Positive Numbers: Lynx (Last Week: -4).
So they did come back! And they won!! I never doubted them for a second.
OK, I totally doubted them. I didn't think they would win Game 5 at home last (Wednesday) night. I didn't think they would overcome losing Game 1 of the WNBA Finals against the Indiana Fever. Fuck, I didn't even think they would get out of the first round. But I'm glad I'm wrong.
I only wish I had gone to Game 5. I thought about it, but the combination of my depression over heading off to a new job the next day (one that I'm not all that enthused to begin), the prospect of spending good money only to see them lose, and the total lack of seats to purchase on Stubhub convinced me to stay home and catch up on washing dishes paying my parents' bills. Turns out it was very much a sellout; they even took down the huge black curtains they usually drape over the ends of the upper level so Target Center doesn't feel so empty during Lynx games. They probably sold every ticket there ... or at least I hope so, otherwise I would feel profoundly guilty of not going, even if I had to push my chores to another day. But although I checked Stubhub, I never tried the Lynx site. In retrospect, of course I should have tried there. And even though a lot of people were there, I think there were about 400 tickets left to be sold. And now I'm fucking kicking myself for not going, goddammit!
They salted away Game 5 by choking the life out of the Fever in the middle quarters, outscoring them 33-12. The four points Indiana scored in the second quarter was the lowest by any team in WNBA Finals history. Meanwhile, the Lynx managed to win this game by a different constellation of player contributions. The Finals MVP was, in fact, Sylvia Fowles, the mid-season signing who scored 20 points, hauled in 11 rebounds and was a +16. However, Maya Moore, who I believe should have been MVP, only scored five points. Seimone Augustus, in the twilight of her career and battling injury throughout the season, harkened back to her MVP days by scoring 16. Lindsay Whalen, marching alongside Augustus into the distance, scored only one bucket and in fact tallied fewer minutes on the floor than reserve Point Guards Renee Montgomery and Anna Cruz.
Don't want to poo-poo the feat, but I have to say there were two pivotal and very fortuitous events that paved the way for this championship. One was Maya Moore's three at the gun to give the Lynx Game 3 at Indiana on Friday. If they go to Overtime, I'm sure they lose, both the game and the title. The other circumstance you shouldn't overlook came from the benevolent Fever itself. They upset the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the New York Liberty, in the Eastern Conference Finals. New York had a better record than Minnesota and thus would have had home-court advantage if those two teams met. And as it turned out, the fifth and deciding game gave the Lynx a enormous support when they shut down Indiana's offense. I doubt the Lynx could have won if Game 5 were in Madison Square Garden. So the team has to give thanks to the Fever for giving them home-court.
To continue being Sadness in Inside Out, the future for this franchise is unsettled. They played an eight-man rotation, three of them who weren't on the team at the beginning and two (Augustus and Whalen) maybe needing to move on for the sake of the club. Despite other experts saying to the contrary, I don't think this is a deep team, and any subtractions can mean a huge fall down the standings. And yet it may be necessary to hasten the Renaissance of this team.
But, yes, that should be contemplated over another time. Congratulations, Minnesota Lynx, on your third championship in five years, and the first one clinched at home! With your title, you are exempt from The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey ... for now.
I only wish I had gone to Game 5. I thought about it, but the combination of my depression over heading off to a new job the next day (one that I'm not all that enthused to begin), the prospect of spending good money only to see them lose, and the total lack of seats to purchase on Stubhub convinced me to stay home and catch up on washing dishes paying my parents' bills. Turns out it was very much a sellout; they even took down the huge black curtains they usually drape over the ends of the upper level so Target Center doesn't feel so empty during Lynx games. They probably sold every ticket there ... or at least I hope so, otherwise I would feel profoundly guilty of not going, even if I had to push my chores to another day. But although I checked Stubhub, I never tried the Lynx site. In retrospect, of course I should have tried there. And even though a lot of people were there, I think there were about 400 tickets left to be sold. And now I'm fucking kicking myself for not going, goddammit!
They salted away Game 5 by choking the life out of the Fever in the middle quarters, outscoring them 33-12. The four points Indiana scored in the second quarter was the lowest by any team in WNBA Finals history. Meanwhile, the Lynx managed to win this game by a different constellation of player contributions. The Finals MVP was, in fact, Sylvia Fowles, the mid-season signing who scored 20 points, hauled in 11 rebounds and was a +16. However, Maya Moore, who I believe should have been MVP, only scored five points. Seimone Augustus, in the twilight of her career and battling injury throughout the season, harkened back to her MVP days by scoring 16. Lindsay Whalen, marching alongside Augustus into the distance, scored only one bucket and in fact tallied fewer minutes on the floor than reserve Point Guards Renee Montgomery and Anna Cruz.
Don't want to poo-poo the feat, but I have to say there were two pivotal and very fortuitous events that paved the way for this championship. One was Maya Moore's three at the gun to give the Lynx Game 3 at Indiana on Friday. If they go to Overtime, I'm sure they lose, both the game and the title. The other circumstance you shouldn't overlook came from the benevolent Fever itself. They upset the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the New York Liberty, in the Eastern Conference Finals. New York had a better record than Minnesota and thus would have had home-court advantage if those two teams met. And as it turned out, the fifth and deciding game gave the Lynx a enormous support when they shut down Indiana's offense. I doubt the Lynx could have won if Game 5 were in Madison Square Garden. So the team has to give thanks to the Fever for giving them home-court.
To continue being Sadness in Inside Out, the future for this franchise is unsettled. They played an eight-man rotation, three of them who weren't on the team at the beginning and two (Augustus and Whalen) maybe needing to move on for the sake of the club. Despite other experts saying to the contrary, I don't think this is a deep team, and any subtractions can mean a huge fall down the standings. And yet it may be necessary to hasten the Renaissance of this team.
But, yes, that should be contemplated over another time. Congratulations, Minnesota Lynx, on your third championship in five years, and the first one clinched at home! With your title, you are exempt from The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey ... for now.
#0: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -1). Now this is the volleyball program Gopher fans are used to. They completed a 3-0 road trip this screening week in a fashion befitting dominant clubs -- sweeps of East Coast bottom-dwellers Maryland and Rutgers, followed by a gritty five-set win at 15th-ranked Wisconsin. In the victory over the Badgers, they got blitzed in Set 1 25-11 but responded with an equally dominating 25-16
Set 4 win. They both traded 26-24 results, but the Golden Gophers put together four points in a row to repel Wisky in the final set, 15-11.
That should make the return date of this home-and-home Saturday night (at the special time of 8) so intriguing. Win that and they should be in the AVCA Top 10, easy.
#-1: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -3). It's really an embarrassment of riches this survey. The side began their three-game roadie with a loss at Wisconsin, but they clean-sheeted their last two matches. A 2-0 decision over Iowa was expected, but they also crushed then-ranked Nebraska in Lincoln, 3-0.
I don't know about you, but Simone Kolander may be the local scene's best-kept secret. She scored two of the three goals in beating the 'Huskers and notched the game-winner against the Hawkeyes, giving her a conference-leading ten goals on the year. She may not be USWNT material, but seriously, she could make it as a pro. She's that good, y'all, probably the best striker this squad has had since Taylor Uhl transferred to Stanford.
They now rank in the teens in the three women's soccer polls and is 19th in the RPI. They are knocking on the door to host the first weekend of the tournament. And they can add to their 11-2-2 record as they host two pretty good schools though neither of them ranked as highly as Minnesota: Michigan St. tonight/Thursday night/as we speak, then Michigan Sunday.
#-2: Wild (Re-Entry!). Local pro sports have been gearing up for some time for the start of the Wild season, even if last season ended with an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks. So far so good, as they begin the year with two straight-up wins against The Bastard Quebec Nordiques and St. Louis. The season-opening victory was a wild affair; the Avalanche was up 4-1 before Minnesota scored four straight goals in about five minutes in the third period to pull out the win. That they did it in Denver made it all the more remarkable.
This is a franchise that needs to get off to a good start because there are many experts that think the Wild are in for a major correction. Devyn Dubnyk was, by all rights, the main reason the club went from faltering to at times dominating, and logic dictates that his is going to regress to the journeyman Goalie he has always been. Also, advanced statistics, including scoring 5-on-5, go against the Wild. That all sets up what some feel is a nasty fall for the team, one so dramatic that some writers predict that Head Coach Mike Yeo would be fired as a consequence.
It is only two games, but that hasn't happened, at least not yet. One possible difference to indicate that this year's team may buck the trend is the so-far promising production on the power play. After being so anemic last year, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter spoke to Yeo and said they want to do something different. The two flagship players brought in former player and head coach Adam Oates (I remember watching him play) to develop a different PP system. So far it has worked. Now, to work on the penalty kill. ...
They've been off since Saturday. Rest or rust as they play tonight (Thursday night) against The Bastard Winnipeg Jets? This begins a relatively busy period, for they are in Southern California to play Los Angeles Friday and Anaheim Sunday.
#-3: Gopher football (Last Week: -5). Even the U.'s football team is getting in on the act! They started out very slowly, again, in Saturday's contest at Purdue, trailing 6-0 after one quarter. But then they, like the Lynx, dominated the middle two quarters, blanking the Boilermakers 38-0. Twenty-eight of those points were in the third quarter, including this 71-yard highlight run by reigning B1G Freshman Of The Week, Running Back Shannon Brooks:
Mitch Leidner still can't throw; he threw only twelve times and completed eight passes for 59 yards and an Interception. But two of those completions were Touchdown passes to Brandon Lingen. Besides, if you can win 41-13 by running for 326 yards (176 of them by Brooks), who cares?
This club may not get to a New Year's Day bowl this year, but there may be some life in them after all. And they host a very vulnerable Nebraska squad this Saturday afternoon, a week after they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory hosting Wisconsin.
#-4: Gopher men's hockey (Re-Entry!). Wow, up to this point in the survey the teams have a combined record of 9-1 for the screening week. But then we come to the beginning of that other hockey program in Dinkytown, the men, who were given hosting duties for the 2015 Hall of Fame Game ... and the then-ninth-ranked Goofers were shamed, at home, by Vermont, 3-0. Fucking ugly.
And it might not get better for this team, whose fate as a contender seems very difficult to imagine right now. Their leaders are all juniors, led probably by Hudson Fasching, and hopes are so far not high enough to believe they have the reinforcements to stay the class of the B1G. Two years after reaching (and then losing, in similarly humiliating fashion) the NCAA championship game, there's a chance that this program might not even make it to the NCAA Tournament this year. It might be that bad.
They have a home-and-home with Minnesota-Duluth this weekend, here first, there second.
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