Written by Chris Schad
The state of Minnesota lost one of their most recognizable names last weekend when Kevin Love was sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers. As one of the biggest names in the National Basketball Association, Love was one of the last players to be involved in what has been a dearth of superstar talent in the state.
Sure, the Minnesota Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in the summer of 2012 and Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings went on to break the 2,000 yard rushing barrier later that fall. Yet, there haven’t been young stars that have the potential to grab their respective league by the throat and become a face that is known nationally (or even worldwide).
But with the Timberwolves haul for Love, they added to what is becoming an increasingly optimistic stable of young talent in the Minnesota sports scene.
It starts with Andrew Wiggins who was once said to be from the same genetic pool as LeBron James by ESPN.com’s Myron Medcalf. This potential put the entire state into a frenzy when he lead the other members of the Timberwolves’ new nucleus (Anthony Bennett, Thaddeus Young and Zach LaVine) into the Minnesota State Fair on Tuesday afternoon.
A piece like Wiggins is enough to get the rest of the country to realize that there’s more than just blizzards and the Polar Vortex up here, but the reality is that there’s more star power on the way.
The Wild feature several blossoming stars that helped Parise and Suter lead the team to the Western Conference semifinals a year ago. The breakouts of Mikael Granlund (overtime goal in Game 3) and Nino Niederreiter (series-winning overtime goal in Game 7) in the quarterfinals against the Colorado Avalanche have many excited about what they can do as they Granlund turned 22 last February and Niederreiter will hit that age in September.
The Vikings are also starting to show an infusion of young talent thanks to shrewd drafting over the past couple years. Cordarrelle Patterson is ready to become the second coming of an electric “84” and Teddy Bridgewater has the potential to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL if Norv Turner and his offensive staff can bring it out of him.
Even the Viking defense has impactful, young stars as Harrison Smith has been blossoming into a top safety in his first two years while Xavier Rhodes and Anthony Barr could become the impact players the unit has been craving for.
Even the Twins have promise with one of the most loaded farm systems in baseball. While Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano have battled injuries in 2014, they’re still highly regarded and could be hitting bombs and swiping bases in Minneapolis by the time 2015 comes to a close.
With such young talent across the board, it may put an end to Minnesotans struggle to decide if they really want to endure punishment over a two to three hour period. It might even spurn a different struggle where they don’t know which team to watch.
Either way, there’s a massive amount of hope on the horizon that Minnesota can become the epicenter of the sports world. Of course, that’s assuming they do their best not to screw things up.
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Chris Schad contributes to 105 The Ticket and has had his work featured on the Bleacher Report and Yahoo Contributor Network. He serves as the Vikings Lead Writerfor Pro Football Spot. Find him on Twitter @crishad. |