This is Part 1 of a 7-part look-back at what happened in
Minnesota sports over the past 12 months. Some of these stories are obviously
figments of my imagination. A couple actually happened. These are the tales,
imageries, conversations, and visualizations that best described, at least for
me, what it meant to be a Minnesota sports fan over the past 12 months.
“Bud Light Lime-a-Rita TALL BOYS. Shit will HIT YOU QUICK,”
said Ron, in reference to the 8% alcohol-by-volume drink that was
inexplicably lumped in with other pretender beverages in the “2-for-$10” cooler
in a long hallway at the Tropicana. We both bought one for each hand and headed
to the sports book because we knew that the best way to watch the maddening
roller-coaster that was the under-utilized talent of the 2012-13 Gophers
basketball team was with a steady dose of lime-flavored sugar-booze coursing through
one’s bloodstream.