Opening Day 2015, the Minnesota Twins invite Kevin Garnett to throw out the first pitch, with the ball delivered to the mound by Tyus Jones.
Just two months earlier, the Timberwolves welcomed Garnett back to Minnesota after eight years away, six of them spent in Boston. KG delivered 12 playoff appearances to Target Center, and peaked with a trip to the Western Conference Finals as a 2004 T-Wolf. Then. In 2007. He left Minnesota. And he won an NBA Championship. For the Boston Celtics.
Tyus Jones was celebrated as a three time Minnesota High School Basketball Player of the Year. He and Jahlil Okafor were the prized recruiting package in the class of 2014. Tyus was polite enough to list the Gophers as one of his possible choices right up to the day he committed to Duke. Where, of course, he won a national championship.
KG and Jones are both class acts. Both have a high likability factor. They deserve to be celebrated, respected and honored. But by the Minnesota Twins? Two basketball players who left Minnesota to win championships elsewhere. Is this really the best Minnesota could do? Is there no accomplishment in the state they could celebrate and recognize?
Minnesota’s man crush on Jones has been puzzling this season. The U of M was likely never a serious consideration for Jones. But imagine Jones and Okafor convincing Justice Winslow to join them in Dinkytown. It may have taken two years, instead of one, to deliver the state its first championship since the 2012 Lynx brought home the WNBA title. Instead, Jones selects Duke, and Minneapolis immediately adapts Durham as its sister city.
Right next door, Wisconsin fans took no pride in North Carolina and JP Tokoto’s fine season. The state did not cheer for UCLA’s success just because Kevon Looney landed in Bruins’ baby blue. (Incidently, Looney will go higher in the draft than Jones). The media and fans paid limited homage to the two stars playing on opposite coasts. Even if one of them had won a national title, there would be no Tokoto or Looney throwing out the first pitch at Miller Park.
How many Maryland fans will you find in Wisconsin now that four time state champion and Mr. Basketball Diamond Stone has committed to the Terps? Crickets.
Minnesota nice embraces the traitors who leave the state and lead other teams to the pinnacle. Philosophically, these guys were once Minnesotans, so their success elsewhere somehow showers all 10,000 lakes. Of course.
Right next door, Brett Favre’s induction to the Packers Hall of Fame has been pushed back repeatedly to provide Wisconsin fans with an appropriate cooling down period after he finished his career with one year in Minnesota. Ted Thompson has decided that five years should do it, and he’ll go in this fall. All this worry about how fans would receive him back, after he played the Packers back to relevancy and a Super Bowl Championship.
The Twins got it wrong on opening day by choosing Garnett and Jones. What, exactly did these two accomplish for the state of Minnesota? The beloved Garnett’s 12 play-off appearances are impressive, but this streak ended over a decade ago. If nothing else, if you have run out of great athletes of the past to honor, choose people who at least fuel hope for future success-in Minnesota.
Minnesota Twins, how about Andrew Wiggins throws out the first pitch? He represents the TWolves best chance to re-appear in the post season; something they haven’t accomplished since that 2004 Western Conference Finals. How about Jarvis Johnson? The four star recruit from De La Salle High School who decided to stay in state and play point guard for the Gophers next year. He’s hoping to deliver the second Final Four appearance in Gopher history. Wait. I just checked the history books, and it looks like that 1997 Final Four appearance never actually happened.
Twins, dig deeper. Don’t pull in Dukie and Celtic champions and celebrate them as your own.
Will Call 