#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1). I thought that the massive beatdown on Tsuyoshi Nishioka was overblown and, in latent socio-psychological way, was fed by racism, as in that it was easier to come down on T-Nish because he was Japanese.
I still believe that some haters want to hate him because of that, but I admit now that I'm largely wrong: Nishioka is awful. The sportscasts correctly said that storyline was the most important development coming out of Wednesday's 6-2 loss at Cleveland, a defeat that allowed the Indians to break their long losing skid. He had three errors in the game, including a fantastic stop-turned-what-the-fuck-were-you-thinking? glove-hand flip that was so far off second base it pulled the shortstop off the bag, and a throw to home from a dribbler just past the mound that was also errant and scored a run. And the sports anchors said that he continues to fail in the basics of fielding, such as getting to the right base at the right time and being the cutoff man. I didn't witness these gaffes personally, but if that's true, that's inexcusable.
This guy came to the Twinks after winning the batting title in Japan. Are you to tell me that Japanese baseball doesn't use the cutoff man, or is vastly different from the way Americans field? Nishioka was called up from AAA Rochester because Trevor Plouffe was injured. It's possible (maybe it's even happened already) that he'll be sent down because Plouffe is expected to be back soon (if not now). I, and probably many other fans, wouldn't mind if he stays there for the rest of his career.
You could say that Nishioka's fuck-ups are the reason for their current three-game slide and a bad end to their 2-4 screening week, one that had so much promise despite giving up the series sweep at Boston Sunday because they dispatched Cleveland in back-to-back games. Or maybe the fact that a certifiably good club like the Tampa Bay Rays could come into Target Field this weekend and double-up the hometown nine by scores of 12-6 and 4-2 is more verifiable evidence of how this organization sucks, without T-Nish's "help."
They will now try to avoid the sweep at the hands of the Bay Rays this (Sunday) afternoon. They then host the other really good team in this week-long homestand, Detroit, starting on Monday before flying out to Seattle to start a series there Friday.
#-2: Gopher volleyball (Re-Entry!). I could imagine the splash page of Gophersports.com. Hugh McCutcheon coaches the U.S. women's volleyball team to their first Olympic gold medal in history ... and in 2013 he'll be coaching the Gophers!!! What a way to generate buzz for a non-revenue sport. Even Norwood Teague would have to stop glad-handing boosters for football in order to give him and the program some dap.
Alas, it was not to be. The Americans were spanked soundly by the Brazilians in yesterday's (Saturday's) gold-medal game in London, destroying the Samba Girls 25-11 in the first set before getting run off the court 17-20-17.
I need to put this in perspective, because I got caught up in all the hype that this team's first-ever gold was inevitable. It wasn't; only the media (specifically the broadcasters of NBC, who, somehow, have been the target of rightfully-deserved criticism after not suffering such a fusillade of heckles Olympics prior) that said that they were. The U.S. team was considered the top-ranked country in the world, according to a respected worldwide volleyball organization. But Brazil was #2. I wanted the American team to win, and yes, they should have. But it wasn't supposed to be a complete shock to lose to an excellent team as well as the defending Olympic Champion. And Sports Illustrated's Brian Cazeneuve, for one, predicted Brazil would beat the U.S. Should've listened to him.
The chatter from the volleyball fans on volleytalk.proboards.com are coalescing towards some conclusions about the loss: the Brazilians, in particular Jaque, played out of their minds; indoor Olympic stalwart Logan Tom and, to a lesser extent, Penn St. legend Megan Hodge were the only Americans really playing well; the hitters, led by Destinee Hooker, were just not hitting; setter and captain (and Minnesota alum) Lindsey Berg was having a bad game passing; Berg got hurt in a pool play game and wasn't 100%; and poor blocking. Yes, poor blocking is coming up a lot.
This defeat obviously relates to the U. volleyballers because the coach of this gold medal-losing team will be coaching them a year from now. I'm guessing he'll start to turn an ear to the program this year, however. McCutcheon is weathering some criticism over this defeat because he was the coach of course -- didn't adjust in-game, not replacing Berg, not doing the frontline/backline substitutions like he did in the past, even picking the wrong players for the Olympic roster -- and those criticisms carry over to a college program. You could say that he nonetheless has been successful, and you'd be right: He did win a gold medal ... coaching for the men's volleyball team in the 2008 Beijing Games. I'm sure there are no Caster Semenyas on the Gopher v-ball squad. What would have been the best advertising the U. volleyball program has ever had turns into a disappointing non-story, one that comes with the silence common in a sport people are only interested in every four years and will be put back on the shelf unless it results in gold. Is the best we can expect from the runner-up coach in the Olympics a runner-up finish from the Goofs in the NCAA tournament? Been there, done that.
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