StribSports Daily Delivery

Introduction: Host Michael Rand starts with the Wild, whose playoff hopes were almost completely dashed with a 5-2 loss to Colorado on Thursday. It's been a middling year for the franchise. Can it get any better next season, the final year of salary cap jail? 6:00: Friday is a huge night for women's college basketball with the national semifinals. Plus an interesting WNBA mock draft says Angel Ree...

Host Michael Rand starts with some key games from Wednesday. Anthony Edwards broke out of his shooting slump by making five three-pointers as the Wolves moved back into first place in the Western Conference. The Twins hit a home run for the first time since their opening game, keying a win over the Brewers and sending the team back to the Target Field opener with confidence. And the Gophers women'...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand starts with the good and the bad from three Minnesota games Tuesday. The Wolves won and kept pace in the West, but Anthony Edwards is now 0-for-19 on threes in his last few games. They can't afford an Ant slump in the playoffs. The Twins lost 3-2 and their home run leader (Royce Lewis) has been injured for all but three innings this season. They also aren't getting...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look at the biggest stories in sports. They started with Monday's thrilling NCAA women's basketball games, as Iowa's Caitlin Clark and UConn's Paige Bueckers dazzled fans and set up what should be a Final Four matchup for the ages on Friday. Reusse also shed more light on the Timberwolves ownership situation and his conversations...

On a jam-packed episode of Daily Delivery, host Michael Rand starts with the brewing ownership drama with the Timberwolves. Glen Taylor announced Thursday that the Wolves and Lynx are no longer for sale after investors Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez missed a payment deadline to become majority owners. But Lore and A-Rod have a different version of the story. 7:00: On a normal day, the Twins winning...

Host Michael Rand pauses to note the Timberwolves' 50th victory of the season Wednesday and what that means in the context of their franchise history. It's just the fifth time they've reached that mark. This is already going to be the second-best season in team history. Can it be No. 1? Plus some optimism as the Twins start the year. 10:00: Star Tribune Vikings writer Ben Goessling joins Rand fres...

On the second half of Wednesday's podcast extravaganza, host Michael Rand welcomes in Star Tribune Twins beat writer Bobby Nightengale for an advance of the Twins season that begins Thursday in Kansas City. There is earned optimism that the offense will be an asset this season, and you'll hear from Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa about just how confident the team at the plate. But pitching depth cou...

Host Michael Rand starts with a look at the Vikings' decision to let go of kicker Greg Joseph, who signed Tuesday with the rival Packers. Rand thinks it was a good move by the Vikings and that he had lost confidence in Joseph in the past year. Plus two more interesting mock drafts. 9:00: Star Tribune Timberwolves beat writer Chris Hine joins Rand for a look at how Minnesota has adapted to life wit...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand is intrigued by the Vikings' process as they spend the next month getting to know several candidates to be their QB of the future -- particularly the role that star receiver Justin Jefferson will play. 7:00: Star Tribune Gophers hockey and football writer Randy Johnson joins the show to preview the NCAA men's hockey regional. Minnesota will begin play in Sioux Falls...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look back at the weekend in sports. It's one of the busiest times of the year, with basketball dominating the landscape, so they started with another good Timberwolves win Sunday over the Warriors. From there, the conversation took a lot of twists and turns -- from college basketball to the Twins, Shohei Ohtani's mess, back to hig...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand starts with a couple of interesting Day 1 story lines from the NCAA men's basketball tournament as he tries to get himself into college hoops again. Don't show anything other than the Gonzaga game is one key takeaway. 9:00: Star Tribune Twins beat writer Phil Miller joins the show to talk about the team's recent rash of injuries and how they will test Minnesota's pi...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand walks listeners through the Star Tribune's story on how a Timberwolves executive allegedly had his hard drive stolen by a disgruntled subordinate. Rand also gets into the Wild's damaging 6-0 loss to the Kings, which put a dent in Minnesota's playoff hopes. 8:00: A conversation with Susan Sheridan Tucker, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Alliance on Problem Ga...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand takes note of Mel Kiper Jr.'s latest mock draft, which has the Vikings taking Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy at No. 11. Kiper also suggests the Patriots might be willing to trade down from No. 3, which could put Drake Maye in play for the Vikings -- whom Kiper calls "the most interesting team in this draft" after last week's trade for the No. 23 pick. 8:00: A strong effo...

Introduction: Anthony Edwards had another transcendent moment Monday with a massive poster dunk that sparked the Wolves to a key win over Utah. With several key Minnesota players injured, Edwards is finding another gear down the stretch this season. Plus host Michael Rand looks at a Twins injury situation that is suddenly very unsettled. 10:00: Star Tribune men's college basketball writer Marcus F...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look back at the weekend in sports. The NCAA men's and women's basketball tournament fields are set, and the men's side has some familiar names from the past. Both Dan Monson and Richard Pitino are coaching in the men's tournament, leading to a discussion of Gophers men's basketball history. Ben Johnson's team, meanwhile, received...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand starts with comments Thursday from Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell, who did their best to dispel the narrative that perhaps they didn't align on whether to keep Kirk Cousins. Also, Rand takes issue with Adofo-Mensah once again saying the Vikings though they could win a Super Bowl with Cousins. If they did, he would still be here. 14:00:...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand spends the early part of the show on three big takeaways from Kirk Cousins' introductory news conference Wednesday in Atlanta. You'll hear what Cousins was looking for from the Falcons -- which give us a lot of clues about what he wasn't getting in Minnesota. 10:00: Star Tribune editor Jeff Day and sports intern Gavin Dorsey join Rand for an in-depth conversation ab...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand was as surprised as many of you to see the Wolves pivot from a 22-point second-quarter deficit at the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday into an 18-point victory. It was an important win for the Wolves, who are still trying to adapt to life without Karl-Anthony Towns while maintaining high seed in the West. The Wild, meanwhile, picked up two points with Kirill Kaprizov...

Host Michael Rand spends a bunch of time on all of the major moves by the Vikings since mid-day Monday. Kirk Cousins is gone; Rand talks about Atlanta's absurd offer, praise for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and whether the Falcons ultimately saved the Vikings from themselves. Plus Rand has more on new quarterback Sam Darnold, running back Aaron Jones and more. 18:00: Kent Youngblood joins Rand for a discuss...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look at Minnesota sports at a time when so much is happening. Reusse recalls seeing Caitlin Clark more than two years ago, when she was already great but before all the attention, and marvels at where things are now after this weekend's Big Ten Tournament at Target Center. Reusse also talks about his recent column on Lou Nanne, wh...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand marvels at the Thursday performance of Anthony Edwards, who dominated offensively down the stretch against Indiana and made an incredible game-preserving block in a 113-111 Timberwolves victory. On the same day the Wolves learned Karl-Anthony Towns would be out at least four weeks, it was a huge performance. It was also a reminder of how important it is to have star...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand lauds the Gophers women's basketball team for regrouping and winning its opening round game of the Big Ten Tournament at Target Center. Even though it was just a game featuring the No. 11 and No. 14 seeds, it felt important for a few reasons. The Gophers men, on the other hand, had a bad night when they could least afford it. 8:00: Star Tribune Wolves writer Chris H...

Introduction: We are days away from knowing which direction the Vikings are headed at quarterback. Conventional wisdom has shifted in recent days to him leaving -- likely to Atlanta -- but host Michael Rand takes a different approach during this unknown time. He talks about how the decision to keep or let go of Cousins will impact Vikings decisionmakers, potentially shifting more of the burden to...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand dissects the Timberwolves' 4-3 home stand, which included a ton of back-to-back games plus wins over the teams they were supposed to beat and losses to all the true contenders. It leaves Minnesota 43-19 with 20 games left -- and still in search of a little more consistency before the playoffs arrive. 8:00: D. Orlando Ledbetter, longtime Falcons beat writer for the A...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look back at the weekend in sports and a look ahead to a busy week. It must be March because Reusse and Rand got into a bunch of topics, including: The Timberwolves' sputtering offense, particularly in late-game situations ... another bad blowout loss for the Gophers women's basketball team ... and Reusse's impressions of the Twin...