StribSports Daily Delivery

Introduction: Anyone can be a Monday Morning Quarterback and come in hot with the next day’s takes. Not everyone can let the football stew for an extra day, then analyze it through a different lens – all while incorporating one of Canada’s pre-eminent rock bands. That's what Tuesday Morning Nickelback, a new weekly feature on Daily Delivery during the football season, is all about. You'll get four...

Host Michael Rand is joined by Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse for a scathing dissection of the Vikings' 27-24 overtime loss to the Bengals in Sunday's season-opener. If you were worried about the Vikings' offensive line, their vibe, their continuity and their depth coming into the season, none of those fears were alleviated in a game marred by penalties, big plays allowed on defense and a l...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand woke up Friday morning, looked at the date and came to the realization that two huge issues that seemed to be in the distance are much closer to a needed resolution; Whether the 76ers are going to trade Ben Simmons (to the Timberwolves) and a contract extension for Wild wing Kirill Kaprizov. With the Wild's preseason opener 15 days away and NBA training camps openin...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand breaks down Twins rookie Joe Ryan's second MLB start, which included 6 1/3 perfect innings -- and a much more consistent mix of his four pitches than he used at the outset of his debut last week. If he can continue to throw his fastball, slider, changeup and curveball for strikes and in various counts, Ryan has a very bright future. 5:00: The Lynx had a chance to mo...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand notes that Twins closer Alex Colome has rebounded from a disastrous start to this season and now -- somehow -- has his ERA for the year under 4 after another clean inning and save on Tuesday. It's too little, too late but if we're going to rip Colome for how he pitched early on we at least need to acknowledge that he has been much better since mid-June. 3:00: Gopher...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand and immediately gets going on one of his favorite gripes: That the Twins are doing a disservice to their young pitchers, particularly Bailey Ober, by limiting his innings in 2021. His point is a good one: Sometimes you have to look at situations case-by-case, and if Ober seems like he's strong enough to go deeper into games (and the sea...

Wolves coach Chris Finch and beat writer Chris Hine joined host Michael Rand at the State Fair recently to talk about the offseason -- including the revelation that Anthony Edwards, according to Finch, has grown an inch or two since the Wolves drafted him. What should we expect this season, and did Finch ever go and get that beverage?

Gophers women's basketball coach Lindsay Whalen and beat writer Kent Youngblood joined host Michael Rand at the State Fair recently to talk about the upcoming season, how much Whalen misses playing and whether she could have capitalized on her name, image and likeness if the rule was in place back in her time with the Gophers.

Intro: Host Michael Rand gives his thoughts on the Gophers' season-opening 45-31 loss to Ohio State at Huntington Bank Stadium. In the end, it was about what most of us expected -- a competitive loss, but a loss nonetheless. Still, Rand couldn't help feel like an opportunity was missed based on how the game unfolded. 5:00: Chip Scoggins joins Rand with more breakdown of the game. There was plenty...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand finds an interesting statistic that helps explain how perception matches reality with Vikings QB Kirk Cousins. In terms of expected points added in the final four minutes of the first half and end of game, Cousins lags near the bottom of NFL quarterbacks both in the last two years and 10 years. But so do several other former Vikings QBs. Is it an offensive line prob...

Intro: Host Michael Rand walks through the Vikings' roster cuts on Tuesday, which didn't reveal a whole lot of surprises but did clarify their quarterback situation. It sure seems like rookie third round pick Kellen Mond is the backup to Kirk Cousins, and it's hard to imagine that changing this season. 4:00: Edina native Jenny Taft joins the show to talk about the upcoming college football season....

Intro: Host Michael Rand takes note of another good pitching outing by Twins rookie Bailey Ober. If he has a solid September on top of a standout August, you can at least pencil his name into the 2022 rotation (even if the other four spots are TBA). Plus we should get a first look soon at Joe Ryan -- maybe as soon as Wednesday -- and another look at Randy Dobnak during the final month of the seaso...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand is joined by columnist Patrick Reusse for a look at the Twins. on Sunday, manager Rocco Baldelli said the quiet part out loud: the Twins are rebuilding, and their roster decisions the rest of this year and heading into the offseason will be focused on player development. Fellow columnist Jim Souhan wrote on Monday that the Twins can't afford to be in that position,...

Intro: Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle is a man of few public words, but he recently sat down with several members of the Star Tribune sports staff for a question and answer session. Host Michael Rand found three things about the interview particularly enlightening: Where the department is with Gophers football season ticket sales, its policy on COVID and the final tally on the financial dama...

Introduction: Enough happened in Wednesday's Twins game for host Michael Rand to make several notes and for columnist Patrick Reusse to urgently text late at night with the message "call me." Turns out he just wanted to cackle about Alex Colome, Hansel Robles and all that unfolded late in the game when Colome blew a save but Robles returned the favor. Other items of interest: The Twins are now 11-...

Intro: Lynx center Sylvia Fowles had one of the greatest games in WNBA history on Tuesday, scoring 29 points to go with 20 rebounds, four steals and three blocks -- without committing a foul or a turnover along the way. Her dominant performance helped Minnesota to a 76-70 win over Seattle and provided a platform for Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve to point out that Fowles is still one of the WNBA's best p...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand takes a look at the Vikings' decision to bring back defensive end Everson Griffen from a number of angles -- a couple of them unsurprising and one of them fairly surprising. He's the fourth former member of the defense to return in 2021, joining Mackensie Alexander, Sheldon Richardson and Stephen Weatherly. He's part of an overall defensive upgrade in the offseason...

Host Michael Rand is joined by Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse for a look at where the Vikings stand with just one preseason game left before a critical 2021 season. The offense hasn't scored a touchdown in eight quarters of preseason football, which included three shaky drives (and five short completions) from starting QB Kirk Cousins in a 12-10 loss Saturday to the Colts. While the preseas...

Intro: A listener asked host Michael Rand to rank the three best and worst Timberwolves trades in that franchise's history, so he took a swing at it. The usual suspects are on the list, but did Rand put the trade to get Jimmy Butler on his best or worst list? You'll have to listen to find out. 7:00: Longtime Star Tribune soccer insider Jon Marthaler joins the show to talk about Minnesota United pa...

Introduction: Host Michael Rand gives a near-daily appreciation of Jorge Polanco, who produced a walk-off run batted in for the third time in four games as the Twins won another series. It will be interesting to see if Polanco stays at second base in 2022, when the Twins don't have any other clear options at shortstop, or if he returns to that position. 4:00: College football podcaster and writer...

Intro: Host Michael Rand breaks down the Timberwolves' trade for Patrick Beverley with three main points. First, the trade makes sense for the Wolves and Beverley's shooting plus defensive acumen will bolster their roster. Second, giving up Juancho Hernangomez and Jarrett Culver isn't a huge haul to send back, but it is an admission that the Wolves missed when they drafted Culver No. 6 overall jus...

Intro: Host Michael Rand goes down a rabbit hole of numbers to determine that the Timberwolves have only reached their preseason Las Vegas victory total three times in 17 seasons since their trip to the Western Conference finals in 2003-04. Do with that information what you will, but it does speak to the disappointment, even relative to expectations, that the team has encountered. Will this season...

Columnist Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look at two of the more interesting figures who have led Minnesota teams: Tom Kelly and Mike Zimmer. Reusse wrote a great longer piece on Kelly and the tragic loss of his son, humanizing the former Twins manager ahead of this past weekend's celebration of the 1991 Twins World Series team. On the podcast, Reusse went deeper on Kelly -- trying t...

Intro: Let's try a new segment called "Dings of Concern," where host Michael Rand runs down some things about this year's Vikings that have him concerned about their overall big picture. It even has sound effects. From two separate major COVID stories to injuries -- the latest being a second surgery for first-round offensive lineman Christian Darrisaw -- Rand is concerned, to say the least. 8:00:...

Intro: It's hard to believe that it's been nearly five years since that fateful day in practice when Teddy Bridgewater suffered a catastrophic injury that changed the course of his career and the Vikings' trajectory. With Bridgewater back in Minnesota and participating in joint practices as he battles for the starting QB job with the Broncos, memories of that day are still fresh. Hear from Bridgew...