I'm biased...

I love MJ- and I continue to think that he's the greatest to ever play the game. Furthermore, I hate Kobe. Can't stand him- will not root for him, or a team that he plays for (hence my disdain for the current Lakers), so I'm not about to admit that I think that he's currently the best in the game.

Thank you Lebron.

For your performance this past year- capped with the sheer brillance you played with last night, will forever give me a great comeback to anyone purporting that Kobe is the best.

For those that didn't see it, the Cavs' possessions in the 4th quarter went like this. Mo Williams or Daniel Gibson brought the ball up the court.. took 3 dribbles and then passed to Lebron at the top of the key. Lebron would sit there for 10 sec, resting and planning his move. He would then dribble and dish as all five Magic players collapsed on him to give either Gibson or Williams a open look at a 3, or Varejao a layup at the rim.... or he would shake n'bake and either take it to the hole himself (dishing out painful bumps and bruises to whoever got in his way) or pull up for a short J. This wasn't just a possession or two, this happened every trip down the f_en court for the Cavs in the 4th quarter. Lebron was directly involved (meaning he scored the points or got the assist) in 32 of the Cavs 34 points in the 4th quarter (the 2 points he wasn't involved with were free throws made by Mo Williams in the last few seconds of the game- after it was all but wrapped up).

It was pretty ridiculous to watch. It felt like something you would see at an elementary school where only 2 kids on the team can dribble with any consistency without knocking it off of their shoe and the frustrated coach told his team "Ok, when we're on offense I want everyone to pass the ball to little Timmy and then get the f__ out of his way. Understand?"

Jordan? Not yet.. but then again, he's only 24.

New Bugaboo

Well, we've now dropped six straight to the BoSox, too. By a combined score of...

48-19. Just for the record, that's 8 runs per game we're giving up.

What's the issue with this team against the Traditional Powers? Milwaukee's as good a team as Boston and New York this year and we just slapped them upside the head but good. These guys show up and the only thing we can do is have Mauer wipe that goddamned smirk off Jonathan Papelbon's face.

I will say, though, watching said two-run jack in the bottom of the ninth was probably worth losing a game.

.444, 11 homers, 31 RBI over a single month, .550 OBP, almost 1.000 slugging. Sounds like Bonds, no? This has to be one of the best months any batter's had in recent history. He's going to start getting treated like Bonds soon if he keeps this up. The difficulty with that for opponent's is Morneau's behind him.

I must admit that Cuddy's playing pretty well right now, so I'm glad I didn't fully get on Jan's "I hate that guy" train. So far.

The Dose: Minnesota is in a black hole of sports-related crappiness.

The current 0-5 run the Twins are suffering though makes me feel "blah" about baseball. Like how the owner of a Kentucky Derby horse feels when his horse hits that first quarter pole and has already been squeezed to the back of the pack.

LH - Comment please on the Woofies latest draft woes. Any thoughts on the whole GM-search charade? What a mess of a franchise.

People are still talking about Brett Favre. I can't believe it. Silver lining: he's farting on his legacy; tarnish to that silver lining: he's wearing Vikings underwear. When does Peter King start to talk about the "distraction" Brett Favre has cause the Vikings offense. A good coach would make this whole thing a rallying point for a team either way it goes; we don't have a good coach.

Before I forget, anyone else hear the Twins are 4 and 13 on the road this year. Sorry, should I not do that at the end of these things?


Alright, on a brighter note because life is too short and I'm a 'cup half full kinda guy' -

Thought this was cool. Like the Berlin Wall of basketball - I'd like a piece of it.

Following my stadium tour last week I stopped by my dad's office which faces "The Bank." Got a lesson on the 'thyroid.'

It was 97 degrees here today. A record. I love it. People were freaking out. 130 degree swing from January/February. Think about it.

Thank God That's Over

Wow... what a series and what a way to start a road trip. I don't care how much of a "the glass is half full" guy you are, to lose in that way, that many times in a row has got to be deflating and exhausting. Silver lining being they didn't roll over last night after giving up 6 runs in the first and having your starting pitcher pulled. Loved to see them battle in the 8th and 9th and actually threaten to tie it up. So much for starting over in the New Yankee stadium... Twins just don"t like that town I guess.

Tour of "The Bank"

Verdict is in: the "Bank" is going to be awesome when it's done. No question this place will "wow" recruits. Let's not even go into the "but can Brewster get it done."

The tour - We donned reflective vest and hard hats and walked through the side entrance of the stadium, past the 20,000 sq foot "gopher gear" store, into the locker room (unreal, truly) we got to go down the tunnel and come onto the field like the players will on game day. When you come out of the end of the tunnel the score board is in front of you and is more than big. Also at the end of the tunnel to the right is where the band is going to sit in a little alcove of seats for them with 10,000 students behind them, kind of cool. The field right now is something like 24 inches of gravel for drainage, the grass goes next week or so. We went back into the buidling under the seats and toured through the band area; the band has something like 20,000 or 30,000 sq. ft. of space to store their gear, practice etc. We then went up to the top and did a tour of all the suites (Club level, loge boxes, private suites etc.) saw all the press boxes, the VIP areas, basically what you want to see.

Quick highlights -

1. The President's box is sweet. It is the top right if you are on the field looking up at the luxury suites (what felt like 5 or 6 stories up from the field and like 4 from the street.) Nice big bar area with floor to ceiling windows on one side that look over the field and floor to ceiling windows on the other side that looks over Williams, Mariucci, the rest of that part of the U campus, and downtown Minneapolis (you could see the Dome from there.)
2. The locker room. The lockers were huge, the "M" over the middle of the floor has LCD lighting that will go from maroon to gold that is as cool as it looks (it is blue in the picture, people were concerned for a minute until it was explained the light is going through 'testing' now and were assured it would be maroon and gold game day), there are 6 extra large locker's for retired jersey's etc. (in the stadium itself they are building a 20,000 sq ft hall of fame for 25 different sports) If memory serves it is the "Murray Warmath" locker room. It was cool.
3. The scoreboard. I can't tell you how big this thing. It's our own touchdown Jesus just of replays and stats. It's bigger than Madonna. Running out on to the field and looking up at that thing would get anyone pumped.
   
4. The tribute stuff like having all the counties names on the outside of the building, the space at the entrance to honor Minnesota veterans (the person I was invited by to take the tour is a retired Air Force Brigadier General and was personally responsible for that part of the stadium)

Everyone in the group was giddy with excitement over the whole thing, like we already won a BCS game. I gotta say, I can't blame them, I was pumped.

(**Sorry the pics are out of order. F'ing technology, if it wasn't for my complete dependence on it I would be a Luddite.)

No Grudges

I am in BG's camp on Ken Griffey Jr. He tops my list of guys I like who never played for the Twins. Seriously though, does he have to have such continued success against the Twins?

Santana pitches tonight against the Braves and will be on TBS. I don't normally watch the Braves but may tune in for an inning or two. I hold no grudge against Santana and if any of you feel the same I am just giving a heads up.

Bigger, Better News Flash

YES! YES! YES! PLLLLLEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSE be accurate, and stay accurate!

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4149875

News Flash

Johan Santana: pretty good.

1 loss in 23 starts (2-1 to Florida with both runs unearned). Given up 2 or less in 12 consecutive games. 0.91 ERA to start the season (where was this kind of April with the Twins?).

This could be the season. If they start scoring runs for him, and he pitches in July-September like he usually does? Look out. Could be historically good.

Confused in CA

If Favre becomes a Viking what will I do? I'm seriously on the fence right now, my gut reaction will be that I will take a one year hiatus from being a Viking fan. Wow, even as I type that a part of me doesn't believe it. I just really, really can't stand Favre- and I would have thought all of the stories that came out about him following the Jets' experiment last year (as well as his performance over the second half of the year) would have put to rest any desire by Viking's management to pursue him. But, alas- I'm wrong as I see on my screen that Brad C. is going to talk to him.

I don't think I can support a team with him at the helm, I honestly don't. I wish I was still in Tahiti, where my biggest worry was "did I put enough vodka in my drink".

Buscher, Baker, and the RBI-maker

I don't hate the Royals, honestly how can you, but they annoy me. Glad we got to Ponson on Friday night but that Saturday night game should have been a "W," not to mention the breakdown by Baker on Sunday - I was watching a no-no that turned into a "F! No!" quicker than you can say "Scott Baker is 0-4 with a 9.15 ERA." Meanwhile Joe is back. 7 for 10, 2 doubles, a home run, and 3 RBIs = great start. Oh, and when does the Joe Crede experiment end? Buscher get a legit chance at 3rd?