Friday, July 2, 2010

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -2). My God ... if a team that goes 3-4 for the week is the clear winner of the WMNSS, maybe they should all be either relocated or folded. The A.L. Central is doing all it can to put the word "Comedy" in its name because the Twinks are still in first place despite losing two of three in Queens against the New York Mets and dropping the first of a very important four-game set against the Bay Rays of Tampa in choke fashion last night (a 5-4 loss in 10). Again, the Twinkies are showing that unless they're facing a division opponent, and preferably at home, they're going to struggle against good teams. And it may still be a dicey week: They finish their home series against Tampa Independence Weekend, then have a midweek series at Toronto, a place they haven't had a whole lot of success in.

#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -1). So, maybe Seimone is the most valuable player on the Jynx; maybe Candace Wiggins is. Since her Achilles tendon tore, this team hasn't won. OK, it's been a week, but this week they went 0-2 -- 14- and 18-point losses at San Antone and Atlanta, both good teams. I don't even have the strength to criticize this team anymore; maybe this squad is just ... damned.

Is there hope for this club? WCCO sports reporter and radio host Mike Max speculated on his "News & Notes" segment on the 6 o'clock news Tuesday that Timberwolves ownership is getting very antsy about all the money they're losing, and if it's bad enough, there's a chance they will put down the Lynx. Looking at the way things have gone the past, like, half-decade, maybe that's for the best. They take the 4th of July off; in fact, they have only one game this week: Thursday against San Antonio at Target Center. Note: This begins the start of a 6-game homestand that will stretch 19 days. If they don't emerge from that period with at least 4 wins (preferably 5), you can punt yet another season.

#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). I'm keeping these guys on for a second consecutive week because of what Basketball Operations Pres. David Kahn (and his mole) for who he has been able to sign. No, not the overrated Rudy Gay. LeBron James? Ha-ha.

No, he's been able to re-sign Donnie Darko Milicic, and they signed some dude named Nikola Pekovic, who I just read actually was the Woofie Dogs' second-round draft pick in 2008. Didn't give a shit when he was picked.

What troubles me, even though Wesley Johnson and Lazar Hayward were also selected, is what is becoming Kahn's weird fascination with international players I've fucking never heard of. The organization has said to hell with domestic (read: black) players and are going internationally to fill this pathetic team. I'll admit I thought this was something Kahn did while he was running the Indiana Pacers, which had (and still has, I guess) a reputation of being very, very white; I checked the roster the years he was there and it hasn't been racially different than other teams. Still, the signings of Milicic and Pekovic are very, very underwhelming. And I don't see how they don't lose 67 games next year. If the Lynx die, can they take the Wolves with them?

#-4: Gopher men's hockey (Re-Entry!). It's hockey, so no, they didn't play (thank Buddha). I put them here because of last weekend's NHL draft. For the first time in who-knows-how-long, no one on the Gophers were drafted. Anywhere. Oh, sure five incoming Gophs were drafted, which means they were picked because of what they did in high school, not for any development under Don Lucia. If that ain't an indictment on him and his program nowadays, I don't know what is.

No comments:

Post a Comment