Minnesota United’s training session Friday started like so many other practices: Players got a few touches in during a passing drill, following by brief instructions on the day’s tasks from head coach Eric Ramsay.

But there was a surprise brewing at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

Ramsay added: “And we have one more thing …”

Out walked midfielder Robin Lod’s wife, Janni, and their two young children — each wearing his black Loons jerseys. They carried another shirt with them which read: “All-Star” above Robin’s No. 17.

Lod has become the sixth all-time MNUFC player selected for the MLS summer showcase, the league and club made official in announcements Monday. Lod was selected by all-star coach Wilfred Nancy of Columbus Crew to be among 30 total players honored for the match against stars from Mexico’s Liga MX at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, on July 24.

“He’s been brilliant,” Ramsay said of Lod on Friday. “I’m really pleased that he is now getting the recognition that we as a group of players and staff here would give him. He’s not always able to play in the position he wants to play in, unfortunately, given how we’ve had to chop and change a little bit. But everywhere he has played, he has given his all.”

Primarily as a central midfielder, Lod has contributed to 48 percent of the Loons’ total goals this season (16 of 33), with five goals and a team-high 11 total assists in 1,286 minutes across 18 matches this season.

Lod has been key for the Loons since the departure of central attacking midfielder Emanuel Reynoso, who was so often at the center of MNUFC’s goal creation before playing only 30 all season and being transferred to Club Tijuana in May.

“(Lod’s) obviously got an incredible high level of quality — that’s shown in the goal involvements that he has had,” Ramsay said. “We are really reliant on him. I don’t think anyone can say any different or dare to in a sense. He is our most creative attacking player, and we are thankful that he has done what he has done up to this point because we wouldn’t be in the position we are in without him, for sure.”

With Lod leading, the Loons have 29 points through 20 matches and sit in seventh place in the Western Conference going into Wednesday’s home game versus Vancouver Whitecaps.

On top of the all-star nod, Lod also is a candidate for MLS comeback player of the year. His resurgence this season comes after tearing the meniscus in his right knee in May 2023 and missing the rest of that season. It was the first major injury in the 31-year-old’s career.

Lod, who is under contract through the 2025 season, is the Loons’ second-highest paid player at $1.6 million, according to the MLS Players Association. He is behind fellow Finnish player Teemu Pukki ($3.5 million); the Finns are MNUFC’s two Designated Players.

As MNUFC staff put together the all-star surprise for Lod, they reached out to Janni the day before to see if she wanted to participate.

“Never in 13 years have I kept a secret from him,” Janni told Ramsay after the announcement. “It was a tough 20 hours.”

Ramsay, Janni and a few surrounding staff members shared a laugh.

North stars

MNUFC players selected for MLS all-star games since 2017:

2024 — Robin Lod
2022 — Dayne St. Clair, Emanuel Reynoso
2021 — Reynoso
2019 — Romain Metanire
2018 — Darwin Quintero, Francisco Calvo

Minimum wage increases for large, small, and micro businesses in St,. Paul went into effect Monday.

For large business of 101 to 10,000 employees, the a hourly rate of $15.57 stays the same — it set at that amount on Jan. 1, 2024. For small businesses of six to 100 employees it means $14 an hour and for microbusinesses of five employees or fewer it means $12,25 an hour.

To determine the size of a business, employers must count all employees, whether employed full-time, part-time, jointly with another employer or on a temporary basis, including employees not located in the city.

The ordinance was signed into law y Mayor Melvin Carter on Nov. 14, 2018 following approval by the city council.

For more information on the wage go to stpaul.gov/departments/human-rights-equal-economic-opportunity/labor-standards-enforcement-and-education.

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The Breakaway Music Festival, a two-day celebration of electronic dance music and the DJs and fans who love them, tuned up the area around Allianz Field in St. Paul’s Midway this weekend, drawing thousands of EDM enthusiasts in a variety of outfits — from a man dressed as a banana to some flashy ravers not wearing much at all.

It was the first major music event outside Allianz Field since the soccer stadium’s opening in 2019. Neighboring bar owners and others happy to see signs of night life in the Midway beyond soccer games celebrated the independent festival’s arrival. But for some homeowners, the bass was too booming, the beats were too loud.

The festival drew a flurry of complaint calls to police and city offices, with some residents at least as far away as Highland Park assuming there was a party going on nearby.

Ben Christianson, who lives near Portland Avenue and Pascal Street, turned on a white noise machine to get his small kids to sleep, but the sound of eff-bombs from enthusiastic DJs irked him enough on Saturday to inspire him to jump on a bicycle and head up to the festival himself to see if he could convince organizers to turn the volume down a notch.

“I just told them I was a neighbor and it was really loud, just asking if they could turn it down. I wasn’t under any illusions that they would,” Christianson said. “They reassured me that they were within their permit and I should follow up with the city if they had any concerns. I called the city and they said there wasn’t anything they could do. There wasn’t any recourse.”

“What really got me was you could hear the DJ interject every once in a while, using swear words,” Christianson added. “They were really dismissive. When I told them I had a 5-year-old, they told me ‘I’m sure he’s heard worse.’ I lost my cool a little bit. I’m sure he has, but it hasn’t been for hours and hours in our backyard.”

97 decibels at 50 feet

Headlined by famed EDM DJ Illenium, the outdoor festival featured more than two-dozen local and national acts, most of them DJs, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. No one besides event organizers testified before the St. Paul City Council on June 5 during a public hearing for a requested sound level variance. The city granted permission for “97 decibels at 50 feet from all sound sources during the event hours.”

The orientation of the stage and speakers, pointed south, likely had an impact on who was subjected to an unsolicited rave.

During soccer games, noise from Allianz Field tends to be muffled by its inset bowl shape — the playing surface is technically below ground — and by the architecture of the stadium itself. The festival, however, was situated in the parking lot and grassy area outside the stadium itself.

“I’m fine with it,” said Bill Childs, who lives in Mac-Groveland. “We live in a city. Did I love hearing it until 11 p.m.? No. That’s not the music I’m interested in seeing or hearing, but I’m excited to see activity in the city. That’s the trade-off for what I love about being in the city. It was loud, but I’m a season ticket holder to Allianz Field. It’s a big old plot of land that mostly sits empty. I assume a lot of those people wouldn’t have been coming into the Midway otherwise.”

A range of opinions

On social media channels such as X, Facebook and Reddit, St. Paul residents sounded off with their locations and a variety of reactions this weekend, ranging from outraged to supportive:

“Randolph and Snelling–Kept hearing a deep deep bass line as if a car was driving by with the subwoofer cranked.”

“Not a chance this was 80-90 decibels!”

“Whoever approved this one needs a talking to.”

“I live in Midway, it was music and not much louder than a soccer game or State Fair concert. Glad they are utilizing the stadium.”

“I thought there was a huge party going on behind my house so I called the police non-emergency line at 9:30 p.m. … I’m a mile away.”

“Is this ok??? This is NOT ok. Our whole house is shaking and it’s supposed to go until 11pm? Not ok.”

“Highland Park. It was pretty loud… but meh, I was young once and it’s summer. Enjoy it while you can.”

“Friday night heard it (in) Mendota Heights. Not as pronounced on Saturday.”

“We’re less than a mile from Allianz (south and east in Merriam Park) and it was barely noticeable except when outside. I’m early to bed and sleep with the windows open.”

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It’s not uncommon to see 98- and 99-mph pitches from Jorge Alcala. Sometimes even 100. But when 101 flashed on the T-Mobile Park scoreboard on Saturday night, it was a ‘wow’ moment from the 28-year-old Twins right-hander.

“Pretty unbelievable,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

But not, apparently, to Alcala, who somewhat downplayed his excitement over the fastest pitch of his career, which was officially clocked at 101.2, per Statcast.

“Very happy,” Alcala said through interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “But the most important thing right now is that I’m feeling healthy.”

That’s something the Twins haven’t seen for a sustained period of time from Alcala in quite a while.

In 2022, Alcala threw just 2 1/3 innings at the major-league level, landing on the injured list with an elbow issue in April and never returning, eventually undergoing surgery. Last year, he threw 17 1/3 innings as he was slowed by a radial stress fracture in his forearm that cost him most of the season.

But the Twins always knew he had the stuff to be a late-inning reliever. It was just a matter of keeping him healthy.

“He’s worked very hard to get to this point,” Baldelli said. “He’s overcome some things and this is what I think the ideal version of Jorge Alcala looks like, and it’s always been in there. This is a guy that we’ve always believed in.”

Though the upside with Alcala has always been high, the Twins haven’t really gotten to see much of him at his best at the major-league level. Even this season, Alcala began the year with the Twins but was optioned twice to Triple-A before returning in late May and starting to establish himself as a later-inning option.

“Whenever you have the opportunities, take advantage, and right now I just feel great that I’m in these types of opportunities,” Alcala said.

The reliever has a 1.88 earned-run average in 28 2/3 innings this season and, the Twins have been pleased with how he has responded to what they’ve asked of him.

Specifically, Baldelli noted that Alcala was coming in and throwing his best stuff right out of the gate, something which they addressed with him after he would enter games throwing in the lower 90s earlier this season.

“When you throw one inning most of the time, you have to come in ready to go. You have to come in throwing strikes,” Baldelli said. “You have to come in with your best stuff, and you have to go right at the hitters. He’s doing a wonderful job of that right now from the first pitch on. Earlier in the year, some of those things I think weren’t taking place consistently.”

Case in point: Seattle’s Luke Raley, the first batter Alcala faced in the seventh inning on Saturday, saw three pitches above 97 miles per hour to begin his at-bat.

The next batter, Ty France, got the 101.2 mph heat from a healthy Alcala showing the potential the Twins knew was in him.

“It’s the best, just to feel healthy,” Alcala said. “You can focus on a lot of things, you don’t have to worry about your body. For me, being healthy right now is the best thing that has happened.”

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