I was erroneous in last week's WMNSS: They had already sown up home-court advantage throughout the WNBA Playoffs when they were drubbed by New York. In fact, their first-round opponent has been determined: The San Antonio Silver Stars, whom the Lynx swept in all four of their meetings this year, the first two of which by late-game buckets by Minnesota. The been-there-beaten-that mentality should help them win the best-of-three series. Then again, maybe San Antone is due for a win or two? Anyway, that series starts Friday. The regular season ends for the team Sunday at Phoenix.
#0: Gopher women's volleyball (Last Week: -1). After dropping their season-opener to USC after being up by two sets, they have not lost since. And they haven't even dropped a set so far this month. The more impressive of their two wins was Saturday's sweep of then-#4 Texas. With the Gophers' 3-0 win the night before, Texas got swept in back-to-back games for the first time in almost 11 years. They were rewarded by moving in the AVCA Top 25 from 11 to 6, then followed up that historic weekend by going to Cedar Falls, Iowa and beating Saint Louis 3-0 last (Friday) night. They finish up the Clarion Inn-vitational (clever name ... nah, it's stupid) with a Saturday doubleheader: Kansas in the morning then host Northern Iowa in the evening.
#-1: Gopher football (Re-Entry!). First of all, my alma mater, USC, does not deserve the 25 ranking they were given before the season began. The defense remains a work in progress, and their offense, even though they're led by talented quarterback Matt Barkley, does not have the dynamic explosiveness of the Matt Leinart/Reggie Bush years. Besides, they have underwhelmed (read: failed to cover the huge spreads Las Vegas sportsbooks routinely give them) for years now, not just since the Bush Scandal brought down the Pete Carroll Era at the school and ushered in a new Dark Ages.
The line for their season opener against Minnesota last Saturday was 24. The Gophs were given 24 points. I know that there's a huge talent gap on that team, but you know what? Although I think Lane Kiffin's a good guy and I have to stand by him because he is a native Minnesotan, before his first fucking game I felt that Jerry Kill would outcoach him. And he did.
Marqueis Gray's in-game injury meant that freshman backup Max Shortell would be given the chance to shine. And he matched Gray's output, despite being a pro-style drop-back passer (in contrast to the "athletic" Gray). And if it wasn't for his freshman mistake, an interception by the Trojans' Torin Harris even though he was being shoved to the ground, the Gophers had a very good chance of marching down and kicking the field goal to win. Moral victories are for losers, but that's what this program is and has been for the better part of a century, so there is good that can come from this 19-17 defeat.
The real test of Kill's ability to harness and direct talent comes this (Saturday) afternoon, where they face New Mexico St. in the Gophers' home opener. (Quick aside: I lived in El Paso a decade ago. [Aside aside: My last week there was the week of 9-11.] I had a Saturday to kill, so I drove the 45 minutes west to Las Cruces, N.M., to see the Aggies host Oregon St., which was ranked in the Top 10 when they visited. NMSU had their chances, but the Beavers won by, like, two scores or something.) The line is 20 1/2. If Kill is as good as advertised, he covers that spread and beats the Aggies by at least three touchdowns.
#-2: Gopher women's soccer (Last Week: -3). Wow, this team definitely won't get into the NCAA Tournament this year. Sunday afternoon they lost again, this time to Milwaukee (presumably formerly UW-Milwaukee) 1-0. This despite outshooting the Panthers 23-10 and having a dozen shots on goal to their 4. A goal in the 76th minute ensured that the Goofs would finish 0-2 in the Minnesota Gold Classic -- the tournament they host. Is this the first time they've gone winless in their own tourney?
Well, at least they beat Illinois St. on the road last (Friday) night, 1-0 on a goal in the 79th minute. That broke a two-game losing streak. The team, now 3-4, finish the non-conference part of their schedule by going to Chicago and playing Depaul the afternoon of 9/11 (that's Sunday, in case you don't know).
#-3: Twins (Last Week: -4). 1-6 for the week. Five losses in a row, their sole victory Wednesday, then they go out to Detroit last (Friday) night and lose. They got swept by Chicago in their special weather postponement-created Labor Day Doubleheader 6-1.
Have they been eliminated yet? They probably already have -- like, back in June. And none of the starters are playing. Fuck this team.
This week: Finishing at Tigers, a midweek two-game set at Kansas City (what the fuck is with these two-game series? There's one more of these weirdo games in the final month of the regular season?? I thought there were, like, only two of them in May and that's it), then hosting Cleveland.
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