The Great Midwest Excellence Logo Search + Link-O-Rama 2.0
I've sent a lot of newsletters in my professional life. Nobody, and I mean nobody, reads the Friday newsletter. Not your spouse, not your kids, not the random guy who likes all your posts and might want to cook and eat you. Not you, Terry. We're cool.
(This is also why companies/politicians drop their bad news at 4:35pm on a Friday. The audience for "I'm sorry if I offended anyone when I murdered all those interns" is lesser than it would be at 9:45am Tuesday, when people are logged on and actively trying to ignore the job they hate. Ideally something more newsworthy will happen over the weekend and they can get back to their awful, awful peculiarities first thing Monday.)
Still, I hope you take the time to check out some of the links below. They're hand curated by a local internet artisan.
BREAKING LOGO/SHIRT NEWS
My crack design team (OK, it's just my friend Tanner) brought some true genius to the proceedings. There are a couple other options he's tweaking this weekend, but this is the leader in the clubhouse, pending any cease-and-desists:
More to share on Monday.
Link-O-Rama 2.0
Ski mountaineering, or skimo, looks like the cold-weather version of ultra-marathoning, in that no one who does this is completely right in the head. You cross-country ski all the way UP a mountain, then ski all the way DOWN it. Don't skip leg day. Defector's Patrick Redford wrote more about it. Gift link.
There are no Olympics next week. That stinks!
USA! USA! USA!
I've watched Megan Keller's gold medal-winning OT goal over Canada about 50 times now. You should too. My friend Z would get upset if I didn't note the incredible pass to set it up came from Lake City, Minnesota's Taylor Heise.
Megan Keller broke their ankles and ripped their hearts out so it's pretty nice that they can go to the doctor for free
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Tom Noonan (1951-2026)
The character actor, who passed away last weekend, holds the honor of being the creepiest person in any film that also featured Hannibal Lecter.
Everyone has seen Silence of the Lambs. Not enough have seen Manhunter, the 1986 film by Michael Mann (Miami Vice, Heat) which functions as a kind of prequel. Noonan plays Francis Dolarhyde, a serial killer known as The Tooth Fairy. He comes by the nickname honestly. As in the later film, Hannibal Lecter helps the FBI try to capture him.
(Lecter is played by Brian Cox and he's even more terrifying than Anthony Hopkins. I'm not kidding!)
If you don't believe me, the movie is streaming for free on Pluto. You'll be witness to a great becoming.
Rest in peace.
Get in the Van
This piece in the New York Times by William McGrath about the local resistance to ICE thugs (gift link) is really well done. The passage below stuck with me:
Here’s what you need to remember: There is no reward that comes later. No righteous justice will be dispensed, not soon and not ever. Renee Good and Alex Pretti don’t come back to life. The lives of their loved ones are not made whole again. Thousands of people will remain disappeared, relatives scattered, families broken. This story does not have a happy ending, and I can assure you the villains do not get punished in the end. If that is your motivation, try again, start over.
But you also need to understand — and this is equally important — that we’ve already won. The reward is right now, this minute, this moment. The reward is watching your city — whether it’s Chicago or Los Angeles or Charlotte or the cities still to come — organize in hyperlocal networks of compassion, in acephalous fashion, not because someone told you to, but because tens of thousands of people across a metro region simultaneously and instinctively felt the urge to help their neighbors get by.
Not Just Hockey Dads
This Minnesota Reformer story about local attorneys filing thousands of lawsuits challenging the taxpayer-funded government kidnappings in my state is worth your time. Full disclosure: I know at least one of these lawyers, and they better not try to pay for a beer in front of me anytime soon.
Vaccinate Your Kids. I Don't Have a Joke Here.
My general, and correct, opinion is that if you don't vaccinate your children for measles, you're an attempted murderer. If they get sick and die, you're a murderer, period.
Like I said, I don't have a joke here.
How 'Bout Those Twins?
In less depressing (but still depressing!) news, Minnesota's best pitcher is out for the year and it's not even March. Link-O-Rama creator Aaron Gleeman looks at the team's options. Gift link.
Litigation Crashes
Remember Live? Mid-'90s alt-rockers, had the only song with the word "placenta" in it that ever got played on KDWB? Bald lead singer? Rest of the band was all named Chad Lastname? Anyway, they're suing the shit out of each other.
The Closer
The accuracy is hurtful.
See you Monday.
Sincerely,
Big Dog
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