Minnesota Championship Drought

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

With the Twins losing their 18th straight playoff game, Vikings 0-3 and on the slow decline, Wolves a long way away and not sure if the Wild will figure it out.

Will my people see a title this decade? Or will they continue the longest drought into 2030?

[KG4Ever]

Not likely. Some of us (including me) probably won't be alive to see another Minnesota major sports title (sorry Lynx). I'm ok with two Twins titles (though I was in Europe in 87 and couldn't watch it). At this point, I'm finding some consolation in the Lakers winning as they are a former Minnesota franchise, though I know many on this Board hate them.

[Wolvesfan21]

It's hard to have 4 sport franchises and not win every so often, just by dumb luck that they draft a couple star players and get a great coach. Simple math you have a ~3% chance for any team to win in any season. So if you have 4 tickets in a year that's roughly a 12% chance or so any team could win. Now multiply that over 30 years. Yes I know we didn't have hockey for a bit too. But man it's long odds to NOT win in 30 years. You should probably win 1 every ten years or 3 in 30. Rough estimates of course.

Blame the crappy market and shitty cold weather I suppose. ):

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

I think the Twins have a legitimate chance if the front office pulls their heads out of their asses and get a bullpen. The starting pitching gave us a chance this year and the bats and bullpen blew it. Buxton finally showed signs of breaking through with the bat this year. Get a real bullpen and then just prey the bats finally show up next year and I think they have a chance. They have a small window before they have to start paying a bunch of guys.

The NBA is just tough to win if you don't have a superstar wing and we don't have one so I don't expect a title from the Wolves any time soon.

The Wild have an outside chance with Fiala and Kaprizov if they can find real centermen for the 1st 2 lines. That's a long shot though.

The Vikings are fucked until they ditch Kirk. He just doesn't have the "it" factor at the QB position to put the team on his back and bring home a Super Bowl.

[Coolbreeze44]

I pondered this same thing today after the Twins game ended. Here's my take. I think the Twins, Wolves, and Vikings all have culture problems. And this culture undermines any real chance they have to make a title run. You can't possibly lose 18 straight playoff games without having some systemic issues. A novelist framing a fictional team with the same history as the Vikings wouldn't be believed, and wouldn't sell any books. And we all know the Wolves have the worst culture in the league, and possibly in the entire sports landscape.

The problem with the Wild is much the same as the very early Wolves teams. They were too good too early and haven't been able to escape the middle class of the league's hierarchy. But I think with the Wild there is hope. GM Bill Guerin knows things have to change, and I'm encouraged by the vigor in which he is going about it. It won't happen overnight, but I can see him building a winner within 3-4 years. Hope springs eternal.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

I think the Twins have a legitimate chance if the front office pulls their heads out of their asses and get a bullpen. The starting pitching gave us a chance this year and the bats and bullpen blew it. Buxton finally showed signs of breaking through with the bat this year. Get a real bullpen and then just prey the bats finally show up next year and I think they have a chance. They have a small window before they have to start paying a bunch of guys.

The NBA is just tough to win if you don't have a superstar wing and we don't have one so I don't expect a title from the Wolves any time soon.

The Wild have an outside chance with Fiala and Kaprizov if they can find real centermen for the 1st 2 lines. That's a long shot though.

The Vikings are fucked until they ditch Kirk. He just doesn't have the "it" factor at the QB position to put the team on his back and bring home a Super Bowl.

Twins have a good bullpen as is, but they're lacking a reliable closer at the back end. Taylor Rogers isn't best-suited for that role. He's a potentially elite setup guy that was misused and less affective this season. Rocco Baldelli also needs to rely on his better arms more often than just plucking the veteran for a situation. I've seen enough Sergio Romo for a lifetime. Minnesota has Trevor May, Tyler Duffey, and Cody Stashak that are all better than Romo and yet the salty veteran who only throws sliders keeps getting the ball in big moments. That needs to stop.

The starting pitching was vastly improved this season with the addition of Kenta Maeda. The bullpen is rock solid but with room for improvement at the back end. The lineup was a disappointment for the better part of the year and unfortunately Josh Donaldson was a huge contributor to that. What a waste of money this season. He was specifically brought in to make a difference in the postseason and he was a no show. That just can't happen.

If the Twins are serious about becoming contenders, they need to use Jake Odorizzi's money -- and then some -- and chase Trevor Bauer this off-season. They need to explore a trade for an established closer in his prime. They also need to re-sign Nelson Cruz and add a competent bench bat. Baldelli falls in love with pinch-hitting a catcher for another catcher. He used all four of them in Game 1 against Houston. Watching Willians Astudillo go up to bat with the bases loaded was embarrassing. And lastly, Baldelli needs to ride his starters when they're affective in the playoffs. He's establishing a bad pattern of yanking starters too early. He did it last year with Jose Berrios against the Yankees and he did it this year with both Kenta Maeda and Jose Berrios against the Astros. The methodology there is silly.

This is longer than I thought, but that's how I feel about the Twins right now.

[Coolbreeze44]

The Twins need some guys with grit. You guys old enough to remember Gaetti, Gladden, and Puckett know what I'm talking about. I can't believe the small stones the current team has. Just embarrassing.

[KG4Ever]

It's hard to have 4 sport franchises and not win every so often, just by dumb luck that they draft a couple star players and get a great coach. Simple math you have a ~3% chance for any team to win in any season. So if you have 4 tickets in a year that's roughly a 12% chance or so any team could win. Now multiply that over 30 years. Yes I know we didn't have hockey for a bit too. But man it's long odds to NOT win in 30 years. You should probably win 1 every ten years or 3 in 30. Rough estimates of course.

Blame the crappy market and shitty cold weather I suppose. ):

I wish I could agree with those odds, but unfortunately, all teams don't have equal odds. I've never seen the Gopher football team play in a Rosebowl and I've been alive more than 50 years, even though odds are they should have played in about 5. The Wolves are a terrible organization, and their chances are close to 0% as long as Taylor, Rosas and company are in charge and even post-Taylor, the odds are probably much worse than 1 in 30 that they will be able to assemble a team that can win a title, given the long history of free agents shunning the Minnesota market. I don't follow the Vikings or Wild, but neither franchise has won a title before and would think their odds are worse than random chance. The Twins are the only team that has won, but that was long ago before the big spending era hit baseball and the Twins also had luck on their side as they won titles despite not winning a single road game in 87 and 91 as the AL had the homefield advantage.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

I'll say yes to my question and pick the Vikes. They've been the closest and you can catch lightning in a bottle with just a few playoff wins to take it.

2025 Super Bowl Champs with head coach PJ Fleck!

[Coolbreeze44]

I'll say yes to my question and pick the Vikes. They've been the closest and you can catch lightning in a bottle with just a few playoff wins to take it.

2025 Super Bowl Champs with head coach PJ Fleck!

Fleck's current team is the best bet. He will win a national championship one day, just hope it's here.