Transcripts

[MUSIC PLAYING] JIM WISHNER: And from the home of the world champion 1991, Minnesota Twins. Weekend Edition sports commentator Jay Weiner is with us now. Jay, what do you think? Is it Atlanta's revenge what we're getting around the state this weekend?

JAY WEINER: Yeah, I would say it's the Great Spirit's way of saying that baseball season is actually over. Can you imagine what this would have been like if game 6 and 7 occurred with this snow?

It would have certainly been a dome series. And we would have been pretty funny story. I think it's almost too bad that we didn't get the snow last weekend, because, I think, we would have really gotten a kick out of it.

JIM WISHNER: Yeah. What's the latest you heard? I understand they were trying to get some of the snow off the roof of the Metrodome. I thought they had resolved problems of collapsing roofs.

JAY WEINER: Well, I think that they have. They've got this heating system that makes sure the snow doesn't sit on top there. And, of course, in the first major storms, I guess of '82, we had some dome collapses. I'm thinking, though, that imagine this week outdoor football, Tampa Bay coming into town. Talk about the home field advantage.

It would been terrific, and we really would have tested the mettle of football fans here in town if they would have gone outside. We would have had a lot of cross-country skiers going. And I'm curious to see what crowd they get tomorrow. I guess the Timberwolves didn't have a real big crowd last night, and that's pretty understated.

JIM WISHNER: But they played.

JAY WEINER: Well, the show must go on, particularly when the pro-NBA season starts. One of the things I've been thinking about as I try to shovel out of the [? wilds ?] of Saint Paul are all the skiers that I am seeing here, and how, I guess, it's the winter sports season already.

Generally, we don't think about the Winter Olympics certainly until the new year. And this year they're in France on February 7, I think, is when they start. But suddenly, the Minnesotans who are going to be on the international sports front are going to come to the fore a little bit sooner than we thought. And I actually have been in touch with some of them over the last week, and the snow makes their eyes get really big, I'll tell you that.

We have got from Minnesota a whole bunch of speed skaters, a whole bunch of cross-country skiers and people who do biathlon, which is the half cross-country skiing, half shooting sport. And some of them are home this week as there are breaks in their European training schedule, and a lot of them are out there training.

So if you see anybody in cross-country skis and a gun, don't get too worried. They're just training to be a winter sport athletes here in the state.

JIM WISHNER: Do you think the snow will help get some of the ski resorts opened earlier this year?

JAY WEINER: Apparently, it's true. One of the problems with cross-country skiing, I think, is that unless you have a trail, you really don't have a whole lot of fun. It's like exploring without a trail. And I think it's going to be hard for some of the resorts on the cross-country front to get those trails down because there's almost too much snow.

I gather at Como Park in Saint Paul. They have some really good trails, but it's very hard to tell if those trails are going to be prepared right now for people to actually do some sport skiing. Right now, the skiing looks more like Will Steger like stuff than anything else.

JIM WISHNER: Well, of course, we have been focusing so much on baseball, but we have a major football game coming up. The Super Bowl is coming up. Also some Winter Olympics coming up.

Well, of course, later than that, there's some Olympics in Atlanta that we've heard a little bit about. But talk a little bit about some of the variety of sports around the Midwest, because I think we should just touch on some of the basics since we're just moving into the season.

JAY WEINER: Well, the first sport this weekend, I think, is world team shoveling is a big sport this week. But mostly what's going to be happening as we get into the fall months is a concentration, I believe, on pro hockey because the North Stars are for real, I would say.

And while the Timberwolves had this honeymoon, I would say, for the first couple of years, it's going to be pretty clear that they're going to be bad again. And pro football, the NFL certainly, the home team isn't doing real well. So there'll be a focus on the Super Bowl. But I think there'll be a focus on how the NFL season is going.

And then come February, there's going to be the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, from February 7 to 23. And then after that, there's going to be somewhat of a lull here in the Twin Cities, because the major sporting events that we've had since the 1990, actually, with the US Olympic festival, the Special Olympics, US Open Golf Tournament, the World Series, the Stanley Cup Finals, that's going to be gone. And we're going to be in a relaxed mode.

And then the Summer Olympics are in Spain this year in '92, and then in the fall of '92, I think, they're going to call off all sports in the world, and we're not going to have any more for a couple of years because we're all kind of drained, particularly after this World Series.

JIM WISHNER: Jay Weiner is "Weekend Edition" sports commentator. Thank you, Jay.

JAY WEINER: Happy skiing.

JIM WISHNER: Happy skiing. 26 and 1/2 minutes away from 9:00 It's Weekend Edition on the news and information service of Minnesota Public Radio.