Timberwolves vs Mavericks

 

Timberwolves vs Mavericks

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for March 27, 2022

We had a taste of Spring last week with temperatures hitting the sixties, but dropped back into reality this week.  The lake is trying to open up for us, but it's taking a bit longer than we would like.

I went to a tech event this week for the first time since Covid.  It was so great being around people again.  Virtual events are nice, but really difficult to do networking at them.

On Friday night, we drove down to Downtown Minneapolis to catch another Timberwolves game.

I went with my buddy, Orlando Mazzolini.  He's from Chicago and stays pretty true to his roots, but I can get him to cheer for the Minnesota teams on occasion.

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks were in town.  They beat the Timberwolves earlier in the week in a close game by a score of 110-108 so we were hoping the home team would get some revenge.

We were surprised to see that Mark Cuban traveled with the team.  I've always been a fan of his, but was especially impressed to see him walk around the arena and take pictures with a variety of people.  I haven't seen a lot of billionaires do that before.

We met some new friends named Molly & Tim.  We had fun cheering for Minnesota together.

I don't know her name, but the lady who sang the national anthem was very impressive.  She had quite the pipes on her.

The game was exciting from the opening tip-off.

Anthony Edwards is our favorite player, but he had a tough night.  He went 1 for 5 in the first half on the way to a 12 point game.  He'll do better next time.

Luka lived up to his star billing by almost getting a triple double with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists.  He is absolutely electric to watch.

Just when you think he's going to shoot, he's passing it to an open player on his team.

Karl Anthony-Towns led the Wolves to a big victory with his 20 points and 9 boards.  They led by as much as 25 points and won by a score of 116 to 95.  It was a good game and a good night of fun.

Welch Village & Wolves

 

Welch Village & Wolves

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for March 20, 2022

The weather is finally starting to warm up in Minnesota so we figured it was time to get in some skiing before it was done for the season.  We went to Welch Village in Welch, Minnesota.

We're always trying to find new things to do together, but we hadn't been skiing for awhile.  We were all a little nervous to see if we still remembered how to do it.

We basically had the place to ourselves so we were able to spread out and take our time acclimating to the experience.  We made it through the day without any major wipe-outs so mission accomplished.

We considered all riding on the same chairlift a couple of times, but the family didn't trust that I wouldn't accidentally push one of them off during the launch.  So we rode separate.

We were able to get in a pretty full day of runs and had a great time doing it.  Next year we might go earlier in the season so we can do it again if we have as much fun as we did this time.

On Saturday, we headed to Target Center in Minneapolis to watch our favorite NBA team.

It was Luke's turn to join me for a game.  We were very happy to have the chance to watch some live basketball even if I did wear the wrong shirt for the occasion.

The team handed out some light-up "Thunder Sticks" to everyone in the arena which was pretty cool to see during the National Anthem.  The novelty wore pretty thin shortly after that.

We were impressed with Crunch climbing the tall ladder to rally the crowd. At first we didn't think it was that big of a deal, but then we remembered that he's not a real wolf.  Somebody did that task while wearing a large mask on his head!

We were excited to have the chance to watch the home team take on the Milwaukee Bucks.  Apparently Anthony Edwards was also very excited to see them on the court.  It's also possible he was just tucking in his shirt and I snapped this photo during an awkward moment.

We were really bummed out when it was announced that superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was going to miss the game due to "Knee Soreness".  I'm guessing it was more like he was scared to face the Timberwolves who had won 9 of their previous 10 games heading into this one. 

The game started pretty physical.  Karl Anthony-Towns is a total stud, but he shows an awful lot of emotion on his face every time he gets bumped.  I suppose if I had monsters like Brook Lopez smashing into me every play I probably wouldn't do a lot of smiling either.

Patrick Beverly has been a very popular addition to the Wolves squad this year.  He brings a lot of fire to the game.  Which ended before the 2nd quarter even started after he inserted himself into a skirmish with Serge Ibaka and gave him a big shove.  He was ejected from the game after that one.  We didn't have any more skirmishes after that.

The home team did not disappoint.  They were led by the Big Kat who had 25 points along with 11 rebounds.  Not bad for a guy who was listed as questionable before the game with knee soreness of his own.  We saw him wince in pain several times when landing on it, but he didn't miss a beat while helping the team win another one.

Anthony Edwards contributed 25 points on his own and brought his usual electricity to the game.  He even had a breakaway windmill slam dunk at one point in the game which had the crowd on it's feet roaring their approval.

The half-time show featured the Sandou Russian Trio who wowed the crowd with high-flying acrobatics without the safety of a net.  The group has performed at Target Center before and I found it interesting that they were introduced  this time as "The Sandou Trio".  Guessing it's probably not a good time to announce the Russian part these days.

There's talk about head coach, Chris Finch, being a candidate for the NBA Coach of the Year.  Considering the team hasn't been this exciting since the prime days of Kevin Garnett and look to be headed to the playoffs for only the second time since 2004, he's got my vote!

The game was competitive at times, but the Timberwolves pretty much dominated the whole night and ended up winning by a score of 138-119.  Way to go, Minnesota!

Prior Lake Horse & Hunt Club

 

Prior Lake Horse & Hunt Club

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for March 13, 2022

We went to dinner to with Grandma Linda this week.  It was her first visit to Texas Roadhouse and she seemed to enjoy herself.

Grandma is getting sensitive about her height so she insists we take two versions of every picture.

On Saturday night, we connected with our buddies, The Walters & The Korkowskis, at the Prior Lake Horse & Hunt Club for dinner and a show.

 Sweet Keys Dueling Pianos was performing again.  We went and saw them back in November and had such a good time, we thought we'd try it out again.

Last time the show was held inside the building, but this time around they did it out in a big tent out back.  It gave us more room to hoe down and giddy up!

We had a ball singing and dancing with these guys.  They played a bunch of classics, several country songs, and even surprised me with a rendition of The Next Episode by Doctor Dre and Snoop Dogg.  Talk about a diverse style of music!

@toddswank Grandma doesn’t know the words. #grandma #abcdefu ♬ original sound - Todd Swank

Minnesota Wild vs Dallas Stars

 

Minnesota Wild vs Dallas Stars

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for March 6, 2022

My buddy Orlando came over Saturday morning for one of our adventures.  Don't let the smile fool you.  He's a bit devious.

We did pass by a bunch of Trumpeter Swans so we had that going for us.  Which was nice.

We also spied a couple of bald eagles.  Although they might have been spying us.  Not sure.

Saturday night brought us to the Korkowski house for a family game night.  The first game was called "Who can eat the most Special K Bars?"  Pretty sure I won that one.

 We played several new and interesting games.  Some I really liked and others that made me kind of feisty.  We all get a bit competitive in these situations which can yield some interesting evenings together.

  Luke & I went to Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Sunday to watch some hockey!

The Dallas Stars were in town.  They used to be the Minnesota North Stars many years ago before until an evil owner moved them away and dropped the North out of them.  It's been a fun rivalry ever since.

We had pretty good seats and the opportunity to get a close-up view of the home team playing offense in the first and third period.

The Wild started the game pretty strong culminating in the first goal by Nico Sturm.  We thought they were in good shape at that point.

Unfortunately, Dallas came back and scored the next four goals including two by Jason Robertson who would eventually get a hat trick.  I wish I could do tricks with hats.

The home team made it thrilling in the third period, pulled their goalie, and scored two more goals to make the score 4-3.  However the Stars prevailed in the end and eventually made them pay for not having a goalie.  They won the game  6-3.   We still had a good time, even though the home team lost.