March means something in Minnesota besides snowstorms. State tournament time is an opportunity to watch dedicated teenagers striving to create moments they and their friends will never forget. The admission prices are minimal. Your rear end in the stands makes a commitment to the worthiness of high school sports. Go! (Even if it’s snowing).
Be alert for opportunities to laugh at yourself…and journalists. Like the media guy who refers to that Catholic high school in St. Louis Park as “Benilde-St. Mary’s.”
This has been a long season for our local sports heroes. The Gophers, Timberwolves and Wild have frequently offered minimal relief from the winter funk. But, hey, at least we’re not a “cold Omaha.” We have major league sports franchises.
Feeling better?
How about this? None of our teams, including the basketball Gophers who won a half dozen conference games, are winless this winter.
And the Twins will win another Central Division title, the stands will be packed at Target Field and Justin Morneau will hit booming home runs. (No Twins postseason predictions allowed. This is a feel better session).
There will likely be more weather delays at Target Field this year than during the first season but after the winter we’re experiencing who cares? Chug down some tall beers and listen to the sweetest sound in the world: your voice chortling “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
The Wolves will have a lottery pick (surprise!) in the June NBA draft. Don’t you love consistency?
Then there’s Gophers football and the annual spring game to look forward to on April 23. Yes, the program has been down for about 40 years, but how about those national championship teams in the 1930s and 1940s?