Lynx will face Liberty in first match since finals loss
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) shoots over New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones (35) during the second half in Game 3 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series, Oct. 16, 2024, in Minneapolis.
Abbie Parr | AP File
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Audio transcript
CHRIS FARRELL: This is Minnesota Now. I'm Chris Farrell in for Nina Moini. So let's talk sports. The weather, the weather that we've been talking about, the weather was a player in the weekend's 3M Open golf tournament in Blaine. Golfer Kurt Kitayama won the trophy under sweltering heat before the storms rolled in. Sports contributor Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson are on the line to recap this year's tournament, plus other Minnesota sports news. Well, welcome.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Thanks, Chris. How are you?
ERIC NELSON: Hey, Chris. How are you?
CHRIS FARRELL: OK. Yeah, I don't need to say, it was a hot weekend, and I can't even imagine playing competitive golf, let alone golf. So Wally, did that weather, did it have an impact on the players or keep spectators at home?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, I think to a certain degree, of course, it had to play a factor with temperatures in the 90s and the dew point through the roof, or into the sky, if you will, as you mentioned, the storms rolling in late in the day. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely a factor. But they stay hydrated, and these guys are used to playing in the heat. That's what golf is. There is no night golf that I'm aware of. So they get used to it.
And Kurt Kitayama, who's from Chico, California, won for just the second time in his PGA career. He shot a 6-under 65 yesterday. He takes home $1.5 million for the first prize check. So not a bad day for him. He was one shot better than Sam Stevens.
Now, look at his body of work. He barely made the cut. So only about roughly the top 75 players make it from Friday into Saturday out of the 150-some that started. He barely made it. But then he tied the course record on Saturday. He shot a 60, so that got him one shot off the lead coming into Sunday. And then he shot, as I said, a 65 on Sunday.
So he finishes at 23 under par. That's just one shot off the tournament record that Lee Hodges said a couple of years ago. And he credited the victory in part to his caddie, which was his older brother. So it was kind of a family affair for him. The win vaults him into the top 70 in the PGA. Now he is 53rd, and that gets him into the playoffs at the end of the year. There's one event left.
One side note, and we had some fun with this. When I was out there on Saturday, I was at the 13th hole, and I believe it was Coody was the golfer, and he birdied the 13th hole and all the fans started rushing. And I thought, well, they're headed to the 14th to watch him play.
No, they were headed to the beer tent. There is a birdie beer tent next to it, and you get half price beers if you get within 10 minutes after the birdie. So they were all running to the birdie beer tent, believe it or not.
CHRIS FARRELL: Incentives matter. They really do.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes, they do.
CHRIS FARRELL: And by the way, you might have had a business idea, Wally. Nighttime golf, got maybe some possibilities there.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: There you go. You got to put up lights, I guess, somewhere.
CHRIS FARRELL: So Eric, the Twins, they lost their series against the Washington Nationals. And a friend of mine was at the game Saturday night, and he just said the Twins were just lackluster, not really a whole lot of hustle. They play the Red Sox tonight. So what are their chances of the playoffs?
ERIC NELSON: Oh, yeah. Right now, Chris, the Twins' playoff hopes are, if I can quote Paul Simon, "slip, slip sliding away" after they lost 2 of 3 to Washington over the weekend. I happened to see the one game they were victorious. That was Friday night, a 1-0 victory, but they lost the final two.
Minnesota is now 5 and 1/2 games out of the final AL wild-card spot, and the Twins are 3 and 6 since the All-Star game. But it was a successful homecoming for a couple of Nationals players who did grow up here in the Twin Cities. Washington pitcher Jake Irvin, who threw yesterday, went to Bloomington Jefferson High School. He was pitching at Target Field for the first time ever, and he gives up just two runs on five hits in seven innings, so a solid outing. He's 8 and 5 this year. And center fielder Alex Call, who is from Burnsville, had two hits and two RBI for the Nats.
Now things are getting even worse for the Twins because one of their all-stars, Byron Buxton, did not play Sunday. He is day-to-day with cartilage irritation in his rib cage. Buxton left Saturday's game against Washington after he experienced discomfort in his side while running. They need him back sooner rather than later.
As you mentioned, tonight Boston, the Red Sox are 57 and 50, clearly in the playoff picture. Minnesota at 50 and 55. Red Sox won two of three over the weekend at Fenway against the World Series champion LA Dodgers.
And keep an eye on the calendar. July 31 is the MLB trading deadline. We will see if Minnesota peddles away some key chips, some key pieces. Hopefully they won't, if you're a Twins fan. But Jhoan Durán is a coveted commodity, as is probably Griffin Jax. And everybody would love Joe Ryan, but boy, if they deal Joe Ryan, I think the fan base is going to revolt.
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah, that would be my guess. And so, Wally, we got the Vikings training camp is going on. And I have to admit that I sort of went still when I heard that wide receiver Justin Jefferson injured his hamstring. How serious is this?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, they're calling it a mild strain of his left hamstring. Now, this is a different hamstring than he injured a couple of years ago when he missed seven games during the season. That was the 2023 season. His right hamstring strain suffered in a home game against the Chiefs. As I said, kept him out of seven games. That would be a big deal, obviously, when you have a rookie quarterback or a quasi rookie quarterback, in the case of J.J. McCarthy, who injured himself in the only preseason game he participated in last year, so it is a big deal, although Kevin O'Connell said he has no concerns about Jefferson's availability for the September 8 opener against the Bears in Chicago on Monday Night Football.
So they don't when he's going to come back. I would assume that you're not going to see him at all in the preseason games, or counterfeit football games, as Eric and I tend to call them. Their first preseason game is Saturday, August 9. That's a 3 o'clock start at the House of Noise, otherwise known as US Bank Stadium.
Tickets on the secondary market-- so if you want to go to the football game and you don't care if the starters are playing, that's the place to go. $8 you can get in the building if you want to go watch NFL football. And you know what? For youngsters and for folks who don't ordinarily get to go, it's probably a chance to go watch some football at US Bank Stadium. If you're a diehard, that might be your thing. I would say that most folks who really are followers. Just say, eh, not so much for preseason football.
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah, but $8, that's a good price.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: $8. What the heck?
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah exactly.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Exactly.
CHRIS FARRELL: OK, so the Lynx, I mean, they are just so terrific. But the Atlantic dream, they came to Minnesota and they broke the Lynx's home winning streak. So, Eric, what happened there.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, they played the dream, but it's a nightmare. The Lynx had a 14-game home winning streak snapped yesterday at Target Center. First time they've lost all year in that building. Atlanta won it 90 to 86. Brittney Griner scored a season high 22 points for Atlanta.
Now, despite the loss you can't blame it on Napheesa Collier. She had an outstanding game for Minnesota, 32 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals, two blocks, and I think she sold popcorn at halftime. I mean she's that good. She does it all for the Lynx.
We talked about the homeboys who came back [AUDIO OUT] Washington Nationals. How about a homegirl? Nia Coffey, who played at Hopkins High School, is on the Dream Team. She only played six minutes, did not score. But her father is Richard Coffey, a golfer legend who played briefly with the Timberwolves. Amir Coffey is her brother. He played at the U of M and is currently with the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA.
Now, next up for Minnesota, the Lynx are 22 and 5, best record in the WNBA. They're going to take on New York. The Liberty, at 17 and 7, have the second best mark in the W. That game is Wednesday night in Minneapolis. So you have the top two teams going.
They met in the WNBA finals last season, Chris. And the cheapest ticket on the secondary market for this one is a little bit higher than your Vikings counterfeit football games. It's $104. And the game is also on ESPN, so they're going to get coast-to-coast coverage. This will be a huge WNBA match-up Wednesday night in downtown Minneapolis.
CHRIS FARRELL: A huge one. So thank you very much. And our time is up, so sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Thanks, Chris. How are you?
ERIC NELSON: Hey, Chris. How are you?
CHRIS FARRELL: OK. Yeah, I don't need to say, it was a hot weekend, and I can't even imagine playing competitive golf, let alone golf. So Wally, did that weather, did it have an impact on the players or keep spectators at home?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, I think to a certain degree, of course, it had to play a factor with temperatures in the 90s and the dew point through the roof, or into the sky, if you will, as you mentioned, the storms rolling in late in the day. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely a factor. But they stay hydrated, and these guys are used to playing in the heat. That's what golf is. There is no night golf that I'm aware of. So they get used to it.
And Kurt Kitayama, who's from Chico, California, won for just the second time in his PGA career. He shot a 6-under 65 yesterday. He takes home $1.5 million for the first prize check. So not a bad day for him. He was one shot better than Sam Stevens.
Now, look at his body of work. He barely made the cut. So only about roughly the top 75 players make it from Friday into Saturday out of the 150-some that started. He barely made it. But then he tied the course record on Saturday. He shot a 60, so that got him one shot off the lead coming into Sunday. And then he shot, as I said, a 65 on Sunday.
So he finishes at 23 under par. That's just one shot off the tournament record that Lee Hodges said a couple of years ago. And he credited the victory in part to his caddie, which was his older brother. So it was kind of a family affair for him. The win vaults him into the top 70 in the PGA. Now he is 53rd, and that gets him into the playoffs at the end of the year. There's one event left.
One side note, and we had some fun with this. When I was out there on Saturday, I was at the 13th hole, and I believe it was Coody was the golfer, and he birdied the 13th hole and all the fans started rushing. And I thought, well, they're headed to the 14th to watch him play.
No, they were headed to the beer tent. There is a birdie beer tent next to it, and you get half price beers if you get within 10 minutes after the birdie. So they were all running to the birdie beer tent, believe it or not.
CHRIS FARRELL: Incentives matter. They really do.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes, they do.
CHRIS FARRELL: And by the way, you might have had a business idea, Wally. Nighttime golf, got maybe some possibilities there.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: There you go. You got to put up lights, I guess, somewhere.
CHRIS FARRELL: So Eric, the Twins, they lost their series against the Washington Nationals. And a friend of mine was at the game Saturday night, and he just said the Twins were just lackluster, not really a whole lot of hustle. They play the Red Sox tonight. So what are their chances of the playoffs?
ERIC NELSON: Oh, yeah. Right now, Chris, the Twins' playoff hopes are, if I can quote Paul Simon, "slip, slip sliding away" after they lost 2 of 3 to Washington over the weekend. I happened to see the one game they were victorious. That was Friday night, a 1-0 victory, but they lost the final two.
Minnesota is now 5 and 1/2 games out of the final AL wild-card spot, and the Twins are 3 and 6 since the All-Star game. But it was a successful homecoming for a couple of Nationals players who did grow up here in the Twin Cities. Washington pitcher Jake Irvin, who threw yesterday, went to Bloomington Jefferson High School. He was pitching at Target Field for the first time ever, and he gives up just two runs on five hits in seven innings, so a solid outing. He's 8 and 5 this year. And center fielder Alex Call, who is from Burnsville, had two hits and two RBI for the Nats.
Now things are getting even worse for the Twins because one of their all-stars, Byron Buxton, did not play Sunday. He is day-to-day with cartilage irritation in his rib cage. Buxton left Saturday's game against Washington after he experienced discomfort in his side while running. They need him back sooner rather than later.
As you mentioned, tonight Boston, the Red Sox are 57 and 50, clearly in the playoff picture. Minnesota at 50 and 55. Red Sox won two of three over the weekend at Fenway against the World Series champion LA Dodgers.
And keep an eye on the calendar. July 31 is the MLB trading deadline. We will see if Minnesota peddles away some key chips, some key pieces. Hopefully they won't, if you're a Twins fan. But Jhoan Durán is a coveted commodity, as is probably Griffin Jax. And everybody would love Joe Ryan, but boy, if they deal Joe Ryan, I think the fan base is going to revolt.
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah, that would be my guess. And so, Wally, we got the Vikings training camp is going on. And I have to admit that I sort of went still when I heard that wide receiver Justin Jefferson injured his hamstring. How serious is this?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, they're calling it a mild strain of his left hamstring. Now, this is a different hamstring than he injured a couple of years ago when he missed seven games during the season. That was the 2023 season. His right hamstring strain suffered in a home game against the Chiefs. As I said, kept him out of seven games. That would be a big deal, obviously, when you have a rookie quarterback or a quasi rookie quarterback, in the case of J.J. McCarthy, who injured himself in the only preseason game he participated in last year, so it is a big deal, although Kevin O'Connell said he has no concerns about Jefferson's availability for the September 8 opener against the Bears in Chicago on Monday Night Football.
So they don't when he's going to come back. I would assume that you're not going to see him at all in the preseason games, or counterfeit football games, as Eric and I tend to call them. Their first preseason game is Saturday, August 9. That's a 3 o'clock start at the House of Noise, otherwise known as US Bank Stadium.
Tickets on the secondary market-- so if you want to go to the football game and you don't care if the starters are playing, that's the place to go. $8 you can get in the building if you want to go watch NFL football. And you know what? For youngsters and for folks who don't ordinarily get to go, it's probably a chance to go watch some football at US Bank Stadium. If you're a diehard, that might be your thing. I would say that most folks who really are followers. Just say, eh, not so much for preseason football.
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah, but $8, that's a good price.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: $8. What the heck?
CHRIS FARRELL: Yeah exactly.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Exactly.
CHRIS FARRELL: OK, so the Lynx, I mean, they are just so terrific. But the Atlantic dream, they came to Minnesota and they broke the Lynx's home winning streak. So, Eric, what happened there.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah, they played the dream, but it's a nightmare. The Lynx had a 14-game home winning streak snapped yesterday at Target Center. First time they've lost all year in that building. Atlanta won it 90 to 86. Brittney Griner scored a season high 22 points for Atlanta.
Now, despite the loss you can't blame it on Napheesa Collier. She had an outstanding game for Minnesota, 32 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals, two blocks, and I think she sold popcorn at halftime. I mean she's that good. She does it all for the Lynx.
We talked about the homeboys who came back [AUDIO OUT] Washington Nationals. How about a homegirl? Nia Coffey, who played at Hopkins High School, is on the Dream Team. She only played six minutes, did not score. But her father is Richard Coffey, a golfer legend who played briefly with the Timberwolves. Amir Coffey is her brother. He played at the U of M and is currently with the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA.
Now, next up for Minnesota, the Lynx are 22 and 5, best record in the WNBA. They're going to take on New York. The Liberty, at 17 and 7, have the second best mark in the W. That game is Wednesday night in Minneapolis. So you have the top two teams going.
They met in the WNBA finals last season, Chris. And the cheapest ticket on the secondary market for this one is a little bit higher than your Vikings counterfeit football games. It's $104. And the game is also on ESPN, so they're going to get coast-to-coast coverage. This will be a huge WNBA match-up Wednesday night in downtown Minneapolis.
CHRIS FARRELL: A huge one. So thank you very much. And our time is up, so sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson.
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