Positive Numbers: Minnesota Duluth men's hockey (New!). First of all, thank you very much, Bulldogs fans. You ran 7th St. on Saturday, yet there wasn't enough of you that scalpers were jacking up prices for other fans who wanted to see that night's final. Of the four teams in the Frozen Four last weekend, North Dakota had the biggest travelling fanbase -- and they still did even though their Fighting Sioux was upset by Michigan in Thursday's semi.
But UMD was the only team to leave the Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, and the weekend with something to cheer about. With a goal 3 1/2 minutes into sudden death overtime, the Bulldogs defeated the Wolverines, 3-2, to win its first-ever championship. I've always thought Minnesota-Duluth had a good hockey program, so I was shocked to learn last week that they hadn't popped that title cherry yet. But with physicality and relentlessness, they did. I still hate the school because they always seem to have the U.'s number; however, I feel good for all the Bulldog fans I sat with, smiled back to, and high-fived during and after the game. Gosh, it must feel good to be a fan of a winner.
Things are shitty in the State of Minnesota sports-wise, but there is an oasis of joy on the shores of Lake Superior. Last year the women's hockey team won the national championship (at Ridder Arena; I was there and am blessed to have witnessed a triple-overtime thriller against Cornell), and in December the UMD football team won the Division II championship. What is the Minnesota-Duluth athletic department doing that the Minnesota-Twin Cities AD not doing?
#-1: Lynx (Re-Entry!). When you pick first in the draft and there are no-doubt players to be selected, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Thank Buddha the Jynx didn't do anything stupid -- they just picked the consensus top player in women's college basketball and a game-changing Forward, Maya Moore, with the top pick in the WNBA Draft on Monday. Moore may be the female basketball player in recent history: four-time All-American, three-time winner of the Wade Trophy (probably best women's college basketball player), and two -time champion at UConn. Becoming a member of the Lynx will be like jumping from saddle to saddle while both horses are galloping at full speed.
Moore, along with the team's other first-round pick, F Amber Harris out of Xavier, gives the Lynx, like, 20 first-round draft picks on their roster. Like I've said before, with so much goddamn talent they've accumulated by awful losing, now they can't lose. One of those first-round picks was one also taken first overall by the Jinx: Seimone Augustus. She has been the focal point of the team since being drafted by them in 2006. But lack of winning and injuries have made me question how long we can continue keeping her around. She seems like a nice woman, and when healthy she can ball like few others. But the Lynx are rebuilding, again, and if they have Moore (along with, like, 15 other post players), isn't it time to think about trading Augustus -- say, to Atlanta, or even Tulsa (which is much closer to her Baton Rouge, La. home)? It'd loosen up the Lynx's roster and give Augustus a fresh start away from so much bad karma here. I think it should happen, and I think people in the front office are thinking about it more than they let on.
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -2). A 1-5 week. Right now their record stands at 4-9. And now Joe Mauer is being looked over for ... what is it called? Bilateral leg weakness?? He can't stand up on his two feet anymore??? Horrific. (Well, now anymore; now they're saying it's just a virus and not an indication of any long-term health issues ... or so they would have us believe.)
But can Joltin' Joe pitch in relief? Thursday's 10-inning come-from-ahead loss to the Bay Rays in Tampa, when they got the lead in the top of the inning, is the "highlight" of a 4-9 start, the worst in Ron Gardenhire's coaching career. All four victories, the last being a 4-3 decision over Kansas City back on Tuesday, are by a single run. And they still have yet to score more than five runs a game. I guess a more salient question should be, Can Joltin' Joe hit? He hasn't yet; Mauer's got a .289 On-Base Percentage and a .265 Slugging Percentage.
This feels like a situation where a shock to the system -- like trading a pitcher in the rotation for some bullpen help so Kyle Gibson can join the big league team -- is in order. We'll see. They finish up in Tampa, start a four-game set in Baltimore and a stadium I still want to see, Camden Yards, then begin a three-game set against Cleveland at Target Friday.
#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -3). This team will not make the NCAA Tournament. A 1-3 week, accentuated by a three-game road sweep at Michigan St. and a loss in Siebert to fucking St. Thomas, for God's sake. They won their series opener against Northwestern in Target Friday, averting a complete wash-out screening week.
This week they finish their series against the Wildcats, host South Dakota St. at Siebert Wednesday, then begin a trio at Indiana Friday. After I get done with this WMNSS, I will be going to Target Field to watch the Gopher game this afternoon. It's overcast with temperatures in the forties. I doubt this is what the Twins were thinking about when they were trying to convince us taxpayers to make a stadium for them. But it's ours, it's here, and it is outdoor baseball in a fantastic ballpark without the crowds.
I doubt there's going to be more than 3,000 people there this afternoon. Why aren't more baseball fans coming out to see this game, besides the weather? You can't enjoy this $545 million edifice without the crowds -- without Twins fans? I think I'm getting a steal: Getting primo seats in a beautiful park and I don't have to fight anybody.
#-4: Swarm (Last Week: -1). Lost their only game this week, a 16-15 OT loss at Washington that should cement third place in the National Lacrosse League Western Conference playoffs. They currently stand at 6-8, and I don't remember them ever having an above-.500 record. Tonight they host Philadelphia in a special cancer charity game.
#-Infinity: Wild and Timberwolves (Last Week, respectively: -4, -5). For the third straight year, both teams end their seasons at the same time: Sucking at the end of the regular season. I would like to note that the Mild at least managed to win their last game against The Team That Was Stolen From Us, thereby eliminated them from the playoffs. That would've been fun to cheer and throw middle fingers over. They actually finished the season winning the two games this screening week. But they themselves are missing for the third consecutive postseason. The Woofs, meanwhile, lost their three games this week, and finished with a 15-game losing streak and a 17-65 record, the worst in the NBA.
So the Wild fired Head Coach Todd Richards, but the Timberwolves have not or will not shitcan Kurt Rambis. The current state and trajectory of both franchises are the same; shouldn't the fate of both coaches be the same, too? I still think two years is too small of a period to evaluate the competence of a coach, and the Wild still need to shed some shitty contracts that charter General Manager Doug Risebrough committed this club to. But if Richards goes, so should go Rambis. If the Mild want to take on a reputation of being a knee-jerk club that panics when they see empty seats in their arena, the Woofie Dogs should be firing everybody connected to the club.
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