Minnesota sports observations and opinions after a darkness retreat

Darkness retreats make sense for Aaron Rodgers and Rudy Gobert. Where else could they be alone with their thought?

I went searching in the dark for my inner self, and found only lost socks and the following randomness:

• When did "Huge!" become the default sports broadcasting adjective for everything that happens in every game?

• "Score the basketball" is the most redundant phrase since "Vikings Super Bowl loss.'' It's like saying "run with my feet.''

• Twins fans have short memories. They complain about the possibility of this year's team winning a weak division. The 1987 Twins of lore won only 85 regular-season games and almost choked away their lead late in the season before winning the World Series. They made the playoffs only because the AL West was uncommonly awful that season.

• The Nuggets are the best team in basketball in part because of intelligent management and great coaching, and in part because of dumb luck. They chose Nikola Jokic with the 41st pick in the 2014 draft. If they had realized he was this good, much less great, they would have taken him instead of Doug McDermott with the 11th pick. Then they chose Jamal Murray after the Timberwolves chose Kris Dunn. Without Jokic and Murray, the Nuggets would be the Jazz.

• The Heat's Erik Spoelstra might be the best coach in all of basketball. He's a brilliant strategist. He also refuses to talk about himself.

• Yes, the Dallas Stars beat the Wild in the playoffs, but there was a catch: The Dallas Stars thus had to spend more time around Ryan Suter.

• After Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship last week, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee shrewdly analyzed whether LIV Tour players like Koepka should be allowed to play in the Ryder Cup. Chamblee asked whether Koepka would be representing the United States, or the LIV Tour and Saudi Arabia, a country with a horrific human rights record.

• The Minnesota Aurora are not only good, the team and their league wisely chose to play at a time of year when they aren't competing with football, or with basketball or hockey regular seasons.

• Caitlin Clark would fix most of what's wrong with the Lynx.

• Remember when the loss of José Berríos was considered fatal to the Twins? His ERA with the Twins was 4.08. His ERA with Toronto is 4.65.

• It was heartening to see Leslie Frazier at the NFL spring meetings this past week. He actually thanked me for going to Mississippi to do a story on his family and hometown of Columbus, Miss., for a story when he was the Vikings coach. I thanked him for sharing with Star Tribune readers what his life was like, and how difficult his circumstances were. It speaks to Frazier's nature that he expressed, rather than expected, gratitude.

• D'Angelo Russell said that the Timberwolves were holding him back, then he got benched in the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

• It is increasingly possible that Luis Arraez will establish himself as the greatest singles hitter since Tony Gwynn.

• Listening to league officials award the 2025 NFL draft to Green Bay made me question their choice of climates. Then I self-corrected and realized that any NFL event anywhere will be a hit, and if you can play actual games in Lambeau Field in January, you can hold a draft in April.

• The success of the pitch clock should move Major League Baseball to install a virtual strike zone. Change is good, when it eliminates terrible calls. The home-plate umpire's job is virtually impossible. He's supposed to lean around a catcher and judge an invisible strike zone as pitches swerve in at 100 miles per hour. Let technology take over.