OK, I have less than 90 minutes before the day turns, I need to file this WMNSS in before midnight, so this will be extremely pithy:
Positive Numbers: Wild (Last Week: -3). OK, maybe they didn't need to panic after all. After shitting the bed in Game 4, going into hostile territory for a pivotal Game 5 and allowing the first goal by the always dangerous Vladimir Tarasenko, they took control midway through the game against St. Louis and won 4-1. They duplicated that score in closing out the Blues Sunday in Game 6 at the X.
Looks like three factors were in play that allowed the Wild to right the ship and give Minnesota its first professional hockey series-clinching win in the state since the North Stars beat, of all teams, the St. Louis Blues in the Norris Division Finals in 1991: Devan Dubnyk bouncing back from that fuck-up to turn away 60+ shots in Games 5 and 6; the contrasting shitty play of the Blues Goaltenders in those two games; and the underachieving aura that the Blues have failed to air since virtually the franchise was born (they still have not won a Stanley Cup).
Things will change in the second round, where they will meet Minnesota pro hockey's longtime rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, for the third consecutive postseason. Well, the shaky goaltending will still be there; Corey Crawford is far from the stellar backstopper that he was last year. But the winners' aura will be there, and the Wild will have to overcome the oppression by the Blackhawks in order to advance to the Western Conference Finals. The series starts tomorrow (Friday), and I for one can't wait and hope to catch the back half at a bar once I get off of work.
#0: Gopher softball (Last Week: -2). This program remains the best-kept secret in local area spectator spots. They ran a perfect 5-0 through the week, first by obliterating Iowa at Cowles Stadium in three games by scores of 8-0, 8-0 and 9-0. All of those games ended by mercy rule after five innings. Sara Groenewegen was named Big Ten Pitcher Of The Week for the fourth time this season for pitching a one-hitter in the Friday game against the Hawkeyes and the two-hitter in the Sunday game.
The club then surprised the hell out of me by going to Madison to play a doubleheader Wisconsin Wednesday. I swear it was not on the schedule the last time I checked. No matter; they won by scores of 7-2 and 12-1, the latter a slaughter-rule-imposed five-inning game. The softball team is now 43-8 overall, 17-3 in the B1G, and a sterling 19-1 away from home. And since they are floating around the Top 10, there is an outside chance that they could be a national seed, which means they not only will get a chance to host a regional but, if they win that, a super regional. That would make this year's team the best in program history.
They finish the regular season with a three-game series vs. Purdue in Dinkytown. I would go to a game, but I was offered work on Saturday, and I don't know if I will go to Sunday's regular season finale. They will then begin the Big Ten Tournament, held this year in Columbus, Thursday.
#-1: Vikings (Re-Entry!). They are here because of the NFL Draft, which began tonight (Thursday night). And despite all the talk about trading Adrian Peterson, the Vikings wound up drafting the man most prognosticators believed they would pick: Michigan St. Cornerback Trae Waynes. I have no idea if this person will pan out. But he graded out as the best CB in this year's draft, the Vikes need a corner (hell, every team in the NFL needs a corner), and his physical play is perfect for Head Coach Mike Zimmer's defensive philosophy. As Draft Night predictions go, the squad could not go wrong.
And for what it's worth, Peterson is still a Viking.
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -4). Honestly, pulling weeks where they're around .500, like the Twins did going 3-4, is going to give the Twinks, oh, 75 wins. And that means they'll avoid 90 losses. That's progress! This following screening week will be entirely held at Target Field. They continue a four-game series they began tonight (Thursday night) against the Chicago White Sox, then host Oakland for four starting on Monday.
#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -1). OK, this is going down to the brass tacks. They dropped two-of-three to Michigan, which puts them at 7-11 in the B1G, a game ahead of Indiana for eighth place and a spot in the conference tournament, which will be held at Target Field three weeks from now, on Memorial Weekend.
They then split a two-game midweek series against Kansas St. The Tuesday game was a 5-0 victory where pitchers Toby Anderson, Lucas Gilbreath and Matt Fiedler one-hit the Wildcats. Unfortunately they followed that up with a 9-0 loss Wednesday afternoon.
They finish their 13-game homestand and their mini-non-conference schedule with three against UC-Irvine. The Sunday game is high noon, and since I have not seen the baseball team yet this year, and since they are facing a team that doesn't come around Siebert Field that often, I think I will go watch them.
#-4: Swarm (Last Week: -5). The Smarm dropped their fourth game in a row by losing at Xcel to Edmonton, 16-12. I was at a much better sporting even close by: I saw the Minnesota RollerGirls trounce Chicago as revenge for the only tie in women's roller derby history a few years ago. And I know I made the right choice, even despite the pathetic tweets from Smarm fans thanking the team for the atmosphere. Whatever. They finish the season at home Saturday against Rochester. Of course it's going up against the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, so everybody not going to the game should rightly ignore it.
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