Beyond the Sports Huddle: Mona on Minnesota by Dave Mona

Introduction     9
Growing Up in Minneapolis
First Impressions     12
To Look Sharp     18
Bat Boy of the Giants     21
Aaron to Zuverink     23
French Baseball     27
An Untimely Call     30
My Jordan Moment     45
Boxcar Learning     48
Making My Way in Journalism
He Wrote the Book     52
A Different Point of View     55
Return of the Autumn Warrior     58
Would You Like Me to Write a Sports Story?     61
Mays of Minneapolis     64
Days of Mays     67
The Bedtime Nooz     74
Election Night     81
My Friend the Serial Killer     88
100 Years from Now     94
Molly Ivins Teaches Us New Words     99
Baseball Cards: A Hard Sell     102
Nicollet Memories     109
On the Road with the Twins     119
Halsey Hall, Burning up the Airwaves     123
An R-Rated Fish Story     129
A Great Quote     131
The Killer Speaks     135
Who Does That Humphrey Think He Is?     141
A Salute and a Vote     147
The Huddle, and Beyond
It's the Sports Huddle with Sid and Dave     154
Inside the Sports Huddle     158
Oh, My!     162
Understanding Sid     165
Sidisms     168
Stadium Squabbles     174
WCCO, and a Modest Proposal for the Twins     179
How About You?     181
A Super Effort     185
Mike the Big Tipper     196
Fantasy Camp     199
Golf Club Wisdom     210
The Wizard of Westwood     212
From the Bench     220
Puckett's Neighborhood     222
Bob Feller vs. Michelle Tafoya     226
"I'll Have One of Me"     229
A Day with the Champ     230
The Fifty Greatest     232
A Fire Next Time     241
Nicknames     249
Naming Opportunities     252
Optimistic Canadian     255
Marginally True     259
Who Was Tracy Stallard? The Great Minnesota Sports Trivia Quiz     264
Acknowledgments     285
Index     287