OPENING NOTE: The mood among people I run with is cautiously optimistic. They want to believe in the Vikings, even if history tells them to be wary. The Wild is struggling for the first time this season but still ranks among the NHL’s best. And the Wolves are playing tough defense again. The holiday season brings lots of potential diversions from things we normally follow. Today’s Take features some of the basketball’s best and worst, ranging from Paige Bueckers and Karl-Anthony Towns at one end to the Gophers next opponents at the other. And there’s a basketball team in the western suburbs that looks totally awful, until you hear the story behind the scores. Sports Take is shutting down for the holidays next week but we’ll be back in January refreshed and ready for anything. Let’s go! — Howard Sinker
BEFORE YOU READ ANYTHING ELSE: Via Chantel Jennings of the Athletic. In Minnesota, where she was a prodigy from the beginning of her basketball life, we’ve typically thought of Paige Bueckers as charmed. In Connecticut, where her pre-WNBA legacy is being formed, there is still a missing piece. It’s an NCAA title. Her coach, Geno Auriemma, knew something was not quite right last season despite Bueckers’ standout play. VERBATIM: "He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was, though. He wrestled with whether to address it, fearing he’d somehow speak it into existence and rattle the player who was impressing everyone around her. He wondered if he was just in his head. Ultimately, Auriemma didn’t say anything, and in retrospect — because everything in hindsight is 20/20 — he wishes he would have. Because he was right. What he sensed was a feeling Bueckers hadn’t experienced at UConn before. Fear. “I was so afraid to lose that I just didn’t remember how to win,” Bueckers said.
CHALLENGE, PRESSURE: Bueckers could play another season at UConn, but has given every indication she will turn pro — and become the No. 1 overall pick, going to Dallas in this spring’s WNBA draft barring a trade or some other unexpected move.
MORE FROM JENNINGS: If putting a public deadline on her career wasn’t pressure enough, the banners in the practice gym are a bonus, too. On the gym’s walls, banners hang for every All-American and national player of the year. The Huskies have had seven players win the prestigious Naismith Award and nine win the AP National Player of the Year award. Except for one player, all won a national title. Maya Moore won two, Diana Taurasi won three and Breanna Stewart won four. The lone player in that group without a national title? Bueckers. FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/paige1219
EXCITED . . . AND CONCERNED: Watching the Vikings make a mockery of the Bears on Monday led a group of us to do some dissecting of the team’s chances to . . . you know . . . do something big this season. Given the expectations, a 12-2 record is already big. But the game gave us time to do some dissecting and questions came up: The Vikings close the season against the Seahawks, Packers and Lions, and then will advance to the playoffs. Where should they rank among the 14 teams that will qualify? Does the best record really mean they’re the best?
ANOTHER QUESTION: Are they ready for a diet of football’s elite teams? The Vikings’ seven-game winning streak has come against teams that are .500 or worse: The Bears (twice), Atlanta, Arizona, Tennessee, Jacksonville and Indianapolis — teams with a combined winning percentage of .357. (Think Gophers nonconference basketball as a snarky comparison.) The first five wins came by a combined total of 27 points. MY TAKE: Nothing should minimize the joy ride of unexpected success. But there’s an argument to be made for keeping your expectations real, starting with Sunday in Seattle, which has the words “trap game” on an endless loop in my ears.
ARTFUL TILLERY: Via Mark Craig at Star Tribune. VERBATIM: How does an unheralded guy with no “SportsCenter” moments and nothing on his stat sheet beyond a single assisted tackle end up being awarded a game ball during his head coach’s postgame locker room victory speech? Dominate the line of scrimmage in short-yardage situations the way Vikings defensive lineman Jerry Tillery did across from Bears rookie left tackle Kiran Amegadjie in Monday night’s 30-12 win at U.S. Bank Stadium. “I felt like [Tillery] on some of those weighty downs was just blowing straight through the line of scrimmage,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell told his players before tossing Tillery one of the three defensive game balls he awarded.
MORE FROM CRAIG: People forget Tillery is yet another former first-round draft pick that’s in Minnesota after other teams gave up on him. The 28th overall pick of the Chargers in 2019 joined the Vikings this year from the Raiders because defensive coordinator Brian Flores knew Tillery didn’t mind getting grimy and going essentially unnoticed in a 3-4 defense that makes stars of its edge rushers and inside linebackers like another first-year Viking, Blake Cashman. FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/tillery1219
GILMORE RETURNING: Via Dane Mizutano at Pioneer Press. The Vikings should get an upgrade in Seattle because cornerback Stephon Gilmore says he’ll be back on the field after missing time with a hamstring injury. VERBATIM: Gilmore credited his teammates for holding it down in his absence, as well as the training staff for everything they did to help him navigate the recovery process. Though a final determination more than likely won’t be made until this weekend, Gilmore sure sounds like somebody who is preparing to make his return. How has he been dealing with not playing? “It sucks watching,” Gilmore said with a smile. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gilmore1219
IT’S COMPLICATED: Via Matt Fries at Zone Coverage. If the Vikings win their final three games, finish with a 15-2 record and tie with the Eagles, based on the current tie-breaker protocol, they’ll get the No. 1 seed in the NFC (and a first-round bye) because of a criteria known as “strength of victory.” Here’s how that’s figured and how it would play out in a Vikings-Eagles tie. DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/strength1219
JUST FACTS: KICKOFF: 3 p.m. Sunday at Seattle. TV: FOX. RADIO: KFAN 100.3 FM, Vikings Radio Network and stream. BETTING: Vikings by 3, Over/Under: 45. STATS AND STUFF: https://fluence-media.co/vikingsweek16
THE FALL OF COUSINS: Via Josh Kendall at The Athletic. The Atlanta Falcons are fighting for a playoff berth and have decided the best path forward is to bench Kirk Cousins, signed away from the Vikings on a four-year deal worth a maximum of $180 million, in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr. There are enough subplots to fill pages, but we’ll just skip to the why: Cousins had a solid start but has played very, very badly in recent weeks, including during Minnesota’s 42-21 win over Atlanta a couple weeks back. VERBATIM: Wednesday’s mood was in stark contrast to Cousins’ introductory news conference in March when the Falcons believed they had just added the veteran quarterback to unlock their offensive potential and carry them on a playoff run. “I brought Kirk in here with full expectation that we could win a championship with Kirk,” coach Raheem Morris said. “For whatever reason, whatever has happened the last couple weeks, it just hasn’t felt that way.”
WHAT COUSINS SAID: VERBATIM: Morris informed Cousins of the change Tuesday night, calling him at home and asking him to come to the team facility. The conversation was “simple and straightforward, didn’t last long,” Cousins said. “It’s pro football. There’s a standard that I have for myself, that the team has for me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t playing up to that standard consistently enough. It is what it is. You roll with it.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/cousins1219
WILD HITS ROUGH PATCH: Last week, fans were celebrating the Wild leading the NHL in points and looking ahead to a five-game homestand. This week, they’ve dropped to fourth after losing three of four games at the X, including their first two game losing streak of the season. Enough has gone well that it’s hard to imagine a plunge toward the middle of the standings, especially because the team is working right now around several key injuries, with No. 1 goalie Filip Gustavsson added to that list and defenseman Brock Faber leaving Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to Florida after being smacked in the face by a puck.
POOR HEALTH: Via Jess Myers at Pioneer Press. VERBATIM: The team’s collective health seems to be a growing issue. “That’s part of sports. You never want to see anyone get injured. But, collectively as a group, we have to go through it. Almost every team goes through it,” defenseman Zach Bogosian said. “There’s ups and downs of the season. We’re in a grind right now. We’re trying to continue to climb, and that’s the way it goes sometimes. But, certainly, miss the guys that are out; huge part of our team.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wild1219
The Hanson Sisters were not happy about what they saw during the loss to Florida. Image via FanDuel Sports North
HOCKEY FOR THE HOLIDAYS: Lots of hockey to keep up with beyond the Wild. Here are highlights.
STARTING TONIGHT IN EDINA: One solid holiday distraction is the high-end high school hockey being played over the next couple weeks. It starts tonight through Saturday with the boys’ Edina Holiday Classic at Braemar Arena. Edina plays Grand Rapids on Thursday Elk River on Friday and Eden Prairie on Saturday. The other games are Elk River vs. Eden Prairie on Thursday, Grand Rapids vs. Eden Prairie on Friday and Elk River vs. Grand Rapids on Saturday. Games are at 6 and 8:30 p.m., with Edina playing the second game. Edina (4), Eden Prairie (9) and Grand Rapids (16) are all ranked in the latest Class 2A coaches poll. TICKETS: https://fluence-media.co/edinatickets
HOLIDAY HOCKEY SCHEDULES: Via Minnesota boys’ and girls’ hockey hubs. Boys are here: https://fluence-media.co/boyspuck1219. Girls: https://fluence-media.co/girlspuck1219. PRO TIP: Click on the “Location” heading to see all the games being played at one venue.
CALIFORNIA FROST: Via Cassidy Hettesheimer at Star Tribune. After a 12-day break, the Frost returns to play tonight against Ottawa. The Frost have two of the three California-born players in the PWHL. One of them, rookie Dominique Petrie, has two goals and an assist in the team’s 2-1 start. Petrie, who played for Harvard and Clarkson, is a skater not remembered fondly by Gophers women’s hockey fans. VERBATIM: Her early season success in St. Paul might be an olive branch to Gophers fans who remember Petrie as the player who scored both the regulation equalizer and overtime game-winner to knock Minnesota out of the Elite Eight in March. Both goals sneaked past Frost teammate Lucy Morgan, [Frost] reserve goalie, no less. But to Petrie, the winning goal was an act of mercy. The game stretched into four overtimes and took 5 ½ hours to finish. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/frost1219
BEST IN THE WORLD: The IIHF 2026 junior championships, featuring the world’s top under-20 men’s players, is coming to the X and Mariucci Arena next year, starting Dec., 26, 2025 and running through Jan. 5, 2026 — and tickets go on sale starting next Thursday. It will be the 50th anniversary of the tournament, which was last held in the United States in 2018 and was only in the Twin Cities one other time (1982). MORE INFO: https://fluence-media.co/iihf2026
THIS YEAR’S TOURNEY: The 2025 IIHF tournament opens next Thursday in Ottawa, with nine Minnesotans on the 29-man roster. Two of them, forwards Oliver Moore of Mounds View and Brodie Ziemer of Hutchinson, are Gophers. UMD and St. Cloud State each have two players on the team, which begins play at 1:30 p.m. next Thursday against Germany. Team USA’s games are on NHL Network. SCHEDULE: https://fluence-media.co/teamusa1219. ROSTER: https://fluence-media.co/roster1219
JERSEY RETIRED AFTER TRAGEDY: Via Ken McGuire at Associated Press. Adam Johnson, the former UMD star from Hibbing, who died when his neck was slashed by an opponent’s skate during a hockey game in England last season, had his Nottingham Panthers jersey retired over the weekend. VERBATIM from Nottingham CEO Omar Pacha: “His humble nature was something unique, especially for a player with such a high pedigree. Players who have played at the highest level can sometimes come with an ego, but Adam did not have this. A quiet, positive leader, a committed player that guys loved and a huge calming presence in the locker room.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/adamjohnson.
THE POLLS: BOYS: Class 2A 1. St. Thomas Academy, 2. Hill Murray, 3. Moorhead. Class 1A 1. Hermantown, 2. Cloquet/Esko/Carlton, 3. Hibbing/Chisholm. GIRLS: Class 2A 1. Centennial/Spring Lake Park, 2. Hill-Murray, 3. Minnetonka. Class 1A 1. Dodge County, 2. Holy Angels, 3. Orono. FULL POLLS: Boys: https://fluence-media.co/boyspoll; Girls: https://fluence-media.co/girlspoll
NINTH GRADERS, A TO Z: Via MN Hockey Life. A list from A to Z of top high school freshman boys hockey players, with a few eighth graders thrown in. It’s in alphabetical order from Abrams (Joe of Breck School) to Zahler (Owen of Big Lake/Becker) ALL 69 PLAYERS: https://fluence-media.co/freshmen1119
KAT COMES BACK TONIGHT: Via Stefan Bondy at New York Post. Get ready for an emotion reunion at Target Center tonight when the Knicks play the Wolves, featuring the return of Karl-Anthony Towns, who is having a massive year for his new team. Towns is second on the Knicks at 24.8 points per game and leads the NBA with 13.9 rebounds per game. He’s also shooting 52.6% from the field, including 43.9% on three-pointers. VERBATIM: “I know the last time I was there, I looked myself in the mirror and I knew I gave the state, the city, the organization over there everything I could possibly give and even found myself giving more than I thought I had,” said Towns, who returned for the playoffs last season from a torn meniscus. “So I was proud of the man that I presented over there in a Timberwolves jersey. You never know how the fans will respond. But I know for me, my household, I know what I gave that organization, and I am happy and proud for what I was able to do.”
MORE FROM BONDY: Once more, for the people who still don’t get it. VERBATIM: His departure was about dumping payroll to avoid salary cap hell, not about his play or attitude. He was also part of the organization’s only playoff appearances since 2004 and signed two extensions. The better question is how Towns’ game will respond to the extra layers of distractions. “We’ve got a win to get so I better handle it accordingly, for sure,” Towns said. “Like I said, I don’t know, I can’t imagine myself even in a situation like this but here we are.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/kat1219
WOLVES THOUGHTS: Via Chris Hine at Star Tribune. Wolves point guard Mike Conley is looking forward to KAT’s return to Minnesota. VERBATIM: Conley said there are a lot of good memories from his time as Towns’ teammate, how he enjoyed Towns’ personality, how he was always himself, and Conley said the team respected that. “The energy he brought every day, just playful sometimes, sometimes it’s super smart, witty, whatever it may be, being funny. Just being himself,” Conley said. “It’s something that you get used to, and when they leave, it’s like, dang, you miss those moments you see every day in practice.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wolves1219
TICKETS FOR KAT: As of this morning, you could get seats in the top rows of the upper level for as little as $19 (plus taxes and fees). Lower level? Best price was $60+ on the team’s resale market. SEAT MAP: https://fluence-media.co/wolvestix1219
Got something to show or tell me? Email: sportstake@fluence-media.com
LINDSEY VONN COMEBACK: Via Pat Graham at Associated Press. At age 40 and after “retiring” six years ago due to an assortment of injuries, Lindsey Vonn is returning to World Cup skiing this weekend in a pair of Super-G races at St. Moritz, Switzerland. It will be her first race since finishing third in the downhill at the World Championships in Sweden in February 2019. She has 82 World Cup wins, which was the record at the time Vonn retired. Vonn was born in St. Paul and learned to ski at Buck Hill in Burnsville. VERBATIM: An array of injuries, including to her knee, sent Vonn into retirement. But a partial knee replacement last April has her feeling good enough again to speed down the hill. “The last two years of my career, I was in survival mode,” Vonn said. “I’m stronger. I don’t think about my knee. I think about how I’m going to execute the race.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/vonn1219
‘JUST STAY HEALTHY’: Via Associated Press. Former teammate Bode Miller, a World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist, weighed in on the comeback. VERBATIM: “She’s one of the best there’s ever been and it’s great for the sport. I have no doubt she’ll be fast I just want her to stay healthy.” Vonn retired in 2019 not because she was slowing down, but because she was broken down. All those spills and crashes took a big toll on her. She’s broken arms and legs, suffered concussions and torn knee ligaments. She’s even been hurt celebrating, once slicing her thumb on a bottle of bubbly. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bode1219
OH, YOU NORTHWESTERN: Gophers 2025 schedule trivia. Minnesota has both Northwestern and Northwestern State on its schedule, interesting games for very different reasons. The Big Ten game will be at Wrigley Field while Northwestern’s suburban Chicago stadium is being rebuilt, and Northwestern State may be one of the weakest teams in the country. The Demons are on a 20-game losing streak, which included an 87-10 loss to South Alabama last season, and shortened their 2023 schedule to six games by cancelling the season after one of their players was shot to death.
PORTAL INS AND OUTS: Movement in and out of the football transfer portal is providing bulk for sports sections right now. The latest for the Gophers: Offensive lineman Phillip Daniels entered the portal at the start of the week and emerged at Ohio State. Only one starter remains from this season’s offensive line, and he’s being joined by a transfer lineman who previously played for Central Florida and Kent State. Want the full blow-by-blow? Tap on the URL below, which will take you to Star Tribune football writer Randy Johnson’s stories, and then tap the “Latest” tab. Giving every detail here would likely make some of us dizzy. SEARCH: https://fluence-media.co/randy
GOPHERS HOOPS: Next game for the women is at 2 p.m. Friday against Prairie View A&M, which has two wins against non-NCAA teams, losses by double-digits in all five of its games against NCAA opponents and is 330th in NET ratings among 362 NCAA women’s teams. The men play at 1 p.m. Saturday against Fairleigh Dicksinson, which is No. 316 among 364 men’s teams and has a 4-9 record that includes three wins over non-Division I teams. TV: The women are on BIG+ and the men on BIG.
MORE MANKATO HONORS: Minnesota State finished second in the national D-II soccer tournament, losing 2-1 to Cal Poly Pomona last weekend on a penalty kick in the 47th minute. The Mavericks reached the D-II football semifinals this season and are the defending D-II champions in men’s and women’s basketball — only the second school to win both hoops titles in the same year.
AND THAT’S NOT ALL: The women’s track and field team is coming off a third-place finish in indoor competition and a fifth-place finish outdoors. Mankato was represented at the Olympics by hurdler Denisha Cartwright of the Bahamas and sprinter Jabez Reeves of Liberia.
WHY MANKATO? Via Chip Scoggins at Star Tribune. Wolves and Star Tribune owner Glen Taylor has donated over $10 million toward athletic facilities and NIL money flows through the program, which competes in D-I men’s and women’s hockey. VERBATIM: The men’s Division I hockey program is supported financially by Maverick Line Change Collective, which facilitates name, imagine and likeness opportunities. Other MSU-Mankato athletes are reaping financial benefits too. Since the start of the NIL era, the school’s athletes have received 727 deals through Opendorse, a technology platform that serves as a conduit to endorsements. That figure leads all NCAA Division II schools, according to Opendorse data.
MORE SCOGGINS: Athletic director Kevin Buisman on the school’s success. VERBATIM: “We talk about ‘MavFam,’ That’s not just a branding slogan. It’s not just a hashtag. We support each other. We cheer for each other. FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/mavericks1219
WHAT’S ‘OPENDORSE’? https://fluence-media.co/opendorse
GOOD FOOTBALL, MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS: With the Minnesota schools out of the Division II and III playoffs, college fans in need of a game this weekend can turn attention to the FCS semifinals — featuring three just-over-the-border teams with serious Minnesota talent. North Dakota State (12-2) hosts South Dakota State (12-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday in Fargo. South Dakota plays (11-2) at No. 1 Montana State (14-0) at 2:30. (Both games on ABC.) NDSU beat SDSU earlier this season and lost to South Dakota. SDSU beat South Dakota. All of those games were decided by four points or less. Winners play for the national title on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.
ROSTER CHECK: NDSU has 36 players from Minnesota on its roster, SDSU has 10 and South Dakota nine. Montana State’s kicker, Myles Sansted, is from Alexandria and has made 13 of 17 field goals.
BOOM! Via Alanis Thames at Associated Press. You can’t think back on 2024 in sports without noting the expanding reach of women’s sports, where the Minnesota Lynx and Frost both played a leading part. The Frost won the first PWHL title and soundly beat attendance projections at the X. The Lynx grabbed spotlight with their surprising runner-up finish to New York in the five-game WNBA Finals. VERBATIM: The WNBA had its most-watched regular season in 24 years and best attendance in 22 seasons, and commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a recent state-of-the-league address that players are getting a lot more marketing deals, turning them into household names. . . . The decisive Game 5 of the WNBA finals between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx drew an average of 2.2 million viewers, peaking at 3.3 million, which made it the most-watched WNBA game in 25 years. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/womenssports24
QUICK TAKE: One reason women’s sports flourished in 2024. They were damn good, so good that they expanded their audience among enthusiastic supporters and among trolls who sound threatened by their favorite men’s teams having to share the spotlight. Relentless advocacy by Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve and others can make some people, including the mainstream media, uncomfortable at times. But those voices of “good trouble” contribute to beating down more barriers through persistence. ALSO: Success on the field and meeting challenges equals fan engagement. A lesson for the Twins and Gophers basketball, perhaps?
RETIREMENT: Via Andy Rennecke at St. Cloud Live. Jerry Haugen will retire as Saint John’s baseball coach after the 2025 season, his 48th with the team. Last year, Haugen retired as the football team’s defensive coordinator, a job he started a year before becoming the baseball coach. The baseball field at the school is already named for him and Haugen will serve as “coach emeritus” for the 2026 season. VERBATIM: Haugen begins his 48th and final season as head coach with an 891-720-5 (.553) career record, which places him fifth on NCAA Division III's winningest active coaches list, as well as a 502-371 mark in MIAC play. He has directed the SJU baseball program to four MIAC playoff titles, three regular-season championships and 14 consecutive appearances in the MIAC Tournament (16 overall). MORE: https://fluence-media.co/haugen1219
NOT JUST HOCKEY: There’s no lack of high school basketball to get you through the holidays. Find your favorite teams (or a good tournament) here. Girls’ holiday basketball. https://fluence-media.co/girlshoops1219. Boys: https://fluence-media.co/boyshoops1219. PRO TIP II: Find the best games by tapping the “Rankings” tab on each of the hubs and then the team name to see its schedule.
SUPERTEAMS? Want to watch Cretin-Derham Hall, the No. 1 boys’ team in Class 4A? The team co-hosts a holiday tournament at St. Thomas Academy and will play St. Thomas at 6 p.m. Friday and Waconia at 2 p.m. Saturday. Class 2A Providence Academy, the No. 1 team in the Star Tribune’s girls’ Top 25, plays at College of St. Benedict over the holidays, meeting 4A power Hopkins at 8 p.m. Friday and Duluth Marshall, featuring ninth-grade standout Chloe Johnson, at 6 p.m. Saturday.
LAST-MINUTE CHRISTMAS GIFT? I’ve learned a lot about basketball over the years (many years) from my friend Jay Pivec. More than once, he’d say, “I should write a book.” Well, he has . . . and The Book of Piv showed up on Amazon this week. THE BLURB: How does a left-handed red-headed smack talker with hoop dreams but no jump shot and no vertical, who can't go right, and fouled every player he tried to defend end up in the NJCAA Basketball Hall of Fame? By channeling his love of the game into a 40-year career as a college basketball coach. That's where I met and mentored some of the finest people a man could ever know. I have many rings and awards, but the greatest takeaway from my coaching decades is my relationships with my players. From births to funerals, graduations to weddings, and everything in between. While forging those relationships, I won 605 games. This is my story. A book where all stories are as true as they need to be. ORDER: https://fluence-media.co/bookofpiv
COME FOR THE BASKETBALL: But stay for the story of Pivec’s junior high R&B band, its debut at Southwest High School and what happened when the lead singer bought a gold shirt to stand out. Here’s a hint:
AND FINALLY: Via Jeff Eisenberg at Yahoo! Sports. The Free Lutheran Bible College Conquerors may be the worst men’s college basketball team in the nation by the numbers. But players at the school located in Plymouth say they have a higher calling that overshadows what happens on the court, where the Conquerors have been outscored 468-65 in their first five games (including a 114-14 loss) after going 0-24 last season.
THE BASKETBALL: VERBATIM: Only a few minutes into his team’s first practice of the 2023-24 season, Logan Strand already had an inkling that the months ahead might be grim. It was glaringly obvious to the Free Lutheran Bible College men’s basketball coach that most of his roster of 18-to-21-year-olds had hardly played before. Strand began assessing his team with a shooting drill. One player heaved six straight corner 3-pointers off the side of the backboard. Strand moved onto ball handling. So many crossover dribbles bounced off feet that Strand lost count of how many balls he chased after. When Strand introduced a rebounding drill, he winced at confused expressions on the faces of several players. He might as well have been speaking in a foreign tongue when he asked them to close out on a shooter, turn and box out.
THE REASON: VERBATIM: Why would a modern-day college athletic department prioritize anything above winning games, shining a spotlight on the school and generating prestige and profit? The answer lies in FLBC’s commitment to its mission. FLBC seeks to teach young Christians to faithfully serve Jesus Christ and to prepare students for leadership roles in their congregations and communities. The . . . athletics program only exists as a tool to help its 100-plus students achieve those goals.
THE FULL STORY: Read it here. https://fluence-media.co/flbc
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the holidays. Back with more in 2025!
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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
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