The University Of Minnesota-Duluth Mens Championship: Fill & Download for Free

Which University of Minnesota team? For the 2018–2019 seasonMENSU of M Duluth won the NCAA division 1 national championshipU of M (metro) finished 3rd or 4th in the Big 10WomensU of M (metro) won the regular season championship and went to the finals for the 20th consecutive seasonU of M Duluth also went to the finals.

In Minnesota, the Vikings (NFL) always come first. They aren't my favorite of the local teams, but that puts me in the minority. Vikings have a way of teasing fans & letting us down (see: almost in the Super Bowl after 1998 & 2009 seasons). They made 4 Super Bowls under legendary Coach Bud Grant in the 60's & 70's, but lost them all. Biggest player is running back Adrian Peterson, but he is suspended all year for excessive corporal punishment of his son. Teddy Bridgewater is the latest hope for a franchise quarterback (Christian Ponder was a few years ago, but stopped improving, and is a much maligned back-up now). Vikings are not very good this year, but there were no expectations for them to be relevant. They are currently playing at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium, while their new stadium is being built to replace the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (which was home to a Super Bowl, World Series, MLB all-star Game, NCAA Final Four, MN Timberwolves 1st season, and more). Rivals are the Green Bay Packers & Chicago Bears.The Minnesota Twins (MLB) have been on a 4 year skid, after making the playoffs 6 times between 2002 & 2010. Manager Ron Gardenhire (Gardy) was fired after 13 seasons. Hall of Famer Paul Molitor was just named as the new manager, only the 3rd in 28 years (Tom Kelly had the team from mid 1986-2001, which included both World Series wins in Twins history). Joe Mauer is the big name. The St. Paul native was a superstar catcher, winning 3 batting titles & 1 MVP award (no other American League catcher has won a batting title). He is injury prone though, leading to scorn from some fans, due to his $23 million (or so) annual salary. Concussion issues led him to become first baseman last season, and he struggled hitting more than he's done before.The biggest names to know outside of Mauer, are 2 guys who aren't on the team yet:Outfielder Byron Buxton & 3B Miguel Sano are 2 of the top 10 prospects in baseball. However, they both missed all or nearly all of this season in the minor leagues with injuries. They are still who everyone hopes will be the future team saviors though.The biggest question now is if & when the Twins will ever have a good starting pitching staff again, beyond Phil Hughes, who was outstanding last year. Biggest rival is probably Chicago White Sox, with Detroit Tigers 2nd.Minnesota loves hockey. Pros, college, high school & pee wees. The high school state hockey tournament is one of the most popular events in the state (behind the great Minnesota Get Together, the State Fair). While the U of MN is the only NCAA Division 1 school in the state in most sports, all of these schools have D1 hockey: Minnesota, Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State, Minnesota State - Mankato & Bemidji State. Minnesota Gophers are expected to compete for a national title every year, in men's and women's hockey.Minnesota Wild are the NHL team. They arrived at the start of this century, to replace the Minnesota North Stars, who moved to Dallas in the early-mid 90's. Mikko Koivu is the team captain, and his been here the longest. 2 1/2 years ago, Minnesota shocked the hockey world when top free agents Ryan Suter and Zach Parise signed 13 year deals with the Wild. Parise is a Minnesota native whose father played for the North Stars, so fans had been clamoring for him to come here (even if he went to college at the University of North Dakota, a hated rival of MN just a handful of miles over the border in Grand Forks). The Wild also have some of the best young talent in the league (Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula, Jonas Brodin & Nino Niederreiter are a few good names to know). Now the problem is to turn all that incredible skill into more goals. The Wild are underachieving in the scoring category, but are still expected to be a playoff team. Rivals are still in flux due to conference realignment, but Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets may be the budding rivalries now.The Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) are not expected to make the playoffs, or to even come close. Star player Kevin Love wanted out, because they never made the playoffs (they haven't made the playoffs since Kevin Garnett was a younger star, in 2003-2004), so Love was traded. The Wolves got this year's #1 overall draft pick Andrew Wiggins, and last year's #1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett in return. There are high hopes for Wiggins, though there is understanding that he is 19, and needs time to develop. 19 year old Zach LaVine is another name that people are excited about, due to his athletic ability, though his game is still raw.Creative Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio is the team leader after the Kevin Love trade. Unfortunately, he is out for another month with a severely sprained ankle from a few weeks ago. 2 other starters, Kevin Martin & Nikola Pekovic are out for awhile too.Flip Saunders is the only coach to ever lead the Twolves to the playoffs, and after returning to the team as the President last year after nearly a decade away, he named himself head coach this year. The Wolves have no expectations for this year; they are building for the future, but they have some entertaining, high-flying young players. There is no real rival for MN now. It was the Sacramento Kings a decade ago, but that is long gone.In Minnesota, you also need to be aware of the Lynx, the WNBA team. With local star Lindsay Whalen, and world star Maya Moore, the Lynx have won 2 of the last 4 WNBA Championships (they finished 2nd & 3rd the other 2 years) and they draw a steady, large crowd. Rival team is the Phoenix Mercury.Aside from the afore mentioned University of Minnesota Gopher hockey team, Gopher football & Men's Basketball are followed fairly closely here. The football team just had their first change to win a Big Ten Championship since the 60's, but unfortunately lost to Wisconsin. Running back David Cobb did just set the all-time MN single season rushing record though, on 11/29. Head Coach Jerry Kill is clearly building a strong program, after they spent years in the bottom of the conference. Rivals are Iowa and Wisconsin, though they also have a big trophy game with Michigan (They have a trophy game with Penn St. too, but that was created by conference big shots 20 years ago, not by legends and bets of a century ago (or more) like the other 3.Men's basketball won the NIT last year, which was a good accomplishment for 1st year head Coach Richard Pitino (son of Louisville/Kentucky active coaching legend Rick Pitino). Senior guard Andre Hollins is their leader this year. Biggest rival is probably Wisconsin.I think that about covers it!

I grew up about 30 miles west of Grand Forks, where my parents farmed near the town of Larimore, and graduated from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.Grand Forks is on the Red River of the North, which forms the border between North Dakota and Minnesota., where the Red Lake River, flowing from the Red Lakes in Minnesota, joins the Red River. The name Grand Forks comes from the forks formed by the rivers. The smaller city of East Grand Forks is directly across the river in Minnesota. Grand Forks has a population of about 50,000 with an urban area population of about 100,000.The Red River flows nearly straight north, starting as Bois de Sioux River in Lake Traverse on the South Dakota Minnesota border, to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba Canada. The valley formed by the river is very flat along its length and for about 30 to 40 miles on either side.The valley is primarily tall grass prairie with trees or forest along the rivers and some low areas with small groves of trees.The geography of the valley and the climate, which features cold winters and warm summers are cause for some things the city is known for.Due to the snowfall of about 50 inches average, which frequently accumulates throughout the valley from late November until March or April; often rapid melting; and the northerly course of the river; serious floods are common in the spring. The two cities were completely evacuated in 1996 due to flooding following a severe winter and a late spring.Winters are among the harshest anywhere in North America. Temperatures may be a little colder in places like International Falls, MN but with the open countryside and winds causing drifting snow almost any day for up to five months the weather is be as harsh as anywhere.Grand Forks is home of the University of North Dakota (UND), the liberal arts college for the state. UND is the largest university in the state, although that may alternate with the state university (NDSU) some years. UND has the medical school and law school for the state as well as an engineering school. One of the programs the university is most well known for is the Aviation program. When I was attending the university in the late 70's it was the only university in the US where you could get a degree in Aviation and business. The program has grown since and UND has leading competion teams and UAS programs.The city is well known for hockey. The city is the only larger population center, other than Fargo 75 miles south, between Minneapilis and Winnipeg and from Duluth, Minnesota to western North Dakota. Hockey in North Dakota was not significant outside of the Grand Forks area when college hockey really started after WWII. Since it is an urban center for a low population state and region of northern Minnesota there were a number of hockey players from the area and from Canada. UND has won two NCAA national championships through the 1960's and currently have seven national titles, tied for second most with Wisconsin trailing Michigan. UND men's and women's hockey teams pla in an arena built with donations from the late Ralph Englestad which is among the best hockey arenas in North America, including NHL arenas.