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Good morning, Minnesota! Boy, am I glad I went to a concert last night 🏈 On to the news 📢

Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune

Say it with me now: "There's always next year."

We might as well make that the official slogan of pro sports fans in Minnesota because the Vikings' postseason ended dispiritingly with a 27-9 loss to the L.A. Rams last night. (OK, maybe it should be the official slogan for fans of men's pro sports here.)

It was a rebuilding year, anyway, right?

Thankfully, your friendly neighborhood newsletter writer was at a Cactus Blossoms concert at the Turf Club during the bloodbath. Just before halftime, when the Vikings put only three points on the board, the band jokingly asked if there was a football game on.

When a few folks in the crowd shouted back the score, guitarist and vocalist Jack Torrey quipped that he doesn't know much about football.

"But I know that's not even a touchdown," he said of the Vikings' scoring.

The Minnesota Star Tribune Sports Desk has all of the details and analysis from the field in the links below.

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Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune

In this week’s Basketball Across Minnesota column, the Star Tribune’s Marcus Fuller introduces readers to Peter Arigu, the self-proclaimed “Nigerian Footwork Master.”

Arigu trains basketball players on their footwork from the high school, college and NBA levels. He's based in the Twin Cities and father to former Totino-Grace star Isaiah Johnson-Arigu, who is now with the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Arigu previously trained youth players for 15 years as part of the NBA Africa initiative and the Basketball Without Borders program, a job he secured thanks to his good friend, Masai Ujiri, who is now the Toronto Raptors president.

Also in this week’s Basketball Across Minnesota:

-Fuller’s Five – Shoutouts from Marcus for on-court brilliance, including a 51-point performance from Maddyn Greenway.

-Numbers game – Five statistics basketball fans should know.

-- Joe Christensen, Sports Desk team leader

@jillfostermd.bsky.social via Bluesky

The wild ice was fun while it lasted, but there's nothing quite like standing on the walking paths that wind along the Chain of Lakes and trying to suss out which part of the vast snowfield is actually part of a frozen lake.

That's why I present you with this stunning image of a docked boat on the shore at Bde Maka Ska as captured by local M.D. Jill Foster and posted on Bluesky. Picture perfect.

Eder Campuzano, reporter

David Taintor, editor