#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1). In an overall down week for local sports, the Lynx are, once again, on top, but this week they suffered what potentially could be a season-ruining injury. Maybe. In their 69-54 home victory over Atlanta Thursday (they also beat Seattle Sunday at Xcel, 93-82), Point Guard Lindsay Whalen broke her hand. She has had surgery on it, but there is no definite timetable on when she can come back. The typical recovery period is three-to-four weeks, which would mean that she would be back around Labor Day, just as the WNBA regular season is coming to a close.
That actually could be a blessing in disguise. The squad has already sewn up a playoff spot, and at 20-2 they are three games clear of the Los Angeles Sparks for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Head Coach Cheryl Reeve said that she does not want her team to throttle down and coast for the rest of the year. But let's face it -- only a complete collapse would knock the Lynx off the best record in the league. The season that actually matters comes next month. Resting Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson and Seimone Augustus should be paramount. That would give the bench serious minutes and hone them into game shape just in case they are needed in a pinch in the playoffs.
And not to browbeat on Whalen, but the Lynx sent four players to the WNBA All-Star Game. Guess which starter didn't go? I'm not saying she's expandable; I've seen many games in person where the offense stagnates without her vision and creativity. But Renee Montgomery is a capable back-up, and her youth compared to Whalen gives her an athleticism that is a necessary change-of-pace in a postseason contest. Whalen's absence probably impacts the rotation the least of any of the starting five. And besides, they have a month's worth of games for Whalen to fully heal from her broken hand, and she will have a few regular season games at the end of the season for her to get back into fighting trim and for the starters to rediscover their chemistry. They're playing with house money, but only if they don't play as if they're fighting for a playoff spot, because that's the worst thing this club can do right now.
A relatively busy week for the Lynx: At Indiana Sunday, at Atlanta Tuesday, then hosting The Only Other Team That Matters, the Sparks, at home Friday.
#-2: Twins (Last Week: -3). The slide continues. The Twinks' 2-4 screening week puts them four games below .500, and with Cleveland and Kansas City playing well if not lights-out, it's over for these guys for 2017. It was fun while it lasted.
The fans have quit on this season the same way as the front office has. Before the July 31 trade deadline, Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine went into sell mode. The short, strange trip of Jaime Garcia did come to fruition as he was flipped to the Yankees in exchange for two prospects. (Garcia left the Twins and went back to Atlanta -- he was traded to the Twins from the Braves -- to pick up his things to take to his new team. There, he was informed that instead of going to the Twin Cities, he was to fly to New York instead. Think about that; he played for Minnesota once, on the road -- he never played in the city he was initially traded to.) And then they traded Closer Brandon Kintzler to The Bastard Montreal Expos. So now they don't have a stopgap grinder on the mound and they're going with one of the many anonymous arms in the bullpen to end games -- assuming they're leading in the ninth, of course. Falvey and Levine has responded to this dearth of development by firing four scouts last (Saturday) night.
The season isn't without its bright spot. A big bright spot. Bartolo Colon became the oldest Twin in a quarter-century to go the distance in Friday's 8-4 win at Target over The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0. Just last week he was contemplating instant retirement. He might still retire, but let's be honest; with Jose Berrios not being able to go to the late innings, Adelberto Mejia still finding himself and Kyle Gibson seemingly on his last chance to stick with the organization, the 44-year-old nicknamed "Big Sexy" may be, behind Ervin Santana (who was masterful in going the distance in Wednesday's 5-2 win in San Diego), the best starting pitcher on the team. The Twins might want to make a play for him in the offseason.
In the meantime the Twinks are going to try and salvage a split with the Rangers this (Sunday) afternoon. They then play a split four-game series with The Bastard Seattle Pilots -- two here, then two there. The Nine will then stay on the road for a three-game series vs. a team that had high aspirations this season but conducted a fire sale earlier in the week, the Detroit Tigers, starting on Friday.
#-3: United FC (Last Week: -2). If the Loons were going to contend for a postseason berth in their expansion year, they had to capitalize on their five-game, five-week homestand that comprised the month of July and bled into August. Instead, they won once, drew once and lost three times, and they were shut out in four of those five games.
So in other words, it's over. No playoffs. They're fighting to avoid being the worst Major League Soccer this season, and luckily, they are only third-worst. Nevertheless, like the 3-0 drubbing by visitors the New York Red Bulls on the 22nd, Saturday night's 4-0 ass-kicking at the hands of the Seattle Sounders (whose fans travel and, therefore, I now hate them as much as My Asshole Brother) was dreadful. The match actually sold out; more than 22,000 people (ignore the empty upper bowl, guys) saw an expansion team get their teeth kicked in by a side by the defending MLS champs who have finally found their footing after a slow start. A bit after those guys made it 3-0, the crowd started to escape from Das Bank, and I retreated to looking at my Facebook and Twitter.
(I will say that through this long homestand I think the crowds have steadily increased. It may be the repeated times casual fans and curious locals had to snag at least one game, or maybe it was the Twins' slow slide to irrelevance, or maybe it was the dog days of summer that convinced people to check out something new. But interest, at least in a one-night-stand kind of way, has been working. Now, I also think that a good effort, or even a win, would make them fans, but, well, baby steps.)
I need to constantly remind myself that this is an expansion team, this is an expansion team. But routs like this are hard to watch. Injuries to Christian Ramirez and Brent Kallman may have meant better form, but it was clear that the Sounders were going to win as soon as they scored -- very early in the first half, like all of United's opponents seemingly have done. It's getting to be a tired act.
They have a home-and-home with Seattle, but MNUFC's return date isn't until the 20th.
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