Boomshakalaka! The Twins & Timberwolves cross paths again 20 years later
02/05/2024 14:00
What else was I supposed to watch while Victory Sports One died a slow death?
At times here on Twinkie Town I've discussed my parallel fandom of the Minnesota Vikings. Sometimes football pulls slightly ahead—but baseball always resurfaces.
Yet, my MN sports devotion has never bled into the Minnesota Wild or Minnesota Timberwolves. On the hockey side I know why—a video of my fawn-legged ice skating routine from childhood is a staple of family comedic lore. But basketball? Well, the Wolves being "Kevin Garnett and absolutely nothing else" during most of my adolescence probably explains the disinterest.
However, with the T-Wolves having just won an NBA playoff series for the first time since 2004 (hey, there's that year again!), it seems a good moment to remember that singular—albeit brief—occasion when I was howling with them.
If you grew up a 90s kid like me, basketball was everywhere whether you liked it or not (this being the peak of Air Jordan's reign). I was no different:
- I had the basketball hoop in the driveway turnaround.
- I saw Space Jam in 1996 because I was eleven years old and that's just what you did if you wanted any social credibility.
- I'd endlessly drain 3's with Reggie Miller ("he's on fire!") or dominate the paint with Malone & Stockton ("slams it!") on NBA Jam for the Super Nintendo.
- I distinctly remember being riveted to the 1998 NBA Finals when Jordan's "last dance" with the Chicago Bulls again thwarted the Utah Jazz.
But none of that really "took" in a sports-watching sense—until a certain set of circumstances cropped up.
In late-spring '04 I was nearly to the finish line of high school and looking for any excuse to set aside Advanced Physics. Normally the Twins would have provided the proper distraction, but they had been snatched from my screens by Victory Sports One.
Couple that with a Timberwolves squad that was arguably the best in franchise history: peak KG, Latrell Sprewell, Sam Cassell, Trenton Hassell, Fred Hoiberg, Michael Olowokandi, & Wally Szczerbiak. This was a unit (58-24, 1st in the Midwest Division) primed for a deep playoff run—and after years of first round "thanks for participating" exits it happened.
With no baseball available and senioritis at peak levels, I became invested. I recall watching portions of their first round dispatching of the Denver Nuggets, then their dramatic 7-game series victory over the Sacramento Kings. Even when the games would conclude past my bedtime, I'd read the Star Tribune basketball coverage as eagerly as the box scores.
By the time VS1 was terminated and the Twins back on Fox Sports North, I was hooked on the Wolves enough to keep watching. Sadly, despite putting up a noble six-game fight in the Western Conference Finals, they were eliminated by the Shaq & Kobe Los Angeles Lakers juggernaut.
Did this b-ball dalliance turn me into a life-long hoop head? Far from it. To this day I've never attended a Timberwolves contest at Target Center. But with Anthony Edwards channeling MJ energy and sweeping the Phoenix Suns, momentum is again growing. Perhaps I'll tune in for the upcoming Wolves/Nuggets semi-finals clash (so long as it doesn't conflict with our boys of summer, of course). I certainly don't have to worry about physics any longer—well, until the next JohnFoley post.
How do the Timberwolves (or basketball in general) rate alongside your Twins fandom? Let us know in the comments!
