Being a professional sports fan in stoic Minnesota isn’t easy. Sure, we’re used to losing. And we’re used to dramatically, impossibly coming from behind … and losing.

So now that the Wolves have found themselves heading to the Western Conference finals (for the first time in 20 years, mind you), fans across the state are in a quandary. Should we — dare we — let our fragile hopes be lifted? What if they’re dashed by Dallas? What if they actually advance and win it all? Could we handle either?

Hardcore fans, already sporting their Naz Reid tats, already are all-in. But what about the rest of us more cautious, burn-me-once fans? We’ve been led down the garden path before, only to end up crying in our hand-me-down Homer Hankies. Here’s some not-so-sage advice about whether to rejoice or restrain yourselves at this critical sports-fan juncture.

Savor the win

Instead of going full-tilt Minnesotan and worrying about the next game, how about some time to celebrate the Wolves taking down a team as formidable as the Nuggets?

Pick up some “Playoffs 2024″ gear, then listen to this upbeat advice from Doug Kleist, treasurer of the Richfield Optimists: “Enjoy the ride. Don’t stop believing.”

Ride the wave

Dan Gaisbauer, a teacher from Inver Grove Heights, is a student of Minnesota sports disappointments. Using the pen name Dan Whenesota, he’s made a mockumentary film about the Minnesota sports letdowns and written a book, “History of Heartbreak: 100 Events that Tortured Minnesota Sports Fans.”

“Right now, you have to enjoy every minute,” Gaisbauer said, because disaster could be just ahead. “You have to enjoy every minute of it, even if it goes south. Maybe I shouldn’t say ‘go south’ because that reminds me of the North Stars.”

The departure of the Minnesota North Stars NHL hockey franchise to Dallas in 1993 is on the “dirty dozen” list in Gaisbauer’s book of the very worst Minnesota sports calamities. A Timberwolves defeat might crack the top 12 worst Minnesota sports moments.

“You’ve got to have a sense of humor about it,” he said. “You’ve got to enjoy the wave and ride it.”

Keep calm and move

Yoga teacher Jennifer Gray admits that Sunday’s high-stakes Timberwolves game sometimes took the om out of her sails.

“None of us want to be disappointed, and we get our hopes up with our Minnesota teams and then it doesn’t always go the way we want it to go,” she said.

Still, the founder/owner of the Yoga Center Retreat in St. Louis Park said there are ways to stay calm and lower stress during intense games. Calm the body with deep breathing. She also recommends taking advantage of halftime breaks. “Moving your body helps, too, because it regulates the nervous system.”

And if that doesn’t work? “I think closing your eyes for a minute, turning away from the TV and starting fresh gives you a chance to regroup,” she said.

Jump into joy

Porsche Gordin, a marriage and family therapist in Little Canada, says the historically heartbroken Minnesota sports fan should shed any hesitancy and jump into the deep end of hope and joy.

“Go all in. Buy all of the apparel. Get the tickets if you can. Watch the game. Jump on the bandwagon, too,” she said.

If you allow yourself to feel deeply despite uncertainty, you might be rewarded with a nice payoff. “When you are victorious, it’s that much sweeter,” she said.

Gayle Sherman Crandell, a Minneapolis-based grief therapist, said the emotions that Wolves fans are immersed in are a “delicious departure from the seriousness of our lives.”

And the Wolves’ wins have proven to be a bright spot: Couples are coming together, and families are putting aside conflict.

“I’m not the greatest sports fan ever,” she said, “but I do appreciate how much it means to so many people.”

Take the lesson

The Buddhist way is to accept the eventual outcome, whether victory or defeat, with “equanimity,” or even-mindedness. Bhante Seewalie, chief monk at the Minnesota Buddhist Vihara in Minneapolis, is not an NBA fan. But he says this teaching applies to life beyond sports. In a verse from the Dhammapada, Buddha told a king who was depressed about his recent losses in battle:

“Victory breeds hatred in the conquered.

The defeated live in sorrow.

Giving up both victory and defeat,

the appeased live in peace.”

In other words, said Seewalie, “Don’t take it personally. Let go of the feeling of loss. Use it as a lesson to improve next time.”

If the Wolves blow the first game against Dallas, don’t beat yourself up. “You always have to have hope,” Seewalie said, whether it’s for the next game — or next season.

Stay optimistic

The Indignant Minnesotan account on X (@IndignantMN) provides color commentary on the quirks of Minnesota culture, including our sports teams’ reputation for hope-dashing playoff runs. One of the anonymous locals who runs the account advises fans to do whatever they need to do to stay optimistic.

“If you need to wear the same clothes or watch the game with the same people because that helps you stay engaged and think it gives them a chance to keep winning: Go for it. You never know when the run might stop, so you might as well enjoy it.”

Seek solace in food

Anxiety level through the roof? Soothe your nerves at Fhima’s, a rare place of serenity in downtown Minneapolis. A bit farther away is the excellent Mara at the Four Seasons, where every detail is built for luxury, from the dining room menu to the bar to the fancy soap in the bathrooms. There’s also the back dining room at Murray’s, where you can’t go wrong with a butterknife steak, the raspberry pie and an unflappable, old-school style of service. Speaking of steaks, Manny’s is among the best in the business and mixes in a slice of history with its Foshay tower location.

To keep the party going after a win, the fun at Sanjusan spills out to the sidewalk patio sheltered by bistro lights. Enjoy the fantastic drinks and lively atmosphere. Neon Tiger is an alley entrance to the sort-of speakeasy spot behind Public Domain with top-shelf blender drinks and an “if you know, you know” vibe — order the whole snack menu. Parlour underneath Borough is packed most nights with a neighborhood bar service from the highly skilled bar staff. Order the famous burger — better here than at any stadium — and grab a corner couch while the bass thumps through your amped-up nervous system.

No game tickets? No problem. Downtown sports stops like the Loon, Gluek‘s and Tom’s Watch Bar will be showing the games, right in the heart of all the downtown activity. Plus, all have great comfort food.

Pick an anthem

“Stand Up and Be Strong” should be made the official fight song for this playoff run. It was written and first recorded by Minnesota alt-rock stars Soul Asylum, but then Prince later rerecorded it as “Stand Up and B Strong.” Because he was a Wolves fan through thick and thin, maybe his is the version to use, since he no doubt could’ve sung it channeling lyrics such as: “Nothing can take away from you / What you take and what you’ve been through … You might have to fight / You might have to cry / Stand up and be strong.”

And when the game score has you stressed out, consider songs from this calming playlist: “Let It Be” by the Beatles, “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, “Smile” by Michael Jackson, “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison, “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by the Eagles, “When the Party’s Over” by Billie Eilish and, of course, “You Need to Calm Down” by Taylor Swift.

Eight days ago, the Minnesota Twins were baseball’s hottest team and winners of 17 of 20 games.

After Monday night’s 12-3 loss at the Washington Nationals, the same club was mired in a seven-game slide so miserable that it sparked a players-only meeting.

“It’s easy to be a fun guy to be around when things are going good and when everything you’re hitting is falling and you’re just winning games,” Twins shortstop and two-time All-Star Carlos Correa said. “But when the tough times come, that’s when you know who people are. And it’s helpful to talk.”

Correa hit a two-run homer, the bright spot in another sluggish outing for an offense that has been the primary culprit, scoring only 12 runs during Minnesota’s free fall to within a game of the .500 mark.

Against soft-tossing Nats starter Mitchell Parker, manager Rocco Baldelli said the Twins (24-23) simply weren’t reacting.

“The guy just stood out there and threw off-speed pitches for four innings, and we didn’t do anything about it,” Baldelli said. “We continued to kind of wave at them and look for fastballs. Which today, they weren’t coming. Especially for the first five, six innings. And in this stretch of games where we’ve been struggling, that’s been a common theme.”

Baldelli said he’s held two or three postgame talks already during a year that also included an earlier five-game slide, and is hesitant to conduct more because “it starts to get drowned out.” He approved of the players’ decision.

“I don’t know what was said. I have no idea,” Baldelli said. “I think it was the right thing to do at the right time. And hopefully we get something out of it.”

In his sixth season in charge, he’s a little in awe of how quickly things have turned. Again.

“You start to forget some of the things that you’ve experienced when you flip it. I mean we’ve flipped the season completely around multiple times already,” Baldelli said. “I’ve seen a lot of streaky baseball, we all have. This is next-level stuff.”

Pablo López, Monday’s losing starter, expressed disappointment he couldn’t be the stopper but hoped the meeting would make a difference.

“Externalizing gives you the sense of relief,” López said. “When you say things out loud, when you hear things being said out loud, it puts things in perspective. So I think we said things that maybe we were thinking but weren’t saying out loud.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

During 14 seasons as an NHL defenseman, Ken Klee learned that every playoff series has its own distinct character. The PWHL Minnesota coach didn’t expect things to be any different in the newest pro hockey league.

He saw that play out Sunday, when Minnesota opened the Walter Cup finals with a 4-3 loss at Boston. In the semifinals, goals were hard to come by, as Minnesota and Toronto combined for only 14 in five games. Minnesota and Boston scored half that total in Game 1 of the finals, signaling that this best-of-five set could be more wide-open.

Klee played in 51 NHL playoff games, so he knows how to adapt when the scenario changes. After a back-and-forth opener in the finals, he will adjust the game plan accordingly for Tuesday’s Game 2 at Boston.

“It’s a new series, and we’re going against new people now,” Klee said. “It’s a different look than what we had [in the semifinals].

“Hockey series are always going to take on their own identity, and now, we know what this is going to be like. And it’s good.”

The four goals were uncharacteristic for Boston, the PWHL’s lowest-scoring team in the regular season. Coach Courtney Kessel said increased scoring has been a focal point for her group since league play resumed April 18 after a break for international play. Boston has lost only once in eight games since the break and is 4-0 in the playoffs, but it’s scored two or fewer goals in six of those.

Minnesota also has struggled to score after the break, with a total of 14 goals in the 10 games before Sunday. But its top line is heating up, centered by a resurgent Taylor Heise. In the past two games, Heise has four goals and an assist, and her line provided all of Minnesota’s scoring Sunday.

Heise said being down 1-0 in the series isn’t a concern for a team that roared back from a 2-0 deficit in the semifinals.

“We’re kind of used to it,” she said. “Against Toronto, we never lost hope. We did some really good things [in Game 1], and there are some things we can do better.”

In Game 1, Boston forced some turnovers, and it had stretches where it slowed down the Minnesota attack in the neutral zone. In Game 2, Minnesota will need to match Boston’s physical play, continue relying on its speed and avoid repeating the defensive lapses that hurt the team in the opener.

Kessel wants Boston to get out to a better start after it took more than seven minutes to put a shot on goal in Game 1. She hopes it continues to respond to Minnesota goals the way it did Sunday. Boston twice erased one-goal deficits and scored the game-winner only 15 seconds after Minnesota tied the score.