Tonight - I believe in the Minnesota Twins

I believe in the Minnesota Twins.

I believe in Gardy - and Andy and Stelly and Jerry White and Scotty Ulger and Joe Vavra.

I believe in Blackburn.

I believe in our bullpen, our entire bullpen, top to bottom, Crain, Guerrier, Boof, Mijares, Breslow, Nathan. You name him, I believe in him.

I believe in the AL batting Champ.

I believe in the MVP.

I believe in Span and Go-Go and Alexi. I believe in them so bad it hurts.

I believe in Punto. I do. I believe in Nicholas Paul Punto (and whoever is at third, if it's Buscher, I believe in him. If it's Tolbert, I believe in him. Hell, if they throw Harris over there then I believe in Brendan Michael Harris.)

I believe in Jason Kubel.

I believe in the Minnesota Twins.

Twinkies Game 163

Get it out here, boys. I don't like how this is all setting up. But, I will use the cliche that if you told me in the beginning of the season that we would have a 1 game playoff to determine the division winner, I would have taken it. What I don't want is the typical Minnesota "Participation Ribbon" response to this game of "Hey, no one expected us to be here in the first place so it was nice to prove some people wrong." No, I want Gardy to take that team to Chicago and say "F.U." and beat them handily.

Take a moment to send your positive energy to the right arm of one Robert Nicholas Blackburn.

It's official, Jesus is a Twins fan

Get that broom ready

Yeah, I said it. Get that broom ready. That win couldn't have been bigger (well, Baker's win but c'mon.) I would like to revisit my comment to MCA's post from yesterday where I pointed out: "Can we throw Jose Mijares out there for the 7th and 8th innings instead of Crain/Breslow/Guerrier/Reyes? I have more confidence in a guy I have seen pitch once than dudes I have watched all season." What a huge inning he had, he faced Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Ken Griffey Jr. and sent them down 1-2-3 (this after starting out 3-0 against Thome!) He is my Hardware Hank Player of the Game. The Dome is gonna be loud tonight. I loved seeing a few homer hankies last night (BTW - closed circuit to Brewer's fans, those hankies you are waving are lame, why don't you just get yourselves some 'thundersticks' and call it a day.)

Justin Morneau

This has kind of snuck up on me, but is there a serious chance Morneau wins MVP again? 1st in AL in RBIs, top 7 or 8 in BA, OPS and doubles, only 80 K's on the season, about 70 more RBIs than anyone else on his still-contending team that no one expected to be .500 much less a game and a half back in the final week.

Who are the forerunners this year? Dustin Pedroia? Power doesn't jump out. Carlos Quentin? Missed a lot of time. Milton Bradley? Plays for a horrible team and the writers hate him. Hamilton? Has dropped like a rock. Nobody's having an out of this world season, and Manny's gone to the NL. Without looking too deeply into peripheral stats and the like, it looks like Morneau probably has a legitimate case, at least.

Oh, I just remembered this: if they give it to fucking Francisco Rodriquez, I will flip. He was better two years ago, and a closer should NEVER EVEN BE CONSIDERED FOR MVP. Ever.

Also, just in case no one noticed, Mauer's going to win his second batting title.

Interesting Monday Smorgasbord

Gents,
Pretty quiet for such a big week in MN sports.

1) Twins enter the the last week of the season 2.5 out with three games against the south siders this week. If Blackburn and Perkins hadn't totally mimicked the stock market and melted down last week, I'd probably feel a bit better. Ozzie picked an interesting time to call out one of his starters...saying that Javier Vasquez has not been a clutch pitcher in his career. Pretty amazing that our home record is 49-26 and home ERA is 3.25 vs. 5.14 on the road. I like our chances...but it scares me to actually see Chicago's magic number (5) on the standings. Here's the AP story on the series:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Avt5sZK69lRdDVU6b3fwVacRvLYF?slug=ap-alcentralshowdown&prov=ap&type=lgns

2) Vikes win a "must win" game for the first time in at least 3 or 4 years. Sadly, they shouldn't have been in this position to begin with (that Indy game still stings). At Tennessee and at New Orleans the next two weeks...and I can honestly say I have no idea what to expect. We very easily could be 1-4 in a few weeks, but at the same time, I'm not sold on either of these squads. Gus was "efficient" yesterday, which is more than we could say in weeks one and two.

Really interesting item on ESPN.com today, ranking all 32 franchises since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Believe it or not, the Vikes come in at #7, despite the lack of championships. Suck on that, packers (#14) and bears (#12). We tend to forget that we made the playoffs pretty consistently in the '70s, and from the late '80s through the early '00s. Interestingly, we get docked for "crushing playoff defeats", of which we own 3 of the top 25 all-time (see the sidebar). Ultimately, though, the article cites our "consistency" (lack of horrible seasons), which we would probably classify as "mediocrity."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=nflrankings/1-10/080917

3) Gophers move to 4-0. Now, I have to admit I haven't seen much of their game action (other than tidbits from the Montana St. game), so I can't pass judgment, but they sound much improved, especially on defense, and it appears that Adam Weber is the real deal at QB. We'll learn a lot this week as they travel to Columbus to face THE Ohio State University. In addition, RTS and BG will also engage in a grudge match this week, as one of the weakest 4-0 teams of all time (Northwestern) takes on another enigma (Iowa) in Iowa City.

From ESPN.com: 5. Minnesota is league's biggest surprise -- Few expected another 1-win season in the Twin Cities, but a 4-0 start for Minnesota? It seemed unlikely at best. But the Gophers have repaired a disastrous defense with junior-college transfers and the emergence of several holdovers (Kyle Theret, Marcus Sherels, Willie VanDeSteeg). A new-look secondary continues to come up with big plays, as Minnesota has eight interceptions and 33 pass deflections this season. The offense continues to roll behind quarterback Adam Weber and wideout Eric Decker, and Minnesota heads into league play with plenty of momentum.

LET'S GO TWINS!

The 800 lb Gus in the Room

We are a day removed from the shocking (was it really that shocking?) story of Gustave Joseph Frerotte taking the helm of your Super Bowl contending Minnesota Vikings. Around the water cooler and on the airwaves in the Big M today people were amazed that Chilly actually made the move as he is known to be one of those media unfriendly-types (Denny anyone?) who never admit when the are wrong. Gus steps in as a 37 year-old veteran who is inheiriting the best running back in the NFL (sorry LT) and a top defense.

Am I sold? No. Will I miss TJac? No. Was this the right move? Yes, though I would have given TJac 2 more quarters. Will either TJac or Frerotte be on this team next year? I don't know (a co-worker is starting the "we are gonna have Kurt Warner next year" rumor - think about it for a minute, makes sense, sad, but makes sense.)

My $.02 - you don't need the quarterback position on this team to win you ball games (think Trent Dilfer and the Ravens Superbowl title.) You need a guy who can hand the ball off, get first downs, and go down the field every once in a while. Frerotte is apparently known for his "arm" and his "cocksure" attitude. I see nothing wrong with those two things (his mobility however. . .)

So where does this leave me and you, the fan? Wallowing in a sea of over promising and under delivering or exactly where you have been for the past 25 years.

So you're saying there's a chance...

even with last night's mind F___ of a game.

This is it boys... down to the final 11 or 12 games of the year. Twins are currently 2.5 games back, 5 more road games, 6 at the Dome. Twins win 65.3% of their home games and 43.4% of their road games, which, after applying to their remaining schedule, suggests 6.09 (3.92+2.17) more wins for a final record of 88.09W, 73.91L.

White Sux have 8 roadies and 4 home games remaining. Sux win 64.9% of their home games and 45.2% of their road games, which, after applying to their remaining schedule, suggests 6.22 more wins(2.596 + 3.616) for a final record of 90.22W 71.78L.

Which means... the race is closer than it looks, only 2.13 games separates the teams..not the hugely inflated 2.5 games that the standings suggest.

Here's the remaining schedules

Good Guys:
1 @ Indians
4 @ Rays
3 White Sux
3 Royals

White Sux:
2 @ Yankees
3 @ Royals
3 @ God's Team
3 Indians
1 Tigers (PPD from earlier in the month, date TBD)

Garcia to Vikes?

While I don't totally agree that T-Jack is the source for all our problems (personally, I think the playcalling has been terrible, and that he can't succeed until you take the kid-gloves off), here is an interesting take from ProFootballTalk.com. How long before there is a mutiny by the defense?

As explained as part of our Week Two Ten-Pack for SportingNews.com, the Minnesota Vikings have looked spotty at best on offense. Despite having one of the best young runners the league has ever seen, the passing game is at times abandoned. When it’s not abandoned, it looks like it should be.

So what should the Vikings do? Well, with Jeff Garcia available, the Vikes should offer a low-round pick and move forward.

Any reluctance to do so might be a result of the internal tug-o-war that surely is playing out among and between Rick Spielman, Brad Childress, and Rob Brzezinski. Tarvaris Jackson was a second-round pick of the so-called “Clusterfudge Triangle of Authority,” which consisted of Childress, Brzezinski, and Fran Foley.

The Vikings actually traded up to get Jackson. And Jackson has been, to date, a failure. He was booed heavily, and deservedly, on Sunday, as his erratic play caused a 15-0 lead to evaporate in the second half.

But Childress surely doesn’t want to admit that he failed with Jackson, and ditching Tarvaris for Garcia would constitute such an admission. So, instead, Childress and company will likely trudge ahead, hoping that Jackson figures things out before the team is mathematically eliminated from contention in 2008.

The franchise deserves better, the fans deserve better, and Adrian Peterson — who is busting his ass to grind out the yards on the turf that Jackson isn’t able to gain through the air — deserves better as well.

In our view, Childress would be wise to not worry about whether he’ll look foolish for drafting Jackson by benching him. NFL teams make plenty of mistakes; the teams who are willing to acknowledge their errors and move on are the ones who are smart enough to avoid compounding them.

Vikes 0-2

We don't even need to talk about it.

Holy Mother F'ing Buckets!

If you haven't seen at least some of Palin's interview with Charlie Gibson you need to. I can't believe she is a possibility.

Push that rock up that hill, oh Sisyphus

Someone once wrote that "Hell is the impossibility of reason," that's what being a Vikings fan feels like, 'Hell.'

I was one person who did not get all lathered up during the offseason as we made a series of big time moves that made us a Super Bowl "front runner." All over Vikingsland people were calling in to radio shows saying this was the year, we finally have all the pieces of the puzzle, even with TJac we can go all the way. I thought "we're still the Vikings, right?"

Is it time to panic? No. Is it time to blame TJac for the loss? No (although he grades out at a 'C' for his game last night.) Is it a long, long season? Yes. Was that a game we should have, could have won? Yes. Do I hate the Packers? My God, more than ever.

One disappointment last night was my reaction after the game. You see, I spent 4 quarters in front of my t.v. with a calm demeanor. After big plays I wasn't too amped up or too bummed out. There were no hoots and hollers. I uttered the 'f' word only a handful of times. This was a big step in my maturation process. However, on a post game dog walk around the neighborhood with the better half I kind of lost it. I'm sick of losing. I'm sick of not ever being a "champion." I'm sick of the Packers. I'm sick of all the excuses. I'm kind of tired of being a Vikes fan and it's only week 1.

Next Sunday is suppose to be a beautiful day up here in Minny and as we enter Fall/Winter we all know how precious those are. Think I'll set my DVR and play a round of golf or mow the lawn or just stare directly at the sun.

Minnesota and the RNC

Well, even with over 800 arrests (some of them highly questionable) the RNC was a success for our fair Twin Cities (despite the Twinkies having to be on the road longer and getting swept in Toronto, goddam it!) But I digress. I attended one RNC event with 'friend of this blog' Brett Shogren - a "Super Diamond" concert at The Fine Line. It wasn't just my politics that stood out as I wore my Chuck Taylors, jeans, a maroon hoodie, and my Twins hat; everyone else wore suits and ties. The band was great, catching up with Shogren was fun, and watching the crowd belt out "America" was ironic considering both the whiteness of the crowd and the Republican stance on immigration.

However, the biggest buzz of the night was Sarah Palin's speech. The cliche "hitting it out of the park" became cliche by the end of the night. While I agree with nothing that Govenor Palin had to say and am completely opposed to what her politcal beliefs are, I kept my mouth shut and drank my free beer. Looking forward to the next 8 weeks. If somehow Palin finds herself the next Vice President of the United States, you will find me and the wife living outside the borders (and hopefully with Swedish citizenship.)

We are who we thought we were

Another one given away... Wow is this a frustrating road trip. Trying to rationalize it all I think the squad will be able to use this for years to come as they will never have another road trip like it again.

The losses on this trip have been:

LAA - 7-5
LAA - 5-3
SEA - 4-2 (11 innings)
SEA - 3-2
OAK - 3-2
OAK - 3-2
TOR - 7-5
TOR - 5-4 (11 innings)

Not like we are getting blown out but we aren't winning the close ones either and it feels like we are constantly two players short of getting the win - a set up guy (the "Sheik") and a bat (dare I say Cuddy?)

23 games left: 11 on the road and 12 at the dome. We will probably go 4 and 7 on the road and 9 and 3 at home (might be a stretch on that one) to finish at 90-72. Since we aren't getting the wildcard, does that win the division?