Minnesota’s Sports World Needs “Chicago Med”

Today is Wednesday. As a public address announcer and radio broadcaster during the fall sports season, I know it’s the one weeknight that I have a chance to be home.

What will I do with it, you may ask? Well, after spending my wedding anniversary last night announcing a volleyball game at Duluth East, I probably owe my wife whatever she wants. Yet, because she’s a teacher, I can’t even begin to explain how tired she is every night at this point in the school year. (Side note: Happy World Teachers Day today. Thank you to all who chose such a profession.)

The compromise will likely be ordering take out, and watching one of our favorite shows, “Chicago Med.” The performances on the show usually aren’t all that great, yet we somehow feel attached to the characters. Each week, the ending leaves you extremely happy, angry, shocked, or disappointed, and you absolutely know that you can’t wait to watch again next week.

Sound familiar, Vikings fans?

At 3-1, the Vikings are good, but not great. I’ve heard words like “fraudulent” and “lucky” used to describe them to this point. I prefer flawed. It can be fun to be aware of your flaws and still be winning – as long as you eventually fix them.

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The middle of the field can’t continue to look like the parting of the Red Sea every time an opposing quarterback looks to throw, not to mention how long he has the ability to look. Dalvin Cook needs to become a true weapon in this offense. His numbers aren’t bad, but as a disgruntled fantasy owner and a fan, I must ask: has he truly impressed you? For all the talk of Kirk Cousins being expensively mediocre, you could put a similar label on Cook.

Speaking of Kirk, his haters can be having a field day right now. Of course, they always do this by simply changing their narrative. A year ago, the individual numbers were elite, but the Vikes were 1-3, so it was simply who cares if he can’t win? Now his stats are as mediocre as his career record, but the team is 3-1. So now the wins are despite him. It’s getting very tiresome hearing how hard some will try to make Kirk Cousins appear to be a level below Christian Ponder. Kirk isn’t great and he’s overpaid, but are you listening to yourself?

The hope is, that the entire team still has a ton of unrealized potential. When they find it, this team can really turn heads. This brings me back to “Chicago Med” – the Bears are in town this weekend, and the Bears are bad. Minnesota needs to send them into hibernation.

Sure, it’s a division rival, and the Bears have always proven tricky. Mobile quarterbacks have been kryptonite to Minnesota defenses, and there was a time I wished Justin Fields was going to be one of Rick Spielman’s last draft choices, but this is not an NFL offense. Chicago’s defense is always solid, which will prevent this from being a “guaranteed win” for the Vikes, but if there are any hopes of being a true contender, it’s a must-win. A win that needs to come without the need for a cardiologist immediately afterward. Flipping the one-score narrative from last season is not enough.

“Chicago Med” also applies to P.J. Fleck’s Gophers, who have this week off before traveling to Illinois on October 15. The game is in Champaign, Illinois and we’ll call that close enough. Illinois just throttled Wisconsin, which caused a coaching change in Madison. Fleck is obviously in no danger, but needs to show his own fan base that the team is more than the “The Fighting Ibrahims.”

The Twins were also in Chicago to close the season, but no medicine could fix them. The only “Chicago Med” episode they relate to is whichever one you felt had the saddest ending. We will start by eulogizing them on this week’s Northland Sports Page. Other scheduled guests include Sadie Keller of Huskies, Gophers, and Twins fame, Dave Hoops of Hoops Brewing, “Voice of the Vikings” Paul Allen, and realtor Justin May.

Tune in on Saturday from 10am – Noon on The Northland Fan. It might be just what the doctor ordered.