#-1: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -3). Have to give the top spot to the U. volleyballers. Although they were at home this weekend, and a 2-0 screening week isn't rare with this program, they did defeat both Michigan teams when they both were in the AVCA Top 25, and that is still very good. The more impressive of the two victories came before a crowd of 4,782 at the Sports Pavilion for a very rare Thursday night game shown on, of all places, ESPN2. Before a worldwide cable audience, the Gophers gave the surprise squad of the Big Ten, once-#5-seed Michigan St., its first loss of the year. And it was a very compelling five-set win, where the Gophers came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to take Sets 4 and 5. I had thought about going to this game, but I was too wiped out after work and I decided to go home instead. Boy, do I regret that. They followed that big win with a four-set victory over then-#16 Michigan in front of 5,638 fans Saturday evening.
For her efforts, Middle Blocker Hannah Tapp was named B1G Freshman Of The Week, and for its efforts, the team has powered up three spots in the AVCA Top 25 to 7th. This week: Wednesday at Wisconsin, which is enjoying a resurgence under new Head Coach Kelly Sheffield, then Sunday afternoon (good timing; the Vikings game is the Sunday night game) at home against Northwestern.
#-2: Gopher football (Re-Entry!). I didn't think they could do it. A promising start to the season runs into the brick wall of conference play. Then, team's Head Coach announced over the bye week that he's taking a leave of absence to deal with his epileptic seizures. Somehow, however, the Gopher football team goes into Evanston, Ill., and upsets Northwestern, which was ranked earlier in the year, 20-17. The key stat: Turnovers -- none from the U., but three by Northwestern. What may also have been crucial to the upset was a surprise halftime pep talk by Head Coach Jerry Kill, who drove down to Chicagoland with his wife and watched the whole game from the Offensive Coordinator's press box. And now it's not so unreasonable (even though the schedule is still quite daunting) to think the program can notch that ever-elusive sixth win, making them eligible for a bowl game and kickbacks for both the coaching staff and athletic administrators. I doubt it'll come Saturday afternoon when they host Nebraska, but hey, I didn't think they could beat the Wildcats last Saturday afternoon.
#-3: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -1). Sweep at Bemidji St., which propels them to the #1 spot in USCHO.com's Top 20 poll. The sweep of the Beavers is to be expected, though far from predictable. Combined score of the two games was 11-4. Can't complain, although it's not like they beat two Top 25 teams or pulled off an upset of a better club on the road. The next series should prove to be a tougher test: They come home to Mariucci and face off against #5 Boston College for a pair Friday night and Sunday afternoon (at 1 o'clock -- the same time as the volleyball game, in fact) for the inaugural Big Ten/Hockey East Challenge.
#-4: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -4). A disappointing homestand: A 2-2 tie Friday against Iowa where they fell behind in the 5th minute and then coughed up the lead in the 67th minute, followed by a 1-0 loss on a beautiful, overcast, rainy Sunday afternoon to the conference leader, Nebraska. It was a pretty nifty goal, to the Cornhuskers' credit. In the 24th minute Katie Kraeutner crossed to the far half of the Minnesota goal. Jordan Jackson, who was running like hell all game, was being marked loosely by two Gopher players but somehow dove low and headed the ball back to the other half of the net. It was the first loss they suffered at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium, and unfortunately I had to witness it. It'll probably be the last game I see there all year; the final home game is set for Halloween afternoon.
The RPI board hasn't been updated yet, but I think they remain in good shape. I would not relax, however, taking the final roadtrip of the regular season: Wisconsin Thursday and Purdue Sunday.
#-5: Vikings (Last Week: -Infinity). Wow ... they looked just as somnambulant in Monday night's loss at the Giants as they did at home last week to Carolina. It's maddening because, watching pretty much the whole game, the G-Men are not good this year, not at all. This was a game for the taking. And yet they generated barely any more energy tonight/last night as they did against the Panthers. The defense was OK, the special teams wowed you whenever they didn't break your heart (two return turnovers???), but the offense ... pee-yew.
I'm already ready to dump Josh Freeman. As inaccurate as Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel were, I was gobsmacked, absolutely astonished at how errant Freeman was. This Giants defense was terrible; ViQueens receivers were open. And Freeman missed them -- horribly, comically. A decent Quarterback -- shit, Ponder the last four games of the regular season -- would have been able to connect enough times to soundly beat New York. But instead they went out like bitches, and Purple Shame fans can now justifiably put Freeman in the trash alongside Ponder and Cassel. Shit, with the way things are going right now, Joe Webb doesn't look so bad.
What the fuck else is there to say? They host Green Bay for Sunday Night Football, the second straight national showcase where America can truly see how wretched the Vikes are. The Packers should be favored by at least three touchdowns.
#-6: Wild (Last Week: -2). That promising start? Yeah, bury that alongside the promise of previous Mild teams. They finished a winless week, losing all three games on the road. Yeah, yeah, the last one to the Florida Panthers was in a shootout, but they still wound up losing. Meanwhile Colorado upset the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday night and they're the shit all of a sudden. They play four games this screening week: home to Nashville and The Bastard Hartford Whalers, then a home-and-home with the Chicago Blackhawks, who should be our natural rivals.
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