The Doo-doo in Detroit

That was terrible, just terrible.

Gardy to Baker as he came to mound to pull him: "Alright Scotty, gotta go." Says it all.

The Franchise...and keeping another franchise?

Liriano. Wow. If he can stay healthy...well...I'll just leave it at that. Great to steal one against the Tigers when Verlander is pitching.

Also - My pops alerted me to this. Vikes stadium deal in the works? Getting a deal done would have to classify as one of the biggest upsets in sports history, given the economic & budget environment. It would also eliminate the last big, off-the-field issue with the major teams in MN and allow me to sleep at night without constant nightmares involving the "L.A. Vikings."

http://wcco.com/vikings/vikings.stadium.plan.2.1662416.html

Minnesota Vikings: Draft Comments

Was there a less exciting draft? I didn't really pay attention. The Tebow pick was the most intriguing aspect, according to pundits who then graded us "C -" when we didn't take him. Triplett makes the cut, To quote DTK "That guy is a f'ing magician he got picked that high." can someone please comment on "Big Ten Defensive Rankings" for the past year, RTS maybe? Flipping through the channels there were highlights on some news program showing the end of the Vikes/Saints game followed by "Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees," must have been like what Monica Seles went through when that crazy guy stabbed her (too much?)

Vikes Draft "night"

I love the new NFL draft format, as I always enjoy watching the first round, but I felt bad hanging around inside on a nice spring day. Let's hope the Vikes don't spoil a good night and cause a reaction like this one (this was filmed after the Troy Williamson pick). An all-time classic.

Tuesday Morning Grab Bag

1. Nice start to the season. 9-4, scoring a lot of runs despite being 3-19 with the bases loaded. Assuming that returns to the mean, we'll be putting up even more. Early good signs: Delmon's hitting the ball with authority and not flapping at the first pitch every time; Liriano 7IP, 93 pitches, 0 runs, 8Ks vs. BoSox; Baker outdueling Greinke; Span getting really good at-bats; stealing some bases; occasional Thome dingers; bullpen performance other than Mijares. Early disconcerting items: Mijares; consecutive blowups by Blackburn and Pavano over the weekend; Slowey's control seems a little off so far; Hudson not getting on base too often; Morneau struggling with RISP a bit; Punto starting too many games.

2. I know the rea$on$ behind it, but can I just get it off my chest how much I dislike the idea of the Big Ten expanding to include schools like Rutgers and Syracuse? This is apparently now not just a possibility, but exceedingly likely. I'll shed no tears for the Big East collapsing, but I wish it would reconstitute as something else instead of diluting all the other conferences. The Big Ten is the Midwest Conference. Adding a school in New Jersey is just wrong for so many reasons. Any reason that does not involve dollars, as a matter of fact. And even then, you're not going to "tap the New York market" by including them. Like Manhattan's going to stop and pay attention to Wisconsin vs. Ohio State now just because Rutgers is in the same conference? I don't like oversized conferences, and I don't like conferences with no regional identity where rivalries can't be fostered.

3. I heard there are playoffs occurring now in the NBA. Perhaps LH, if he's still alive, can give us some insight.

4. It's amazing to me how quickly my feelings on the Cubs have changed now that I live more than two miles from Wrigley. I used to think of them as my "sort of second team." Now I really don't give a hoot about the team or franchise. It's a joke. They suck.

5. Ben Roethlisberger: d-bag or collossal d-bag? Discuss.

6. Are the Vikings looking to draft a QB this year? I see we signed T-Jack to an extension. Obviously, we've got some age issues at various positions that probably need to be addressed, in addition to longterm QB. I'd prefer they not take Jimmy Clausen if they do choose a QB. He strikes me as lacking gravitas. His actions and words lead me to think he's basically still a 7th grader emotionally. Guys who lead NFL teams need to be serious, accountable, and mature. I'd rather have Colt McCoy, but think we could probably get someone with just as much likelihood of becoming a really good NFL QB in the 2nd or 3rd round. After Bradford, I'm not convinced anyone else is so close to a sure thing, in terms of pure physical ability and mental makeup, that they're worth a first round pick.

At night, it was twice as nice

Makes me happy.

Made me want to play this song a bunch of times.


Photo credit: Me, suckers.

FTLOSBW's Trip to Target Field - Post Game Report

Yup, it's f'ing sweet.

Click here for the slideshow.

Better than you can imagine. You'll never hear the words "I miss the Dome" (sure, that is an easy one but it's like we never played there now.) Our visit felt like we were in another city on vacation and went to the local pro ball team's home game.

Here is a sampling of our thoughts:

1. It's just cool that the light rail pulls right up to Gate 14.

2. People were actually milling about before the game, beers in hand, hanging out.

3. Jersey count: Mauer - 80%, Morneau - 10%, Everybody else - 10%; we saw everyone from Carew to Dick Such. Best of the day was the Big Wiz sighting in a custom Twins jersey with "612" on the back (don't let looks fool you, he kicks it.) Yeah, we had no idea who he was either.

4. Not cookie-cutter and not retro-lame-chic. Great nods to Twins baseball history without having jerk-offs in knickers dancing around shoving it down your throat.

5. Restaurant highlight - Town Ball Tavern. Great pictures of all Minnesota town ball stadiums, floor is the old Laker's hardwood baseketball floor. Best part is a 20ft terrace bar that hangs over the light rail and looks into the warehouse district.

6. Restaurant lowlight - Hrbek's. DTK summed it up best: "It's shitty but not because they did a bad job, it's shitty because it's probably how he wanted it." The ceiling is cool, the bar is cool, the outdoor area is semi-cool. The problem is that the rest of it looks like he finished it himself. It was like he went to Kinko's blew up some pics of him during his playing days and hung them on the wall. There is an odd Hrbek-'Warhol' picture in the corner (his image in pastels) and a huge opening to the back of a crappy kitchen.

7. There is not a bad spot to watch the game. Tons of open areas to stand, hang out. Lots of plasma t.v.'s.

8. No need to shed a tear over the elimination of the Dome Dog, Schwiegert's better.

9. We have a bullpen!

10. The centerfield sign of the "Twins" shaking hands across the river sign is really that cool.

11. It's outside. It rained during the game, rained hard for a bit. People could get shelter and still watch the game.

12. You could hear things like the crowd, it wasn't like the announcers were inside a pool.

Bonus part of the day was the invite we received from friends to join them on Friday night for the park's first night game.

FTLOSBW's Trip to Target Field

It's a balmy 65 degrees in the 612 at 10am. Gates open in half an hour, we're leaving in 10 minutes. Forecast is rain around 2 or 3pm today - doesn't matter, too excited for it to rain. Check in on the flip-side.

Where Are My Home Opener Pictures?

I demand a fully detailed narrative account of Target Field, Game 1, with pictures (not including bathroom breaks), food ratings, beer selection, pre- and post-game accounts, etc. Jan, where are you?

Also, lest we lose track of it all, we've taken 4 from the Angels and BoSox in the first week of the season. That probably matches all of last year. In addition, we loaded up against Lester yesterday, running up his pitch count and getting 4 runs in 5 innings off one of the top lefties in the AL, which is a good sign (we were also very close to knocking Buehrle out early on Sunday). And we finished a season opening road trip against our biggest rival and our biggest West Coast boogeyman at 5-2, getting 5 quality starts, 4 Rauch saves, and solid bullpen work out of everyone not named Mijares. And all this with Span not hitting a lick until yesterday, Hudson just starting to warm up over the weekend, and Kubel doing squat before Sunday. If we continue to get this kind of pitching and the bats warm up, this team is really good.

Was Morneau trying really hard to make sure he got his name in the books for first homerun at Target Field yesterday? 'Cause on GameCast, he looked awful and left a bunch of guys on base when a line drive single would have done just fine.

Three Hours And Counting

to outdoor baseball in Minnesota.

Jan, I presume we'll be getting inning by inning updates to the blog, right? Enjoy some walleye on a stick, and let's go Twins.

Is it OK to be excited after three games? Is it?

So, I think we all know I am not prone to hyperbole or getting excited too soon and too fast. That's a given. But is it OK to get really really excited about this Twins team after three games? Is it OK to say this may be the best Twins Team in the history of the franchise. Maybe baseball history? I'm not saying you can tell how a whole season will turn out from just three games. You cant, unless it's a four game season, like maybe a strike shortened season. I doubt that will happen.

All I'm saying is, there's a lot to be excited about after these games. Hardy and Morneau are crushing the ball. Cuddy has continued his hot streak from last season all the way through spring training and into this series. We have won two games in LA where we suck. Like always suck. We look good up the middle. Pavano looked like he did at the end of the year, which is more like he looked when he looked good, then when he looked like he looked when we first signed him because he was cheap. I know, I know. It's just three games. But it's spring, so it's fun to get excited.

Congrats to our very own MCA

What a game...what a tournament. MCA's Duke Blue Devils may go down in history as winning the last "real" NCAA tournament, as reports are indicating that the NCAA will likely expand the tourney to 96 teams next year. What a shame. If ever there was a perfect tournament...this was it. There were buzzer-beaters, cindarellas, huge upsets, Davids beating Goliath...etc. In the end, order was restored as the big, bad Blue Devils beat Butler in a CLASSIC championship game. The two teams were never further than six points apart, and the game was decided on a missed fadeaway jumper with 5 seconds left...and then again on a nearly-made half-court shot at the buzzer.

I guess one of the things that has been most enlightening for me during this season's tournament (again, maybe the last of its vintage) is realizing that a veteran squad with juniors and seniors that have played together for several years can beat anyone, regardless of conference affiliation and size. See Northern Iowa. See Cornell. See Duke, actually (3 seniors and 2 juniors in the starting five, I believe). In contrast, see Kentucky and Kansas. Too many one-and-done players = potential to choke in a close post-season game. As long as there is no real roadblock to jumping to the NBA, parity will be the order of the day in college hoops.

A couple of other thoughts:
1) People need to get over the Big East. It is the biggest conference (16 teams) and its schools are in the biggest media markets. As a result, every team and coach gets the Brett Favre treatment. Yes, there are some good teams, but as we saw this year, the conference is generally overrated.

2) The ACC wasn't as deep as usual, but this makes two champions in a row. I'm sure MCA hopes that Duke avoids the UNC fate next year (NIT).

3) The Big Ten put up a respectable showing. Three teams in the sweet 16, one team in the final four. Not bad. I don't love Michigan State, but I do have a bit of a man-crush on Tom Izzo.

4) Finally, how do guys like Gordon Hayward and Ali Farokmanesh fly under the radar of the big schools? I'm simply amazed every year...apparently Hayward did get recruited by Purdue, but what happened? Maybe he wanted to go to Butler...who knows.

Mijares serving up back-to-back jacks...not good. Call to discuss.

Hey, nerds, it's Opening Day!

Well, not technically but F Boston and New York. Excited or what? The two exhibition games at The Field this past weekend against the Cardinals were smash hits (no pun intended.) The news media/fans/players/coaches/security guards/hot dog vendors/bums/dogs were all raving about the new digs. Our season starts on with an odd one - four games out West in LAA land (LH - you checking them out?) then 3 in Chicago against the loathed Sox until finally home next Monday. Baker gets the rock tonight.

Remember this moment, full of hopes and dreams of a season to come.

Referal from Dr. Jan, Sr.

My pops sent this clip along (part 1)

His pal is in part 2.

Dr. Michael Osterholm


My pops was also responsible for me loving Blazing Saddles, I remember watching this scene with him and the both of us dying with laughter. As far as poop jokes go, apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Late Night Wars: Jay Leno continues to be an ass

This should probably be a "Holy Bejebus" item but Leno is now saying how "screwed" he got when NBC bought out Conan. Really? I've never thought Leno was funny and considering how he took over Carson's chair, I'm not surprised that he still plays the victim in all of this.