Today is Friday, Oct. 17, the 290th day of 2025. There are 75 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 17,1933, Albert Einstein arrived in the United States as a refugee from Nazi Germany.

Also on this date:

In 1777, British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered to American troops in Saratoga, New York, in a turning point of the Revolutionary War.

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In 1931, mobster Al Capone was convicted in Chicago of income tax evasion; he would be sentenced to 11 years in prison, fined $50,000 and ordered to pay back taxes. Capone was released in 1939.

In 1967, Puyi, the last emperor of China, died in Beijing at age 61.

In 1979, Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 1989, a magnitude-6.9 earthquake struck northern California, killing 63 people and causing up to $10 billion worth of damage.

In 1989, Game 3 of the World Series was canceled as the Loma Prieta earthquake struck Northern California just 30 minutes before the game was scheduled to begin at Candlestick Park in San Francisco; the game would eventually be played 10 days later.

In 2024, Israel announced its forces in Gaza killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of 2023’s Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in which militants abducted 251 people and killed some 1,200 others, prompting Israel’s retaliatory war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in the small coastal strip.

Today’s Birthdays:

Singer Gary Puckett is 83.
Actor-musician Michael McKean is 78.
Astronaut Mae Jemison is 69.
Country singer Alan Jackson is 67.
Film director Rob Marshall is 65.
Animator-filmmaker Mike Judge is 63.
Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 57.
Actor Wood Harris is 56.
Musician Wyclef Jean is 56.
Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els is 56.
Singer Chris Kirkpatrick (’N Sync) is 54.
Rapper Eminem is 53.
Actor Matthew Macfadyen is 51.
Actor Felicity Jones is 42.
Singer-songwriter Nikki Lane is 42.

Cade Tyson scored 28 points and went on a huge second-half run as Minnesota blew away North Dakota State 80-54 Thursday night in NCAA Division I men’s exhibition basketball at Williams Arena.

The Bison suffered through a tale of two droughts. First, offensively when they went more than 12 minutes without a field goal. The second simply at the hands of Tyson, who scored 11 straight for the Gophers midway through the second half to give Minnesota a 20-point lead.

“They made shots,” Bison head coach Dave Richman said. “Maybe in a regular-season game, I call time out, but it’s an early learning opportunity. I want some guys to plow through it.”

Tyson, a 6-foot-7 senior transfer from North Carolina, can’t remember the last time he ran off 11 in a row. But it was definitely welcomed by the Gophers, who until then, let a cold-shooting Bison team stick around after Damari Wheeler-Thomas scored the second of his two consecutive buckets off a fading drive off the glass to pull NDSU within 49-40 with 12:30 remaining.

Then the show began.

Tyson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the Williams Arena crowd to life, then he somewhat snaked in to tip-in a Gopher miss to make it 57-40.

“I felt good,” Tyson said. “I felt like I had it going and felt like my teammates put me in the right spots and gave me the ball where I succeed the best.”

When Minnesota’s Langston Reynolds stripped NDSU’s Trevian Carson, it set up another quick transition and a Tyson deep ball to extend the lead to 20.

“Every time we put up a 3-ball, I’m like ‘Man, that’s money,’” said Gopher sophomore Isaac Asuma, who is one of two returning players. “I’ve seen him rep it in practice, but I’m just proud of how we competed as a team.”

Niko Medved coached his first game — albeit this being an exhibition — for the maroon and gold after coaching seven seasons at Colorado State.

“I felt good to be back out there,” said Medved, whose team took advantage of the NCAA’s new policy to play two exhibition games. The Gophers host North Dakota in another such contest on Saturday, Oct. 25.

“You could tell there were some nerves early, I thought our guys handled it really, really well and finally started getting some stops and getting out in transition a little bit,” Medved added.

The Bison got off to a solid start, something Richman said the team can bank away. But NDSU made just 8 of 25 field goals in the first half and were 2 of 12 beyond the arc, finishing 5 of 24 for the game from 3-point territory.

Junior guard Emil Skytta’s bucket with 12:12 remaining was the last Bison field goal of the half. They wouldn’t see another field goal until Carson’s jumper 29 seconds into the second half.

“I think it was just us,” said Carson, who had a team-high 14 points for NDSU. “We kind of fell apart. I mean, we are young, but that’s really no excuse. We just got to polish some things up but we’re going to be back for sure.”

Markhi Strickland added nine points and tied for the NDSU team lead with five rebounds with Treyson Anderson.

Minnesota’s Jaylen Crocker-Johnson had 11 points and Robert Vaihola had 14 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. The Gophers outrebounded the Bison 46-31.

Richman said they weren’t defending well enough — the Bison were called for nine of the game’s 20 first-half fouls — and that took the team out of rhythm as he also tried to find various personnel combinations on the floor.

“We played with our hands too much and we talk about playing defense with our chin and our chest,” said Richman, who begins his 13th year with NDSU. “We didn’t do a good job with that and we got some key players in foul trouble in the first half and that can’t happen.”

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A lack of support and a surplus of red tape were some of the issues raised as downtown St. Paul business owners met Thursday with members of the Minnesota Legislature that represent the area.

“Remember when (we heard) all of these stories of how much downtown was the pulse of not only entertainment, but family and business and culture and arts?” said Rep. María Isa Pérez-Vega, a Democrat who represents downtown and also serves as chair of the St. Paul Delegation in the Minnesota House.

“I don’t see that fizzling away,” she said.

Several people at the meeting expressed the desire for more communication around resources that are available to small-business owners. One entrepreneur pitched the idea of a small-business liaison or task force that could answer questions and alert business owners to resources, grants and other opportunities.

“Why, in a day and age where I can pick up my phone and find anything under the sun, can you not have available access to these resources?” asked one business owner.

Another business owner requested simplifying licensing processes and making renewals easier. Other issues brought up at the meeting included ongoing construction, public safety and a lack of sufficient workforce housing.

The business owners who spoke did not give their full names or identify their businesses during the meeting.

Democratic Rep. Kaohly Her, who represents west-central St. Paul and is running for St. Paul mayor, emphasized the need for diversity in downtown St. Paul. “We need to change how we’re going to do our downtown. We need the diversity of people,” Her said, adding that her constituents often request diverse retail.

It’s no secret downtown St. Paul has suffered in recent years. Notably, Madison Equities a large downtown commercial real estate landlord, put the Alliance Bank Center and nine other properties up for sale en masse more than a year ago following the death of company principal Jim Crockarell. Those transactions are still shaking out, while some of the propoertis have gone vacant and have lost access to utilities.

Just last week, a nonprofit subsidiary of the St. Paul Downtown Alliance acquired the Alliance Bank Center, which contains a central skyway link, the first step toward stabilizing the vacant office and retail complex, which was been boarded up since April.

“I want St. Paul to be the St. Paul that it deserves to be,” said Pérez-Vega. “Let’s figure out together the way to do it.”

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The Eagles coming to Minnesota this weekend aren’t the ones you watched win last year’s Super Bowl.

That team was tough and physical, with a clear, smashmouth identity it imposed every week. An unstoppable rushing attack was the primary weapon Philadelphia wielded en route to a Super Bowl title.

It may be out of ammo.

That’s how it appears thus far this season, anyway. Through six weeks, Philadelphia’s front can’t produce a push and Saquon Barkley looks less than explosive. The Eagles are averaging a woeful 3.5 yards per carry, down from 4.9 a season ago, when they eclipsed 3,000 total rushing yards on the season.

This season, they’re on pace for 1,600.

Without that reliable source of ball movement, Philadelphia’s offense has fallen flat. Debate rages on in Pennsylvania as to whether the Eagles offense is too predictable, or simply ineffective after the Eagles lost their second straight game last week, an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Giants on Thursday Night Football.

If, 10 days later, the Eagles haven’t found any answers for their floundering rushing attack, it could be a meek title defense this season for the champs.

But, should Philadelphia’s ground game find its footing, it’s the Vikings who may be in store for a frustrating fall.

The Vikings’ run defense has been detrimental to an otherwise strong group on that side of the ball. Minnesota’s 19.4 points allowed per game are fifth fewest in the NFL. That’s in spite of surrendering 132 rushing yards per game on 4.5 yards per carry.

The only two rushing attacks the Vikings have “stopped” all season belonged to Cincinnati and Chicago. And, well, the Bengals entered their tilt Thursday in Pittsburgh averaging a league-low 56 rushing yards per game, 25 fewer than the next lowest tally.

But against Cleveland – who was without a viable quarterback option in London – Minnesota allowed Quinshon Judkins to run for 110 yards. Judkins’ success made the game manageable for Dillon Gabriel and allowed Cleveland to be in the bout to the end.

A week later, Cleveland scored just nine points and Gabriel struggled mightily in a game against Pittsburgh in which Judkins was held to three yards per carry.

Speaking of those Steelers, Kenneth Gainwell’s previous career high was 78 yards .. until he ripped off 99 against the Vikings in Dublin.

Essentially, if you merely aspire to run the ball, the Vikings can help you fulfill your fantasy.

Sunday’s matchup will feature a movable object clashing with a stoppable force. If Minnesota loses out in that duel, it’s in deep trouble.

Not only because that likely means the Vikings fall to Philadelphia, but also because it could signal there being no solution for this potentially fatal flaw.

Minnesota went into the bye week knowing how pressing this concern was. It’s been at the top of defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ to-do list for the past two weeks.

“That’s a spot where we certainly need some improvement, across the board,” Flores said this week.

Flores looked at what he and his staff can do to put players in better positions and shore up various areas of the field.

“We kind of put our heads together, brainstorm it, talk through the two or three things that are the most important and then deliver that message to the players,” he said. “That’s what we’ve done, especially after having an entire week to self scout all of it and say, ‘Hey, these are the two or three things we need to really get done.’”

If they can’t do them against a Philadelphia running game in this current state, there’s little to suggest Minnesota can contain the likes of Josh Jacobs, Jahmyr Gibbs and Derrick Henry, who represent half of Minnesota’s remaining opponents after this week.

The Vikings defense can’t have a major liability. It has to be the bedrock of the entire operation. The quarterback play simply isn’t good enough to out-score opponents, or even force them into pass-heavy play scripts. The Vikings are going to find themselves in a number of mid-to-low scoring games all season, the likes of which are often determined by ball control.

There’s no avoiding this problem for Minnesota’s defense. It has to be fixed – ideally, by Sunday.

“It’s fundamentals, it’s tackling, it’s getting off blocks, it’s setting edges, things right in that kind of realm,” Flores said. “It’s not the flashy stuff. There’s nothing flashy about it. It’s really the non-sexy things that we just need to do a better job of, be more consistent with. I think, if we do that, we’ll be in a better position.”

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