohlads are viewed the most unfavorable among the owners of the six major professional teams in the state. It’s not even close. The Twins’ owners were viewed unfavorably by 31 percent of those survey compared to 20 percent who viewed them favorably. By comparison, none of the unfavorable ratings for the other owners reached double digits and all has favorable ratings ranging from four to 10 times higher than their unfavorable ratings. CONTEXT: “Don’t know” was the most popular answer for every owner, ranging from 49% for the Pohlads to 79% for Minnesota United owner Bill McGuire.

DEEPER DIVE: Unfavorable ratings for the Pohlads climb among higher those with higher incomes and more education. The Pohlads are viewed favorably by those with incomes of less than $30,000 (25% to 14%) and most unfavorably among those with incomes of more than $150,000 (46% to 13%). The split based on education is 23% to 22% unfavorable among those with a high school education or less, 29% to 20% unfavorable among those who attended college and 39% to18% percent among those with a college. The Wilf family, owners of the Vikings, have the highest favorable rating — 41% to 8% unfavorable. Splits for the other owners (all favorable) are 32% to 3% for Wild owner Craig Leipold, 33% to 5% for Wolves owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore and 17% to 4% for McGuire.

VERBATIM: A conclusion from the researchers. VERBATIM: “The Pohlads face a credibility problem that cuts across Minnesota’s political divides. Partisan polarization or regional tensions don’t drive their negative ratings. Instead, the pattern suggests that Minnesotans who follow the team most closely, including wealthier and more educated residents, hold the dimmest views. This could complicate any legislative debate over extending Hennepin County’s sales tax for Target Field maintenance. Lawmakers may be reluctant to champion public funding for owners who lack public goodwill, particularly among the higher-income constituents who tend to vote in off-year elections and contact their representatives.”

ALL THE RESULTS: More data , including a gender gap among respondents, are here.

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DAMAGED BY DEADLINES: When the Star Tribune outsourced its print edition to Iowa last month, it meant a major hit for “newspaper deadlines,” making the tree-killing edition even less relevant for sports fans — about 5:15 p.m. for the daily edition and 4 p.m. for the Sunday “paper.” The move also impacted the Pioneer Press, which had been printed by the Star Tribune. Fans finally have to grasp that the Internet is where their latest sports news will be and for the media to understand that it needs to provide a well-organized web product that doesn’t make readers work to find stories.

AND FURTHERMORE: More Star Tribune sports stories than before are being written by reporters who aren’t at the games. That’s the result of diminished travel budgets and a shrinking staff. The problem is especially noticeable in coverage of the Gophers, where basketball and hockey games have frequently gone unstaffed. You can find recent examples where the same reporter is writing about games being played in different cities on the same day. WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? The reporter only has access to information provided by a broadcast or by media relations personnel. That’s not real journalism. Sports Take will prioritize on-the-scene reports whenever possible.

SOLID STEP: The Strib’s women’s sports position posted in July will be filled by Cassidy Hettesheimer, who will move from Strib Varsity after the winter high school sports season. Hettesheimer covered the Lynx during the WNBA postseason and has written about the Minnesota Aurora. She’s a strong choice.

OLYMPIC THOUGHT: Despite the fact that 34 athletes with Minnesota connections are on the U.S. Olympic team (and a dozen more are representing other countries), KARE-11 morning reporter and anchor Alicia Lewis will be the sole Minnesota media presence at the games in Italy next month. The Star Tribune abandoned its on-location coverage after the 2022 games in Beijing. It’s not the same as being there, but at least one local media outlet has made overtures to retired Strib reporter Rachel Blount about bringing her years of Olympics expertise to its coverage. I hope that happens. MINNESOTA’S OLYMPIANS | DAILY GAMES SCHEDULE

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BAD RULE, NCAA: Via Rebecca Tauber at The Athletic. Mohammad Bati, the Augsburg distance runner and four-time MIAC cross-country champion, has been ruled ineligible for the indoor and outdoor track seasons because of a GoFundMe account that raised about $9,000 to help pay for senior year tuition. He could have received money as part of an NIL deal under NCAA rules, but taking money for tuition violates D-III scholarship rules. VERBATIM: “Bati’s situation has struck a chord in a college sports world of haves and have-nots — where some DI athletes receive full rides and earn hundreds of thousands and even millions in NIL deals — while a DIII athlete like Bati struggles to pay tuition. . . . The NCAA said that since 2020, it has dealt with nearly 100 situations of students taking money through crowdfunding, though not all of those involved tuition, which is where DIII athletes run into problems.”

MORE: A Minnesota example of crowdfunding within the NCAA rules was the GoFundMe established for Carleton College quarterback jack Curtis, which raised more than $54,000 to help with expenses for his cancer treatments. Bati has decided against filing a reinstatement request with the NCAA. VERBATIM: “In life, if you want to get somewhere, you have to go through some challenge. “I see it as one challenge in my life. … I just want to move on and then just work hard every day.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/bati0108

MAKING IT RIGHT: Via Drew Lerner at Awful Announcing. Credit the Timberwolves excellent broadcast duo of Alan Horton and Jim Petersen for correcting a flub they made during Sunday’s game at Washington. It involved Anthony Edwards signing a jersey near the end of a game. The announcers thought a female Wizards fan had taken what was intended to go to a young Wolves supporter sitting near the bench. Horton spoke during the pregame show on Tuesday. VERBATIM: “We’d like to take a moment to apologize for something that happened in our last broadcast Sunday in Washington, D.C. We made misleading comments towards a young fan that received a signed Anthony Edwards jersey toward the end of that game. We did not have full context, and later learned that young woman was in fact the intended recipient of that jersey. She did absolutely nothing wrong, and we apologize for bringing attention to it, and any distress that may have caused.” STORY AND VIDEO: https://fluence-media.co/apology0108

TEAM ON FIRE: Minnesota State’s women’s basketball team, the 2024 Division II national champion, is 14-0 and ranked second in the nation. The Mavericks have won all but one game by more than 10 points and play this weekend at the University of Mary (7:30 p.m. Friday) and Minot State (5:30 p.m. Saturday). The Mavericks have two players averaging more than 20 points per game: senior guards Natalie Bremer from Lake City and Mackenzie Schweim from Mankato east. WATCH | ROSTER | SCHEDULE

ANOTHER WNBA DEADLINE: Via Annie Constabile at Front Office Sports. Friday is the latest contract deadline in the labor dispute between the WNBA and its players. The deadline has been extended twice but there’s no guarantee that would happen again. As of Thursday morning, the players’ union said the league had not responded to its latest proposal. Lynx star Napheesa Collier, a union leader and founder of the off-season Unrivaled league, discussed the situation on Monday’s Unrivaled broadcast. VERBATIM: “You’ve heard a lot of chatter about what we’re asking for is not sustainable for the business. Being on this side with Unrivaled, I know what it takes to run a sustainable business. If they can’t find a model that makes it happen, they need to put people in place who can. We’ve proven that it is possible. There is a way. We’re thriving in that.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wnba0108

WHAT I’M FOLLOWING: 1. The CFB playoff games on Thursday and Friday for another reminder of the difference between the schools that are spending big on football and the others. 2. No. 1 Minnetonka (12-0-1) at No. 3 Edina (10-3) boys’ hockey at 7 p.m. Saturday at Braemar Arena. (Livestream) 3. Class 2A girls’ basketball: No. 5 Rochester Lourdes (10-2) at No. 1 Providence Academy (7-3) at 3 p.m. Saturday. Senior guard Maddyn Greenway, is averaging 31 points per game and closing in on 5,000 career points. She’ll play college basketball for Kentucky. 4. Gophers women’s basketball at the Barn vs. No. 21 USC (2 p.m. Sunday) and No. 4 UCLA (7 p.m. Wednesday) Two more tries for the Gophers to hold a lead and beat a ranked opponent. (Games are on BIG+). 5. Gophers men’s basketball vs. Wisconsin at 6 p.m. Tuesday (BIG). How will you feel about the Gophers if they win to go 5-1 in the Big Ten?

AND FINALLY: When Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday that he won’t run for a third term, it opened up the race to another batch of candidates. It also provided a flashback to a time when politics was more civil — and even more fun. Who wants to convince Mark Rosen to do this again?

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EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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REVOLT AT TARGET FIELD: Blood from family battles was spilled at Target Field when, in addition to the much anticipated and delayed reveal of the Twins’ new minority owners, it was announced that Joe Pohlad would be replaced by his older brother Tom as the team’s executive chairman. He will also take over from his uncle, Jim Pohlad, as the team’s “controlling owner” — making him the primary contact between the Twins and Major league Baseball.

FAMILY STRIFE: Via Bobby Nightengale at Star Tribune. VERBATIM: “Joe, who had been executive chair since 2022, wanted to stay in his role, Tom said, but the family thought a change was in the best interest of the organization. . . . ‘It’s been hard on our family,’ Tom Pohlad said. ‘This decision to make a transition within our family has been extremely difficult. It’s been hard on the relationship between Joe and myself. It’s been especially hard on my dad and my two uncles.’ “

DRAWING MORE BLOOD: Tom Pohlad acknowledged the strained relationship between the Twins and fans, and noted that he didn’t have any part in the trade-deadline break-up of the roster in July. VERBATIM: “It’s undeniable that we haven’t won enough baseball games, the financial health of the club has been put in jeopardy, and we’ve got a fan base that has lost trust in us as owners — and, as a result, this organization and the direction it’s headed. With the conclusion of the transaction, now is the time to put new leadership in place and to have a renewed sense of energy, a renewed sense of focus, a different level of accountability, and ultimately a clear direction on where we’re taking this organization.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/pohlads1218

HALF-MEASURES? Via Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic. Tom Pohlad revealed three interesting things in a conversation with Gleeman. (1) The decision to remove his brother was made only a month ago — a dramatic change from earlier reports that Joe Pohlad said he still wanted to be a part of the organization even if the team was sold. (2) Management and ownership did consider a full housecleaning of the remaining stars. (3) Team payroll is likely to remain close to the current $100 million level for 2026. VERBATIM: “I asked whether he’s worried the Twins are taking a half-measure by keeping star players Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan and Pablo López without supporting them by increasing the payroll to add impact talent to a roster that went 70-92 last season. ‘I worry about it,’ Pohlad said. ‘Half-measures are not good. And you’ll probably get to know me over time: I’m not a half-measure guy. I’m a ‘go big or go home’ guy. But again, to your point, how do we thread the needle here, and do what’s in the best interest of the fan base? Every decision, you’ve got to look at through a couple of lenses. What’s the short-term return you get and what’s the long-term return you get? You try to make a good balance of long-term and short-term decisions that equal something great. And that’s what we’re trying to do here. I don’t think this is going to be, as you said, a half-measure. I don’t think this is a half-measure.’ ” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/tompohlad1218

MY TAKE: Tom Pohlad won the press conference Wednesday by cutting open a vein and recognizing the team’s ham-handed direction in recent years — and by acknowledging that people are pissed off. If anyone with the Twins still needed proof, I’m certain it existed in the season-ticket renewals for 2026. But winning the press conference will be a short-lived triumph if he doesn’t live up to being more connected to fans and demanding that changes are made in how the organization is run. This quote from Pohlad in Gleeman’s story was striking: “I think the rub, if you will, on the organization, historically speaking, is there’s a feeling, which I might share, that we continue to run the same playbook over and over, hoping for a different result.”

ONE MORE TAKE: I am about 110% convinced that Wild owner Craig Leipold did not come on board to watch the franchise disintegrate further — and that the minority owners wanted changes made before they agreed to be part of the deal. Clearing $500 million in debt was powerful incentive for the Pohlads to take action. As a season-ticket holder, I’m hopeful of more change. Now I need to be convinced.

ABOUT THE NEW PARTNERS: Via Star Tribune. https://fluence-media.co/partners1218

WILD FOR THE WIN: What did the Wild do when it traded three key players and a first-round draft pick to Vancouver for Quinn Hughes, winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s outstanding defenseman in 2023-24? The move threw down a challenge that anything less than reaching the Stanley Cup Finals will be a disappointment.

WHAT THEY DISCOVERED: After a sloppy several weeks to open the season, the Wild found out how good they are — and GM Bill Guerin has gone all-in on next-level excellence and expectations. Being fifth in the league in points makes it that much harder to remember than the team went 3-9 in October — losing six of those games by at least three goals. The win on Tuesday vs. Washington was their 16th in the 21 games since — and half of those have been by at least three goals.

GETTING UP TO SPEED: Via Michael Russo and Joe Smith at The Athletic. If you’re not deep into hockey, here’s a good explanation of what Hughes brings to the Wild as one of the game’s most elite defensemen. This story traces Hughes’ career arc, including thoughts from Brock Boeser of the Canucks, who starred at Burnsville and for the University of North Dakota. He was there when Hughes came to Vancouver in 2018. VERBATIM: “He went on the ice, and it was just like, ‘Holy s—. He’s so good. The way he skated was just like, ‘Holy s—.’ And then he kept getting better and better. What he started doing his rookie year, I was like, ‘Wow. This is the start of a superstar. . . . He dominates out there. He controls the play from the back. Honestly, it’s just amazing to watch. He’s that good.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/canucks1218

THE ROOMS WHERE IT HAPPENED: Via Rachel Kryshak and Greg Wyshynski at ESPN. Hughes was traded because the mediocre Canucks knew he would be leaving via free agency after the 2027 season and this was the best chance to maximize his value. But how did the Wild win the dealing derby, especially with Hughes having two brothers on the New Jersey Devils? Part of the reason is the relationship that Hughes had previously built with GM Guerin. But there’s a lot more. READ: https://fluence-media.co/trade1218

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KG BACK: Via Shams Charania at ESPN. Not many details yet, but this news will be well received. VERBATIM: “Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett has agreed to reunite with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx in a new, all-encompassing role involving business, community and fan-engagement efforts and content development, sources told ESPN on Thursday. The Timberwolves also will hold Garnett’s much-awaited No. 21 jersey retirement ceremony in Minnesota over the next two seasons, sources said. Garnett had been distant from the Timberwolves since his playing career ended in 2016 due to a fallout with former owner Glen Taylor, with Garnett refusing to have his jersey retired, but he built a rapport with new governors Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez and the sides found common ground on a reunion.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/kg1218

WOLVES ON POINT: As the Wolve.s revamped their offense this season, looking to quicken their pace of play, the thing missing was a point guard suited to managing the attack. Veteran Mike Conley doesn’t fit that style and his teammates who were trying to fill the void aren’t the best fits. (If you need an example of another team that’s struggling badly through a similar situation, look at the Indiana Pacers without injured Tyrese Haliburton and their drop from being NBA runners-up to their current 6-20 record.) But barring a major trade —, the team has salary cap issues — the solution must come from the current roster or an inexpensive addition. That’s the reason veteran Bones Hyland recently entered the rotation — and coach Chris Finch’s starting lineup.

THE BONES BONUS: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. Hyland doesn’t have to be a standout. He just needs to be solid enough that his teammates can do what they do best instead of taking on extra responsibilities. VERBATIM: “Finch obviously watches Bones in practice all the time; his praise for Hyland as a pass-first player with a point-guard mentality may be more than wishful thinking. If so, kudos to Bones for . . . molding his skill set in an attempt to fill a glaring need on the Wolves roster. But even if Bones isn’t all what Finch dreams him to be, hats off to a player who has fully inhabited an attitude that makes him a beneficial presence in the locker room and on the court.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bones1218

UNRIVALED, SEASON 2: The second season of the league, co-founded by Lynx star Napheesa Collier, kicks off January 5. The 3-on-3 league has expanded from six teams to eight. Collier, the league MVP, is back with her Lunar Owls team, which also includes former Gophers star Rachel Banham. Other Lynx players are Natisha Hiedeman (Hive), Courtney Williams (Vinyl) and Alanna Smith (Mist). Paige Bueckers is on the new Breeze team. Schedule and TV info are here.

LYNX AROUND THE WORLD: Via Mitchell Hansen at Canis Hoopus. Eight other Lynx players from last season’s roster are playing overseas, including starters Kayla McBride and Bridget Carlson, who is playing in her seventh country since turning pro. Reserves Maria Kliundikova and Anastasiia Kosu are teammates in Russia, their home country. FULL LIST AND STATS: https://fluence-media.co/lynx1218

FOWLES GETS NEW JOB: Former Lynx star and basketball Hall of Famer Sylvia Fowles is joining the expansion Portland Fire as an assistant coach.

McCARTHY TAKES ANOTHER STEP: Via Derrek Klassen at The Athletic. In his latest games, J.J. McCarthy has led the Vikings to wins over a discombobulated Washington team and a Dallas team that plays defense as an afterthought. He’ll face the 2-12 Giants on Sunday before a two-part final exam of sorts against the Lions and Packers. Against the Cowboys, there were enough ups to render the downs as learning experiences rather than game-killers. STATS: 15-for-24, 250 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, 108 quarterback rating. VERBATIM: “The numbers are nice, but McCarthy also passed the eye test in a way he hadn’t before. He looked more settled in the pocket and decisive with the ball. He still has a ways to go and needs to speed up his process a tick or two, but putting any amount of cool and collected play on film is a step in the right direction.”

MORE: “The flip side of Sunday’s McCarthy experience was that he still largely struggled to make difficult plays. He pulled off a couple of useful scrambles, but the high-difficulty throws still proved too much for him. . . . Warts and all, this was still what the Vikings should want from McCarthy.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/jj1218

VIKINGS (6-8) VS. GIANTS (2-12): Noon Sunday kickoff on Fox and the Vikings Audio Network. Vikings depth chart | Real-time betting info, match-ups | Giants web site

CHRISTMAS WITH THE VIKINGS: The Vikings-Lions game on Christmas Day will be streamed on Netflix. But the game will also be shown on WCCO in Minnesota, so you won’t have to play “Who has a password?” when you’re gathered at Uncle Christian’s house to ponder McCarthy’s future.

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DOUBTS ABOUT DARNOLD: Via Jeff Howe at The Athletic. Vikings fans went through what Seattle Seahawks fans will watch from now through the end of their season. Is Sam Darnold good enough to lead a team to a title? The test starts tonight against the Rams (7:15 p.m., Prime) and it’s a do-over for Darnold after his two-game flop against the Lions and Rams that ended Minnesota’s 2024 season. VERBATIM: “Darnold would love to help his new team pull off a conference-altering victory as a form of retribution from a season ago, when his career revival with the Minnesota Vikings was soured by a late two-game tailspin, with both games at night in front of a national audience. Though Darnold ultimately landed a three-year, $100.5 million contract in free agency, that closing stretch almost certainly impacted the total value of his deal, along with his public perception as a top-tier QB.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/darnold1218

GOTTA DO BETTER: The Rams and Seahawks are tied for first in the NFC West with 11-3 records. That includes a 21-19 Rams victory last month in which Darnold threw four interceptions and no touchdown passes and had a lower quarterback rating than he did in the losses that ended last season. BOX SCORE: https://fluence-media.co/box1218.

GOOD-BYE DAYNE: MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair is said to be close to signing with 2025 champion Inter-Miami after not reaching agreement on a new contract with Minnesota United. Miami switched starting goalkeepers at midseason and St. Clair, who is likely to be a starter for Canada in the World Cup, would be an upgrade. He played 159 games for the Loons. MY TAKE: It will be (1) be tough for the Loons to replace St. Clair in goal and (2) the way he played this season — both the results and the swagger — got some people to follow MNUFC in a way they wouldn’t have otherwise. Moving to a bigger stage is a logical move. REPORTS: The Athletic | Yahoo!

HERE’S THE DEAL: Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. VERBATIM: “Minnesota United offered Dayne St. Clair a contract with an annual salary in excess of $1 million, more money than any other MLS club could offer, but the Canadian international turned it down, a source told the Pioneer Press on Wednesday. . . . Instead of maximizing salary, he will push the limit on exposure. Entering his prime at age 28, St. Clair is the top goalie for Canada’s men’s national team going into next summer’s FIFA World Cup and will join one of MLS’ most-followed and glitziest clubs.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/deal1218

TRIBUTE VIDEO: How do you become Goalkeeper of the Year? WATCH THIS: https://fluence-media.co/keeper1218

FIRED-UP FOE: Via Sean Reider at Albuquerque Journal. The Gophers will be facing an opponent in next Friday’s Rate Bowl that is fired up about the dramatic turnaround in its football program. New Mexico finished the season with a six-game winning streak, a first-place tie in the Mountain West Conference and its first bowl appearance in nine years. The upshot: A contract extension for first-year coach Jason Eck that runs through 2030. VERBATIM: “UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo said conversations around the new deal started over the last couple of weeks. There was a ‘sense of urgency’ . . . to get a new deal done in light of Eck and UNM’s success on and off the field; football attendance increased 51.8% in Eck’s first season, the largest one-year jump in FBS.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/unm1218

AMBUSH? Via Adam Rittenberg at ESPN. The Gophers are currently a slight favorite, but . . . VERBATIM: “When it comes to outsized coaching personalities, few bowl matchups will deliver better than Jason Eck and P.J. Fleck. Eck, a former Wisconsin lineman who is familiar with Minnesota from his playing days, won Mountain West Coach of the Year honors in his debut season with New Mexico, which tied for first in the league and went 6-0 at home for the first time since 1934. The Lobos haven’t played in a bowl outside their home state since 2004, but will be well-represented in Phoenix. My lean is New Mexico. New Mexico 24, Minnesota 20.” MORE BOWL PREDICTIONS: https://fluence-media.co/bowls1218

GOPHERS (7-5) VS. NEW MEXICO (9-3): Dec. 26 3:30 p.m. kickoff on ESPN and the Varsity Network (audio). Gophers depth chart | Real-time betting info, match-ups | New Mexico web site

RIVER FALLS ROLLS ON: UW-River Falls hosts Johns Hopkins at noon Saturday (ESPN+) in the Division III football semifinals after crushing Wheaton College 46-21 last Saturday in a zero-degree chill. Temperatures should be in the 20s on Saturday, which should minimize the need for this bit of strategy that coach Matt Walker explained to Pioneer Press writer Tris Wykes. VERBATIM: “We had a full plan to rotate players in and out of (sideline warming) tents and (reserve) players who were responsible for wearing guys’ coats and keeping them warm while they were on the field.” NEXT: Winning would advance River Falls to the D-III title game on Jan. 4 in Canton, Ohio. TICKETS | PLAYOFF BRACKET

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WORLD JUNIORS HOCKEY: Buzz is building for the annual tournament, which comes to the Twin Cities and is opening Dec. 26 at Grand Casino and Mariucci arenas. My favorite description of the event comes from today’s Axios newsletter, which also provides a solid bullet-point guide to the event, which runs through January 5th: VERBATIM: “Imagine if someone combined the Frozen Four’s collegiate-level players, the Minnesota state high school hockey tournament’s spectacle, and the Olympics’ international glory — that’s World Juniors.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/guide1218

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW: (1) The United States will be trying to win the tournament for the fourth time in the last six years, and the third year in a row. (2) Canada has won it 20 times. (3) Team USA’s coach is Bob Motzko, head coach of the Gophers, and there are eight Minnesota players on the squad. (4) The opener for Motzko’s team is at 5 p.m. on Dec. 26 vs. Germany at Grand Casino Arena. (5) Most games will be shown on the NHL Network and some on ESPN+.

TOURNAMENT GUIDE: SCHEDULE | TICKETS | TEAM USA ROSTER | BUY STUFF

AWESOME WAYZATA: A Minnesota college coach told me recently that Wayzata’s boys’ basketball team may be the best he’s even seen. The defending Class 4A champs are 6-0 this season, including a 30-point win last weekend over 4A runner-up Totino-Grace. The No. 1-ranked Trojans play at Breck School tonight and have a showdown at 1 p.m. Tuesday at home against 4-0 Totino-Grace, which is No. 1 in Class 3A. Wayzata features 6-foot-6 forward Nolen Anderson and 6-foot-4 guard Christian Wiggins, who are ranked as the top two seniors in the state and have committed to the Gophers and Iowa State respectively. WAYZATA VS. TOTINO-GRACE TICKETS (Admission at Breck is free.)

HOLIDAY TOURNAMENTS: Starting this weekend and running through the end of the year, there are dozens of high school basketball and hockey tournaments and festivals around the state. Here are links to sort them out. BOYS’ BASKETBALL | GIRLS’ BASKETBALL | BOYS’ HOCKEY | GIRLS’ HOCKEY

AND FINALLY: I appreciate the 9,000 or so of you who subscribe to Sports Take. It gives me a chance to explore things on your behalf and amplify others whose work may not get the attention it deserves. Your thoughts are always welcome. Keep in touch!

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EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

ON THE WEB:
Bluesky: @howardsinker.bsky.social
Instagram: @howardsinkermn

ESPN’s comprehensive TV and streaming service listings: https://fluence-media.co/watch

AMAZING MELTDOWN: With 44 seconds to play in the second overtime of their game against No. 7-ranked Maryland and the Gophers leading 99-90, I sent a text to a friend who was in the third row at The Barn. “Court storming photos, please.” It was a reasonable request. And then this happened:

IF YOU DIDN’T WATCH: Here’s the sequence. Maryland hits two free throws. Maryland steals the ball, gets lay-up and free throw. Maryland steals the ball again, gets another lay-up and free throw. (That’s eight points in nine seconds to make the score 99-98 with 35 seconds left.) Gophers coach Dawn Plitzuweit finally calls the time out she had available. That moved the ball to midcourt. Gophers throw a bad pass. Turnover with 12 seconds left. Maryland scores with 11 seconds left. Gophers fumble with the ball and get off a desperation shot that doesn’t come close. FINAL: Maryland 100, Minnesota 99. It was a coaching and on-court breakdown of epic proportion that escaped the dissection it deserved because on-the-scene media coverage of the game against a highly ranked opponent in the conference opener didn’t exist. (More on that later.)

WHAT IF? Had the Gophers won that game, we would be talking about how the Gophers were reaching the next level hyped when Plitzuweit was hired in 2023. We’d be talking about how they’d held off a ferocious rally from one of the nation’s best teams to win despite (1) 3-for-20 shooting by star Mara Braun, (2) giving up a 15-point first-half lead and (3) Maryland five-point rally in the last 19 seconds of the first OT that tied the game at 84. I’m betting a victory would have boosted attendance for the rest of the Big Ten schedule beyond the 4,834 at Sunday’s game. In other words, a missed opportunity on multiple levels.

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WHAT IF, PART 2: Suppose J.J. McCarthy hadn’t missed six weeks after spraining his ankle in the second game of the season. Would the Vikings have realized more quickly they were asking too much from their novice quarterback, and simplified things as they did in the game plan that led to last weekend’s 31-0 win over Washington? Let’s keep in mind that beating the Commanders, a tuned-out opponent with a 3-10 record, is not a turnaround. It’s a step in the right direction — one that needs to be built upon in the final four games and even more in 2026. Playing Dallas, a team fighting for playoff spot, on Sunday night will be more telling. For now, though, the McCarthy mockery has been back-burnered while the bigger question remains: What have coach Kevin O’Connell and others learned from a season that was lost owing to factors that went well beyond McCarthy’s struggles?

SIMPLIFY AND WIN: Via Andrew Krammer at Star Tribune. What was different about Sunday’s game? For one thing, it took him only an average of 2.35 seconds to throw passes against Washington, according to Pro Football Focus. That was second fastest in the league in Week 14. His season average before the game was 2.94 seconds, which ranked 40th. There was more to it, including throwing with “conviction.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/jj1211

OTHER WAYS TO SAY IT: Via Matthew Coller at Purple insider. VERBATIM: “O’Connell talked about having less ‘inventory.’ Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips talked about formations and motions. Tight end TJ Hockenson said it was “not something we want” the coaches to have to do but considering the state of the offense, they had to make it ‘a little less at the line [of scrimmage].’ Aaron Jones couldn’t think of a better phrase than ‘dumbing it down’ so he rolled with that.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/simple1211

VIKINGS (5-8) VS. COWBOYS (6-6-1): 7:20 p.m. Sunday kickoff on NBC, Peacock and the Vikings Audio Network. Vikings depth chart | Real-time betting info, match-ups | Cowboys web site

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HUGE TOURNAMENT CANCELED: Via Marcus Fuller at Strib Varsity. After the final game of a day-long boys’ basketball event at Hopkins High School was suspended on Saturday night because of a fight among spectators, Edina school officials canceled a much larger tournament, sponsored by St. Cloud-based Breakdown Sports, involving 36 teams and four gyms that was set for Saturday. The one-day events involving Minnesota’s top teams have become more popular in recent years. VERBATIM: Edina schools spokesperson Daphne Edwards said, “In light of recent incidents across the state and nation that have, at times, resulted in unsafe situations at large events, we conducted a thorough evaluation of the request to host the tournament and determined that we could not ensure the level of safety necessary for this event.“

SHOWPIECE GAME: Before the total cancellation, a rematch of last season’s Class 4A title game between No. 1-ranked Wayzata and No. 4 Cretin-Derham Hall was pulled from the event by the schools. Instead, the undefeated teams will play at 6 p.m. Saturday at Cretin-Derham Hall. The game between host Edina and Prior Lake is still scheduled to be played at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Edina Community Center. Other schools have been scrambling to set up games. For example, Breck School and Liberty Classical Academy had been scheduled to meet different opponents in Edina, but will now play at 7 p.m. Saturday at Liberty.

MY TAKE: Erring on the side of caution at a school facility needs to be the norm and a school’s decision to back out of hosting or playing shouldn’t be questioned. Last season, I attended a section semifinal basketball game that was halted for about a half-hour, with players sent out of the gym, because of a fight in the stands. Years ago, I covered a game that was called off because a fight spilled onto the court. This isn’t a new issue. The question here is whether the Hopkins situation and Edina’s response leads to more scrutiny — and possibly fewer — of these large-scale events. (There are other day-long basketball events on Saturday at Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Maple River and Thief River Falls.) BREAKDOWN SPORTS WEBSITE | WAYZATA VS. CRETIN-DERHAM HALL TICKETS

ENOUGH GLOOM, GO SHOPPING! Last year’s holiday list ranged from an obscure minor-league baseball jersey to the best accessible seats at Target Field to Zamboni driving lessons. I hope you find some stuff for your favorite sports fans here:

*WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS HOCKEY TICKETS: The under-20 tournament features the USA, Canada and eight other nations. There are 29 games scheduled at Grand Casino Arena and Mariucci, and you can buy single games as well as the medal around or full-tournament packages. https://fluence-media.co/juniors1211

*A GOOD, USED GLOVE: Have an old baseball glove that needs some love. Want to gift a high-quality refurbished glove from the 1970s? D&J Glove Repair is a one-of-a-kind shop in south Minneapolis. https://fluence-media.co/glove1211

*PREGAME PIZZA: The North Loop has several good meet-up options for Twins, Wolves and Lynx pregaming. My go-to is Brickworth Beer Co. on N. Fifth Ave. across the street from the Graze food court. Good pizza and a solid patio. They have gift cards. https://fluence-media.co/bricksworth1211

*CLOSER TO THE U: A Bar of Their Own is starting its third year as a women’s sports headquarters in Cedar-Riverside and has become a model for newer ones around the country. Order the Tee Off Turkey Burger. (The Caitlin Clark shoes are nailed to the wall, so don’t even think about it.) GIFT CARDS: https://fluence-media.co/aboto1211

*ZAMBONI LESSONS: The Hopkins rink featured here last year — and then by the Strib — is already booked for the winter. But the rink in Elk River — Furniture and Things Community Event Center — offers two-hour and half-hour sessions. The former includes 75 minutes of off-ice training, 45 minutes to make a full sheet of ice and a souvenir key chain. https://fluence-media.co/zamboni1211

THE BOOKSHELF: Five books with Minnesota ties for readers of assorted ages and interests.

*SKIPPER: WHY BASEBALL MANAGERS MATTER (AND ALWAYS WILL): Published in May five weeks before author Scott Miller died of pancreatic cancer, the book shows how managers control the game and how, in various ways, the game controls them. Miller covered baseball for the Pioneer Press for several years in the early 2000s. https://fluence-media.co/skipper1211

*THE BOOK OF PIV: I mentioned retired coach Jay Pivec’s book earlier this year soon after it was published but it’s worth a second notice. Pivec grew up in Minneapolis, was fired in North Dakota and then became a legendary junior college coach in Minnesota. It’s a memoir in which he admits the stories are “as true as they need to be.” https://fluence-media.co/pivec1211

*ATTORNEYS IN THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME. There are 11 of them among the 346 members of baseball’s Hall of Fame. Louis Schiff is a Hamline graduate, retired Florida judge and teaches a weekend-long class on the law and baseball during the summer at Mitchell-Hamline School of Law. https://fluence-media.co/lawyers1211

*ATHLETES AS INFLUENCERS: Twin Cities journalist Heather Rule’s book, set to be published next week, is geared towards children and explores the rapid rise of athletes as influencers. It also explains Name, Image and Likeness, which means you can read the book and learn something before giving it. https://fluence-media.co/nil1211

*OLIVIA THE BRAVE: It’s not a sports book, but the children’s story by Lindsey Young, a writer and editor at vikings.com, focus on anxiety and mental health for young readers. If you order from the book’s web site and send her an email, Young will inscribe the book. https://fluence-media.co/olivia1211

CHASKA RINK MAKES OLYMPIC CURLING FIELD: Via NBCOlympics.com. The United States team skipped by Danny Casper, 24, of Minneapolis defeated China 9-4 on Wednesday night in British Columbia to qualify for one of the two final spots in the men’s curling competition at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. Last month in South Dakota, Casper’s side upset the USA team skipped by Chisholm, Minn., John Shuster, who led the 2018 Olympic gold medalists, for the right to represent the country in Olympic competition. The team also includes Minnesotans Ben Richardson, a cellist with a degree in music, and Aiden Oldenburg, who attended Minnesota State. The team’s alternate is Rich Ruohonen of Brooklyn Park, a 53-year-old personal injury lawyer, who would become the oldest American to participate in the Winter Olympics if he sees action. ALSO: The women’s side skipped by Tabatha Peterson of Eagan is competing today in Canada for the final spot in the women’s event. STORY, VIDEO: https://fluence-media.co/curling1211

TWINS CLEAR UP THINGS? KINDA: Via Dan Hayes at The Athletic. We still don’t know who the team’s new minority partners are. But Twins president Derek Falvey said at this week’s Winter Baseball Meetings that the Twins are planning to build around core players Byron Buxton, Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan rather than further purge the roster through trades. However, reports from the meetings said the Twins would be doing it on the cheap — with perhaps a $15 million to $20 million increase on the current payroll of about $95 million. Considering the need to rebuild the bullpen and their acknowledged search for a power-hitting first baseman, that’s not a lot to work with. VERBATIM: “If we have the types of performances from the group that we have right now, that we think they’re capable of, then we put ourselves right in a competing spot even with maybe a lesser payroll than some of the bigger spenders,” Falvey said. “We feel we can do that.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/twins1211

THE BULLPEN: Via Bobby Nightengale at Star Tribune. The plan to bring in inexpensive relief candidates and rely on young holdovers who haven’t been reliable is a scary brew. The best-case scenario may be converting potential starters, which is what the Twins did with Louis Varland before trading him to Toronto. Going back in time, the Twins turned Eddie Guardado and Rick Aguilera into closers after they had limited success as starters. That was also the career path of new bullpen coach LaTroy Hawkins, who was a Twins starter for five seasons before his tour of a dozen major league bullpen over his next 15 years in the majors. VERBATIM: “A young bullpen, manager Derek Shelton said, is a reason why LaTroy Hawkins was the first hire to his staff. He can relate to players well and he pitched in every role during his 21-year major league career. ‘We may get in a situation, depending on how it shakes out, that we have six young guys down there,’ Shelton said. ‘I want someone sitting down there that has the ability to have those conversations.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bullpen1211

VOLLEYBALL TONIGHT: Via Sarah Cunniffe at Minnesota Daily. The rash of injuries that beset the Gophers volleyball team could have been justification for a subpar season. But Minnesota, which has made the NCAA field for 11 years in a row, has advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2022 and will play Pitt, the No. 1 seed in its region, tonight (6 p.m., ESPN2). The winner will play SMU or Purdue for a Final Four spot on Saturday. All the lineup tweaks created a challenge for setter Stella Swenson, who said she’s made a special connection on the floor with star hitter Julia Hanson. VERBATIM: “Losing people early on meant that lineups changed constantly. So it meant learning what my hitters liked and didn’t like, right away. I had to figure out what they needed, what they didn’t want. The fact that I made those connections and that I can set Julia blindfolded is huge for our team.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gophers1211

RETURN TO GLORY: Concordia-St. Paul is in the quarterfinals of the Division II volleyball tournament today, playing Gannon University of Pennsylvania (1:30 p.m., ESPN+) in Sioux Falls. Semifinals and finals are Friday and Saturday. The Golden Bears won nine national titles between 2007 and 2017, including seven in a row (2007-13). Makenna Nold, a sophomore from Jamestown, N.,D., was named Division II Player of the Year this week.

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D3 FOOTBALL UPDATE: Bethel University’s reward for reaching the Division III football quarterfinals is a game at noon Saturday at North Central of Illinois. The Cardinals are ranked No. 1 in the nation and won national titles in 2022 and 2024. The only games they have lost in the last five seasons were the 2021 and 2023 D-III championship games. UW-River Falls, which smashed Saint John’s last weekend, is host to Wheaton of Illinois at 2 p.m. Saturday. Both games are on ESPN+. RIVER FALLS TICKETS

WOLVES MILEPOST: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. The Timberwolves are about to reach the one-third mark of their season and returns are mixed. They’re on pace to win 51 games — good enough for a postseason spot, but probably not enough for home-court advantage. Part of the problem is the decline of 38-year-old point guard Mike Conley. VERBATIM: “The eye test says the offense runs hot and cold. Not all assists are created equal. An open shot on the fourth pass of the possession provides greater team rhythm, unity and goodwill then an open shot off a single pass. Neither Julius Randle nor Anthony Edwards are as adept at interior passing as they are kicking the ball out or swinging it to the other side of the perimeter. That creates stagnation in the half-court, as players ring the perimeter awaiting that kick-out or swing pass rather than cutting for the hoop. Then there is the poise factor. When Conley was the sensei on the court as well as in the locker room, the Wolves were more frequently locked in mentally, following his lead.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wolves1211

DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS BOWL: The Gophers will play in the Rate Bowl on Dec. 26, a matchup that got less attractive when Iowa State lost head coach Matt Campbell to Penn State and the Big 12’s Cyclones opted against the bowl bid that would have meant facing the Gophers. Instead, Minnesota will play New Mexico of the Mountain West, which went 9-3 and has a six-game winning streak. LOCAL ANGLE: The Lobos are coached by Jason Eck, whose career path includes two seasons each at Winona State and Minnesota State. ECK BIOGRAPHY

ALMOST MADE IT: Via CBSsports.com. I thought we were going to get through all the recent changes in college football head coaching jobs without seeing P.J. Fleck’s name. But the wild story surrounding the sudden firing (and jailing) of Sherrone Moore at Michigan has created one more set of potential-successors lists — and guess who made several of them? The guy who left Western Michigan for Minnesota nine seasons ago. VERBATIM: “We’ve never seen Fleck at a program with the kinds of resources Michigan has, and he could be intrigued to find out what he could do with that kind of investment. At the same time, there is the risk that he’s a program builder but not the kind of coach that maximizes elite talent to the level Michigan hopes. That’s the question the Wolverines would have to ask, but if they strike out on the biggest names on their list, they could certainly do much worse than bringing Fleck back to the state of Michigan.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/fleck1211

OTHER LISTS: Detroit News | Athlon Sports | College Sports Wire

AND FINALLY: I’ve noted previous Sports Takes, the gap between expectations for women’s sports coverage and what we’re seeing from major Twin Cities media outlets, particularly the Star Tribune. My sensors went up again over the weekend when the Strib did not have a writer at the Minnesota-Maryland Big Ten opener or at the Gophers’ second-round match in the NCAA volleyball tournament at Maturi Pavilion. They were “covered” by a reporter writing remotely. Minnesota’s volleyball victory over Iowa State appeared as a one-paragraph story in the print edition.

EXPERT VIEW: I posed questions about women’s sports coverage to Dunja Antunovic, a U of M professor and affiliated scholar at the U’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport. Antunovic has researched the topic and I’ve talked to her in the past about her work. She wrote that “across the nation, we are seeing an expansion and growing interest in women’s sports while newsrooms are shrinking,” and that fans are going to other sources for news, including school and team websites.

MORE FROM ANTUNOVIC: “While we are hoping that newsrooms are investing resources in feature stories or contextual coverage, the reality is that realignments and staff reallocations have a disproportionately negative impact on women’s sports coverage. Women’s sports are rarely a ‘beat.’ In fact, we found that journalists often cover women’s sports in addition to their other assignments or in their ‘free time.’ The problem becomes particularly pertinent when a journalist with expertise in women’s sports coverage leaves. Are newsrooms then filling those spots and hiring qualified journalists who are knowledgeable about women’s sports? Our research found some promising changes in terms of journalists’ positive attitudes about women’s sports, but we are still looking for long-term solutions for sustainable women’s sports coverage.”

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BACK TO SPORTS: We’re in the midst of a wide-ranging sports week, which can keep you from brooding too much about the sad state of the Vikings and Twins. In addition to the ugly stuff, you’ll also read about the Gophers bringing us some unexpected fun, college football recruiting (good and bad), Gophers and St. Thomas volleyball at Maturi Pavilion (and a bar takeover) on Friday, a major departure at the Star Tribune, lots of good college football in and near Minnesota, a huge high school hockey game, a Saturday of high-end high school basketball, writers who fill voids in local sports coverage, a memorial for a legendary coach who lived to age 105 and more. Settle in. It’s a lot. — Howard Sinker

UNEXPECTED JOY: I would not have bet on the two happiest Minnesota sporting moments of the last week coming from the Gophers. I’d been wondering how to pummel the football team if the regular season continued falling apart with a loss to Wisconsin. And I was prepared to let you know that we need to have lots of patience with Niko Medved because the team he cobbled together often bumbled so badly when facing quality opponents during its nonconference schedule. But the wins over Wisconsin in the snow and Indiana in the Big Ten men’s basketball opener set off celebrations — and what Minnesota fan can’t get enough of court storming at The Barn or mocking the Badgers in the snow. Let’s go to the video!

MEDVED SAYS: “It’s hard to be prouder of a group of guys. You learn a lot about people when you go through adversity.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/niko1204

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And then there’s Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, whose play earned NHL Rookie of the Month honors for November and is a key reason the Wild are on a point streak that reached 11 games with a 1-0 win in Edmonton on Tuesday. Here are highlights and Wallstedt chatter from the NHL Network: https://fluence-media.co/jesper1204.

MORE WALLSTEDT: Via Sarah McLellan at Star Tribune. Keep in mind that Wallstedt’s 2024-25 season was struggle-filled after he was sent to Iowa instead of being part of the Wild’s goalie rotation. Salary cap issues played a role in his demotion, but his weak play in the minors kept that from being a talking point. VERBATIM: “That adversity seems incompatible with the confidence Wallstedt has exuded in the net this season, the 23-year-old fulfilling his prospect pedigree as a technical guru. ‘The thing that I respect about him is he had a tough year last year, and he didn’t handle those situations the right way,’ coach John Hynes said. ‘But he took the action steps and learning lessons from that and turned it into action of what he needs to be able to do to play at this level.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/goalie1204

Now we move on to the Vikings. Sorry, but duty calls.

WALL STREET JOURNAL WEIGHS IN: The Vikings failures on the field and in their front office caught the attention of the Journal owing to J.J. McCarthy’s struggles and last weekend’s 26-0 beatdown in Seattle. It cited the ugly outcome of the team’s choice to use a young, cheap quarterback and putting the savings toward a spending spree on free agents. VERBATIM: “The spree means that no other NFL team is spending more this year than the Vikings. By total cash spending in 2025, Minnesota is on the hook for $345.6 million on this year’s team, according to salary tracking website Over the Cap. (Cash spending accounts for the actual dollars paid to players and differs from cap spending because salary cap hits can be spread over future years.) What’s telling is that the other teams near the top of the list — the Jaguars, Bills, Cowboys and Broncos — are all vying for playoff spots. Minnesota’s season, meanwhile, is circling the drain.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wsj1204

IN OTHER WORDS: The strategy wasn’t bad. The execution by management is as lacking as the execution by McCarthy (and by Max Brosmer in his fill-in cameo as a overmatched back-up in Seattle). The Vikings really have no choice but to use McCarthy as soon as he’s ready. The choice, as discussed in last week’s Sports Take, is how much patience the Wilfs will have with with their GM, head coach and others on the player personnel side.

THE GM ISSUE: Via Mark Craig at Star Tribune. In his “Five Things” wrap-up of the Seattle game, Craig got to the dirty stuff right away. VERBATIM: “Sunday’s 26-0 loss at Seattle — the Vikings’ most humiliating defeat since last being shut out 34-0 by Green Bay 18 years ago — isn’t just a quarterback issue. It’s an overall general manager problem. Sustained success isn’t possible when your GM gets lapped by his peers annually in the draft. Throwing $300 million at other teams’ aging free agents can’t replace building core starters and quality depth among players entering their prime at three to five years, or generally ages 23 to 26. The Vikings have four players on their roster who were drafted three to five years ago — one from the last year under Rick Spielman (2021) and three from the first two years under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (2022-23). Two are regular starters (Christian Darrisaw, Jordan Addison). Darrisaw didn’t play Sunday. As for the rest of the NFC North, the Packers have 18 players and 12 starters who they drafted from 2021-23 while the Lions have 13 players and 11 starters, and the Bears have six players and five starters. Feel free to say, ‘Wow.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gm1204

BROSMER: It’s too easy to make fun of the hopeful headlines. “History suggests Max Brosmer’s first NFL start won’t go well. Our eyes say otherwise,” gave me the pre-game creepies. It’s never fun to create a narrative to gets smashed to smithereens. I know. I’ve done it. But an undefeated free-agent with one season of major college experience for a pretty good Gophers team? Anything more than hoping for a miracle was a reach.

THE BIGGEST REACH: This!

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BUXTON GONE? Baseball’s Winter Meetings start Sunday and there’s more fuel to the speculation that Byron Buxton’s resolve to stay with the Twins is waning and that he wouldn’t enforce his no-trade clause. That’s a departure from Buxton’s position after the trade deadline roster purge of July. It’s a logical change-of-mind for Buxton based on (1) his age, (2) whatever he’s heard or suspects about the Twins’ plans for 2026 and (3) the desire not to be part of a teardown/rebuild process. So, yeah, it’s not only fans who are annoyed by the silence of ownership on its future direction.

HOT TOPIC: Via Jeff Passan at ESPN. Buxton is ranked No. 5 among the 25 players most likely to be traded during the off-season. Among things that make him attractive: He’s signed for three more seasons and $15 million per year. VERBATIM: “Buxton is willing to waive his no-trade clause -- and not just for Atlanta (he’s a Georgia native) -- which puts the Twins in an interesting position. If the paucity of front-line free agent outfielders prompts a team to make an offer for Buxton, how seriously would Minnesota take it? And if Buxton goes, does that mean the Twins would be open to dealing some of their pitching, too? The Twins are one of the most fascinating teams this winter because of the possibilities at their disposal.”

WAIT, THERE’S MORE: Joe Ryan is No. 6 on the list and Pablo Lopez is No. 8. Ryan Jeffers is on a separate list of 15 other players who could be traded. Passan puts the chance of a Buxton trade at 35%, and has Ryan and Lopez at 50%. FULL LIST: https://fluence-media.co/trades1204

MY TAKE: The Twins have done nothing since August 1 to generate any excitement over what’s to come. Every day without some sort of clarity makes their inactivity look more like dysfunction. If the Winter Meetings don’t produce answers, the credibility gap created by ownership will become a canyon filled with empty seats at Target Field.

STAR TRIBUNE SHAKE-UP: Sports editor Ryan Kostecka is leaving the Star Tribune after less than 18 months to become sports editor at the California Post, a sibling publication to the tabloid New York Post that’s set to begin publishing in 2026. Kostecka’s staff was cut earlier this year through buyouts, as well as realignment that was part of the start-up of Strib Varsity which has separate leadership. Before coming to Minnesota, Kostecka was a digital content writer for the Utah Jazz and sports director for a community television station. The Strib is still without a college sports reporter and has yet to announce who will fill the women’s sports beat, jobs posted over the summer. Naila-Jean Meyers, the deputy sports editor, will be the section’s interim leader. The department also lost a first-rate editor when Kevin Bertels retired after the Prep Bowl.

MEDIA FOLKS TO FOLLOW: Veteran freelancer and hockey expert Heather Rule has started a Minnesota Frost-intensive Substack that’s worth a follow. You can subscribe here. Filling some of the void in Gophers sports coverage is Tony Liebert, a 2023 graduate of the U and former social media manager at the Gopher Hole fan site. His reporting and analysis are on SI.com’s Gophers site and Bring Me The News. And as long as we’re doing sports media gossip, retired Strib sports editor Glen Crevier is doing some writing for d3sports.com.

WOLVES ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Most in-game feeds add nothing to what people can see for themselves. Jack Borman, a podcaster at Locked on Minnesota, is an exception. His Timberwolves posts on BlueSky during games are analytical and amplify what’s happening on the court.

OUR BEST ‘LOCAL’ FOOTBALL TEAM: It’s not in Minnesota but it’s also only about 45 minutes away from the Twin Cities. That would be Wisconsin-River Falls, which finished the regular season ranked third in the D3football Top 25 and plays host to No. 7 St. John’s at noon Saturday. (Noon, ESPN+)

BORDER CROSSING: More than half the Falcons players (66 to be precise) are from Minnesota, including quarterback Kaleb Blaha, a Frldley grad who transferred from Winona State. He’s a candidate for the John Gagliardi Award, named for the late and legendary Johnnies coach and given to the top player in D-III. Defensive back Taylor Sussner of Chaska was named the WIAC’s top freshman. The team’s success is especially sweet because you don’t need to go back a long way to find a stretch (2001-2019) when River Falls finished below .500 every season — and often well below. The WIAC is an elite D-III league, with four of its eight schools making the 40-team D-III field — and three still alive after the second round. ROSTER | TICKETS | WATCH | Patrick Reusse on UWRF

THE OTHER ‘LOCALS’: In D-III, No. 4 Bethel is host to No. 10 Wisconsin-Platteville and No. 13 UW-La Crosse plays at No. 1 North Central of Illinois (noon). D-III winners go to the quarterfinals. In D-II, Minnesota State plays at Ferris State, ranked No. 1 in its region, with the winner going to the semifinals (noon). In FCS playoffs, the four Minnesota-stocked state schools along the border with the Dakotas are all playing second-round games: No. 1 North Dakota State hosts Illinois State (noon), No. 11 South Dakota is at No. 6 Mercer (11 a.m.), No. 14 South Dakota State at No. 3 Montana (1 p.m.) and North Dakota at No. 4 Tarleton State (noon). Winners go to the quarterfinals. All games are on ESPN+. WATCH

GOPHERS BOWL UPDATE: Matchups will be announced Sunday after the College Football Playoff bracket is announced. Here are the latest projections for where Minnesota could end up: The Athletic: Rate Bowl in Phoenix vs. Iowa State on Dec. 26. ESPN: Pinstripe Bowl in New York vs. Duke or Pittsburgh on Dec. 27. CBS Sports: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Georgia Tech. USA Today: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Clemson. Athlon Sports: Music City Bowl in Nashville vs. LSU on Dec. 30. MY TAKE: Looks like a trip to New York City is mostly likely. But playing Iowa State would almost feel like a rivalry game and playing LSU, even though newly hired Lane Kiffin won’t be coaching, would still bear witness to a wild atmosphere.

THE MOST OPTIMISTIC DAY IN SPORTS: One thing you can count on is that, no matter what, college football’s national signing period will result in unbridled optimism about the future of whatever team you’re reading about. On social media, the Gophers posted each of the official commitments as they were received early Wednesday morning. At 11 a.m., coach P.J. Fleck met with school donors in the locker room at Huntington Bank Stadium to tout the signees, including the news that he’d signed the first “Top 25” recruiting class in his nine years at Minnesota. By 3 p.m., however, Minnesota had slipped to No. 26 and, as of 10 a.m. today, the Gophers were 29th — and eighth in the Big Ten. RANKINGS: https://fluence-media.co/rankings1204

WHAT WE DO KNOW: The Gophers signed three of the top four ranked players from Minnesota: defensive lineman Howie Johnson of Forest Lake, quarterback Roman Voss of Jackson County Central (who will likely play tight end) and offensive lineman Andrew Trout of Rocori. FULL LIST: https://fluence-media.co/list1206

MORE NAMES: Via Strib Varsity. A total of 71 players had signed as of Thursday morning with D-I and D-II schools. SIGNINGS: https://fluence-media.co/signings1204

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YEAH, I’M ANNOYED: I’ve trolled college sports “commitments” from time to time, and now it’s reached the point where I feel compelled to offer some advice to my colleagues who report on them in real time. STOP TURNING EVERY VERBAL COMMITMENT INTO A STORY! More players are announcing “commitments” and then taking them back within weeks. Last month, the Gophers announced that a running back had flipped to them after committing to West Virginia — and then lost him three weeks later when he decommitted and committed to Texas. (He did, actually, sign with Texas on Wednesday.)

PART II: If a prominent player decommits, find out what happened. Two players from Hutchinson Junior College, the top-ranked junior college team in the nation, committed to the U on Nov. 12. That’s worthy of a headline. But it’s also worth investing energy into WHY they chose to decommit less than two weeks later. What did Kansas State offer wide receiver Derrick Salley Jr. and cornerback Michael Graham that made them abandon the U? Salley was a big deal because he was ranked as the top junior college receiver in the country and Graham was ranked No. 3 among safeties. I’m not saying that college commitments aren’t a big deal. They are. But there’s a wide swath of the process that’s currently under-covered. NOTE: A third Hutchinson player who committed to the Gophers that day walked back his commitment Wednesday afternoon. So . . . many . . . questions.

REMEMBER THIS GUY? Dennis Evans, the 7-foot-1 high school shot-blocking savant whose commitment to the Gophers in 2022 was such a big deal that the Star Tribune sent a writer to California to write about him. “Next year’s big thing,” according to the headline. “Sky’s truly the limit for him,” former Gophers coach Ben Johnson said. Evans changed his mind a few months later and went to Louisville, barely played, took a year off because of an injury and is now at Grand Canyon University in Arizona. His college career totals: 12 games, 85 minutes, 18 points.

REMEMBER THAT GUY? Former Breck School and Bloomington Jefferson star Daniel Freitag is bouncing back from a troubled freshman season at Wisconsin. He left for University of Buffalo, which is off to an 8-0 start for the second time in school history. Earlier this week, he was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Week and the school’s Student-Athlete of the Week. Freitag is averaging 20.1 points per game for the Bulls and is shooting 40% from three-point range after rarely getting on the floor with the Badgers. LOOKING AHEAD: Will Freitag try to use this season for a move to a higher-profile basketball school? DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/freitag1204

GOPHERS VS. ST. THOMAS? Minnesota and St. Thomas are part in a four-team cluster for the first two rounds of the NCAA volleyball tournament on Friday and Saturday at the U. For the Tommies to face Minnesota, however, they’d need to beat No. 22-ranked Iowa State at 4:30 p.m. Friday. (The No. 19 Gophers play Fairfield in the following match, with the winners meeting at 7 p.m. Saturday for a place in the Round of 16.) St. Thomas finished third in the Summit League but got an NCAA berth after upsetting South Dakota State in the conference tournament title match. Minnesota defeated St. Thomas in four sets in August. Matches are on ESPN+. BRACKET | TICKETS

GOPHER BAR GONE WRONG? Over the years, the bar most closely associated with Gophers athletics is Stub and Herbs, which dates back to the 1930s. So I was a bit surprised — in an amused way — when I heard about this from one of my St. Thomas sources:

WOMEN GET IT RIGHT: Via Pat Borzi at MinnPost. One way to build a connection to young fans that women’s teams in the Twin Cities have done well is by holding camp and field trip days — giving away tickets or selling them at a big discount to get kids into their games. All teams in the WNBA participate and the crowd at Target Center to watch the Lynx play Phoenix on a weekday afternoon this summer was a high-decibel near sellout of 16,421 fans. The Gophers women’s hockey team gave away more than 4,000 free tickets to a game a few weeks back and moved it from their usual home at Ridder Arena to Mariucci Arena in order to seat everyone. St. Thomas had a field trip basketball game against Northern Arizona on Wednesday and has a hockey game vs. the Gophers set for February 6. VERBATIM: “This is one of the many things women’s sports gets right, and men’s sports often overlook. It’s not all about ticket revenue. It’s getting your product in front of kids who might not otherwise see it. If they like it and connect with your players (postgame autograph sessions help immensely), they’ll bug their parents to take them again. And when they get old enough, they’ll buy tickets on their own. That’s how you build a fan base. The Lynx mastered this even before the championship years. So did Gopher women’s hockey.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/fieldtrip1204

BIG BOYS’ BASKETBALL WEEKEND: The season started Tuesday and there are two huge day-long festivals on Saturday. The Big Stage Classic kicks off at Royals Athletic Center in Hopkins with seven games starting at 10 a.m.. Top games are Maple Grove vs. DeLaSalle at 6 p.m. and Tartan vs. Hopkins at 7:30 p.m. The Southside Showcase at Minnehaha Academy has five games starting at 1:15 p.m. and concluding with the host Redhawks playing Southwest. SCHEDULES: https://fluence-media.co/hoops1204

AND IN GIRLS’ HOCKEY: The Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the state — Hill-Murray (7-0) and Holy Family (6-0) play at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Victoria Ice Arena. The Pioneers defeated Edina 4-3 in a rematch of last year’s Class AA title game and Holy Family shut out Centennial/Spring Lake Park and Eden Prairie in the last week.

THIS SHOULD BE FUN: St. Thomas and St. John’s will bring back their rivalry next Thursday when their basketball teams meet at the new arena on the St. Thomas campus. The Tommies are 6-4 after a loss at Montana State on Wednesday. The Johnnies are 2-3, including a home loss to St. Olaf in the MIAC opener on Wednesday. Aside from single seats in the lower level and accessible seats, the only remaining tickets are priced at $82 in the club level. TICKETS

SWEET FAREWELL: Via Chip Scoggins at Star Tribune. A funeral for the man thought to be Minnesota’s oldest living World War II veteran was held Tuesday. It started with the Anoka High fight song because Stan Nelson, who died last month at age 105, was also the longtime football coach at the school. VERBATIM: “Nine days before his death, Nelson led the “Let’s Play Hockey” cheer at the Wild game, then drank a 16-ounce beer in a suite. He lived by himself in his home until the final few months. He loved going to the casino to play bingo and blackjack. He bought himself a riding lawn mower when he turned 99 (he talked the store into a financing plan). He competed in golf at the National Senior Games at age 95. His son Dave served as his caddie and remembers his dad being nervous before each round. ‘I’d go, ‘Dad, you’re 95. Let’s enjoy this.’” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/coach1204

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A SWEET FAREWELL TO YOU FOR NOW: Back next week with news, takes and some sporting holiday gift ideas.

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PERIL IN PURPLE

“The errors made by McCarthy and those by his teammates aren’t comparable. And that’s where the risk of locker room fractures could begin for the Vikings over the final six weeks of the regular season. The NFL’s most expensive roster at $350 million for 2025 is in the process of being sacrificed for the development of a quarterback who clearly needed more time to develop behind the scenes.” — Kevin Seifert via ESPN. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/vikings1125

“You might want to look away from your computer/phone screen if you are easily made nauseous by very ugly factoids regarding the Minnesota Vikings.” — Matthew Coller via Purple insider.

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McCARTHY

Yapping about McCarthy’s fitness to remain at quarterback took a sharp turn when the Vikings announced Monday that he was being placed in the NFL’s concussion protocol after reporting symptoms on the team’s flight back from Green Bay. The Vikings are being vague about details, save for acknowledging that rookie Max Brosmer, the former Gophers QB, would get the start on Sunday in Seattle if McCarthy isn’t fit to play. I’m not going to take any part in a discussion about whether the concussion protocol is a convenient way to shelter McCarthy. (Speculative discussions about players and their injuries are distasteful.) But a pull-apart of the bigger picture about McCarthy, one that goes beyond last Sunday and this one, is valid.

Here goes:

“What has become clear is that the brain trust miscalculated the pairing of an unproven quarterback with an expensive, veteran roster that, in theory, was constructed to contend immediately coming off a 14-win season. . . .This cannot be a scenario the Wilf family ownership envisioned when agreeing to spend more than $300 million in free agency to bolster the infrastructure around J.J. McCarthy. The owners might want answers as to why the plan went sideways.” — Chip Scoggins via Star Tribune. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ouch1125

“J.J. McCarthy isn’t nearly good enough at this juncture to operate the offense under the most optimal conditions, as proven last week in a 19-17 loss to Chicago wherein Minnesota played 58 minutes of putrid offense . . . at home . . . against one of the worst defenses in football. When facing a good defense in a bad script? Forget it, it’s over. It’s non-competitive. Minnesota’s offense is an eyesore. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell admitted postgame to reporters that his team’s margin for error is ‘razor thin’ at the moment. The narrow path to victory he described sounded like a team hoping to milk the clock to shorten the game and win 13-10. Never would you have thought this was possible in the O’Connell era.” — Jace Frederick via Pioneer Press. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/jj1125

“If it was just one no-good, rotten day for McCarthy, then it could be brushed off as part of the learning curve. Baker Mayfield had one of those games. So did Justin Herbert. But the latest in a string of rough outings for McCarthy has now put him in some very disturbing territory. In the last 10 years, the only QBs with lower ratings through six starts (minimum 100 attempts) are Bryce Petty, Jake Luton, DeShone Kizer, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Jake Luton and Nathan Peterman. . . . Talk about factoids, you won’t find many times in history that a team lost 23-6 and had more runs than passes.” — Coller via Purple insider. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bad1125

“When McCarthy returned from his ankle injury, the hope was that he would be able to remain healthy for the final 10 games of the regular season, giving O’Connell and the front office a reason to think he could be the team’s starting quarterback next season. That hasn’t come close to happening and you have to wonder if decisions already are being made about the Vikings’ future at quarterback. Even if McCarthy was playing at a decent level, his injury issues would be enough to scare a team. This isn’t to suggest the Vikings sever ties with McCarthy for 2026, but there’s a case to be made that the 22-year-old needs extensive work before he starts another game and not bringing in another capable starting-caliber quarterback would be malpractice. Especially for a team that has two outstanding wide receivers in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. The Vikings won’t say it, but they clearly are surprised by how McCarthy has looked in games.” — Judd Zulgad via Substack. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/2026

JEFFERSON

Justin Jefferson caught four passes for 48 yards on Sunday and was never a factor. That has become a recurring theme of the season — one created by McCarthy’s play, an (overhyped and) underperforming offensive line and McConnell’s game plans. We’re hearing participation-award stuff now, how Jefferson is handling the troubles quite well compared to superstar receivers who are prone to diva mode when things go sideways.

“Asked whether there are ways to keep him involved with shorter, quicker throws, Jefferson said: ‘That’s a great question. That’s something for the play-callers to really answer and for me to just go out there and continue to do what I got to do to get open, create that separation and once the ball is up and coming my way make that play. I don’t know.’ Jefferson needs only 148 yards the rest of this season to break Randy Moss’ record of 8,375 yards receiving through six seasons. He would rather be making a playoff run that’s virtually impossible at this point. ‘It’s hard to keep the positive energy and that go-back-to-work mentality. But that’s what we need to do.’ “ — Mark Craig via Star Tribune. MORE, including a postgame podcast: https://fluence-media.co/jefferson1125

Jefferson talks after the game. VIDEO: https://fluence-media.co/justinvideo1125

MANAGEMENT

“The Vikings forged a competitive rebuild plan at the start of 2022, and almost four years later, the team is in dire straits. Every path forward is blocked. The front office spent nearly $350 million in free agency eight months ago, slamming the book on its competitive rebuild process and inching toward go-time to win a Super Bowl. Now, the club is inches away from mathematical playoff contention in 2025, and everywhere folks look for a long-term solution, a roadblock stands in the way. The previously bright future is now dimmer than a candle in a thunderstorm.” — Dustin Baker via Vikings Territory. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/future1125

What’s gone mostly unsaid is the horrible miscalculation by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah that he could surround McCarthy with veterans who would compensate for the learning curve of an inexperienced quarterback. The veterans weren’t as good as expected. Injuries have taken a toll. Weaknesses have been exaggerated to the point that watching the placekicker, Will Reichard, kick 52- and 59-yard field goals was Sunday’s feeble highlight.

The question that should start to be asked is whether Adofo-Mensah has made such a huge miscalculation that he can keep his job. And if he goes, the lifeline for O’Connell gets a lot shorter because incoming GMs typically want the ability to bring in the coach of their choice. Adofo-Mensah is reportedly signed through 2029, which is when O’Connell’s current contract expires. Could what we’re watching now be the warm-up for regime change if Mark and Zygi Wilf run out of patience with what they’re seeing?

Adofo-Mensah’s choices helped create this mess. Does he deserve a chance to make things right? His timeline with the Vikings is long enough for that to be a valid debate. If I’m the Wilfs, I deliver this message to the general manager, the coach and others with player personnel purview: “You broke it, folks. You fix it.”

CASE STUDY:

Media members are romancing numbers right now and dancing with “worst QB ever” data based on six NFL starts. That’s smaller than a small sample size. What the Vikings have is a cousin to Chicago’s Caleb Williams situation. In Williams case, last season’s debate about whether he was the right quarterback to be taken with the No. 1 overall pick was quashed by replacing a second-rate offensive line and a third-rate head coach. What are the moves that are needed to give McCarthy his best chance to succeed? Let’s judge him after a couple dozen games instead of a half-dozen.

VIKINGS (4-7) VS. SEAHAWKS (8-3): 3:05 p.m. Sunday kickoff on FOX and the Vikings Audio Network. Vikings depth chart | Real-time betting info, match-ups | Seahawks web site

PLAYOFFS? DREAM ON: You may still hear about how there’s a slim path from the 4-7 record to a possible postseason berth. When you see or hear that, shut it down and walk away. Playoff-chance projections typically vary according to methodology. But The Athletic, NFL.com, ESPN and PlayoffStatus.com all have the Vikings with less than a 1% chance of qualifying for the playoffs. (By comparison, chances for the 8-3 Bears to reach the playoffs varies from 50% to 78%, depending on who’s doing the math.)

POWER RANKINGS? A NIGHTMARE: Via The Athletic. The Packers are seventh, the Lions are eighth, the Bears are 12th . . . the Vikings are 23rd. VERBATIM: “Coach Kevin O’Connell has been the NFL’s biggest proponent that it’s teams that typically fail quarterbacks, not the other way around. But how do the Vikings keep playing McCarthy when he so clearly isn’t ready and has been historically bad? On the other hand, can you really bench him for an undrafted rookie?” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/power1125

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ELSEWHERE:

PLEASE STOP: Most Gophers fans are willing to accept pretty good as good enough, which means coach P.J. Fleck should tone down the “one-game championship season” silliness that he trotted out again after the Gophers puked up a 15-point lead in the second half in their 38-35 loss to Northwestern. The Wildcats rank in the bottom 25% in the nation in total offense, scoring offense and passing offense. It was a bad loss to an average team and to put the word “championship” next to it disrespects Minnesota fans. To his credit, Fleck can do a pretty good job of breaking down things that go wrong, especially during his radio appearances. Just drop the sugar-coating.

HUH? Via Randy Johnson at Star Tribune. VERBATIM: “There were so many good things from that football game with our football team from a lot of different people’s perspectives and performances that it’s gonna get overshadowed by the loss,” Fleck said. “It’s not on my mind. I loved our effort. I loved our resolve.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gophersfb1125

.500 CLUB? I figured the Northwestern and Wisconsin games for Minnesota victories that would give the Gophers an 8-4 record and a boost to a better destination when bowl selections are announced on Dec. 7. Now they’re playing to avoid a .500 record Saturday at The Bank against the Badgers, who just upset No. 23 Illinois and knocked Washington from the Top 25 a couple weeks back. This feels like the least riveting Border Battle in years, unless you can get juiced for knowing that the winner will take the lead in an all-time series that’s tied at 63-63-8. Silly me for being optimistic.

GOPHERS (6-5) VS. WISCONSIN (4-7): 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FS1 and the Gophers Radio Network. Gophers depth chart | Real-time betting info, match-ups | Wisconsin web site.

21-DAY GOPHER: On Nov. 3, the Gophers announced that running back Jett Walker flipped his commitment from West Virginia to Minnesota. On Sunday, the Texas native announced a flip from the Gophers to his home-state Longhorns. He was the second player to switch a “commitment” from Minnesota to Texas in a one-week period.

MNUFC BOWS OUT: For 71 minutes, Minnesota United did just what it needed to do Monday night, play in a tight defensive shell and take opportunities on offense when they became available. Early in the second half, there was a shot by Robin Lod that beat San Diego’s goalkeeper and was headed for the net — until defender Ian Picher made a spectacular sliding stop inches from the goal line, and somehow avoided a hand ball in the process.

The Loons defense was so good that San Diego got only one shot on goal the entire game. The problem? Star Anders Dreyer’s shot went in, following a stunning heel pass from Corey Baird, and was the decider in a 1-0 game that sent the winners — an expansion team — into this weekend’s MLS Western Conference finals.

BETTER ENDING, AT LEAST: Via Jon Marthaler at Star Tribune. This is the second straight year that MNUFC’s season has ended in the conference semifinals, but this exit — however painful — was a far cry different than the 6-2 elimination loss to LA Galaxy that ended the 2024 season. VERBATIM: “It was a little microcosm of our season,” head coach Eric Ramsay said. “We were super competitive. We were in the game all the way through. Restricted them to very little. . . . We certainly have the better (scoring) chances of the game, if only by a little, but have come out of the wrong side of the game that was decided on very fine margins.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/loons1125

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR? Via Jess Myers at Pioneer Press. Jesper Wallstedt was viewed as the Wild’s backup goalie when the season started, a status he is smashing to bits with his recent play — including three shutouts in his last four games. At age 23, he’s the youngest goalie in NHL history to have a five-game winning streak. The Wild have won five in a row and have a 9-2 November record. The Wild are tied with four other teams for the sixth-most points in the NHL (28) after a sluggish start the featured a five-game losing streak. VERBATIM: “He’s playing like a wall right now. It’s fun to watch, and it gives us all confidence,” said Wild defenseman Brock Faber. “It took time for him to get here. He worked and battled and went through adversity and ups and downs, and to see him playing the way he can play, it’s incredible.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/jesper1125

THE WALL OF ST. PAUL: There’s a t-shirt. GO HERE: https://fluence-media.co/wall1125

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TRIPLE QUADRUPLE: High school star Maddyn Greenway of Providence Academy became the first Minnesota girls’ basketball player to reach 1,000 points, rebounds and assists in her career. She reached the rebounding mark Saturday when defending 2A champ Providence lost 78-74 to 4A champ Hopkins. Greenway has signed to play college basketball at Kentucky. She’s played varsity since seventh grade.

LYNX DRAFT SECOND: The WNBA draft lottery was held Sunday and the Lynx won the second pick — lottery status granted as part of the trade that allowed Chicago to draft Angel Reese in 2024. Presuming the WNBA’s labor issues are settled, teams will be reshaped through free agency before the draft is held in mid-April. So at this point it’s hard to predict Minnesota’s top need. It will also depend, of course, on what Dallas does with the No. 1 overall pick.

INTRIGUING OPTION: If Dallas doesn’t grab her and the Lynx need a mobile, inside threat — which is their No. 1 need on the current roster — the player they should pursue is 19-year-old Awa Fam of Spain, a 6-foot-4 center who was the MVP of the 2024 U20 Eurobasket Tournament. Here’s The Athletic’s description of Fam’s game: “She explodes on rolls to the basket and has a great feel for how to move off the ball, which includes quick passing while stationary and when cutting. She protects the basket well and can stick with guards on switches. You watch her mirror a smaller player’s drive to the basket and wonder how opponents ever thought they could get a shot attempt past her. Fam doesn’t seem to have a shooting touch beyond the paint, but she is so advanced already at her age that it’s hard to believe she won’t get there.”

OTHERWISE: Via Cassidy Hettesheimer at Star Tribune. Two of the best fits for the Lynx are UConn combo guard Azzi Fudd and TCU shooting guard Olivia Miles. VERBATIM: “Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wouldn’t go as far as to name specific players the Lynx were scouting but did note “it’s not really that hard . . . if you’re tuning into college basketball. I’d like to stay away from naming names at this point, but it’s pretty common knowledge.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wnba1125

ONE WIN FROM NCAA BID: Via Jace Frederick at Pioneer Press. VERBATIM: “St. Thomas knocked off second-seeded South Dakota in the Summit League volleyball semifinals Monday via a thrilling five-set victory in which the third-seeded Tommies rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win 25-22, 22-25, 16-25, 25-19, 15-9 in Brookings, South Dakota. St. Thomas will meet top-seeded South Dakota State in the title match at 6 p.m. Tuesday with the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament on the line. The Jackrabbits swept the two regular season meetings between the two teams, winning both in four sets.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/toms1125

SECOND IN THE NATION: Via Augsburg University. VERBATIM: “ For the second straight year, Mohammed Bati finished second at the NCAA Division III Men’s Cross Country National Championships, shattering his 8,000-meter school record in the process. . . . Bati finished the 291-runner race in 23.39.6, 4.6 seconds behind national titlist Emmanuel Leblond of Johns Hopkins (Md.). Bati entered the final 1,000 meters of the race contending for the lead with Leblond, who pulled in front in the final 400 meters to claim the victory.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bati1125

SO MUCH TO SEE HERE: As promised, here’s the Sports Take guide to a packed weekend of games. The focus is on Minnesota teams, with a few add-ons that should carry some local interest. The bulk is real, so I’ll keep the commentary to a minimum.

WEDNESDAY:

Timberwolves at Oklahoma City, 6:30 p.m. ESPN. The defending NBA champions are 17-1. The Wolves are a game-blowing mess right now.

Wild at Chicago, 7:30 p.m. ESPN+. Can the Wild win their sixth straight? Can hot goalie Jesper Wallstedt get consecutive starts for the second time this season.

THANKSGIVING:

Packers vs. Lions, noon Fox. The first of three NFL games that provide an escape from family and food.

Gophers men’s basketball vs. Stanford in Palm Desert, Calif., 8:30 p.m. CBSSN. Another try against a solid opponent. Stanford is 4-1, not including an exhibition win over Oregon. Minnesota will play either Santa Clara or Saint Louis at 6 or 8:30 p.m. Friday (TruTV), depending on the results of Thursday’s games.

FRIDAY:

Bears vs. Eagles, 2 p.m. Prime. The Bears are 8-3 but have a thorny six-game stretch to finish the season that keeps them from being a playoff lock.

Wild vs. Avalanche, 2:30 p.m. FDSN. The Avalanche are the Oklahoma City of the NHL with a league-high 37 points and a 16-6 record that includes only one loss in regulation time.

Frost at Seattle, 3 p.m. YouTube. Home opener for the expansion Seattle Torrent, who have five Minnesotans on the roster, including Emily Zumwinkle, whose sister Grace plays for the Frost.

Hermantown vs. Cretin-Derham Hall in boys’ hockey, 7:15 at Highland Arena and NSPN: A 1A vs. 2A power match-up. There are about six dozen boys’ and girls’ hockey games around the state Friday and Saturday.

Gophers vs. Badgers volleyball, 8 p.m. BIG. This is the better Border Battle of the weekend. Wisconsin is ranked 10th and Minnesota 19th. It’s the final match of the regular season.

SATURDAY:

NCAA playoffs: (Division III) Saint John’s hosts Monmouth and Bethel hosts Coe, noon ESPN+. The Royals have the tougher game, the Johnnies have the nicer field. Just across the border, UW-River Falls hosts Chapman College of California. Tickets available on site for all three games. All three local schools had first-round byes. (Division II) Minnesota State at Indianapolis. 1 p.m. ESPN+. Winner goes to the quarterfinals.

Gophers vs Badgers football, 2:30 p.m. FS1. Will Minnesota fall to .500? Will Wisconsin finish with three wins in its final four games?

Wolves vs. Celtics, 4 p.m. FDSN. Luka Garza and Josh Minott on the visiting bench.

Wild vs. Sabres, 7 p.m. FDSN. Will there still be a Wild winning streak?

Gophers men’s hockey at Denver, 8 p.m. FOX9+. The Pioneers are ranked No. 4 in the country.

Girls’ basketball: Camp out in White Bear Lake for six games starting at 10:30 or Hamline, which has seven games starting at 9:30 a.m. SCHEDULE.

SUNDAY:

Vikings at Seahawks, 3 p.m. Fox. Sam Darnold vs. (probably) Max Brosmer. You’re just pretending that you’re not going to watch.

Wolves vs. Spurs, 6 p.m. FSDN. The big guy, Victor Wembanyana, is injured.

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THANKS FOR READING: Back next Thursday. Enjoy Thanksgiving and make someone else’s Thanksgiving even happier.

EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com

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Minnesota Division II and III sports: MIAC Network | Northern Sun Network | Upper Midwest Network

WHERE ARE THE BEST SPORTS STORIES? Sometimes they’re in plain sight, in arenas where we gather by the thousands to watch the teams that define Minnesota sports. Other times, they are in places you wouldn’t expect. Like at a small Lutheran college across the road from Medicine Lake in the west metro. That’s where we’ll start today, with the story of a basketball team that recently won its first game in almost 1,000 days, and the road it took to get there. It’s a story you haven’t read in local media — and a story I hope eventually gets told in more detail than I can share in today’s Sports Take.

THE CONQUERORS WIN! When coach Logan Strand replies to a teenager who expresses interest in playing men’s basketball for Free Lutheran Bible College, this is his first question: “What’s your relationship with God like?”

That often ends the recruitment.

“If you’re not coming here to learn about Jesus and how to use Him in your life, this is not going to be the place for you,” Strand said.

Here is in Plymouth, just off a twisting road on the shore of Medicine Lake. FLBC has an enrollment of about 110 students. Here is also the Student Life Center, which houses the arena where about 200 people gathered last Friday to watch the Conquerors defeat Dayspring Bible College of Illinois 75-62 to end a 47-game losing streak. Some of the scores are jaw-dropping: 85-5, 92-9, 114-14.

Yes, the Conquerors celebrated after the win. But not right away. First they gathered at midcourt to pray with their opponents. “We will always do that, no matter if we win or lose. That’s our No. 1 priority,” said Strand, who has a degree from FLBC and previously coached sophomore high school basketball. “After losing a bunch of games in a row, I never want to make another school feel like we were showing them up because we won one basketball game. We care about them just as much as we care about winning.”

Then players took part in another lose-or-win tradition, returning to their locker room through a tunnel created by their fans. This one was rowdier than usual. When Strand entered the locker room, it was dark and quiet, until players turned on the lights, screamed and doused him with their water bottles. Some traditions are universal.

What changed? Incredibly, Strand explained that last year’s team had so little playing experience that it was like coaching “fourth- and fifth-grade boys’ basketball.” A made shot was worthy of celebration. Forcing a turnover was a big deal. In the 114-14 loss, the Conquerors took only 30 shots and had the ball stolen 26 times.

This year’s roster is almost entirely new and includes players with high school experience who knew each other from church and summer camps. Frank Torfin of Elk River, a 6-foot-2 guard whose Spectrum High team lost to Class AA champ Albany in a section title game last season, scored 18 points in the streak-breaker. FLBC as a team averaged 23 points per game last season.

Most of the returning players from last year’s eight-man roster knew they were in over their heads as soon as they saw the freshmen. “They said, ‘I don’t want to stand in their way. I can do my work fulfilling the mission of the school in other ways.’ “ Strand said. “For me, I only have 15 jerseys. I can only fit so many people in the van.”

There are still beatdowns. The Conquerors lost their opener by 52 and lost to the North Central College junior varsity 108-48 the night before their victory. But there have also been two close losses and a reasonable shot at more victories.

FLBC’s story has not been discovered by local media. Part of that is the school not courting attention. Another part is the skinnier treatment of many sports by the Star Tribune and others because of shrinking staffs and changing priorities. They were featured last year in a sympathetic story by Yahoo! Sports and mocked by Barstool Sports. Strand said he got a call last year from a radio station asking about doing a story, but nothing came of it.

“I think they knew the first thing I was going to say is, ‘We’re doing this for our Lord and Savior.’ And then the interview would be over.”

Highlights from the win | FLBC’s mission | Schedule and results

MY TAKE: I attended a college where our football team lost 50 games in a row, most of them while I was a student. In one game, we scored on the first play from scrimmage — and the opponents rallied to win 97-6. Our men’s basketball team went through a 10-year stretch where we had a conference record of 19-181, and made ESPN for giving up 100 points in one half. (That got the president’s attention and resulted in a coaching change.) So when our football team won a conference title and the basketball team went to the conference finals, it was a bigger deal than at most places. The struggles are very real. Conquering them is very sweet.

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JESSIE DIGGINS RETIRING: Via Matthew Futterman at The Athletic. Jessie Diggins, the Afton native who is the most accomplished U.S. cross-country skier in history, will retire at the end of the season. Diggins has won three Olympic medals and has three World Cup overall titles. Her final season will include the Olympics in Italy in February and conclude with the World Cup finals at Lake Placid, N.Y., in March. Diggins, 34, recently talked in depth with Futterman, whose story broke the news early Wednesday morning. In addition to talking about her reasons for retiring and the changes in her life through the years, Diggins said the peak moment of her career had nothing to do with winning a medal or a title. It came in Minneapolis last year before a World Cup race at Wirth Park.

VERBATIM: “More than 20,000 of Diggins’ closest friends showed up and screamed their lungs out, creating an atmosphere that had the Scandinavians raving about the skiing culture that Diggins had played a major role in creating during the previous decade. Diggins got on the podium that day, but it was the practice lap that got her. That’s when she could look up and take it all in and let all the love for her and her sport wash over her. ‘I swear everything that has happened since then has just been icing on the cake.’ “ FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/diggins1120

WHAT MADE HER GREAT? I reached out to former Star Tribune Olympics writer Rachel Blount for her thoughts on Diggins: “In the US, Diggins is the indisputable GOAT of her sports. She achieved things that once seemed impossibly out of reach for an American cross-country skier: Olympic gold, World Cup overall crowns, Tour de Ski titles. And she did it with such exuberance, no small feat in a stoic sport! Jessie planted a flag for US cross-country skiing in Europe, the gutsy American in glitter and face paint who won races, fans and respect. At home, she gave her sport the brightest spotlight ever when her 2018 rush to Olympic gold (“Here comes Diggins!”) went viral. Someday, perhaps, there could be another American who can match her results. But Jessie will always be the one who showed what was possible.”

KAPRIZOV OVERPAID? Via The Athletic. Hockey writers Michael Russo and Joe Smith took questions from readers and one of them set up Russo for a breakaway by asking, “In your opinion, is Kirill Kaprizov overpaid?” VERBATIM: “The Wild were boxed in by an agent who clearly held the upper hand, and they ultimately conceded far more than they should have in the negotiation. Plain and simple, it doesn’t look good for the Wild that the aftermath of Kaprizov signing for $17 million was Jack Eichel signing for $13.5 million, Connor McDavid for $12.5 million, Kyle Connor for $12 million, Martin Necas for $11.5 million and Adrian Kempe for $10.625 million. All those players were willing to sign for significantly less than the new market value Kaprizov created because they wanted to help their team’s salary structure so they could win. And even though Kaprizov is the best player in Wild history, being paid so much will absolutely affect what the Wild can and cannot do around him in the future. That’s not good for anybody: for Kaprizov, who wants to win; for GM Bill Guerin, who really, really wants to ‘effin win;’ or for owner Craig Leipold, who really, really, really wants to win. Minnesota should be a hockey destination, and Kaprizov should help make it one by luring other players. But it’s troublesome that it took overpaying Kaprizov to such a large degree to keep their own homegrown player.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/overpaid1120

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ARE YOU SAYING THERE’S NO CHANCE? The Athletic’s latest Playoff Simulator lists 11 teams that have less than a 1% chance to make the playoffs. Every other team but one has a 10% chance, according to the analytics. The “but one” is the Vikings at 2% If they lose at Green Bay on Sunday, they’ll join the <1% cluster. SIMULATOR: https://fluence-media.co/playoffs1120

THE TROUBLE WITH J.J.: Between unhappy Vikings fans and impatient media folks, we’re seeing J.J. McCarthy getting picked apart in a fashion that feels odd for a quarterback who has started only five games in his injury-hampered career. At The Ringer, football writer Steven Ruiz is suggesting that we could be getting close to time for a benching. VERBATIM: "Right now, McCarthy is physically incapable of making the throws the Vikings passing game requires, and the problem is getting worse by the week. If the live reps aren’t helping him improve, then it might be time to give the second-year pro a break and turn to rookie backup Max Brosmer — whose preseason performance turned some heads — to try to make the passing game functional again.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/jj1120

KEEP HIM OUT THERE: Via John Shipley at Pioneer Press. VERBATIM: “Whatever the Vikings expected McCarthy to be in his first NFL season, it was too much for a 22-year-old who missed his entire rookie season because of a knee injury. More than halfway through the season, the Vikings are 4-6 and last in the NFC North, and frankly getting worse. Nearly everyone who cared could see this coming. Why Vikings management didn’t is a mystery.” MORE: “If Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah truly believed what they have been telling us about McCarthy, they need to stick with him. They threw him out there this season and asked him to either be great, or make all his mistakes in front of 70,000 people on Sundays. They owe it to him to not give up.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/vikings1120

DEEPER DIVE: Via Arif Hasan at Wide Left. The data isn’t good, there are issues that go beyond the numbers. VERBATIM: “For most of his early NFL career, McCarthy had been offered a platter of excuses; promissory notes, really, to be paid back later with good performances. Those performances so far haven’t come, while the excuses have withered away; all of his receivers have returned to the lineup, the offensive line is about as healthy and performant as most offensive lines around the league and the running game — underutilized as it is — is effective and efficient. We do have a new set of excuses, of course. His hand is legitimately injured, and his receivers dropped the ball five or six times against the Bears this week, depending on who’s doing the counting. But it is pretty remarkable that very few fans — some of whom were ardent in their arguments about McCarthy’s supporting cast inhibiting his ability to produce — no longer feel empowered to provide a runway for a young quarterback.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/data1120

VIKINGS (4-6) VS. PACKERS (6-3-1): Noon Sunday kickoff on FOX and the Vikings Audio Network. Vikings depth chart | Real-time betting info, match-ups | Packers web site.

WOLVES FALSE POSITIVE: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. The Wolves are 10-5. That’s good. The Wolves are 0-5 against teams with winning records. That’s cause for questions. The Wolves wins, including Wednesday’s 120-109 victory against Washington (1-13), have come against teams with a combined 20-77 record. Read that as really bad teams — and a continuation of the run that got the Wolves into the playoffs last season before they were crushed by Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals. VERBATIM: “Going down the rabbit hole of extenuating circumstances is mostly a waste of energy on specious judgment calls. For example, both Anthony Edwards, the superstar, and Jaylen Clark, the increasingly valuable defensive specialist, were out with injuries during the second loss to the Lakers and the first loss to the Nuggets. Okay, but L.A. was missing Luka Doncic as well as Lebron James when they won at Target Center in their second meeting, and the Nuggets beat the Wolves by a remarkably similar score in the rematch nearly three weeks later when both Ant and Clark were healthy.”

MORE: “Per the stats at nba.com, the Wolves have allowed 104.7 points per 100 possessions in their nine wins and 127.7 points in their five losses, for a differential of 23 points per 100 possessions. By contrast, Minnesota’s offense scores only 5.5 fewer points per 100 possessions in their losses, 114.8, than they do in their victories, 120.3. This tracks with the eye test, which indicates that a porous defense is a greater vulnerability than an anemic offense for the team thus far this season.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/wolves1120

YO, MEDIA! FROST STARTS SEASON FRIDAY: You would barely know it by the scarcity of media attention, but the two-time defending PWHL champion Frost open their quest for another title Friday against Toronto at Grand Casino Arena (6 p.m., FDSN). Before stories that appeared Wednesday, the last mention of the Frost in the local legacy media was more than six weeks ago. OPENER PREVIEW: Here’s one from The Hockey News, which notes that the Frost are being forced to make significant changes on defense and have an unsettled goalie situation. VERBATIM: “Off the ice, it will be interesting to see the crowd size for the opening game at the newly renamed Grand Casino Arena in Minnesota to see if they can build momentum from a second straight Walter Cup.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/opener1120

STILL WAITING: The Strib posted a job for a women’s sports reporter this summer and still hasn’t filled it. I'm hearing a choice has been made, but in the contemporary calculus of staff downsizing and a difficult economy, I’ll believe what I hear when someone is writing those stories. Also unfilled is a college basketball writing position that was also advertised earlier this year. That has resulted in some Gophers home basketball games — men’s and women’s — being “covered” without having a reporter at Williams Arena, work that had been done previously by the reassigned Marcus Fuller and the retired Kent Youngblood.

QUICK BASKETBALL THOUGHTS: There are 365 teams playing Division I men’s basketball. In their last two games, the Gophers struggled to beat Wisconsin-Green Bay, which is ranked No. 324 by college basketball data cruncher Ken Pomeroy, and No. 354 Chicago State. (Minnesota is ranked 94th.) I have already seen one overwrought “Did Minnesota Hire the Wrong Guy” rant on the web. MY TAKE: Buckle up for a bumpy season. Coach Niko Medved bought the best team possible with limited time and resources, filling in his team’s many needs from the bargain racks. Medved deserves a full year of recruiting and a follow-up year of retaining those recruits before he can begin to be fairly judged. His team isn’t for the impatient. FULL KENPOM RANKINGS: https://fluence-media.co/kenpom1120

MONDAY NIGHT FUTBOL: Via Brian Hernandez at KUSI News. The Loons return to MLS postseason play after two weeks away at San Diego on Monday in the Western Conference semifinals. (9 p.m., APPLE TV). If for no other reason that they were an expansion team, San Diego was picked to finish last in the Western Conference before a surprising season ended with the team at the top of the conference standings. The Loons and SDFC split their regular season matches — each side winning on the road. The San Diego season has been filled with triumphs and a side of drama, featuring star forward Chucky Lozano, who was benched after a locker room incident and was suspended from the Mexican National Team before last year’s Copa America after complaining about flying in economy while a teammate was upgraded. Lozano is also battling a hamstring injury and his status is uncertain for Monday. MORE ON SAN DIEGO’S SEASON: https://fluence-media.co/sdfc1120

FIVE SEMIFINAL STORYLINES: Via MLS.com. Among other things, San Diego hopes to become the second expansion team to win the MLS Cup. The other was Chicago in 1998, when the league had only 12 teams instead of the current 30. STORYLINES: https://fluence-media.co/mls1120

WE’RE NO. 2! Via Meg Linehan at The Athletic. “What makes a great women’s sport’s city?” That’s a question The Athletic’s sports staff wrestled with before publishing its Top Ten list. The Bay Area came in first. Minneapolis-St. Paul was second — with Seattle, Portland and New York City filling out the top five. VERBATIM: “In addition to the women’s sports teams at all levels and regular hosting of major events, Minneapolis can also point to the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota as yet another reason that the Twin Cities take their women’s sports seriously. As Claire Weltz, a member of our social team, wrote in her survey: “there’s research and recreation.” Minneapolis has a dedicated women’s sports bar, A Bar of Their Own, but if you’re heading out that way, there’s also the pilgrimage to the giant mural of Megan Rapinoe on the side of queer soccer bar The Black Hart of St. Paul to make, too. RANKINGS: https://fluence-media.co/msp1120

TOO MUCH VOLLEYBALL? Via Joe Nelson at Bring Me The News and Pat Borzi at MinnPost. There are two professional volleyball leagues in the United States — League One Volleyball and Major League Volleyball. Both are expanding for the 2027 season — and both will have franchises in Minnesota. One has an ownership group that includes Wild owner Craig Leipold and will play at Grand Casino Arena. The other is currently owned by League One Volleyball, which will seek local investors. Two leagues moving into the Twin Cities is awkward and appears to have caught stakeholders by surprise. VERBATIM: “When we were doing our diligence, we assumed that there would be one in this market,” Leipold said. “I have to question whether it’s appropriate to put two teams in one market like this.” STORIES: Bring Me the News | MinnPost

WNBA LABOR UPDATE: Via ESPN. At the end of October, the WNBA and its players union agreed to extend their contract until Nov. 30 — and talks are expected to heat up as the deadline approaches. VERBATIM: “New details trickled out Tuesday night: The league’s latest proposal, initially reported by The Associated Press and confirmed by ESPN, includes revenue sharing with a maximum salary of more than $1.1 million starting in 2026, with a league minimum of more than $220,000 and average of more than $460,000. . . . What if labor uncertainty reigns? The longer both sides go without a deal, the greater the ramifications will be. And without an agreement in sight, damages are beginning to mount. ‘The basketball calendar is already at the point where it’s going to be impacted. They’re already there,’ a source told ESPN. ‘And when it comes to things like renewals and partnership opportunities, sitting here with an uncertain labor negotiation, it’s already having an impact on the basketball calendar and the business.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wnba1120

FULL ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORT: https://fluence-media.co/ap1120

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SO MUCH TO SEE HERE: The list of should-see sports Friday through Tuesday could be twice this length. But I need to draw a line somewhere. FRIDAY: Two-time PWHL champion Frost opens their season at Grand Casino Arena vs. Toronto. It’s the sole home game until mid-December. (6 p.m., FDSN. Tickets); FRIDAY-SATURDAY: Seven state football title games in the Prep Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium. Four games Friday, three on Saturday. I’ll stop to watch the 6A title game between Edina and Moorhead at 7 p.m. Friday. (All games on Ch. 45. Tickets, program and streaming info). SATURDAY-SUNDAY: D-III men’s soccer Sweet 16 and Elite 8. St. Olaf vs. Williams at 11 a.m. and Macalester vs. Wheaton (Mass.) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Northfield. Winners play at 1 p.m. Sunday. Augsburg plays Cortland in St. Louis on Saturday and, if the Auggies win, either Washington (St. Louis) or Trinity (Texas) at 1 p.m. Sunday. D-III women: Carleton plays Swarthmore at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Chicago and, by winning, either University of Chicago or Cal Lutheran at 1 p.m. Sunday. (Streaming for all games; St. Olaf and Macalester tickets at the gate in Northfield.) SATURDAY: D-II football playoffs. Minnesota State plays at Findlay (Ohio) and UMD plays at Ashland (Ohio) at noon Saturday. D-III: Crown College at Wheaton (Ill.) MIAC teams Bethel and St. John’s have first-round byes and don’t play until Nov. 29. (All football games on ESPN+). SUNDAY: Vikings vs Packers in Green Bay (Noon, Fox). MONDAY: MNUFC vs. San Diego in MLS quarterfinals at 9 p.m. (Apple TV). TUESDAY: Gophers wrestling home opener vs. South Dakota State (7 p.m., BIG+. Tickets)

CHEERS FOR ST. OLAF: St. Olaf is charging only $6 to attend the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 soccer games on campus Saturday and Sunday. Students are $3 and kids under 12 get in for $2. You can bring a chair and sit on the hill that surrounds Rolf Mellby Field. It’s only about 45 minutes from the Twin Cities to Northfield. DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/oles1120

MORE VOLLEYBALL TOO: D-III nationals start today with Saint Benedict playing Wash U at 11:30 a.m. and Gustavus playing Edgewood at 4:30 p.m. in Oshkosh, Wis. St. Olaf plays University of Northwestern at 4:30 p.m. in Bloomington, Ill. The second round is Friday and the Sweet 16 is Saturday at the same sites. (Bracket | Streaming). The D-II brackets are announced Monday.

PREP BOWL: All the nuts and bolts of the Prep Bowl are linked to in the sports calendar a few paragraphs about this. If you need a rooting interest — and you don’t want to do the knee-jerk “anyone but Edina” thing — I recommend Moorhead. The Spuds are playing in Class 6A (the state’s largest) for the first time this season and played a schedule entirely against metro-area teams, putting together a five-game winning streak to reach the finals after opening the season with a 3-4 record. They beat Edina 51-44 last month to start the streak. But all of that’s secondary to their mascot. That’s Spuddy.

YES, I COUNTED: Of the 14 schools in the Prep Bowl. One — Hillcrest Lutheran of Fergus Falls — is a private school.

TWINS TV SET: Via John Bonnes at Twins Daily. Amid all the changes in MLB’s national TV exposure, the ways to watch the Twins in 2026 will remain the same. Twins.TV will continue streaming games through Minnesota and much of the Upper Midwest. Cable and satellite delivery will remain the same and MLB.TV will be available for those outside the regional coverage area. VERBATIM: “MLB will gain an additional distribution lane and may choose to stream select games on the ESPN app or related platforms. Those specifics haven’t been announced, but whatever ESPN adds will be in addition to, not instead of, Twins.TV or your current TV provider.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/twinstv1120

FIELDS OF DREAMS TICKETS: MLB announced this week the Twins will play the Phillies on August 13 at the Field of Dreams ballpark in Dyersville, Iowa — the third MLB game at that site. (The St. Paul Saints will play the Iowa Cubs at the site on Aug. 11.) Minneapolis to Dyersville is about a 235-mile drive and the nearest city of size is Dubuque. Ticket and lodging info is HERE: https://fluence-media.co/dreams1120

ROAD CUPCAKES: Via Randy Johnson at Star Tribune. It feels weird that the Gophers are four-point underdogs to Northwestern in Saturday’s game at Wrigley Field. The Wildcats are 5-5 and give off a vibe of mediocrity. The Gophers are 6-4, but the season has been a cluster on the road, where they’ve lost all four games, including Friday’s 42-13 dismantling at Oregon. VERBATIM: “The loss marked the third time this season that the Gophers have been bludgeoned on the road in Big Ten play. The other was their 41-3 loss to Iowa in which they trailed 31-0 at halftime. Combined, Ohio State, Oregon and Iowa outscored the Gophers 125-19. Throw in the 27-14 nonconference loss at California, and they are 0-4 away from Huntington Bank Stadium, being outscored 152-33 in those games.” MY TAKE: Losses to three really good teams and a pretty good on the road are solid roadblocks to being a next-level team. I wish the Gophers would have faced a couple of stiffer challenges at home this season. Last season’s USC win and close Penn State loss at Huntington Bank Stadium added excitement and contour to the season that has been absent in 2025. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ufootball1120

GOPHERS (6-4) VS. NORTHWESTERN (5-5): 11 a.m. Saturday kickoff on BIG and the Gophers Radio Network. Gophers depth chart | Real-time betting info, match-ups | Northwestern web site.

AND FINALLY: Two quirky stories about pro football.

LIFE ON THE PRACTICE SQUAD: Via Mark Craig at Star Tribune. Meet Nick Vannett. VERBATIM: “A 6-6, 261-pound tight end nicknamed “Baby Gronk” coming out of Ohio State in 2016, the year he was drafted by Seattle in the third round. Vannett never became the next Rob Gronkowski and never will, but he still loves football as much as the future Hall of Famer, anybody in the Vikings’ locker room and probably more than most of his NFL peers considering he’s now 32 years old toiling on a practice squad with an eighth team in 10 seasons. ‘It’s not easy but I still think I belong out on that field on Sundays, and that keeps me going.’ ” FACT: Being elevated to the active roster for a game is worth about $40,000 extra in his weekly pay. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/practice1120

LIFE OF A LONG SNAPPER: Via Brian Hamilton at The Athletic. This is a showpiece story for taking readers deep into football culture and keeping us engaged from first paragraph to last. (Yes, my writing class will be reading next year . . . and for years to come.) The story notes that the Vikings long snapper — you knew his name is Andrew DePaola and that he’s 38 years old, I’m sure — has been an All-Pro in two of the last three years and the only long snapper to make three straight Pro Bowls. READ: https://fluence-media.co/snapper1120

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THANKS FOR READING: Taking off next week for Thanksgiving. Count your blessings and create joy where you can.

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