Positive Numbers: Gopher women's hockey (Re-Entry!).
Behold, the best Twin Cities sports team I may ever experience in my lifetime.
It was cool to see them unfurl the banner for their 2012 championship the first game of the season way back in late September. A week later it was cool to see them continue their frog-stomping ways; in those two games they crushed their opponents, Colgate and St. Cloud St., by a combined 14-1.
I was hopeful they would repeat. Why at I didn't expect them to do is run the entire damn table. So when I heard they made the Women's Frozen Four Final Friday evening, I went from the Metrodome (where I saw the University of Minnesota baseball team; more on them down the survey) to Ridder Arena to see if I could either scalp a ticket or find one thrown in the trash by a fan of one of the losing teams. I was the only there that evening, holding up one finger, groveling for a ticket. Alas, no dice.
I decided to make one last-ditch effort to go Sunday afternoon; just standing there asking for a ticket and hoping that a fan with a good heart would have an extra one. But luckily I had told a friend of mine Saturday I was going to do so. I didn't think much of it when he said, "I'll keep you posted" and when I texted him Sunday afternoon. But as I was walking around Ridder and had one scalper offer me a single for, get this, $150 (one the one hand that's fucking outrageous, on the other hand it's good to see a non-revenue program that this much love and respect from scalpers) I saw my friend just standing outside. I feel bad because he immediately texted me after I texted him; I put my phone on silent and didn't bother checking it because I didn't think he had a ticket. But he did, God Bless him. And we sat together to see the University of Minnesota women's hockey, taken to the edge in a 3-2 triple overtime tournament quarterfinal against North Dakota last week and a 3-2 OT triumph in the semifinal over Boston College Friday, have an easier time of it in beating Boston University 6-3.
It was, simply put, awesome. All the players were great, but my friend and I were continually wowed by Amanda Kessel. She is a one-woman wrecking crew, with speed to spare, ice vision that burned though the Terriers and a motor so relentless she oftentimes looked twice the player of anyone skating, on either team. The fifth goal, where she waited at the point for her teammates to settle into position in front of the net, was all her; she managed to thread a pass in the congested slot to Maryanne Menefee's skate, which she somehow corralled onto her blade to pass behind her to Rachel Ramsey, who deposited it past Kerrin Sperry in the open net. Sweet. And, just between you and me, she's kind of cute, too!
We were both surprised that Kessel was not named Most Outstanding Player of the Women's Frozen Four. That honor went to Noora Raty
So they did it. Back-to-back championships, and 41-0 -- 49 straight wins if you count back to last year. Moreover, I can free this program of being in the WMNSS for yet another season. Congratulations, ladies!!
It was cool to see them unfurl the banner for their 2012 championship the first game of the season way back in late September. A week later it was cool to see them continue their frog-stomping ways; in those two games they crushed their opponents, Colgate and St. Cloud St., by a combined 14-1.
I was hopeful they would repeat. Why at I didn't expect them to do is run the entire damn table. So when I heard they made the Women's Frozen Four Final Friday evening, I went from the Metrodome (where I saw the University of Minnesota baseball team; more on them down the survey) to Ridder Arena to see if I could either scalp a ticket or find one thrown in the trash by a fan of one of the losing teams. I was the only there that evening, holding up one finger, groveling for a ticket. Alas, no dice.
I decided to make one last-ditch effort to go Sunday afternoon; just standing there asking for a ticket and hoping that a fan with a good heart would have an extra one. But luckily I had told a friend of mine Saturday I was going to do so. I didn't think much of it when he said, "I'll keep you posted" and when I texted him Sunday afternoon. But as I was walking around Ridder and had one scalper offer me a single for, get this, $150 (one the one hand that's fucking outrageous, on the other hand it's good to see a non-revenue program that this much love and respect from scalpers) I saw my friend just standing outside. I feel bad because he immediately texted me after I texted him; I put my phone on silent and didn't bother checking it because I didn't think he had a ticket. But he did, God Bless him. And we sat together to see the University of Minnesota women's hockey, taken to the edge in a 3-2 triple overtime tournament quarterfinal against North Dakota last week and a 3-2 OT triumph in the semifinal over Boston College Friday, have an easier time of it in beating Boston University 6-3.
It was, simply put, awesome. All the players were great, but my friend and I were continually wowed by Amanda Kessel. She is a one-woman wrecking crew, with speed to spare, ice vision that burned though the Terriers and a motor so relentless she oftentimes looked twice the player of anyone skating, on either team. The fifth goal, where she waited at the point for her teammates to settle into position in front of the net, was all her; she managed to thread a pass in the congested slot to Maryanne Menefee's skate, which she somehow corralled onto her blade to pass behind her to Rachel Ramsey, who deposited it past Kerrin Sperry in the open net. Sweet. And, just between you and me, she's kind of cute, too!
We were both surprised that Kessel was not named Most Outstanding Player of the Women's Frozen Four. That honor went to Noora Raty
So they did it. Back-to-back championships, and 41-0 -- 49 straight wins if you count back to last year. Moreover, I can free this program of being in the WMNSS for yet another season. Congratulations, ladies!!
#0: Wild (Last Week: -3). Have I said yet that this is a good team? This is a good team. They won all three games this screening week, all in regulation, and are now riding a six-game winning streak, their longest in ... well, I've been looking all around and no one will tell me. This franchise has historically blown, so I'll say it's been a long time.
What is even more impressive is that four of those wins have come on the road, each coming against a team they hadn't beaten in their place in some time. It's like Al Pacino in The Godfather: "We are settling scores."
- They beat The Bastard Quebec Nordiques in Denver for the first time since last Groundhog Day;
- They beat the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver for the first time since January 31, 2009, a span of 11 games there;
- They beat the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena for the first time since January 3, 2006;
- And finally, on Monday, they beat The Bastard North Stars in Dallas for the first time since March 21, 2003 -- ten years, four days and 16 road games.
#-1: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -1). OK, so it would have been nice to win the Broadmoor Trophy in the last Western Conference Hockey Association Tournament the U. would ever play in. But they apparently were non-competitive in losing at St. Paul to Colorado College Friday, 2-0. Upon further reflection, it doesn't matter. Since the system college hockey uses to select and seed the 16-team NCAA Tournament, the PairWise Rankings, had them safely ensconced in second place, and since it is both automated and total, they were assured they would be the top team in their four-team pod regardless of what happened in the WCHA Final Five. Besides, conference tournaments don't matter. The regular season matters ... until it's over. And now hockey's version of the Big Dance matters.
On Selection Sunday the Gophers were placed in the West Regional and they will face off with Yale Friday afternoon in Grand Rapids, Mich. Win that and they will play Saturday afternoon against either Niagara or ... my God, wouldn't it be something ... North Dakota. Really, there is no more WCHA play now. But goddamn, one more grudge match between these longtime bitter rivals before heading off in separate ways and into separate conferences, with the winner eliminating the loser? I wish I could see it on TV. Wait ... maybe I could see it on First Row Sports?
#-2: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5). Let me say this before I forget: The one saving grace about this season is that some Woofie Dog games are on over-the-air TV. I don't know whether this was a thoroughly thought-out contract or a rush job like I recall reading in the paper, but many weekend games are being broadcast on My29. Now, with this season being the dumpster fire it is, maybe I would rather not want to watch the games. But really, with the trend of teams housing their games exclusively on cable, where they can reap the money not only from cable network contracts but (assuming the people who own the team also own the cable network) subscriber money, it's time to see a team migrating the other way and airing their games free for all.
Oh, to the games. A win (a convincing 31-point win) in Phoenix was sandwiched between loses at lowly Sacramento (who appears to be staying in Sacto, and good for them; Seattle, you are better than this -- you cannot do to Sacramento what Oklahoma City did to you) and at home to Chicago. I am trying as best as I can to finish this WMNSS before I have to take into account their game in Detroit that's going on right now ... and just before I publish this I see that the Wolves just beat the hell out of the Pistons, 105-82. That puts them at .500 for this "screening week," and therefore I have to put these guys above the University of Minnesota baseball on the fly.
There are still four games the Timberwolves have to play the rest of this week. Fortunately, all of them are at home. Unfortunately, those games are against the Lakers, Thunder, Grizzlies and Celtics.
#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -7). So I finally made it back to a U. baseball game at the Metrodome on Friday after missing a hell of a game last Friday against the pitcher who probably will be picked second in the MLB Draft this summer and a no-hitter the Friday before. The hurler of said no-hitter, the Gophers' Tom Windle, was pitching this past Friday as they hosted Texas for the first time in program history. I saw Windle three Fridays before when he was relieved after 4 1/3 innings and took a loss to Dartmouth.
Well, I didn't see a great game nor a no-hitter. But I finally saw the greatness and promise that makes him a potential late-first round pick. Hello, Mr. Windle: A complete game win over the Longhorns, throwing 119 pitches, allowing only one earned run on five hits, no walks, and a dozen strikeouts. I think I have said once before that the most dominant pitching performance I have ever seen by a Gopher was Glen Perkins when he struck out (I believe) a baker's dozen in a tight 2-1 victory over Iowa in the old Siebert Field. The last of his K's caught the Hawkeye looking with the tying run (and go-ahead run?) in scoring position. This was just as good, although with the Gophers winning 5-1 his excellence wasn't necessarily needed.
However, the team could have used him the last two games of their series with Texas, defeats of 5-4 (in ten innings) and 6-3. However, the team traveled to Kansas St. for a midweek two-game series against the Wildcats. I was lucky to be working out Wednesday afternoon and stumbled upon the rarest of things, live sports in the afternoon, when Fox Sports North was airing the getaway game of their double dip. The Gophers were leading by the time I left; unfortunately they eventually lost, 4-3. But at least they won the first game, 8-3, so they finished 2-3 for the week.
They have final non-conference game, tomorrow (Wednesday) against South Dakota St., before they start Big Ten play with a three-game series at Michigan.
#-Infinity (tie): Gopher wrestling, Gopher women's basketball and Gopher men's basketball (Re-Entry; Last Week: -6 and -8, respectively).
OK, let me bang out the ends of these U. seasons quick. Congratulations to Tony Nelson, who defended his title has champion at Heavyweight at the NCAA Wrestling Championships this past weekend. Unfortunately no other Gopher grappler even made it to the final as the U. wound up third. Penn St. three-peated and Oklahoma St. finished second. I swear that's been the finishing order the past three years. I guess you can't improve on this, but is the U. destined to finish third every year in perpetuity?
As for Tubby Smith ... now that the wake in his firing has started, I feel kind of bad for him. Everybody has been saying that he is a may of integrity and that college basketball needs more people like him. It is true that he kept this program clean a generation after a bad academic scandal. It's also true that he underwhelmed in his six years at the U., only winning his first NCAA Tournament game Friday in crushing UCLA (who fired its coach, Ben Howland, a day before Minnesota canned Smith. I think I said in last week's survey that both guys would eventually be cashiered).
Detractors say that Gopher fans will rue the day Minnesota Athletic Director Norwood Teague fired Smith, that he was the best coach a program like the U. could ever hope for and that the guy who replaces him won't be half as good as he was. I say that may very well be true. But I also have to ask if just being good enough is good enough, whether just racking up 20-win seasons and one-and-done appearances in the Big Dance is good enough. I don't think so. Being elite may be a pipe dream, but in the world of big-time college athletics, just being OK is pathetic.
By the way, the coaching pipe dream is VCU's Shaka Smart. A more realistic choice is adopted hometown son Flip Saunders. The clubhouse favorite from these quarters: Dwayne Stephens, Assistant Coach at Michigan St.
Oh, will there be any talk to shit-canning Pam Borton? The U. women ballers lost in the first round of the Women's NIT, at home, to Ball St., 75-71, on an incredibly busy Friday at the U. (The Gopher women's basketball and men's hockey teams lost, the Gopher men's basketball and women's hockey teams won, and the Gopher wrestling team maintained third place in Des Moines, Iowa.) Guess they can't fire her now that Teague fired Borton, but seriously, isn't it time?
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