Howard Sinker

sports take | The Place for Sports in Troubling Times 1.29.26

New Sports Take: What's the right place for sports in troubled times? Athletes share their feelings. How will the Paul Allen "paid protesters" mess play out? Writers apologize to former Vikings. Frost star/Olympian Britta Curl-Salamme sets off another controversy by posting on an anti-trans website.

Ikogaan mikwam! = Ice out!

Ojibwe word of the day! Learning languages is fun and honors our ancestors and future generations. Follow #Ojibwe WOD: www.youtube.com/@anton.treuer Miigwech (thank you)! #ice

From your keyboard to Satan’s ears. 👺

Photo is a sculpture of legendary Minnesota Star Tribune sports columnist Sid Hartman, who died in 2020 at age 100, holding a sign that says, "Jan. 23 Strike Against racism."

Legendary Minnesota @startribune.com columnist Sid Hartman on strike.

Been watching her play since high school. This is who she is. 🏀

Geez, gotta put down my phone. Your updates are ahead of my broadcast.

sports take | Guide: How to Follow Sports in a Troubled Media Market 1.22.26

New Sports Take: "Newspapers" are charging more and providing less as sports staffs shrink & budgets tighten. So how do you get a thorough Minnesota sports report? We have some ideas, as well as a sweet story of two high school wrestlers and the bizarre kidnapping of former MNUFC coach Adrian Heath.

As a physical therapist, can you answer: Is an exploding tree more like a torn ACL or a ruptured patellar tendon? 🪾🧨

Butt-Head: "Hey, Mevis. You said $#!+. Heh-heh. Heh-heh-heh."

sports take | Coach: 'I'd Die If I Kept Doing This Job' + Revenge is His 1.15.26

Fresh Sports Take newsletter: Tracking Brian Flores' options about his NFL future. Braeden Carrington's revenge. Hockey Day Minnesota gets huge. Gophers women figure out how to beat a ranked team. Can Gophers men's hockey beat anyone? A coach walks away from $42 million. My Hall of Fame ballot.

Great! Don't hesitate to message if you want some school wisdom.

Bears cheese-grating rally shreds Packers season. 😉🏈

Cheese Grated

I am doing my best not to drive over to Bunny’s.

At a basketball game in the Twin Cities and the officials better be good because there are a whole lot of whistles in the stands.

John isenbarger, RIP

sports take | Buying Athletes, Our Least Liked Owner + a Theme For 2026 1.8.26

Sports Take is back from break with a theme for 2026. Also, how much does it cost to buy a college football player? Niko wants more court storming. The most unpopular (and popular) team owners in town. @startribune.com's deadline dilemma. And the transfer portal killed the teen dream. Deal with it.

As a tall person I am pondering this call-and-response.

Counterprogramming for the Vikings. At the St. Thomas-Denver game. Nice arena, good game, good lead-in for Bears-Lions later.

Your early roundup of the latest in Minnesota sports

This is getting emailed to subscribers now at 5 a.m. to compensate — a 2010s-look sports headlines newsletter.

“Print” deadline for the Sunday edition is now 4 p.m.

Napheesa Collier expected to miss 4-6 months after ankle surgery The Lynx star will not be able to play for her Unrivaled team this season and might be out at the start of the 2026 WNBA season.

Oh, $#!+

Glad to help. Let me know if you need to know more.

I should really know better than to drive through the Total Wine parking lot at 8:15 on New Year's Eve on the way to pick up dinner. 🚑🚑🚑🚑🍷🍸🍺🍾

Great River School Public Montessori School, Grades 1 through 12

School: Great River Charter. Can hook you up with a family, if you want.
www.greatriverschool.org

Home - Minnesota Institute For Talented Youth Applications for Summer 2026 Available on Jan. 1st! About Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth MITY provides advanced students with the opportunity to

Starters:
Neighborhood: Mac-Groveland
Food: University Ave., Grand Ave. and Cecil’s.
Summer camp: Minnesota Institute For Talented Youth: mity.org

Steve, I've read that two trucks will be transporting the newspapers from Iowa to the Twin Cities -- and then they'll be distributed as before by smaller delivery trucks. Can't say this with 100% certainty but that was the plan at one time.

ECHL, players reach tentative CBA deal, end strike The ECHL and the Professional Hockey Players' Association have reached tentative approval on a new collective bargaining agreement to end a strike that lasted two days.

They reached a tentative agreement on Saturday. But it is odd that the first I thing I saw about the strike was that a settlement was reached.

I'm not sure and that's an interesting question. I spent my last 15 years before leaving the Strib in digital . ("Early adapter" by industry standards ) The smart ass answer is, "A lot fewer than when I was a reporter."

Not sure that’s a detour I’d want to take!