Sports in Minnesota

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Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations, and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all four major professional leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL), and the University of Minnesota is part of the oldest major college conference still running (the Big Ten).

Contents

[edit] Professional Sports

[edit] Baseball

The Twins in the Metrodome
The Twins in the Metrodome

The Minnesota Twins are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team that moved to Minnesota in 1961 from Washington D.C.,[1] where they were known as the Washington Senators. The Twins have played their home games at the Metrodome in Minneapolis since 1982. They have been to the World Series in 1965, 1987, and 1991, winning in 1987 and 1991. In 2001, the Twins and the Montreal Expos were threatened with extinction in a contraction scheme of the Commissioner of Baseball.[2] That effort was unsuccessful, and the next year the team made it to the ALCS. Notable current and former Twins include Kirby Puckett, Bert Blyleven, Harmon Killebrew, Paul Molitor, Johan Santana, Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter, Eddie Guardado, David Ortiz, A.J. Pierzynski, Corey Koskie, and Kent Hrbek.

The St. Paul Saints are an American Association team. The team was formerly of the Northern League. The team was founded in 1993 as an inaugural team in the league. They won the Northern League Championship in 1993, 1995, 1996, and in 2004.[3] Notable current and former players include Kevin Millar, Darryl Strawberry, Jack Morris, and Ila Borders. The Saints play their home games at Midway Stadium in St. Paul and are not affiliated with Major League Baseball.

See also: Sports_in_Minnesota#Baseball_2 below for information on amateur and other minor league teams.

[edit] Basketball

The Minnesota Timberwolves are a National Basketball Association (NBA) team founded in 1989[4] and play their home games at Target Center in Minneapolis. The "Wolves", as they are called by fans, have yet to appear in an NBA Finals series. In 2000, NBA officials ruled that the Wolves violated league rules when signing then free agent Joe Smith. They then declared the contract was henceforth invalid, fined the organization $3.5 million, and took the team's next 3 first round draft picks.[5] Notable current and former players include Sam Cassell, Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury, Latrell Sprewell, Wally Szczerbiak, Malik Sealy and Elgin Baylor.

The Minnesota Lynx are a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team founded in 1999 and play their home games at Target Center in Minneapolis. The Lynx have made the playoffs in 2003 and 2004, but have never appeared in the WNBA Finals. In 2005, the Lynx drafted Seimone Augustus from LSU. She has become the center of the Franchise this season, and has been the center of many WNBA ads.

The Minneapolis Lakers were an NBA team that was moved from Detroit, Michigan to Minneapolis in 1947.[6] During their stay in Minneapolis, the Lakers won the 1947–48 National Basketball League (NBL) championship, then joined 4 other NBL teams in joining the Basketball Association of America (BAA), where they won the 1948–49 BAA championship. After the 1948–49 season, the NBL and the BAA merged to become the NBA. The Lakers then won 5 championships in 6 years, winning in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, and 1954.[7] They are considered to be the NBA's first "Dynasty". Notable players include George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Vern Mikkelsen, Slater Martin, and Clyde Lovellette. In 1960, the Lakers moved to Los Angeles, California, where they became the Los Angeles Lakers.

[edit] Football

The Minnesota Vikings are a National Football League (NFL) team founded as an expansion team in 1961. They have played their home games at the Metrodome in Minneapolis since 1982. The Vikings have won one NFL Championship in 1969, a year before the AFL-NFL Merger. The Vikings were the first team to appear in four Super Bowls, but also became the first team to lose four Super Bowls. Notable current and former players include Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, Jim Marshall, Ron Yary, Mick Tingelhoff, Paul Krause, Cris Carter, Carl Eller, Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman, Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper, Brad Johnson, Alan Page and the Purple People Eaters.

The Minnesota Vixen are a Women's Professional Football League founded in 1998. They have not appeared in the WPFL Championship.

[edit] Hockey

The Minnesota Wild are a National Hockey League (NHL) team founded in 2000 and play their home games at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Wild have not appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals. With their first draft pick in franchise history, the Wild Drafted Marian Gaborik, a player that currently holds the team's record for most points in a season.[8] The Wild made it to the Western Conference Finals in 2002, before being swept by the then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

The Minnesota Whitecaps are an all women's team that plays in the National Women's Hockey League.

The Minnesota North Stars were an NHL team that was part of the 1967 NHL Expansion and played their home games at Met Center in Bloomington. They appeared in the 1981 and 1991 Stanley Cup Finals, but did not win either one of them. In 1993, the North Stars moved to Dallas, where they became the Dallas Stars. Notable players include Harry Howell, John Mariucci, Gump Worsley, and Mike Modano.

The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Eveleth, on the Iron Range.

[edit] Lacrosse

The Minnesota Swarm is the state's professional lacrosse team. The National Lacrosse League (NLL) awarded St. Paul the inactive Montreal Express franchise on August 10, 2004. On December 10 of the same year the team played its first exhibition game against the Colorado Mammoth. In the 2005 season the Swarm missed the playoffs, finishing fifth in the eastern division. In the 2006 season, it qualified for the playoffs for the first time, but was eliminated by the Buffalo Bandits in the first round.

[edit] Soccer

The Minnesota Thunder are an USL First Division team founded in 1992 as an amateur Men's team, then joined the USL in 1994. [9] Notable former players include Tony Sanneh and Manuel Lagos. The Thunder play their home games at the James Griffin Stadium in St. Paul, with rare exceptions.

The Minnesota Lightning are a W-League team founded in 2006.

[edit] Golf

Minnesota plays host to several professional professional golf events. The Champions Tour has an annual stop in Minnesota. What was formerly was the Burnett Senior Classic played at Bunker Hills is now the 3M Championship played at TPC Twin Cities. Minnesota was the host of the Minnesota LPGA Classic from 1990 - 1998. Though Minnesota is not a stop on the men's PGA tour, the state has hosted several major events. The U.S. Open has been played in the state twice, both times at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in 1970 and 1991. Hazeltine then played host to the PGA Championship in 2002, and will again in 2009. The Ryder Cup will then visit Hazeltine in 2016.

[edit] Table of professional teams

Club Sport League Home Venue Championships
Minnesota Twins Baseball Major League Baseball; AL (Central Division) Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome World Series: 1987, 1991
Minnesota Vikings American football National Football League; NFC (North Division) Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Minnesota Timberwolves Basketball National Basketball Association; Western (Northwest Division) Target Center
Minnesota Wild Ice hockey National Hockey League; Western (Northwest Division) Xcel Energy Center
Minnesota Swarm Indoor lacrosse National Lacrosse League; Eastern Division Xcel Energy Center
Minnesota Lynx Basketball Women's National Basketball Association; Western Target Center
Minnesota Vixen American football Women's Professional Football League; National Conference Hamline University's Klas Field
Saint Paul Saints Baseball American Association; North Division Midway Stadium Northern League Championship: 1993, 1995, 1996, 2004
Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks Baseball Northern League; West Division Newman Outdoor Field Northern League Championship: 1998, 2003, 2006
Minnesota Thunder Soccer USL First Division James Griffin Stadium
Minnesota Lightning Soccer W-League; Central Conference University of Minnesota's Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium
Minnesota Ripknees Basketball American Basketball Association Gangelhoff Center

[edit] NASCAR drivers from Minnesota

[edit] College

The men's Gophers football team plays in the Metrodome
The men's Gophers football team plays in the Metrodome

The state of Minnesota has 27 schools competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Minnesota is one of eleven US states that do not have a school listed as an National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) member[10], though there are schools transitioning from the NAIA to the NCAA.

[edit] Division I

The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers compete in NCAA Division I as member of the Big Ten Conference for all sports but hockey. In the latter sport the school is a member of the NCAA's Division I Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The Golden Gophers have won 23 total national collegiate championships, including 6 in football, 5 in men's hockey, 3 in baseball, 3 in women's hockey, 2 in men's basketball, 1 in men's golf, 1 in men's track and field, and 2 in men's wrestling.[11] The entire list of collegiate national championships can be found here. A list of notable former Golden Gophers can be found at Minnesota Golden Gophers#Notable Gopher athletes and coaches.

Four other universities in Minnesota maintain NCAA Division I ice hockey programs, and all five field both men's and women's teams. The other four Division I schools (for ice hockey only) are Bemidji State University, the University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State University, Mankato, and St. Cloud State University. All five schools participate in the WCHA, with the exception of the Bemidji State men's team which is a member of College Hockey America.

[edit] Division II

The NCAA Division II teams in Minnesota are from the North Central Conference (NCC) or the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). There are 10 Division II classified schools for the 2006–2007 year.

Teams competing in the NCC are:[12]

The NCC was founded in 1921.[13] All three of these school were at one time members of the NSIC. All three school additionally compete in Division I Ice Hockey, competing in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) for both men's and women's hockey. Minnesota State, Mankato has produced three NCAA Division II titles, Minnesota-Duluth has produced three NCAA titles (all in Women's Division I ice hockey). St. Cloud State has no national titles.[14]

Teams competing in the NSIC are:[15]

The NSIC was founded in 1932[16] and joined the NCAA in 1992. Bemidji State notably competes in Division I in men's and women's hockey, as members of the WCHA. Bemidji State University has won five NCAA Division II titles. Winona State has won one NCAA Division II title. Concordia, St. Paul, UM-Crookston, MSU-Moorhead and Southwest Minnesota State have not won any NCAA team titles.[17]

The University of Minnesota, Morris Cougars, formerly a member of the NSIC, are transitioning to Division III and the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference. They are still considered as a Division II member.[18]

[edit] Division III

The NCAA Division III teams in Minnesota play in one of two leagues, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) or the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC).

Teams competing in the MIAC:[19]

The MIAC was founded in 1920.[20] Conference schools have won 30 total NCAA titles.[21] Among those titles are Augsburg's nine wrestling titles, and St. Thomas' eleven total titles.

Teams competing in the UMAC:[22]

The UMAC was founded in 1972.[23] The conference is currently in the process of becoming a NCAA Division III conference. There are eight full members, six from Minnesota. Three of those members are listed as Division III members. Additionally, one school is transitioning from Division II to Division III. Two additional Minnesota schools will eventually be Division III members: Bethany Lutheran College and Northwestern College.

[edit] Olympians from Minnesota

The United States hockey team won the Olympic gold medal for ice hockey in 1980, coached by Minnesota native Herb Brooks. Eleven of the twenty players on the roster were from Minnesota. The team beat the long-dominant Soviet team in what has been called the Miracle on Ice, and went on to win the gold medal by defeating Finland.

Similary, the majority of players on the 1972 Olympic silver medal hockey team came from Minnesota.[24]

In the 2006 Winter Olympics, both the bronze medal U.S. men's and the women's curling teams came from the Bemidji Curling Club.

St. Paul native Tom Malchow won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in swimming.

[edit] Amateur sports

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.
This article has been tagged since January 2007.

[edit] Baseball

Summer Collegiate Baseball is present in Minnesota with the SCBA-sanctioned Northwoods League. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate, and therefore are not paid. Minnesota's Northwoods League teams are the Alexandria Beetles, Brainerd Blue Thunder, Duluth Huskies, Mankato Moondogs, Rochester Honkers, and St. Cloud River Bats. The Northwoods League Offices are located in Rochester, Minnesota. There are also Northwoods League teams operating in Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, and Ontario, Canada. The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks are a Northern League team founded in 1996. They won the Northern League Title in 1998 and in 2003.[25]

Other Minor League Baseball teams associated with Minnesota include the Rochester Red Wings (AAA), the New Britain Rock Cats (AA), the Fort Myers Miracles (High-A), the Beloit Snappers (Low-A), the Elizabethton Twins (Rookie), the DSL Twins[26] of the Dominican Summer League, and GCL Twins of the Gulf Coast League, all sponsored by the Minnesota Twins.

American Legion baseball is played throughout the state in summer.

[edit] Golf

Minnesota has more golfers per capita than any state in the U.S. [27] Hazeltine National Golf Club played host to the 2006 United States Amateur Championship (men's golf). [28]

[edit] Curling

In addition to the Bemidji Curling Club whose members competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics, there are over two dozen curling clubs in the state.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Twins Timeline. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
  2. ^ ESPN.com Selig says baseball will try again in 2003. ESPN Baseball. ESPN (2002-02-13). Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  3. ^ Tyler, Wm R. (2006). nlfan.com St. Paul Saints. nlfan. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  4. ^ Timberwolves.com Timberwolves Statistics. NBA Media Ventures, LLC (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  5. ^ Allen, Nate (2000). SportsLawNews.com Timberwolves Heavily Penalized for Secret Deal. Mark's Sportslaw News. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  6. ^ D. Barreiro, The Fab Five. NBA Encyclopedia Playoff Edition. NBA Media Ventures, LLC (2006). Retrieved on 2007-01-07.
  7. ^ NBA.com Year-by-year results - NBA Finals: All-Time Champions. NBA Encyclopedia Playoff Edition. NBA Media Ventures, LLC (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  8. ^ Wild.com Marian Gaborik. State of Hockey. Minnesota Sports and Entertainment (2005). Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  9. ^ mnthunder.com Team History. Minnesota Thunder. mnthunder. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  10. ^ National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Member Institutions. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  11. ^ Gophersports.com Minnesota Championships. Goldy's Locker Room. University of Minnesota (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-04.
  12. ^ North Central Conference Member Page. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  13. ^ North Central Conference About Us Page. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  14. ^ How many NCAA championships has your school won?. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  15. ^ Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  16. ^ Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Media Guide. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  17. ^ How many NCAA championships has your school won?. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  18. ^ NCAA's UM-Morris information page. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  19. ^ Minnesota Athletic Intercollegiate Conference member page. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  20. ^ Minnesota Athletic Intercollegiate Conference History. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  21. ^ How many NCAA championships has your school won?. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  22. ^ Upper Midwest Athletic Conference member page. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  23. ^ Upper Midwest Athletic Conference history page. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  24. ^ Caraccioli, Tom (2006). Striking Silver: The Untold Story of America's Forgotten Hockey Team. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1596700785. 
  25. ^ Tyler, Wm R. (2006). nlfan.com Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. nlfan. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  26. ^ DSL Twins - Dominican Summer League (R). Baseball America (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-28.
  27. ^ [1]
  28. ^ [2]

[edit] External links

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