Three sports thoughts in the front of my brain: (1) I will be much happier when I see Byron Buxton on the field again. (2) P.J. Fleck’s latest contract revision. (3) Is this becoming (even) more of a soccer state?
WELCOME BACK: A lot of us set aside our devices and found other ways to amuse ourselves over and around the 4th of July weekend. So let’s do some catching up, in addition to looking ahead. And let’s start by showing love for some really good writing and reporting.
HOLMGREN COMES HOME: Via Shelby Swanson at Star Tribune. The Strib intern, who will be covering University of North Carolina football after leaving Minnesota, spent time with the young Oklahoma City star at his Minnehaha Academy basketball camp. VERBATIM: “Chet Holmgren’s varsity coach at Minnehaha, Lance Johnson, smiled from the sidelines. He couldn’t have imagined Holmgren would become an NBA champion quite this fast. ‘As a coach, you wish the best for your kids, but you never could imagine having an NBA star [and] champion. I could imagine this though,” Johnson said, gesturing to his surroundings. ‘I could imagine Chet giving back to the community like this.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/chet071025
SIDE NOTE: A friend of mine is house hunting in south Minneapolis and poked his head inside Burroughs Elementary School the other day. On the wall were class photos from the 2010s, including one where there’s a kid much taller than his classmates. That’s Holmgren, who went there before starting middle school at Minnehaha Academy.
CAPTURING FLAG FOOTBALL: Via Star Tribune. Reporter Cassidy Hettesheimer and photojournalist Renée Jones Schneider spent the spring with St. Louis Park’s first-year flag football team and its all-female coaching staff. The Orioles, who had only one player with flag football experience, went to the district finals before losing to Two Rivers. VERBATIM: “Only one student, junior Linda Yang, had played organized flag through a local Hmong league. Other girls were soccer, basketball and lacrosse players. Junior Ingrid Kotnik had danced for 16 years and never played a team sport but recently felt burnt out from her longtime pastime. ‘I figured, since it was the first year of the sport, it would be different, whereas if I tried out for girls basketball, those girls have been playing since like elementary school.’ “
THE COACH: Kayla Ross, a 26-year-old P.E. teacher, also plays quarterback and receiver for the Minnesota Vixen women’s team. VERBATIM: “As Ross began to spread the word to interested girls — ones she taught at the school in the first-ring suburb of Minneapolis, others she coached and their friends — she asked what they wanted from the season. ‘[The girls] requested to have other female coaches. I promised them I would find some ones that I think would be a good fit.” Ross did that with her Vixen teammates — Emily Sampson, Chloe Anderson and Nicki Hiber — along with other staff members from around her school. STORY AND PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/park071025
‘CLUTCH CORREA’ (NOT HIS REAL NAME ANYMORE): Via Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic. You don’t have to dig deep into Twins statistics to know that Carlos Correa hasn’t been the player with the Twins that he was with the Astros, and that he hasn’t performed to the standards you’d expect for a player on a six-year, $200 million contract. Gleeman did the digging, anyway. The numbers are distressing — and this may be the biggest disappointment. VERBATIM: “Of the 118 hitters to log at least 400 plate appearances with runners in scoring position (RISP) since his first Minnesota season (2022), Correa ranks 101st in OPS and 107th in slugging percentage. In particular, his power has vanished with RISP, slipping from a homer every 30 plate appearances with the Astros to one every 87 plate appearances with the Twins. Delving a little bit deeper into the same RISP data set, Correa’s production with runners in scoring position and two outs — a scenario where getting a hit scores runs and making an out ends a rally — has gone from very good for the Astros (.810 OPS) to downright bad for the Twins (.543 OPS).”
GLEEMAN’S CONCLUSION: "His overall production decline is fairly common for an aging star, and within a typical range of outcomes the Twins should have expected when signing him to a six-year mega-deal at age 28. But there’s nothing typical about Correa’s steep drop-off in clutch situations, which is far more extreme than his overall slide and diametrically opposed to the reputation he brought from Houston to Minnesota. Being a big clutch performer didn’t just help Correa get $200 million, it was also part of his lore.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/correa0710
NUMBERS: Correa’s stats | Correa’s contract, which is guaranteed for three more years and could extend for another four (through 2032) if he meets certain performance criteria.
STUFF COMING UP: The sports calendar is morphing, with the games of fall and winter coming back into play. Here are some key dates in the next few weeks:
WOLVES OF SUMMER: The NBA Summer League in Las Vegas opens today with the Wolves playing New Orleans at 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2, FSDN+) There are three more games, as well as consolation rounds and title play for the top four finishers. On Friday at 2 p.m., new owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore will be introduced at a press conference. WOLVES SCHEDULE | FULL LEAGUE SCHEDULE | SUMMER LEAGUE ROSTER
AURORA IN FINAL FOUR: Minnesota Aurora hosts Utah United in the USL W semifinals at 7 p.m. Saturday at TCO Stadium. The title match will be next weekend, with the date, time and site to be determined. The match will be on FOX9+ and streamed. TICKETS are $27.50 each, including fees. https://fluence-media.co/usltix0710
BUXTON IN HOME RUN DERBY, MAYBE: Byron Buxton is among the eight players set for Monday’s Home Run Derby — the high point of All-Star Game events for some people (7 p.m. ESPN). He’ll also be a reserve in Tuesday’s game (7 p.m. FOX). All of this is based on him being fit to play after getting hit on the left hand in Wednesday’s win over the Cubs.
MLB DRAFT: Sunday and Monday. The Twins have the 16th pick in the first round. First three rounds are on Sunday, starting at 5 p.m. (MLB Network, ESPN). Rounds 4 through 20 will be streamed on MLB.com at 10:30 a.m. Monday. More draft info below.
WNBA ALL-STAR GAME: Saturday, July 19 in Indianapolis. Lynx coach Cheryle Reeve coaches “Team Caitlin” (Clark) vs. “Team Napheesa” (Collier). They were the two players who received the most votes from fans and drafted the teams. The Lynx are also represented by guard Courtney Williams, who was drafted by Collier. (7:30 p.m., ABC)
VIKINGS TRAINING CAMP: Starts July 26 at TCO Stadium. Preseason opener is August 9 vs. Houston and there are two days of join practices with the Patriots on Aug. 13-14. Yes, that’s a game in less than a month. SCHEDULE AND TICKETS: https://fluence-media.co/vikecamp0710
FLECK’S ‘QUIET’ CONTRACT EXTENSION: Via Joe Christensen at Star Tribune. Some Sports Take readers in public relations have done this, I’m sure. If you need to make something public without calling attention to it, release the news (1) late in the afternoon, (2) on a Friday and/or (3) right before a holiday. On July 3, the U of M released news of P.J. Fleck’s latest contract extension and raise. VERBATIM: “The Fleck contract news came public Thursday (July 3), the same day university documents showed that the Gophers athletic department projects a $8.75 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2026.” STORY: fluence-media.co/pj0710
FAST FORWARD: The Board of Regents officially approved Fleck’s new deal Wednesday, at the same meeting where athletic director Mark Coyle presented a budget to the regents projecting an $8.75 million deficit for the department. The raise also came several weeks after news of budget cuts throughout the university, and with the school adding a $100 student fee that goes toward athletics.
WHAT’S THE DEAL? Via Associated Press. VERBATIM: “Fleck's annual $6 million salary remains the same. The retention bonus provision added to his deal in an amendment last year after UCLA pursued him will pay Fleck $1 million for staying at Minnesota through the end of 2025. The annual sweetener increases to $1.2 million for 2026, $1.3 million for 2027, $1.4 million for 2028, $1.5 million for 2029 and $1.6 million for 2030, an additional $2.3 million from the previous amounts.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/deal0710
P.R. SUCCESS? Beyond the actual reporting on Fleck’s contract, media reaction has been pretty much nonexistent. If someone wants to make a “cost of doing business” argument or rail against a raise for a coach with a $6 million-plus contract, I’m happy to listen.
IN THE MEANTIME: Star Tribune just published its annual list of Minnesota’s 50 highest-paid CEOs. If we pretend that Fleck is a CEO, he’d be tied for 22nd with this year’s $6 million salary and $1 million retention bonus. Add in his outside income and Fleck probably pushes himself into the Top 20.
TOP 20? Good goal for his team. Accept nothing less for the money, right?
WHY CARE WHAT FLECK MAKES? It’s as simple as the headline on Strib business columnist Evan Ramstad’s fine piece published today: “We’re wary of the super-rich. Also, we want to be the super-rich.” READ IT: https://fluence-media.co/evan0710
ALL COMMENTARY, ALL THE TIME: Twins TV announcer Cory Provus is taking the Cubs series off. Instead of filling-in with traditional talent (Anthony LaPanta, Marney Gellner or Kris Atteberry), the Twins opted to go with an all-analyst crew of former players Justin Morneau, Trevor Plouffe and Glen Perkins. On Tuesday, they were joined by injured pitcher Pablo Lopez, who showed up as a guest in the second inning — and didn’t leave. Reaction has been positive. ONE TEXT: “Plouffe running point brings the energy up and it’s always cool to hear Pablo talk shop.” FROM A FRIEND: “This all-analyst broadcast is pure baseball joy. I don’t need for someone to call the game for me (though I love a good home run call as much as the next person). But layering in this mix of baseball war stories, insights into modern baseball approaches and good-natured hijinks shared among friends who’ve all ‘been there, done that’ is perfection. I genuinely hope the Twins do this again.”
WHAT DID YOU THINK? sportstake100@gmail.com
DAMN: Yes, Byron Buxton stayed in the game — but only for another inning.
MLB DRAFT, TWINS PERSPECTIVE. The Twins have the 16th pick in the first round of the MLB draft, which starts Sunday. Baseball’s draft is the most imprecise of any of the four major sports drafts because there are so many variables — ranging from the number of players available to the fact that organizational needs for the future aren’t as clear as major league needs are in the moment. KEEP IN MIND: You’ll see a bias toward shortstops in these picks. That doesn’t have to do with Carlos Correa’s future as much as it does with the fact that shortstops are viewed as being talented enough to play just about anywhere in the field. With those disclaimers, here’s a look at where some experts see the Twins going in the first round:
ESPN: Marek Houston, shortstop, Wake Forest: “The Twins have Carlos Correa signed through at least 2028 and have Brooks Lee in the majors, and their top two picks last year were shortstops Kaelen Culpepper and Kyle DeBarge, but Houston provides too much potential value to pass up here. He might be the best defensive shortstop in the draft, at least at the collegiate level, and had an OPS over 1.000 for Wake Forest, hitting .354 with 15 home runs and as many walks as strikeouts.
The Athletic: Daniel Pierce, shortstop, Mill Creek, Ga., High School: “I’ve heard Pierce anywhere from picks 12 to 20, with teams beyond that expecting him to be gone. The Twins seem to be more on position players than pitchers”
Bleacher Report: Wehiwa Aloy, shortstop, Arkansas.
BEST TWINS PICKS: Via Cody Christie at Twins Daily. High draft choices get the money in the moment. Lower-round picks can get the big money later. Consider that Bert Blyleven was a third-round pick and Kent Hrbek wasn’t taken until the 17th round. Here’s a try at picking the Twins’ best picks over the years from each of the first 20 rounds. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/best0710
MASCOT PRICING: Via Sickos Sentinel. The viral photo of Goldy Gopher at a wedding, which appeared in Sports Take and elsewhere last month, struck a nerve. The Sickos Sentinel, an offshoot of the wonderfully off-kilter Sickos Committee social media feed, researched the price for a mascot appearance from schools at all eight Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. As with most Big Ten things, Minnesota is middle of the pack. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/mascots0710
COST OF YOUTH SPORTS: Via Sean Baker at Star Tribune. The city of Rochester is moving ahead with plans for an outdoors $65 million outdoor sports facility amid disappointment and frustration that the budget won’t allow for what was originally proposed. VERBATIM: “Initially pitched as an outdoor complex to the state Legislature four years ago, plans for the complex began to take on new life in 2023 after a series of community engagement events across the city. The findings culminated in a 148-page recommendation to the city, complete with renderings showing outdoor fields and a 125,000-square-foot indoor gym with courts that could be adapted for multiple sports.”
WHAT COULD GO WRONG? “Only after a sales tax extension was approved did the city acknowledge that the full project pitched to voters would cost nearly double the initial projections. The city blamed consultants for the faulty estimates.” STORY: https://fluence-media.co/rochester0710
BIG BUSINESS, PARENT FANTASIES: Via Joe Drape and Ken Belson at New York Times. According to the Aspen Institute, the average family spent $1,019 on their child’s primary sport in 2024 — a 46% increase over five years earlier — and the youth sports industry generates about $40 billion per year. VERBATIM: “Roughly two in 10 youth sports parents think their child has the ability to play Division I college sports, and one in 10 thinks his or her child could reach the professional ranks or the Olympics, according to the Aspen Institute survey. The market has grown to meet these aspirations. ‘Money chases money,’ said Tom Farrey, founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program. ‘There is a great demand for kids to play sports, and parents will spend money they don’t have.’ ”
MINNESOTA ATHLETE’S QUEST: Playing club volleyball and for Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Anna Johansson realized her skills could pay for a college education. She ended up transferring to Florida’s IMG Academy, an $85,000-per-year training facility and private school. VERBATIM: “There, she lived in a dorm with teammates, worked with coaches and trainers and took advantage of career advisers, nutritionists and other high-end tools more commonly found in top collegiate programs. . . . ‘I still train with my old coaches from Minnesota, and they look at me play and how far I’ve come and they’re like, ‘There’s no way you could have done this without going to IMG,’ said Ms. Johannson, who will attend the University of New Mexico in the fall.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/img0710
MEANWHILE IN MINNEAPOLIS: Via Marielle Mohs at WCCO-TV: VERBATIM: “Hundreds of girls fastpitch players are frustrated with their summer season. 612 Fastpitch League is playing on overgrown and neglected fields in Minneapolis, while the boys baseball and adult leagues play on renovated fields.”
LOONS TOURNAMENT RUN: Minnesota United is through to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup, a tournament that takes on increasing profile as teams move toward to the championship. The field started with 96 teams at levels of U.S. soccer ranging from MLS to the reigning National Amateur Cup champion. MLS teams weren’t bracketed until the Round of 32, and the Loons have knocked off three opponents — Louisville of the USL, St. Louis of MLS and Chicago of MLS 3-1 in extra time on Tuesday. The Loons host Austin on Sept. 16 and, if they win, will play for the Cup at Allianz Field on Oct. 1. The winning team gets $300,000 and a berth in next year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup, a multi-nation tournament that starts in February.
POOR KIRK: Via Michael Rand at Star Tribune. The second season of the Netflix series Quarterback is starting and former quarterback Kirk Cousins, who lost his starting job in Atlanta to a rookie, has buyer’s remorse about leaving the Vikings for the Falcons via free agency. Rand isn’t buying what Cousins tries to sell. VERBATIM: “Certainly, if I had the information around free agency, it certainly would’ve affected my decision,” Cousins said on the show. “I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback high.” RAND: “I don’t doubt that it could have affected his decision. But it’s also hard to imagine that Cousins, one of the all-time greats at getting paid, would have turned down the large offer from Atlanta in favor of fewer guarantees from the Vikings. The Falcons essentially gave him two years of money, something Minnesota would not do.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/rand0710
COUSINS CONTRACT: Four years, $180 million, $100 million guaranteed. DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/cousins0710
WANNA DANCE? The Timberwolves and Lynx are holding auditions for their dance groups next month, including the 1st Ave Breakers, 612 Crew, Senior Dancers and The Pups. You can be as young as eight or older than 50 and get a tryout. DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/dance0710
CANTERBURY HONORS: Canterbury Park will induct five members into its Hall of Fame this weekend. ON THE LIST: 2020 Horse of the Year Ready To Runaway, horse owner Joe Novogratz, former jockey and current trainer Nik Goodwin, owner and Canterbury board of directors member Carin Offerman and track publicist Jeff Maday. They’ll be recognized during Saturday’s races.
SPEAKING UP: In the last Sports Take, I chided Star Tribune for its lack of coverage of Minnesota Aurora. At that time, the web site featured a report on the team’s home opener but hadn’t reported on any of the team’s other games. I’m sure anything I wrote wasn’t as important as team president Andrea Yoch attending a recent session on women’s sports coverage during a national meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors in Minneapolis to make the same point.
WHAT HAPPENED? That night’s Aurora game, the last of the regular season, was written about — as have their two playoff games since. WAIT, THERE’S MORE: Features on the goalie coach and St. Thomas-to-Gophers transfer Mariah Nguyen, who is part of a Twin Cities restaurant family (and has more than a million TikTok followers), followed. LESSON: If you don’t see something, say something.
AND FINALLY: Via Scott Dochterman at The Athletic. Gophers football scored big in this ranking of the Top 100 rivalries in college football. THE JUG: Minnesota vs. Michigan for the Little Brown Jug ranks 51st. “The programs dominated the Big Ten from its inception in 1896 through the end of World War II. Over that 50-year period, Michigan and Minnesota each won 16 Big Ten championships. Michigan claims eight national titles and Minnesota has six over that span.” THE PIG: Minnesota vs. Iowa for Floyd of Rosedale is No. 34. “Tied for the fourth most-played rivalry in Big Ten history, few Midwestern series boast more vitriolic moments than Iowa-Minnesota.” THE AXE: Minnesota vs. Wisconsin for Paul Bunyan’s Axe is No. 10: “They are codependent Big Ten rivals in every sense of the word. While the Badgers have been more successful the last three decades, the result of this game impacts how every season is remembered for both teams. . . . The Badgers are 7-0 in meetings in which both teams were ranked. Unranked Wisconsin also upset No. 3 Minnesota in 196.”
RABBIT HOLE: Grab a soda and read the full list. https://fluence-media.co/rivals0710
LEFT OUT: In a companion story about how he made the choices, the author had a list that didn’t make the final cut, including St. Thomas vs. St. John’s. VERBATIM: “The battle for the ‘Holy Grail’ set a Division III record with 37,355 fans at the Twins’ Target Field in 2017. Two years later, schools in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference — but not St. John’s — voted to evict St. Thomas after it had become too dominant. St. Thomas left Division III for FCS, and the football rivalry is history.”
Thanks for reading. Let’s see what the coming week brings.
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HOW TO WATCH ALMOST ANYTHING
ESPN's guide to sports on about 250 channels and streaming services: https://fluence-media.co/3T4rYw4
Minnesota Division II and III sports: MIAC Network | Northern Sun Network | Upper Midwest Network
NSPN Minnesota high school livestreams: https://fluence-media.co/3My8Tyv
NFHS Minnesota high school livestreams: https://fluence-media.co/3MvFSU6