The Twin Cities sports scene has become a co-conspirator in the onset of SAD.
Seasonal Affective Disorder? Sports Affective Disorder? In Minnesota, they're the same thing.
Even when packed, the Xcel Energy Center is often quiet these days. Target Center is the definition of the pessimistic term "half-empty." The Twins are dormant this winter, as they have been for four seasons. The Vikings have won one playoff game in 10 years.
Run into a sports fan these days, and they'll quickly tabulate the combined record of local teams the past few weeks. Minnesota is giving the old Washington Generals a superiority complex.
True to local custom, the Gophers basketball team started the Big Ten season with four losses. Tuesday night, for a blessed hour, that didn't matter, as the Gophers rallied from 17 down to take a four-point lead, inciting noise that rattled the old rafters.
In a strangely poetic moment that proved to be no more entertaining than any other kind of poetry, the game ended with Gophers guard DeAndre Mathieu rising for a game-tying layup, just after time ran out.
Iowa 77, Minnesota 75. The Gophers are 0-5 in conference.
"There are guys in the locker room who are bawling, crying, and it's January," Gophers coach Richard Pitino said.