It’s a time of convergence.
The Vikings and Gophers football teams are in the middle of their seasons, as are the St. Thomas football team and the Gophers volleyball and soccer teams.
Minnesota United is barreling toward the finish line of the regular season and potentially a long MLS playoff run.
The Wild and Gophers men’s hockey team just started their seasons.
The Timberwolves and college basketball teams will soon start their seasons.
The Twins and Lynx just ended their seasons but are still very much in the news.
With everything going on, Minnesota sports fans naturally have questions. At the outset of today’s 10 things to know, let’s try to answer four of them that readers/listeners recently sent me:
- Rick asks: “If J.J. (McCarthy) cannot execute the quick passing game then we have a serious problem with this QB. You will need to use this type of offense if you are to win in the NFL. If J.J. is this phenomenal QB, then why didn’t his college coach draft him?” I wrote about this earlier in the week, and I think the takeaway is that we don’t know yet if McCarthy can thrive in the sort of quick passing game that Carson Wentz used to beat the Browns. But I also think we need to find out, and that the only way McCarthy will get more confident is with more reps. As for why former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh didn’t go after McCarthy with the Chargers, current QB Justin Herbert is 27 and a franchise guy. You don’t give up on that and hit reset for a lottery ticket, even if you believe in McCarthy.
- Steven wrote in contrasting how the Pohlad family spends money on the Twins with how Phillies principal owner John Middleton approaches payroll. He cited a recent USA Today interview in which Middleton said this: “It’s just money. The fans don’t care how much I make or how much I lose. They just want to know how many World Series trophies you win. So do I.” That’s the sort of owner Twins fans were dreaming of when the Pohlad family put the team up for sale, and it’s part of the reason they were deflated when the family announced it was keeping the team. But runaway spending also guarantees nothing. The Phillies were just eliminated from the playoffs on Thursday. Is there a happier medium between slashing payroll (as the Pohlads did after 2023) and burning through money in pursuit of a title? Probably.
- Pete writes in with this: “I listen to most of the Daily Delivery podcasts. Ask someone who followed the Saints this year on the electronic strike zone challenge process. It worked well. You commented you weren’t excited for it but AAA used it all year and it was smooth. Reviews were quick and on the scoreboard. It’s a good thing.” My main complaint is that it will rob us of visceral moments of celebration. Why not just use the electronic system for 100% of the calls? But I’m willing to give it a chance next season.
- And finally, Brent wrote with this: “Here’s an idea for you and La Velle E. Neal to debate on a future podcast. Pick the top coaches to go from pro football to college or from college to pro. Then pick the worst coaches. I thought of this while listening to your recent podcast about Bill Belichick." Good topic, and maybe we will get into that at some point. For now, I would say the successful list would be a lot shorter than the unsuccessful list, but Pete Carroll has to be near the top of the first one.
- Speaking of La Velle, he was my guest on Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast. We talked about the Twins’ managerial search, the Vikings and the Wild.
- Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan also weighed in on the Twins’ managerial search and endorsed former hitting coach James Rowson.
- It won’t always look as easy as it did in Thursday’s opener, but the Wild’s 5-0 win over the Blues was the basic blueprint for the season: excellent goaltending, balanced scoring and a mix of old and young.
- The Vikings’ opponent after the bye is the Eagles, who are both 1) the defending Super Bowl champs and 2) a struggling team that has lost two in a row, including a 34-17 stunner to the Giants on Thursday. Will Minnesota be catching Philly at the right time or wrong time?
- A reminder of the Gophers men’s basketball team’s steep hill to climb under new coach Niko Medved: They’re picked to finish 16th in the 18-team Big Ten.
- The Wolves lost in overtime for the second time this preseason, but their starters outplayed the Knicks’ starters.
