Postcard from Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS -- Greetings from frigid Minnesota, the first stop on the Lakers' six-game trip. Beautiful day, if you can handle the 8-degree temperatures. It hasn't been above 32 degrees all month. Not once. Not even for a minute. The fellow on the local TV news smiled as he said it definitely won't make it above freezing today, but might approach it Saturday afternoon. And you wonder why the Lakers fled for Los Angeles in 1960? That said, I love Minneapolis and St. Paul. Great sports towns (the Timberwolves, Twins, Vikings and the University of Minnesota are in Minny and the Wild play a few miles away in St. Paul). People are unfailingly friendly. Prince and Bob Dylan are Minnesota natives.