Maybe after last week's Forbes magazine "study" deeming the Timberwolves' Kevin McHale the best general manager in any sport, we should pay scant attention to any such "scientific" rankings. But here's one that actually makes some sense, in terms of symmetry:
The online dating service OkCupid.com has determined that Minnesota has the nation's loneliest women and shyest men.
More than 12,000 men and 9,000 women from Minnesota answered questionnaires designed to determine compatibility at the website, OkCupid.com CEO Sam Yagan said. Answers in each topic area were weighted and compiled on a 0-100 scale for each state.
"We're actually all math majors. We're all a bunch of nerds over here," said Yagan. "So we took all the answers to loneliness questions [Example: 'Have you ever dated someone you didn't even like out of sheer loneliness?'] in each state and quantified the answers."
Upon hearing the results, Tamara Lundberg, who runs the executive-matchmaking service TC Dates & More, was surprised and then, not so much.
"Wow [short pause], well, yeah! The Midwest, that says it all right there," said Lundberg, a Minnesota native. "A lot of people are missing each other because they are not acting when they see someone they like. I think [lower self-image] is part of it. It doesn't need to be that hard."
You can pooh-pooh the website's methodology, but consider these other findings: New York has the kinkiest men, while Massachusetts and Minnesota rank 1-2 in "most interested in politics."
So how could Minnesotans get themselves off the top of these lists?
Yagan and Lundberg suggested the same solution: "The women should step out and make a move," Yagan said.
