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!
6 Comments:
Little confidence in the Twins getting it done right now. Sweep is not likely, and 2-1 means we still need to sweep KC and hope they lose 2 in their last series to force them to play Detroit. Not likely.
I guess it's true the Vikes haven't had a lot of really awful, 4-12 kinds of seasons. The Bears on the other hand have one of those every other year, and the Packers were awful in the decade before Favre. Nonetheless, they've both been to the SB in the last 10 years. Most Vikes fans would take the tradeoff.
The parents were at the Gophs game last Saturday, and also watched the FAU game last year. According to Papa MCA, it was night and day, especially on defense (guess I'll be taking back what I said about Ted Roof before long). Apparently, the players are raving about the d-scheme, which is much, much simpler than the old guy's, so they feel like they can roam around and just make plays. That's huge for defensive players - having to think too much takes the aggression out of them.
Anyway, there are only 5 senior starters out of 22, so things are definitely looking up as long as off the field issues don't arise. And how can we not love the Mounds View to Cold Spring connection every time Weber throws to Decker?
The poll didn't include my answer: beat Indiana and Northwestern and one of Illinois, Iowa or Purdue and they're at 7 wins for a scrub bowl entry.
September 23, 2008 at 10:14 AM
BG - Good work on getting this blog going from the events over the weekend.
My thoughts -
1. Twins - Fun to be in it at this point. Do I see a sweep of Chicago? Maybe. Normally this is the perfect storm of Minnesota sporting chokability but we actually have the Pale Hoes number in the Dome. Loved Vasquez' comments in response to Ozzie basically saying, "look at the end of the day it just doesn't matter, I am going back to Puerto Rico when I retire to live with my family." Can't get less fired up than that. I like "Big Game" Baker going tonight. Crowd will be fired up too.
2. That was the first "must win" game for the Vikes in recent memory that they actually won. Liked the efficient offense even with AP at about 75%. What I don't like about the Tennessee game is one "Kerry Collins" as their QB (remember 41-Doughnut? I knew you did.) Maybe this is revenge time and we send him to retirement after we crush him. BTW - liking Jared Allen more and more, looked like the real deal on Sunday.
3. Gopher football - I went to the first half of the Montana State game and watched a slow, plodding team. They were not impressive and as I texted LH it was like they were running in slow motion, could you imagine if we played someone from the SEC right now? My God we would get killed. Anywho, that was a big win on Saturday mostly because it was a definitive win and they looked like a faster, stronger team. Webber looks like the real deal. I think we could sneak one out in the Horseshoe, honestly, they are ripe for the pickin'. You heard it here first.
Go Twins!
September 23, 2008 at 10:51 AM
I am blindly optomistic about the Twins. Absolutely no reason to believe other than I really want to. I guess irrational beliefs and feelings like this lead to big letdowns.
Remember the 3-13 season under Les Steckel and how wisely we used that pick to draft Darren Nelson? God, had that moment been different the way we define ourselves as Viking fans could be completely different. That or Marcus Allen would not be a HOF back and he would have had the same "success" as Disco Darren.
With as mediocre as the Big Ten (yes I admit it) I think the Gophers could easily exceeed expectations. I see only OSU, Ill and Wisc , all away, as sure losses. That leaves 5 possible wins: Ind (H), Pur (A), NW (H), Mich (H), and Iowa (H)
September 23, 2008 at 11:23 AM
I was at a party this weekend, and some clown came up to me after hearing I was a Twins fan and started asking what if... as in what if the Twins still had Santana this season? Is it even me a question that he, net of the positive impact that Gomez has made, would have been good for at least 5+ wins this season. I told him to drink his Zima and shut up because clearly he didn't know what he was talking about...(but it still hurt a little)
While it sounds like I'm thinking more like MCA on the likely outcome of the next 2 weeks, which likely means disappointment- I have to regularly remind myself that this season has been a nice surprise. Baseball season is way more fun when the Twins are in contention...and for all of the f__ ups they made this year, I'm proud to be a Twins fan.
Vikings: I have absolutely no idea about this team...the lions are awful, the bears aren't far behind that, and the packers aren't as good as they've played... so, I guess what I'm saying is whether it's Gus or TJac- I'm saying there's a chance.
Gophers: Say what you want about the Gophers weak non-conference schedule (did you see some idiot actually gave Minnesota a vote in this weeks AP poll- was that you Sid?) I'm pretty excited that they have 4 wins. Early line that I've seen is Ohio State by 17.5. Now if I were a betting man ala RTS, I'd be taking the buckeyes, but luckily I'm not so I'm picking the golden gophers by 6 (I'm hoping the buckeyes mistake the maroon and gold for cardinal and gold and fold like a cheap suit as they did against the Trojans)
Go Twins
September 23, 2008 at 12:38 PM
rts: "I guess irrational beliefs and feelings like this lead to big letdowns." Like the irrational belief we can leverage up our financial institutions to 35:1 ratios by splicing up mortgage debt and it'll never come back to haunt us?
The thought crossed my mind the other day that Ohio State is sort of reeling right now, and the U is brimming with confidence. Then I remembered that, even if they're 20% worse than last year and we're 50% better than last year, they're still 40% better than us. An playing at home. They own the Gophers, and it's not going to change. The real question is whether or not the Gophs make it respectable enough to not derail their newfound confidence and tank the entire season. Tough way to start conference play.
By the way, I think next time we mock the "The" for OSU, we should do it in 6-point font or something.
September 23, 2008 at 12:56 PM
The best thing that could happen for the Big Ten would be for OSU to fold to the Gophers or at least PSU and Wisco. However, Wells will be back just in time for the Gopher game and OSU will probably romp their way through the Big Ten. God I hate them and their acid washed-jort wearing fan base.
When was the last time the Gophers won at Ohio State? In 2000 the Gophers upset OSU 29-17. They followed up that win with a loss to Indiana.
September 23, 2008 at 1:23 PM
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