Sports

Confident Twins get 1st crack at division champ Indians
The Twins don't have to wait for a crack at the three-time defending division champions, with a season-opening three-game series starting on Thursday afternoon.
The team kicks off the season at Target Field with a game against Cleveland.
Spruced up: Twins try juniper plants for CF backdrop
After several dead-end attempts to create both a playable backdrop for batters and an aesthetically pleasing surface, the Twins have arrived at what they believe is the final solution: a living wall.
Wisconsin beats Minnesota to claim NCAA women's hockey title
Senior captains Sophia Shaver and Annie Pankowski each scored, and Wisconsin won its fifth NCAA women's hockey championship with a 2-0 victory over Minnesota on Sunday.
Nicole Schammel scored off a rebound midway through the second period and goalie Alex Gulstene made it stand, lifting Minnesota over Cornell 2-0 Friday to earn a spot in the NCAA championship game.
Henning is a town of around 800 residents in Otter Tail County, and the boys basketball team last made it to the state tournament in 1966. The Hornets play Thursday afternoon in the Class A quarterfinals against Christ's Household of Faith.
Not a hoops fan? You can still talk March Madness
Don't follow men's college basketball? Feeling left out of the NCAA tournament fun? MPR News assistant producer Jeffrey Bissoy has you covered. Here's his non-fanatics guide to this year's Big Dance.
Curlytics: The analytics revolution sweeps into curling
The analytics entrenched in baseball and other sports are meeting the swept ice, thrown stones and hammers of curling. The turn-based game on ice is primed for data derived strategies.