OUT & ABOUT >>

• BEST TWINS PLAYER
  Johan Santana
  With a change-up that's baffled more Twins opponents than any pitch since Blyleven's curve, and a pinpoint control that would do Jim Kaat and Brad Radke proud, Johan Santana is the ideal lefty strikeout machine, and the numbers he puts up make everyone else in the majors look feeble: Last... More >>
• BEST VIKINGS PLAYER
  Pat Williams
  Let us now praise fat men. In pretty much all sports aside from sumo wrestling, the fat guys rarely get their due. We are conditioned to equate athleticism with rippling muscle and lean bodies, but the truth is, sometimes the great athletes don't have six-pack abs—they have pony kegs. In... More >>
• BEST TIMBERWOLVES PLAYER
  Kevin Garnett
  Kevin Garnett will haunt Target Center for decades as the greatest local star ever shackled to a star-crossed franchise. Like fish, the Wolves rot from the head, so of course blame Kevin McHale and Glen Taylor. But also blame David Stern, who slapped on a salary cap that gave Minnesota less room... More >>
• BEST WILD PLAYER
  Marian Gaborik
  While Derek "The Boogeyman" Boogaard remains a sentimental favorite, we have to give the nod to Marian Gaborik, who may be the fastest skater in the NHL. The 25-year-old right winger heads the team's all-time scoring list and was among the goal leaders this year despite missing 34 games due to a... More >>
• BEST COACH
  Ron Gardenhire
  Do we really need to run down the list of failed professional and collegiate coaches? Luckily, we still have Gardenhire. He's taken an under-budgeted team to the postseason in four of his first five seasons, lightly guiding the most talented young roster in baseball. Gardenhire's apoplectic... More >>
• BEST HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE
  Whitney Taney
  You don't have to know anything about high school tennis to know that Whitney Taney is good. Just look at her record: 166-0. That's 150 singles matches, 16 doubles matches, and zero losses in the Edina senior's five varsity years, easily the longest winning streak in the history of Minnesota... More >>
• BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE
  Dustin Schlatter
  It was a remarkably dismal year for most Gopher sports teams. Glen Mason's gridiron follies led to a humiliating 38-7 meltdown against Texas Tech in the Insight Bowl. Dan Monson assembled a hoops squad that seemed more likely to suit up for Hibbing Community College. Even the Gopher women's... More >>
• BEST LYNX PLAYER
  Seimone Augustus
  Last year's finest Lynx was also the league's best rookie. Seimone Augustus brought her work ethic, unstoppable elevation, and astonishingly efficient arc-and-swish from LSU to the Target Center just in time to replace traded veteran Katie Smith. Augustus walked into Smith's position (shooting... More >>
• BEST THUNDER PLAYER
  Freddy Juarez
  Former U.S. men's national soccer team midfielder Richie Williams was semi-affectionately known as the Ankle-Biting Midget of Death. He earned this moniker because of his diminutive stature, but also because he played the game with a tenacity more commonly associated with cockroaches and... More >>
• BEST BOXER
  Anthony Bonsante
  Bonsante doesn't have the best record in local fight circles. The veteran middleweight out of Shakopee has lost six of his last ten bouts—most recently, a bloody technical decision to hot middleweight prospect John Duddy at Madison Square Garden. But in modern boxing, records can be... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO WATCH SOCCER
  Sweetwater Bar & Grille
  Viewing futbol in public is always problematic, owing to the fact that many sports bars (and sports bar patrons) regard such an act as the equivalent of swearing allegiance to the French flag. While the Local and Brit's Pub remain the most popular destinations for big-time European matches, the... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO SHOOT POOL
  Brunswick's (at Grandma's Saloon)
  The cheapest way to play pool is also the hardest: Go to a bar, put your quarter down on a busy table, and don't lose for the rest of the night. That's fine for Minnesota Fats, but for the rest of us, hourly table rental is the only way to shoot stick. This hall—located above Grandma's... More >>
• BEST BOWLING ALLEY
  Memory Lanes
  If you're into the whole Zen bowling thing, as The Big Lebowski's Dude might say, you've come to the wrong place. From the garish interstellar mural above the lanes to the landing-strip lights along the sides—not to mention the disco ball, the roving spotlights, and the classic rawk... More >>
• BEST SIGN OF SPRING
  Custom cars
  Sure, the increase in exposed flesh is nice and all, but Minnesotans spend enough time indoors that such sights are kind of easy to come by even in the cold weather. It's when dusty white grime makes way for Turtle Wax gleam that spring really begins. Muscle cars skulk up University, hot rods... More >>
• BEST PICNIC SPOT
  Minnehaha Byway
  All along the Grand Rounds of the Minnehaha Creek trail there are lakes, wildflowers, sweet little wooden bridges, a crashing waterfall, a river, and, yes, even a creek! Where else in the state can you find all of this within a 12-mile strip? But don't let the mileage scare you; you can make a... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO WATCH A MOVIE OUTDOORS
  Stevens Square Park
  Come summertime, movies in the park are a religion in these parts. The most progressive congregants worship at Stevens Square, where the crowds are refreshingly diverse and the ongoing theme is "Cinema and Civics." Last year, the series—run by the Stevens Square Community Organization and... More >>
• BEST MOTORCYCLE RIDE (URBAN)
  The Grand Rounds
  Curves and hills, scenery and urban grit—this interconnected series of parkways are an ideal place to cruise. Consisting of about 50 miles of parkways, the Grand Rounds snake their way through the heart of Minneapolis. The brainchild of Horace Cleveland some 120 years ago, the Grand Rounds... More >>
• BEST MOTORCYCLE RIDE (GREATER MINNESOTA)
  Highway 61
  The North Shore, as it is often known, easily becomes a favorite of anyone who's had the pleasure to drive it. Recognized nationally as a scenic road, Highway 61 clings to the shore of Lake Superior as it heads to the Canadian border, a trip of 150 miles. Along that stretch you get bluffs and... More >>
• BEST BEACH
  Riverfront Park and Beach
  The better known city beaches in the Twin Cities can be mighty fine spots to while away the day. If you like to people-watch, you can check out the weirdos at Hidden Beach at Cedar Lake, the hard bodies at Thomas Beach at Lake Calhoun, or the family picnickers at Lake Phalen. But if you want the... More >>
• BEST BIKE TRAIL
  The Midtown Greenway
  Now that its been extended to the West River Parkway, the Greenway has finally reached its full potential. It offers a wide, hugely useful path through the center of Minneapolis that's used by commuters dressed for law firms, chatty Rollerbladers, punks on novelty bikes, joggers, strollers, and... More >>
• BEST GOLF COURSE
  Meadowbrook
  The best local golf courses hew to a simple formula: They offer a fair test at a good price, and if that trudge from the final green leaves us thirsting for a cold beer, so much the better. Meadowbrook delivers on all counts. True, it will never be mistaken for its blue-blooded neighbor to the... More >>
• BEST TENNIS COURTS
  Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center
  Global warming hasn't progressed to the point where outdoor tennis is a viable option for more than four months a year, so to keep up your stroke, you'll have to play indoors. Reed-Sweatt—the name itself is hot—not only offers climate control, but warm service, too. Amateurs are... More >>
• BEST DAY TRIP
  Lake Maria State Park
  One of the few remaining stands of the state's Big Woods lies just 50 miles northwest of the Twin Cities in Lake Maria State Park. This dense forest of maple, basswood, elm, red oak, tamarack, and red cedar once covered over 3,000 square miles of south-central Minnesota. Most of the trees have... More >>
• BEST FISHING HOLE (URBAN)
  The confluence of Minnehaha Creek and the Mississippi River
  What was once a pollution-fouled, left-for-dead stretch of the river now holds an astonishing array of species. You'll find most of the usual game fish—walleye, smallmouth bass, northern pike, even an occasional muskie—as well as a lot of underappreciated "rough fish." The latter... More >>
• BEST FISHING HOLE (EXURBAN)
  St. Croix River
  The hell if we're going to tell you our favorite spot, but we'll give you a hint where to look. Put in midsummer at Marine on St. Croix and slowly work north, through the shallows and the rocks and the branches, into the primeval bee-loud backwaters. The water level's unpredictability and the... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO JOG
  Big Rivers Regional Trail
  This trail consists of four and a half miles of two-lane blacktop tracing the northern edge of Dakota County. The view from the west showcases the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, which converge at mile three. The eastern side is full of trees, rock walls, and a sprawling cemetery speckled with... More >>
• BEST PUBLIC PARK
  Como Park
  Say what you will about the Lady Slippers in the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, or the stately oaks that line the river near Minnehaha Falls, you won't find a giraffe in either spot. Nor can you bask beneath palm trees around a koi pond. No, the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory is a unique... More >>
• BEST ROCK CLIMBING
  Vertical Endeavors
  The human urge to climb is a primal one, buried deep inside our monkey brains, yet the sport of rock climbing remains intimidating to newcomers. Most ground-lubbers see it as an unattainable hobby undertaken only by svelte people with bulbous calves, ape-strong fingers, and Volvos full of... More >>
• BEST SLEDDING
  Green Acres Recreation
  Green Acres is the kind of hill you can bomb—a rarity on these here plains. Actually, it's two hills: the Family Hill, for parents and their tots, and the Big Hill, which is exactly what it sounds like. There's a pond at the bottom of the big 'un, so it's off limits before January or until... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO ICE SKATE
  Van Cleve Park
  Native Minnesotans often take them for granted, but the free ice-skating rinks that dot our public park systems are a wonderful local asset. Best of all, there's always one within walking distance, which makes arguing over which rink is best sort of beside the point. Still, there's something to... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO LEARN TO DANCE
  Zenon Dance Company and School
  If you go to local hip-hop shows, you might have noticed something new in recent months: an influx of younger b-girls—not entirely polished, but unmistakably schooled. Ask these confident beginners where they learned to pop, lock, and body rock, and they'll invariably tell you: "Zenon."... More >>
• BEST YOGA
  Bikram Yoga Bloomington
  Bikram yoga, as you may know, is 90 minutes of yogic postures practiced in hundred-degree heat. Even the first class is a challenge. But the instructors—studio co-owners Herb Kearse and Laiki Huxorli, along with Julie Skovran—are exceedingly tolerant of non-athletic types. Indeed, of... More >>