#0: Vikings (Last Week: -1). It's been said before, but it should be repeated: What Brett Favre did at the end of the win against San Francisco, pulling a miracle out of thin air as the Vikes faced their first loss of the season, is the very reason they got him. Yeah, he's still a drama queen, and there may be a time late in the season where he'll try to do this again and he'll be picked off, but I just want to see him win. In the NFL, there will be times you need your quarterback to not just manage the game but to win one. For the first time since Daunte Culpepper, maybe even Randall Cunningham, maybe even before Cunningham, this team can have some confidence their signal-caller can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
There is more to why I give this team a zero-bubble rating for the last two weeks. That win in Detroit the week before copied the same timeline as their first-week win against Cleveland: they struggle in the first half, then their halftime adjustments allow them to pull away in the second half. It didn't work against the 49ers partly because of Vernon Davis, partly because the Niners are much better than the Browns and Lions. But I am quite heartened that the Vikes pulled away to double-digit wins against teams they're supposed to wallop. I'm not worried that they had to pull something out of their ass against San Fran, especially if that team proves to be a good one. And I'm not worried about the Packers coming to the Dome Monday night.
#-1: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -4). A very triumphant 3-0-1 fortnight or so, and that tie was at an Illinois squad ranked in the Soccer Times Top 25. That's got to be a good thing. Looking at that poll as well as the other big one, the NSCAA, shows that there are significant differences between them, but that there are essentially five Big 10 teams that stand out: The Illini, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan St., and Ohio St. (Also, no team from the conference is ranked in the top half of either poll.) If this team can stand up to those teams, they can top a conference not considered to be a major one in women's college soccer. At Wisconsin Thursday, then they finish their non-conference schedule hosting South Dakota, making the transition to Division 1, Sunday afternoon.
#-2: Gopher football (Last Week: -2). This may be Glen Mason, The Sequel, but a good win at Northwestern following up the defiling of TCF Bank Stadium by Cal the week before. OK, so the Gophers aren't going to win the Mythical National Championship. And there will be time to put fans on a rollercoaster, following up impressive upset victories with jaw-gaping losses to inferior teams. But we all know we weren't going to hang with Jahvid Best, who scored every single touchdown in their win at the U. They were clutch in the fourth quarter against the Wildcats, converting a fumble for an insurance touchdown, then sealing the game by grabbing yet another fumble, all within the last two minutes. A better barometer of where this team's at is this week hosting Wisconsin. The Badgers are nowhere near the powerhouse they were under Barry Alvarez, but they're good enough that past teams under Mason were blown out by teams that good at home previous meetings.
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -3). I have a soft spot for the volleyball team; I've been to at least one game every year the past, say, dozen. But I'm harder on them for their one loss than I am against the football team for their one loss because not only did I have hopes that they could be a championship squad, but that one defeat, to Oregon in a non-conference tournament in Denver a couple weeks ago, was a five-setter. Naturally they have gone 12-1 in sets their last four games, but they were against teams they should've beat. A stiffer test could come Friday at Purdue, a team garnering votes (though not ranked) in several of the past AVCA polls. (They also travel to Indiana Sunday afternoon.)
#-4: Twins (Last Week: -5). It was disgusting to hear. We finished dinner very early today (Father ate quickly, as he's wont to do these days; Mother didn't even eat with us, as she's wont to do these days), and instead of watching Wheel Of Fortune, I decided to turn on the game after the sportscaster for one of the stations was fairly upbeat when he said the Twins were up 2-0 in the first off of Detroit Tigers Eddie Bonine.
I really thought Carl Pavano would have a good game. And he was spotted with a 2-run lead. But then I heard the call: Carlos Guillen walked to load the bases with no fucking outs, Brandon Inge scores two to tie the game, then one out later fucking Ruben Santiago singled for a lead they never relinquished. This now means the Twinkies are three games back, and the Tigers now need a combination of two victories and/or Twins losses to win the division, eliminate Minnesota, and make their final regular season game at the Dome against Kansas City Sunday the final Twins game at the Dome, period. Guess going 11-1 just after my last WMNSS plus a Tigers skid won't be enough; in fact, it could all end tomorrow afternoon in Detroit.
I swore I'm going to the last game, and my good friend secured a ticket. But after hearing the Twins piss away what could be Their Most Important Game Of The Season in just ten minutes, I'm much less enthused.
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