Outside of the Lynx, we haven't had very many celebrations around here lately. As such, this past weekend certainly qualifies as the best we can remember, big-picture, around Minnesota sports in a long time. Quick recap of some of the big events, followed by pictures and a few more details below: Gophers football rallies to shock Iowa; The Minnesota Stars finish off an NASL championship; the Vikings go on the road and win in Carolina, which had never happened before; the Wild shuts out the Red Wings; and Gophers men's hockey sweeps Alaska-Anchorage in Alaska. (Also, not pictured: the Badgers lose and the Packers don't play).

It takes a certain amount of resolve and optimism to carve out three hours on a Saturday to dedicate to watching a Gophers football game. We haven't always done it in the past (though going forward, as we take over the helm of editing college sports at the Star Tribune, we imagine watching every Gophers game intently). That said, Saturday was still a choice. It was a two-pronged choice, since we were rather exhausted from running a half marathon earlier that day (the Monster Dash, during which we were dressed as Reno 911 character Lt. Dangle. Picture here). The reasoning was simple: If the Gophers were getting blown out at halftime, we would grab a nap at that point to set up a more well-rested Saturday night full of entertainment. But the plucky Gophers were tied at the break. And even in the fourth quarter, down 21-10, we had a feeling our strange pre-game optimism would be rewarded. Our time and faith was rewarded. MarQueis Gray, who has taken a pounding from frustrated fans this year, showed us accuracy, decision-making and leadership in the fourth quarter that he had never previously shown against a challenging opponent. Jerry Kill, also questioned as the Gophers slid from bad to worse, displayed the guts to try an on-side kick at an opportune but still surprising time. His players showed that they had practiced the play to perfection, another sign of good coaching. It was a day of progress and confidence-building for the QB and coach. And it involved a beautiful pig. What could be better?

We wrote about the Minnesota Stars winning the NASL championship in today's paper, so we'll spare the words here. Let it be known, though, that the team came from the lowest seed -- No. 6 -- to win it all. That's Kyle Altman kissing the trophy on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale (Jeremy Olson photo).

Just a couple of thoughts about the Vikings' win at Carolina. 1) It's fitting Christian Ponder got his first career win as a starter six years to the day after Daunte Culpepper shredded his knee in a road game against the very same opponent. The Vikings have been looking for a permanent replacement ever since then, and Ponder took another step toward showing he is that guy on Sunday. He wasn't flashy, but we love his third down composure, his ball security (seriously, we were positive he was going to fumble on a couple of blind-side hits) and his late-game accuracy. We also continue to love 2011 Adrian Peterson, particularly his role in the passing game over the middle on Sunday. it seemed as though the previous coaching regime would only run him on little swing routes that went out wide. We say Peterson is best used in the middle, where he can cut and use his incredible field vision to the fullest. Also: Thank you, Olindo Mare. He was a 90 percent career kicker on FGs inside 40 yards before that 31-yarder somehow sailed wide left.

Almost lost in the shuffle of all that goodness: The Wild earned a shutout victory at Detroit using its backup goalie, and the Gophers went into Alaska -- never easy on the body -- and earned a convincing sweep by defeating the Seawolves by a combined 8-1 in two games (photo gallery from Alaska paper here). It was enough to make Jon Marthaler optimistic and full of joy. When you've done that, you know it's a great sports weekend.