Is “Hope” All Minnesota Sports Fans Need?

Another Baseball season has come to an end, Congratulations to the Texas Rangers who are the 2023 World Series Champs. For Minnesota sports fans, The Rangers winning it all may not mean much, but maybe it should. 

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In 2021 Texas had 102 losses, and now 2 years later they’re the Champs. For long suffering Minnesota fans of any sport, let this be the "hope" that you cling to. The old saying “there’s always next year” gets old after a while. Trust me, I know. My teams, The Carolina Panthers and I guess you could say I pull for the Charlotte Hornets, have been more off than on in their existence. Next year rarely came for those teams.  

The Rangers have been an organization for 63 years and housed in Texas for 52 of those years. After the horrid 2021 season, they spent a lot of money to find the pieces that now make up a championship team. The ghosts of the 2011 World Series and needing a single strike twice to win it before losing to St. Louis have now been exercised. 

As Vikings fans come to accept the loss of Kirk Cousins for the rest of the year, and maybe for good if he moves on at the end of this contract, is this the glimmer of hope you need to focus on next year? 

The Twins were in the post season but were stopped by Houston who was ousted by Texas, but the Twins seem to be closer than the Vikings as far making that deep run again, of course there’s a lot to be decided on who will be on the Vikings roster next season so we really don’t know that yet.  

The Timberwolves have shown flashes of hope but until recently couldn’t seem to hold on to the Star Players. And The Wild have been to the playoffs but have struggled with advancing from the first round through their career.  

“Hope” that fans are looking for rests in the belief that the powers that be making decisions for the team will do the right thing when it comes to trades, contracts even coaching moves.  Building depth is something a lot of teams struggle with, but if you look at most championship teams in history, they have had those core players who may not have been the stars, but you likely wouldn't have won without their production and often the "little" things they do that fans take for granted.

Of course, you'll also need "Luck" when it comes to the health of your team (Sorry Vikings Fans, it may still be too soon). There's another old sports saying, "the best ability is availability", meaning are your players healthy enough to make it through the season. 

Do Minnesota Professional sports fans have that belief in the front offices? At this point, “Hope” is all you really have to hang on to, but The Texas Rangers have proven maybe, just maybe it’s worth staying with the team you’ve invested so much time into.