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Special delivery: Brian Bellows on the 1991 North Stars' Stanley Cup run Jul 12, 2021

Show notes

It's a special week at Daily Delivery as host Michael Rand takes a look back at five high-profile sporting events that took place in the Twin Cities within a one-year span 30 years ago.

First up: The 1991 Stanley Cup Finals, which came to Met Center after the North Stars -- just 27-39-14 in the regular season -- made a stunning playoff run to beat Chicago, St. Louis and Edmonton. One of the top players on that team, Brian Bellows, joins the podcast to make his case for that team not being as much of an underdog as we might think as well as to explain how that run was even possible.

The joys and challenges of covering high school sports Jul 09, 2021

Show notes

Paul Klauda, the Star Tribune's high school sports editor for the last decade, joins host Michael Rand -- the paper's high school editor for five years before that -- to talk about the joys and challenges of covering prep sports.

Klauda, who is transitioning to a new role at the Star Tribune at the end of July, offers unique perspectives on covering high school sports during the pandemic and a time of social justice change. And he also helps preview the All Metro Sports Awards, a series of big high school sports announcements coming from the Star Tribune next week.

Listener questions: Minnesota coaches on the hot seat + more Jul 08, 2021

Show notes

Host Michael Rand takes a break from the typical format to devote 30 minutes to answering a bunch of questions from listeners.

Among them: Ranking the six head coaches of major Minnesota pro sports teams in terms of the "hottest seats" and their job status; predicting the next wave of Twins call-ups; determining how much criticism the Wild should get if it doesn't add a better center to play with Kirill Kaprizov; plus inquiries about tacos and rollerblades, of course.

Vikings: Make or break? Gophers: Now or never? Twins: Sell or not? Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

Intro: After a couple recent instances of questionable postponements, the Twins and White Sox played through the drizzle on Tuesday and got the game in. See, that wasn't so bad, was it? The down side was that the Twins lost 4-1, plunging further in the standings.

3:00: Columnist Chip Scoggins joins host Michael Rand for a breakdown of three looming topics: 1) If this is a make-or-break season for the Vikings, which way do we think it's headed? 2) The Gophers football team is primed for a big year with depth on both lines. But can they come close to the success of 2019? And if not now, when? 3) Will the Twins be big-time sellers at the trade deadline or just make minor moves in hopes of shaking off this season as a fluke?

28:00: Suns vs. Bucks doesn't quite feel like an NBA Finals series.

Patrick Reusse on Twins pitching, Wolves hope and more Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

Intro: Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look at the Twins pitching. Two days of good starting pitching equaled two wins for the Twins, but for the most part this season it hasn't gone that way. Are the Twins fooling themselves if they think they can turn things around in that department based on their track record, or is 2021 really the outlier when it comes to poor performance?

17:00: The conversation shifts to basketball as Reusse and Rand look at the NBA Finals through the lens of the Timberwolves. The Suns won just 19 games two years ago and weren't in the playoffs last year, either. The Bucks are a mid-market team built around a star player and other complementary pieces. Should this matchup give the Wolves hope that it could happen here? Reusse wouldn't go that far, but he does see signs of a competitive team in Minnesota.

La Velle E. Neal on Twins trades: How soon and which players? Jul 02, 2021

Show notes

Intro: Host Michael Rand laments a microcosm of 2021 game for Twins slugger Miguel Sano, who struck out four times in an 8-5 loss to the White Sox on Thursday. All four of those whiffs came with men on base, and he stranded a total of nine runners in another game that shows he just can't be trusted in this lineup going forward.

3:00: La Velle E. Neal III joins from Chicago, where he wrote columns from the Twins' disappointing sweep at the hands of the White Sox. Minnesota is now 14.5 games back in the AL Central race and 13 games back of a wild card spot. With the All-Star break approaching and the trade deadline looming, Twins players seem to be increasingly struck with the realization that this isn't their year. That leads to a natural question that Neal tries to answer: Which players might get traded (and how soon might those trades happen)?

25:00: It wouldn't be right if Rand didn't mention that Friday is the deadline for Packers QB Aaron Rodgers to opt out of the season if he wants to.

27:00: A good question from a listener leads to a rabbit hole of WNBA salary cap logistics.

Josh Donaldson goes off + meet a slugging Twins prospect + MN United on a hot streak Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

Intro: Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson seems determined to be part of every news cycle. On Wednesday, he talked about having a confrontation with White Sox Lucas Giolito after Donaldson's actions and Giolito's words caused a stir on Tuesday. Donaldson also publicly called out Giolito's statistics and implicated him as a cheater.

6:00: Minnesota United beat writer Jerry Zgoda joins host Michael Rand for a look at the Loons, who are on a six-game unbeaten streak after an 0-4 start. What is behind the improved play? And will that get derailed by an MLS investigation into comments allegedly made by a Loons player in their latest win over Portland.

22:00: Meet Jose Miranda, the Twins prospect who slugged three home runs in his debut with the Class AAA Saints on Tuesday, which also happened to be his 23rd birthday. If his power isn't interesting enough, consider this: He's also Lin-Manuel Miranda's cousin.

28:00: The Lynx are back over .500 after an 8-3 stretch erased an 0-4 start.

Kirill Kaprizov's future + J.E. Skeets on Simmons/Wolves + Josh Donaldson stirs it up again Jun 30, 2021

Show notes

Intro: To the surprise of nobody (at least outside of Dallas), the Wild's Kirill Kaprizov became the organization's first Calder Trophy winner on Tuesday, garnering 99 of a possible 100 first place votes to show just how lopsided the race with Stars runner-up Jason Robertson really was. That Gretzky-esque total only adds to Kaprizov's value, which is an interesting subject as he looks for a new contract this offseason. Host Michael Rand urges the Wild to get that figured out sooner rather than later.

4:00: Longtime NBA blogger and podcaster J.E. Skeets joins the show to talk about the excitement of this year's playoffs and to offer his perspective on a possible Timberwolves trade for Ben Simmons. He thinks a deal built around D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley would get it done; Rand isn't so sure. Plus Skeets dispenses great advice about getting into the sports media business.

27:00: Another day, another sticky substance controversy with Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson right in the middle. This time, it involves White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito -- who had some expletive-laced words for Donaldson after Chicago's 7-6 win on Tuesday.

Minnesotans set to dominate Olympics + Furious about another Twins 'rainout' Jun 29, 2021

Show notes

Intro: Two of the last three Twins games have been "rained out" even though the chance of severe weather was questionable. In both cases -- a Twins home game Saturday against Cleveland and Monday's game at Chicago -- the home team looked like it manipulated MLB rules that leave the decision to start a game up to their discretion and used the opportunity to get some rest and recuperation. Decisions like that leave fans high and dry, cheat the game and are symptomatic of a larger societal problem, host Michael Rand argues.

8:00: Star Tribune writer Rachel Blount joins the show to break down a fantastic run at U.S. Olympic trials by many Minnesota hopefuls. In both sheer number and profile, Minnesota athletes are poised to have a great Summer Games -- particularly in women's and men's gymnastics, where three of the eight members of Team USA combined are Minnesotans.

25:00: A rescheduled Winter Classic is good news for local hockey fans, plus you'll need to get used to a new name for the Gophers football stadium.

Patrick Reusse on Saturday 'rainout', Sunday Twins win, Monday opportunity Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

Patrick Reusse joins host Michael Rand for a look back at the weekend, and as usual Reusse is furious about something. This time: The Twins' decision to call off Saturday's game because of the threat of rain, which in his estimation was a thinly veiled attempt to rest pitchers and create more favorable matchups. Rand agreed, and both of them think it's a bad message to send to fans who showed up Saturday at Target Field, particularly those who traveled from far away to get there.

6:00: If the Twins are going to make the season interesting, they'll need to have a big series starting Monday in Chicago. Third baseman Josh Donaldson is trying to get them fired up, and he delivered Sunday with a home run as the Twins won the series against Cleveland and improved to 19-15 since a dreadful 14-28 start.

11:00: We got hosed! Sort of. And former Twin Hector Santiago ejected for sticky stuff in his glove.

20:00: Minnesota is the center of the Summer Olympics. With half of the women's gymnastics team and a host of others hailing from this state, it will be a Games to remember locally.

24:00: Stanley Cup Finals look ahead.

29:00: Sylvia Fowles appreciation after two monster games help get the Lynx back to .500 after their 0-4 start.

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