Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 9.29.25
1,700 words plus today.
Cool moment in Pittsburgh as Marc-Andre Fleury signed a pro tryout to play part of one pre-season game so the Penguins fans could properly say goodbye. He’ll officially sign retirement papers now and return to Minnesota.
At long last, the Twins season is over. Seventy wins - 13 of them came in a row in May. A nice round of starts for their young rotation the last week of the season, though. No time like the present to root against the Red Sox this week, welcome aboard.
The Wild is 1-2-1 in the pre-season after losing to the Blackhawks at home last night. Two more pre-season games remain. We still haven’t seen most of the Wild’s best lineup.
Lynx Blow Pair of Double-Digit Leads in Game 4; Season Over
Missing their suspended head coach and injured MVP candidate and facing elimination, the Lynx twice surrendered double digit leads in an 86-81 Game 4 loss in Phoenix to end their season. Minnesota is the first team in WNBA playoff history to lose two games when leading by 14 or more points. The Lynx blew a 20-point, second-half lead in a Game 2 that turned the series around.
Minnesota led by 14 in the first hald and settled for a halftime tie, then seemed sure of forcing a Game 5 with a 13-point lead after three quarters. But Minnesota scored just 13 points in the fourth quarter, seven of them on two late buckets with the game out of reach.
The Lynx obviously missed both injured Napheesa Collier as well as head coach Cheryl Reeve. The latter may have been the biggest difference. Trailing by three with around 40 seconds left and coming out of a Lynx timeout, Minnesota got a rushed 3-point heave from Kayla McBride with plenty of time on the shot clock. McBride (31 points) was the Lynx’ best player all night, but that was not a good shot in that situation.
By now you’ve all heard about Friday’s Game 3. In journalism school you learn that the best defense for libel is truth, but not in the WNBA apparently. Yes she was salty because Napheesa Collier got hurt on a critical play late in Game 3, but Reeve’s profanity-laced post-game rant that earned her a suspension was about more than just that. It was about the WNBA’s officiating all year - letting things go far too often, players getting hurt, embarrassing moments happening for the league. In fact, when Las Vegas and Indiana coaches were asked about it yesterday, they didn’t disagree.
Vikings Beat Up in Dublin
Suddenly there’s no quarterback controversy, just another depleted offensive line and concerns about it protecting J.J. McCarthy against the Philadelphia Eagles in three weeks.
Down three offensive linemen, Carson Wentz was under siege all day as the Steelers beat the Vikings 24-21 in Dublin in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated. Minnesota, now 2-2, plays Cleveland next week in London. Wentz was sacked six times and threw two interceptions, finally getting untracked way too late.
Did the Vikings make it close with two frantic fourth quarter scores, including a blown coverage pass to Jordan Addison who was somehow caught from behind by a linebacker before scoring, costing the Vikings a minute of gametime? Yes. Did the Steelers try to gift them a comeback with penalties and questionable decision making in the fourth? Yes, but the Vikings are now 2-2.
Brian O’Neill (needs an MRI on his knee) left the game early in the first half, and then center Ryan Kelly suffered his second concussion in a month and fifth of his career. There’s definitely concern what McCarthy can do behind this group when he returns after the bye week.
The Vikings center position may be the most cursed position in the NFL. You can’t win in the NFL with three backups on the OL. T.J. Hockenson is making $16.5 million a year and was targeted just one time in the first half.
Wentz showed considerable lack of decision making on the final drive, after the Vikings got the ball at their own 20 with 61 seconds left. After an intentional grounding, the Vikings made up some ground before spiking the ball. The Vikings were then assessed a delay of game penalty because there was no play clock in that end of the field - Kevin O’Connell says they found out five minutes before the game it wasn’t going to be functioning. But Wentz has to be more aware; the Vikings had barely broken the huddle when the clock ran out.
Minnesota’s defense (still without Andrew Van Ginkel), celebrated so hard last week, was not good. The Vikings were penalized five times, but one made what looked like a TD drive become a field goal in the first half, and another negated a long kick return in the second half when they were down two scores.
Europe Holds Off Furious U.S. Rally at Ryder Cup
The United States’ best golfers finally showed up - but it was too little, too late at the Ryder Cup.
The Americans somehow made it stressful on the Euros late Sunday. The U.S. trailed 11.5 to 4.5, with the Euros needing just 14 to retain the Ryder Cup. It was actually 12 to 5 soon thereafter, when Viktor Hovland’s neck injury withdrawal earned the Euros a half point in one of the worst rules in all of sports. Yes, if someone backs out with an injury, their team gets a half point.
The Euros won just one of 12 singles matches on Sunday, and a Shane Lowry putt on No. 18 with three matches left officially clinched them at least retaining the Ryder Cup (defending champion can win when the score is tied).
How it got to that point will need to be dissected by the U.S. They were non competitive in two days of foursomes and four-bals. They have the best individual golfers (by and large) in the world but that doesn’t make a good team. The world’s No. 1 player - Scottie Scheffler, beat Rory McIlroy in singles to avoid becoming the first U.S. golfer EVER to go 0-5 at The Ryder Cup. The Euros looked happy to be around each other; the U.S. for most of the weekend looked like they were ready to catch their own private planes home.
The crowd on Long Island also gave McIlroy and Lowry the business to the point of it not being fun anymore. McIlroy of course gave the business back to the fans, but it went too far. Even people on payroll - the first hole MC was trying to get an “eff you, Rory” chant going. She was getting paid! And don’t think the Irish won’t remember it when the Ryder Cup shifts to County Limerick in 2027.
You just don’t lose the Ryder Cup on home soil. You get to set up the course the way you want to, and U.S. captain Keegan Bradley (who could have picked himself, and maybe cost the U.S. the win by not) alluded to the fact he should have set the course up differently.
The Ryder Cup comes back to to Minnesota in 2029.
Gophers Rally from 14 Down to Top Rutgers
I hope we get four years of Drake Lindsey. Just four games into his starting Gopher career, the redshirt quarterback was dynamite, throwing for 324 yards and three touchdowns as Minnesota rallied from a 14-point deficit for a 31-28 win over Rutgers.
The Gophers play at No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday night in a nationally-televised game on NBC.
Lindsey’s third TD pass was the game-winning score, a four-yarder to Javon Tracy with 3:19 left. The Gophers’ top two running backs missed the game with injuries, and in the past that would have been an issue. But not with Lindsey, who is a deep threat the Gophers haven’t had in recent memory. He connected on a 78-yard pass with Jalen Smith.
Loons Tie Rapids; Two Points Back with Two to Play
The Loons came from behind to force a 1-1 draw in Colorado on Saturday, pushing their unbeaten streak on the road to nine games. First-place FC San Diego also tied. San Diego and Vancouver are tied for first - Vancouver has a game in hand - with the Loons two points back with two to play.
The Loons do play the two worst teams in the Western Conference, starting with the regular season home finale against Sporting KC this Saturday.
GWH Roughs Up B.C.
I’ll say it, college hockey shouldn’t start in September. But it does - at least the women’s game - and the Gophers sent Boston College back east with two losses by a combined 18-1 score.
B.C. won 21 games last year. Hockey East isn’t the WCHA but it’s not that bad. An impressive weekend for the Gophers, who should contend for a national title this year. Abbey Murphy (four goals, five assists in the two games) didn’t come back to lose in the WCHA Tournament. Brad Frost recruited three transfers who are going to play a big role, too.
The Gopher women play at B.U. this weekend. The men open up the 2025-26 season at home against Michigan Tech this weekend.
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