Honkytown - Wisconsin Basketball

Watching the Badger/Davidson tourney game and wondered: looking that this 'Sconny team, when is the last time you saw a more whitebread team? Seriously. Could these dudes look anymore like they are from Eau Claire/Appleton/Kenosha/Sheboygan? Sure the Gopher's have their share of dudes form Chaska but wow.

When does Punto get sent down?

If you were Gardy, when do you stop giving Punto the benefit of the doubt and come to terms with the fact that the 2006 season was a fluke and he is actually a horrid hitter? With all the players in camp this year and the questions with the rotation (let alone what is happening in the outfield), I get the fact that Punto is the de facto utility infielder for the foreseeable future but for how long do you go with this? Here is a guy hit .290 in '06 and basically caught fire during that improbable run but hit .210 last year (which would have made Minnie Mendoza proud.) He's hitting .125 this Spring?!?!? Seriously? Harbinson is hitting .250 for the Wells Fargo Walleye in the softball league and there are rumors he is getting optioned to Target Trout but Punto is gonna be around Opening Day? If I were Gardy, my leash would be May 1st.

Twins Get Nathan Deal Done

It's official, he'll be on the mound at least through 2011 (done deal) with an option for 2012 at $11.25M/year. People were speculating that this was going to happen, a month ago I would have been surprised but today, considering our starting rotation, we needed a true closer that is going to save games to help the younger pitchers get some confidence. $11.25M a year feels like a steal. "The 33-year-old Nathan has a 1.94 ERA and 160 saves in four seasons since he was acquired from San Francisco. He went 4-2 last year with a 1.88 ERA, 37 saves and 77 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings."

Twins Territory - Get use to it

Opening day line-up:

1. Carlos Gomez, CF;
2. Joe Mauer, C;
3. Michael Cuddyer, RF;
4. Justin Morneau, 1B;
5. Delmon Young, LF;
6. Craig Monroe, DH;
7. Mike Lamb, 3B;
8. Brendan Harris, 2B;
9. Adam Everett, SS.

2 thru 5 looks solid (2 thru 6 is great too if Monroe turns it around or if Kubel starts to slot in and picks up where he left off.) Interesting that Lamb, Harris, and Everett who we acquired in the offseason are the 'speedbumps' in this lineup. I guess that is the same as having Bartlett, Casilla, & Punto with some better gloves.

Mark your calendars: March 31st, opening day, Livan Hernandez and your new look Twinkies v. Torii and the Angels (ESPN2 is gonna carry it.)

Twins Territory

Love these ads

TK is like a disgruntled uncle who drinks a little too much at Thanksgiving and corners you to tell you war stories about his days in little league while waving a can of PBR in your face.

Update: Tom Pohl

Apparently as serious as it looked.

Go-Go

Apparently, there's a chance this kid will make us all a little less sad about Johan a little sooner than thought. Right now he looks maddeningly inconsistent, but (i) he's 22 years old, (ii) he asked for extra cage time and hitting instruction last week, then came out and sizzled over the weekend, and (iii) he's apparently in awe of the fact that guys like Tony Oliva and Rod Carew are on hand at Spring Training. He appears coachable, and like he wants to be here, which gives me hope that he'll realize his apparently immense potential. I'm trying not to get too excited, as, again, he's 22 and hasn't played half a major league season yet. He could still turn out to be nothing special. But then again, he could be Curtis Granderson with 25 homers, too. If this kid turns into an All-Star CF, I will offer my next child to Bill Smith and bow down to his mad skillz. Even .275 with a bunch of doubles and triples and stolen bases this season would make us ecstatic. All this kid needs to do is set the table a little bit for the 2-5 guys and we'll be a run/game better than last year immediately.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/16729696.html

HOFFARBER!!!

No particular comment. Kid needs a good nickname now, though.

Gopher Hockey Brush with Fame

Last night the wife and I were at our local sports bar, Bunny's, to catch Game 3 of the Gopher/Mankato State WCHA playoff game. The 3 game series was pretty crazy overall and Game 3 was no different (after this series Kangas is being heralded as the next Stauber, the Zacharias kid from MSU was unreal too.) Anywho, during the 2nd period Tom Pohl took a nasty elbow to the head along the Gopher bench which knocked his helmet off and sent him rag-doll style to the ice. Looked horrible and one of those "can he move his legs" falls (couldn't find the video, he is apparently alright.) As we were watching the replay a guy comes over and says "Who is it that is hurt?" As I was saying "I don't know" I looked up and there he was in all his hockey glory - Lou Nanne. Granted that is where the brush with fame ended and I didn't get him to tell me any stories from his Gopher or North Star days but to think that Lou Nanne asked little ole me a question, wow.

MN Skiing Prowess Pride Update

Lindsey Kildow (Vonn) wins Women's Overall World Cup title: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/skiing/news/story?id=3292800

Good on 'ya, Buck Hill!!!

Seriously, that's pretty cool - a Minnesotan is currently the best female skier in the world.

From the Larry Craig files

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/nyregion/10cnd-spitzer.html?ex=1362888000&en=6ed828c78d717f5b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Idiot.

Thank you, Sal Paolantonio

Finally, someone in the media willing to admit that maybe...just maybe...Favre has been a slight bit overrated over the past 10 years.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=paolantonio_sal&id=3281535&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1

Sign of Spring: Minnesota State High School Hockey Tourney

The Blake School got bounced early in the quarterfinals by St. Cloud Cathedral (who?) and the Cake-eaters rolled last night (losers.) I hate the two-tiered system, to make it better they should at least take the winner of A and the winner of AA and have them play each other; can you imagine the t.v. ratings around here if that game was held on a Saturday night?

Just like in 7th grade when they rolled t.v.'s into our classrooms to watch, I'm headed to a bar at 3 today to catch some action. Keep up to date on today's action.

Trendy wall-covering in Wisco

This picture pretty much sums up Fav-ruh and their fan base. Gotta love the cuffed / rolled-up jorts...awesome.

So Does Tim Brewster

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/04/sports/FBC-Minnesota-Roof.php

WTF are you thinking? I can't believe this guy's now been employed, as the head coach and the defensive coordinator, no less, at two of the only three college football programs I have any ties to. Back to back!! Talk about dampening my enthusiasm about the incoming recruiting class. I now have doubts about Brewster.

John Clayton smokes crack

I was watching ESPN last night and they did one of those "around the league winners and losers in free agency" things with John Clayton.

Here is what he said:
"Jacksonville Jaguars: The draft hasn't been productive for the Jaguars at wide receiver. Former first-rounders Reggie Williams and Matt Jones have been disappointments. The Jaguars, who had moderate success last season with free-agent receiver Dennis Northcutt, added former Raider wideout Jerry Porter and traded for the speedy Troy Williamson."

Of course they had a little highlight of each guy as his name was mentioned. When Clayton said "and traded for the speedy Troy Williamson" they showed him during a game and a pass bouncing off his hands on a crossing route. That's got to get Jaguar's fans pumped. I wonder if that was because there is no actual footage of him catching a pass. I see Porter as an upgrade but T-Will?

Favre finally F'ing Retires!

That is all.