Minnesotans love to love their own players, but they might be even better at hating opposing players. Finding villains is a point of pride we take very seriously.
Blues center Steve Ott is playing that role beautifully in this Wild playoff series. He's an agitator. He's a desperate man. He's a cheap-shot artist. And he isn't playing particularly well (unless losing the puck on a breakaway is advised. I don't know. I never played the game, but it seems to be a bad idea).
Minnesota fans have decided that Ott — for good reason — is their latest villain. Maybe, as Jim Souhan says, he isn't worthy of that status. But whatever he is doing, he is agitating fans; a picture that accompanied Souhan's column showed a close-up of a seemingly mild-mannered, glasses-and-sweater-wearing, middle-aged Wild fan giving Ott a one-finger salute during Game 3.
Ott isn't the last villain fans will chose. And he most certainly isn't the first. I asked readers on Twitter to name their all-time greatest Minnesota sports villains. Here is a sampling of their responses:
