Minneapolis Star Tribune

MINNEAPOLIS -- Federal investigators have ramped up their attack on synthetic drugs entering Minnesota and western Wisconsin, seizing more than two dozen shipments from South Carolina, Texas and Nevada, as well as several intrastate shipments, the Star Tribune has found.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which conducted the seizures, isn't talking about its investigations, most of which remain active. Jeff Long, a spokesman, said only that it's the mission of the service to keep the mail safe.

The American League's designated hitter rule has been both embraced and vilified by the nation's fans, their perceptions shaped largely by whether they favor offense or traditionalism.

MINNEAPOLIS -- In a spring ritual as old as life itself, Steve Ellis' bees return to their hives day after day loaded with pollen from the dandelions and flowering trees that are in full bloom across central Minnesota.

But for too many of them, a day of foraging ends in convulsions and death.

RED WING, Minn. -- Here on the Mississippi on a March day like no other, Griz and I settled in quickly to the old routine. Not the routine of catching fish, because at first we didn't. The routine instead of impaling minnows onto jigs and leaning over the gunnels of his johnboat and peering into Old Muddy, the Mississippi. Just to see what we could see. This was on a recent Wednesday and the temperature rose past 70.

The NBA's March 15 trade deadline is days away, and a few names and a few teams keep emerging in discussions. Who's going, and who's staying? A snapshot look:

The pained expression on his face betrayed Dave Hakstol's emotions last week, when the North Dakota hockey coach reluctantly raised the white flag on his support for the Fighting Sioux nickname. Hakstol, fiercely proud of that name during his three years as a player and 12 seasons as a coach in Grand Forks, had concluded the cost of keeping it is simply too high.

He was just the latest North Dakota loyalist to voice that opinion. Football coach Chris Mussman, athletic director Brian Faison, Gov. Jack Dalrymple, the president of the alumni association and several former athletes also have gone on record opposing the endless efforts to cling to the nickname. Still, the pro-Fighting Sioux forces rage on, even as their unwinnable cause wreaks havoc on an institution they claim to care about.

Once your couch sores heal and you undergo a very specific form of liposuction to remove queso from the arteries nearest your heart, I hope you'll realize what you just experienced:

The best weekend in American sports.

The NFL playoffs provided drama (the 49ers improbably coming back to beat the Saints), upsets (the 49ers and Giants winning to advance to an improbable NFC Championship Game), emotion (49ers tight end Vernon Davis crying as he hugged his coach), storylines (the quarterback who fathered a child out of wedlock, Tom Brady, beating the quarterback who says he's a virgin, Tim Tebow), and two days that gave us all an excuse to sit inside by the fireplace pretending we'd really rather be at the gym.