Best of the 2000s/Best of the 2010s

Best of the 2000s

Decade	Athletes of the Decade	Team of the Decade	Fearless Leader	Event of the Decade
2000s	1. Joe Mauer 2 (tie). Kevin Garnett Lindsay Whalen 3. (tie). Natalie Darwitz Krissy Wendell 4. Marcus LeVesseur 5. Adrian Peterson	1. Minnesota Gopher  women’s hockey 2. Minnesota Gopher wrestling 3. Minnesota Twins 4 (tie). Minnesota Timberwolves Minnesota Gopher women’s basketball 5 (tie). Apple Valley wrestling Hopkins basketball	1 (tie). J Robinson Jeff Swenson 2. Joel Maturi 3. Kenny Novak, Jr. 4. Mike Hebert 5. Jacque Lemaire	1. The Minnesota Gophers beat Duke 82-75 to advance to the women’s basketball Final Four (2004). 2. Blake Hoffarber’s “butt shot” won the 2005 state title for Hopkins. 3. The New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings 31-28 in OT in the NFC finals (2009). 4. The Timberwolves won their only two playoff series ever (2004). 5 (tie). The Twins survived “contraction” (2001), and defeated Oakland in the 2002 playoffs.

Best of the 2010s

Decade	Athletes of the Decade	Team of the Decade	Fearless Leader	Event of the Decade
2010	1. Lindsey Vonn 2 (tie). Maya Moore Lindsey Whalen 3. Amanda Kessel 4. Rachel Banham 5. Antoine Winfield, Jr.	1. Minnesota Lynx 2. Minnesota Gopher women’s hockey 3 (tie). Hopkins basketball Hopkins girls basketball 4 (tie). Minnesota Gopher volleyball Concordia (St. Paul) volleyball 5. Minnesota Vikings	1. Cheryl Reeve 2. Hugh McCutcheon 3 (tie). P.J. Fleck Jerry Kill 4 (tie). Brian Cosgriff Ken Novak, Jr. 5 (tie). Jessica Allister Jamie Trachsel	1. The Minneapolis Miracle: The Vikings beat the Saints 29-24 on a walk-off, 61-yard TD from Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs (2017). 2 (tie). Gopher football beat Penn State 31-26 and Auburn 31-24 en route to a #10 national ranking (2019). 3. The Lynx won their 3rdWNBA title thanks to Maya Moore’s 3-pointer vs. Indiana (2015). 4. Jesse Diggins won Olympic gold (2018). 5. Rachel Banham scored 60 points (2016).