It is early, and there may be something brewing with the local professional hockey team that is farther along its season that we should watch (I have them listed two spots below), but a 4-0 weekend is too hard to ignore when it comes to putting the Minnesota softball team on top. I thought Stanford is a good team, or at least it seems they should be a good team. But they swept all three games from them, including a mercy-ruled frogstomp Saturday. Oh, and you can sprinkle in a 9-6 victory over Santa Clara in there as well. Congratulations go out to 2B Danielle Parlich, named B1G Freshman Of The Week for having a .500 Batting Average with two RBI and three Stolen Bases (out of three attempts) over the weekend. So the banner touting the home season-opening series against Michigan shows a smaller number in front of Minnesota, 16. (Meanwhile the Wolverines dropped to fourth in the polls after losing to Florida and Arizona St., the latter of which the Golden Gophers beat February 21.)
This weekend they play the fifth and final tournament to open the season, the Fresno State Classic in beautiful Fresno, Calif. They face the host Bulldogs Saturday night, with games against South Dakota St., Pacific, Montana and Cal Poly sandwiched inbetween. They then squeeze in a one-off game Wednesday evening vs. Cal in Berkeley, Calif.
#0: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -1). Have to give the second spot to the Gopher Nine, even if they played only two games at Creighton. Both wins essentially bridge the ways a team can win. The first game was a 12-inning affair that the Gophers won 8-6. More impressive was the Sunday game, where they no-hit the Bluejays 9-0. It was a three-pitcher effort, where Dalton Sawyer went seven innings (walking four and hitting two) and Tyler Hanson and Lance Thonvold threw an inning each to preserve the program's first no-hitter since March 8, 2013, at the Metrodome against Western Illinois. (I remember that I wanted to go to that game but didn't. Damn shame.) More historic: It is the first ever no-hitter in the history of TD Ameritrade Park, which is not only the home field for Creighton but also the permanent host of the College World Series.
(By the way, Minnesota and Creighton were supposed to play one more game Sunday afternoon, but due to bad conditions they cancelled it. What's it like to be part of a college baseball program where it's more cost-effective to just say, "Eh, it's not worth it to play a game. Just go?" Oh well -- that's one game the squad can't lose.)
They are now in Richmond, Va. for the final non-conference week of the season. The first three games comprise the PK5 Classic. They play, in order, James Madison, Monmouth and host Virginia Commonwealth. They then stick around in the city to play a rare two-game weekday afternoon series against the Richmond Spiders.
#-1: Wild (Last Week: 0). OK, I know that this team has had the best record in the NHL since mid-January. I put them down here for three reasons: 1) both the U. softball and baseball teams went undefeated for the week; 2) they lost at home to Colorado, even though there are caveats galore with that particular game (this was the first game between these two teams after the dirty play to end the win the Wild had in Denver; the Avalanche desperately are trying to get back into the playoff race, Patrick Roy is an asshole); and they remain exactly where they were a week ago: Wild Card 1, which translates to seventh place. They are a lot farther away from the cut line, but the fact that a two-month hot streak still hasn't rocketed them up the standings shows how deep of a hole they dug themselves over the holidays. Nevertheless, yes, they are a good team, as wins at Washington and Carolina, followed by a home crushing of New Jersey after the loss to The Bastard Quebec Nordiques, attest. Hey, I looked at the two U. teams above and thought I could shift the top of the survey up to Positive Numbers this week, rendering the Wild where the club would be in a typical week if they were on top: -1!
How good will they look after a week playing Anaheim at home and St. Louis and Nashville on the road? All three teams are ahead of the Mild in the standings.
#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -2). From here on out, I really could throw a dart at the remaining teams and I wouldn't bitch about the order. For the male Gopher ballers, their season of ignominy ended with two straight home losses, first to conference winner Wisconsin, then to Penn St., one of the worst teams (next to Minnesota) in the Big Ten. And what a crushing defeat that was: D.J. Newbill having the ball at a tie game with time winding down. In such a situation as this you know the guy isn't passing the ball. D up! Instead, Newbill drills a straightaway three from downtown and they wind up 6-12 in-conference for the season.
That neck-breaker of a defeat meant that the squad gave away the single bye they had. They finished eleventh in the conference and thus have to play all five days in the conference tournament. Therefore, they would have to do the impossible and win five games on consecutive days in order to clinch title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament we all thought they would be seasoned enough to get before the year began.
I am trying to finish this before they lose to Ohio St., the game of which is playing right now. Although I wonder if I should wait; that way I won't have to talk about this team next week.
#-3: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -3). OK, I am really worried about this team. They got upset in the semifinals of the WCHA Tournament, one where they were overwhelming favorites, to Bemidji St. (The Beavers may have the Goofs' number; they beat Minnesota at Ridder earlier in the year, and by the same score of 1-0.) Is this the first time they've lost in the conference tourney as favorites? I guess so.
That was embarrassing, let alone unexpected, and I was really afraid that when they announced the field Sunday evening, Minnesota would have been dropped down to third overall seed. (Would have been deserved, too.) Imagine my surprise, then, when they were still named the #1 overall seed for the eight-team tournament.
But I'll be honest with you: There is, like a 10-5% chance that they will lose their quarterfinal match, against the Rochester Institute of Technology, I really do. That this Saturday afternoon match is being played at Ridder, the site of the rest of the NCAA tournament next week, would make this defeat as ironic and fitting (let alone crushing). Let's just cross our fingers that shit doesn't happen, shall we?
#-4: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -4). I don't know how the PairWise works, even though there it is a formula that is comprehensive enough to be thorough yet simple enough to be duplicated. If that's the case, last weekend's split at Ohio St. was more damaging than I thought. They apparently are now the Last Team In in the latest Bracketology on USCHO. I know the Buckeyes aren't that good, but I didn't think one loss to them was that damaging. But apparently it is.
Therefore, this weekend's series against Penn St. at Mariucci, the last of the regular season becomes very important -- until the following week's conference tournament in Detroit.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -8). Lost on the road against the Clippers and Phoenix, but won at home to start the screening week against Portland. It's the second time they've beaten the Trail Blazers, I think; guess the Woofie Dogs have the Blazers' number.
That's all I've got to say about them. This week: at Oklahoma City and San Antonio, home to Brooklyn, then at Toronto.
#-6: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -7). Now I'm worried about this team. They did precisely what they shouldn't have done: They got crushed against Ohio St. in the third round of the B1G Tourney, despite yet another triple-double by Amanda Zahui B. And playing by seed means they will stay right where they're projected to be, according to ESPN.com's Charlie Creme and College Sports Madness: An 8-seed. Moreover, both bracketologists believe they face a second-round matchup against the Borg of women's college basketball, UConn. Hell, at this point we have to worry whether they're going to win their first tournament game.
Oh well. They weren't going anywhere with Rachel Banham gone, and they weren't going to win a title even with her. But it's just so disheartening that a team that was on track to get a top-four seed and thus the right to play the first two rounds at home now face certain oblivion after the first weekend of the postseason. At least they made it, right?
#7: Gopher wrestling (Re-Entry!). Oh, and speaking of falls from grace ... the Gopher grapplers, once the toast of the conference and the #1 team in the nation, just finished third in the conference championships behind Iowa and Ohio St. Only Chris Dardanes was able to bring true pride to the program, winning the title at 133 pounds. And now they go to the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis a couple weeks
I was going to pair this program with the U. lady ballers, but at least I have come to terms with the true reality that that team wasn't going to win. This team was, and now they won't.
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