STOP HERE FIRST: On Saturday, quarterback Jack Curtis threw for 478 yards and completed six touchdown passes in Carleton College’s 51-7 victory over Macalester, earning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his play. Then, he went for two days of chemotherapy. Over the summer, Curtis was — in his own words via his GoFundMe page — “hit by the most heartbreaking news of my life. I was diagnosed with late-stage 2 ‘unfavorable’ Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The cancer had spread to my chest and was growing around my heart before I started treatment. So far, I’ve completed half of my chemotherapy and will keep going until the end of 2025.”
DETAILS: Read about unfavorable Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
TWO-SPORT ATHLETE: Curtis, a three-year-starter on the football team, also pitches for the school’s baseball team. He’s a physics major who intends to pursue a career in aerospace engineering. At some point, I’m sure there will be media reports that will tell you more about Curtis and what he’s facing down. For now, here’s his ask.
VERBATIM VIA GOFUNDME: “I’m still trying to pursue my dreams as a college football player at Carleton College. As a senior, this season means the world to me, so I’m going to give it my all for my teammates. Unfortunately, this means that I will still need to pay tuition in addition to my medical expenses. This is going to be the toughest six months of my life, and I’m counting on all the support I can get while I go through this.” So far, more than 375 people have donated. THE LINK IS HERE: https://fluence-media.co/jack0925.
CELEBRATING RODGERS? Yes, the Vikings play Pittsburgh and Aaron Rodgers on Sunday in Dublin, the first of their unprecedented two games in different countries overseas adventure. But attention paid to the quadragenarian quarterback has been thankfully minimal compared with the rightful fuss over Vikings cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who had one of the best performances in NFL history during last weekend’s 48-10 victory over Cincinnati. He scored touchdowns on interception and fumble returns, and forced another Bengals fumble that started a scoring drive. Being selected NFC Defensive Player of the Week was the ultimate no-brainer.
THE BOOK ON ISAIAH: Via Dane Mizutani at Pioneer Press. VERBATIM: “Not only did Rodgers become the first player in NFL history to record multiple defensive touchdowns and multiple forced fumbles in a game, he also became the first player in franchise history to record more than one defensive touchdowns in a game. The unprecedented performance earned a perfect 99.9 grade, per Pro Football Focus, the highest grade the platform has ever given to a player for a game.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/rodgers0925.
VIDEO ROOM: Defensive coordinator Brian Flores breaks down Rodgers’s performance. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/video0925
ULTIMATE COMEBACK: Via Mark Craig at Star Tribune. Rodgers came to the Vikings as a free agent after playing for the Super Bowl-winning Eagles last year — and sitting out the entire 2023 season because of a gambling suspension from his time with the Indianapolis Colts. This is from a story that appeared just after his signing in March. VERBATIM: “I think the first thing I realized [about 2023] was the league doesn’t need anybody. The league was still going on without me. It was, ‘Wow, nobody really cares.’” MORE: “Me sitting out a year and coming back and knowing nothing matters in my past but it’s how I respond knowing I was trying to change the narrative of my name, change my future. Continue to build my story up. I kind of stepped away from football and tried to understand where I was as a person. I just focused more on being a great son, a great father, a great partner. That was my main thing. Then getting back to the game it was like the missing piece to the puzzle that I needed. I can enjoy football now.”
BETTER CALL PAUL: Via Alec Lewis at The Athletic. Getting the Vikings ready for their road trip to Dublin and London is a big, fat undertaking. If all goes well, the MVP of the trip will be Paul Martin, the team’s director of team operations. VERBATIM: “There is no time to complain when you have to load 37,000 pounds of gear onto a plane. Complaining won’t do much good when you have to ensure a cargo ship sent months ago has, in fact, arrived in Europe. There are still ferries to be booked and finalized rooming lists to pass along. Refuse to wallow in the stress, and you won’t feel the weight.”
MORE: Martin and some colleagues made an advance trip to Dublin in June. VERBATIM: “If they were going to send supplies ahead of time to lighten the load this week, they would need to package two semi-trucks to send via cargo ship by June 30. Mission accomplished. Palettes of water, Gatorade, and yes, ranch dressing have already been delivered. A logistics company will ferry some of the items to London ahead of time. Each of these shipments required a 45-page international carnet document for customs which listed everything — almost down to the individual screw — being sent over.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/roadtrip0925
ON THE FIELD: Via Andrew Krammer at Star Tribune. Another upgrade to the Vikings offense comes Sunday when wide receiver Jordan Addison returns to the field after a three-game suspension that resulted from a DUI arrest last year in California. Addison was able to work out and attend meetings at the team facility during the second half of his suspension but couldn’t practice until this week. VERBATIM: “Being isolated by myself, I was in my thoughts a lot. I was alone. Just being able to come back in the building, be with my teammates, chill, crack jokes and laugh — it was a big part in processing coming back.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/addison0925.
QB CONTROVERSY: Let’s hold off for another week before we do Carson Wentz vs. healthy J.J. McCarthy. But, yes, this could be Year 2 of McCarthy’s run as the apprentice.
VIKINGS (2-1) VS. STEELERS (2-1): 8:30 a.m. Sunday kickoff on NFL Network, Fox9, KFAN and the Vikings Audio Network. Vikings depth chart | Real-time betting info, match-ups | Steelers web site
UNWANTED DRAMA: The Lynx were well on their way to a two-game lead in their series with Phoenix on Tuesday night when they imploded and ended up losing in overtime to even up the best-of-five series. They fell apart in every way possible, puking up the 20-point lead they held with under six minutes left in the third quarter to lose 79-73 in overtime. There was the 65-second stretch in which they had turnovers on four possessions without taking a shot. There was the disappearing bench, which scored only three points. There were misses by Napheesa Collier and Courtney Williams on very makeable shots on consecutive possessions when the Lynx led by five with under two minutes left. There was Bridget Carleton getting called for an in-bounds violation when she could have called time out. There was Cheryl Reeve not ordering up the team’s foul-to-give on the final Phoenix possession of regulation when the Mercury hit a game-tying three. Fix one of those things — just one — and we’d be talking about how the Lynx are on the verge of a sweep despite all that went wrong.
REEVE’S TAKE: Via Chip Scoggins at Star Tribune. VERBATIM: “We lost our way. We didn’t respond. We certainly talked about it ahead of time, what this team was feeling and what would be next. Our response to it was very uncharacteristic. Some of the body language in terms of players that I’m not used to seeing certain looks from. Then we needed to go get buckets. We had good opportunities, and we weren’t strong enough, we weren’t tough enough. They ripped the game from us.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/loss0925
PHOENIX VIEW: Via Jenna Ortiz at Arizona Republic. Mercury players credited their halftime discussion in the same way that the Lynx talked about how they used halftime to regroup and rally to win Game 1. VERBATIM: “The Mercury were down by as much as 16 in the first half, causing coach Nate Tibbetts to give the team a pivotal speech in the locker room. Tibbetts declined to share the details, but his players called it ‘appropriate heat’ for their performance, and it also spurred their confidence. ‘I felt that way at halftime once Nate gave us some heat. We’re confident, we’re confident in us,’ Satou Sabally said. ‘We’ve been battling all season long, so you can’t give up a basketball game if you’re down whatever. I believed at halftime, and that’s what we did.’ “
NOW: Seeds of doubt have been planted with the series moving to Phoenix for Games 3 and 4. (8:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. Sunday on ESPN.) The next game in Minnesota, if there is one, would be Game 5 on Tuesday night or Game 1 of the WNBA Finals next Friday. The Lynx are 3.5-point favorites in Game 3, but . . .
STRIB HITS THE ROAD: I’m not claiming cause-and-effect, but after my plea in last week’s Sports Take, the Star Tribune is sending reporter Cassidy Hettesheimer on the road to cover the Lynx in the playoffs. Hettesheimer, currently on the Strib Varsity staff, took over coverage from the Strib’s gaggle of columnists in the lead-up to the Phoenix series. Her Lynx coverage is here.
BETTER BROTHER STORY: Via Brian Fonseca at NJ.com. The Gophers will be seeking to even the score on Saturday with Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who led his team to a win over his former team when the Gophers travelled to New Jersey last season. But there’s also the tale of the quarterback’s older brother, Dino, who transferred with his brother and has made a place for himself as a special teams player. Dino’s story is about overcoming a condition called Central Auditory Processing Disorder that, among other things, limited his vocabulary to six words when he was six years old. Sessions with specialists, an individualized learning plan for school and a competitive brother who both pushed him and looked out for him all helped, according to their father. VERBATIM: “Every time we see him do great things, it’s very special to his mother and I,” Alex Kaliakmanis said. “We have always believed that Dino is able to accomplish great things, but we also understand that everybody’s got a different journey. Maybe his journey is different than everybody else’s, but we would always say, ‘Llisten, your time will come and when it comes, make the most of your opportunity.’ Dino has lived his life like that.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/dino0925
VIDEO: It was late in Rutgers lopsided win over Norfolk State when the Kaliakmanis brothers had a moment.
GOPHERS (2-1) VS. RUTGERS (3-1): 11 a.m. Saturday kickoff on BTN, KFAN and the Gophers Radio Network. Gophers depth chart | Real-time betting info, match-ups | Rutgers web site
TOP TWINS PROSPECTS: Via Betsy Helfand at Pioneer Press. More on the Twins’ train wreck of a season below, but here’s a look at how their top 10 minor league prospects have fared this season and a look at what 2026 could hold for them. Three were acquired in the trade deadline roster purge; another was their No. 1 draft pick in June. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/prospects0925
NDSU’S MILLION-DOLLAR JACKPOT: Via Dom Izzo at In-Forum. North Dakota State will received a school record $1.25 million to play their 2027 football opener against Montana State in Las Vegas. The game is being run by ESPN Events. VERBATIM: “The $1.25 million payout dwarfs any FBS games that the Bison have been able to schedule in the last decade. NDSU received $740,000 for its matchup last year against Deion Sanders and Colorado, its richest buy game to date. The 2028 game at Oregon, which was originally scheduled for 2020, but was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be a $675,000 payout. NDSU will receive some other frills in the contract. Once ticket sales reach $3.3 million, ESPN Events, Montana State and NDSU will receive an equal third of revenue. There is the potential for additional revenue to be paid to the schools as well. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ndsu0725
LYNX BOSSES INVEST IN AURORA: Via Jeff Kassouf at ESPN. Reeve and Carley Knox, the Lynx president of business operations, are the latest high-profile investors in the Minnesota Aurora, which the team announced this week. Both said they hope to see Aurora make the jump from the USL-W to the National Women’s Soccer League, a move that has so far been hindered by finances. Knox played soccer at Ohio University. The couple, who have a 10-year-old son, have lived in the twin Cities for 16 years. VERBATIM: “Knox said that ‘the community is educated on the nature of women’s sports’ in Minnesota, and that the women’s teams support each other. That includes the Minnesota Frost, winners of the first two championships in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, and the Minnesota Vixen, a women’s football team, Knox said. ‘You can do both,’ Reeve said of local women’s teams supporting each other. ‘It’s not or, it’s and. You work together as leaders to make that happen.’ Knox pointed out that Aurora’s success on and off the field has come despite being a team of offseason college players with a handful of home games in the summer. She imagines a team that will thrive at the professional level. ‘I see the vision for the future and we are 100 percent bought in.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/aurora0925
HOT U VOLLEYBALL OPENS TONIGHT: The Gophers (10-1) play Michigan State (7:30 p.m., BTN) at Maturi Pavilion. The streak has them ranked 12th in the national coaches poll and 16th in the NCAA’s national seeding rankings. Minnesota has been winning despite losing three players with season-ending injuries: middle blocker Calissa Minatee (lower body), libero Zeynep Palabiyik (knee) and outside hitter Mckenna Wucherer (back). Rutgers comes to the Twin Cities for a 2 p.m. Sunday match (BTN+). TICKETS: https://fluence-media.co/vtickets0925
MORE RANKED TEAMS: Minnesota volleyball is showing out in the latest D-II women’s rankings. Southwest Minnesota State is 8th, Concordia-St. Paul is 13th, St. Cloud State is 15th and UMD is 16th. All four play in the Northern Sun Conference. POLL: https://fluence-media.co/poll0925. SCHEDULE, STREAMING: https://fluence-media.co/nsic0925
ST. THOMAS STUDENT WINS PRO BOXING DEBUT: Via Adam Mueller at The Crest. Eddy Valenzuela-Rivera of Apple Valley is a St. Thomas student, a mechanical engineering major and an undefeated pro boxer after winning his junior middleweight debut last week at Grand Casino in Hinckley. It took him just 86 seconds into the second round to finish off Khary Williams of Detroit, who is winless in his six pro fights. VERBATIM: “I could have taken him in that first round . . . what’s the point of coming out here then I finish him in 15 seconds, you know what I’m saying?” Valenzuela-Rivera said. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/boxer0925
BOXING VOCAB: Via Urban Dictionary. There’s a phrase to describe a fighter with an 0-6 record. IT’S HERE: https://fluence-media.co/phrase0925
FLECK AND OKLAHOMA STATE? After last week’s P.J. Fleck name-dropping about the UCLA opening, I did a Google search for Fleck and Oklahoma State, which fired longtime Coach Mike Gundy after the Cowboys lost what’s typically a walkover game to Tulsa. There’s nothing. I checked so you don’t need to.
HOW BAD IS UCLA FOOTBALL? Via Bruce Feldman and Ira Gorawara at The Athletic. How bad? This bad. The Bruins are underdogs to Northwestern this weekend. VERBATIM: “The Bruins flounder at 0-3, carrying nothing but the dead weight of national mockery. A program once draped in glamour has curdled into parody — 11 years removed from its last 10-win season, averaging 44,000 fans in a 90,000-seat Rose Bowl and written off by its own alumni as a ‘sinking ship.’ The Bruins flirted with the AP Top 25 just two seasons ago. Now, the UCLA brand wanders aimlessly, its patches of success fleeting reminders of what’s possible. ‘I don’t think they realize what they are,” a former staffer said, “and that’s what kills them.’ “ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ucla0925
MEANWHILE, IN WISCONSIN: I may have overestimated the Badgers last week when I included them as a toss-up game on the Gophers schedule. Wisconsin is 2-2 going into a bye week, after being overwhelmed at home by Maryland, and have a good chance of losing their next seven games before finishing the season at Minnesota. THE GRIND: Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Indiana and Illinois. All but Iowa and Washington are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. Fans want Coach Luke Fickell fired sooner rather than later and are miffed that legendary coach Barry Alvarez has publicly supported Fickell. One fan web site already has a list of five potential replacements. (No, P.J. isn’t on the list.)
HOW BAD IS BADGERS FOOTBALL? Via Dillon Graff at Badgernotes. VERBATIM: “Wisconsin football looks broken right now. Under head coach Luke Fickell, the Badgers don’t just lose games; they completely unravel. What we’re watching is a program that’s still searching for its identity, with each week offering more evidence that the answers aren’t coming anytime soon. Saturday’s 27–10 loss to Maryland wasn’t just a bad game; it was an indictment.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/badgers0925
BIG BUYOUT: Via David Cobb at CBS Sports. The Maryland loss dropped Fickell’s record with the Badgers to 15-15, which wasn’t what people were expecting when he was hired after six successful years at Cincinnati. But firing him would be pricey. VERBATIM: “Fickell’s contract calls for him to be owed 80% of what’s remaining on his initial deal. At season’s end, he will have four years and approximately $31.5 million left on the seven-year contract he agreed to in November of 2022. That would put his season-ending buyout figure at approximately $25 million. Though Fickell has been extended through the 2031 season, extensions do not impact his buyout” MORE NUMBERS: If the Badgers wanted to fire Fickell, they would be paying one of the largest buyout’s in the sport’s history. Currently, the largest buyout paid to a Big Ten football coach is $16 million that went to Tim Allen when Indiana fired him in 2023. FULL REPORT: https://fluence-media.co/fickell0925
U BASKETBALL SCRIMMAGE SET: The Gophers will hold a men’s basketball scrimmage on Oct., 11 at 2 or 2:30 p.m. Starting time will depend on whether the Homecoming football game vs. Purdue that night kicks off at 6 or 6:30 p.m. Admission is free and there will be an autograph session afterward.
TWINS OVER AND OUT: I needed closure on this sad Twins season, so I went to Target Field on Saturday for the second game of the doubleheader in which they were swept by Cleveland and shut out in both games. On the field, it was the season-long pattern of a team going bad when the going got tough. Off the field, it was Fan Appreciation Weekend and, from innings in the Thrivent Club, it felt like many of the fans were appreciating seats that had gifted them into the restricted-seating area. For me, there were ushers to visit with one final time and a final pregame lap around the concourse.
A friend and I attend most of the games with a 40-game ticket package that we share, but I took advantage of my media pass to do my walk before the gates officially opened. It made me think about how other seasons ended. The Game 7’s in 1987 and 1991. The end of my first season covering the Twins when I realized how much had changed in my relationships with writing and with baseball. The Fan Appreciation Night when they gave away a car — and it was won by a guy who’d been recently fired by the Twins from his ticket-sales job.
And it made me think about the present and future. Who is going to watch this team if things don’t change quickly? I’m not giving up the tickets because going to a baseball game, for me, is like going for coffee — settle in, prioritize the moment over everything else, look forward to next time. But I bear no animosity toward those who walk away. This is a franchise that withered in the second half of the season, losing its 90th game on Wednesday night and losing credibility for being unable to articulate any vision for the future. Or to articulate anything. Going mute is an unprecedented form of tone deafness. But the Twins have pulled that off.
I was struck by the difference between Saturday night at Target Field and Sunday afternoon at Target Center for Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals. Hope vs. despair. Organic excitement vs. cheering on cue. Pyrotechnics vs. a dumpster fire.
The Twins finished their home schedule with their lowest home attendance since 2000 — 1,768,728 tickets sold and fewer fans actually in the seats. (Announced attendance is tickets sold, not bodies in the ballpark.) And as Aaron Gleeman pointed out this week in the Athletic, attendance is a lagging indicator of interest because “the full impact on overall attendance isn’t felt until the following year, when it’s again time to sell the vast majority of tickets in advance.”
Gleeman concluded: “This is what happens when payroll is slashed after the first playoff success in two decades. This is what happens when a second-half collapse one year becomes 90-plus losses the next. This is what happens when the lame-duck owners decide to keep running the team into the ground instead of selling. You get the audience you deserve.”
THANKS FOR READING AND SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS. Back with more next week, when we’ll be publishing Sports Take on Wednesday — a day earlier than usual.
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