June 4, 2025 • 24 mins
Minnesota Tim is recording this special episode at the Forum in Delano, MN. Minnesota Tim explains why the Minnesota Vikings could pounce on an amazing opportunity because the Detroit Lions guts are being torn apart and then he shares why the Minnesota Timberwolves should avoid trading for Kevin Durant.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into this special episode of the Minnesota Sports by
Minnesota Tim podcast. I'm so excited to be recording where
I am recording today. I am at the Forum in Delano,
which is super cool because I grew up about fifteen
minutes away from this building, from this town. Grew up
and went to high school about five minutes away, which
(00:21):
is super exciting. And I'm excited to be joined by
Ben and Alexis who work at the Forum, and we're
right now in the podcast studio. Is a place that
I've never recorded before, or even Ben and I've walked around.
I've looked around, I've seen the cool things that the
Forum has to offer. Ben, Alexis, thanks for joining the show,
Thanks for the invite, Thanks for reaching out. It's a
super cool place. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Absolutely, Tim, We appreciate you stopping out and allowing us
to be on the podcast today. This was a surprise
for both of us to be able to jump in
and be guests, but not what a better way to
spend the day.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
We're very excited to have you, for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Absolutely, it's really a privileged to be here. A quick
question for you guys, because I don't even know the answer.
We just met five minutes ago. How long has the
forum been open?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
We opened up the Forum in March, so March first
was the first day we were open for reservations. We
did our big grand opening ceremony on March twenty seconds,
so just about three months out from those dates, and
it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Sure and talk about your guys's roles and jobs at
the Forum, like what do you do, who do you oversee? Who?
Who oversees you? What? Just give us a little description
of what happens.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, so I'm the general manager here at Forum. Alexis
can speak on herself, but we do a little bit
of everything here. You know, there's two of us on
our full time staff. We have a couple of concierges
that help us out, and then Adam is our owner
he was in just a minute ago. And other than that,
there's just us that kind of handle everything. So a
(01:50):
lot of facility operations stuff that I oversee. With podcasting
and the golf simulators, pickleball courts, we both help with
social media quite a bit. That's something that we've been
really taking a notice to these past couple of weeks
is to get really fun, engaging content out there.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Yeah, I saw the one of Adam working at a
desk and then there's like a chair of you guys
playing pickleball back and forth. You're rolling a chair and
you're going crazy. It's look pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Oh yeah, that was one of our biggest videos. That
was a really fun one to film. And it's always
fun when we get to engage with everybody in the videos.
You know, it's fun to shoot social media stuff by yourself,
but whenever we get to actually all do it together
as a team, that definitely makes it a lot more enjoyable.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Sure, Alexis talk about your role.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I am the director of Hospitality and Communication, so kind
of a long title, but just like Ben, I just
work here. We're the best team under Adam. And then
we oversee different pickleball instructors, golf instructors along with group
fitness coaches. So we have four coaches and three pickleball
(02:58):
instructors and then a few golf coaches as well.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Sure, and just so that we get an idea for
the listeners listening that I don't know what the form is.
You've got business offices here, you've got a golf simulator,
you got pickleball.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
To golf simulation.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Two golf simulators. Okay, I mean have you used it yet? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Of course I had to use it. Yeah. It was
one of the first days that I was here. I
had to break it in.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah. Yeah, what's your golf game look like?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Oh terrible? Yeah, I think that it's the it's the
golf simulators, though they they tend to flow right, I
don't know. It's it's got nothing to do with your
slice exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
It's the simulator.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's the simulators.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah. So people that are listening, if you come and
it goes right, remember it's it's just the simula.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Your golf game is straight, your swing's there down the
middle every time.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah. And then what were you gonna say for something
for pickleball courts cool?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
For indoor pickleball courts cool?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
And then I see something about like a group play
thing online the other day where like people can come
and gather and socialize exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
So we do the group clinics with w are led
by an instructor and you're going to get a private
lesson within a group setting. So you can sign up
for those group clinics, and then we also do open
play where if you are I live in Delano by myself,
and I don't have anybody around me to play pickaball,
but I want to pick pick a ball. So you
can come to this open play and then you just
play with the other people that signed up for this
(04:18):
open play.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
I love how intentional the form is with gathering the community,
because I mean, let's be real, what Facebook and Instagram
and what Twitter is? It talks about getting connected, but
it's just getting connected on the phone. But pickaball you're
literally bringing people together. Love the example you just shared
of people that are by themselves hanging out, hanging out
in Delano or town close, and you're actually bringing them
(04:40):
to the building, getting them to meet other people, getting
them out of their house, and really connecting. Yeah. Right,
so it's pretty cool. What would you guys say is
your favorite part of the forum.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
My favorite part is pick aball. Yeah. I had never
really played pick a ball growing like crazy until a
couple of years ago and a couple years ago fell
in love with it, and it's one of those growing
sports so addicting. You know, everybody's played basketball, everybody's played
baseball and softball and volleyball, but pickleball with how brand
(05:11):
new it is. It's one of those things that it's
really really addicting for.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
A guy that's never played. Me but why should I
play pickleball? Oh?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
It's it's kind of a combination of everybody's favorite sports.
So everybody's played ping pong once or twice in our
life and tennis. It's tough to get up and down
a tennis court. I don't know. I don't I can't
speak for everybody, but I don't really want to. I
don't have much motivation to go outside and play tennis.
But pickleball, you're just going to take ping pong, put
it on a bigger scale. You're going to take tennis,
put it on a little bit of a smaller scale,
and you you're creating the perfect game here.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Everyone can play it all ages.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
And alexis, what would you say is your favorite part
of the forum?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
My favorite part are the events we've been able to host.
In the past few months. I was able to host
something called Bloom and Move, so we did multiple group
fitness classes outside along with make your own bouquets and
lots of yummy pastries, donuts and mocktails.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Too sweet. That's cool? And have you played pick a ball,
Are you pick a ball? Are you a golfer? Are
you a gamer?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Will not know I'm learning, haven't got there.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yet with golf? Sure, okay? And what would you say
makes the forum unique versus other businesses that try to
do something similar.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, so, I think one of the biggest things that
makes us unique is that all of the different things
that we incorporate. So you look at other pickleball places,
you know, there might be a smaller gym to say,
but our gym is fully functioning. We have fitness only
memberships because there's people that just want to come in
and use our gym. The office sentence that we have upstairs,
(06:45):
it's hard for them to leave at the end of
the day because there's there's stuff going on even after
their work day is done with. It's one of those
things that once you come in in the morning, it's
really really hard to get out of here at the
end of the there's just more stuff to do.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Seriously, what perfect place than to have a lunch break
at the forum. You're working in your business, I'm getting hungry,
Let me go get something to eat, let me play
quick game of pickle ball, or hit or hit a play,
hit a round of balls at the simulator.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's pretty awesome, all right. Well,
if you are interested in the forum, look up and
check out their website Forumdelano dot com. It's right in
the heart of Delano, or at least very close, right
next to the Peppermint Twist for those that grew up
around here or know what Peppermint Twist is, one of
the most famous ice cream places in all of Minnesota.
(07:31):
Delano is also We attend this every year. It has
the biggest Fourth of July parade in this state of Minnesota.
We attend that parade every single year. And the Forum,
it's all in this city. Delo is growing. The Forum
is here to stay. It's got business offices, pick a ball,
fitness areas, golf stimulators. Am I missing anything?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Sauna, sauna fitness class.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
I just need to get something off my chest. Maybe
you guys know, and I'm gonna ask you what is
the point of a sauna besides just a boil and
get hot? Can you guys explain to Do you guys
have any idea of what a sauna is?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
I can answer this.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, you look, I thought Ben would have an idea.
You know, but you're not a sauna guy.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I have souna while I was here. I've been corrected
on that. It is not it's not sauna.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
It's it's not sauna either, it's sunaa sauna correct. Wow,
who corrected you on that?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Alexis uh not alexis Adam Adam or Adam Wow? Another
guy is very particular.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yeah, because I've seen these souans and like you can
buy at home saunas like put downstairs, Like I don't
even get the point of its.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Bag all right, alexis it essentially helps get rid of
the toxins and chemicals in your body. Oh so it
helps push all of that out through sweat.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Wow, that's incredible. I never knew that.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
The really intense people with our saunas, they will sit
in the sauna for fifteen twenty minutes, take an ice
cold shower, five minute ice cold shower, back in the
sauna and kind of jump back and forth three times.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yeah, it helps with sleep, energy recovery after a workout,
and then when your muscles are that hot, you can
get a really really good stretch too.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
The only thing that I'm familiar with with sauna's is
the show Seinfeld. When You Guys Are Fans is an
older show. Kramer. One of the top characters is sitting
in a sauna sawna excuse me, and he says, man,
it feels like a Solena in here. So saunas, saunas,
they're good for your health. Get the chemicals out of
(09:37):
your body. Right, So you said, all right? And the
form has that too. They've got everything, They've got all
the goods. Check out Formdelano dot com. Check it out
for yourself Formdelano check it out.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Thanks for having a tank, Thank you, Thank you guys.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So again, I'm at the Forum Delano in Delano, Minnesota,
so I'm recording today and that was Ben an Alexis.
They both work here. This place is new and it
launched on early March, which is spectacular. And now I'm
going to transition to the Minnesota sports section of this
podcast because that's what we predominantly talk about. We talked
(10:14):
about the Vikings, Timberwolves, Twins Wild, but mostly Vikings and Timberwolves.
And I came across some stories recently about the NFC North,
the division of the Vikings plane and the Detroit Lions
have lost so many pieces this offseason. One, they lose
(10:36):
their offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator Ben Johnson to the
Chicago Bears and Aaron Glenn to the New York Jets.
And then they lose starting offensive linemen to the Tennessee
Titans Zeitler, and then they just find out yesterday that
(10:57):
they're starting center reg now is going to be retiring.
So the Detroit Lions are losing all their guts that
made their team a championship roster. Sure, they still got
Jared Goff, they still got a mon Ross Saint Brown,
they still got their duo running back threats. But I
(11:19):
just want to explain and touch on just how lucky
the Minnesota Vikings are for not being in the position
that the Detroit Lions are in right now. Last year,
final week of the year, the divisions on the line,
Lions win, Vikings win. That teams wins the division. The
(11:42):
Lions win, they advanced to fifteen and two, the Vikings lose.
They're fourteen and three, And what happens next is the
Lions they lose early in the playoffs. The Vikings they
lose early in the playoffs. But because Lions were the
best team in the NFC North, every single team or
(12:08):
a bunch of teams from other places are plucking their
players and coaches and putting them in their organization. The Vikings,
they return their offensive coordinator, they return their defensive coordinator.
Kevin o'connle staying the Saint our quarterback coach got plucked
and he's with Jacksonville now. But the main decision makers
(12:33):
and play callers that were on the Vikings last year
are still on the Vikings this year, and that is
almost impossible to do for any NFL team that finishes
with a fourteen to three record. So even though last
year it was deflating, losing to the Lions in the
(12:55):
final week of the year and losing out on winning
the NFC North, you look back on that loss right
now and Vikings fans can be grateful that they lost
that game because instead of losing all of our gut
pieces that make an organization run great, Brian Flores is
(13:17):
staying West Phillips is staying. Cavin O'Connell still here. So
you think about how bad that loss was last year,
and it was sad, it was a blowout, it was embarrassing,
But the fact that the Vikings still have their core
(13:37):
pieces in place is because they lost that game, and
NFL teams in different cities came hunting for members of
the Detroit Lions organization because they won the NFC North
last year and they had the first round by But
(13:58):
the truth is the Lions lost in their first game
against the Washington Commanders and the Vikings lost their first
game against the Los Angeles Rims. So although the Lions
won the North, and people want to make that out
to be something bigger than it was, because if you
don't win the Super Bowl, who really cares. Although they
(14:18):
won the North, they lost their first playoff game. The
Vikings lost their first playoff game. They're both going home
at the end of the day. And now the Lions
are losing two opfensive linemen, they lose their opposive coordinator,
their defensive coordinator. They are being gutted from the inside out.
(14:40):
And the Lions had the best offensive line in football
last year. Well, now their starting center is gone, a
legendary center, Frank Reig now and this is advantage Minnesota Vikings.
He retires, and there's no more important position on the
oppositive line than center, because if you're playing center, you're
(15:02):
so responsible for communicating with the quarterback and the other
oppositive lineman getting protections down and figuring out the formula
to blocking the other defensive line. So it's pretty cool.
And the Minnesota Vikings have a big advantage because they
(15:23):
lost in the final week of the year last year. Now,
last year, I would and will never root for the
Vikings to lose in a game of that magnitude, But
looking back in the month of June, you can look
back and say I'm grateful they lost because the lines
are being gutted and the Vikings are still intact. All right.
(15:45):
The next topic I wanted to talk about, and this
has been a juicy one for a bit, and it
really goes back to the trade deadline, because the Timberwolves
were rumored to be interested in trading for Kevin Durant,
and Kevin Durant is Anthony Edwards's buddy. Anthony Edwards looks
(16:06):
up to Kevin Durant and has called him his favorite
basketball player, basically his idol. And the Phoenix Suns are
looking most likely to get rid of Durant because they're
paying Bradley Beal, they're paying Devin Booker, and you're paying
all these guys to miss the playoffs, so they're looking
to shed some salary, and the Timberwolves are rumored to
(16:29):
be one of those teams interested in Durant. Durant will
be thirty seven years old next year. His numbers are
still spectacular, twenty six point six points per game, still
up there in the free throw count, shooting fifty two
percent from the field. His numbers are stellar. But I
(16:49):
want the Timberwolves to stay away from Kevin Durant, although
he could provide experience to Edwards. Although he could provide
a team that is looking to explore a championship window
for at least one year, I want no part of
(17:11):
Kevin Durant in Minnesota for a number of reasons. The
first reason is Kevin Durant. You look at what he
has done in his past few NBA seasons, and really
he puts up sensational numbers twenty six points last year,
twenty seven, twenty six, nine, twenty. The dude is a
(17:33):
stat stuffing machine. But there's not a lot of goods there.
Durant has not produced winning basketball teams, and he has
not won basketball games on a consistent basis since he
played for the Brooklyn Nets, and has not won a
title or gone to the NBA Finals. Since he's played
(17:57):
with the Golden State Warriors without the Golden State Warriors,
Kevin Durant is a stat stuffing machine and nothing more. Sure,
he went to the finals with the Thunder, he went
to the Eastern Conference finals with the Brooklyn Nets, but
(18:17):
has never won anything substantially or worth bragging about besides
an MVP Award with the Thunder without the Golden State Warriors.
So what would make you think that Durant is going
to join an organization that has never won anything worthwhile
(18:38):
and make them into a title contender. Sure, the idea,
the theory of well Edwards is getting double. You dish
it off to a guy and that guy's Durant. They'll
be unstoppable, but it's stoppable. Nothing is unstoppable When Dwayne Wade,
Lebron James, and Chris Bosh couldn't win a title in
(19:00):
their first season. So I hear what the ideas are.
And if Durant became a Timberwolf, I would struggle not
to get excited because the idea, the theories, the hype.
I would fall for it. I would fall for Durant
and Edwards and whoever else they could put on the roster,
(19:22):
but it would quicken the Timberwolves championship window. And the
truth is players don't enter their championship window until they're
twenty six to thirty years old. Shay Gilgis Alexander, the
MVP of the league this year, twenty six years old,
(19:43):
will probably win the NBA Finals. You look at previous
NBA champions Jason Tatum twenty six years old, Kawhi Leonard
prime years in his twenties, the Warriors prime years and
even in their thirties, they've won championship ships that Denver Nuggets,
Nikola Yok it's twenty eight years old. Players don't win
(20:06):
championships when they're twenty four and Anthony Edwards is going
to be twenty four years old next year. So the
point I'm making is why are we trying so hard
to quicken the window that will open for Anthony Edwards
when he turns twenty six years old. You trade pieces
(20:29):
for Durant, it's most likely a one year rental for Durant,
And then what if you trade Jada McDaniels, or are
you trade important bench pieces for durantula then you get
it one year? Well, what's the plan after that. So
the name is huge, and there's lots of reports about
(20:49):
the Timberwolves going superstar hunting, and I'm not gonna lie
to you, that's exciting. That gets me excited. But when
you think about it big picture, Durant has not accomplished
a single thing for a team without the Golden State Warriors,
and the Timberwolves are not the Golden State Warriors. So
(21:10):
to think that Durant is going to come to Minnesota
and make them into a championship powerhouse, I disagree with
that theory. I disagree with that logic entirely, so in
my opinion that Timberwolves should stay away from Kevin Durant.
At my last point, if you bring Durant to the
(21:31):
Timberwolves organization, what's going to happen is Anthony Edwards is
going to want that again in the future, and if
the Timberwolves cannot bring in another superstar like Durant, Edwards
is going to go hunting somewhere else. This is my
(21:51):
USA All Star Game theory. When a player like Kevin
Love or some on an organization like Love was with
the Timberwolves, when they join Team USA and play with
the best athletes in the world. Their mind starts to
wander into what would this be like in the NBA season?
(22:18):
What would this be like to have for eighty two
games and the playoffs instead of me being the sole
championship player and provider of this franchise, It'd be nice
to have a little help. So if Edwards gets joined
with Durant in Minnesota, Edwards is gonna want that for
the rest of his career. And although it would be
(22:39):
all good for maybe one season, maybe Edwards is gonna
want that again, and he's gonna want somebody else to
step in and be like, hey, you take on some of
the load. I don't want to carry this franchise to
a title. I don't want to be solely responsible. I
don't want the fan base blaming me for everything that
could go wrong. So, with all of those things in
(23:02):
the consideration, Durant is not thirty two, he's not thirty one.
If he has thirty thirty one, this would be a
different story. He's thirty seven. Next year, it's a one
year rental. I don't want to clear out the guts
of the Timberwolves organization to bring in Durant for a
one year When it could go absolutely wrong, so Timberwolves
(23:22):
avoid Durant at all costs. That's the takes of the day.
Thank you for listening and for watching The forumdeleano dot
com check it out, pick a ball, seen US golf simulators,
they got fitness, They've got everything here. I love Delano.
(23:43):
It's a great place to stay, it's a great place
to live, and now they're adding businesses like the Forum
Deleano which are spectacular forumdeleano dot com check him out today.
And thank you for choosing to join this podcast and
for going on this podcast journey with me.
Welcome into this special episode of the Minnesota Sports by
Minnesota Tim podcast. I'm so excited to be recording where
I am recording today. I am at the Forum in Delano,
which is super cool because I grew up about fifteen
minutes away from this building, from this town. Grew up
and went to high school about five minutes away, which
(00:21):
is super exciting. And I'm excited to be joined by
Ben and Alexis who work at the Forum, and we're
right now in the podcast studio. Is a place that
I've never recorded before, or even Ben and I've walked around.
I've looked around, I've seen the cool things that the
Forum has to offer. Ben, Alexis, thanks for joining the show,
Thanks for the invite, Thanks for reaching out. It's a
super cool place. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Absolutely, Tim, We appreciate you stopping out and allowing us
to be on the podcast today. This was a surprise
for both of us to be able to jump in
and be guests, but not what a better way to
spend the day.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
We're very excited to have you, for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Absolutely, it's really a privileged to be here. A quick
question for you guys, because I don't even know the answer.
We just met five minutes ago. How long has the
forum been open?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
We opened up the Forum in March, so March first
was the first day we were open for reservations. We
did our big grand opening ceremony on March twenty seconds,
so just about three months out from those dates, and
it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Sure and talk about your guys's roles and jobs at
the Forum, like what do you do, who do you oversee? Who?
Who oversees you? What? Just give us a little description
of what happens.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, so I'm the general manager here at Forum. Alexis
can speak on herself, but we do a little bit
of everything here. You know, there's two of us on
our full time staff. We have a couple of concierges
that help us out, and then Adam is our owner
he was in just a minute ago. And other than that,
there's just us that kind of handle everything. So a
(01:50):
lot of facility operations stuff that I oversee. With podcasting
and the golf simulators, pickleball courts, we both help with
social media quite a bit. That's something that we've been
really taking a notice to these past couple of weeks
is to get really fun, engaging content out there.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Yeah, I saw the one of Adam working at a
desk and then there's like a chair of you guys
playing pickleball back and forth. You're rolling a chair and
you're going crazy. It's look pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Oh yeah, that was one of our biggest videos. That
was a really fun one to film. And it's always
fun when we get to engage with everybody in the videos.
You know, it's fun to shoot social media stuff by yourself,
but whenever we get to actually all do it together
as a team, that definitely makes it a lot more enjoyable.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Sure, Alexis talk about your role.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I am the director of Hospitality and Communication, so kind
of a long title, but just like Ben, I just
work here. We're the best team under Adam. And then
we oversee different pickleball instructors, golf instructors along with group
fitness coaches. So we have four coaches and three pickleball
(02:58):
instructors and then a few golf coaches as well.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Sure, and just so that we get an idea for
the listeners listening that I don't know what the form is.
You've got business offices here, you've got a golf simulator,
you got pickleball.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
To golf simulation.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Two golf simulators. Okay, I mean have you used it yet? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Of course I had to use it. Yeah. It was
one of the first days that I was here. I
had to break it in.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah. Yeah, what's your golf game look like?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Oh terrible? Yeah, I think that it's the it's the
golf simulators, though they they tend to flow right, I
don't know. It's it's got nothing to do with your
slice exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
It's the simulator.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It's the simulators.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah. So people that are listening, if you come and
it goes right, remember it's it's just the simula.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Your golf game is straight, your swing's there down the
middle every time.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah. And then what were you gonna say for something
for pickleball courts cool?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
For indoor pickleball courts cool?
Speaker 1 (03:49):
And then I see something about like a group play
thing online the other day where like people can come
and gather and socialize exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
So we do the group clinics with w are led
by an instructor and you're going to get a private
lesson within a group setting. So you can sign up
for those group clinics, and then we also do open
play where if you are I live in Delano by myself,
and I don't have anybody around me to play pickaball,
but I want to pick pick a ball. So you
can come to this open play and then you just
play with the other people that signed up for this
(04:18):
open play.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
I love how intentional the form is with gathering the community,
because I mean, let's be real, what Facebook and Instagram
and what Twitter is? It talks about getting connected, but
it's just getting connected on the phone. But pickaball you're
literally bringing people together. Love the example you just shared
of people that are by themselves hanging out, hanging out
in Delano or town close, and you're actually bringing them
(04:40):
to the building, getting them to meet other people, getting
them out of their house, and really connecting. Yeah. Right,
so it's pretty cool. What would you guys say is
your favorite part of the forum.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
My favorite part is pick aball. Yeah. I had never
really played pick a ball growing like crazy until a
couple of years ago and a couple years ago fell
in love with it, and it's one of those growing
sports so addicting. You know, everybody's played basketball, everybody's played
baseball and softball and volleyball, but pickleball with how brand
(05:11):
new it is. It's one of those things that it's
really really addicting for.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
A guy that's never played. Me but why should I
play pickleball? Oh?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
It's it's kind of a combination of everybody's favorite sports.
So everybody's played ping pong once or twice in our
life and tennis. It's tough to get up and down
a tennis court. I don't know. I don't I can't
speak for everybody, but I don't really want to. I
don't have much motivation to go outside and play tennis.
But pickleball, you're just going to take ping pong, put
it on a bigger scale. You're going to take tennis,
put it on a little bit of a smaller scale,
and you you're creating the perfect game here.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Everyone can play it all ages.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
And alexis, what would you say is your favorite part
of the forum?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
My favorite part are the events we've been able to host.
In the past few months. I was able to host
something called Bloom and Move, so we did multiple group
fitness classes outside along with make your own bouquets and
lots of yummy pastries, donuts and mocktails.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Too sweet. That's cool? And have you played pick a ball,
Are you pick a ball? Are you a golfer? Are
you a gamer?
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Will not know I'm learning, haven't got there.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yet with golf? Sure, okay? And what would you say
makes the forum unique versus other businesses that try to
do something similar.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Yeah, so, I think one of the biggest things that
makes us unique is that all of the different things
that we incorporate. So you look at other pickleball places,
you know, there might be a smaller gym to say,
but our gym is fully functioning. We have fitness only
memberships because there's people that just want to come in
and use our gym. The office sentence that we have upstairs,
(06:45):
it's hard for them to leave at the end of
the day because there's there's stuff going on even after
their work day is done with. It's one of those
things that once you come in in the morning, it's
really really hard to get out of here at the
end of the there's just more stuff to do.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Seriously, what perfect place than to have a lunch break
at the forum. You're working in your business, I'm getting hungry,
Let me go get something to eat, let me play
quick game of pickle ball, or hit or hit a play,
hit a round of balls at the simulator.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Yeah, it's pretty cool. It's pretty awesome, all right. Well,
if you are interested in the forum, look up and
check out their website Forumdelano dot com. It's right in
the heart of Delano, or at least very close, right
next to the Peppermint Twist for those that grew up
around here or know what Peppermint Twist is, one of
the most famous ice cream places in all of Minnesota.
(07:31):
Delano is also We attend this every year. It has
the biggest Fourth of July parade in this state of Minnesota.
We attend that parade every single year. And the Forum,
it's all in this city. Delo is growing. The Forum
is here to stay. It's got business offices, pick a ball,
fitness areas, golf stimulators. Am I missing anything?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Sauna, sauna fitness class.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
I just need to get something off my chest. Maybe
you guys know, and I'm gonna ask you what is
the point of a sauna besides just a boil and
get hot? Can you guys explain to Do you guys
have any idea of what a sauna is?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
I can answer this.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, you look, I thought Ben would have an idea.
You know, but you're not a sauna guy.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I have souna while I was here. I've been corrected
on that. It is not it's not sauna.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
It's it's not sauna either, it's sunaa sauna correct. Wow,
who corrected you on that?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Alexis uh not alexis Adam Adam or Adam Wow? Another
guy is very particular.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yeah, because I've seen these souans and like you can
buy at home saunas like put downstairs, Like I don't
even get the point of its.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Bag all right, alexis it essentially helps get rid of
the toxins and chemicals in your body. Oh so it
helps push all of that out through sweat.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Wow, that's incredible. I never knew that.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
The really intense people with our saunas, they will sit
in the sauna for fifteen twenty minutes, take an ice
cold shower, five minute ice cold shower, back in the
sauna and kind of jump back and forth three times.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yeah, it helps with sleep, energy recovery after a workout,
and then when your muscles are that hot, you can
get a really really good stretch too.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
The only thing that I'm familiar with with sauna's is
the show Seinfeld. When You Guys Are Fans is an
older show. Kramer. One of the top characters is sitting
in a sauna sawna excuse me, and he says, man,
it feels like a Solena in here. So saunas, saunas,
they're good for your health. Get the chemicals out of
(09:37):
your body. Right, So you said, all right? And the
form has that too. They've got everything, They've got all
the goods. Check out Formdelano dot com. Check it out
for yourself Formdelano check it out.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Thanks for having a tank, Thank you, Thank you guys.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
So again, I'm at the Forum Delano in Delano, Minnesota,
so I'm recording today and that was Ben an Alexis.
They both work here. This place is new and it
launched on early March, which is spectacular. And now I'm
going to transition to the Minnesota sports section of this
podcast because that's what we predominantly talk about. We talked
(10:14):
about the Vikings, Timberwolves, Twins Wild, but mostly Vikings and Timberwolves.
And I came across some stories recently about the NFC North,
the division of the Vikings plane and the Detroit Lions
have lost so many pieces this offseason. One, they lose
(10:36):
their offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator Ben Johnson to the
Chicago Bears and Aaron Glenn to the New York Jets.
And then they lose starting offensive linemen to the Tennessee
Titans Zeitler, and then they just find out yesterday that
(10:57):
they're starting center reg now is going to be retiring.
So the Detroit Lions are losing all their guts that
made their team a championship roster. Sure, they still got
Jared Goff, they still got a mon Ross Saint Brown,
they still got their duo running back threats. But I
(11:19):
just want to explain and touch on just how lucky
the Minnesota Vikings are for not being in the position
that the Detroit Lions are in right now. Last year,
final week of the year, the divisions on the line,
Lions win, Vikings win. That teams wins the division. The
(11:42):
Lions win, they advanced to fifteen and two, the Vikings lose.
They're fourteen and three, And what happens next is the
Lions they lose early in the playoffs. The Vikings they
lose early in the playoffs. But because Lions were the
best team in the NFC North, every single team or
(12:08):
a bunch of teams from other places are plucking their
players and coaches and putting them in their organization. The Vikings,
they return their offensive coordinator, they return their defensive coordinator.
Kevin o'connle staying the Saint our quarterback coach got plucked
and he's with Jacksonville now. But the main decision makers
(12:33):
and play callers that were on the Vikings last year
are still on the Vikings this year, and that is
almost impossible to do for any NFL team that finishes
with a fourteen to three record. So even though last
year it was deflating, losing to the Lions in the
(12:55):
final week of the year and losing out on winning
the NFC North, you look back on that loss right
now and Vikings fans can be grateful that they lost
that game because instead of losing all of our gut
pieces that make an organization run great, Brian Flores is
(13:17):
staying West Phillips is staying. Cavin O'Connell still here. So
you think about how bad that loss was last year,
and it was sad, it was a blowout, it was embarrassing,
But the fact that the Vikings still have their core
(13:37):
pieces in place is because they lost that game, and
NFL teams in different cities came hunting for members of
the Detroit Lions organization because they won the NFC North
last year and they had the first round by But
(13:58):
the truth is the Lions lost in their first game
against the Washington Commanders and the Vikings lost their first
game against the Los Angeles Rims. So although the Lions
won the North, and people want to make that out
to be something bigger than it was, because if you
don't win the Super Bowl, who really cares. Although they
(14:18):
won the North, they lost their first playoff game. The
Vikings lost their first playoff game. They're both going home
at the end of the day. And now the Lions
are losing two opfensive linemen, they lose their opposive coordinator,
their defensive coordinator. They are being gutted from the inside out.
(14:40):
And the Lions had the best offensive line in football
last year. Well, now their starting center is gone, a
legendary center, Frank Reig now and this is advantage Minnesota Vikings.
He retires, and there's no more important position on the
oppositive line than center, because if you're playing center, you're
(15:02):
so responsible for communicating with the quarterback and the other
oppositive lineman getting protections down and figuring out the formula
to blocking the other defensive line. So it's pretty cool.
And the Minnesota Vikings have a big advantage because they
(15:23):
lost in the final week of the year last year. Now,
last year, I would and will never root for the
Vikings to lose in a game of that magnitude, But
looking back in the month of June, you can look
back and say I'm grateful they lost because the lines
are being gutted and the Vikings are still intact. All right.
(15:45):
The next topic I wanted to talk about, and this
has been a juicy one for a bit, and it
really goes back to the trade deadline, because the Timberwolves
were rumored to be interested in trading for Kevin Durant,
and Kevin Durant is Anthony Edwards's buddy. Anthony Edwards looks
(16:06):
up to Kevin Durant and has called him his favorite
basketball player, basically his idol. And the Phoenix Suns are
looking most likely to get rid of Durant because they're
paying Bradley Beal, they're paying Devin Booker, and you're paying
all these guys to miss the playoffs, so they're looking
to shed some salary, and the Timberwolves are rumored to
(16:29):
be one of those teams interested in Durant. Durant will
be thirty seven years old next year. His numbers are
still spectacular, twenty six point six points per game, still
up there in the free throw count, shooting fifty two
percent from the field. His numbers are stellar. But I
(16:49):
want the Timberwolves to stay away from Kevin Durant, although
he could provide experience to Edwards. Although he could provide
a team that is looking to explore a championship window
for at least one year, I want no part of
(17:11):
Kevin Durant in Minnesota for a number of reasons. The
first reason is Kevin Durant. You look at what he
has done in his past few NBA seasons, and really
he puts up sensational numbers twenty six points last year,
twenty seven, twenty six, nine, twenty. The dude is a
(17:33):
stat stuffing machine. But there's not a lot of goods there.
Durant has not produced winning basketball teams, and he has
not won basketball games on a consistent basis since he
played for the Brooklyn Nets, and has not won a
title or gone to the NBA Finals. Since he's played
(17:57):
with the Golden State Warriors without the Golden State Warriors,
Kevin Durant is a stat stuffing machine and nothing more. Sure,
he went to the finals with the Thunder, he went
to the Eastern Conference finals with the Brooklyn Nets, but
(18:17):
has never won anything substantially or worth bragging about besides
an MVP Award with the Thunder without the Golden State Warriors.
So what would make you think that Durant is going
to join an organization that has never won anything worthwhile
(18:38):
and make them into a title contender. Sure, the idea,
the theory of well Edwards is getting double. You dish
it off to a guy and that guy's Durant. They'll
be unstoppable, but it's stoppable. Nothing is unstoppable When Dwayne Wade,
Lebron James, and Chris Bosh couldn't win a title in
(19:00):
their first season. So I hear what the ideas are.
And if Durant became a Timberwolf, I would struggle not
to get excited because the idea, the theories, the hype.
I would fall for it. I would fall for Durant
and Edwards and whoever else they could put on the roster,
(19:22):
but it would quicken the Timberwolves championship window. And the
truth is players don't enter their championship window until they're
twenty six to thirty years old. Shay Gilgis Alexander, the
MVP of the league this year, twenty six years old,
(19:43):
will probably win the NBA Finals. You look at previous
NBA champions Jason Tatum twenty six years old, Kawhi Leonard
prime years in his twenties, the Warriors prime years and
even in their thirties, they've won championship ships that Denver Nuggets,
Nikola Yok it's twenty eight years old. Players don't win
(20:06):
championships when they're twenty four and Anthony Edwards is going
to be twenty four years old next year. So the
point I'm making is why are we trying so hard
to quicken the window that will open for Anthony Edwards
when he turns twenty six years old. You trade pieces
(20:29):
for Durant, it's most likely a one year rental for Durant,
And then what if you trade Jada McDaniels, or are
you trade important bench pieces for durantula then you get
it one year? Well, what's the plan after that. So
the name is huge, and there's lots of reports about
(20:49):
the Timberwolves going superstar hunting, and I'm not gonna lie
to you, that's exciting. That gets me excited. But when
you think about it big picture, Durant has not accomplished
a single thing for a team without the Golden State Warriors,
and the Timberwolves are not the Golden State Warriors. So
(21:10):
to think that Durant is going to come to Minnesota
and make them into a championship powerhouse, I disagree with
that theory. I disagree with that logic entirely, so in
my opinion that Timberwolves should stay away from Kevin Durant.
At my last point, if you bring Durant to the
(21:31):
Timberwolves organization, what's going to happen is Anthony Edwards is
going to want that again in the future, and if
the Timberwolves cannot bring in another superstar like Durant, Edwards
is going to go hunting somewhere else. This is my
(21:51):
USA All Star Game theory. When a player like Kevin
Love or some on an organization like Love was with
the Timberwolves, when they join Team USA and play with
the best athletes in the world. Their mind starts to
wander into what would this be like in the NBA season?
(22:18):
What would this be like to have for eighty two
games and the playoffs instead of me being the sole
championship player and provider of this franchise, It'd be nice
to have a little help. So if Edwards gets joined
with Durant in Minnesota, Edwards is gonna want that for
the rest of his career. And although it would be
(22:39):
all good for maybe one season, maybe Edwards is gonna
want that again, and he's gonna want somebody else to
step in and be like, hey, you take on some of
the load. I don't want to carry this franchise to
a title. I don't want to be solely responsible. I
don't want the fan base blaming me for everything that
could go wrong. So, with all of those things in
(23:02):
the consideration, Durant is not thirty two, he's not thirty one.
If he has thirty thirty one, this would be a
different story. He's thirty seven. Next year, it's a one
year rental. I don't want to clear out the guts
of the Timberwolves organization to bring in Durant for a
one year When it could go absolutely wrong, so Timberwolves
(23:22):
avoid Durant at all costs. That's the takes of the day.
Thank you for listening and for watching The forumdeleano dot
com check it out, pick a ball, seen US golf simulators,
they got fitness, They've got everything here. I love Delano.
(23:43):
It's a great place to stay, it's a great place
to live, and now they're adding businesses like the Forum
Deleano which are spectacular forumdeleano dot com check him out today.
And thank you for choosing to join this podcast and
for going on this podcast journey with me.
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