#0: Gopher football (Last Week: -1). Wow ... with both Minnesota college basketball teams officially tipping off this weekend and news breaking on Joe Mauer, this is the first time the WMNSS is nine-wide in a long time -- if not ever. And nearly all of them had great screening weeks. But in this crowded survey, I have to not only elevate the University of Minnesota gridiron squad to the top spot, I have to push them above our usual negative numbers in recognition of the end of an ignominious streak. With their 24-10 win at home over Penn St. Saturday, the Gophers have won four straight Big Ten games for the first time in four decades. Shit, even Glen Mason wasn't able to do that.
This club is doing it with a couple hallmarks from Mason's teams: A solid offensive line and a commitment to running. David Cobb is going to get a shot to play in the NFL after the great season he's having. But although he's not putting up huge numbers, Philip Nelson is having a solid season keeping teams honest with his pinpoint passing. He has convinced coaches Jerry Kill and Tracy Claeys to sit Mitch Leidner, and he's rewarded them with the best performance by a Gopher Quarterback since Adam Weber.
I'll set up a straw man and give a counter-argument: This is a down year for the Big Ten, and besides Ohio St. and (possibly) Wisconsin, this conference has seen much better years. To which I say to myself: True, but when the B-1-G was down in the past, the Gophers still couldn't beat the weak competition. You can only beat the teams you play, so I'm happy. Michael Rand of the Star Tribune also raised this question in his Page 2 in Monday's paper: Assuming the Badgers win Saturday (the U. is off this week, so note that they won't be on here next week), would ESPN's GameDay crew, that fall Saturday on-location spectacle, come to Dinkytown and highlight the fight for Paul Bunyan's ax? KFAN's Common Man poo-poohed that idea, but he poo-poohs all ideas. I think it'd be great, and I think there's a decent chance they'd come up here. According to a listener who e-mailed Common the question, the best games two weeks from Saturday besides Gophers-Badgers are Baylor-Oklahoma St. and Arizona St.-UCLA. GameDay is in L.A.'s Coliseum to feature my alma mater this week, so I doubt they'd stay in the Pac-12 back-to-back Saturdays. If I recall correctly, Oklahoma St. is out of the BcS picture. So is Minnesota (and Wisconsin for that matter), but this is one of the oldest rivalries, featuring one of the best trophies, in football. Besides, when is ESPN going to come up here ever again? I say there's better than a decent chance they'd come up here. And if they do, it'll be fucking awesome.
#-1: Gopher men's basketball (Re-Entry!). The trouble with having to write things for nine teams for a blog post is that sometimes you're not able to reach what should be the deadline. I always give myself latitude in these cases. You know, I work, and I had to do some things on the Internet last night, and I just got caught up with things after work this evening, and then My Father wanted me to look up some things for him on the Internet, and bing-bam-boom, I'm late.
Such is the case this week. This evening I had started writing in this space about the Gopher men's ballers and their win over Lehigh at Williams Arena to start their regular season. But things came up, and it's gotten late enough that the Gophers have already defeated Montana at the Barn, too. So I have to include that result in the WMNSS. I had them at -2, behind the Gopher women's basketball team, but since they technically went 2-0 while they went 1-0, I think it's only fair that I re-rank the list and flip-flop them. They deserve it; not only did they win both games this "week," they absolutely beat the hell out of them, 19 over the Mountain Hawks and 26 over the Grizzlies.
What to expect from this team? Since Richard Pitino replaced Tubby Smith as Head Coach during the off-season, I believe you give this club a pass -- no expectations whatsoever. I think Gopher basketball fans will cut this team some slack, even though a lot of the same pieces from last year's team -- which, if you'll remember, did reach the real second round of the Big Dance after crushing UCLA, to Smith's credit -- are back, starting with Guard Andre Hollins, who is one of 3,000 (well, OK, more like 50) players to make the Preseason List of the Wooden Award. Pitino wants to instill a pressure defense filled with turnovers and fastbreak points. Even if he can't deliver on the style of play, we're OK with it, because he is Not Tubby Smith.
Since the victory over Montana counts for this week, there is only one game "next week" -- at Richmond Saturday evening.
#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Re-Entry!). The college vagina ballers destroyed Northern Iowa at Northern Iowa by 18 to start their season Saturday afternoon. Nevertheless I doubt this program will regularly see the top half of the WMNSS. There is nothing in this team that screams NCAA Tournament squad, let alone championship contender. Therefore I remain flummoxed as to why Pam Borton, who clearly got to the Final Four with players recruited by her predecessor, Brenda Oldfield Frese, remains at this job. When Lindsay Whalen and Janel McCarville got to the national semifinals, I never thought the University of Minnesota would allow the program to recede back to mediocrity. Welp, apparently, they are.
The only bright spot is Rachel Banham, the Gophers starting Point Guard and probably the best young woman to play for the school since Whalen/McCarville. She's so good, in fact, that the women's side of ESPN's online division, ESPNW.com, calls Banham one of the five best PGs in top-flight women's basketball. I knew she was the best player on this team, but I did not know she was this lauded. I stand corrected.
The club has their home opener tomorrow against Charlotte. On Saturday afternoon they play Creighton in Omaha, Neb.
#-3: Vikings (Last Week: -4). It looks like this is the way they are going to win games: Get a big lead against a shellshocked defense, hang on for dear life as the opposing Quarterback passes his way into the end zone and back into the game, then, as they are knocking on the doorstep to tie or take the lead late, get a defensive stop that is uncharacteristic of most of the play coming from your defense that game.
Look, I appreciate a win. But as alluded to in a preview of, of all things, the upcoming season of the NBA, you either want to contend for a title or be so bad that you'll get a very high pick in next year's draft. It's still possible (though highly unlikely) that these guys can make the playoffs. So why win games when you can tank and get a high selection in a draft prognosticators say will be very deep with QBs (though none of them project to be Hall of Famers)? That's a good way of looking at things: Better to be at either extreme than be unremarkably in the middle.
I will say that Christian Ponder, of all people, led the Vikings to that win over Washington. He took a nasty shot when diving for the pylon in the second half of that game, but it appears he'll be able to start next Sunday's game at very noisy Seattle. And I have to say he looked pretty good. When he gets out of the pocket, he can make some plays. Besides, he's young enough that he's able to run a little bit, and that's something he definitely has over Matt Cassel and Josh Freeman. Is it possible that Ponder's tenure as starting Quarterback of the Vikes is not over?
#-4: Wild (Last Week: Positive Numbers). Wins over Calgary and Carolina sandwich a shootout loss to Washington. They are tied for eighth-best in the Western Conference (they are tied with St. Louis for third in the Central Division) even though they have a 10-8 record. However, they once again are in the wrong conference; if they were in the Eastern Conference, the Wild would be tied with Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay?!) for best record.
The big takeaway this week is the goaltending play of Josh Harding. Allowing only five goals this screening week shows he has been solid in goal while Nicklas Backstrom tries to return from injury. Have to ask though: If Hards continues to play well, will the organization trade away Backs and his pretty big contract?
This screening week is a homestand bracketed by road trips: Toronto, Florida and Winnipeg.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -2). A 2-2 week -- losses at home to Golden State and at the L.A. Clippers border wins at home over Dallas and at the L.A. Lakers. That win over The Bastard Minneapolis Lakers is particularly sweet for T-Wolves fans: It was the first time they beat Showtime in six years and 23 games. I was a different man the last time the Woofie Dogs beat the Lake Show. I was also able to listen to the tail end of the defeat to The Bastard Buffalo Braves/San Diego Clippers, where they came back from repeated 11-point deficits to almost tie the game at the end after three blown shots.
While it's very disappointing to see the Wolves unable to complete that comeback last night, the fact that they are able to shoot their way back into contention -- after blowing a lead with a Clippers 12-0 run in the fourth quarter, I might add -- points to a team much different than previous years. I still would like to see more defensive gumption, and we have to wait to see how the season plays out when it comes to injuries and chemistry (the NBA season is underrated in this regard: Although the postseason is the only season that matters, there are rhythms and chapters to NBA seasons that tell a lot about a team), but I like how this team plays so far. This week: vs. Cleveland, at Denver, vs. Boston.
#-6: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -3). Unlike the 1-0 loss at Robbie Stadium during the regular season, the gopher socceroos' rematch with Nebraska was not close: They were crushed 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament Wednesday in Champaign, Ill.
Not to worry, however: As predicted by what is the only bracketologist in women's college soccer I can understand, Chris Anderson of the blog All White Kit, not only were the Gophers in the NCAA tournament, they really didn't have anything to worry about, if Anderson's bubble team spectrum is anything close to reality. And it turned out to be: Despite the sour end to the regular season, they are in the tourney for the first time in three years. They play at 7 o'clock against Texas Tech in College Station, Tex., as Texas A&M is the seeded team and thus the host in this "pod." It'll be a tall order beating the Lady Techsters: They are 17-2-2, finished second in the Big 12 (they were upset by Oklahoma St. in the conference tournament) and are ranked 18th in the current NSCAA Top 25 poll. And if they beat Texas Tech, Texas A&M is 17-4-1. Regardless of what happens, things are looking up for the program. For the next four years they will be backstopped by Tarah Hobbs, who, as a freshman, was named Big Ten Goalkeeper Of The Year. The thing is, Hobbs is only 5'8"!
#-7: Twins (Re-Entry!). They are in this week's survey because of the breaking news yesterday that Catcher and Hometown Hero Joe Mauer will move to first base -- forever. The concussion that ended his year prematurely in August, plus the threat of another concussion that he could suffer while behind the plate, plus the advancement of his age, plus the fact the organization will pay him an average of $23 million each of the next five years, prompted the move.
So, OK, signing Mauer long-term has not resulted in a World Series championship. And as Mike Cardillo of The Big Lead points out, his value relative to his contract drops a shit ton now that he's moved from the 2 to the 3. Catchers who can hit are as rare as unicorns; First Basemen who can hit are a dime a dozen, and those who can't homer are worth even less. All true. But you have to consider the Janus point between Mauer at his career and the organization related to Target Field. Bullshit or not (and whether ownership is serious about using the added revenue from the new stadium to field higher-salaried teams or not is a debate worth debating from Twin Cities taxpayers), what you can't deny is that Mauer's ceiling was unlimited around the time they moved to Target Field and around the time the Twinks had to extend his contract. They couldn't trade him just, like, a year after the new stadium opened up. And you cannot turn your back from the particular circumstance that the best young catcher in Major League Baseball was playing for the same team he grew up rooting for. This is what the new revenue is for. In fact, since Mauer was a large part of the Twins' success the last few years at the Dome, you could say that he built Target Field.
But beyond the public relations nightmare the Pohlads would have suffered if they just upped and gave away hometown boy Mauer, one should not sulk that the Twins still have to pay him $115 million. First of all, this is not the National Football League, where you can just cut a guy; a baseball organization has to honor the terms of a contract, and that means paying what it promised to pay. Moreover, I continue to believe that it's important for an organization to have one guy, one guy who's at least pretty good, stick around for seven years, ten years, his whole career. That player is the conduit between fans and the organization that is supposed to represent the fans' community. And it is important (though overlooked) for fans, especially young people, to be able to grow up and rely on seeing that player year after year playing for their team. That may or may not have been a motivation for the Twins to sign Mauer long-term. But in terms of fan relations, this contract, still in its middle years, still makes sense.
#-8: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0). Weird that a 1-1 week means you're dead last in a nine-way WMNSS. Also weird that a squad would fall eight places to said bottom. But while they swept perpetual doormat Iowa at the Sports Pavilion Friday, they lost a hard-fough five-set match to Nebraska Sunday afternoon (in a game shown on Big Ten Network). They were swept in the season series, lost at home for the first time all year, slipped to eleventh in the AVCA Top 25, and, worst of all, reaffirmed the perception that this program will always been one of the great ones in the country yet still will be unable to get over the hump and contend for a national title.
The club finishes its four-game homestand against Ohio St. Friday and Penn St. Saturday. I would've gone to that Nittany Lions game, but I have a GameWatch to go to instead. Still haven't been to a volleyball game yet, and I will have one final chance.
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