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Intro: Joe Mauer joins Michael Rand to talk about his charity softball home run derby at Target Field on June 15, which will feature plenty of other notable Twins greats like Jim Thome and Justin Morneau. Mauer has been keeping plenty busy since retirement with his three kids, but he's looking forward to crushing some softballs over the fence for a good cause. He gives thoughts on this year's Twin...

Intro: The Wild had a series of end-of-year interview sessions with players on Tuesday, including forward Zach Parise. His future will be a big question during the offseason -- even after he said Tuesday that he plans to be here for the foreseeable future. You'll hear Michael Rand's thoughts as well as audio of several interesting things Parise had to say. 8:00: Twins outfielder Rob Refsnyder has...

Intro: Minnesota's summer teams are starting to win a little more after very slow starts, but host Michael Rand says their struggles are a cautionary tale for the Wild going forward. Expectations were high for the Twins, Lynx and Minnesota United, but all three have struggled. Expectations for the Wild will similarly be high next season, but sports keeps proving that we should take nothing for gra...

Michael Rand breaks down the Wild's 6-2 loss to Vegas in Game 7 of their opening round playoff series, then is joined by Star Tribune beat writer Sarah McLellan for a bigger picture look at what the Wild learned during the playoffs and what roster decisions are looming going forward for a team that hopes to take another step next season. Who will the Wild lose in expansion? How does it afford free...

Intro: Baseball has another cheating problem, and it's starting to come out more into the open: pitchers across the sport are reportedly doctoring baseballs with sunscreen, rosin and other substances to increase spin rate, movement and strikeouts. The issue became more public after Cardinals pitcher Giovanny Gallegos was asked to change his glove in a game earlier this week. St. Louis manager Mike...

Intro: A 3-0 victory by the Wild over Vegas in Game 6 of their playoff series on Wednesday had plenty of drama and momentum plays, but the biggest key according to Michael Rand was head coach Dean Evason pushing all the right buttons and outpacing Vegas coach Pete DeBoer. Evason stayed the course with his lineup and was rewarded. He kept faith in his best players and was rewarded. And he put Vegas...

Intro: The Twins are on a mini-streak with five wins in their last six games, and a big part of their success is thanks to journeyman Rob Refsnyder. He cracked two doubles and a home run in a 7-4 win over Baltimore on Tuesday and is hitting .438 with a 1.191 OPS in 32 at bats this season. Refsnyder's run is a reminder that unexpected success is the best kind for a sports fan and team. Also, strang...

Intro: Michael Rand dives into the Wild's Game 5 victory over Vegas, a 4-2 win in which Minnesota was outshot 40-14 but nonetheless prevailed. Zach Parise had a huge goal in his second game after being reinserted into the lineup, helping the Wild build a 3-1 lead and then hang on for dear life. You'll hear postgame clips from both Parise and head coach Dean Evason as well. 11:00: Rand welcomes a c...

Intro: Michael Rand examines the Wild's ongoing ability to score in the playoffs, a problem that goes back several periods, several games or an entire franchise history depending on how you want to look at it. But there is some hope: The Wild has rallied twice from 3-1 playoff deficits to win series. 5:00: Patrick Reusse joins for a breakdown of the weekend, including Phil Mickelson's stunning PGA...

Intro: Michael Rand breaks down the Wild's 5-2 loss to Vegas in Game 3 of their playoff series on Thursday night, which put Minnesota in a 2-1 hole and restored home ice advantage for the Golden Knights. How did a red-hot start and 2-0 lead Thursday give way to such an utter collapse? Can the Wild expect anything different in Game 4 -- and who will be in the lineup for that game? Forward Marcus Jo...

Star Tribune columnists La Velle E. Neal III and Jim Souhan join host Michael Rand for a special edition of the podcast and an exploration of where the blame lies in a season that has gone off the rails at the one-quarter mark for the Twins. After entering the year with clear World Series hopes, the Twins instead have fashioned a 14-27 record -- the worst mark in the American League. Is it manager...

Intro: Michael Rand doesn't like gimmicks in sports ... and yet he loves the NBA play-in tournament, which started Tuesday. He lays out the reasons why: It gives more teams something to play for (including potentially the Wolves next season); it gives a greater reward to the truly elite teams in each conference; and it creates immediate postseason tension. 5:00: Columnist Chip Scoggins joins Rand...

Intro: Host Michael Rand talks through what was ultimately a fair split of Games 1 and 2 of the Wild's playoff series against Vegas. Minnesota might be disappointed it couldn't take a commanding lead in the series following Tuesday's 3-1 loss in Game 2, but it could also feel fortunate to have taken Game 1. That said: Two goals in two games is starting to feel all-too-familiar compared to other se...

Intro: Michael Rand goes on a journey from blown saves to Robert Palmer in an attempt to help you, the listener, figure out how to watch a 13-26 Twins team for the rest of the summer. In short: The trip the Twins are on went off the rails at a number of places already this year. Analysis of what went wrong is fair, but at this point they are just bad. The only hope if you want to watch is to recal...

Intro: The Star Tribune's Sarah McLellan joins Michael Rand to break down the Wild's 1-0 overtime win over Vegas in Game 1 of their playoff series. Veteran goalie Cam Talbot was perfect in net, turning away 42 shots and helping the Wild calm its nerves early on. Joel Eriksson Ek provided the only offense necessary with a deflected shot from close range in overtime. Can the Wild carry that momentum...

Intro: The Wild's playoff opponent wasn't determined until the final day of the regular season, but now we know it's Vegas -- a team Minnesota went 5-3 against this season. Can the Wild win a playoff series for the first time since 2015? 5:00: The Wolves ran into a quality opponent and a familiar problem in a 114-103 loss to Denver: They lack size, and Karl-Anthony Towns lacks in-game maturity. 8:...

Intro: The fatal flaw in a Pro Football Focus piece about Kirk Cousins being an MVP candidate. 6:00: Two struggling teams, two different outcomes for Twins and United plus a new "Spin Rate" feature with Twins GM Thad Levine. 10:00: Lynx season preview with Kent Youngblood: Can Minnesota add another title to its impressive legacy after remaking its roster? 28:00: Former Vikings coach Jerry Burns, w...

Longtime Timberwolves executive Jeff Munneke joins the show to talk about his favorite memories of Kevin Garnett, whose induction ceremony into the Basketball Hall of Fame is coming this weekend. KG made it cool to be a Wolves fan, Munneke said, and he was one of the rare athletes people still rooted for after he was traded away. Garnett also shaved Munneke's head completely bald as part of a prom...

Vikings rookie defensive back Cam Bynum joins the show to recount how he jumped into a lake a couple weeks ago after getting the good news that Minnesota drafted him in the fourth round. He also talks about his transition to safety in the NFL after playing cornerback for four seasons at Cal -- a switch that should be easier because he is constantly dreaming up and drawing up new defenses on the wh...

Columnist Patrick Reusse joins Michael Rand for a look back at the weekend in sports. The Twins were mercifully rained out Sunday, giving them two off days to prepare for a suddenly very important early series against the White Sox. At 12-20, the Twins can't afford to fall much further back, but the truly alarming thing is how few good options they have coming up from the minor leagues at this poi...

If you are a frustrated Twins fan after their 11-19 start, you came to the right place. Chip Scoggins joins the show as he recalls the column he wrote almost exactly five years ago after the Twins started 8-20. That year, he called Twins owner Jim Pohlad, who offered up the now-infamous quote about how the organization was experiencing "total system failure." That team went on to lose 103 games; t...

Timberwolves President Gersson Rosas joins the show for the first time. His vision for what the Wolves could be with D'Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns paired up is starting to take shape, but many questions about the future remain. The biggest immediate question: Will the Wolves keep their 2021 draft pick or have to give it up to Golden State as part of the Andrew Wiggins trade for Russell?...

Another night, another blown Twins lead. They're now 11-17, which includes an 0-6 record in extra innings after a 6-3 loss in 10 innings to Texas. Michael Rand runs down the chain of events that led to this loss and takes a bunch of your angry Twitter questions as well. In far more upbeat news, Wild forward Nick Bjugstad and Star Tribune beat writer Sarah McLellan join the show to talk about a Wil...

The Wild and Twins are playing games that you can't look away from right now until the very end -- but for much different reasons. Both were illustrated by 6-5 wins on Tuesday, which Michael Rand talks about at the start of this episode. Plus: The Packers take a lot of the blame in the deteriorating relationship with QB Aaron Rodgers, but Rodgers is also at fault. Later in the episode, Star Tribun...

Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse joins Michael Rand for a rundown of the weekend in sports, including a home run outburst from the Twins and a restoring of order with the Timberwolves and Wild. Also: Is Minnesota United panicking too much during an 0-3 start? At the start of the show, Rand explains why he thinks the Vikings drafting QB Kellen Mond is a really big deal. The upshot: For the fir...