Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?

Recently I listended to some blowhard on sports radio pontificate about prefering to 'lose with guys you like versus winning with guys you loathe' and it got me thinking about our Minnesota sports scene and all that has transpired over the last few years. We've seen stand-up, 'sports citizen's' like KG and Torii be shipped off to other teams leaving much more than empty roster spots. Then, on the same sports page that detail the seemingly mass exodus of 'good guys' we read police blotters about Love Boat trips and dudes toking joints in front of Minneapolis strip clubs the night before games. For me, I guess it is true, I'd rather root for a team of 'good guys' who work and play hard but may not take me to the promise land than cheer for the Fred Smoot's who flash some skills on the field only to become the 'wack-a-mole' of sports scandals off the field.

Of course, this isn't just a Minnesota thing. The list of 'guys you loathe' is long and they appear in every sport from Randy Moss to Albert Belle to Barry and Kobe and Clemens and Manny. These are guys who lack the high moral character we wish our sports stars had but possess the skills to deliver a championship to a hungy fan base. These are the guys who, when on another team, you would use 'fucking' as descriptive adjective as in: 'fucking Clemens, I hate that guy.' However, when your favorite team's roster includes one of these nuckleheads you find yourself quietly making a deal with the 'sports Devil' - rationalizing their trangressions against society in return for a chance to win it all. When Moss was in purple and gold, we turned a blind eye to his running over a traffic cop, his telling us 'he plays when he wants to play,' and his 'straight cash homey' way he goes through life because he torched the Packer's for 3 tuddies on Monday night in Lambeau. When he was shipped off to Oakland, I actually thought it was a good move not because of the player's we got in return (which we didn't) but because I didn't have to deal with his crap all year long praying he would all of a sudden turn into a man on and off the field that I could respect. All the success he has had in New England has made part of me wish he was still playing for us but after watching his press conference when he discussed breaking Jerry Rice's record I was relieved I didn't feel I had to apologize to Jerry Rice.

As our Vikings line up today, we are in store for a mediocre football team trying to back their way into the playoffs they don't deserve to be a part of. However, out of 53 players on the roster, there isn't a Randy Moss. Sure, a couple dolts have done some stupid things (usually regarding getting high) but I know that when EJ Henderson or Pat Williams or AP makes a big play I won't feel guilty for rooting for them.

The Elephant in The Room

Well, I know we've all been avoiding it, blaming Christmas and the short work week before New Years' and all that, but I think we should discuss at some point the colossal putridity of the game the Vikings played on national TV last Sunday night. That's two stinkers in a row. This one carried the stench of a bottle of baby formula left in the hot sun for five hours. In a game that really (REALLY) mattered.

Not ready for prime time, says I. Even if we back door it into the playoffs this weekend - not likely with the Cowboys assured of home field advantage due to the Packers egg-sucking at Soldier Field last Sunday (Bears! Newman! Even three games removed they somehow still screwed us) - we have so many flaws, and performed so poorly in the last two games I can't take much joy in it. More a sign of how awfully awful the NFC still is, than of improvement on our end.

In the AFC, either Tennessee or Cleveland won't make it, and Houston's already eliminated, but either the Vikes or the 'Skins will play off in the NFC? Yikes.

Gopher Hoops - headed back to the barn

Guys,

I noticed that one of you voted for "Tubby takes the Gophers back to the dance" as your Christmas wish (it actually wasn't me, despite my Dad's obsession with the team). Anyway, since I'm headed to the game on Saturday at Williams Arena, I figured I'd get everyone fired up about the FUTURE of the squad. As you probably heard, Tubby hauled in a pretty solid recruiting class (consensus top 20-30 in the nation). This Youtube video is a highlight reel of the most high-profile among them, Ralph Sampson III. I'm sure it was edited carefully to showcase every facet of his game, but I got pretty excited when I saw him actually use a few low post moves, hit the mid-range bank shot (a la Tim Duncan) and knock down a couple of threes. Very encouraging, especially after watching Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson underachieve for the last three years. This kid could be absolutely ruling the paint in the Big Ten in a couple years. I can't wait to watch him stuff all those goonish, crew-cutted clones at Wisconsin.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g330I1FIZY

Twins: Non-Johan Issues

While we all hold our collective breath a little longer on the fate of Cy Santana, let's look at some other Twins issues right now.

- The lineup will be massively different from last year, especially now that we've signed the left half of the Astros infield. Only 4 of the starting 9 hitters from '07 will be in the Opening Day batting order. That's a lot of change. Obviously Young is an upgrade over whoever was at DH (I'm assuming Kubel moves to DH and Young's in left); although no standout, Lamb's a large improvement at third - his plate production increase over Punto more than compensates for his crummy defense; Everett's pretty much a wash from Bartlett in my eyes; I'm not sure what's going to happen at 2B, but it's probably going to be slightly less offense than Castillo in his prime, but negligible over what he'll do in reality next year; and CF will be a downgrade unless the Big Trade fixes it. Overall, I'd say we've slightly upgraded the offense thus far, but there's still work to do.

- Pitching's obviously downgraded, especially if Santana's gone. I'm concerned about Neshek's second half, needing a closer, and Liriano's health, mostly. But Rincon's fallen apart, we need Baker and the other young guys to step up, and we need a future stud gained via the Santana trade to work out. Lot of question marks here. I haven't been this concerned about our pitching since Scott Erickson left.

- I'm not in love with the Everett and Lamb signings, but I do like that Smith is at least getting guys in free agency who aren't total bargain bin washups. I actually think Lamb will produce pretty well in the Dome and his numbers could increase as an everyday starter. We all knew well in advance that RonDL, Batista, etc. would not work, but at least here, there's a chance.

- As a fan it will take a while to get used to all the new faces. We really have sort of blown up the team outside of the foundation of M, M and Cuddy. It will feel even more brand-new if and when Johan goes, obviously. 2008 will be interesting, regardless of success level.

Drinks

Jan- no more appletinis for you:

http://www.local6.com/entertainment/13648138/detail.html

I don't know, I found it interesting, it got me right. If I am drinking for work or only having a couple I go with the import. If I am drinking to go blind at an all day event, I am on the light beer wagon. If I want to hate myself for the next week, remind myself that I was an idiot when I was younger and want to wonder how that door mysteriously broke itself, I am on the tequila shot express.

Welcome to the Thunderdome

I'm assuming the game I attended last night was as boring in person as it was on t.v. For once I actually didn't think we were going to lose. I mean, how bad are the Bears? Wow. Here are some other thoughts from festivities at 34 Puckett Place last night:

1. Did it get louder or did I get older? Now I remember one of the reasons why Gauck's parents stopped going to the games. Between the fireworks & the AC/DC I thought I was at the KQRS booth at the fair.
2. As I entered the game moments before kickoff with apparently everyone else and was being patted down for the now requisite terrorist search, the security guard angrily asked his buddy - "Why the hell do people all come 2 minutes before kick off?" I commented "Because they're busy getting drunk." And how right I was. People were loaded. Now I remember the second reason Gauck's parents stopped going to the games.
3. Best dressed: some dude was head-to-toe Tinky from TeleTubbies, purse and all. He said he lost a bet. I say he wears it for the comfort.
4. Best cheer: "Packers suck."
5. Worst cheer: "Cooper sucks" which was yelled by some doorknob during halftime as they were presenting trophies to the All-State high school football team. Oh, and Minnesota Mr. Football (who committed to Notre Dame) was actually booed.
6. Worst fans: the two Bears idiots behind us.
7. Best fans: me and Roedel

Well, we are 8-6. Our dreams have come true, we actually have a football team that we have to care about in the post-season.

Death Penalty- by state

I don't want to get into a death penalty debate. Far too deep and depressing for me on a game day. However, this map on CNN detailing what is available in each state is pretty interesting.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/17/death.penalty/index.html#cnnSTCOther1

If I ever put myself in this situation and have to choose, here are my rankings:

1. Firing Squad- Manly and I would think the least painful, like a band aid.
2. Hanging, I wonder if it is like the old west where you have to tip the extra cash so that the noose breaks the neck instead of strangulation.
3. Gas Chamber- best of the rest.
4. Lethal injection- too much of an unknown.
5. Electric chair- Old sparky scares the crap out of me.

In Utah you can only choose firing squad if sentenced before a certain date and the same thing in Arkansas for electrocution. Talk about red tape.

Atlanta #1 in Bank Heists

We're #1! We're #1! Suck on it LH, we over took L.A.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/17/atlanta.bankheists/index.html

Looks like all those politicians I voted for, the ones that are anti kids and pro crime, are finally paying off. Now if only I could find a girl who hates oceans, sunsets and guys who don't play games...

Public Enemy #1: Kyle Orton

Turning our attention back to football for a second, historically Vikings teams, for some unknown reason (I still want to blame Herschel Walker and I don't know why), tend to get burned by back up quarterbacks. This happens so often that I question whether or not the Vikings defense snuck into the Oiler's locker room during that 1993 playoff game against the Bills where Frank Reich was Joe Montana/Dan Marion/John Elway rolled into one. Last weekend, Shaun Hill had the perfect scenario to be that Vikings killing back up (especially considering he was on our roster for 4 years) when he started off the second half with a 70+ yard drive for a td. While our defense stepped up and the 49ers reverted to form, we were able to cruise to a victory, but a collapse did cross my mind.

This brings us to Monday night at the RollerDome where Kyle Orton steps onto the carpet against the "New America's Team" (apparently, 'America's Team' is already taken) and Peter King's favorite our Minnesota Vikings. I'm going to be in attendance with drinking buddy Eric Roedel and hopefully when I call one of you from the game you won't be able to hear me due to the cheering and it won't be like the time I called Gauck at the Dome seconds after our 1998 season turned to dust and could have heard a pin drop.

With that all said, listening to the local sports homers talk about how we have turned the corner makes me worry. I'm reminded of story I heard about John D. Rockefeller who predicted the 1929 stock market crash because he overheard his shoe shine boy trading stock tips. I fear our bandwagon might be getting ready to tip over. In the words of Alan Greenspan, I feel like there is an undercurrent of 'irrational exuberence' in Vikingslandia. Then again, it could all be in my head.

Mitchell Report Baseless Speculation:

1. Who's on it?
2. Any Twins?

50-70 names? Wow. Word on the street is that it's going to be a busy day in the Bronx. I wouldn't be surprised if Queens saw a few reporters, too. We all know Clemens and Bonds are going to show up, but what about others? Sheffield? I'm going to go with Pujols and Prior as the big surprises. Oh, and Shilling, too. Basing all that on nothing more than gut feeling.

I must say, I don't have any legitimate fear that any Twins names will be mentioned, but aren't you terrified at the same time? I mean, if someone like Johan's name were to pop up I just don't know what I'd do with myself. Then again, if Ortiz is on there (wouldn't be a shock), I would nod my head knowingly and move on.

Here We Go Again

How weird is it that jan's over there starting up Twins threads and I'm writing about the Vikes? It's like when his FFL season turns to dust he just can't be bothered to think football anymore. Meanwhile, I've got Santana Fatigue Syndrome and want to talk about something more positive.

Anyway, I mostly just want to note my frustration with the national football media's growing obsession with our red-hot team, now that they've won 4 in a row. My god, Peter King's not only penned us into the playoffs, but is insinuating that we've got a legitimate shot at giving the Pack or Cowboys trouble in the divisional round. Do these people have no memory? Didn't we just get destroyed by Favre Bay a month ago? Surely none of the five of us has deluded ourselves into thinking we'll do anything other than finish 9-7 and leave a big ostrich egg in Seattle in three weeks, right? C'mon, people, relax. This is the Vikings.

All that said, I remain impressed by what I'm seeing/reading about the team lately. I never thought Jackson was capable of what he's doing. I think a large part of it might be that defenses have to overload so badly to stop the 6.5 ypr running attack, but be that as it may it looks like the light's come on for him. I know I'm not thinking much about Donovan McNabb anymore.

What do we need to take the next step? Better possession receivers to go with Rice? I'm going to go with a pass-catching machine at tight end. Think how well our system could work for Winslow or Gates or Witten. What's the defense missing that makes it so susceptible to the pass? I'm guessing it's the corners. Who's out there in the draft?

Twins: A recent history of free agent mediocrity

As we have repeatedly seen, the Twins have done a pretty remarkable job of getting value back from trades. However, what they have never been good at is picking up a "big bat" or getting one or two more years out of an aging star to make an impact. Here's a brief but distinguished list of who the Twins have tried out the last few years. I was surprised that my grandfather wasn't given a shot at some point but then I reminded myself he has been dead for 6 years.

1. Jeff Cirillo - he was as much a part of last year's clubhouse as TC Bear was. I don't his deal but I haven't seen someone want out of a situation like that since I called my mom crying from Camp Warren when I was 8.
2. Bret Boone - career .266 hitter; played 14 games for the Twins in 2005, batted .170; why did we pick him up?
3. Tony Batista - this dude was playing for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan in 2005 when we signed him. How do you say "50 games and a .236 average for the Twins" oh, yeah "Fuk-u-oka"
4. RonDL White - Huge upside to Rondell . . . oh wait, it's not 1992? Never mind, he's old and got hurt a lot.
5. Rueben Sierra - Yes, he played 14 games for us in 2006. That was also his 20th year in MLB. Seriously? This is who we pin our hopes on?

To make matters worse, I read this morning that Bill Smith might be interested in Tony Clark or Luis Gonzalez. With past as prologue, these moves make total sense. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Tony Clark the only good player on those horrible Tiger teams from the 1990's? As for Gonzalez, he was really good for 5 years from 1999 - 2003, so much so that when I looked at his numbers I think George Mitchell might want to review his 2001 campaign when he hit 57 home runs, batted .325, and drove in 142 runs. However, if the Twins sign him, I'm sure his upcoming 19th year in baseball will be a renaissance for him (sarcasm font.)

So, here's to the new regime at 34 Kirby Puckett Place, may all of your trades be lopsided and may all of your free agent signings be younger than me.

Tigers get Caberra and Willis

Damn, the Tigers are loading up. Maybe the Angels get in the Santana picture, now that the Caberra situation is over.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10512375


The Yankee fan here is acting all proud "Yankees walked away." I simply responded "Keeping Santana is not exactly a bad thing."

I couldn't disagree more, which is what makes the whole situation great

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3138383&sportCat=ncf&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

In short, this article is the call for the playoff system. I am very much pro-bowl games and very anti- a playoff system. I like all the bickering and the uncertainty that goes along with the current system. I am not sure a playoff system would solve these issues. If they expanded the playoffs to 4 teams, there would still be the exact same debate over the teams left out. Georgia, USC and OKL? What about undefeated Hawaii? If you make a spot for them then how do you decide the other 1? All the playoff does is moves the level of debate down a rung or two and cheapens the regular season.

Here is why I think the BCS got it right:

Let's dump the easy ones first-
WV- Timing of the Pitt loss killed them.
GA- A team can't come in 3rd in their division and play for the National title. With this many teams with 1 or 2 losses, that eliminates them.
Kansas- They can't lose to Missouri, who then loses for a second time to OKL. They are out.
VT- They lost 48-7 to LSU. If that came was even respectable maybe, we could talk.
Missouri- 2 losses to OKL puts them behind OKL.

The difficult 3-
USC- The Stanford loss, is the worst loss of any team left, that knocks them out. Don't give me that injury crap either. That is why the whole season is important.
Hawaii-Undefeated, but their opponents combined record is 47-92. I hope they have a good time at the Sugar Bowl and thrash GA.
Oklahoma- For me this is tough, but 2 losses are more than 1 and 2 these 2 losses are worse than LSUs two OT losses. CU and TT are both bowl bound, so their losses were to decent teams. Just not enough their for me to jump 1 loss OSU.

The in crowd-
OSU- 1 loss is less than 2. They still beat 5 bowl bound teams including Wisco, PSU and Mich. Not that teams are great, but they are no worse than a TT or CU.
LSU- Champs of the toughest conference (supposedly). Both losses in OT. Better losses than the other 2 loss schools.

I am sure it is open to debate as it should be. That is what makes it fun.

Remember this guy??

Yup...Bill Maas, the biggest Viking-hater of all-time when it comes to broadcasters. Looks like he now has more to worry about than how much some nickel-back is really shutting down the Vikes (remember him spending 75% of his airtime a few years back touting Terry Cousins as the greatest cornerback of all time?).

http://www.startribune.com/503/story/1591000.html

RTS responds to allegations

I will admit that I have deleted responses as MCA alleged. It was never for content and only for grammar and spelling mistakes. I don't think on the responses screen there is a spell check. While my English skills are poor, my proof reading skills are even worse. However, if I do not have a response anywhere near the deleted post then it was not me.

Onto the Twins...I think I like the Yankees offer more than BoSox. I like Hughes being the main cog in the deal more Ellsbury or Lester. Granted my opinion is the based on the same mentality that I used to trade baseball cards with, which was hunches, conditions of cards, brands and who Bill Nielson's older brother, Jack, liked.

Onto the FFL...This forum makes up half of the playoff teams and only 1/4 of the teams out of the playoffs. It must suck to be that lone member out of the playoffs. However, I am guessing I will be all done after next week as well.

Did Hell freeze over?

Did the Vikes' really put up 42 points today (on the heels of 41 last week?)?!? I didn't see the game, but the statistics would suggest that T-Jack played a pretty solid game and "managed" the offense well (as Childress and other head coaches like to say). Also, huuuuuuuuuuuge sigh of relief to know that Purple Jesus is still potent, even when wearing a knee brace three weeks after an injury.

Did anyone actually see this game? Are we as good as the score indicates, or are the Lions simply regressing to "the same old Lions, whose fans will be chanting "FI-RE MIL-LEN" again next week.

Surprise, Surprise...

Yanks leading in Sweepstakes de Johan.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/12/01/santana.talks/index.html

I think I'd take Hughes, Cabrera and a couple of "lower" tier prospects instead of insisting on a third MLB-ready guy right now.

After this deal happens, is there anyone at 3B worth using Torii's old money on in the free agent market? We'd be otherwise in pretty good shape if we can bring in Cabrera to go with Young, put Cuddy at DH, and insert Hughes and Liriano at the top of the rotation.

I can't believe it, but I'm actually mildly excited to see how it all turns out now.

Picks

looks like gamblors corner got bumped. I am not sure where I was at, lets say $760. I lost $120 (2-4) so i am at $40 now.

This week
$100 Navy -14 1/2
$50 Missouri +3
$50 Hawaii -14