After injury-riddled regular season, Gopher volleyball enters NCAA Tournament finally healthy
The Gophers approach this postseason without last year’s pressure and expectation, which may help.
Sports
Can the Twin Cities support two minor league baseball teams?
That’s the big question after a proposal to build a $42 million, 8,500-capacity stadium in Shakopee near Canterbury Park that would be home to a team called the Metro Millers was unveiled this week.
It’s time to rethink the notion of loyalty when it comes to big-time college coaches
There’s nothing really stopping Fleck from jumping at the next big thing, for more money or a higher national profile. But there’s also nothing stopping Minnesota from firing him if things go sideways.
What P.J. Fleck could learn from the Gopher women’s hockey team
If you want ESPN’s attention, skip the talk. Give them something they can’t ignore — like what Gopher women’s hockey player Amy Potomak did with her Magical Mystery Goal.
In polarizing times, one issue can still unite lawmakers in Minnesota (and everywhere else): sticking it to the NCAA
Republican state Sen. Roger Chamberlain plans to introduce a bill in 2020 modeled on legislation passed in California, a measure that would let student athletes profit from their name and image, including endorsement deals.
What to expect from Minnesota’s three most visible basketball teams this season
A look at the Timberwolves, the Gopher men and Gopher women, in order of likely success.
How the Houston Astros became world champions of terrible judgement
If you’re wondering how a club could employ an executive with so little common sense, and how its media relations team could mangle crisis management so badly, it’s because … well, they’re the Astros, one of baseball’s most arrogant and tone-deaf organizations.
Sad part of Tommies’ ambition: It risks the end of a special rivalry
If UST succeeds, Saturday’s annual St. Thomas-St. John’s football game may be the next-to-last in the MIAC’s most popular rivalry. UST is scheduled to exit the MIAC in the spring of 2021.
Where the Twins go from here
Twins officials have hinted at a much more active winter. Expect the team to re-sign Jake Odorizzi and possibly Michael Pineda, then go hunting for starting pitching.
Rough waters for the Minnesota Whitecaps
League problems threaten the stability of local women’s pro hockey.
What the 2019 Twins could learn from 2004 Red Sox
“I like the Twins,” said Kevin Millar, who played on that Red Sox team and who’s now a talking head on the MLB Network. “I don’t think they’re getting enough credit all the way through the board. This isn’t an 89-win team.”
Minnesota United’s playoff berth marks another step in Loons’ long-term development
Until Wednesday, the Loons had never won an MLS game they trailed at halftime, going 0-8 this season and 0-32-6 since joining the league in 2017.
If Maya Moore wants to devote the rest of her life to something besides basketball, fans should cheer her on
Too many people have made it clear they care about only one thing when it comes to Moore: whether she returns to the Minnesota Lynx to play basketball.
How new roster rules will change Major League Baseball — if they actually go into effect
MLB still hasn’t announced how the roster expansion and other proposed changes for 2020 are supposed to work. “We haven’t gotten clarification,” Indians manager Terry Francona said last weekend at Target Field. “It’s very vague.”
‘Nothing more you can ask of her’: Why the Lynx’s Naphessa Collier should be the WNBA’s rookie of the year
At least according to her teammates, including former league MVP Sylvia Fowles, who has taken to calling Collier “Roy,” fashioning a nickname from the initials for Rookie of the Year.
Minnesota’s surprising role in boxing’s modest comeback
For all the optimism around boxing these days, however, worrisome signs abound.
Why Twins fans are nuts about the Target Field squirrel
With the Twins squandering a 11 1/2 game lead in the AL Central, none of their relievers inspiring any confidence, and fear persisting that the Twins will blow the division to Cleveland, fans have welcomed whatever help the Twins can get.
A whole bunch of Minnesotans could be legitimate contenders for the 2020 Olympics
Three Minnesota gymnasts — along with 17-year-old swimmer Regan Smith of Lakeville, who broke two world records at last month’s world championships — give the state a collection of up-and-comers to follow leading up to Olympic team selection.
Lynx’s Seimone Augustus ‘just unbelievable in the way that she gives of herself’
The 11-11 Lynx played decently last Tuesday night in Augustus’ season debut, winning 85-69 in Atlanta. Treading carefully, the Lynx medical staff limited Augustus to stretches of three to four minutes at a time.
The curious case of Chris Colabello
After the former Twin tested positive for an oral steroid in 2016, those skeptical of his heartwarming story jumped into full I-told-you-so mode. But the odd circumstances of Colabello’s case suggest it may merit a closer look.
