BEST TV WEEKEND OF THE YEAR: From now through Sunday night, we have the very logical option of doing little except watching sports on TV. There is so much going on that you can easily justify surrounding yourself with snacks, wearing sweats and a hoodie and playing ‘sports bar’ in your basement or living room. Go full TV/tablet/laptop/phone to keep up. I mean, it’s not (always) whether you win or lose, it’s how you watch the games, right? — Howard Sinker
BEN JOHNSON’S FUTURE DICEY: Via Chip Scoggins at Star Tribune. The new college sports revenue sharing agreement that will bring in $20.5 million to the University of Minnesota’s athletic department budget next year is expected to have a major impact on men’s basketball, sources told Scoggins. It will also force athletic director Mark Coyle into a major decision. VERBATIM: “The goal, sources say, is for men’s basketball to rank in the top third of the Big Ten in revenue-sharing, which would close the gap on competitors in name, image and likeness (NIL) distribution to players. The Gophers desperately need more success, and more revenue generated, from men’s basketball. Coyle seems willing and determined to invest financially to jumpstart that program. The question becomes, will Ben Johnson get another year with more resources, or will Coyle pay a nearly $3 million buyout and look for a replacement knowing the roster will require another personnel makeover with so many departing seniors?”
SCOGGINS SAYS: “The roster under Johnson has resembled a revolving door. Players leave, new players come in, rinse and repeat. The lack of continuity has contributed to the struggles, especially when the replacements don’t equal the departures in talent. Retention is vital in the NIL world. The Gophers must squeeze every nickel possible out of men’s basketball for the financial health and vitality of the athletic department. Making a strong commitment in revenue-sharing to attract better talent is one component to that formula. Coyle must decide if that alone is enough.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/chip0306
COLLEGE REVENUE SHARING EXPLAINED: Via University Business. Final approval of the revenue sharing agreement is expected on April 7. It’s the result of several lawsuits filed against the NCAA. WHAT TO KNOW: https://fluence-media.co/revenue0306
TALKIN’ QUARTERBACKS: The Vikings opted against placing the franchise tag on Sam Darnold, meaning he can leave via free agency or sign a new deal in Minnesota. Given the perceived lack of depth among this year’s draft-eligible QBs and the number of teams with needs at the position, Darnold playing somewhere else next season is a very good possibility. The Vikings could put Daniel Jones, brought in late last season, into the Darnold role for 2025 if J.J. McCarthy isn’t ready to be the starter for health or developmental reasons. Or they could look elsewhere, and would need to if Jones signs elsewhere.
IN A NUTSHELL: Via Ben Goessling at Star Tribune. VERBATIM: “A franchise tag for Darnold would have cost the Vikings $40.24 million for 2025, while ensuring the team could match any free agent offer for Darnold or receive two first-round picks as compensation if he left. Additionally, the Vikings could have traded Darnold after tagging him, though sources said at the NFL combine last week that was unlikely. As those sources pointed out, tagging Darnold effectively would have given him a no-trade clause, since a new team would want to know whether the quarterback would sign a long-term deal with them before making the trade. If Darnold indicated he didn’t want to sign a long-term deal with a certain team, it would have effectively nixed the trade.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/sam0306
ALL THE QBs: Via Spotrac. Darnold tops this list of 36 quarterbacks who will be free agents as of Monday. LOCAL ANGLES: Eight of them have been with the Vikings. Three played for North Dakota State. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/qbs0306
PURPLE SHOPPING: Via Andrew Krammer at Star Tribune. Eight veteran quarterbacks, including Jones, who could be a good fit for the Vikings. STORY: https://fluence-media.co/vikings0306
MALPRACTICE? Via Alec Lewis at The Athletic. VERBATIM: “Not franchise-tagging (or tagging and trading) Darnold is not organizational malpractice. It’s more a reflection of the complex conditions surrounding his negotiations. The Vikings’ view has remained consistent. They’d prefer to bring him back at a price that would not hamstring their attempts to build the most well-rounded roster. Essentially, Minnesota would be opting for Darnold and McCarthy at a price hovering just a notch above where Daniel Jones’ ask would likely land. That would mean continuity for Kevin O’Connell, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and the Vikings’ skill group. It would mean insurance for McCarthy in the form of a player the Vikings know and respect, even if it extends the uncertainty at quarterback longer than anyone supporting this team might have liked. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/choices0305
DARNOLD GOES WHERE? Via Colin Capece at Sporting News. In addition to the Vikings, the Giants, Jets, Steelers and Raiders are seen as prime landing spots. REPORT: https://fluence-media.co/darnold0305
KEY DATES, TIMES: Via NFL Operations. NFL teams and free agents can begin talking to each other at 11 a.m. Monday. Players can’t sign with a new team until 3 p.m. Wednesday, which is considered the first day of the “2025 League Year.” DATES TO KNOW: https://fluence-media.co/calendar0306
OTHER POTENTIAL VIKINGS: Via Matthew Collar at Purple Insider. A watch list of 25 free agents the Vikings could chase, including the 10 best fits. LIST: https://fluence-media.co/freeagents0306
HOWARD’S HOT 10 (SPORTS WATCHING EDITION): As I wrote above, this is a weekend when you can shut down all else and not apologize for it. With that in mind, here are 10 things to watch through the weekend.
State Hockey Tournament: Minnesota’s unequaled sporting-cultural event. Only one private school in each class (St. Thomas Academy in 2A and St. Cloud Cathedral in 1A) made the field. No. 1 seed Moorhead is “my team,” partly because Spuddy the Potato is also the state’s No. 1 mascot. Need a team to cheer against, there’s always Edina. (Apologies to my hockey playing niece and nephew.) Through Saturday night on Ch. 45 and on the web at 45preps.com.
Hopkins at Wayzata girls’ basketball: It’s the seventh straight year the teams have met for the Section 6AAAA title. Hopkins has won the previous six but Wayzata has won both games this season. Here’s hoping fans and coaches behave better than they did at the last Hopkins-Wayzata boys’ basketball game. 7 p.m. Thursday. WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/hopway0306.
WCHA Final Faceoff: Semifinals of conference women’s hockey tournament from Duluth: UMD plays Wisconsin at 1 p.m. Friday and Minnesota plays Ohio State at 4:30 p.m. Title game is 2 p.m. Saturday with winner getting an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. FOX9+ and BIG+.
Gophers at Rutgers men’s basketball: Final day of the regular season and we’ll know the Gophers’ fate Big Ten tournament fate. Win and they’re in for sure. Lose and they’re still a good bet based on tie-breakers, unless it’s a tie with Northwestern for the 15th and final spot. Noon Sunday on BIG.
Big Ten wrestling tournament. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and Noon-7:30 on Sunday. BIG and BIG+. Gable Steveson is the No. 1-seeded heavyweight and compiled an 11-0 record in returning to college wrestling after three years away, which included a stint with WWE that didn’t go well. Max McEnelly is the No. 2 seed at 184 pounds. No other Minnesotan wrestler in seeded higher than fourth. SCHEDULE AND TV INFO: https://fluence-media.co/wrestle0306
Twins vs. Rays: Some sunshine and warmth for a winter weekend. Noon Friday on MLB.TV.
Summit League basketball tournament: St. Thomas men are seeded second and open at 8:30 p.m. Thursday vs. Denver. Semifinals and finals are Saturday and Sunday. TV: Midco on Friday; CBS Sports Network Saturday and Sunday. No. 4 seed St. Thomas women play North Dakota at noon Friday. Midco on Friday/Saturday. CBS Sports Network on Sunday. Games also streamed at Tiffany Sports Lounge in Highland Park.
Gophers vs. Notre Dame in quarterfinals of Big Ten men’s hockey. Minnesota is No. 2 seed after tying for the conference title and going 3-1 vs. Notre Dame during the regular season. 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 6 p.m. Sunday if a deciding game is needed in the best-of-three series. FOX9.
Gustavus in NCAA D-III women’s basketball tournament: 7:30 p.m. Friday vs. Wisconsin Lutheran and, if the Gusties win, 7:30 p.m. Saturday vs. the Wartburg vs. UW-Stevens Point winner. Gustavus is ranked. No. 6 in the nation and the Saturday night winner goes to the Sweet 16. Livestream.
Power watch women’s sports: Show up early, leave late. A Bar of Their Own (below) has a four-day schedule of women’s sports running through Sunday, ranging from PWHL to Unrivaled to college basketball, hockey and softball. SCHEDULE: https://fluence-media.co/aboto0306
GET OUT OF THE HOUSE: Boys’ basketball sections run through the end of next week and the girls’ basketball tournament goes from Wednesday through a week from Saturday at Williams Arena and Maturi Pavilion. A good place for boys’ hoops? Try Tuesday at Minnehaha Academy for the Section 5AA semifinals. If all goes by seed, No. 1 Southwest Christian will play North at 5 p.m. and Breck will play Blake at 7 p.m. The girls’ schedule and brackets are here. The boys’ section schedule and results are here.
GOPHERS GO BACKWARDS: First the Gopher’s women played themselves out of the AP Top 25 poll. Now, they may have played themselves out of a spot in the NCAA tournament with a 2-8 spiral that was capped by Wednesday’s 75-61 loss to Washington in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. The Gophers shot under 40%, were outrebounded and couldn’t pull close to Washington in the second half without making key mistakes to blunt their rally tries.
ON THE VERY EDGE: Via Charlie Creme at ESPN. The Gophers were the focus of this morning’s “bracketology” update by ESPN’s women’s basketball expert — and the news is sobering. VERBATIM: “Minnesota has been in the field nearly all season. Now the Gophers' spot is slipping away. After losing by 14 in the first game of the Big Ten tournament to Washington, another bubble team, Minnesota is now the last team in the field. The Gophers' NET ranking has stayed solidly in the 30s for the last two months, but five losses in the last six games might be too much to overcome. The lack of another bubble team seizing the day is the only thing keeping the Gophers in the field. If another bubble team gets a significant win, or if a bid stealer emerges in the Atlantic 10 or Summit, Minnesota will miss its sixth straight NCAA tournament. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ncaawbracket
ONE MORE THING: The Gophers are 38th in NET ranking. Washington is 43rd, but beat Minnesota twice in the last week. If one team has to go . . .
YOUNG FOX: Parker Fox came to Minnesota after starting at Division II Northern State. Younger brother Brody was the leading scorer this season for The Citadel after transferring from D-III Wisconsin-Stout. GOOD NEWS: Brody led the team with 16.7 points per game and was second in assists. BAD NEWS: The Citadel went 0-18 in the Southern Conference.
TARGET FIELD CHANGES: Via news release. The Twins are adding an optional facial recognition system for ticket buyers, making over concessions areas in two highly trafficked locations on the 100 level and updating their cellular network. The latter project will continue throughout the season. DETAILS: https://fluence-media.co/ballpark0306
THE FILTHIEST PITCH: Via Bobby Nightengale at Star Tribune. When Twins training camp catchers were polled about the toughest pitch for them to handle, the top result didn’t come from one of the established members of the staff. It was the knuckleball of Cory Lewis, the organization’s minor league Pitcher of the Year in 2024. His trick pitch has been clocked at 85 mph while maintaining the unpredictability for which knuckleballs are known. The pitch typically is in the 70s, and sometimes even slower, relying on movement much more than velocity.
MORE LEWIS: Plans currently call for Lewis to start the season at Class AAA St. Paul. VERBATIM: “Tigers batters swung and missed on five of their eight swings against the pitch. When Gleyber Torres, a two-time All-Star, fouled one knuckleball, catcher Jair Camargo thanked him because his catcher’s mitt was out of position, and he thought it would have struck him. On the next pitch, another knuckleball, Torres whiffed on an awkward strike three swing as the ball hit Camargo flush on his left thigh. ‘Lucky me, I only missed one,’ Camargo said. ‘It’s gross, man, catching him.’“ STORY: https://fluence-media.co/lewis0306
BATTING LEADOFF, CEMENT BONES: Via Aaron Gleeman at The Athletic. One reason the Twins are planning to use power-hitting Matt Wallner as their leadoff hitter: He gets hit by pitches. Often. How often? VERBATIM: “Wallner has 31 hit-by-pitches in 169 career games, which is tied for the most in MLB history through any player’s first 169 games. And it’s not a fluke, as Wallner starts his swing from an open stance before diving toward the plate with an elbow protected by padding. He’s also often pitched inside, takes up a lot of space and seems not to feel pain as normal humans do, which helps.”
HIT ‘EM AGAIN: Gleeman notes that the Twins have five of the top 50 players in the game in getting hit by pitches. Wallner is first, Ty France fifth, Willi Castro is 14th, Ryan Jeffers is 34th and Byron Buxton is 50th. VERBATIM: “They’re scoring runs and their on-base percentages are going up. And we’re probably winning more games because of it. It’s not all terrible,” Baldelli said. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/wallner0306
MY TAKE: “It’s not all terrible?” Byron Buxton would like a word.
NANNE NOT MISSING IT: Via Judd Zulgad on Substack. After 60 seasons as an analyst former North Star player and GM Lou Nanne has stepped away from the state hockey tournament. He has no regrets and is spending this week in the TV booth for two Wild games. VERBATIM: “When I make a decision, I move on. I’ve always been fortunate to be like that in all stages of my life. I think it’s easier on me if I don’t dwell on something. I think that trait probably helped me a lot when I was a general manager because I’d make a decision and that was it. I don’t second guess things.” MY TAKE: We miss Nanne more than Nanne misses us. He could be critical of high school players without sounding like a scold and, despite his family’s Edina roots, you didn’t know where his heart when he was on the air. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/nanne0306
INTERVIEW: Nanne talked with Cathy Wurzer of MPR about his decision before last year’s tournament. LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/mpr0306
VOICE OF THE TOURNEY: One tournament treat is the marathon play-by-play call of Jim Erickson, whose main job is being the voice of St. Cloud State men’s hockey. He’s also a morning show host on country station BOB-FM. Calling 14 games in four days and getting is as right as Erickson does isn’t for the vocally faint or poorly prepared.
WOLVES SOFT SCHEDULE: The Timberwolves have 18 games left this season and the combined record of the teams they’ll face is currently 109 games below .500. Also, 10 of the 18 games are at Target Center. Despite their maddeningly inconsistent play, that aids their chances of making the top six in the Western Conference and avoiding play-in games for the postseason. While the rotation will shorten as the playoffs approach, recent injuries to veterans have provided the team with long looks at young players who can step in when injuries and situations call for it. The Wolves are currently tied for sixth with Golden State, which holds a tie-breaker based on beating Minnesota three times in four games. STANDINGS: https://fluence-media.co/nbastandings0306
VIKINGS SPONSOR WOMEN’S FLAG FOOTBALL: Via Alicia Esteban at WCCO-TV. The Vikings are putting $140,000 toward starting up a women’s flag football league that will include six area colleges: Bethel, Concordia-Moorhead, Gustavus, University of Northwestern, Augustana and UW-Stout. There will be two weekend jamborees next month with a final tournament set for April 26 at TCO Performance Center in Eagan. VERBATIM: “At the college level, flag football will start as a club sport, but the schools and the Vikings have big goals to make it more official. ‘We're working hand in hand with the MSHSL, as well as working with the schools, to make sure there's enough interest statewide to make it a sanctioned sport,’ said Emily Weinberg, youth and high school football coordinator for the Vikings. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/flag0306
ICE RACING UP NORTH: Via Kim Hyatt at Star Tribune. The ice racing season on Garfield Lake in LaPorte is entering its final weeks as weekly Sunday entertainment in the town of 134 people. Cars filled with passengers (you need a spotter and extra weight on the ice) careen around the track as drivers compete for a jacket and bragging rights. Entry fees and dues paid by racers are why people who initially hated the noise are now more than willing to embrace it. VERBATIM: “Ice racers make a lot of noise, but they also do a lot of good. . . . In the past decade, the group has donated nearly $500,000 to area schools, cancer patients and veterans. It is the charity recipient of electronic gambling and pulltab funds from three area bars, which allowed it to distribute $100,000 to the community last year alone. Not a dime goes to the racers.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ice0306
AND FINALLY: Via Sam Blum at The Athletic. Is Derek Bender a cheater who has no place in baseball? Or is this a huge misunderstanding? VERBATIM: “More than five months have passed since the day the former Minnesota Twins minor league catcher was accused of giving away pitches to opposing batters on the Lakeland Flying Tigers, trying to ensure his team would miss the playoffs so a long, tiring season would end, according to the allegations against him. A week later, he was released, barely a month after receiving a $297,500 signing bonus as a sixth-round draft selection. Since then, Bender has existed in a kind of baseball limbo: technically still a professional baseball player, but shunned by the rest of that fraternity. He’s reached out to players in his draft class, guys he lived with at the spring training complex, friends and teammates. Silence.”
MORE: “The Twins, Bender said, were willing to keep him in the organization. But they had one requirement. He needed to admit to everything and apologize for it. He tried to own up to it, he said. He apologized. But when the club asked what he was sorry for, he came up empty. The Twins, team sources said, had already conducted an internal investigation led by GM Jeremy Zoll. In their mind, this was no longer just a question of immaturity. This was a player they could no longer employ. ‘The only thing I had left was my character at that point,’ Bender said. ‘Literally, the way they put it was, “If you want to die by the sword, we’ll release you.” I knew there was no bluffing involved.’ “
READ THE REST: https://fluence-media.co/bender0306
Thanks for reading. Back with more next week.
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HOW TO WATCH ALMOST ANYTHING
ESPN's guide to sports on about 250 channels and streaming services: https://fluence-media.co/3T4rYw4
Minnesota Division II and III sports: MIAC Network | Northern Sun Network | Upper Midwest Network
NSPN Minnesota high school livestreams: https://fluence-media.co/3My8Tyv
NFHS Minnesota high school livestreams: https://fluence-media.co/3MvFSU6