Welcome back to The Flyover, your daily digest of what local media outlets and Twitter-ers are gabbing about.
No More Eastlake on East Lake
Check in on your beer-loving Minneapolis buds: Days after Dangerous Man announced its departure from Northeast, Eastlake Craft Brewery has announced that it'll close before the month is out. "This December would have marked nine years for Eastlake, but we won’t see it," a post shared on Instagram today reads. "COVID and the civil unrest outside our doors was a tough one-two punch for south Minneapolis. We bounced back a bit as things opened up, but not quite enough. In an unfortunately all too relatable circumstance, we can’t afford the rent." Fittingly, the baseball-focused brewery (you may be familiar with Eastlake's Kirby Pucker sour series) made it nine years—or, depending on how you look at it, nine innings. "We didn’t make the postseason," the Midtown Global Market brewery's Instagram post concludes. There are a bunch of going-away events over the coming weeks—check out the farewell post for the full list—and the final day will be Saturday, September 23.
It Really is the Year of the Pickle
Is Minnesota becoming a pickleball state? Picklr, a Utah-based indoor pickleball court company, is planning on building six new facilities in our state, with one in Blaine and five in the Twin Cities proper. (For those unfamiliar: The sport is kinda like the love child of table tennis and regular tennis. You have a plastic ball and a paddle, and you play it on a special mini tennis court. Odds are good your parents love it.) "The Picklr stands out among our competition through high-end facilities and our unique sense of community that is evident to anyone lucky enough to be a part of The Picklr," says founder Jorge Baargan in a very natural, not at all redundant press statement.
That “community” is really more of a mega-chain; the business is currently planning to open 80 new facilities and 13 new franchises across the U.S. That’s a lot! Is America now a pickleball country? In the meantime, Minnesota already has a ton of pickleball courts, many of which are free to reserve at public parks (Loring Park and Lake Nokomis has ‘em) or for a fee at small businesses, like Minneapolis Cidery. No really, there are so many pickleball courts already in town.
Florida of the North Exhibit No. 5,914
Did you know one Racket staffer is a diehard, stock-owning Green Bay Packers fan? Let's just call him "Jay B." No, that's too obvious... how about "J. Boller?" In any case, his heart legit goes out to weirdo ex-Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, who suffered a season-ending torn Achilles injury during Monday Night Football just four plays into his tenure with the New York Jets. In search of some sort of levity, we turned our gaze 330 miles southeast to Jack's American Pub in Milwaukee—deep in the heart of Minnesota's alarmingly shit-faced neighbor. Monday's on-brand promotion? Free drinks for Packers fans should the Jets fall to the Buffalo Bills.
As Rodgers hobbled off the MetLife Stadium turf, that L seemed all but certain, so Pack fans began to ramp up their well-practiced binge drinking. Problem is, as the following TV news report from CBS affiliate WDJT-TV hilariously documents: The Jets eked out a win. "The mood has changed considerably, that's because the Jets just won the game on a long touchdown in overtime," reporter A.J. Bayatpour observes from the chaotic scene. (Several of the sources are identified via chyron as "Hoping for Free Drinks," a peak 'Sconnie descriptor if there ever was one.) We encourage you, the always responsible Minnesota drinker, to drink in every moment of the two-minute clip.
This is incredible. A Wisconsin bar offered free drinks if the Jets lost. After Rodgers went down, they started running up their tabs. The news was live when the jets won in overtime and everyone realized they had to pay. pic.twitter.com/1QDVJq9Zlr
— David Hill (@davehill77) September 12, 2023
Gophers Don’t Want OnlyFans Sports Superfan Stanning Them
According to her YouTube bio, Florida-based influencer Allie Rae is a mom, a wife, a nurse, and a veteran. She’s also a huge fan of the Golden Gophers, and frequently shares pics of herself on social media at football and hockey games, watching her teams at home, and repping the ol’ maroon and gold in fan gear. So what’s the problem? Rae is also a popular OnlyFans content creator, OutKick reports, and when she discovered that the football team’s official Twitter account had blocked her, she came to a conclusion.
“Well guys, this is an emergency press conference,” she starts in an Instagram video posted this afternoon. “As you can imagine, it’s been a very difficult day for me. I got news that the Gopher football association has blocked me on social media. For no reason. Simply discriminating because of my profession and the media attention I got for being at the game.” She goes on to explain that she’s been a fan for over 20 years, travels to as many games as she can, and always buys extra tickets to give away. “I’m devastated. I’m heartbroken,” she continues, adding that she has contacted the U of M's athletic department to straighten things out. Let the lady stan the Gophs, damn.
