#-2: Vikings (Last Week: -1). I have to laugh. I'm not happy that they didn't win. But I'm ... uh, kind of happy that they didn't lose. That's the thing with ties in pro football: They happen so rarely that you're not prepared to "feel" when it happens, even though it's happened between the Vikes and the Packers for the second time in six meetings in Green Bay. Well, considering the beating my alma mater took on Saturday, I'm just glad to see the pro team I root for not losing.
First, let's talk about the bad. Yep, Daniel Carlson will be out of a job this week. Poor bastard, but when you miss all three Field Goal attempts in the game, the last two in Overtime, the last when it would have given the Vikings the win with no time left in OT and was planted precisely where you wanted it ... sorry. And it's funny how Carlson's fuck-ups pushed Laquon Treadwell's muffed pass that flipped right into the hands of the Packers' HaHa Clinton-Dix down the list of things Vikings fans are pissed off at. Sad that that is the lasting impression when Treadwell caught his first Touchdown pass of his career earlier in the game. But, like with Carlson, it's a business. Teams don't cut loose Wide Receivers in the middle of the season like they do Kickers, but it's not hard to image Treadwell and Carlson sharing an Uber to the airport after cleaning out their lockers in Eagan, if you know what I mean.
But let's talk about the good. What also erases Treadwell's boner from the game is ... well, partically Mike McCarthy's calls to throw into the end zone, thereby giving Minnesota enough time to mount a comeback with an eight-point deficit. But also ... shit, man, Kirk Cousins. Once again he throws a Touchdown bead through a keyhole, this time to get the Vikes within two. I mean, look at this. How the fuck does Adam Thielen catch this? And how in the fuck does Cousins know to throw it there?
Cousins then threw to a one-on-one Stefon Diggs to tie the game, where all hell broke loose. (Shit, Mason Crosby, who had kicked five FGs in the game, missed one at the end of regulation that would've prevented The Craziest OT in Vikings-Packers History.) By all rights, this should have meant that the Purple win this game. Nevertheless, this squad was down 20-7 to a hobbled yet indestructible Aaron Rogers, and he (I'm going to say it) led this team, with the help of Diggslen, into OT. This team has weapons and the ability come back when needed (like with that TD and 2-Point Conversion, which happened with 74 seconds left in the Fourth Quarter), and in a hurry when necessary (such as that 75-yard bomb to Diggs in the middle of the Fourth, the second play in that drive). This team is proving it has comeback ability, and that assurance hasn't been dampened because the game ended in a tie.What a game. #Skol pic.twitter.com/yQ9D0yZ8SW— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 16, 2018
Now, let's hope that the Vikings don't throw a clunker at home against Buffalo, a team in such disarray that one of their Cornerbacks quit and retired during halftime of their game, Sunday.
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -5). OK, so this is weird. Saturday was really hot. I was not aware, or I forgot, that Maturi Pavilion has no air conditioning. So in the lead-up to Saturday night's match vs. Kansas St., apparently there was so much condensation on the volleyball court that, try as they might, facilities officials could not dry out the place to the point where they felt the players wouldn't slip and slide and potentially tear their ACLs. So they canceled the game. I don't remember the last time this has happened. I don't remember if this has ever happened before.
But hey, that meant that the Golden Gophers went undefeated last screening week. (They swept Wisconsin-Green Bay on Thursday.) How good is this team? Who knows. But they begin conference play by diving into the deep end of the pool: Wednesday against Penn St., back at the (presumably dried-out, but maybe not since the forecast calls for heavy rain Wednesday night) Pav. They also host Maryland Saturday night.
#-4: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -3). Went to Friday's Big Ten opener vs. Illinois Friday. (Parking is parking, and it's how it's going to be.) And against a team I don't think is any good, they lost, decisively, 2-0. I can't remember the last time a Goofer soccer side looked so outplayed in front of my eyes. Sure, the score was only 2-0, but in soccer terms, it's bad. In fact, I don't think I can recall the last time I saw the U. lose at Robbie Stadium. But the Fighting Illini was faster, stronger and, if I may say, taller: Both Illinois Goals were headers, one off a Corner Kick, one off a cross. Huh.
Any margin of error this squad had, in my mind, is completely gone, so even though I entertained the thought of missing the Vikings game against Green Bay for Sunday afternoon's match against 12th-ranked Northwestern, I figured it's a waste of time to go out into the heat for two hours to see Minnesota lose again. So I (until the evening) stayed hermetically sealed in my home. So what do the Gophers do? Upset the nationally-ranked Wildcats, 2-0. What?
I don't know how this up-and-down week does for the U.'s chances of making the postseason. Let's just say they remain as tenuous as ever. This week this club visits the Michigan schools.
#-5: Twins (Last Week: -4). A 3-4 week, although they did take the series from the Yankees, woo-hoo! (They then blew it by losing three-of-four in Kansas City, but whatever.) The latest revelation from the Twinks has been their use of doing the "Opener" strategy, which they implemented a fortnight ago. In case you don't know, instead of using the Starting Pitcher to start the game, Manager Paul Molitor has instead opted to start the game with a reliever. After going through the lineup once, then Molly will bring in his SP, which he is dubbing his "Primary Pitcher."
I still don't understand the benefits of the strategy. If your SP is going through the lineup twice and your reliever once, what difference does it make when they face them? Moreover, I have no idea how the Twins are doing with this approach, but with them losing more games than they won this past screening week, I don't think it's working all that well.
The other thing I have time to talk about is this sudden eruption over the future of Joe Mauer. We bitch about players way past their prime still playing on a humongous contract, but here, we have a case of a player, Mauer, who finally served out his entire contract. The question becomes: What will he do now? Will he come back to the Twins, albeit on a reduced contract? Will he go to another team, presumably to a championship contender? Or will he retire? Frankly, I think he's capable of doing anything. But if I haven't said this before, I want to say it now: He hasn't made good on much of the money the Twins gave him, but I still think the organization got a lot of return on investment, if only because a hometown kid (he's from St. Paul) was able to play (at least for now) for one and only one team. From a fan relations standpoint, and for the history of the organization, it was extremely important for Mauer to stay a Twin during and past his prime. And if he gets into Cooperstown (and people are all over the place on his Hall Of Fame chances), no one should ever complain about the eight-year/$184 million contract that officially lashed him to the Minnesota Twins for all time.
These guys finish the final road trip of the 2018 season with three versus Detroit starting tonight (Monday night) and, after a travel day, three in Oakland for the weekend.
#-6: United FC (Re-Entry!). Honest and serious question: Does this team know what it's doing? I mean, I have seen teams that are going through the motions and look lost; see the team above the Loons in this here survey. But at least (and I hate "at least"-ing people as a means to argue, but I can't think of any other way) the Twinks had an apparent plan that just didn't work. I don't see a plan with MNUFC. There was a plan earlier in the year: With bedrocks Christian Ramirez and Miguel Ibarra in place, pay to get some Designated Players on the team and build.
That isn't happening. Yes, I am still angry over trading away Ramirez, a fantastic Striker who did wonders with the ball during hold-up play that didn't necessarily translate to the scoreboard. In his place came the second Designated Player in club history, Angelo Rodriguez ... who wasn't even part of the squad for Saturday's 1-all tie at Salt Lake City, marred by an overturned Loons Goal late in the match. (Thanks, by the way, for the Goal there, Batman -- I know you miss Superman. We all do.) At least Rodriguez finally scored in Wednesday's contest vs. D. C. United. Too bad the side coughed up the lead and then all three points with back-to-back DCU tallies four minutes apart. (I was trying to listen to the game while doing my chores, and yet I somehow managed to miss all three Goals while doing other things. Not the worst outcome in the world, it turns out.)
And yet these guys don't expend a DP for a Defender. That's what I mean by not having a discernible plan. If they are going to remain slow and steady, I can see that. I may not agree with it, but I understand that. If they are going to trade and sell-and-buy, though, I think I should expect some significant improvement. Here, the franchise has done a little bit of both and have come up with nothing but a point on Saturday and more questions about competence.
They finally come home to face Portland Saturday night, but frankly, I don't know how good or nasty of a reception United FC is going to get. If supporters are frustrated with the team's worthless roadtrip and/or remain angry over the trade of Ramirez, well, TCF Bank Stadium might be one hell of a scene this weekend.
#-7: Timberwolves (Re-Entry!). This story is sort-of flying under the radar. But today, there will be a meeting that might decide the future of the Minnesota Timberwolves. No pressure.
That meeting, taking place in Minneapolis, involves Jimmy Butler, Butler's agent, and Head Coach/President Of Basketball Operations Tom Thibodeau. The topic of the meeting will be the future of the ballclub, and after their first playoff appearance in over a decade, the future is not looking bright at all. At issue, apparently, is Butler's friction with the other players on the Woofie Dogs. Most notable among them is Karl-Anthony Towns, and that surprises the shit out of me, because if anything I would think Butler would be angry and Andrew Wiggins for ... being Andrew Wiggins. But Towns, the guy I think is trying really hard, is the bone of contention for Alpha Dog Butler, and this meeting is being used to either hash out differences between Butler and the man who drafted him and made him into a star in Chicago ... or to convince Thibs that he needs to trade Butler right now.
Either way, this is very, very bad for the Woofs.
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