#0: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -6). Overall it was a very good week for Twin Cities sports; four of the top five teams in this survey went undefeated for the week. I give the top spot to the Minnesota male college icers because they defeated fellow WCHA émigré Wisconsin at Mariucci by scores of 4-1 and 4-3 to start off life in the Big Ten unbeaten. I want to give this squad a rousing tally-ho, so I'm going to reward their sweep of the Badgers an upgrade above negative numbers.
I was at the Friday game, the very first official game between teams from the Big Ten hockey conference. Saturday's game was by far the nail-biter; Seth Ambroz broke a 3-all tie with 26 seconds left to beat Bucky. And they remain the #1 ranked team in the country. Next week they begin the road portion of their conference sched by playing at Michigan St. for a pair.
#-1: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -2). They ended their regular season with a pair of very solid victories. I was at the Wednesday/Dranksgiving game against Wisconsin, and as I said in a previous post, it was as long (though not necessarily as close) a four-set win (by the Gophers) you'll see in a volleyball match. The Badgers' rookie Head Coach, Kelly Sheffield (formerly of Dayton), has done a remarkable job turning around a moribund program, and Wisky looks like it'll resume its perch in the Top 25 for years to come. However, the Badgers' defense was no match for the Gophers' powerful swinging (although, to be fair, the U. didn't put up that much better of an effort against Wisconsin's spikes). I was particularly impressed with Adrianna Nora, the Stillwater native who transferred here from Baylor.
Today, the Big Ten named Ashley Wittman and Tori Dixon to the All-Conference Team. Note this date, because this might signal the end of an era: The Minnesota volleyball team led by Minnesotans. The big thing I took from watching the match in-person is that Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon looks to be slowly transitioning his roster away from the state. Of the 18 players on this season's roster, only seven of them are Minnesotan. I don't remember a roster with so few players in-state. Moreover, it appeared that, besides the freshman Tapp sisters (who hail from Stewartville), McCutcheon will keep the Minnesotans on the bench, exercising only during breaks for show, as volleyball teams usually do. Wittman and Dixon are seniors, and with that, Minnesota may become a very different team.
In some ways that is bad, but for those obsessed with this program to win the NCAA title (I raise my hand to that), this isn't the worst thing in the world. I just wonder if McCutcheon is going to pull in the right ringers from out-of-state. During this transition year, the team went 15-5 in the B1G. They got swept by the two heavyweights of the league, Penn St. and Nebraska, and they split with Wisconsin. Great record; the club finished the regular season sweeping then-#18 Illinois in Champaign 10-19-25. But they have this kind of record every year. The U. always seems to be beating up everyone else but getting their asses handed to them by the Nittany Lions and Cornhuskers. I'm kind of tired of that. So, will getting rid of the top Minnesotans finally get this squad over the hump? I don't know, but I have to admit, I'm willing to find out.
They are the #10 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament announced Sunday and beginning Friday. As one of the 16 seeded teams, they get to host the first and second rounds (as it should be). The Gophs' first-round sacrifice? Radford. The U. then takes on either Iowa St. or Colorado Saturday. I intend to be there for the second-round game. I might be getting a handjob Friday.
#-2: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -3). I'm starting to get the feeling that the curve of talent in wrestling is steep. The Gopher grapplers are ranked second; in their only match of the screening week, hosts Oregon St. was ninth. And yet the U. destroyed the Beavers in Corvallis Saturday night by a score of 28-12. That got me to thinking: Has there ever been a really close dual in college wrestling? There has to be; I'm not that big of a fan, so I can't say there hasn't been. But ... has there? Sunday afternoon they visit Oklahoma St. in a return dual from last year, won by the Cowboys at the Sports Pavilion.
#-3: Twins (Re-Entry!). Finally, fucking finally, the Twinks are going to spend some of that goddamn corporate welfare we Twin Cities taxpayers gave to them. In two signings just about signed, sealed and delivered, they have signed Starting Pitchers Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes. Both contracts eclipse the 3-year, $21 million contract Josh Willingham signed two years ago as the most this organization has ever given out to a free agent.
The griping that neither Nolasco or Hughes is the staff ace this team really needs is a stone to far to step on. Yes, they should be no better than the #3 starter on a championship club. But you know and I know that the Minnesota Twins are far from being a championship club. Both signings zoom them straight to the head of the rotation, and should bring, if not a winning season, at least some stability and competence to a rotation that has had the worst ERA in the majors over the last three years. I'll take it. I'll so take it.
One nit to pick: Some people like the Hughes signing over the Nolasco one. If only because of the record, that's just not true. Some of those defending Hughes think that a change of venue will unleash his talent, as if his time throwing for the demanding New York Yankees fans at Yankee Stadium destroyed his confidence. Brandon Mileski of The Common Man Progrum said it best today: If he can't stand up to playing for the Yankees in a regular season game, why in the hell should the Twins think he'll be better playing in a postseason game? Admittedly that doesn't seem likely to happen, but he's right in thinking that no one is better off with a guy who can't handle the pressure. And yet he's still better than just about any starter on the team right now.
#-4: Vikings (Last Week: -5). Crazy-ass game, huh? I can subscribe to the feeling that the Vikes should just lose every game from here on out to get the best draft pick possible. But then I see this game, where Adrian Peterson still manages to bust it for 200 yards and becomes only the 28th player to ever accumulate 10,000 for his career, where Matt Cassel decides to be the player he was in beating Pittsburgh instead of losing to Carolina, and where both Blair Walsh and Chicago Kicker Robbie Gould decide to miss field goals in overtime. When Walsh kicked the game-winner with about two minutes left in the extra session, I actually was glad that I was able to see them win in person.
One other thing: I don't know if Christian Ponder suffered a concussion. I didn't see him suffer a big hit that knocked him out of the game. It looks like he didn't come out onto the sideline at all in the second half. That may be because he's concussed. I also can envision Head Coach Leslie Frazier having enough with Ponder's inconsistency in the first half (although I didn't think he was bad enough to get pulled) that he made the announcement at halftime that he's going with Cassel, and Ponder getting so pissed off that he refused to come out with the team. Yes, I think that could have happened.
But back to Peterson real quick. We have had two of the most electrifying players in recent NFL history: All Day and Randy Moss. As hapless this franchise is, we at least have that. And ViQueens fans hopefully acknowledge that they are witnessing one of the greatest Running Backs in history play for Minnesota.
At Baltimore next Sunday.
#-5: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -1). Considering the down-ratcheted expectations Pam Borton is able to get away with these days, boosters should still be upset the club didn't get away from Honolulu with the championship in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown. They just got by Chattanooga and they crushed Colorado St. But the Goofs allowed Hawai'i's Shawna-Lei Kuehu to drain a three at the buzzer to force the championship game into overtime. It seems that the team that forces OT on a miraculous shot loses in the extra frame, but not here; the Rainbow Wahine outscored the U. 11-5 to win the title on their home floor. In a rare case, Point Guard Rachel Banham was named tournament MVP despite not being on the winning team.
This week they host Miami in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge and North Dakota.
#-6: Timberwolves (Last Week: -8). Well, after a hot start the Two Elves have crashed down to the earth, losing games at home to Denver and in Oklahoma City, sandwiching a victory in Dallas inbetween. I don't know if it's fatigue, conditioning, chemistry issues or the roster just deciding to dial the energy back because it's going to be a long season, but the Woofie Dogs have now lost six of their last eight. Not good.
Tomorrow they "host" San Antonio in, of all places, Mexico City. Why are the Wolves the host team when San Antonio is so much closer? I don't get that at all. Is the Target Center too much of a money pit for Glen Taylor? They then host two-time world champs Miami Saturday.
#-7: Wild (Last Week: -4). Well, after a hot start the Mild have crashed down to the earth, dropping three of four games this week, including a home-and-home over the weekend to the Colorado Avalanche, probably the surprise team in the NHL right now. Yes, the Wild scored twice to tie Saturday's game in Denver, but (wanking motion) they lost in the shootout. Their only win was Monday's 2-0 home victory over Philadelphia.
The schedule tilts slowly towards the Eastern Conference, but not this week. Home to Chicago Thursday, in Columbus Friday, then hosting San Jose Sunday.
#-Infinity: Gopher football (Last Week: -9). Well, I guess the miracle didn't happen. They lost the regular season finale at Michigan St. 14-3. I will say that I am very impressed that they held the Spartan offense (admittedly not a high-powered one) to two touchdowns. But the Michigan St. D don't fuck around, and for the second straight game the Goofs O went touchdown-less.
So the team finishes 7-4 (I didn't include the victory over second-division Western Illinois) -- a remarkable turnaround, but one promised by Head Coach Jerry Kill, who has made a fantastic career out of turning around programs in its third year. What's most impressive is how they have developed unheralded players, such as Defensive Tackle Ra'Shede Hageman, who was named undisputed First Team All-B1G (that is, named to the first team of both the media and the coaches) Monday. The Washburn product was a three-star prospect in 2009 and was named the sixth-best young man at his position -- tight end. Yet he made the switch to the other end of the ball, stuck with the U. despite the firing of Tim Brewster, and has grown to be a player who will get selected in next year's NFL Draft. That ain't nothing, and Kill and his coaches deserve a lot of kudos for that.
They'll get into a bowl game -- probably the second-rate Texas Bowl -- but it's an exhibition, so who cares. Unless something drastic happens -- like Kill moving to Texas??? -- this team is done with the survey.
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