#-1: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -2). The team got the 8-seed in the NCAA Tournament -- not bad, though I thought they would slide down to the 9 or 10 or 11. And so far, so good: No surprises as they swept Liberty in the first round, then defeated Creighton in the second.
But it wasn't a total cakewalk. I thought the U. was going to hold the Lady Flames to single digits, but the Big South Conference Champions took it to the Gophers, getting 21 points in the first set. I was watching that set and going, "Is this for real?" But that pales in comparison to what happened in the third: Liberty actually took the Goofs to extra points before falling at, get this, 32. There were about three dozen Liberty fans (mostly family ... OK, probably all family), and to see them actually stand up for the three or four set points they had in that set was shocking and yet touching. I always have a soft spot for the underdog, and it was actually nice to see them get some good shots on the Gophers.
Liberty, in case you don't know, is an Evangelical Christian school in Lynchburg, Va., founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell (he's the asshole who called the lesbian comedian "Ellen Degenerate") in 1971. As such, I have never seen a post-game quite like what I saw. After each team congratulated each other, most (if not all) of the Gophers players went over to the Liberty side of the court. Both teams got into a huge circle with the Liberty Head Coach, Shane Pinder, in the middle. He obviously said some words, and then the entire circled bowed their heads down, ostensibly to pray. Aw! Although I could sense some people in the crowd weren't quite comfortable with it, I thought it was a nice gesture. And I assume there had to be some Gopher players who aren't all that religious who were part of that prayer circle anyway.
(The other matchup had Creighton sweeping Marquette. The latter had three set points in the third set but couldn't convert; the Bluejays got one and closed out the match. Anyway, those two teams are Jesuit schools, which made me wish I had tweeted before the tournament began something like: "So two Catholics, one Evangelical, and a dirty secular walk into to the Sports Pavilion. ..." The affiliations of this pod of volleyball teams makes for a good set-up for a joke, you know?)
I think that you can tell a lot from a team by their scores. And the surprising trouble Minnesota had putting away Liberty seemed to blossom even more when they dropped the first set to Creighton. They woke up and rolled the Bluejays 17-23-17. But this is more evidence that they're not going to be a serious contender to make it to Louisville for the Final Four. And the next two opponents are not going to be easy at all. First up is Big Ten rival Purdue. They're not ranked, but they upset 9-seed Florida St. -- and oh yeah, the regional will be held in West Lafayette, Ind. And even if the Gophers get past the Boilermakers on Friday, on Saturday they probably will get the overall #1 seed, The Proverbial Team To Beat, fellow B1G-er Penn St. The volleyball forums have said this is the easiest of the four regions. Let's see if the Gophers can at least bloody some noses next weekend.
#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -4). OK, so maybe this team is the one that finally gets Tubby Smith over the hump. I take much confidence seeing the club go down to Tallahassee, Fla. and defeat Florida St. in their part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Tuesday, 77-68. Joe Coleman led the team in that win with 16 points, joining Austin Hollins and Rodney Williams in games where they mainly contributed to the victory. They followed that up with a rout of North Florida yesterday in a bodybag game.
One more true road test, this one and "and-home" of a home-and-home series at USC Saturday. They also host South Dakota St. (featuring St. Cloud native Nate Wolters, a guy many think could one day play in the NBA and has a passing game not dissimilar to Steve Nash) Tuesday. This team should be 10-1 this time next week ... and a #21-rank-justified 10-1 at that.
#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: -6). Maybe Kevin Love isn't the problem; maybe that damn cast was. He cast that cast aside before the game against Sacramento on Tuesday and responded with a Beast Mode performance of 23 points and 24 rebounds in an eight-point win. The Wolves also beat Milwaukee at Target Center by 10 on Friday; both victories sandwich a six-point loss at the Clippers on Wednesday where they fizzled in the fourth quarter.
Good news: Point Guard Ricky Rubio was cleared for full-contact practice this week. He could be back playing as soon as next week. This week will be a tough one: at Philadelphia, at Boston, home to Cleveland.
#-4: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3). This is hockey, and it is going to be hard to stay really good throughout the year. Better to get your lumps out of the way because you can fix what you need to fix. Plus both the Goofs and the opponent, Nebraska-Omaha, came into the series at Mariucci with six-game unbeaten streaks.
Still, I find it kind of dispiriting to see the #3 U. suffer their first home loss of the season Friday, 3-2. They did the same thing to the Mavericks Saturday, thus both their long streaks are gone. But I wonder about the goaltending. The Gophers, 5-3-2 in their last season in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, travel to Colorado College for a pair.
#-5: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -5). This is not good. They were home for their Big Ten/ACC Challenge and promptly got hosed, 90-68, by Virginia. I remember the Cavaliers last being at Williams Arena about a decade ago when they got poleaxed by the U. in the second round of the Big Dance. That might have been the time where a Cavs defender wasn't looking and ran right into Janel McCarville setting a pick. She was down for a good three minutes.
But that was a long time ago. I doubt the Cavs are ranked; I don't even think they're well-regarded. And they go on the road and beat the Goofs by 22?? That doesn't speak well for this club.
It gets worse before it gets better; this afternoon they have their only true road non-conference game in Lawrence, when they face Kansas, which actually is ranked, at #20. The U. then get five in a row, with Denver on Wednesday and Missouri-Kansas City Friday.
#-6: Vikings (Re-Entry!). Was I told to leave the house? No. Maybe I just really didn't want to be in the house because ... I didn't want to be around when they came home. Or maybe My Fucking Father really did tell me to leave the house. Anyway, I left the house in the afternoon, well before the Vikings game against the Bears began. I came back several minutes into the third quarter and saw that, yep, the ViQueens were losing. I washed the plant leaves while seeing Adrian Peterson gash the Bears with run after run, then fumble the ball.
They were in no danger of coming back to win. That's the most frustrating part of last week's game: Not only was it a loss, it was a boring loss, one that felt predetermined as soon as I saw that score. All Vikes fans know that once this team falls behind, especially on the road, it's virtually impossible to come back. And they didn't. They weren't even close.
There is an adage that you know how good a quarterback will be once he starts 25 games. Christian Ponder has now started 21. Impressed? Last week's line, 22-43-159-1-1. For the 2012 season he has thrown 13 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, has a Quarterback Rating of 82.0 and an ESPN Quarterback Rating of 47.7.
He probably is a problem, but not the problem. How about a deep threat Wide Receiver? How about a secondary that can cover the slant? How about an interior defense that can stop the run? How about a general defense that can stop possessions on third down, particularly third-and-long? And now we have to worry about Peterson coughing up the ball again.
And the worst thing about all this is that even though it looks like we're not making the playoffs, we're not going to have a high pick. We're in that no-man's-land called picks 11-20. In the NFL, you either should make the playoffs or be so bad that you get a high pick. Being inbetween is just half-ass. And that's where the Vikings are going to wind up.
This gets worse: At Lambeau against Green Bay in a few hours. Actually, the Vikings could make a game of it; the Packers can't stop the run, so Head Coach Leslie Frazier could control the game if Peterson can continue to churn out the yards. He is the league's leading rusher. But he has to hold on to the ball, otherwise Aaron Rodgers and his receivers are going to pass the living hell out of the Vikes' D.
But I won't witness this game either. I will try and head out, about-to-explode car and all, to the Sports Pavilion this afternoon and partake in my first-ever wrestling match, pitting #3 Minnesota against #4 Oklahoma St. I'm surprised that students don't get in for free for wrestling matches, so I'll have to pay. Assuming the ticket doesn't cost too much -- and assuming this fog lifts -- I'll take a shot at going and not staying to watch this game.
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