The latest in sports as Super Bowl 60 and Winter Olympics kick off
Two shorttrack skaters have training session in preparation of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, on Tuesday in Milan, Italy.
Jasper Jacobs | AFP via Getty Images
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Audio transcript
KELLY GORDON: We're going to turn now to a topic we haven't discussed in a few weeks on Minnesota Now, sports, because we are coming up on a uniquely big weekend in sports. Super Bowl LX is Sunday. It's in the San Francisco Bay Area. And in Italy, the Winter Olympics are kicking off with dozens of Minnesotans competing. Joining me to talk about this and more are sports contributors Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson. Hi, guys.
ERIC NELSON: How's it going, Kelly?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Hey, Kelly.
KELLY GORDON: It's going pretty well here. So before we get to the big games, I want to talk about two wins in men's basketball. So tell me about the Gopher men and the Timberwolves, Wally.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, kind of a win-win-win, actually, because there's news this morning of a Timberwolves trade. But we'll start with the Gopher men's basketball last night. They beat 10th-ranked Michigan State at Williams Arena, 76-73. It's their third win this year over a ranked opponent, and it's the team's first win over a top 10 opponent since they beat Michigan back in January of 2021. The Gophers upped their record to 11 and 12. They stop a seven-game losing streak with the win. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson led the Gophers with 22 points.
As for the Timberwolves, I mentioned they made a trade today-- no, not for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek Freak. That's what all the talk has been about. It hasn't happened as of yet. The trade deadline, oh, by the way, is in about an hour, 2 o'clock our time. So it still could happen, but it seems more unlikely now because they made a trade.
They pick up a guy from Chicago. Ayo Dosunmu is his name. He is a shooting guard. He has a contract that expires at the end of this year, but it allows the Timberwolves to renegotiate that contract and sign him to a new contract next year so they stay under the salary cap. It's very complicated, but it's a good trade for the Wolves. They do send Rob Dillingham to Chicago.
As for the other win from yesterday, the Wolves beat Toronto last night, 128-126 on the road in Toronto, and Anthony Edwards had 30 points. So there you have it in a capsule for you.
KELLY GORDON: I love it. And that game was on at my house, and there was much yelling. So I can attest to the fact--
WALLY LANGFELLOW: I'm sure there was.
KELLY GORDON: --that it was big, yes. So Eric, I hear you're in San Francisco for the Super Bowl. That's exciting. You probably even get to feel your toes. So what will you be watching for there at the big game?
ERIC NELSON: That's good news, Kelly. My frostbite is temporarily gone, and the wind heat factor today here in the Bay Area is plus 70. Yeah. So we get New England and Seattle playing for all the marbles on Sunday, Super Bowl LX, in Santa Clara, California. A lot of Minnesota angles. Let's start with the Patriots. Stefon Diggs, remember him?
KELLY GORDON: I do.
ERIC NELSON: The miracle man. He caught that catch from Case Keenum a few years ago, winning a playoff game for the Vikings against the Saints, the Minneapolis Miracle. Garrett Bradbury used to be Minnesota's center, top draft choice out of North Carolina State. He's now the center for New England. How about a guy that was nicknamed the Passtronaut, Joshua Dobbs? He played for Minnesota briefly a couple of years ago, and now he's the backup quarterback to Drake Maye for New England.
As far as Seattle goes, a lot of connections as well. Jack Gibbens is a Patriots linebacker who went to the U of M, as did Boye Mafe, who played for the Gophers. He's from Hopkins. And I think we all know about Sam Darnold, the Seahawks quarterback. Of course, he played for the Vikings last season, but was not resigned. They let him walk. Eventually, Darnold inked a megabucks deal with the Seahawks. He's got a 30 and 7 record, including the playoffs, with Minnesota and Seattle the past two seasons. That is remarkable. So Darnold is one win away from getting a Super Bowl ring.
Now, Seattle's general manager is John Schneider. He went to St. Thomas University in St. Paul. And Leslie Frazier, remember him? He was the Vikings' head coach from 2010 to 2013. He's now the assistant head coach for Seattle. His fingerprints are all over the Seahawks' outstanding defense.
By the way, this is the third Super Bowl in the San Francisco Bay Area. Everything is spread out. The footprint is huge. The game is in Santa Clara. Both teams are staying at hotels in San Jose. And Radio Row, the media epicenter, is in San Francisco. That's 44 miles north of San Jose. So it's really the Silicon Valley Super Bowl, and there's not a lot of super buzz here in NorCal. Very few banners and signs in San Jose and San Francisco. I would say the region has greeted this game with a collective yawn.
And one final note, the NFL Honors is tonight. Hall of Fame selections will be announced. It looks like Larry Fitzgerald Jr., who's from Minneapolis, Arizona Cardinals star wide receiver, should get voted into the class of 2026, the Hall of Fame.
KELLY GORDON: OK. So just another weekend in the Bay Area, but--
ERIC NELSON: Absolutely.
KELLY GORDON: --for most of America, we will be watching closely. And Wally, I'm guessing like me you're going to be watching from afar on TV, so I have to ask the question that everybody wants to know. What will you be snacking on? Do you have a favorite Super Bowl treat?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: [LAUGHS] Uh, probably pizza. I don't know. It's hard to say.
KELLY GORDON: Oh, really? OK. I was hoping for something a little spicier, but pizza is a classic.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, you caught me off guard. But yeah, that's what I'll be doing on Sunday. Well, along with watching some of the Winter Olympic Games.
KELLY GORDON: Yes, let's talk about that.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: I'll probably lead into that. I know that Mr. Nelson will not be watching the Olympics. He could care less about the Olympics. But most of America will be keeping an eye on the Winter Olympics, which, by the way, are already underway competition-wise. I know that the opening ceremonies are tomorrow.
But the US women's hockey team, which is loaded with Minnesotans and loaded with players from the Minnesota Frost, they won this morning. They beat the Czech Republic by a score of 5-1. Their next game is scheduled for Saturday, and I say scheduled for Saturday, against Finland. It's up in the air right now because Finland's game today against Canada postponed because 13 Finn players are being quarantined with the norovirus, so they don't when they're going to play that. It looks like it might be played in about a week or so.
Elsewhere, Minnesota native Lindsey Vonn, of course, been grabbing all these headlines. She says she will ski on Sunday, despite having the torn ACL in her left knee. And of course, she's got the titanium right knee. She also has a strained meniscus in that left knee. At 41, she's the oldest woman to ever compete in Olympic alpine history.
She's going to compete in the downhill on Sunday, she said. She has not announced whether she's going to go into the super-G. That looks doubtful right now. However, the venue, Cortina d'Ampezzo, is her most successful venue. She has 12 World Cup wins in the downhill at that particular venue. So fingers crossed for Lindsey Vonn. We shall see on Sunday if she is able to compete and if she is able to miraculously somehow get onto the podium.
KELLY GORDON: Yeah, it's amazing to me. Honestly, every single time I see a headline, even, with Lindsey Vonn, my knee hurts. I just think, I'm just going to hold on to my knee and make sure it doesn't fall apart. Maybe that will send her the stability that she might need. So I know, too, the Minnesota--
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, like going up and down the steps.
KELLY GORDON: Right, exactly. My knee's not always even stable doing that. She's amazing. The Minnesota Wild and the Frost both have players on the Olympic teams, too. So I'm curious, Eric, how their seasons back home have been going, because we haven't talked much about them.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. Well, let's start with the Wild. They win last night in Tennessee, 6-5 over Nashville in overtime. Matt Boldy, three goals, one assist. Quinn Hughes, two more assists. He's got 51 on the year. It's the Wild's final game before the Olympic break that Wally talked about.
It might not be a good time for Minnesota to shut it down for this Olympic pause, because the Wild have won five straight games. They have 78 points, the second most in the NHL. However, that's only good for second place in the Central, as Colorado is on top of the division. If Minnesota was in any other division, the Wild would be in first place. Their next game is at Colorado on February 26, so that's going to be a showdown.
As for the Wild players skating for Team USA, how about Brock Faber, Quinn Hughes, and Matt Boldy? And then Filip Gustavsson, Jesper Wallstedt, Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Nico Sturm are all playing for their respective countries. Meanwhile, for the Frost, six Minnesota players on the Team USA roster-- Kendall Coyne Schofield, Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, Britta Curl-Salemme, Kelly Pannek, and Lee Stecklein.
The Frost have 28 points, second most in the PWHL. Remember, they're going for the three-peat, back-to-back-to-back titles. They won the other day over Vancouver, 4-1. And their next game will be not until March 1, in Montreal. So once again, the Wild and the Frost are shutting it down, but a lot of their players will be playing hockey in Italy at the Olympics.
KELLY GORDON: I love all of these Minnesota connections. Thank you so much to our sports contributors, Wally Langfellow, Eric Nelson. Have a good sports weekend, guys.
ERIC NELSON: Thanks a lot, Kelly.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, you too. Talk to you soon.
ERIC NELSON: How's it going, Kelly?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Hey, Kelly.
KELLY GORDON: It's going pretty well here. So before we get to the big games, I want to talk about two wins in men's basketball. So tell me about the Gopher men and the Timberwolves, Wally.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, kind of a win-win-win, actually, because there's news this morning of a Timberwolves trade. But we'll start with the Gopher men's basketball last night. They beat 10th-ranked Michigan State at Williams Arena, 76-73. It's their third win this year over a ranked opponent, and it's the team's first win over a top 10 opponent since they beat Michigan back in January of 2021. The Gophers upped their record to 11 and 12. They stop a seven-game losing streak with the win. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson led the Gophers with 22 points.
As for the Timberwolves, I mentioned they made a trade today-- no, not for Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek Freak. That's what all the talk has been about. It hasn't happened as of yet. The trade deadline, oh, by the way, is in about an hour, 2 o'clock our time. So it still could happen, but it seems more unlikely now because they made a trade.
They pick up a guy from Chicago. Ayo Dosunmu is his name. He is a shooting guard. He has a contract that expires at the end of this year, but it allows the Timberwolves to renegotiate that contract and sign him to a new contract next year so they stay under the salary cap. It's very complicated, but it's a good trade for the Wolves. They do send Rob Dillingham to Chicago.
As for the other win from yesterday, the Wolves beat Toronto last night, 128-126 on the road in Toronto, and Anthony Edwards had 30 points. So there you have it in a capsule for you.
KELLY GORDON: I love it. And that game was on at my house, and there was much yelling. So I can attest to the fact--
WALLY LANGFELLOW: I'm sure there was.
KELLY GORDON: --that it was big, yes. So Eric, I hear you're in San Francisco for the Super Bowl. That's exciting. You probably even get to feel your toes. So what will you be watching for there at the big game?
ERIC NELSON: That's good news, Kelly. My frostbite is temporarily gone, and the wind heat factor today here in the Bay Area is plus 70. Yeah. So we get New England and Seattle playing for all the marbles on Sunday, Super Bowl LX, in Santa Clara, California. A lot of Minnesota angles. Let's start with the Patriots. Stefon Diggs, remember him?
KELLY GORDON: I do.
ERIC NELSON: The miracle man. He caught that catch from Case Keenum a few years ago, winning a playoff game for the Vikings against the Saints, the Minneapolis Miracle. Garrett Bradbury used to be Minnesota's center, top draft choice out of North Carolina State. He's now the center for New England. How about a guy that was nicknamed the Passtronaut, Joshua Dobbs? He played for Minnesota briefly a couple of years ago, and now he's the backup quarterback to Drake Maye for New England.
As far as Seattle goes, a lot of connections as well. Jack Gibbens is a Patriots linebacker who went to the U of M, as did Boye Mafe, who played for the Gophers. He's from Hopkins. And I think we all know about Sam Darnold, the Seahawks quarterback. Of course, he played for the Vikings last season, but was not resigned. They let him walk. Eventually, Darnold inked a megabucks deal with the Seahawks. He's got a 30 and 7 record, including the playoffs, with Minnesota and Seattle the past two seasons. That is remarkable. So Darnold is one win away from getting a Super Bowl ring.
Now, Seattle's general manager is John Schneider. He went to St. Thomas University in St. Paul. And Leslie Frazier, remember him? He was the Vikings' head coach from 2010 to 2013. He's now the assistant head coach for Seattle. His fingerprints are all over the Seahawks' outstanding defense.
By the way, this is the third Super Bowl in the San Francisco Bay Area. Everything is spread out. The footprint is huge. The game is in Santa Clara. Both teams are staying at hotels in San Jose. And Radio Row, the media epicenter, is in San Francisco. That's 44 miles north of San Jose. So it's really the Silicon Valley Super Bowl, and there's not a lot of super buzz here in NorCal. Very few banners and signs in San Jose and San Francisco. I would say the region has greeted this game with a collective yawn.
And one final note, the NFL Honors is tonight. Hall of Fame selections will be announced. It looks like Larry Fitzgerald Jr., who's from Minneapolis, Arizona Cardinals star wide receiver, should get voted into the class of 2026, the Hall of Fame.
KELLY GORDON: OK. So just another weekend in the Bay Area, but--
ERIC NELSON: Absolutely.
KELLY GORDON: --for most of America, we will be watching closely. And Wally, I'm guessing like me you're going to be watching from afar on TV, so I have to ask the question that everybody wants to know. What will you be snacking on? Do you have a favorite Super Bowl treat?
WALLY LANGFELLOW: [LAUGHS] Uh, probably pizza. I don't know. It's hard to say.
KELLY GORDON: Oh, really? OK. I was hoping for something a little spicier, but pizza is a classic.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, you caught me off guard. But yeah, that's what I'll be doing on Sunday. Well, along with watching some of the Winter Olympic Games.
KELLY GORDON: Yes, let's talk about that.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: I'll probably lead into that. I know that Mr. Nelson will not be watching the Olympics. He could care less about the Olympics. But most of America will be keeping an eye on the Winter Olympics, which, by the way, are already underway competition-wise. I know that the opening ceremonies are tomorrow.
But the US women's hockey team, which is loaded with Minnesotans and loaded with players from the Minnesota Frost, they won this morning. They beat the Czech Republic by a score of 5-1. Their next game is scheduled for Saturday, and I say scheduled for Saturday, against Finland. It's up in the air right now because Finland's game today against Canada postponed because 13 Finn players are being quarantined with the norovirus, so they don't when they're going to play that. It looks like it might be played in about a week or so.
Elsewhere, Minnesota native Lindsey Vonn, of course, been grabbing all these headlines. She says she will ski on Sunday, despite having the torn ACL in her left knee. And of course, she's got the titanium right knee. She also has a strained meniscus in that left knee. At 41, she's the oldest woman to ever compete in Olympic alpine history.
She's going to compete in the downhill on Sunday, she said. She has not announced whether she's going to go into the super-G. That looks doubtful right now. However, the venue, Cortina d'Ampezzo, is her most successful venue. She has 12 World Cup wins in the downhill at that particular venue. So fingers crossed for Lindsey Vonn. We shall see on Sunday if she is able to compete and if she is able to miraculously somehow get onto the podium.
KELLY GORDON: Yeah, it's amazing to me. Honestly, every single time I see a headline, even, with Lindsey Vonn, my knee hurts. I just think, I'm just going to hold on to my knee and make sure it doesn't fall apart. Maybe that will send her the stability that she might need. So I know, too, the Minnesota--
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, like going up and down the steps.
KELLY GORDON: Right, exactly. My knee's not always even stable doing that. She's amazing. The Minnesota Wild and the Frost both have players on the Olympic teams, too. So I'm curious, Eric, how their seasons back home have been going, because we haven't talked much about them.
ERIC NELSON: Yeah. Well, let's start with the Wild. They win last night in Tennessee, 6-5 over Nashville in overtime. Matt Boldy, three goals, one assist. Quinn Hughes, two more assists. He's got 51 on the year. It's the Wild's final game before the Olympic break that Wally talked about.
It might not be a good time for Minnesota to shut it down for this Olympic pause, because the Wild have won five straight games. They have 78 points, the second most in the NHL. However, that's only good for second place in the Central, as Colorado is on top of the division. If Minnesota was in any other division, the Wild would be in first place. Their next game is at Colorado on February 26, so that's going to be a showdown.
As for the Wild players skating for Team USA, how about Brock Faber, Quinn Hughes, and Matt Boldy? And then Filip Gustavsson, Jesper Wallstedt, Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Nico Sturm are all playing for their respective countries. Meanwhile, for the Frost, six Minnesota players on the Team USA roster-- Kendall Coyne Schofield, Taylor Heise, Grace Zumwinkle, Britta Curl-Salemme, Kelly Pannek, and Lee Stecklein.
The Frost have 28 points, second most in the PWHL. Remember, they're going for the three-peat, back-to-back-to-back titles. They won the other day over Vancouver, 4-1. And their next game will be not until March 1, in Montreal. So once again, the Wild and the Frost are shutting it down, but a lot of their players will be playing hockey in Italy at the Olympics.
KELLY GORDON: I love all of these Minnesota connections. Thank you so much to our sports contributors, Wally Langfellow, Eric Nelson. Have a good sports weekend, guys.
ERIC NELSON: Thanks a lot, Kelly.
WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, you too. Talk to you soon.
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