Yeah, Sure, You Betcha!

We had a great weekend in Minneapolis: a long road trip with Sophie, meals with the extended family, and a long list of sporting events to view. It was one jam-packed weekend of sports for Minneapolis. We saw more jerseys in one 24 period than I care to remember. I am used to traveling to small college towns where the Saturday match is the only game in town. But here in Minneapolis, the Twins faced the A’s for a three game series in a critical pennant race period. On Saturday, the Golden Gophers were hosting the Trojans. And on Sunday, the Vikings faced the visiting Miami Dolphins.

One thing I can clearly say about Minnesotans: they are proud of their unique heritage and won’t miss an opportunity to tell you about their state’s accomplishments. We stumbled out of bed down to the hotel restaurant for some game day pancakes, and were greeted by a menu heavy with local flair. Their game day pancake was a “wild rice pancake served with choke –cherry syrup and Minnesota back bacon.” Honestly, I’m not sure if I know what half of that description says. The conversation revolved around the Twins game the night before, “Have you seen the new stadium (Target Field), it’s really beautiful You really need to go to a game there.” Never mind the fact that I find baseball boring and that I have no attraction to the Twins as a team.

Walking outside the hotel, the locals took the effort to point out the bronze statue of Mary Tyler Moore tossing her hat into the air. Yep- its true, right there on Nicolette Mall; Moore’s perky reporter character drew the attention of the nation to Minneapolis, so Minnesotans are happy to bronze the moment for eternity. Here’s the opening of the show if you don’t remember: Mary Tyler Moore Opening Sequence



We visited the Hennepin public library, an impressive work of modern architecture. The money invested in public literacy and art is a handy reminder that Minnesota is happy to be the number 1 most educated state in the nation (Iowa is number 2). Not content to let Portland monopolize green advancements in city planning, Minneapolis now features bike rental kiosks similar to the successful program in Paris. They have also added light rail to their already impressive transit system, with a train going from downtown to the airport and on to, of course, the Mall of America. How better to get the visitors in and onto the shopping. Kristi and Sophie took the rail to the Mall from downtown and found it to be remarkably convenient.  Best of all, after you get to downtown you can walk to just about any building and never go outside because of the "skywalk" links.  Pretty handy for those famous Minnesota winters.

We made our way across town and across the Mississippi to the campus of the University of Minnesota. The “stadium village” part of town now actually has a stadium, the brand- new TCF Bank Stadium. All the locals couldn’t stop talking about how gorgeous it is (along with Target Field), and they’re right, it is impressive. It’s a comforting blend of modern architecture with the brick façade one expects from a college stadium. The seats are benches, but sufficiently wide for Midwestern butts filled out by a few too many fried cheese curds. The stairs and tunnels have ample room so we never felt crowded or had a bottleneck getting in or out.

The Trojans played better than their previous games; even dare I say played a balanced game in the 4th quarter. Still, their mistake prone defense and ridiculous number of penalties is going to make the Oregon and Stanford games a joke- can we just concede now and move on? Lane Kiffin has plenty of more work to do, even if the abundant team talent is starting to shine through.

After the game we all gathered at Buca Di Bepo for some hearty and filling family-style Italian food.  Minnesotans were again proud to note that the chain started right here in Minneapolis and the "original is still the best, of course."  The next morning, we chose to skip the Walleye hash (there are only so many things you should do with fish, even if it is a local specialty).  Unfortunately, we couldn't get into Key's bakery, famous for their amazing cinnamon rolls.

Minneapolis is a lovely city: a fine place to visit and live.  We had a great weekend and can't wait to do it again.  But I should be careful about stoking the Minnesota ego- they're awfully proud of themselves already. 

Fight On,

Hans

PS: Yes I saw the ending of the Notre Dame- Michigan State game.  It was one of those rare moments that makes college football great, like Boisie State's hook and ladder and statue of liberty in the Fiesta Bowl.  It was almost worth having a heart attack over (Yahoo Story).  Get well soon, Coach Dantonio- the Spartans come to Iowa City on October 30th and I am the doctor at the game.  I don't want to be doing CPR in the locker room.