The phrase "always leave 'em wanting more" is frequently attributed to famed huckster P.T. Barnum. Others say it was Walt Disney who coined it. Late, great R&B singer Bobby Womack used the term as his unofficial motto.

Of course, it's possible that it was first uttered in direct response to the high school sports season in a typical Minnesota spring. It seems like spring just got under way yet here we are, in the second week in May, already talking about postseason playoffs. There even are a few upcoming state tournaments.

The first state tournament of the spring — badminton — takes place this week.

St. Paul Johnson (14-0) is the top seed in the team tournament, which begins Monday and concludes with the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals starting at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Burnsville High School.

St. Paul Washington Tech is the No. 2 seed and Burnsville is No. 3.

The individual singles and doubles tournaments take place Thursday at Eden Prairie, with first-round play beginning at 9 a.m. Among the players are Johnson senior Xena Yang, the St. Paul City conference singles champion, St. Paul Central's Yer Moua, conference runner-up, and Burnsville senior Ashley VanderWoude.

Track and field

• True Team State Meet: Friday and Saturday, at Stillwater High School. The official Minnesota State High School League State Meet (June 5-6 at Hamline University) is mostly for qualifying individuals. The MSHSL has adopted a team concept around it, but an individual has to qualify to be able to score points for his or her team. Looking to recognize the contributions of the entire team, in 1987 the track and field coaches association devised the True Team concept: staging a meet to determine the best overall team in each class. The Class 3A meet takes place Friday, with field events starting at 4 p.m. and track events starting at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the Class 1A meet kicks off at 10 a.m. followed by the Class 2A competition at 3 p.m.

Adapted bowling

• State tournament: Friday at Brunswick Zone in Brooklyn Park. The CI and PI Divisions compete at the same times: singles, 9 a.m.; doubles, 1 p.m.; teams, 3:30 p.m.

Section playoffs

• Boys' tennis: A pair of two-time defending state team champions, Wayzata (2A) and Blake (1A), begin the quest for third titles as the team competition begins in most sections across the state this week.

• Softball: A smattering of worthwhile regular-season games will be played during the first half of the week — most notably Wednesday, when Anoka plays at Maple Grove (4:15 p.m.) with the Northwest Suburban title on the line — but by the end of the week, most teams will be beginning their section playoffs. Check out www.mnsoftballhub.com for section playoff schedules when they become available.

Jim Paulsen • 612-673-7737