It's been a long time coming. They hadn't reached the NCAA Tournament since 2009, even though they probably had their best chance since this year. What possibly could have been the final straw, even though Teague wouldn't say so in his press conference Friday announcing Borton's firing, is that a team that maybe had little depth but packed a solid 1-2 punch in Rachel Banham (who was named this week as an Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention for the second straight year) and Amanda Zahui B. should have gotten to the Big Dance. That they didn't reinforced Borton's negative reputation as someone who could not develop the talent she recruited to Minnesota.
It also echos back to what probably is the tipping point of her tenure: The 2006 season, which started promising but imploded into a first-round flameout in the tourney and the subsequent transfer of outright quitting of five players on the squad. An investigation found that there was a breakdown in communication. That only buttressed Borton's inability to speak to her players, something that was evident when a similar walk-out happened when she was Head Coach at Vermont. In fact, that probably is a reason for another perceived weakness of hers: Not only could she not develop the talent she recruited, she couldn't, well, recruit talent. Many of Minnesota's best players, from Tayler Hill to Nia Coffey, decided to leave the state. That rankled a lot of the small women's college boosters in Minnesota. And don't forget, when she went to the Final Four back in 2004, it was her very first season, so she didn't recruit Lindsay Whalen. (Neither did Brenda Oldfield/Frese either, by the way; it was that cheat Cheryl Littlejohn, a fact that continues to surprise me to the point of forgetting that fact.)
I didn't think there was anyone who had an ear to the ground knowing how the coaching search is going. I was going to an Internet chat board to see who could be the new coach. But then the Star Tribune's Kent Youngblood late Tuesday evening came out with this story saying that there appears to be three finalists, the first two I saw as potential candidates on the chat board:
- Jody Adams, current Head Coach at Wichita St. The Shockers were a nothing program before she was came on board six years ago. The past three years her clubs have won at least 20 games, and she's taken the school to the past two Big Dances, which also happen to be Wichita St.'s first two invitations ever. Was an assistant under Littlejohn when the U. recruited Whalen.
- Aaron Johnston, Head Coach at South Dakota St., the school that ended the Goofers' season and got Borton fired. He has spent the last 14 years there, helping the school transition from Division II to Div. I. Many of his players that beat the U. Thursday are from Minnesota, so he knows the local terrain very well.
- Niele Ivey, Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Notre Dame. An All-American Point Guard with the Irish, she has helped the Fighting Irish to a fourth straight Final Four, and this year's team is unbeaten. While she doesn't have the experience of Adams or Johnston, she is considered to be a superstar coach in the making. A lot of people think that if the Gophers don't hire her, someone else will, very soon, and she'll transform that program.
Nevertheless, I'm sort of jazzed about this -- not only about finally injected some much-needed new blood to a moribund program, but just seeing a new HC at the U. It's kind of like picking out your birthday gift.
#0: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -4). Please understand that I don't take this club's two wins in the West Regional at the X lightly; it is their 21st Frozen Four appearance, but neither anyone on the team nor any fan should take that for granted. I just put them second here for two reasons: 1) A coaching change doesn't happen every day, and I think this firing was long overdue, and therefore I am somewhat pleased; and 2) there's always a chance that this team loses. North Dakota, their opponent in the semifinal, Boston College and Union have all made the second and final weekend before.
Nevertheless, let us celebrate the two victories, both of which I was able to take in in person, last weekend. I thought they looked kind of sluggish in their first round game, a 7-3 victory over overmatched Robert Morris, a program which, if the "X" on the shoulder of their jerseys are any indication, is in only its tenth season in top-flight college hockey. This was a case where on-paper talent won out, and because the foe was harmless, I and the rest of Gopher Nation gave them a hearty hand as they left for the showers, even if the reasons are far from magnanimous.
I was scared of both games, and after the win over the Colonials I was convinced the U. would have a hard time beating St. Cloud St., which won in a thrilling overtime game Saturday night when Nic Dowd (who's now with the Los Angeles Kings) wristed a turnover over Notre Dame Goalie Steven Summerhays. But the Gophers bore down on defense and flashed superb fundamentals as they simply smothered the Huskies Sunday night, 4-0. I hear B.C. is explosive, Union has this Hobey Baker Finalist named Shayne Gostisbehere to worry about, and North Dakota could follow Yale as NCAA champions after being The Last Team In the tournament. (To reiterate: I was at the Big Ten Hockey Conference Title Game, when Wisconsin came back from a 4-2 deficit to defeat Ohio St. in OT, 5-4. The Badgers were in the tournament regardless. But the Buckeyes definitely would not have been given an at-large bid. If Ohio St. won, they would have bumped off North Dakota. But Wisconsin won, hoarded the auto-bid, kept the Buckeyes out and kept The No-Names in. And what did they do, by the way? They beat Wisconsin in the first round of the Midwest Regional. Thanks for helping us out, we will show our appreciation by eliminating you.)
(Separate story: I was listening to the Wisconsin-North Dakota game online through the Grand Forks radio station while keeping up with a live blog on USCHO.com. When ND took the lead, I sent a snarky message: "Wisconsin must regard winning the conference championship now, right?" I got three replies, all negative, the worst one being, "Are you out of your mind?" I told them I was kidding, but really I wasn't. Look -- the team you helped keep in the tournament repaid you by taking you out of the tournament. And you would have been in regardless of whether or not you won that game. You damn right Wisconsin regrets it now, and if they don't, they should!)
Where was I? Oh yeah -- the three remaining teams in the Frozen Four are all good. And this tourney is unusual in that it is very chalky; although North Dakota helped keep up the streak of a regional #1 losing in the first round, the Gophers, Eagles and Dutchmen are all #1 seeds (the top three seeds in order, in fact). But I saw a combination of size, speed and fundamentals that can be hard to beat. The Gophers need to play at the top of their game, but they have as good a chance as any of the other three of winning it all. And although some think they should play this week to capitalize on momentum, having a week off (mostly to give way to the Final Four this weekend) will help heal any injuries the Gophers have.
We'll see what transpires in Philadelphia two weeks from now. The squad gets a final mention on the WMNSS two weeks from now -- either at the top, or on the bottom.
#-1: Wild (Last Week: -3). Once again the Wild and Timberwolves are inextricably tied to each other. Both teams went 2-2 this week, and yet they seem to be rocketing in opposite directions at the speed of light away from each other. Part of that is each team's current standing, of course. Part of it is also the fact that the Mild lost their first two games this screening week, then won their next two.
But a lot of the reason why the Wild are above the Wolves this week was the competition. The week certainly didn't start off well, with an embarrassing 5-2 loss to still-playoff-eligible-yet-self-destructing Vancouver (at home no less) and a 5-1 dick-smack by St. Louis, who were once a cellar-dweller but now look like a franchise that gets it -- something Minnesota isn't, at not quite yet.
But just as their grip on seventh place in the Western Conference finals might be slipping into Phoenix's hands -- or worse, that of The Team That Was Stolen From Us -- the Wild go on the road and beat two very good teams. First it was The Bastard Winnipeg Jets Saturday, which were hot on their heels as the team in eighth place, by a score of 3-1, then it was the playoff-bound Los Angeles Kings Monday, 3-2. More impressive, both wins came when the club went into the third period trailing. Clutch performances in important games against good teams on the road? I don't think we've seen it from the Wild yet this year, but there isn't a better time to show it than now.
There are six games left in the regular season, and the squad plays for of them this week: At Chicago tomorrow, home to Pittsburgh Saturday, then back out to The Bastard Atlanta Thrashers Monday (their final road game of the regular season), then back to Xcel the next night to host Boston.
#-2: Timberwolves (Last Week: -5). On the other hand there are the Woofs, which started off last week with a victory against a potential playoff team, the Atlanta Hawks, 107-83. (Did you know that as of press time, the Woofie Dogs' record would place them seventh place in the Eastern Conference? Holy imbalance, Batman!) They then throttled The Bastard Minneapolis Lakers at Target Center, 143-107. It was the most points scored in franchise history.
That wasn't going to get them any closer to a playoff spot; before the games tonight they were seven games out of ninth place. Nevertheless, losses in Brooklyn by 15 (without Kevin Garnett playing) and at home to The Bastard Buffalo Braves by ten (without Blake Griffin playing) reinforced the feeling that all the fruitless season has finally beaten the spirit out of this team. Kevin Love, who recorded his second career triple-double against the Lakers, played as if he came down with something in the two setbacks. And with only two weeks left in the year, the team might as well do what baseball teams do and shut him down for the rest of the season. Might as well avoid getting him injured if he's hurt instead of just sick.
Congratulations, by the way, go out to Gorgui Deng, who on Tuesday was named the Western Conference Rookie of the month of March. There isn't a whole lot of really young talent coming in, assuming you regard Love and Ricky Rubio are veterans now, so Deng represents "the future." Of course, the question begs to be asked: If he is so good to be named to this award, why wasn't he playing back in November? Ask Rick Adelman as he might be going out the door.
There are nine games left in the regular season, and this squad also plays for of them this week. They are playing against The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies as we speak. They then play at Miami and Orlando back-to-back this weekend, then come back to host the first of consecutive home games Tuesday vs. the hottest team in the National Basketball Association, again, the San Antonio Spurs.
#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -2). OK, so the game against North Dakota St. which was supposed to be played at Siebert Field Tuesday was postponed until Wednesday the 16th because there were snow showers that morning. Since it's April -- and don't mind the fuckin' bullshit blizzard we're gonna get tomorrow and Friday -- the weather changes pretty quick; any snow that fell Tuesday morning was burned off by the early April sun by the afternoon.
So I guess Siebert was ready to play 24 hours after this game against the Bison was supposed to be played, therefore Manager John Anderson or some contact at the U. called up Augsburg and asked, "Hey, you wanna play us here tomorrow?" and someone over there said, "Yeah, what the hell! We'll be there!" And just like that the entire Augsburg baseball team piled into their team bus or their individual private cars and went to Siebert and played a game this (Wednesday) afternoon. You can just schedule a legitimate game on the fly, just like that? Beats the hell out of me.
They beat the Augies, by the way, though barely -- 1-0, on a triple in the fourth. Thanks, Connor Schaefbauer. This bookends a week which began with another game that wasn't, Wednesday at home against St. John's. They're supposed to reschedule a game, they just don't know when. Oh, and inbetween the Goofs lost two of three at home to Michigan St. The first game was played Saturday, and then there was a doubleheader (which the Spartans swept) Sunday. I thought there was going to be a game played Friday? Probably the same "flexibility" the U. has in postponing one game and then scheduling one in less than a day.
At Michigan this weekend.
#-4: Twins (Re-Entry!). The Twinks started their season Monday, and woo-hoo! they're already winless!!! They bungled their way in the infield to a 5-3 loss to the White Sox Opening Day, then saw Glen Perkins, who's supposed to be the most consistent player on the club this year, blow a lead to send Wednesday afternoon's game to extra innings ... where Samuel Deduno ended the game on a wild pitch, 7-6, in an 11th inning where the ball never left the infield.
Going into this season there was many reasons to believe the Twins would be better and even end their streak of seasons with at least 90 losses at three. That, to be honest, is only because this franchise can't get any worse. But while the Pohlads have finally loosened the purchase to the point of at least signing free agent pitchers Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes, many people believe the main weakness of this team is the lineup. Besides Joe Mauer, there isn't a reliable bat in the starting nine. Well, after only two games the team has scored three and six runs. And as today can attest, pitching's still going to suck ... although the defense might need a lot of work.
After finishing their series in the South Side of Chicago, the Twinkies are the foes of Cleveland's home opener Friday. After three there, they finally have their home opener Monday against Oakland. Let's hope they've won once before then.
#-5: Swarm (Last Week: -1). Lost at Calgary Saturday 15-11. They still have the worst record in the NLL at 3-10. But really, that's not the reason they've gone from the penthouse to the outhouse in consecutive weeks.
I have thought that the playoff structure was going to remain the same: Of the nine teams playing, eight of them reach the postseason. That's why I had thought that although the Smarm suck, they were still only one game back of Vancouver of making it.
But then I saw this NLL playoff scenarios report. It's no longer eight teams that reach the playoffs; it's only six, the division winners get byes, the second- and third-place finishers play a one-game playoff, then the survivor plays its div winner in a home-and-home best-of-two, with a ten-minute tie-breaker "game" played at the div winner (which also hosts Game 2) if necessary.
Now that I know that, the Smarm are 1 1/2 games behind both Philadelphia and Toronto for a postseason berth. They have five games left in the regular season. Four of them are at home. Too bad they've only won one of the five games played at the X, so that might be a bad thing. Plus, they finish their road portion of the regular season this weekend, on the back end of a home-and-home with the Rochester Knighthawks Friday and Saturday.
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