POPPING ALL OVER: We’ve got a solid sports mash-up over the next five days in Minnesota. FRIDAY: Twins start a nine-game road trip to third-place (AL West) Seattle, last-place (AL Central) Kansas City and first place (NL Central) Milwaukee. That and the nine games at home afterward (Orioles, Phillies, Atlanta) will tell us how engaged to be for the rest of the regular season. SATURDAY/SUNDAY: SummerSlam, WWE’s second-biggest annual pro wrestling event, moves into U.S. Bank Stadium for a two day run. 4:30 p.m. start. (ESPN Unlimited, Tickets). SATURDAY: Vikings training camp opens to the public at TCO Stadium with a 2:30 practice. (Schedule, Tickets) Doors at noon. Loons host San Diego at 7:30 p.m. Three draws and three losses in their last six games have pushed MNUFC into playoff uncertainty. (Apple TV, Tickets)
SUNDAY: Caitlin Clark and the Fever vs. the Lynx at noon (ABC, Tickets) and the WNBA trade deadline is at 2 p.m. The Gophers start football workouts with a 6 p.m. open practice at Huntington Bank Stadium. Free admission. MONDAY: MLB trade deadline is at 5 p.m.. Twins have an off day between series in Seattle and Kansas City. There will be drama. It’s an odd mix of events and will give a lot of us a rare summertime exercise in multitasking. — Howard Sinker
FIRST THINGS
WOLVES STREAMING DEAL: The Wolves announced a partnership Thursday morning with DAZN (“Da Zone”) streaming service. DAZN will stream 15 games for free and there will be a subscription plan for games not shown as part of the NBA’s national cable/streaming/over the air schedule. No mention is made of a cable/satellite presence comparable to Twins.TV and the Wild’s plan for 2026-27. MY TAKE: Expect (1) special rates for season-ticket holders and promotional rates for others; (2) blowback from fans about losing cable access; (3) the NBA to move toward centralizing its local TV packages in 2027-28. DAZN will be to the Wolves what Victory+ is to the Lynx, except that Lynx games are streamed without charge for now. DETAILS: WOLVES FAQ | STAR TRIBUNE | DAZN | WILD TV PLANS
BIGGER PICTURE: Via Tom Friend at Sports Business Journal. VERBATIM: “A day after DAZN secured digital rights to the entire Gotham Sports App -- including the Knicks and Nets -- the London-based streaming service made the T’Wolves its third NBA team and counting. In the coming days and weeks, DAZN is expected to close full-exclusive deals with the Cavaliers, Pacers, Spurs and Grizzles and is offering those teams minimum annual guarantees between $8M and $20M. According to industry sources, the T’Wolves’ rights fee is on the top end of that range. . . . Although T’Wolves CEO Matt Caldwell would not discuss financial aspects of the multiyear deal, he said the minimum guarantee -- plus DAZN’s digital expertise and willingness to stream 15 games in front of its paywall -- solidified the team’s decision.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/deal0730
TRADE QUEEN PHEE? Via Annie Costabile at The Athletic. Here’s how good writing gets repurposed into clickbait trash. The WNBA trade deadline is Sunday. Napheesa Collier’s taking a one-year “supermax” contract after the league’s union issues were settled means she could become a free agent after the season. That combo makes trade-deadline talk fair game and coach Cheryl Reeve addressed the issue this week. VERBATIM: “Every team is going to be opportunistic to improve their roster. Every team is maybe in a different spot in terms of what they think they need, whether they should or shouldn’t. We’re certainly a team that’s been, quote, open for business, open-minded to things that are being talked about. It’ll be a busy week for us.”
MORE: Here’s the dispassionate analysis from Costabile. VERBATIM: “Reeve’s task is to determine whether she has assurances that Collier will re-sign with Minnesota after the season. That promise could be mutual, too. For example, Collier could agree to sign a multiyear deal as long as Reeve can guarantee that if she wants out at any point during its duration, the team will work with her to make that happen.” AND THIS: A comparison between the first-place Lynx and the struggling Los Angeles Sparks, who are said to be making star guard Kelsey Plum available. “The Lynx’s status as contenders puts Reeve in a different position from the Sparks front office, because keeping Collier will help Minnesota contend for a title this season. Reeve is not operating from a position of desperation.” FULL REPORT: https://fluence-media.co/collier0730
CLICKBAIT ALERT: That article was repurposed by The Sporting News using this headline — a Google winner and integrity loser — and an opening sentence that states: “It's the kind of news that catches your eye immediately.”
If you fall into a sewer, you might as well swim for a while, I guess. So don’t fall in.
ALL THE FEELS, I GUESS. The St. Paul Saints appeared conflicted by Randy Dobnak, the former Twins and Saints pitcher, shutting down the Twins at Target Field on Wednesday. In Dobnak’s best-ever MLB performance, he held the Twins scoreless on four hits in seven innings of a 4-0 Kansas City win. In 26 innings with the Royals, Dobnak has a1.04 ERA and the win was his first in the majors since 2021.
WHAT’S WRONG, JOE? Joe Ryan acknowledged being a “little off” in Wednesday’s start, which is an upgrade from the very, very, very off that was on display when he yielded six home runs in four innings to light-hitting Cleveland last week and then was held back for a few days because of “arm fatigue.” BIGGER PICTURE: There was a chunk of “he’ll snap out of it” chatter on the Twins postgame show Wednesday night. Data does not back that up. Aaron Gleeman shared these numbers after the Cleveland horror show. VERBATIM: “Ryan is one of 28 pitchers with at least 100 starts in a Twins uniform. None of the other 27 have seen their second-half performance drop off by anywhere close to as much. Ryan's second-half ERA is 55 percent higher than his first-half ERA and the next-biggest increases are 31 percent, 18 percent, and 14 percent.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ryan0730
McCARTHY VS. MURRAY, LET’S ROLL! I want to start at the end here, noting that a lot of words are going to be written and spoken about the quarterback competition, and many will not advance the issue. My favorite line to illustrate this point comes from the vikings.com training camp preview, where it was written that head coach Kevin O'Connell “has a general timeline in mind but declined to specify. He did say he wants the process to be transparent.” If you can find a cloudier take on transparency, please share!
ON KALSHI: The prediction site has Kyler Murray at a 90% “yes” on the Week 1 quarterback question. But there’s also a counterpoint from this J.J. McCarthy backer: “Anyone who knows football knows who the true ‘bust’ is. The guy with no playoff wins, no 4,000 yard seasons, the guy with a losing record in the NFL. In his seven years, Kyler has only a single playoff appearance. The notion he will make anything out of an appearance at age 29 with the Minnesota Vikings is the true ‘long shot.’ Chill. (McCarthy’s) got this.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/kalshi0730
ALL ABOUT KYLER: Via Matthew Coller at Purple Insider. McCarthy has been picked at and pulled apart since the Vikings drafted him in 2024. Now, we’re catching up with our Murray learning curve. Coller has gone long on Murray in his hope of “trying to find out the person and player behind the narratives.” The story is long and insightful, opening with a scene from a 2024 postgame win, when Arizona quarterback coach Jonathan Gannon called Murray “the best player on the planet today.” From there the story cycles through the struggles that followed, ranging from questions about his leadership ability to his study habits to how well he works with his receivers.
MONEY QUOTE: “All summer long, analysts have ping-ponged back and forth about what Murray will do with the Vikings, assuming he wins the quarterback competition versus McCarthy. Some think he will win the division and become the long-term Minnesota quarterback. Some think the Vikings will finish last in the NFC North and that he will be mediocre. . . . What we do know is that Murray will have his chance to rewrite all the narratives on his career in the same way that Sam Darnold did. All of the criticisms of the past will disappear if he performs like a franchise QB and the Vikings finish with a top 10 offense. Is it fair to say that the real Kyler Murray will be revealed this year? Maybe. Maybe not. But he will never have a better opportunity in his career to set the record straight.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/kyler0730
SOONER NOT LATER: Via Chip Scoggins at Star Tribune. It says here that O’Connell will move quickly and choose his No. 1 QB based on the two weeks of practices before the preseason opener on Aug. 15 vs. the New York Giants. Why? VERBATIM: “The Vikings are playing host to joint practices with the Baltimore Ravens a few days later. O’Connell prioritizes joint practices in preparing his team for the season. He puts a premium on those two days of work. The idea of him continuing to split reps between Murray and McCarthy in that setting isn’t practical. At some point, the focus must pivot from competition to getting the starter ready for the season. Assuming that’s Murray — which I continue to believe it will be — the timeline is paramount because he’s still learning the intricacies of O’Connell’s system.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/choice0730
O’NEILL’S EXTENSION: Announcing offensive tackle Brian O’Neill’s four-year contract extension resulted in these two things, per Andrew Krammer at Star Tribune. (1) O’Neill is No. 4 in salary among NFL right tackles, trailing Tampa Bay’s Tristan Wirfs, Detroit’s Penei Sewell and Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson. (2) Four of the Vikings current starting offensive line are signed through 2028. Only center Blake Brandel has a deal that runs out after this season.
SMITH’S RETURN? There’s nothing new to report. I’ll make the argument that (1) Harrison Smith is waiting to see how the Vikings defensive depth shapes up without him, an answer that may not come until after the regular season starts. (2) He is exercising the wisdom of a 37-year-old man to not subject himself to the rigors of training camp. He’ll be back if there’s a significant role for him, as opposed to the fadeout that marked the end of Adam Thielen’s career.
THIELEN’S NEXT MOVE: Via Sean Keeley at Awful Announcing. In the wake of the recent staff purge at ESPN, Thielen showed up as a studio analyst of NFL Live to talk about Murray vs. McCarthy. Thielen sounds good, like someone who’s been practicing. STORY, VIDEO: https://fluence-media.co/adam0730
LOSING A LEGEND: John Anderson, who retired in 2024 after 43 seasons as Gophers baseball coach, died Sunday. He led the Gophers to 18 NCAA tournament and compiled a 1,390-1,023 record over his career. He was universally respected for his warmth and for his interest in helping players prepare for life beyond baseball. Twin Cities Realtor A.J. Pettersen, a Minnesota graduate and 25th-round Twins draft choice in 2011, posted a recollection on social media that he was happy to share more widely. It involved Pettersen and Gophers teammate Derek McCallum, who was also drafted by the Twins, at the start of Pettersen's baseball career at the U.
VERBATIM: “It was the fall of 2008 at Siebert Field. Me and Derek were the favorites to start at shortstop and second base; we just didn’t know who was going to play where. Before running out to the field we both looked at (Anderson) and he just shrugged. I ran out to shortstop, Derek went to second. A quick decision that changed the trajectory of my career. I would later learn that, when asked, Anderson told his assistant, ‘Let’s have them decide.’ I went on to play in the next 170 games wearing maroon and gold. All of them at shortstop.
“He told my parents at my recruiting visit that he felt his job was to prepare young men for the next 50 years of their lives. And he lived that out. He would commonly tell me ‘your last swing does not define you’ when I wouldn’t leave the batting cage and line outs were met with ‘trust the process. I learned from him that being a man of character was quiet and intentional Over the years he was the rock that hundreds of players like me needed at a pivotal developmental time in our lives. . . . Twenty-one Big Ten titles, 18 NCAA tournament appearances, 36 consecutive years with a player drafted. And none of that matters. Because he knew that his worth was far greater than statistics and punchlines. He brought out the very best in everyone he was around. He knew I had a chip on my shoulder and he made sure I used it. He’s a huge reason I decided to coach when I got done playing.
“To the man that taught us the power of the moment and that a game could transform us without defining us: Goodbye for now. Rest easy. You left this world better than you found it.”
MORE ON ANDERSON: Patrick Reusse | KARE 11 | MPR
TWINS SAY THEY’RE BUYERS: The Twins are taking advantage of their status on the edge of the playoff scramble — a 30.1% chance as of Thursday morning, according to FanGraphs — to proclaim themselves as buyers in advance of Monday’s trade deadline. The headlines have been numerous, the details are few. And both of those make sense given the Twins recent record of deadline fumbles and the reality that the deal discussed in theory are rarely the deal that are actually made. The Talk is rightfully general. The Twins still badly need bullpen help, could use another reliable starting putcher and would benefit from another veteran clubhouse presence. Byron Buxton’s current stint on the injured list means that veteran presence could be an experienced outfielder. WHAT WE DON’T KNOW: Will the Twins trade from their MLB roster or use the depth in their minor-league system to make deals? I made the case three weeks ago that the Twins could be both buyers and sellers in shuffling their roster. Today, I would lean toward offering prospects for established talent, while also seeing what Trevor Larnach could fetch and staying open to being blown away by an offer for catcher Ryan Jeffers, who can be a free agent at the end of the season. Deadline 2026 has the Twins in a better place than Deadline 2025 right now. I hope we’re still feeling that way at this time next week.
AWAITIN’ CAITLIN: Caitlin Clark brings her magnificent basketball skills and the sideshow around her to Target Center for a game at noon Sunday and you can’t get into the lower level of the arena for less than $200, as of 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Clark is fourth in the WNBA in scoring, second in assists and by far the leader in being used as a prop to further the agendas of supporters seeking to make political points and sports commentators who feel compelled to reach beyond the game to score points with their audience. The former is ugly; the latter is sad.
Clark has not sought to be part of any agenda. Judge her for now on the court, where in addition to making magic with her shooting and passing, she has yakked her way to seven technical fouls – one short of an automatic one-game suspension and token $1,500 fine – and has naturally set herself up for extra attention that includes physical and sometimes reckless play. Her T-collecting makes her similar to Anthony Edwards; the on-court attention from defenders is similar to what Napheesa Collier has faced.
She didn’t ask for 11 Republican members of Congress to demand the WNBA investigate physical play against her and preposterously state that “attacks against Clark may be racially motivated.” She didn’t ask to be used as a prop in an unfortunate (practicing understatement here) column in USA Today connecting her on-court demeanor to the lynching of Emmett Till.
Clark has not sought out this attention, which is different than Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham, who has opted to soapbox against allowing trans women in women’s sports.
During a SportsCenter interview with Malika Andrews during All-Star Weekend, Clark talked about all that swirls around her: “I think a lot of it is not always based in reality. I feel like media and journalism have a responsibility to tell the stories, and a lot of the time you guys are the ones controlling the narratives about what people read and what people talk about. And a lot of that is sometimes so far out of touch with what is reality. And that can be confusing to somebody that’s 24 and trying to navigate life and trying to help her team win a championship.”
You can argue that Clark should do more. As Howard Bryant wrote in the Guardian: “In a sense, time is running out on Clark. She has spent the (All-Star Weekend) centering her public comments on the toxicity of social media, but the entirety of her five years as a national superstar deftly avoiding any direct link between her vague personal politics and the anti-Black portions of her fan base who loudly claim her. The government implying she needs federal protection from her Black opponents further forces her hand to speak declaratively about being positioned as a target by her sport.”
You can base your feelings about her on whether she takes on Bryant’s challenge. I think more highly of Karl-Anthony Towns because, in addition to being an excellent player, he’s also on my All-SJW (Social Justice Warrior) Team, which is coached by Cheryl Reeve, of course.
But I can’t hate on Clark for being a 24-year-old basketball savant who is trying to figure out her place in the world on the fly – and holding back what she may be thinking in the meantime. I will not dog her with conclusions drawn from the fact that she grew up in politically red Iowa and plays for a team in deeper-red Indiana.
Clark is more Michael Jordan than Towns right now. Let’s see if that changes.
Hate the games being played, not the player.
WATCH: Clark talks to Malika Andrews.
3M OPEN’s FUTURE: Via Jace Frederick at Pioneer Press. In two years, the 3M Open will either become a bigger, better event on the pro golf calendar or slumber toward its roots as golf tour spot for second-tier players. That’s because the PGA will be dividing its tour in half, with the top 120 players in tournaments featuring purses of at least $20 million — about 2 1/2 times this year’s 3M purse. In other words, without putting up much bigger money, there will be no Scottie Scheffler and no count of how many among the world’s top 100 golfers are coming to TPC Twin Cities. VERBATIM: “Should future 3M Opens lack the big guns, the event would more closely mirror the past days when Cam Champ and Michael Thompson reigned supreme over largely non-descript fields. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – those were still entertaining weeks – but they paled in comparison to what we just witnessed.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3mopen0730
IOWA INVADES MINNESOTA: Via Alyssa Cooper at Strib Varsity. As college sports rule changes cut down on the number of opportunities for athletes coming out of high school, more are turning to junior colleges as a first step in continuing to play. When Chase Bjorgaard, a three-sport star at Edina, decided to play college baseball, he said there weren’t many four-year offers and that influenced him to choose Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. The school has a strong record of sending players to four-year D-I programs. A 2024 Edina grad, George McIntyre, was named the top player in D-II junior college baseball this season and will transfer to D-I Dallas Baptist, an NCAA tournament regular. The Minnesota-to-Iowa pipeline also exists in college football. There will be 13 Minnesotans on the football roster this season at Iowa Western in Council Bluffs. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/juco0730
WHY LEAVE MINNESOTA? Iowa schools offer athletic scholarships that aren’t available here. Iowa has 14 junior colleges that play at the D-I and D-II level and can offer them. Minnesota has only one, Dakota County Technical College, which has limited sports offerings and doesn’t have a football team. Minnesota’s other junior colleges are in D-III, which can’t offer athletic scholarships.
CLOSING THAT DEFICIT? Via Andy Greder at Pioneer Press. Sponsor patches on team uniforms are the latest frontier in creating revenue for college athletic departments. Four Big Ten schools have announced deals so far, led by Ohio State’s agreement with JPMorganChase that covers all 36 of the school’s teams and is reportedly worth $17 million per year, according to ESPN. Three other schools — Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin — have struck more modest deals. A Minnesota deal would allow it to knock off another chunk of this year’s anticipated $8.75 million athletics department budget deficit. Illinois is said to be getting $40 million over five years and Michigan State $40 million over 10 years. Gophers deputy athletics director Mike Wierzbicki said there’s been a lot of sifting and sorting going on. VERBATIM: “You’ve kind of got all these opportunities at your disposal. It’s just navigating with a partner where their interest is regional, local, national, TV visibility, certain fanbase, male or female, a lot of different levers to pull there, which is great. It gives the opportunity.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/patches0730
IS THAT GOOD? Via 24/7 Sports. The Gophers are picked to finish 10th in the annual Big Ten media football poll from cleveland.com. Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana were picked for the top three spots, getting 15, 11 and 5 first-place votes. BORDER NOTES: Iowa is picked eighth and Wisconsin 12th. RESULTS: https://fluence-media.co/poll0731
CAN YOU DUNK? The Wolves and Lynx are holding Slam Squad Auditions on Wednesday at Target Center with callbacks a week from Friday. Walk-ins are welcome on Day 1, but you can also register here. INFO: https://fluence-media.co/slam0730
WEIRDEST STAT EVER? Via Matthew Leach at MLB.com. This has reality series all over it: Four Twins players — Ryan Kreidler, Brooks Lee, Luke Keaschall and Cole Sands — are getting married on Nov. 14. VERBATIM: “I think the word fiancé was thrown around quite a few times in Spring Training,” Kreidler said. “And it was like, ‘Oh, you’re getting married? When are you getting married?’ And it’s like, 'the same day as everybody else.' Just funny more than any weird coincidence. But usually it works." MORE: https://fluence-media.co/weddings0730
JOHNNIES VS. OLES AT TCO: The season-ending MIAC football game between Saint John’s and St. Olaf has been moved from Northfield to TCO Stadium. Tickets for parents and football alumni of both schools will have first chance at buying on Saturday and the general presale will be Sept. 1. Sales are being handled by Ticketmaster. The Johnnies, ranked No. 11 in the D3football.com preseason poll, have won the last 10 games in the series, including 63-21 last season.
MIAC’S NEW ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER: Arturo Casas has been named assistant commissioner of the MIAC and also will be part of a mentorship program at St. Catherine working with athletic director Madge Makowske. The one-year position is sponsored by an NCAA Division III grant. Casas is a graduate of Manchester University in Indiana, where he was a pitcher on the baseball team.
AND FINALLY: Via Steve Marsh at Mpls St.Paul Magazine. Whatever happened to Jessica Woynilko? In 2016, the Prior Lake native was competing on the USA Gymnastics Trampoline and Tumbling national team. In 2026, with connections made through her mother and help from former pro wrestler Greg Gagne, she’s become Tiffany Stratton, a featured star in World Wrestling Entertainment who will be part of the two-day SummerSlam this weekend at U.S. Bank Stadium. Aside from Wrestlemania, Summer Slam is the biggest annual event of the WWE calendar. On Sunday, she’ll participate in the “Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match” with four other wrestlers. She’s also the holder of the Women’s United States Championship title. How did she get from Point A to Point B? This Q&A shares the transformation. VERBATIM: “I saw that you had to be athletic, you had to have personality, you had to be able to talk crap. The athleticism and the glitz and the glam — wrestling was perfect for me. My mom actually had mentioned something a couple years prior about doing wrestling and thinking I’d be super good at it. But at the time, I was a gymnast, and I was like, ‘Whatever, mom. I’m going to go to the Olympics one day. I’m doing gymnastics.’ But wrestling was becoming popular on social media, and it kept popping up on my socials. Q&A: https://fluence-media.co/tiffany0730
WATCH: Stratton wins the U.S. title
ONE LAST MINNESOTA ANGLE: Two other Minnesotans are wrestling this weekend. NAME YOU KNOW: Brock Lesnar, the former Gophers wrestling standout. NAME YOU MAY NOT: Chas Betts, a 2012 Olympic wrestler who won a state title at St. Michael-Albertville in 2004. He wrestles as Chad Gable.
THANKS FOR READING.
EMAIL HOWARD: sportstake100@gmail.com
ON THE WEB:
Bluesky: @howardsinker.bsky.social
Instagram: @howardsinkermn
Previous editions of Sports Take are here.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/howard-sinker-80921813/
ESPN’s full TV and streaming service listings: https://fluence-media.co/watch