#0: Gopher football (Re-Entry!). This largely was a down week overall for Twin Cities sports. So that makes the University of Minnesota's football team's accomplishment this past Saturday stand out even more. Two weeks after shitting the bed and dampening the good vibes of the season losing at Illinois, they came back to TCF Bank Stadium and absolutely throttled Iowa to take home Floyd of Rosedale, 51-14.
And it wasn't even that close. Swear to God, they looked like a solid, dangerous, even fantastic program. The Gophers took advantage of three Hawkeye turnovers to lead, get this, 35-7 at halftime. If there was going to be a rout in this game, all of us thought the U. would be on the short end. But they weren't, and therefore Minnesota has won both the pig and The Little Brown Jug in the same season for the first time since 1967.
Finally, if I haven't said this before, I should say this again: Jerry Kill should stay on the sidelines as long as he can. We haven't heard anything about his seizures, thank goodness, probably because he's been able to keep them under control. That has coincided with yet another solid year, and they were able to make up for their upset loss to the Illini by upsetting the Hawkeyes.
They now are a half-game behind Nebraska for the lead in the Big Ten West, and they still have upcoming games against the two top contenders in the division, the Cornhuskers and Wisconsin. They come later; first up is the final home game of the year Saturday, against possibly the best team in the Big Ten: Ohio St. The Buckeyes have smoothed themselves out since losing star Quarterback Braxton Miller early in the season, and they're ranked in the top ten in the polls. But the Gophers have finally, finally! cracked the polls themselves (landing at #25 in Tuesday's College Football Playoff poll -- does that count as a poll?). Ohio St. may be good, but Minnesota rarely has been better. Plus, since the game's at home and it should be under temperatures hovering around freezing, there may be no better setting to pull the upset. Game's at 11.
#-1: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -5). Beat up Notre Dame over the weekend, routing them by scores of 5-0 and 4-2 Friday and Sunday. The Gophers' Taylor Cammarata and Adam Wilcox took the first two Top Stars from the B1G this week. You'll see many players on this squad get lauded by the league -- not necessarily just because they're good (although they are, although I will wait until the NCAA Tournament), but also because there are only six teams in the Big Ten. This week they have another home-and-home series against an in-state rival, Minnesota-Duluth (here Friday, there Saturday).
#-2: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). They were on the road all week. They managed to beat back Kevin Garnett and the Brooklyn Nets. But then they lost against crappy Orlando and retooling Miami. Again, I don't expect much from this team this year. No one should. But if you are prone to flights of fancy, you could imagine the club taking both games, or at least the one against the Magic, who were without Victor Oladipo. Instead, they are on a two-game losing streak, and they remain on the road this week, even though Wednesday's game against the Houston Rockets technically is at home. You see, that game will be played in Mexico City, but it's called a home game for the Woofie Dogs. I still don't understand how it could be a home game when the so-called road team is closer to the city you're playing in. Remember that the Wolves were also supposed to play a "home" game in Mexico City last year against the San Antonio Spurs, but that was postponed and moved to Target Center because the arena went up in smoke. After going south of the border, the T-Wolves visit New Orleans Friday and Dallas Saturday.
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -8). These Goofs managed to win in four sets at Michigan St., but then were swept at Michigan. That means they have lost six of their last eight matches and stand 5-9 (!) in-conference. This leads one poster in a volleyball chat room to speculate that this team now is on the outside looking in to the NCAA Tournament. They're not even on the bubble -- they're out. And Minnesota is hosting a regional this year! (Actually it may not be the worst thing in the world -- it'd be the first time I got see all neutral games at the Sports Pavilion, and I won't have to worry about getting a good seat.)
They have six games left in the regular season. Also remember that the Big Ten (and every conference in volleyball, I think) don't have tournaments. The big matches against other bubble teams in the B1G come later. But this week features two games that are going to be important for their own reasons. Wednesday Northwestern comes to town, and the U. are looking to avenge a 3-0 result on the road that showed fans how bad this team is this year. That's followed up by a road game against Penn St. on Saturday. A win there would absolutely boost their resume. But there's no chance the Gophs will win.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -4). The other pro team is also suffering through a losing streak. However, this one may be worse, both because of its length and because of the reasons behind it. They have lost four in a row overall after getting crushed on the road against Ottawa (3-0), Montreal (4-1) and New Jersey (3-1). Also, they have lost leader Zach Parise to a concussion, and there's no telling when he'll be back. Jared Spurgeon is also hurt, damaging depth at the blue line. This would be the time for the young pups to step up, but they haven't yet, therefore the good times and good will the Mild built up at the start of the season is all gone now. This week: home to Buffalo (could be the surest W of the season, but who knows?), at The Team That Was Stolen From Us, home to Winnipeg.
#-Infinity (tie): Gopher soccer and United FC (Last Week: -7 and Re-Entry!, respectively). Finally, we wrap up this WMNSS by putting the soccer season behind us till next year.
It was a long shot for the University of Minnesota Gopher soccer team to make the NCAA Tournament heading into the B1G Tournament. Their final conference record of 7-5-1 was just to pedestrian in a year where Penn St. remained the class of the league and Wisconsin, Michigan and Rutgers had great seasons. They also weren't able to impress with non-conference defeats away from home against Florida St., Ole Miss and Auburn.
So, their only recourse was to make hay in the tourney last weekend. They had a chance if they reached the final, although one may as well win the final and get the automatic bid if you're playing in it. The club started off the tourney in West Lafayette, Ind., very well, upsetting the then-25th-ranked Wolverines in the Big Ten Quarterfinals in double overtime (and just 80 seconds before they were going to decide who advances by doing penalty kicks), off a header by Taylor Wodnick from a cross by Josee Stiever. But their run, and season, ended in the Semifinals to Wisconsin, again. Last time they played the Badgers routing the U. 4-1, but this time there was only one goal scored in the match, by Wisconsin's McKenna Meuer in the ninth minute. Head Coach Stefanie Golan tried to be optimistic after the game, but I have a feeling she knew it was all over. And on Monday, when the field was announced, it was. They finish 11-9-1 overall, but hey, it appears as if Minnesota was picked to finish 11th before the season began. Maybe this is the start of something good. Or, it maybe just another start.
Possibly more heart-breaking, though, is the local second-tier soccer club, United. They were the class of the North American Soccer League this year, winning both the spring and the fall seasons and getting home-field advantage throughout the four-team, single-game playoffs.
Sadly, these aren't these two-leg matches that soccer loves. This is tournament-style, American-style, and it sucks because the chances that the better team loses is at its highest. And it happened Saturday night, when United lost to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Even more infuriating, the loss happened 1) when the Strikers scored a controversial goal to tie it up and 2) on penalty kicks, which is, without a doubt, the stupidest way to break a tie in world sport. Just fucking play until someone scores, OK? I guess this is all sour grapes; of course I wouldn't be pissing and moaning this much if MUFC won. But they didn't, and what could have been a memorable season turned into ash. That's why I break my general rule about not putting in second-tier clubs in the WMNSS. This loss really could signal the beginning of the end for Minnesota United.
Soccer has really sunken in its roots in the United States this year, I believe. The wind has been whipped up for the past couple years in places like Seattle and Kansas City. But this year I think the World Cup spurred on more people to take in the game. Thus, next year there will be an expansion Major League Soccer team based in, of all places, Orlando, and it appears to be backed up by a genuine grassroots effort that will ensure it becomes a part of the local sports fabric. Meanwhile, and I didn't know this, the Guardian of London ran a story about another NASL team, Indy Eleven. They had a terrible year, yet they had the most home attendance of anyone in the league, surpassing 10,000. This is an expansion team, but its birth came because there was such a huge demand for a team from Indianapolis footy supporters.
I think interest in Minnesota United has swelled as well, but not as much as Indy Eleven. But it's not as much as Indy Eleven, nor do I think is it as genuine. That's because I believe the growing crowds were a result of the team -- that it won, basically. That's great; that's even the "proper" way to gain fans for your team, on-field success. But crushing upsets like this allows American antipathy to butt up against soccer fanaticism. Will this hurt United's casual fan base and season-ticket holders, especially after what was supposed to be a coronation of a postseason turned into what could be the Atlanta Falcons NFC Championship Game for Minnesota professional soccer? I'm serious when I say that this defeat could damage this team, this franchise, and this organization. Why in the hell could Minnesota sports fans support a team that was supposed to win and didn't? I'm really scared for this club, I really am.
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