RandBall: Local pro teams on a five-year trek toward optimism

At the start of 2011, the local pro sports landscape was a barren wasteland.

The Vikings, who only a year before had made it within a whisper of the Super Bowl, had imploded in Year 2 of the Brett Favre experiment and were headed for a rebuild that would produce only three victories in 2011.

The Wild was stumbling through Year 3 of a four-year playoff drought and would fire head coach Todd Richards in 2011.

The Timberwolves were in the midst of a 17-win season, not to be confused with the 15-win season of 2009-10 that preceded it.

The Twins? They finished a glorious first regular season at Target Field only a few months before the calendar flipped to 2011, but they were also swept by the Yankees in the playoffs. It was the warning sign that would predict four consecutive 90-loss seasons starting in 2011.

The Lynx, at the end of 2010, had won exactly one playoff game (and no series) in their entire history. They were a floundering franchise trying to get a foothold in the local market.

Local pro soccer was a mess; the longtime Thunder had been replaced by the Stars, with a murky financial and ownership situation looming as 2010 become 2011.

At the start of 2016, the Vikings are in the playoffs. More important, they look like they have found their long-term coach and quarterback, two huge keys in the NFL these days.

The Wild has made the playoffs each of the past three seasons, reaching the second round each of the past two, and appears headed for another postseason berth.

The Timberwolves appear to have a better foundation for the future than at any point since the first go-round of Kevin Garnett.

The Twins, after those four dreadful seasons, had a winning 2015 and, much like the Vikings and Wolves, their best years seem to be ahead of them.

The Lynx? All they've done is win three WNBA titles since the start of 2011, going from afterthoughts in the league and in this market to a dynasty.

It's too early to say that we're headed for a golden age in local pro sports; after all, outside of the Lynx, most of the optimism expressed here is based on potential.

But it's not hard to say this: Compared to where things were five years ago, this feels awfully good — and all indications are that times will only get better.

MICHAEL RAND