StribSports Daily Delivery

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look back at the weekend in sports. Among the main things they cover: *The Twins are struggling at the plate again and are now dealing with a potential injury to Byron Buxton. Can they maintain their lead in a weak AL Central? *Bud Grant's public memorial service on Sunday was the right kind of celebration. *The NBA playoffs conti...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand starts by acknowledging that sometimes we try to make sports more complicated than they really are. What was wrong with the Lynx last season that caused them to miss the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade? Well, they were missing arguably their best player, Napheesa Collier, for almost the entire season. Now that she's back, will the narrative change...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand dissects a listener comment about the Twins' bullpen use during a 7-3 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday during which Emilio Pagan gave up a grand slam. Was it a question of strategy or a question of outcome? Plus the Twins came out of the game pretty banged up, while Minnesota United finally got well with a home victory. 9:00: Rand turns the spotlight on Gophers soft...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand has seen evidence for one-fourth of this season that the Twins have one of MLB's best starting rotations, and Tuesday's strong six innings from Bailey Ober in a 5-1 win over the Dodgers proved a good time to pause and recognize all that good work. The Twins lead the majors in innings pitched and strikeouts from starting pitchers -- a stark contrast to a year ago. 9:...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand finds that the Twins might have dispatched an old nemesis by beating the Yankees in the season series this year, but they found two more on Monday. In losing their 11th consecutive game to the Dodgers, the Twins were undone by umpires in two key situations -- including some awful strike calls by the infamous Phil Cuzzi in a key situation. 6:00: Chris Hine joins Rand...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look back at the weekend in sports, which included a Target Field-record 29 runs for the Twins in their three-game series against the Cubs. An offense that was struggling is getting a big boost from Alex Kirilloff's return to health. Reusse and Rand also check in on the NBA playoffs, which included interesting second-round conclus...

Host Michael Rand goes through all 17 games of the Vikings' schedule released Thursday and makes win-loss predictions for each one. Does he come to an optimistic conclusion? Where are the soft and strong parts of the schedule? 11:00: Rand is joined by Minnesota United defender Zarek Valentin. In his first year with the club, Valentin is providing stability and veteran leadership to a team that has...

Introduction: The Twins got a sorely needed 4-3, 11 inning win on Wednesday against the Padres. The offense stalled again, getting just two runs in the first nine innings, but starting pitcher Pablo Lopez was excellent and the Twins got clutch hits in the 10th an 11th innings. It was a further reminder of their identity shift this year. 5:00: Star Tribune columnist Chip Scoggins and St. Paul Acade...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand noticed a lot of angst over Jaden McDaniels not being named to an All-NBA defensive team on Tuesday. Rand's thought: McDaniels is good, but his time will come. The bigger takeaway from the defensive voting is that Wolves center Rudy Gobert -- a first-team defensive player the last six years and a Defensive Player of the Year three years -- didn't get a single vote t...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand starts the show with the NBA playoffs and two very different thoughts off of Monday's games. He watched the Heat take down the Knicks to take a 3-1 series lead and wondered, as he wrote Monday, whether a Knicks exit could stir up a Karl-Anthony Towns trade market. The nightcap was just a chance to marvel at two aging legends, Stephen Curry and LeBron James, try to w...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look at the weekend in sports. The Twins had just 28 hits on a six-game road trip against AL Central foes Chicago and Cleveland. They're still in first place, but the gap between their excellent pitching and suspect hitting continues to get wider. Reusse reacts to the lack of firm commitment from Wolves boss Tim Connelly, worries...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand was struck recently by a podcast featuring Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce talking about the Timberwolves. In particular, KG's assessment of the franchise -- everything from big-picture Minneapolis issues to Anthony Edwards to small details -- was a fresh perspective worth our attention. 10:00: Local soccer writer and podcaster Jon Marthaler joined the show to talk ab...

Introduction: In a Vikings-heavy show, host Michael Rand starts with the first public comments in a while form Vikings QB Kirk Cousins. He is set to be a free agent after this season and the Vikings were interested in taking a QB in the draft. It all sets up an interesting 2023 season for Cousins, but it's a situation he and the Vikings should be able to navigate. 13:00: Former Vikings wide receiv...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand listened to Wild GM Bill Guerin's end of year comments about the progress the team made and actually agreed with a lot of the optimism for the future. Rand feels much better about the Wild's trajectory than that of the Wolves over the next five years. 14:00: Lynx forward Aerial Powers joins Rand for a look ahead to the season. Powers, one of the veterans on the Lynx...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand tried to find a common thread in the Wild's lack of first-round postseason success. Sometimes it's a lack of scoring. Sometimes it's goaltending. Sometimes it's special teams that have doomed them in the last seven playoff appearances. But one common thread: A failure to take advantage of momentum within a series. 7:00: Star Tribune Vikings writer Ben Goessling join...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for an evaluation of the state of Minnesota sports. In the always volatile NHL playoffs, which this year has already included massive upsets, the Wild have remained a constant with their postseason futility. How do we explain seven straight postseason exits without advancing, which has spanned multiple GMs and coaches? And will this yea...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand doesn't have a quibble with the Vikings taking WR Jordan Addison at No. 23, but he was nevertheless underwhelmed by what happened in the first round of Thursday's NFL Draft. Part of that is driven by expectations the Vikings created by putting an end date on the Kirk Cousins era and showing interest in drafting a quarterback. Part of it was an inability to accumulat...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand makes it clear -- it's all about the quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers was introduced Wednesday by the Jets and immediately started talking about adding to both the Jets' legacy, and perhaps unintentionally his own. The Vikings, meanwhile, might draft a quarterback Thursday night. Just the fact that it's a possibility adds a level of intrigue to this year's draft. 8:00: T...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand starts with the good news on a rough sports night, noting that the Twins won the season series against the Yankees for the first time in 22 years. That's an almost unfathomable amount of time, but maybe breaking that streak signals a bigger shift for the Twins. 7:00: A season of missed opportunities is over for the Wolves, leaving a lot of questions about the future...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand looks at the finally completed Aaron Rodgers trade through a personal lens. While he used to respect and like Rodgers, the sentiment changed a few years ago. How Rand feels about Rodgers could explain a lot of what went wrong between the Packers QB and his now former team. Plus the Twins beat the Yankees again, part of an encouraging start to the year against top te...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look back at a whirlwind Sunday in Minnesota sports. Reusse took in at least parts of three games Sunday: Twins in the afternoon, followed by Wild Game 4 in the early evening and Wolves Game 4 late at night. The Wild missed a chance to take a 3-1 series lead in a 3-2 loss to Dallas. The Wild didn't like two penalties called on Mar...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand identifies the keys for the Wild and Wolves, who face critical Game 3s Friday back in Minnesota after disappointing playoff losses Wednesday. For the Wild, it's simple: Get back to the style of play that made the successful and stop being overthinking goalie decisions. For the Wolves, they need to lean into lineups that work -- even if it means pushing aside the str...

Host Michael Rand is joined by Star Tribune Chip Scoggins in the immediate aftermath of two huge playoff games for Minnesota teams on Wednesday. 1:00: What were the Wild thinking in choosing Marc-Andre Fleury in goal after a brilliant regular season and Game 1 performance from Filip Gustavsson? Dean Evason invited a lot of second-guessing before the puck dropped, and it was only exacerbated in a 7...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand checks in on the Twins after a 5-4, 10 inning loss in Boston on Tuesday. The news has been mostly positive for the 10-7 Twins, but they have been carried predominantly by pitching. Rand fears that the offensive woes -- No. 25 in slugging, No. 26 in batting average in the majors -- might eclipse the excellence of the pitching soon. Plus a look ahead to Game 2 of Wolv...

In Part II of Tuesday's podcast, host Michael Rand is joined by Star Tribune Timberwolves writer Chris Hine for a look back at Sunday's disappointing 109-80 loss to the Nuggets and a look ahead to Game 2 of the playoff series on Wednesday. The Wolves clearly need to make some offensive adjustments and figure out their identity if they are going to be competitive, but how possible is that given the...