The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Timberwolves (Re-Entry!).  Woofie Dog fans, our long national nightmare is finally over.  After waiting 30 days, Kevin Love has been traded from the only team he has played for, and a place where he could not wait to leave.  And for all his insolence and bitching he gets to play against The Best Basketball Player On Planet Earth, also known as This Generation's Jordan, LeBron James.

I have succumbed to those who say that the Timberwolves got a lot more for a star player everybody in the National Basketball Association knew was going to walk away from the club as soon as possible than most teams have been in similar situations.  This turned into a three-team traded with Philadelphia: The Wolves traded Love to Cleveland and Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved (more like their expiring contracts) to Philadelphia; the Cavaliers give Minnesota reigning #1 NBA Draft pick Andrew Wiggins, last year's #1, Anthony Bennett, and a future first-round draft pick; and the 76ers give the Woofs the man who is going to take over Love's spot at the four, Thaddeus Young.  A possible franchise player, a serviceable four and what could be a valuable man off the bench, plus a future #1?  It could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Like the fact that the three new Wolves, alongside the "homegrown" squad's #1 pick, Zach LaVine, were all introduced to Minnesota at, where else, the Minnesota State Fair.  Great PR move from an organization that has little to crow about.

So where did it all go wrong?  I continue to hear that the inability for the fans to totally believe that Love bought 100% into Minnesota was echoed inside the locker room.  I was close to blame everything on ex-General Manager David Kahn and his belief that the franchise's only max contract should go to Ricky Rubio, not Love.  But the strange indolence and emotional distance he seemed to ooze from his pores makes me think that he would have bolted Minnesota even if he did get the maximum of five years.

So even though they may be worse than the 40-42 record they wound up with last season, at least this is over.  In its wake is a future which is uncertain but young.  A Rubio-LaVine-Wiggins-Young-Nikola Pekovic fivesome might be the most entertaining bad team the Twin Cities has seen in a long time.

Finally, I don't mind the drama that seems to be whipping up now that the trade is official.  With decisions finally made and Love traded away to Cleveland, the terrain seems to be safe for the principals to say what they really want to say.  And that begins with Wolves Owner Glen Taylor, who regaled an interesting tale over the radio Tuesday that Al Jefferson personally called him and said he wouldn't mind being traded.  Taylor praised Jefferson for being honest and for reaching out -- something Love didn't do.  His agent did all the trade demanding for him.  Oh, and Taylor questions how successful and happy Love is going to be playing next to James and Kyrie Irving.  And he doubts he'll be even mediocre defensively.

Hearing this, Love may have shown his true self, or at least confirmed the worst feelings T-Wolves fans have of him.  On Wednesday Love just said that he's looking forward and that Taylor should mind his own goddamn team.  Oh, I smell a cat fight!

Three things:

• Taylor remains a very enigmatic character to MSP sports fans, I think.  He owns what probably is the most moribund professional franchise in the state.  But because he's a Mankato native -- he's One Of Us -- I think he gets a pass for a decade-plus of futility.  And you know what?  I'm one of those people.  Maybe that's why I'm kind of OK with this Love trade and what it brought the Wolves.
• Jefferson never screamed, "stand-up guy" to me.  This story is surprising.
• I kind of want to think that confirmation that he allowed his agent to do all the dirty work so that Love can continue to say all the right things about wanting to build a winner in Minnesota means that he is nothing but a two-faced asshole.  But isn't that what agents do?

But again, whatever, this is finally over.  For that alone the Woofs get the top spot in the newly expanded Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey.

#-2: Gopher soccer (Re-Entry!).  Once again I say that the NCAA, or at least the enterprising Big Ten Network, has failed to capitalize on the fact that although the college football season Thursday, the true college sports season began with women's soccer matches on Friday.  Hey, even the SEC Network noted that the first-ever live sporting event in its life was a soccer match Friday, Georgia at Ole Miss.  (The game finished a 1-all draw, by the way.)  So you may not have noticed that the University of Minnesota women's soccer club, after reaching the NCAA Tournament, started its season in Florida and split its two games.  They crushed Stetson at Stetson 10-0 Friday, but then were soundly defeated by the team ranked second in the country, Florida St., 4-1.  So this weekend told us nothing about the strength of this team.  One, by the way, that was predicted to be one-and-done again in the tourney by what I still believe is the only blog dedicated to women's soccer, All-White Kit.  They open up their home schedule Labor (this) Weekend with games Friday night against Marquette and Sunday after vs. South Dakota St.

#-3: Twins (Last Week: -1).  Finally, a survey that reflects the true impotence of this club.  I am doing this extremely late on Wednesday because I decided to take in one final St. Paul Saints game at Midway Stadium before they move into a brand-new ballpark in the Lowertown part of downtown St. Paul next year, and the game went to a dozen innings.  (They lost, like, 10-6 to Winnipeg and aren't going to the playoffs, so Thursday's potential rain-delayed or -canceled contest will be The Last Game Ever At Midway ... unless the rain and thunder postpones or cancels it.)

The Saints no longer get the sell-out crowds they got when they began 21 years ago.  Nevertheless they have a record just above .500, which is a hell of a lot better than the Twinks, who, because I'm doing this after they lost Wednesday evening to Kansas City 6-1, finished this week 3-5.  I wonder how in the hell they won three games this screening week, but they have lost four in a row, the most stomach-churning Tuesday's 2-1 loss to the Royals.  The club was hanging on for dear life, but Glen Perkins served up a slider to Alex Gordon with a man on in the bottom of the ninth inning to give K.C. the dramatic victory.  It was the first time all season Perkins gave up a home run to a left-hander.

Surprisingly, the Twinks are sixth in Major League Baseball in hitting since some arbitrary point in the season.  That was probably padded by 20-6 and 12-4 wins back-to-back against imploding Detroit.  But that was the Tigers.  The Twins are currently getting their asses kicked by powerhouse Kansas City.  When was the last time you could say that, 1983?

This week: Finish up with the Royals tomorrow (Thursday) evening, then spending Labor Weekend in Baltimore.  They then come home to play a pair with the Chicago White Sox starting on Tuesday.