Twins Bound To Cable Cord

Image via WikipediaFirst, a history lesson.  In 1960, the year before the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota, the only baseball that was available on broadcast television in the Twin Cities (no cable or ESPN then) was on Saturday afternoons.  ABC, CBS and NBC had contracts to show games in areas which did not have Major League baseball, because the owners feared televising games in the home markets would hurt the gate.  A national TV deal would not come until 1965.

After the Twins arrived, the network telecasts were gone, except for the All Star Game and the World Series.  In their place were 50 games on WTCN-TV (now KARE), most of them on the road, and that's been it for most of the next two decades.  It was great to follow the progress of Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva on black-and-white TV, but the home run feats of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, and the stars of the National League became just a rumor to those of us in the Upper Midwest.

Fifty years later, if you want to follow the progress of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau and you don't have a cable or satellite subscription, you're out of luck.  The Twins and Fox Sports North announced that they will televise 150 games exclusively on cable.  The only games on broadcast TV will be eight Saturday games as part of Fox's game of the week, but that's only because the Twins won the American League Central Division last year.  Oh yes, and the All Star Game and World Series will also be seen on Fox.

The timing of this announcement, to be brutally honest, is not the greatest.  Not when Target Field is a year old, and seats are limited and pricey.  Not when the Vikings are clamoring for a new stadium to replace the Metrodome.  Not when most people aren't feeling the economy recovering.  What logic is there to build ballparks and stadiums at public expense if the public can't afford to buy a ticket or a cable package, and their lifeline of free and over-the-air broadcasts are taken away?

What about the future of broadcast TV itself?  They have been losing more and more ground to cable, to the point where they're flirting with irrelevancy--if they're not there already.  Oprah Winfrey is trading in her daytime talk show for her own cable channel.  College football's Bowl Championship Series was just shown on ESPN.  Soon more big events such as the World Series and the Super Bowl will move from broadcast to cable.  For those who only have rabbit ears and a digital box, you'll be stuck with reality shows and infomercials.

If you still insist on following the Twins, there's always radio.  KSTP-AM recently re-upped for another hitch as the team's Twin Cities affiliate, in spite of complaints about 1500 ESPN's reception past University Avenue.  What's notable is that this is John Gordon's last season as the Twins' main play-by-play guy, a job he has held since the death of Herb Carneal.  Gordon will be doing fewer games, so former Twins TV voices Bob Kurtz and Ted Robinson have been brought in to call a number of games.

Professional sports teams are a business.  We know that.  But they are also a public asset.  If they want to remain in the good graces of the community they serve, they have to make their product available to as many people as possible.  If they don't, they risk becoming a rumor just like Willie, Mickey and The Duke.  It's their money, after all.

Wolves Midseason: Spreading The Love

Image via WikipediaThe Minnesota Timberwolves reached the NBA's All-Star break in what is, by now, familiar territory.  They are dead last in the Western Conference with a 13-43 record, miles behind teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers in terms of playoff positioning and talent.

But to the Wolves' credit, no matter how bad they are, there's always another NBA team that's worse.  This season that team is the Cleveland Cavaliers, who at 10-46 are learning the hard way what life without LeBron James is like.

When a team like the Wolves take big leads for three quarters only to watch them melt away in the fourth, or if they're never in the game to begin with, you take your good news where you can find it.  Right now it's Kevin Love, the first legitimate star the franchise has had since Kevin Garnett left.

Love has been making headlines for two reasons:  He leads the NBA in rebounds, and he's currently on a streak of 42 games in which he has scored and rebounded in double digits.  That's what's known as a double-double.

Love's play has earned him a spot on the Western Conference All-Star team.  He wasn't originally selected, but NBA commissioner David Stern nominated him to take the place of Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets, who got hurt and can't play in Sunday's game at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

However, the Wolves need more than Love if they want to become relevant not only in the NBA, but to folks other than the diehards who populate Target Center.  Coach Kurt Rambis is trying his best, but he just doesn't have the talent to compete.  And Ricky Rubio, who Wolves general manager David Kahn believes is the future of the franchise?  Rubio's still playing in Spain, and is reportedly wanting the Wolves to trade his rights to either Boston, New York or Miami.  Can you blame him?

Then again, if Love keeps playing the way he does, and is willing to forgo greener pastures, the Wolves can build a team around him.  Who knows?  Maybe they can start winning games instead of playing for draft picks.  One can dream.

So Many Stadiums, So Little Time

Image by DavidErickson via FlickrAt a time when the state of Minnesota is facing a $6.2 billion deficit, pro and college sports teams are converging on the Legislature with their collective hands out.

We know about the Minnesota Vikings.  They want to leave the now-deflated Metrodome (or Mall of America Field, if you prefer) in the worst way, with the lease running out after next season.  Well, here's something new:  The Vikings have signed a letter of intent with Ramsey County to develop plans for a stadium on the site of an old Army munitions plant, which dates back to World War II.  Since letters of intent aren't legally binding, the Vikings are free to consider other sites in the area.  Even Los Angeles, where a proposed stadium made headlines for getting Farmers Insurance to pay for naming rights.

There are others who want new or improved facilities.  All we can say is, get in line.

• The St. Paul Saints want to replace Midway Stadium with a ballpark near the riverfront.
• The Metrodome needs a new roof.  It'll cost $18 million, with most of that coming from insurance money.  Hopefully, it'll be done by August.
• The University of Minnesota needs a new baseball field to replace the one that fell into disrepair.  The baseball program has been scrambling to find a place to play ever since.
• Target Center, home of the Timberwolves, is already one of the oldest arenas in the NBA.  The Wolves want millions for a facelift, knowing better than to ask for a new arena.  The city of Minneapolis, which owns the place, is still trying to pay for it two decades after it was built.
• The city of St. Paul needs help paying for the Xcel Energy Center, home of the NHL Minnesota Wild.

It's been suggested by Ted Mondale, who was recently appointed by Governor Mark Dayton to chair the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, that a new committee be set up to oversee all the sports venues that are now being run by different governing agencies.  Isn't there one already--the MSFC itself, which currently oversees the Metrodome?

It's not going to be easy selling all this to a Republican-dominated Legislature that would rather cut spending than add to the deficit, or to a public leery of spending state money on playgrounds for millionaires.  But if you believe in maintaining the quality of life in Minnesota, you have to start somewhere.

Another Title For Cheesehead Nation

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeFor the fourth time, the Vince Lombardi trophy goes home.  The Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl 45 in Arlington, Texas by being fortunate enough to have a large first half lead before the Pittsburgh Steelers woke up and made a game of it, with the final being 31-25.

The Packer touchdowns came from Jordy Nelson and two from Greg Jennings, plus Nick Collins picking off a pass from Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger into the end zone.  Aaron Rodgers, following into the footsteps of Bart Starr and Brett Favre as Packers quarterbacks who won Super Bowls, was the game's MVP.

For the Packers as the sixth seed in the NFC playoff pecking order, it was:  No division title.  No home games.  No problem.  They marched through Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago, coming out the better team.

Of course, as with any Super Bowl, there was more than the game going on.

• Christina Aguilera botched the national anthem.  This is why the mute button on your TV remote was invented.  And also why we need a new national anthem.
• The Black Eyed Peas' halftime concert was like watching a video game set to music.  Maybe they should be sending royalties to Disney for the "Tron" imitation.  Also, Usher nearly committed a wardrobe malfunction because his pants nearly fell down during his performance.  OMG, indeed.
• The commercials aren't getting any better.  There were too many Planet Beer ads (this means you, Bud Light), too much violence, and too many depressing trailers for upcoming Hollywood sci-fi movies in 3-D.  Plus, the Chevy ad with seniors in a nursing home in desperate need of hearing aids needs a sensitivity check.  And who knew Eminem could sell products?

Hope you enjoyed this year's Super Bowl.  There might not be one next year.

Packers-Steelers: Surviving Their Way Into The Super Bowl

Image by americanistadechiapas via FlickrAs Super Bowl 45 approaches, who knew Dallas was a cold-weather city?  It might as well have been Green Bay or Pittsburgh to the fans and players, who arrived to find temperatures below freezing as part of the massive blizzard that swept through the Midwest and northeast.

Fortunately for the Steelers and Packers, the game will be played indoors at Jerry Jones' Taj Mahal, otherwise known as Cowboys Stadium in nearby Arlington. Texas.  Weather like this is why the NFL prefers to put its biggest game in someplace warm, like Florida or California.  But the next Super Bowl (lockout permitting) will be in that garden spot called Indianapolis.  In 2014, it'll be outdoors at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.

This will be a shadow game for the two quarterbacks involved.  For Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger, it's legal problems caused by his allegedly being an irresponsible bad boy, earning him a four-game suspension from the league that could have been much worse.  For Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, it's Brett Favre.  With all the records he's set and the drama he's produced, Favre was the one who led the Packers to its last Super Bowl title in 1997

Green Bay and Pittsburgh were not the best teams in the NFL this season.  The Packers barely made it into the playoffs as a sixth seed, and the Steelers got past Baltimore to win their division title.  Both teams lack pizazz.  Neither of them employ cheerleaders, as if that were really necessary.  Instead, they made it to the Super Bowl as the teams that did the best job of surviving under the circumstances.

On Sunday night, the Vince Lombardi Trophy will go to the ultimate survivor.  That team will be the Pittsburgh Steelers.