#-1: Lynx (Re-Entry!). A 2-1 week after a week-plus-long layoff. A friend of mine got a ticket for us for the Saturday game against the Connecticut Sun. Their starting lineup featured four players from UConn. Coincidence, a sign that the school is so good teams should exploit that advantage, or a desperate ploy to curry interest from women's college basketball fans from the Nutmeg State who have yet to give the WNBA a try? Anyway, the Lynx beat them by 23. It was a tight game at halftime, but they pulled away in the third quarter. This may be the first time I've ever seen in person this franchise rout an opponent. I'm serious; they usually lose.
However, I was getting food for me and my friend during this decisive third quarter. (I was at one of the, like, five concession stands open, all of them at one end, all of them trying to serve about 5,000 people. I don't know how, but this team is bringing in more fans, so there should be a few more stands open, and on the other side of Target Center.) Maybe I'm a jinx who didn't know he lifted it when he left his seat.
There is no excuse, however, for their collapse in their annual Day Camp Matinee on Wednesday. They had an 11-point lead with 6:31 remaining in the fourth quarter but fuckin' blew it. There were children there, guys, young, innocent girls! They looked up to you, and they bore witness to a frightening and humiliating event most adults shouldn't see. They are scarred for life. I wouldn't be surprised if, after the game and during camp, they talked trash to you. Because you lost. Therefore, you deserve it.
They bounced back last (Friday) night, however, with a victory at Indiana, so there's that. So now they have two games coming: Home to Seattle tonight (Saturday night), at Phoenix Wednesday. Oh yeah, by the way, congratulations to Maya Moore for making the WNBA All-Star Team -- and as a starter, too!
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -1). They finish the part of the screening week before the All-Star Break by splitting at Chicago, and they begin the second half of the season with a split at home to Kansas City. But the big story remains the collapse of Capps. He came in to a chorus of fearful boos last (Friday) night at the top of the ninth inning in a 1-0 game, and with two outs served up a two-run home run. The guy got Bronx cheered out off the field, and a rally at the bottom of the inning came up short. The Twinks playoff teams of the past won more than their share of 1-0 games. Games like last (Friday) night are why they're seven games out of first place in the American League Central. They continue their long and important homestand by finishing out with K.C., then bringing in Cleveland for a special four-game, three-day series (the day-night doubleheader is on Monday, the first day of the series, funny), then hosting Detroit for a quartet starting on Thursday.
#-3: Timberwolves (Re-Entry!). Yes, Kurt Rambis was 32-132 his two seasons "leading" the Woofs. Yeah, he lost 100 more games than he won. But despite what you think of his coaching acumen or lack thereof, what David Kahn did to him -- giving him the silent treatment, letting him twist in the wind, then finally disposing of him this week -- was unnecessary, cruel, and disrespectful. There's nothing I can think of to be gained from waiting until half the off-season's over to fire a Head Coach. So if Kahn's telling you he knows what he's doing, don't believe him, because he's batshit crazy to believe that.
And the names that keep popping up to replace Rambis are two retreads: Bernie Bickerstaff and, for some godawful reason, Don Nelson. Kahn wants a more up-tempo offense, but do you want an all-and-nothing guy like Nellie, someone who is a mad genius on the offensive end but couldn't give less of a shit on defense? That's what we got on last year's Woofie Dogs. Really, him?
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