I’m delighted to say that I’m back in the MNUFC coverage game, subbing in* for the Star Tribune’s Loons beat as they ramp up their Timberwolves coverage.

*I made a joke about substitute teachers in front of Loons head coach Eric Ramsay; it turns out they do not have the game “heads up, seven up” in Wales.

I started the day with a look back at last Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake, looking at four things about the game that affected the result - and will affect the team going forward.

I figured I had better show my face at team training, too, if I’m going to start being around more, and so I went up to the National Sports Center today for the first time in a decade or so. When I got there, I found out that the team was about to release a statement regarding Emanuel Reynoso’s absence for the team, and so I also got to rush home afterwards and dash together a story about the statement, with a bit more context.

If this is the kind of excitement I’m going to get every day, I don’t know what I’ll do.

For the readers of this blog, thank you in advance for putting up with me as I talk Loons over the coming weeks. And thank you in advance for clicking on every link I send out and reading all of this coverage. It would mean a lot to me.