They should have lost this game, but San Antone did all they could to give it back to Minnesota, and in the end, the Silver Stars' poor play was worse than the Lynx's. Maya Moore and Rebekkas Brunson both missed a pair of free throws late that would have salted the game away. Instead, a lay-up by Seimone Augustus with just under a minute left was the last field goal scored in this turgid, sloppy mess of a game. What actually sealed the game was Lindsay Whalen tipping a San Antonio inbounds pass with about four seconds left to go, a deflection that Moore got possession of.
I was wrong about Whalen -- sort of. I didn't think her body would hold up to the rigors of the WNBA season as well as her time playing for a team in the Czech Republic. But I did think that the Lynx's fortunes would go down the drain as soon as she goes down with an injury. Does the contrapositive prove my theory? With her fully healthy, or at least able to play every game, she has become the star by which all the other players revolve around. Moore, Brunson, Augustus and Taj McWilliams-Franklin may have been my picks to be team Most Valuable Player through the season, but right now, it's Whalen. And the momentum for her to be league MVP is picking up steam. Her 20-point contribution tonight, in which she carried the team on her back for their awful-shooting first half, is killer evidence of that.
If they lose, not only would it be more salt on the wound of suck this state is experiencing sports-wise -- I'd be throwing shit on the ground shouting, "Is there no one in this fucking town able to not fucking suck, goddammit???" -- it would render the postseason individual awards that have started to trickle in perfectly useless. For now, let's congratulate Moore on being runaway (and pre-ordained) Rookie Of The Year and Cheryl Reeve for being Coach Of The Year.
Oh, by the way, they finished a perfect 2-0 for this screening week; they also won at Phoenix by six points to end the regular season Sunday at 27-7, best in the league. Sunday they have Game 2 in San Antonio; if it must be, Game 3 is here Tuesday. Win that, and the Western Conference Finals begin Thursday.
#-2: Gopher women's volleyball (Last Week: 0). They win the Clarion Inn-Vitational ... and yet they get upset by Kansas? That's the one loss in their 1-1 week, a puzzling performance where the breaks went the Jayhawks' way as the Goofs lose the first two sets. They rebound to win the next two, but lose 15-12 in the fifth.
Because of that, they slip three spots from 6 to 9 in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll. They finish their non-conference schedule this weekend with their fourth and final tournament, the Marquette Tournament in Milwaukee. They play Middle Tennessee St. tonight (Saturday night), then play the host Golden Eagles Sunday afternoon. They then begin Big Ten play hosting Illinois (currently third in the nation) Friday night.
#-3: Timberwolves (Re-Entry!). It is sad that a woebegone team like the Woofs would be so high up on the WMNSS for something not related to a game. But that's what the Twin Cities sports scene looks like: As bad as the American economy.
I like the hire of Rick Adelman as new coach of the Wolves. He is, like, the eighth-winningest coach in NBA history, and he guided the Sacramento Kings during the first part of the 0-0's, the halcyon, Chris Webber-Vlade Divac days when the franchise the best it's ever been, so he knows what the fuck he's doing.
But this report saying that Adelman was hired because of the efforts of Owner Glen Taylor, not General Manager David Kahn, troubles the shit out of me. You mean to tell me Rick Adelman willingly enters a situation where he hates and possibly gets to ignore the directions of his boss? And how in the hell will he avoid talking to him during a season? Kahn's in charge of the contracts of the players Adelman will coach; do you think he can just go around Kahn and talk to Taylor, especially when the questions he'll ask are ones the owner isn't supposed to be able to answer? How in the hell will that work?
One would say, who cares? Well, I don't think this is a done deal yet. If it were, tell me this, then: Where and when is the press conference announcing the hiring of Adelman? All we're getting are press releases from the team, and I don't think they've been confirmed on Adelman's side. There's a lot more shit that's going to happen with this coaching situation.
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The following five teams did not win a single game this week. How fucking pathetic:
#-4: Gopher women's soccer (Last Week: -2). One game, and they choked it away. They had the lead late 9/11 afternoon at DePaul, but then Ashleigh Goddard flipped the ball into the net in Minute 84 to tie the match, and then Sarah Gorden slalomed her way through the Goofs' defense and slipped the ball past Goalie Cat Parkhill for a 2-1 overtime defeat. The team now sits at 3-5 entering conference play. They begin that portion of their sked by hosting Ohio St. Sunday afternoon.
#-5: Vikings (Re-Entry!). Another pissaway by the ViQueens -- man, you guys are still so interesting, don't ever change!!! They had a 17-7 lead at halftime partly on the strength of Percy Harvin's 103-yard game-opening kickoff return for touchdown through a historically shaky San Diego special teams. But then Donovan McNabb couldn't hold up his end of the offensive attack, passing for only a measly 39 yards, and the Chargers made adjustments at the half. Matt Tolbert had three TD's in their 24-17, come-from-behind win -- great for my fantasy team, sucks for the Vikes.
I'm not too low on them, choke aside: Unlike all the hype surrounding the team by those that either work for or have access to them, I'm certain the Vikings are not a Super Bowl contender, and in fact they're probably closer to rebuilding mode. And that's OK from a fan's prospective. Leslie Frazier in his first year as Head Coach. This season should be a mulligan. If McNabb has another atrocious performance like he did last week in this week's game, Sunday afternoon versus Tampa Bay at the Dome, Frazier should bench or cut his ass. Stick Christian Ponder or even Joe Webb in there. They may not win, but you'll have plenty of repetitions to see if either of them has the snuff to be a Quarterback in the NFL.
#-6: Gopher football (Last Week: -1). Head Coach Jerry Kill's seizure is a part of the reason why I'm putting the Goofs gridironers down here, although it's not a major one. It just kind of sucks whenever the leader of a team you're rooting for looks like he's fighting to survive. It seems like bad luck, and I account for bad luck in the WMNSS.
But I'm glad he's feeling better, even though I think coaching the team on the sidelines for this (Saturday) afternoon's game against Miami (OH) may be pushing it. Hopefully he'll have enough strength to address why and how in the hell did this BcS school lose to New Mexico St. last Saturday, a team oddsmakers gave 20-1 points to? I said last week that if he were a good coach, they would cover that spread. He may have been so stressed that they're getting upset at home by a low-major school that the he seized up.
Like the Vikings, I'm giving the Gophers a pass this season. I don't think a team can win a Mythical National Championship in a man's first year. So those things being equal, I put lower the team that lost to the worse team. That's why the Gophers are under the Vikings.
#-7: Twins (Last Week: -3). There are few more boring sights in sports than watching a baseball team out of playoff contention finish a regular season. That's because the only useful thing the organization can do at that point is to play the young players from their minor league squads on the expanded major league squad so they can get a head start on who can and cannot play. That means you're introduced to players who you had no idea the team had. You don't even know these people existed. Guys like Joe Benson, who last night was a home run short of the cycle. And I'm like, "Who the fuck is Joe Benson, and why is Fox Sports North promoting a guy who probably won't make the team next year?"
Friend of mine tweeted from Target Field last night. He wondered if there were more people at the Lynx playoff game across the way at Target Center. If there wasn't, there should. Why anybody would pay money to see a shit team, who went winless (0-6) this past week, who has won only twice in September, is beyond me, frankly. That's exacerbated by the weather, which has turned raw and was in the forties or fifties last night. An outdoor stadium doesn't seem to be so nice now, huh? (I heard on a KFAN broadcast some time during the State Fair that the crowd watching the show would rather see a shitty team on a sunny day outdoors than a good team inside a domed stadium. Those people are fucking idiots.)
Morneau's not coming back because of concussions, and he's now scared for his career. Nishioka has some injury and he's been shut down. And Mauer? Mr. Bilateral Weakness has come down with pneumonia now -- sure -- so if two weeks to go, he might as well just stop playing too. This team, a team that was supposed to contend in the postseason, a team Minnesota taxpayers gave a $545 million stadium just two years ago, might lose 100 games for only the second time in franchise history.
A fucking scam and a goddamn joke.
Cleveland this weekend, then they fly to New York for a make-up game Monday against the Yankees (it's important because the Evil Empire needs this game), then fly back home so the scrubs can host Seattle, then fly to Cleveland for the final weekend (and road) series.
#-Infinity: Saints (New!). I should sue these fuckers for false advertising. Their slogan for this season was, "We Won't Break Your Heart." Well, they goddamn did.
There are now three divisions in the American Association, and the St. Paul Saints got into the AA postseason as the Wild Card. They upset the team they finished behind in the division, Winnipeg (they had the home-field advantage despite finishing with a worse record, for some fuckin' reason), and had a 2-0 lead in the Championship Series against Grand Prairie. But then they had to go to the Dallas exurb for Game 3 through 5. All they needed was one win, just one fucking win. But they couldn't do it; they lost 3-2 Saturday, 10-3 Sunday, and 8-5 Monday, and thus they choked away their first championship since 2004. Like I said, this state needs a winner. Apparently the Saints weren't up to it. They're losers like all the rest.
I was at Thursday's Game 2, the last game at Midway Stadium, where the Saints were down to the AirHogs 2-0 before coming back to win 5-2. I caught the beginning of the game behind the third-base fence. Guess who was sitting with the relievers in the bullpen? Actor Bill Murray, who co-owns this and several other minor league teams. First thing he said after the first pitch, before a less-than-half-full crowd: "Come on, you got to call it both ways!" Funny. Later he walked around the ballpark, talking and posing for photos with fans and just enjoying himself. That's great to see a huge movie star so close -- and I'm so glad he didn't beat anybody up.
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