LOOKS LIKE IT’S OVER, TWINS FANS: Analyst Trevor Plouffe pretty much sent out a death notice on Twins.TV in the minutes following Wednesday’s painful 4-3 loss to the Dodgers, which included a extraordinary sequence of game-ending events: A blown checked-swing call that should have ended the game with the Twins winning, an unusual (but correct) intentional walk decision, an unintentional walk to a light-hitting Dodgers reserve and a winning hit that ticked off the glove of left fielder Harrison Bader. (For a more in-depth review, the game story is here.)
Three Plouffe lines from the postgame show:
*”That is an absolutely crushing blow to the Twins.”
*”I do think {this loss) does impact what the Twins do come the trade deadline.”
*”Now it just seems like (the playoffs are) so far out of reach.”
NO. 1 TRADE CANDIDATE? Via The Athletic. Phrasing this carefully to keep context, OK? Baseball’s trade deadline is 2 p.m. next Thursday and the No. 1 player on The Athletic’s “Big Board” of trade candidates is pitcher Joe Ryan of the Twins. That means he’s the best player in MLB who could be traded, not that he’s the most likely player to be traded. VERBATIM: “Ryan might be effectively off limits even if the Twins are in seller mode, but some contenders could try to blow them away with an offer. Among all qualified starters the past two seasons, Ryan ranks second to only Tarik Skubal in K/BB ratio (6.1/1) and is also fourth in opponents’ batting average (.207) and 10th in ERA (3.15).”
RIPPING IT UP: Of the 50 players, listed by the Athletic, seven are Twins. That’s a fair and sad indication of how the Twins are perceived as their season has melted down. ON THE LIST: 6. Jhoan Duran, 10. Griffin Jax, 24. Willi Castro, 30. Harrison Bader, 42. Trevor Larnach and 50. Chris Paddack. FULL LIST: https://fluence-media.co/tradelist0724
OUT OF REACH? According to FanGraphs, the latest loss dropped the Twins chances of making the playoffs to 14.9% They are five games out of a Wild Card spot with 60 games to play and four teams ahead of them. STANDINGS: https://fluence-media.co/mlb0724
UGLY WEDNESDAY: The loss capped an inept return from the All-Star break for the Twins, who lost two games out of three to Colorado, which is 50 games under .500, and won only one against the Dodgers, who entered the series winning only two of their previous 12. You don’t need to take the word of fans in the Twins’ legion of gloom. You have it from Plouffe, who can find rays of sunshine in the cloudiest games but sounded totally crushed.
Here’s the Mookie Betts checked swing that should have ended the game with the Twins winning 3-2:
ON TO THE VIKINGS: Are you ready for nonstop analysis of every little thing that quarterback J.J. McCarthy does for the next few weeks? You better be. The “second-year rookie’s” presence will make training camp interesting even for those who do their best to not pay attention to football until the games count for real..
THE CHALLENGE. Via Matthew Coller at Vikings Insider. I haven’t seen it said better than this. VERBATIM: “The Vikings have a quarterback who has a heap of knowledge in his head but only a handful of reps with his body since being drafted. Think about it like watching YouTube golf lessons but never getting out on the course. They only have a few weeks to get the quarterback up to full speed while also preparing a group of championship-hungry players who could probably play in a week if needed. Coach Kevin O’Connell will have a delicate dance of pushing the quarterback in his aggressive system while also avoiding pushing too hard and stagnating his progress.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/jj0724
UNWINNABLE CHALLENGE? Via Jim Souhan at Star Tribune. VERBATIM: “We, and the Vikings, are asking McCarthy to be better than Sam Darnold, who won 14 games last season; and Kirk Cousins, who won 13 games in his first year under Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, and every Vikings quarterback who ever took a snap. Even Fran Tarkenton, because, as you may know, he never won a Super Bowl. Such expectations for McCarthy might be unrealistic and are certainly unfair, but this is the challenge the Vikings created for him when they traded up to get him in the draft so he could replace Cousins, and this is the challenge he will have to accept if he’s going to be great. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/challenge0724
POWER RANKINGS: The Athletic has the Vikings ranked 10th as training camp begins, with the Lions and Packers above them. Yahoo! Sports has them sixth. ESPN ranked their projected starting lineup as the 11th best in the NFL., with cornerbacks a weakness and McCarthy the wild card.
MY TAKE: The Vikings could go 6-11 just as easily as they could go 11-6. Vikings fans appear more bought into the idea that McCarthy will have quick success than people looking from afar. I’m not going to call it the difference between optimism and reality as much as I’m reasonably certain there will be rough spots at the start that will be smoothed over as the season plays on. QUESTIONS: (1) How rough will it be in the early going? (2) How much and how quickly will McCarthy improve? (3) Is even my forecast of improvement too optimistic? Whatever, Vikings management is making much more than a mere table stakes bet on McCarthy, which should make 2025 a fascinating ride, if not always a fun one.
TRAINING CAMP STUFF: Roster | Camp tickets and schedule | Season schedule
STUDBUDZ TAKE OVER: I could do a whole newsletter about StudBudz, the Twitch livestream that went WNBA viral during All-Star weekend thanks to a 72-hour nonstop livestream from Indianapolis.
WHO? StudBudz are Lynx guards and BFFs Courtney Williams (Court) and Natisha Hiedeman (T). They started this summer as the two players talking to each other on Twitch, with an occasional guest, and has evolved into a big thing that’s bound to get bigger. In Indianapolis, that meant an all-access pass to stuff you wouldn’t otherwise get to see from hotel rooms to arena basements to early-morning partying
WHAT? Via Hannah Vanbiber at The Athletic: VERBATIM: “Here’s the proposition: “Ever want to just hang out with your favorite professional ball players? Now you can. Williams and Hiedeman film their everyday lives — travel, practice, hotel stays or hair-dyeing escapades. They react to WNBA games. They interview competitors and teammates. And they just hang out.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/whatisit0724
WHERE? Via Clare Brennan of SI.com. Highlights from the nonstop video. VERBATIM: “During waking hours, a veritable who’s who of WNBA stars tumbled in and out of the livestream’s frame, captivating viewers (nearly 18,000 tuned into StudBudz for their coverage of the All-Star Game). One moment commissioner Cathy Engelbert was captured dancing to Crime Mob’s “Knuck If You Buck,” the next Angel Reese was seen partying with the pair. . . . Nneka Ogwumike was depicted entering Williams and Hiedeman’s room to inform them of an upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement meeting. In a particularly heartwarming moment, the livestream caught Hiedeman telling Williams that the All-Star festivities had been the best weekend of her life.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/budz0724
WATCH STUDBUDZ: https://fluence-media.co/studbudz0724
STUDBUDZ MERCH: https://fluence-media.co/merch0724
MY TAKE: Five places I want to see a StudBudz stream: (1) At the State Fair. (2) Throwing out the first pitch at a Twins game. (3) Move-in days at the U of M dorms. (4) With concert goers in line for a show at the Fillmore. (5) At the Lynx victory parade after winning their fifth WNBA title.
ANOTHER TAKE: One of my Macalester journalism students, Anya Armentrout, who Substacks on the Golden State Valkyries texted after watching: “So funny and more of the press the W needs, IMO. Players standing out as interesting and entertaining celebrities, getting the influencer status that even many NBA players don’t have. Drawing eyes to the W as a super fun space with cool players, and especially with the (contract) talks going on right now.”
PROMISE: More on the labor talks in coming weeks.
NEED TO CALM DOWN? I doubt you’ll find StudBudz at the 3M Open, which opens today at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine. This is the seventh year that the tournament has been a PGA event after starting out as a stop on the Champions (50 and over) Tour. Because it’s held the week after the British Open, not a lot of big name golfers commit to playing here. But three of this year’s top six British Open finishers — Chris Gotterup, Li Haotong and Wyndham Clark — are in the field. So are Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott and Max Homa.
PAYBACK: Via Jerry Zgoda at Star Tribune. Coming to Blaine is return on a favor done for Gotterup when he was finishing up his college golf career at Oklahoma. VERBATIM: “He considers it a debt owed after 3M Open officials offered him a sponsor’s exemption out of Oklahoma, where he won the 2022 Haskins Award given to the nation’s outstanding college golfer. ‘The 3M gave me a spot a couple years ago when I came out of school and I felt like I kind of owe a little something back to them I was planning on playing, but that definitely helped.“ MORE: https://fluence-media.co/gotterup0724
GOLF GUIDE: Tee times | Watch | Tickets and Parking | Odds
WATCHING AT THE COURSE. Via Jace Frederick at Pioneer Press. There are three prime spots on the course where you can follow the action on more than one hole. The story also ranks the best viewing holes from 1 to 18. VERBATIM: “No. 18: The par-4, 15th. It’s a straightforward par 4 with no distinct features and no amenities. Skip it and go right from No. 14 to No. 16 green if you’re walking the course. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/course0724
HUGE ESPN/NFL DEAL CLOSE? Via Andrew Marchand at The Athletic. The deal would not only be huge in the amount of money involved, but also in the way NFL viewing habits would change. Insiders say that ESPN would acquire the NFL’s media properties, including NFL Network and Red Zone, and use them as centerpieces of its direct-to-consumer streaming upgrade. Team owners have been told the deal could be ready for a vote in August. VERBATIM: “According to sources briefed on negotiations, ESPN and the NFL are inside the 5-yard line on another ground-breaking deal for ESPN to acquire NFL Media, the arm of the league that focuses on content and runs the NFL Network. The deal . . . comes as ESPN makes its programming available in a direct-to-consumer product this fall. ESPN is hyping this upcoming iteration as ‘The Next Era,’ at a price of $29.99 per month.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/espn0724
WHAT IS ‘THE NEXT ERA’? Via Hollywood Reporter. It’s part of ESPN’s Sports Forever campaign that was launched during the NBA Finals. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/nextera0724
THOSE STUDENT FEES: Via Star Tribune. I typically recommend staying as far as away from story comments as possible. But most of the 300+ comments on the Star Tribune story about the $200 annual fee toward U of M athletics are particularly withering. The fee struck a nerve with alumni and fans, as well as the usual suspects. TAKE A LOOK: https://fluence-media.co/comments0724
ON THE FIELD: Via Randy Johnson at Star Tribune. A trip to Arkansas to visit with new Gophers quarterback Drake Lindsey turned up decades-old family ties to the Vikings and Gophers. VERBATIM: “While Drake is forging his own ties with Minnesota, his grandfather, Jim, has deep links to the Land of 10,000 Lakes through football. After amassing nearly 1,800 total yards in three seasons as a running back at Arkansas — where he was teammates with Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones of Dallas Cowboys fame — Jim became a second-round draft pick of the Vikings in 1966. He played seven years in Minnesota, retiring after the 1972 season and finishing with 566 rushing yards and six TDs in 84 games, mostly as a reserve and a special teams player. Jim Lindsey, 80, considered staying in Minnesota and even interviewed for the Gophers’ head coaching opening in 1972, according to John David Lindsey, Drake’s father. That job went to Cal Stoll, while Jim used money from a $75,000 signing bonus from the Vikings to invest in real estate and golf course development in the Fayetteville area.” STORY: https://fluence-media.co/lindsey0724
BIG TEN POLL: Via Cleveland.com. The website’s annual media poll has the Gophers picked to finish 11th in the Big Ten. Penn State-Ohio State-Oregon are Nos. 1, 2 and 3. SMALL CONSOLATION: The Badgers are picked 12th. Minnesota star Koi Perich finished seventh in Defensive Player of the Year polling. POLL: https://fluence-media.co/poll0724
15 MINUTES OF FLECK: Here’s the video from P.J. Fleck’s press conference at Big Ten media days in Las Vegas. Among other things, he calls Mark Coyle “the best athletic director in all of college athletics.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/pj0724
LYNX VS. LIBERTY: The Lynx are opening the upper bowl of Target Center for Wednesday night’s game against New York (7 p.m., ESPN). It’s the first of four games vs. the Liberty in the next three weeks, including an oddly scheduled stretch of three straight Lynx games vs. the Liberty from Aug. 10-19. The Lynx currently lead the second-place New York by 3 1/2 games. PLAYER MOVE: New York bested the Lynx (and Phoenix) to add star 6-foot-3 forward Emma Meesseman to its roster for the rest of the season. She had been playing for Belgium after taking a break from the WNBA. TICKETS: https://fluence-media.co/lynxtix0724
HOCKEY DAY MINNESOTA: The Iowa Wild will play one of four outdoor games at the 20th annual Hockey Day Minnesota, set for Jan. 23-24, 2026 at the United Heroes League outdoor rink in Hastings. The Wild will play Milwaukee at 5 p.m. on Friday with Saturday high school games set between Hastings and Park Cottage Grove (girls), Hastings and East Ridge (boys) and Rock Ridge and St. Thomas Academy (boys). The Wild play Florida that night at Grand Casino Arena. TICKETS: https://fluence-media.co/hdm0724
ROSEMOUNT RESULT: Rosemount High School’s girls’ flag football team went 2-1 in preliminary rounds before losing to a team from Miami 27-6 in the round of 16 at the NFL Flag Football championships last weekend. The school was one of the original four to sponsor the sport in Minnesota. HIGHLIGHTS: https://fluence-media.co/rosemount0724 and https://fluence-media.co/miami0724
SWEET, POWERFUL GRANDMA STORY: Via Chip Scoggins and Aaron Lavinsky at Star Tribune. The writer/photographer duo went to Stearns County to showcase the story of Brenda Dockendorf’s life change from overweight and health-impaired to champion powerlifter. VERBATIM: “Never in a million years would Dockendorf have predicted that she would one day own five state records in powerlifting. She didn’t play sports growing up. She had never been to a fitness gym. She wasn’t a competitive person. She rarely exercised beyond occasional walks. She was 58 years old, weighed 348 pounds and took multiple medications as a Type 2 diabetic when she came across a Facebook ad offering a 21-day challenge at Anytime Fitness. Something told her to sign up. ‘I wanted to lose weight,’ she said. ‘Just sick and tired of trying to get around like that.’ “ STORY AND PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/powerlifter0724
STRIB SPORTS HIRING: The Star Tribune’s sports department makeover is taking shape with jobs posted for a women’s sports reporter, college sports reporter and an editor to supervise those positions. The college sports reporter position is noteworthy because it foreshadows change from the long-standing practice of reporters who almost exclusively cover the U. FROM THE JOB DESCRIPTION: “You will be the lead beat reporter for University of Minnesota men’s basketball and will be expected to contribute to coverage of other Gophers sports, University of St. Thomas athletics and Minnesota small college programs.”
ANOTHER CHANGE. This is from the editor’s job description, and I think it’s a good one. VERBATIM: “Game coverage will play a secondary role to insightful and timely news scoops as well as enterprise, analysis and accountability reporting around prominent issues such as recruiting, diversity and gender equity, the transfer portal, the business of women’s sports, and the growing impact of name, image and likeness rules.” JOB DESCRIPTIONS: Women’s sports | Gophers sports | Team Leader (editor)
AND FINALLY: John Millea is retiring next month after 15 years as media specialist for the Minnesota State High School League. He’s celebrating by posting his 15 favorite “John’s Journal” columns from over the years. LIFE CHANGE: Driving a car without his name, image and likeness giving Millea away. Solid writer. More solid person. FAVORITE COLUMN: It’s from 2021. VERBATIM: “A mystery gold medal that was given to one of the members of the 1945 Eveleth Golden Bears -- and was found by a Minnesota native in 2018 in a Goodwill store in Texas -- is in the hands of the Drobnick family, completing the circle of gold.” COLUMNS: https://fluence-media.co/millea0724
ON THE WEB:
Bluesky: @howardsinker.bsky.social
Instagram: @howardsinkermn
Tips and thoughts: sportstake100@gmail.com
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