Dana Thiede's Blog

Middle aged-crank finally puts winter in the rear-view mirror

Even though I'll probably curse us all for saying this, I will. The winter of 2011-2012 is history.

Sick day buzzkill

There was a time in my life that a sick day was the equivalent of a second Christmas. You remember those days... waking up with a barking cough or a severely snotty nose, and then pulling out all the stops to convince mom that you were on your deathbed.

Who are these guys?

The 2011 Minnesota Twins are not the club fans have become accustomed to... not by a long shot.

A great game, a better life

I came to the game of hockey late in my life, which really doesn't make sense... like a lot of things in my life. Despite growing up in a hockey neighborhood

A dog's life...

Tobee is our Wirehaired Fox Terrier, an amazing dog with an unusual personality, and an even-more offbeat story. She is turning 6 with the start of this new year

Texts from camp

My oldest daughter has been at hockey camp up north for 5 days now... I pick her up tomorrow. No letters have arrived in our mailbox, but my phone has buzzed

Life as a measuring stick, and a mirror

I most certainly won't be the first to pen a gushing obit to WCCO's Darcy Pohland... and I surely won't be the last.
Neither first, nor last, matters

The 'thinking' season

There's just something about mid-February that lends itself to thinking. As in 'too much' thinking.

I do not steal candy from babies, REALLY...

Let me state up front that I have never operated under the misguided illusion that members of the media are EVER going to win a popularity contest

Fans or freakazoids? You make the call

Lets put it out there right off the bat: I'm a sports guy. Seriously. Give me Fox Sports Net and ESPN and I have minimal need for the rest of the package. Watching the Twins, Wild

Hangin' it up... yeah, right

I've been doing some long distance gazing lately. Whether it's the fact I've been in full-time workforce for about 25 years, or the pain that comes in reading the gutted 401K statements

Umpires a magnet for anger, unreasonable parents

Music strikes the right note in tough times

The fact that alcohol sales stay steady, or even spike during difficult economic times says volumes about the way many people cope, even

Inspiration trumps cynicism for at least one day

I'm not that into T-V.  Sounds a bit strange from someone who earns his meal-ticket writing stuff for the airwaves

Old dog tries to learn new hockey tricks

I grew up in Minnesota, in a hockey neighborhood.Somehow... I became a wrestler.The scenario is still a head-scratcher. How did a guy who

Cold cases, wounded hearts

After 23 years of working in the news biz, there are plenty of things you get a bit hardened to.Families and loved ones

Unfrozen Caveman of KARE newsroom confounded by change

Technological overload. For me, it's a feeling akin to getting whacked in the head by a shovel. (I know that of which I