Thinking about the holidays already? Here's a great gift for the Minnesota sports fan in your life:
#MinnesotaMadeMe
, featuring 38 of the state's most notable sports figures. Available via Press Box Books, Amazon, or at Barnes & Noble. …
The men's pro teams that primarily occupy Target Center (opened 1990) and Xcel Energy Center (2000) have never reached a league championship series, let alone won one.
The women's pro teams?
Four
#WNBA
titles for the
@minnesotalynx
.
And now a
#PWHL
title for
@PWHL_Minnesota
.
Exceptionally classy move and exactly in character with this group. And it will get 1/100th the media attention the
@Eagles
White House disinvite has.
#WNBA
#Lynx
#LosLynx
#NFL
Failing to get a White House invitation,
#LosLynx
planning community service and title ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.
@Bloodstrib
writes:
#WNBA
At Target Field for
#MNTwins
&
#Cubs
. Ran into two Cubs fans from Nashville who've been in Mpls all week. They did some sightseeing (Sculpture Garden, Stone Arch Bridge), ate in several downtown restaurants and generally enjoyed their stay. No gloom and doom, no fear of crime.
Clever:
@minnesotalynx
announce
@MooreMaya
jersey retirement ceremony will be Aug. 24 vs.
@IndianaFever
, the likely
#WNBA
landing spot for noted Maya fan Caitlin Clark. That double draw might sell out the whole Target Center, which holds roughly 19,000.
#Lynx
Remember: This is a team that stood up to USA Hockey, demanding better pay and working conditions, and won. Took guts. Then it won WC & Olympic gold. Remarkable.
#USAvsCAN
#Pyeongchang2018
@minnesotalynx
fans would have loved the scene in the hallway downstairs: Workers wheeling three huge receptacles with Champagne bottles down the hall away from the
@nyliberty
locker room. Shipping off the Brooklyn, probably.
#WNBAFinals
#Lynx
Trevor Larnach, the former
@BeaverBaseball
outfielder who played in last year's
#CWS
, just homered for the
#MNTwins
vs Washington. One of several Twins minor-leaguers brought over today for late-inning duty.
Says something about Joe Mauer that four people fired by the
#MNTwins
-- managers Ron Gardenhire & Paul Molitor, plus GMs Terry Ryan & Bill Smith -- attended today's retirement press conference. Says something about them, too.
#MLB
Mauer chatted briefly with reporters a few minutes ago. Said until today he'd never met Paul Feiner, the pitcher who struck him out in high school. "I think I remember the pitch," Mauer said. "I said, `You're not going to throw me that curveball again, are you?' " Funny.
#MNTwins
Two Olympic gold medalists asked their hockey instructor to keep playing so they could all be teammates. That happens Saturday, when 40-year-old Winny Brodt Brown takes the jce for the
@WhitecapsHockey
in their
#NWHL
debut.
Here's how it looks to me (and others): In the first major clash between a strong woman and a strong man, the women's league sided with the man. Why would any competent woman exec want to work for these people?
#PWHL
@PWHL_Minnesota
@MinnPost
#Darwitz
In gymnastics, 16.000 is considered perfection. No one gets 16.000 on anything. Biles just got 15.975 on vault. My word.
#USAGTrials24
#RoadToParis2024
Of all the ceremonial
#WinterClassic
puck droppers from various Minnesota pro teams, including the
@Twins
, one guess who got the most applause. Yep, new Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Oliva.
I've said this before: Whalen is the best point guard the state of Minnesota ever produced, regardless of gender. A winner, but more importantly an exemplary person and role model for any athlete in any sport. 2/2
#Lynx
#wnba
Anyone in Minnesota interested in owning a professional women's hockey team?
@WhitecapsHockey
co-founder Jack Brodt says his club is for sale and he's looking for a buyer.
#PHF
Re the
#Lynx
cutting PG Layshia Clarendon,
@LynxCoachReeve
didn’t think Clarendon’s troublesome lower right leg had healed enough to practice and play regularly. Lynx reached out to Sims three or four days ago.
Billie Jean King mentioned before Game 4 how appropriate it would be for
@PWHL_Minnesota
to win the title, since Coyne Schofield's call to her got the ball rolling on the new league. Looks like it's about to happen.
#PWHL
Intelligent people can disagree about the importance of athletics in Division III. This offers an intriguing argument for its value.
#d3hoops
#d3fb
#whyD3
Data from
@NSSEsurvey
indicates that NCAA Division III student-athletes are involved in internships and campus leadership roles at higher rates than their non-athlete peers.
#whyD3
@mikefreemanNFL
💯. And it shows you don’t need five people at an absurdly long table trying to out-inane each other. Three engaging personalities who like each other, know their stuff and have fun doing it. Perfect.
@chicagosky
Coach Teresa Witherspoon said Kamilla Cardoso (right shoulder injury) was OK. “Heart of a lion,” she said. “Didn’t want to come out, but we had to protect her. She’ll be fine.”
@minnesotalynx
#WNBA
BTW: A certain
#MNTwins
broadcaster wore his
@SCSUHUSKIES_MH
hockey jersey to the ballpark today. He's an alum. No spoilers, but I think I know what he wants to be doing at 6 p.m., and it ain't calling the 14th inning at Target Field.
#FrozenFour
First time since March 2004
@gopherwbb
has beaten three straight top 25 opponents (Iowa, Michigan & now the Terps.) You remember those Gophs, right? Bet
@Lindsay_13
&
@JanelMcCarville
do.
Folks in Minnesota know the story of Taylor Williamson’s perseverance. For her, suiting up for every game this year is a victory in itself.
@GopherWHockey
#WCHA
#Lynx
spokesman says no one in their traveling party — players, coaches or staff — has tested positive for COVID-19. Club arrived yesterday in Bradenton.
#WNBA
On his HoF Zoom call, Tony Oliva said he wished the various veterans committees met every year, rather than every four or five. Would help more deserving players get in while still alive.
#MNTwins
#MLB
ICYMI re
#Lynx
today: Augustus probably coming back next year. Brunson isn't sure. Fowles finished season with ruptured UCL in non-shooting elbow and hopes to avoid surgery. She & a worn-out Maya Moore will not play overseas this winter.
#WNBA
BTW:
@LynxCoachReeve
said if
@DallasWings
had drafted Napheesa Collier with the 5th pick,
#Lynx
would have taken Arike Ogunbowale at No. 6. "A no-brainer. We were going to make out either way," Reeve said. "But we got the Rookie of the Year."
#WNBA
@minnesotalynx
with a pregame moment of silence in memory of George Floyd, who was killed four years ago today in south Minneapolis. Assistant coach Rebekkah Brunson's brief remarks to the crowd included this: "The fight has not stopped."
#Lynx
#WNBA
FWIW: Per
#WNBA
source,
#Lynx
inquired about Diggins-Smith but couldn’t assemble the package Phoenix did. Now Minnesota figures to target less splashy free agents, probably guards.
Gonna miss Lindsay Whalen the player. An all-timer in smarts, class, grace, heart and grit. One of the best athletes, and people, I've been around. Best of luck with what's next.
#Lynx
#WNBA
#Gophers
Interesting symmetry, one classy Minnesotan announcing his retirement on the same day another classy Minnesotan begins her coaching career. If Lindsay Whalen coaches long enough, one day she may be recruiting Joe Mauer's twin girls. How cool would that be?
#MNTwins
#Gophers
Big day for
@Lindsay_13
.
#Lynx
announcing they will retire her No. 13 on June 8 (ABC-TV game vs LA Sparks), then she throws out first pitch at today’s
#Twins
matinee.
For those unaware: Kelly has done p x p for Bemidji State women's hockey since 2007. Not her first rodeo. Glass ceiling already broken and shards swept away. 👍
@WhitecapsHockey
At Target Center for the Maya Moore/Caitlin Clark extravaganza. Clark, gracious as ever, talked at length pregame about Moore, her basketball idol. "Maya was the person for me growing up," she said.
@minnesotalynx
#Lynx
@IndianaFever
#WNBA
1/
Lots of pissed-off women journalists in my feed today, coast to coast. Every one is an all-star. If you're a sports editor shrugging and going, "I can't find qualified women candidates," follow who I follow and see where it leads. Not that difficult.
One last thing: Whalen wore one of her Team USA championship rings on her pinky today. Why, she wouldn't say. But all the winking she did suggested a purpose she kept within her locker room. Whatever the reason, it worked.
@GopherWBB
Intriguing softball news:
@GopherSoftball
hires
@DrakeSoftball
All-American P Nicole Newman as a graduate manager, the first step in a coaching career. Newman pitched this summer for the Mankato-based
@AussiePeppersMN
. Finished her college career in an NCAA Regional at Minnesota.
A big day for three former
#Lynx
: Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Taj McWilliams-Franklin. Luckily, there’s another Hall of Famer on the scene in
@chjournalist
.
@minnesotalynx
#WNBA
Big cheer for
@GopherVBall
Coach Hugh McCutcheon, honored during a timeout by the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. Light chant of "Hugh!" from
#Gophers
faithful who didn't sell their tickets to Nebraska fans.
#NCAAVolleyball
Amber Fiser dealing for
@GopherSoftball
. Just fanned
@UGASoftball
star Alyssa DeCarlo for third time today. Fiser has allowed five hits, all singles, and leads 8-1 in the 6th.
#NCAASoftball
This right here is the benefit of having your reporter at the Olympics. In the craziness of a “mixed zone,” athletes look for familiar faces. It’s not just cool. It’s an incalculable competitive advantage.
@StarTribune
@AWSM_SportMedia
Very cool to see the great
@jessdiggs
look to the great
@BlountStrib
for the first question in the reporter scrum after her race.
Story: Diggins delivers podium finish in 10k:
Again: Present and former
#NBA
players respect their
#WNBA
counterparts so much more than the bro-public. Why? They watch, and they know how hard it is to be good.
#WNBAAllStar
.
#Lynx
At Killebrew's Target Field memorial service, Thome sat in the upper deck seat approximating the distance of Harmon's longest HR at Met Stadium. You could tell he was tickled to be part of it. Class all the way.
#MNTwins
Thome: "I don't think you'd meet a finer man than Harmon (Killebrew). I feel so lucky that I got to cross paths with him. It was almost this surreal, iconic figure that was just there. I caught myself many times honestly just like staring at him."
Minnesota Made Me, an anthology of Minnesota athletes -- my first book -- is available for preorder on Amazon. Features 38 of MN's most notable sports figures (Larry Fitz Jr., Whalen, Parise, Thielen, more.) Almost all fresh interviews. In stores Nov. 6.
Maya Moore spends her year away from the
#Lynx
in selfless service, yet all anybody wants to know is whether she's retiring. Nice job missing the point.
#WNBA
via
@MinnPost
Third consecutive
#NCAA
title for
#NCHC
, as
@UMDMensHockey
join Denver last year & North Dakota in 2016. Longest stretch of consecutive championships by one conference since
#WCHA
won five straight 2002-06. UMD's 16 losses also the most by an NCAA champion.
#FROZENFOUR2018
Per
@LynxCoachReeve
, Alanna Smith (sore back) will play normal minutes tonight. Rugged Aussie who knows what's at stake; according to Reeve,
@minnesotalynx
starters compiled a +20 net rating in the regular season.
#WNBAFinals
#Lynx
WNBA Power Rankings: The Minnesota Lynx have unseated the New York Liberty at No. 1 ahead of their Commissioner's Cup clash Tuesday. Elsewhere, the Chicago Sky climbed four spots.
If you're a
#Lynx
fan seeking a positive in all this mess, Jessica Shepard, two years after knee surgery, is starting to look like the player Reeve thought she could be coming out of Notre Dame. Tonight: 13p/11r/3a. Just found Fowles inside for a nice bucket.
#WNBA
@minnesotalynx
Not sure how Sylvia Fowles snuck in here without me noticing. But when the
#Lynx
great appeared on the videoboard between periods, Target Center went nuts, fans rising for a standing O.
@minnesotalynx
So the home page bills this as "Delle Done and the Mystics (yes, they spelled her name wrong!) up against Fowles and the Lynx." I mean, seriously? She's not playing, AND you can't get a two-time MVP's name right? Yikes.
#WNBA
#Lynx
#Mystics
Didn't realize Kurt Suzuki was catching, completing former
#MNTwins
triangle. ICYMI, Brian Dozier was on to position-player pitch and Eduardo Escobar, his old buddy who lockered next to him at Target Field, took him yard. I'm laughing just writing that. 😃
At Xcel for
@PWHL_Minnesota
&
@PWHL_Boston
, Game 4 of
#PWHLFinals
. Minnesota's chance to win the title tonight boosted ticket sales. Club officials says they've sold more than 12,000 tix, not including suites. In line to challenge the
#PWHL
U.S. record of 13,736. 1/
Whalen's willingness to do whatever she can to publicize this team and boost attendance has not gone unnoticed at the U. Sets the bar for what's expected from future coaches. And maybe one or two current ones.
#GopherSports
Nice. Kendall Coyne Schofield gave
@abaroftheirown
a postgame shoutout as well for
@PWHL_Minnesota
fans to gather Wednesday night for Game 5. Jillian's gonna need a bigger boat to handle it all.
#PWHLFinals
Fourteen years after Jack Brodt and a partner formed
@WhitecapsHockey
, Minnesota's post-grad team lands in the
#NWHL
. Now the hard part: Finding a home rink, players, and solvency.
Per
#Lynx
owner Glen Taylor: Two-year contract extension for Coach Cheryl Reeve, thru 2019 season. Well-deserved following fourth
#WNBA
title in 7 years.
@HoopsWeiss
Pretty late for those of us in the Midwest, too, Hoops. MLB lost a whole generation of fans moving all WS games to 8 pm. Someone’s gotta explain how 9:20p makes sense here.
Hearing
@PWHL_Minnesota
has sold 7,700+ so far for Saturday afternoon’s season opener at Xcel Energy Center. That’s well north of what Team USA & Canada generally draw for their pre-Olympic games at the X.
#PWHL
A little attendance bump tonight for the surging
@minnesotalynx
. Announced crowd of 8,117 largest of the season at Target Center and first over 8K.
#Lynx
This story isn’t getting the play it should:
@BigTenNetwork
says women’s volleyball is the network’s third most-watched sport after football and men’s basketball. Yep, ahead of men’s hockey.
@TJQuinnESPN
Funny. BTW, I keep waiting for the Russian that Paulie and Chrissy lost in the Pine Barrens to stumble into the pork store, all torn up and pissed off. The show's not over until that happens.
How does a startup, four-person Twin Cities newsroom function? Let's bust open the books, à la
@jontaffer
, for an in-depth look at how we spent every dollar.
@minnesotalynx
honored their four
#Olympians
(Collier, A. Smith, Carleton & Reeve) today in the concourse level atrium at Target Center, beneath this really cool mural by a local artist.
#Lynx
#WNBA
Hold it: This hoops mag last had a woman on the cover TWENTY YEARS AGO? Team USA won 5 Olympic golds and 3 World Cups in that span, the
#WNBA
has been around the entire time, and no other woman was deemed worthy? Props to Maya, but smh.
#Lynx
Maya Moore is a four-time WNBA champion, two-time Olympic champion and two-time NCAA champion. 🏆
The Lynx superstar becomes the second woman to cover SLAM, and the first since 1998:
No. 20
@GopherWBB
, down 6 with 3:38 to play, rallies to beat No. 12 Syracuse 72-68. First signature W under rookie coach Lindsay Whalen. Twisting runner off glass & 1 by Bell (24p) the key play down the stretch. Bello 20p/18r.
She's the only setter in all of NCAA action to have 5,000 career sets, and we get to watch her lead
@GopherVBall
in two matches this weekend! 🙌
#SkiUMah
Pass the word:
#Lynx
opening the Target Center upper level for Sunday's reg season finale, a.k.a. Whalen's last home game (maybe). Lower bowl sold out but fair number of tickets available upstairs.
#WNBA
Reeve ejected for picking up two techs with 7:00 to play. An angry Reeve chased down a ref to protest non-foul call on Fowles in the low post. Crowd has been on the officials all night, and Reeve got a standing ovation as she left.
#Lynx
#LASparks
#WNBA
Maya Moore has been deeply involved with her church in Atlanta for years. Basketball is a big a part of her life, but that's not all she's about. Not surprised by her reasons for stepping away. Wishing her a healthy, spiritual, fulfilling 2019.
#Lynx
#WNBA