chenyan94: lay at Oklahoma City on
lay at Oklahoma City on
The Vikings fell one win short of landing on the NFL’s biggest stage, leaving the local mood a bit less festive than the hysteria that would’ve enveloped an unprecedented appearance by the home team in the big game.
The Philadelphia Eagles will be here seeking their first Lombardi Trophy instead, trying to deny the New England Patriots a sixth Super Bowl title that would match the most of all time.
”It’s going to be hard to watch them come play in our stadium next week,” Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph said after the 38-7 loss to the Eagles in the NFC championship game .
This is Minnesota’s second Super Bowl, having hosted it at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome after the 1991-92 season, but it will also likely be its last. The NFL’s sporadic northern stops in the warm-weather-areas rotation are simply fulfillments of promises made to municipalities for pumping public money into new stadiums like the $1.1 billion project that produced U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016. New Jersey had the most recent one four years ago, the only northern Super Bowl played outside to date. Indianapolis hosted two seasons before that. The Detroit area has had two.
After finishing 13-3 in the regular season and winning their divisional round playoff game on a last-play touchdown pass , now known as the Minneapolis Miracle, the Vikings were on track to be the first team to play a Super Bowl on home turf until the Eagles ruined that goal. The Atlanta Falcons are next in line to try next year.
The Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl 14 and the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 19 played in their local market, but neither of those games were actually held in their home stadium. The Vikings came by far the closest of any team.
Maureen Bausch, the chief executive officer of Minnesota’s Super Bowl host committee , was a little worried about the vibe while the Vikings were getting blown out last week. She checked the Facebook page for committee’s crew of volunteers in the fourth quarter and started to smile.
”I thought, `Oh my goodness, are we all going to be sad?”’ Bausch said. ”They’re the most amazing group. They were already posting on there, `You guys [url=www.jaguarsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-logan-cooke-jersey]http://www.jaguarsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-logan-cooke-jersey[/url] , this is too bad, but when we signed on, we signed on to represent Minnesota, and we are going to give the warmest possible welcome to the world no matter who plays. I was just so moved.”
Yes, despite the disappointment in the air over the home team’s latest deflating loss on the cusp of a Super Bowl, a bitterness in some corners that was exacerbated by stories of Vikings-fan-harassing and full-beer-can-throwing rowdies in Philadelphia at the NFC championship game last weekend, this is still the place where the trite-but-true slogan ”Minnesota Nice” was spawned.
”Once people are starting to let their wounds heal with the loss, in true Minnesota fashion, everybody will be friendly and welcoming,” said Jeff Hahn, the owner of Day Block Brewing Company, a restaurant and brewpub located two blocks from U.S. Bank Stadium . ”We are definitely more laid back than perhaps one of the two teams coming into town, but I think everybody will find that the hospitality here is friendly and nice, and we live in a neat city. I think people will be impressed with how beautiful the city is, even if it’s cold out.”
Threats of signing up to drive for ride-sharing services so they can intentionally drop Eagles fans off in the wrong spots or cancelling Airbnb rentals to travelers from Pennsylvania have most likely been social media users blowing off steam.
The storm that dropped more than a foot of snow on the Twin Cities came the day after the NFC championship game letdown [url=www.atlantabravesteamshop.com/authentic-mike-foltynewicz-jersey]Mike Foltynewicz Atlanta Braves Jersey[/url] , giving the locals an immediate opportunity to change the subject. There’s enough time before kickoff and enough pride in the chance to show off on the biggest stage in sports that the public face of this Super Bowl site probably won’t be frowning by the time the Patriots, the Eagles and the rest of the celebrity, corporate and football circles descend on the area.
”Treat everyone like you would want to be treated, right?” said Kerry Rauschendorfer, a Minneapolis resident who’s one of the 10,000 volunteers on official duty during the week of the game.
He’ll be working shifts in the skyway system, tasked with helping visitors navigate the maze of more than 8 miles of enclosed footbridges that span almost every street in the downtown Minneapolis core and allow a person to spend an entire day of employment, entertainment and exercise without stepping outside. The grid includes an entrance into U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Patriots and Eagles will be staying at luxury hotels adjacent to the Mall of America, the country’s largest entertainment and retail complex that sits in Bloomington on the suburban site where the Vikings once played before moving downtown and indoors. That’s another place where visitors can have fun and relax without a parka.
Winter around here , however, doesn’t automatically mean hibernation.
The Super Bowl committee’s theme is ”Bold North ” a reflection of the culture that bundles up and embraces the longest of the four seasons rather than running from it. At the NFL’s Super Bowl Live festivities along Nicollet Mall downtown, there’s a bridge for cross-country skiing, biking and tubing through 85 truckloads of snow. A few blocks away, a zip line is set up to take daredevils across a portion of the frozen Mississippi River. In the other twin The Minnesota Timberwolves picked up another important win to keep pace in this relentless Western Conference race.
Their quest to end the franchise’s 14-year absence from the playoffs still isn’t finished.
Karl-Anthony Towns slammed his way to 24 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who toughed out a 113-94 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night to move one step closer to the postseason.
”We had to play as if we had that kind of desperation in us [url=www.cincinnatibengalsshop.com/cheap-billy-price-jersey]Billy Price Color Rush Jersey[/url] ,” said Towns, who had five dunks to help ignite the crowd.
They haven’t always displayed that attitude down the stretch, which is why they weren’t able to clinch that long-sought spot before their 82nd game. They’ll have to beat surging Denver on Wednesday night to get in, because the Nuggets won their sixth straight game to stay tied with the Wolves in eighth place. Denver’s victory over Portland ended about an hour after Minnesota’s, but the players expressed nonchalance about following along as they left the arena.
”I’m not going to check my phone. I’m going to go eat,” Jimmy Butler said wryly, after scoring 15 points in 23 minutes, his second game back from the knee injury.
Jeff Teague added 24 points for the Timberwolves, who trailed by 10 points early before taking over against a depleted Grizzlies team that beat them 101-93 exactly two weeks ago in one of their worst losses of the season.
Teague missed six of his first eight shots, but he helped the Wolves pull away with a four-point play in the early portion of the third quarter. His lob found Andrew Wiggins for a soaring dunk about three minutes later. Gorgui Dieng sank his second 3-pointer of the night soon after for a 75-63 lead. Butler gave the Wolves a 98-83 lead midway through the fourth quarter with a hustle to finish a fast break with a layup.
The Wolves brought energy and crisp ball movement, but they clearly carried some pressure with them during an ugly start filled with turnovers and misfires. They made only four of their first 16 shots from the field, and boos circulated in the arena as Omari Johnson’s jumper put the Grizzles in front 24-14. Butler missed a short bank shot as he was fouled and bricked the first free throw, too, causing him to growl in disgust as he reached the bench early in the second quarter.
The Wolves, though [url=www.authenticswashingtonredskins.com/cheap-troy-apke-jersey]Troy Apke Color Rush Jersey[/url] , used a 20-4 run to lighten the mood a little in the arena. Derrick Rose (13 points), Dieng (11 points) and Tyus Jones (eight points) combined to produce a solid output from the second unit.
”We were just playing soft. We tend to do that from time to time,” Butler said. ”Whenever we play hard, a lot of good things happen.”
GIBSON GOES OUT
The Wolves lost power forward Taj Gibson in the first quarter to a neck injury he suffered in the previous game and tried to play through. He left for the locker room without returning to the bench.
”It’s tough when you can’t even turn your neck from right to left when you look around,” Gibson said. ”Just try to get as much treatment as possible.”
STILL SWEATING
Ben McLemore had 18 points for the Grizzlies, who moved one loss closer to a prime lottery pick and fell to 6-34 on the road.
The Grizzlies, whose streak of seven straight postseason appearances was snapped long ago, were sapped by the summer departures of stalwarts Zach Randolph, Tony Allen and Vince Carter. Mike Conley, Tyreke Evans and Chandler Parsons have missed a combined 143 games. Even Marc Gasol, who bested Towns for 20 points and 10 rebounds in the last matchup, sat out to rest. The starting lineup for this game had only one holdover, Dillon Brooks, from the March 26 meeting.
The Grizzlies would match the franchise’s worst record (22-60) since the move to Memphis if they lose their final game.
”It’s disrespectful to say that guys are tanking and trying to lose, because those guys that are on the floor every night have something to prove [url=www.authenticsindianapoliscolts.com/cheap-braden-smith-jersey]Braden Smith Color Rush Jersey[/url] ,” interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, adding: ”Every single night they’re giving their best effort. So you’ve got to give the guys that are out there on the court more respect than I think people give them credit for.”
TIP-INS
Grizzlies: MarShon Brooks, who averaged nearly 24 points over his first five games with the team since joining last month fresh from the Chinese league, missed 12 of 16 shots against tough defense from Butler and finished with 14 points.
”Just going out there playing hard, making them work for everything,” Brooks said.
Timberwolves: Backup center Cole Aldrich, who has logged just 49 minutes all season, was honored before the game with the Flip Saunders Legacy Award for community service in honor of the team’s late executive and coach. Aldrich had an assist in the final minute.
UP NEXT
Grizzlies: Play at Oklahoma City on Wednesday to wrap up the franchise’s 23rd season, the 17th in Memphis.
Timberwolves: Take on Denver on Wednesday, after losing 100-96 on the road last week.
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