Minneapolis city officials and folks with the Twins have apparently just been alerted to the presence of advertising in our economic system. How else can we explain the outcry over a sign -- albeit a large one -- the Timberwolves are putting on Target Center to capitalize on the Twins' playoff run? "I'm just disgusted by it," said Council Member Lisa Goodman, whose district includes the ballpark. She said "it makes me sick" that the city cannot stop it.

Mike Opat, who chairs the County Board, said the 2,800-square-foot sign will "cheapen" the public art and spirit of Target Plaza.

Twins President Dave St. Peter said he always knew the ballpark "would be ambushed by a sign of this nature, either on Target Center or somewhere else." He said, "What we were most surprised by is the sheer size of the sign ... how the sign dominates the civic gathering place known as Target Plaza."

So the sign cheapens things and dominates the landscape, but every other in-stadium advertisement at Target Field -- including the rather large beer-sponsored roof deck -- is just part of the background and the price of doing business? Please.

Sorry, this cat has been out of the bag for a while now. Anywhere outside the lines, sports = business. Maybe 10 years ago we would have been disgusted and thought it was shady that one business would try to capitalize on another's success. But right now, the only energy we can muster up is a shoulder shrug. Let it go. Move on. Ignore it if you don't like it.

We have to save most of the real fretting for questions about the Twins' health and pitching, you know?