As someone who is constantly inundated with pitches and lists about where Minneapolis-St. Paul ranks in this category or that one, I consider myself somewhat of a gatekeeper. But one that came to my attention Wednesday on the "sportiest cities in America" intrigued me because of the weird list of cities that resulted.

It helped, of course, that Minneapolis-St. Paul was high on the list, but our metro area routinely finds itself in the mix on similar lists about biking, the outdoors and sports in general. This ranking, which appears in Men's Health, is based on park space, active citizens, watching sports and playing sports, among other things.

Minneapolis-St. Paul checks in at No. 5 ... behind Austin, Texas; Anchorage; Raleigh, N.C.; and Madison, Wis. In the top 25, Fargo beats San Diego and Sioux Falls edges out San Francisco.

As for us? We can feel good, even if we're no Anchorage or Madison.

Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. michael.rand@startribune.com.