(Note: For 2013, the WMNSS will appear on Tuesdays to reflect, hopefully, the previous seven days. We always start the first survey of the year on the 8th of January. Since there are 365-6 days every year, we fail to include the last couple or few days of the previous year, so the first survey incorporates games played since Sunday, December 30.)
POSITIVE NUMBERS FOREVER!!! (tie): Concordia-St. Paul and St. Thomas women's volleyball (Re-Entry and New, respectively). Dude, I totally forgot these two championship teams, the former of whom won almost a month ago, the latter just shortly after Thanksgiving. Better late than never.
Oh, if only the Gopher women's volleyball team was able to win the Division I NCAA women's volleyball title. Then, probably for the first time ever, the women's volleyball champs in all three divisions would hail from the same metropolitan area. In fact, according to a poster on Volley Talk, he or she would have been able to boast that he or she could walk to the home gyms of all three winners. That would be sweet.
Nevertheless, congratulations to both small schools for reinforcing the image of Minnesota being a volleyball hotbed. Also, props to both teams for searching within themselves and gutting out incredible comebacks.
Let's start with St. Thomas, my brother's alma mater. They were in Holland, Mich. for the Division III Women's Final Four, and they were facing Calvin College, a school based in Grand Rapids, only 37 miles from the DeVos Fieldhouse on Hope College's campus, so the Tommies were going into hostile territory. And they were down on the mat, losing the first two sets at 13 and 17 in front of an announced crowd of 3,517, most of them obviously rooting for them to lose.
And yet, the team and Head Coach Thanh Pham (wow, a Vietnamese head coach?!?!) found one final reserve of resolve and not only won the last three sets but beat down the Knights while doing so; St. Thomas held Calvin to 18, 16 and 9 points as they won their first title in women's volleyball. And they finished their season on a 35-match winning streak.
The Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears also came back from 2-0 down to win the Division II title in Pensacola, Fla. They beat Tampa to win, get this, their sixth consecutive volleyball championship. That's a record in Division II women's volleyball and ties Washington-St. Louis (of Division III) for most women's volleyball titles in a row in all divisions. Brady Starkey's team bested St. Thomas by finishing their year winning their last 36 games. And poor Tampa: This is the third straight year the Golden Bears have eliminated them in the Division II Final Four: They were swept in last year's semifinals in San Bernadino, Calif., and the Spartans were knocked off by the Bears in four sets in the 2010 title game in Louisville. Say this for Tampa, however: Their matchup with Concordia was closer than the St. Thomas win over Calvin: 27-29, 17-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-14.
Congratulations to both teams!
#0: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -2). When I went to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Division) and saw the score, I couldn't believe it. I was talking to a guy working there who couldn't believe it either, and he thought Boston College was giving the Gophers the game just to lull them into a sense of complacency. I don't know if you can play mind games with an opponent three months before the Frozen Four. Regardless, I am convinced that both teams have a good chance to make it.
And credit to the U., 4th in the nation (at least according to the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll) for one hell of a win on the 30th, beating the ever-living shit out of the then-top-ranked team in the nation, the Golden Eagles, 8-1 to cap the Mariucci Classic. Man, they were scoring goals with a frequency that leads you to believe if they scored enough, some of them might count in their meeting in last year's Frozen Four semifinal, where Boston College manhandled the Gophers 6-1.
The rout could be explained by the power play: Minnesota scored four of its goals on the eight power plays they received (and they scored their final goal shorthanded). While the Gophers had four minor calls, B.C.'s eight penalties totaled 27 minutes, most of them accounted for by a contact to the head major/game misconduct by Michael Sit just 53 seconds from the end of the second period. Frustration? The U. was up 4-0 at that point. And by the way, the Gophers took every single spot on the All-Tournament Team. I've never seen that before. Shoot, I don't think that's ever happened before. With those All-Tournament Teams you want to spread the wealth.
With that win, Minnesota is now the #1 team in the land -- joining, by the way, the Gopher women's hockey juggernaut atop Division I Hockey Nation. But they have one hell of a game tonight (Tuesday night): A date at Mariucci against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are ranked third in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and second in the USCHO.com poll. Whatever the number, this should be a highly anticipated match between two of the best teams playing today. And it's also a chance to avenge a loss on home ice to this team just a year and a day ago, 4-3. I plan on going, and I hope I get a ticket that doesn't make me much poorer than I already am.
#-1: Gopher men's basketball (Re-Entry!). Warily, I am starting to believe. I don't know if Tubby Smith's teams have ever gotten out to a great start in conference play, but they can't do much better than going 2-0 at home, beating Michigan St. New Year's Eve and Northwestern Sunday. Besides the stellar play of Andre Hollins and their tenacious rebounding (at least on the offensive glass), I am convinced that this is the best ever of Tubby's squads because of the different ways they won both games.
The Spartans ripped off a 15-3 run early in the second half to lead the Gophers 59-54. But for the first time in what seems like ever in the Smith era, in the final seven minutes of the game the U. responded with an 18-2 run to rally past and then blow out Michigan St. 76-63. Somewhat conversely, they were leading the Wildcats at the half by the anemic score of 17-14. Somehow, they scored 52 points in the second half, keyed mostly by Austin Hollins (Andre's brother) draining five three-pointers in three-and-a-half minutes, to put away Northwestern 69-51. They now sit on a ten-game winning streak, their longest in four years. And they have risen to #8 in the Associated Press Top 25.
Now the rubber meets the road, literally: They play their first two games in the B-1-G away from the Barn, both against ranked, high-quality opponents: at Illinois Wednesday, at Indiana Saturday.
#-2: Wild (Re-Entry!). I will say that with the possible exception of the reigning Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, no other NHL franchise should be more thankful that they're finally going to fucking play. Owner Craig Leipold -- touted by some players who were involved with the discussions to hammer out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement as a hard-liner/hardass -- shelled out about $200 million dollars to bring in Zach Parise and Ryan Suter and, at the same time, turn the complexion of this franchise in order to, let's face it, save the franchise. Their money is guaranteed, so it does him no favors if they're stay-at-home dads instead of making money for him on the ice. And what's the use of capitalizing on the fans' excitement if they can't even watch them play? Shit, since half the season is over, maybe their interest has already waned.
I don't know if a shortened season helps or hurts the Mild. On one hand, maybe the talented Parise and Suter gives the team a better chance than others to win without having time to gel. On the other hand, there have been players who've been playing overseas: Are they sharp or tired? And the Edmonton Oilers have had several of their young players together in their AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City. Should they be considered Stanley Cup favorites? And regardless of all of this, how much credence can you put into a bastardized 48-game season where teams might have to play up to four games a week and deal with back-to-backs? This actually might be worse than a full 82-game season.
Lastly, I have looked over many NHL writers who have trotted out the tried-and-true "winners and losers" over the end of the lockout. All of them point out that the fans are the #1 losers. But those writers also conjecture about if the fans will want to see hockey back. The Southern cities might hate the NHL, or worse, not care, or worst of all, not even realize there wasn't a hockey season at all. But the die-hard franchises, the ones where snow actually falls, including Minnesota -- well, they've breathed a sigh of relief and will welcome back the league with open arms. Which is kind of pathetic, if you think about it; we want to see hockey, and they've just gone through their second lengthy stoppage in eight years, and now they want us to take them back? Minnesota will, maybe because we want to see Leipold's expensive acquisitions, maybe because we're suckers.
The details still need to be hammered out and approved by ownership and labor, but assuming they are formalities, the season will finally begin on the 19th.
#-3: Gopher women's basketball (Re-Entry!). Hmmm ... a 2-1 screening week that showed some good things, some bad. First, they ground out an 88-81 win over Creighton at the Barn in double overtime. I have no idea how good or bad the Bluejays are, but a win is a win. Then they got crushed at Michigan St. by 15 to start their conference schedule. The Spartans are a good program, so they put the Goofs in their place. But they then beat Wisconsin in Madison by 5. I don't think they're at the caliber of a Michigan St., but usually this team can't win on the road. What gives? Can't say. One game this week: Their home conference opener against Ohio St. Thursday.
#-4: Gopher wrestling (Re-Entry!). The grapplers participated again in the annual Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. the first two days of the year. And the Goofs, ranked third in the country, finished fourth in the tournament, besides the best team in the land, Penn St., the school quickly coalescing the spot behind the Nittany Lions, Oklahoma St., and a surprise showing from Missouri. Because they finished one spot lower than their ranking and none of their players won in their class, I have to ding them. I expect more from them, and I'm guessing Head Coach J Robinson does too.
Intermat rankings now put them in fourth, same as their finish in the Scuffle, behind Penn St., Oklahoma St., and Iowa. And with Heavyweight Tony Nelson losing his #1 ranking in his weight class to Dominique Bradley of the Tigers after Bradley beat him in the Scuffle final (thus breaking Nelson's 40-match winning streak), the U. has no wrestler tops in the nation.
They resume B1G play on the road this weekend: at Ohio St. (a team that's nipping on the Gophers' heels in the polls) Friday, then at Indiana Sunday.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). The team has changed its splash page to showcase this thing called "The Playoff Pledge," a pep talk/level of expectation coming from the source to which we give our money/threat/reminder to buy more tickets. Bad timing to display that this week; after going 1-2, they are now tied for tenth place in the West. A pledge to miss the playoffs might be more apt.
After learning that Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio were going to start the season injured, there was a decent chance that they would miss the playoffs. But seeing how they fast-tracked their returns to the court, they should be fucking better than this. Turns out that maybe both Love and Rubio got back too quickly, because they are now injured again. Love in particular has been a problem; he has not been the rebounding machine that he was last year ever since he busted his hand "doing knuckle push-ups." More and more it seems as if David Kahn's decision not to give him a max contract was wise.
I will say that the victory, on the road against Denver, where the Nuggets lost for only the second time this season, was a gritty one. Without Rubio and with Love leaving in the middle of the third quarter after spraining his finger (an injury from which he has yet to come back from), Guard back-ups Luke Ridnour, J.J. Barea and Alexey Shved stepped up, especially in the fourth quarter; Ridnour had 14 points, Shved and Barea led all scorers with 17, and Barea finished with a +/- of +20 (although Dante Cunningham finished with a +22 while playing 27 minutes to Barea's 25). Sadly, that win was sandwiched between losses at Utah and home to Portland.
An impossibly busy five-game schedule this week: A back-to-back vs. Atlanta and at Oklahoma City today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday), then they complete a four-game road trip at New Orleans Friday, in San Antonio Sunday and at Dallas Monday.
#-Infinity: Vikings (Last Week: -1). I don't know about you. But when Jasper Brinkley (or is that Jamarca Samford? I don't care to look) failed to get off the field in time before Green Bay snapped the ball for a field goal and thus was called for a second devastating 12 men on the field penalty for the second straight playoff game, that's when I turned off the TV. My Father (turns out my Mother too, My Fucking Father didn't tell me they both were coming home for Uncle's funeral, thank you very much) was coming home; my time would be better spent cleaning the house.
OK, two things I don't get. If the read option they employed on the opening drive of their season-ending playoff loss in Green Bay Saturday turned out to be the best drive of the game, why in the fuck did they abandon it? Were they so intent on sticking to their gameplan after Christian Ponder shocking was deactivated hours before the game that they decided they weren't going to deviate from it? At some point -- halftime, third quarter, some fucking time before the game was over -- Leslie Frazier had to decide that even if they allowed the offense to play playground football, that improvising would have been better than the trainwreck that was happening throughout that game.
The other thing, and much more complexing: How in the fuckety-fuck did Joe Webb turn to shit? I was convinced that Webb could have been a serviceable starting Quarterback in the NFL. Six weeks ago most of the Purple Faithful would have preferred Webb to Christian Ponder. And now it's the other way around. Now, he isn't a pocket passer, so he wasn't allowed to use his strengths, which is rolling out/bootlegging (that's where Ponder is at his best too, come to think of it). But Webb was able to, you know, complete throws in the win last year in Washington as well as in Philadelphia the year before. Here ... he was bouncing passes like he couldn't throw the football overhand. It's absolutely strange to me.
And here I thought that not only could the Vikings win, they could've won the Super Bowl. That team embarrassed themselves and the entire state after that steaming pile of crap that was the game. I should be pleased with them finishing 10-6 after a 3-13 season, proving everyone wrong by winning four very tough games in a row to end the regular season and reach the playoffs, and producing a legendary, doubt-he'll-repeat-that performance from Adrian Peterson, whom I could back for NFL Most Valuable Player. But since they didn't win a championship, it feels like a failure. And in the NFL, how do you know you're going to have another chance to make the playoffs, let alone win the Lombardi Trophy?
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