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The initial mystery of the trip -- Where's our first stop? -- was over after two hours. My wife pulled into a restaurant parking lot in Baldwin, Wis. I hadn't [...]

COMPILED MY MICHAEL RAND EXTREME FAN Flying the flag for the Vikings Like peanut butter and jelly, some things just naturally go hand-in-hand. Daren Bloomquist feels that way about being [...]

The Vikings needed to be a little faster and stronger on defense Sunday - not necessarily on every play, but to win those wrestling matches at the bottom of the [...]

This athletic condition can be more crippling than plantar fasciitis, more worrisome than a late-night phone call and linger longer than the cold and flu season. It's called doubt. Not [...]

The New England Patriots' 21-game winning streak is over, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers' 34-20 victory Sunday, and not a moment too soon. After the Boston Red Sox's stunning victory [...]

For all those people who live and die with the fortunes of the Boston Red Sox, we hope the fielding exploits of Manny Ramirez in Saturday's Game 1 of the [...]

After Michigan State's 51-17 thumping of the Gophers on Saturday, we've officially retired all pictures of roses in the sports section for another football season. Our graphics people are busily [...]

When the Vikings went into overtime against the plucky, tradition-laden Houston Texans on Sunday, there was potential for some serious grumpiness among followers of Minnesota sports teams. Watching the football [...]

Major League Baseball games sometimes get suspended without a winner and a loser. Sometimes it's because a cold front blows in and it starts raining cats and dogs. Sometimes All-Star [...]

The Strib missed a chance to increase revenue in our Sunday Vikings preview section. The Bears might have been interested in taking out an ad. Help Wanted: Want a great [...]

Most of us hack golfers want to believe that the cure for all that ails our swing is as close as the nearest pro shop. Why take a lesson, when [...]

We're still not sure how to calculate a quarterback rating. It's some complex formula, taking a quarterback's completion percentage, plus the number of touchdown passes, minus interceptions, divided by pi [...]

The Olympic Games in Athens have come and gone and no new wars broke out, with the possible exception of one between the U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Gymnastics [...]

We have an Olympics question. Two questions, actually. Did anyone on the Australian women's water polo team ever collect that reported $700 pot they assembled, destined for the pocket of [...]

What's the world record for consecutive days of keeping one's fingers crossed? We're shooting for 17 in a row, starting Friday night with the lighting of the Olympic flame in [...]

When ESPN's Chris Berman, (self-) serving as master of ceremonies at the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions on Sunday, asked the crowd, 'Are you ready for some football?' we [...]

Many pro athletes project an air of invincibility, as if the least little admission of failure violates some sort of macho code, but not Doug Mientkiewicz. Mientkiewicz, who was traded [...]

We weren't sure how early to get up and watch the British Open on Sunday and watch the train wreck. After all, how could Todd Hamilton survive? The third-round leader [...]

Tennis fans in the '70s and early '80s got spoiled. On the women's side, there were the contrasting styles and frequent duels of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert for tour [...]

UNPUBLISHED CORRECTION OF 09/23/04: The byline was misspelled in the original version of this article; this version contains the correct spelling. Tennis fans in the '70s and early '80s got [...]

The best thing about repeatedly hitting your head against a brick wall is that it feels so good when you stop, a lesson apparently yet to be learned by Allan [...]

The truly memorable U.S. Opens usually have one thing in common: a awe-inspiring charge in the final round. In the 1960 Open at Cherry Hills, Arnold Palmer drove the first [...]

During those 18 seasons of playing for the Jazz, Karl Malone put the power in power forward. He was a durable scorer and rebounder, and watching him run a series [...]

Within a few possessions after tonight's Game 6 opening tipoff, we should know. If Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal is pouting, Wolves win. If he's pounding, Wolves lose. It's that simple, [...]

Shaquille O'Neal has some unique ideas about how to build a professional basketball team, and the frightening thing is ... he might be right. For the Timberwolves to afford other [...]

Kevin Garnett and Anthony Peeler, apparently, have been good friends in the past. Maybe that's why they took turns whacking at each other with their elbows instead of their fists. [...]

Every basketball official has a different boiling point. Some have a trigger whistle, ready to dole out a technical at the first quizzical look from a player. Others can tolerate [...]

In the ranking of mankind's historical achievements, the Timberwolves' advance into the second round of the NBA playoffs isn't quite up there with Neil Armstrong's moonwalk. Or Michael Jackson's, for [...]

That annual celebration of testosterone, the NFL draft, has again come and gone. The weekend is filled with hours of film clips, scouting combine reports, 40-yard dash times, drafting to [...]

The WNBA draft has come and gone, and Lindsay Whalen is gone. So, too, are any hopes for the Lynx to generate a buzz surrounding the upcoming season, unless some [...]

Golf is a gentlemen's game, supposedly, but it's also one for vultures. If a tournament leader is known for faltering down the stretch, the other contenders start circling and licking [...]

Nothing succeeds like excess, a concept heartily embraced by most major sporting events in this country, and the NCAA Final Four is no exception. The main event, basketball, isn't quite [...]

Kermit the Frog might think it's not easy being green, but it's nothing compared to Lindsay Whalen being maroon and gold. Even since Whalen broke two bones in her shooting [...]

Another Selection Sunday has come and gone, and for the first time, everyone agrees that the correct 65 teams made the NCAA men's basketball tournament. And they were placed in [...]

Ah, the life of being a free agent in demand. The phone constantly rings with suitors telling you how wonderful you are, and how they can't wait to see you. [...]

Charging up a hill under heavy fire? Outnumbered in a fight in a back alley? Who are you going to call to watch your back in a tense, combustible situation? [...]

No official NBA edict came down in time to save the Timberwolves from losing 94-92 to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. C'mon, Commissioner David Stern - if the league [...]

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when the only chance of getting a Gophers basketball story - men's or women's - on the front page of the paper [...]

Well, now the low-scoring trend in the NHL is official. Goals were even relatively hard to come by in Sunday's annual NHL All-Offense Game at Xcel Energy Center. Goalies usually [...]

We started following Vikings football about the same time Bud Grant arrived from the CFL and Joe Kapp began throwing those passes that refused to spiral. The team finally had [...]

Pressure is what turns coal into a diamond, if you believe what you read on inspirational posters and bumper stickers. It also turns stomachs into knots, which is one of [...]

When it comes to athletes in competition, there are few smooth, effortless climbs to stardom and, with the possible exception of Spergon Wynn, few plunges without success. The athlete's career [...]

Don't look now, Rush Limbaugh, but Donovan McNabb is succeeding again. Limbaugh pulled the plug on his own promising second job as an NFL analyst in late September when he [...]

I bought my first television in college. It was a huge and ancient contraption that, had I not had a weak moment at the garage sale, probably would have found [...]

1/ JANUARY: THE DRIVE TO SUCCEED - LOOKING BACK: Freshman running back Maurice Clarett caps off a brilliant season by helping Ohio State beat Miami 31-24 in two overtimes to [...]

Had a few more Heisman Trophy votes gone his way, Pittsburgh receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr. would have been the first sophomore to hold the famous little stiff-armer. Think about that [...]

The college football bowl bids were passed out Sunday, a time of celebration turned into what Oliver Hardy might have called 'another nice mess.' The best team according to the [...]

The excitement of the college football season is going down to the wire - actually, several wires and chips and Pentium processors. If No. 1 Oklahoma crushes Kansas State on [...]

Vikings fans are a hardy breed. Sure, followers of the Purple no longer have to spend three hours in a snowmobile suit at Met Stadium to watch their favorite team [...]

As A.J. Pierzynski left our hearts for San Francisco on Friday, there is a troubling aspect to the trade. The Twins might have lost more than a catcher; they might [...]