A recap of the past week's activity among three of the men's pro sports teams here in the Twin Cities:
- For the first time in franchise history, the Minnesota Vikings drafted a quarterback within the Top 10. While it's hard to gauge if indeed JJ McCarthy will be that elite franchise QB the Vikes have not had since the days of Daunte Culpepper, he definitely has the best possible supporting cast a rookie quarterback could ask for.
- For the first time in literally 20 seasons (and for only the second time in the franchise's 35-year history), the Minnesota Timberwolves move on to the second round of the NBA playoffs after sweeping the Phoenix Suns in round one. Despite being dominated by Phoenix in the regular season (losing all three games by an average of 16 points), the Wolves completely flipped the script in the postseason. Also, the nation is now learning what we in the Twin Cities have known for a few seasons: Anthony Edwards is a superstar.
- And for the first time since 2006, the Minnesota Twins have (as of Friday evening) won 11 consecutive games, all without arguably their most potent offensive weapon in Royce Lewis. The only buzzkill is now very few fans can even watch the games on TV or stream them online. The good news is the weather is getting better, so high time we get out to Target Field!
Yeah, I get it. Compared to the other metro areas which have a team representing each of the four professional men's sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL), these accomplishments likely elicit a yawn. However, me and my fellow Twin Cities sports enthusiasts are going to be excited about these latest developments until we're given a reason not to be.
When the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers snapped their city's 52-year championship drought with a title in June 2016, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. were tied with the longest active dry spell (25 years) among cities with at least 3 of the 4 sports leagues. However, the NHL's Washington Capitals won a Stanley Cup in 2018, which then left Minny all alone with the longest run without a championship (now 32-1/2 years and counting). The problem there is you can't very well win a title if you're not even competing for one.
I point you to this tweet from just over a year ago:
The Twins won the 1991 WS.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) April 29, 2023
Since then, Twin Cities teams have made the playoffs 50 times in MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL & have failed to reach the championship round every time.
No other metro area in MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL history has had even 30 straight playoff trips without making the finals.
The Twins would go on to make the playoffs last October (and FINALLY win a postseason series for the first time since 2002), but did not reach the World Series. So that number now stands at 51 consecutive postseason appearances without reaching the championship round.
Will that streak be broken in 2024? I'm hard pressed to think of a year over the past three decades when not only one but multiple teams have a legit opportunity to end that suffering.
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