As a sports nut attending St. Olaf College in rural Minnesota, I jumped on the Timberwolves basketball bandwagon during their peak Kevin Garnett years of 2002 to 2004. But with or without Garnett, the franchise has been hopeless. Between 1989, when the team entered the N.B.A., and this season, the Timberwolves have the worst record in the league.
It might be easy to lay the blame for the team's woes on the owner, Glen Taylor, or their coaching carousel, but I blame the state. After all, Minnesota's aversion to winning is not restricted to basketball. In a state synonymous with hockey, neither the Wild nor the Stars (while in Minnesota) has won the Stanley Cup. Same for the Vikings and the Super Bowl. The Twins did win the World Series, but that's the exception to the losing rule.
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