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Opinion

You Must Rank the Seasons in This Week’s Open Thread

As we do every Friday, we're turning Racket over to you, the readers.

10:25 AM CDT on October 2, 2026

A leaf of unknown origins.

|Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

If the small talk between me and the irrigation guy is any indication, this morning, in terms of crispiness, truly marked the beginning of fall.

As such, we're gonna ask you to not just rank the seasons (an endlessly entertaining exercise if there ever was one), but also offer reasoning behind your picks. It'd be unfair for me not to go first, wouldn't it?

  1. Fall: The Onion's Mr. Autumn Man nailed this one—autumn is the ultimate season. Crisp, non-conditioned/furnaced air. Leaf-peepin' up the wazoo. Orchards, pumpkin patches, nippy lil brewery fests, perfect hiking... I could go on! And, frankly, I will: spooky season, turkey season, and the return-of-kids-to-school season. We get football and basketball back, plus playoff baseball!? (I'm told hockey also factors in.) The only downside, as I see it, is the relentless onslaught of political ads, but you shouldn't be watching screens amid all this autumnal splendor anyway.
  2. Winter: Winter rocks. If you disagree, you picked the wrong state, bub.
  3. Summer: Makes a strong case for No. 2; summertime in Minnesota can be downright paradisiacal. But for me, personally, speaking entirely for myself? I prefer layering clothes over sweating my butt off.
  4. Spring: Dog-walker bias here. The season of mud, slush, and snirt takes last place with a bullet.

OK, now it's your turn! There are no wrong answers here... unless, sicko-like, you put fall last. Or, as always, feel free to ignore this prompt and talk about whatever you want. This is your Open Thread after all.

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