#-1: Wild (Last Week: -1). I should not have gone out on a Wednesday night, and I did give myself an out: If the Mild were losing by 10 o'clock, I would stay in.
But even though they fell behind 1-0 and 2-1, Game 7 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against The Bastard Quebec Nordiques was tied at 2 after two periods of play when the clock struck 10. It would have been bitterly disappointing if I went out to have a drink and see the team lose (let alone it being a colossal waste of money), but I could not pass up the chance to have an indelible sports memory. And it turns out I was right.
I basically got to the Old Chicago right by my house when the puck dropped for the third period. I thought I had made a mistake when the Avalanche scored to make it 3-2. But as the period went on I became more and more impressed by the way the Wild dictated play, remained aggressive through the Colorado zone, and put them on their heels for most of the period. That's what made the tally to re-tie it at 3 almost feel like it was inevitable. And although the 'Lanche scored to give them a 4-3 lead, it wasn't too unfathomable to see them tie it once again -- and they did, dramatically.
At that point, I have to admit, I would not have been too upset if the Mild lost in overtime. But once again they felt like the better of the two teams, and blessedly, Nino-Nino-Nino (I will not even attempt to spell his last name) wristed the game winner past Colorado Goaltender Semyon Varlamov to win, becoming the first team to take a Game 7 in National Hockey League history after being down not one, not two, not three, but four times. That alone means that this season has been somewhat of a success.
Not to say I won't be somewhat upset if they lose to the Chicago Blackhawks. But how they fared against them is a fair assessment at where this team is at. And it didn't look good through defeats in Games 1 and 2 in Chicago. But last night the Wild were able to stifle the Blackhawks' swift attack and in fact were able to shut them out, and how, 4-0. That gives me hope, at least being able to win at home. Wild Head Coach Mike Yeo gets the last change when playing at the Xcel Energy Center, so it seems to me that the team at least has an answer to defend Chicago's offense. Now, if they had lost decisively in Game 3, the talent gap would appear to be stark, and so we would have to question how far along the franchise is and should be. But with Tuesday night's win, they have a chance.
Mind you, in last year's series against the Blackhawks, a first-round series, they lost four games to one, winning only Game 3 in overtime at the X. Fortunes and momentum could still change Friday for Game 4. They change venues for Game 5 Sunday then flip back to St. Paul for Game 6 Tuesday ... if necessary.
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -3). A 3-5 week, four of those a losing streak to begin the screening week, three of those a sweep at home at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, two of those in a day-night doubleheader Thursday. They aren't playing that horribly, but getting to around .500 appears to be the goal for the 2014 season ... and so far, the Twinks are giving us fans hope that they can be better than last year. They finish their week-long road trip with two more in Cleveland, then a weekend series against Detroit. They then return to Target Field to start a six-game homestand by first playing three with the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -2). OK, let me see if I have this straight. The game against Bethel, which was supposed to be the U.'s opponent Wednesday in a hastily-scheduled substitution for the original April 30 opponent, St. Thomas, which backed away due to other scheduling conflicts (which means they were not originally supposed to play the Gophers on April 30 as well?), was cancelled due to weather. This is the fourth game in the club's season to be either postponed or cancelled, all of them mid-week contests at home versus area small schools.
Then they were going up against one of the great powers in college baseball, Florida St. They didn't have much of a chance to win the series, and in fact were swept in Tallahassee, Fla., albeit by competitive scores of 5-4, 3-2 and 7-1. But we were denied highlights of Heisman Trophy-winner Jameis Winston closing out either of the one-run games in Saturday's doubleheader sweep. Winston wasn't even on the squad, technically speaking; he was suspended for the weekend after he was caught stealing, get this, crab legs, crawfish and a stick of butter from a grocery store. Now why in the fuck would the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and surefire player in the National Football League do something as piddly-shit as this is beyond me, but you can see the police report right here on The Big Lead story. When he was supposed to be serving as the Seminoles closer, he instead was doing 20 hours of community service. Good old college town justice right there -- and just by coincidence it was against the Goofers.
I didn't think the regular season ended so soon. It seems as if it had just started. They began their final five home games Wednesday with a midweek game against an area small school they actually played, a 10-0 shellacking of Augsburg yesterday. They play Concordia-Moorhead this evening, then play the final home series of the Big Ten season versus Purdue over the weekend. I am going to try and hit the Saturday night game, just to see what the Siebert Field lights look like. And hopefully I'll remember to find the old baseball scorecard book I bought at the old Oshman's Sports Store at the Mall of America. I bought it so long ago, the place doesn't even exist anymore, having been replaced by the Best Buy a long, long time ago. I have yet to even use it; for the longest time I didn't even know where it was. But I think it's in my closet, and assuming that the university no longer gives out scorecards, I now have one all my own so I don't lose focus on the game.
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