Positive Numbers: Gopher men's gymnastics (BRAND NEW!!!). I should try and include other Golden Gophers sports teams on the WMNSS, and pleading ignorance is getting to be a weaker and weaker excuse to leave them out. I do have a reason to throw them in here for the first time ever, and no, them finishing as runners-up last year does not count -- not because I'm a year too late, but they were a place for the worse. But yeah, this is the first time I realized that they finished second in the NCAAs overall in 2018, so congratulations to last year's team.
But the real reason I'm putting them on here, and on top of the survey is because of Shane Wiskus. (He's One Of Us; he's from Spring Park.) Wiskus became the U.'s first individual champion in any discipline for men's gymnastics when he won in Parallel Bars. So, congrats, Shane!
By the way, the club ended their run in the Semifinals. Stanford won the overall title.
#0: Gopher softball (Last Week: -1). We should start to look forward to this team's potential in the NCAA Tournament after swept a three-Game series at Nebraska over the weekend. The Gophs were led by Amber Fiser, who went the distance in the sandwich Games (that's the first and last, on Friday and Sunday) and was thus named Big Ten Pitcher Of The Week. (They outscored the Cornhuskers, 20-6.) They have won their last six and have lost only once in conference play. And they are the best-ranked team in the polls from the B1G -- either 18th or 12th, depending on which poll you look at. That puts Minnesota in the running for a Regional ... although I think we can remember the last time we thought this team was in line for a Regional.
They need to continue winning and hope both Northwestern and Michigan slip. They don't face the Wolverines this year; they host the Wildcats in the final series in B1G play. But first they finish up the road portion of their schedule with a Doubleheader delayed by a week tomorrow/Wednesday at Wisconsin. They then begin to wind the home part of their sked this weekend versus Iowa.
#-1: Twins (Last Week: -3). Don't look now, don't believe it if you must, but the Twinks are leading the American League Central Division. They went 5-1 this screening week -- avoided a four-Game series sweep at home against Toronto by pipping the Blue Jays Wednesday, 4-1, then swept a three-Game series in Baltimore (the first two of which was a DH because Friday's Game was postponed due to rain), then won last (Monday) night at Houston, 9-5. Feel bad that these guys are only the third-best on this WMNSS.
I may be getting ahead of my skis here, but I agree with many other people that things are looking up for this organization. The lineup remains the best thing they've got going, and right now they are being led by Eddie Rosario and Jorge Polanco. The rotation is solid, if unspectacular. And the bullpen has been doing much better than I thought. Advanced statistics, in particular, show that the arms on this ballclub are the hardest-throwing in franchise history. We are finally rid of the "pitch to contact" philosophy.
After finishing up a three-Game road series at the Astros, they will come home and host ... Baltimore for three over the weekend, then Houston starting on Monday.
#-2: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -2). Yeah, it's gonna be conference tournament-or-bust for this team. They final (best?) chance to boost their RPI probably fell by the wayside as they dropped two-of-three against Oklahoma, a school they hadn't played in almost half a century. Started off well, an 8-1 shellacking Friday at Siebert. But in the marquee match, Saturday afternoon at Target Field, the Sooners nipped the U., 2-1.
I managed to make it to Siebert Sunday for a Game moved up two hours to 11 a.m. to accommodate Oklahoma's changing flight home. And I have to be honest with you: Even though the Sooners came back to beat the Goofers, 5-2, I think I saw the most effecting performance by a U. Starting Pitcher since, no joke, Glenn Perkins way back in the very old Siebert Field. That's not a high bar. Plus he petered out by the time he got pulled in the Sixth Inning, got hung for the loss, and got tattooed by a three-Run Home Run to give up the lead for good in the Fifth Inning by Brady Harlan. (Long story short: The Right Fielder was put into the game to replace Blake Brewster, after he may have spiked Gophers First Baseman Cole McDevitt while trying to run out a grounder in the top of the Third.) At any rate, Joshua Culliver of Omaha, Neb., struck out seven batters while walking no one. And he had a vicious Curveball working and fooling Sooner after Sooner. Again, it would have been much more impressive if Culliver could have gone six more Outs. Or won. But he averaged more than a Strikeout per Inning, and he walked no Oklahoma player. I haven't seen that in a long time, if not ever. John Anderson, mold this clay.
At Indiana for the weekend. The squad stands at 17-20 overall, by the way.
#-3: United FC (Last Week: -4). I said what I wanted to say in the wake of my initial trauma over witnessing my team blow two leads in Toronto and lose Friday, 4-3, here. But after distancing myself over that and thinking for a bit, I have more to say about the match:
But the real reason I'm putting them on here, and on top of the survey is because of Shane Wiskus. (He's One Of Us; he's from Spring Park.) Wiskus became the U.'s first individual champion in any discipline for men's gymnastics when he won in Parallel Bars. So, congrats, Shane!
By the way, the club ended their run in the Semifinals. Stanford won the overall title.
#0: Gopher softball (Last Week: -1). We should start to look forward to this team's potential in the NCAA Tournament after swept a three-Game series at Nebraska over the weekend. The Gophs were led by Amber Fiser, who went the distance in the sandwich Games (that's the first and last, on Friday and Sunday) and was thus named Big Ten Pitcher Of The Week. (They outscored the Cornhuskers, 20-6.) They have won their last six and have lost only once in conference play. And they are the best-ranked team in the polls from the B1G -- either 18th or 12th, depending on which poll you look at. That puts Minnesota in the running for a Regional ... although I think we can remember the last time we thought this team was in line for a Regional.
They need to continue winning and hope both Northwestern and Michigan slip. They don't face the Wolverines this year; they host the Wildcats in the final series in B1G play. But first they finish up the road portion of their schedule with a Doubleheader delayed by a week tomorrow/Wednesday at Wisconsin. They then begin to wind the home part of their sked this weekend versus Iowa.
#-1: Twins (Last Week: -3). Don't look now, don't believe it if you must, but the Twinks are leading the American League Central Division. They went 5-1 this screening week -- avoided a four-Game series sweep at home against Toronto by pipping the Blue Jays Wednesday, 4-1, then swept a three-Game series in Baltimore (the first two of which was a DH because Friday's Game was postponed due to rain), then won last (Monday) night at Houston, 9-5. Feel bad that these guys are only the third-best on this WMNSS.
I may be getting ahead of my skis here, but I agree with many other people that things are looking up for this organization. The lineup remains the best thing they've got going, and right now they are being led by Eddie Rosario and Jorge Polanco. The rotation is solid, if unspectacular. And the bullpen has been doing much better than I thought. Advanced statistics, in particular, show that the arms on this ballclub are the hardest-throwing in franchise history. We are finally rid of the "pitch to contact" philosophy.
After finishing up a three-Game road series at the Astros, they will come home and host ... Baltimore for three over the weekend, then Houston starting on Monday.
#-2: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -2). Yeah, it's gonna be conference tournament-or-bust for this team. They final (best?) chance to boost their RPI probably fell by the wayside as they dropped two-of-three against Oklahoma, a school they hadn't played in almost half a century. Started off well, an 8-1 shellacking Friday at Siebert. But in the marquee match, Saturday afternoon at Target Field, the Sooners nipped the U., 2-1.
I managed to make it to Siebert Sunday for a Game moved up two hours to 11 a.m. to accommodate Oklahoma's changing flight home. And I have to be honest with you: Even though the Sooners came back to beat the Goofers, 5-2, I think I saw the most effecting performance by a U. Starting Pitcher since, no joke, Glenn Perkins way back in the very old Siebert Field. That's not a high bar. Plus he petered out by the time he got pulled in the Sixth Inning, got hung for the loss, and got tattooed by a three-Run Home Run to give up the lead for good in the Fifth Inning by Brady Harlan. (Long story short: The Right Fielder was put into the game to replace Blake Brewster, after he may have spiked Gophers First Baseman Cole McDevitt while trying to run out a grounder in the top of the Third.) At any rate, Joshua Culliver of Omaha, Neb., struck out seven batters while walking no one. And he had a vicious Curveball working and fooling Sooner after Sooner. Again, it would have been much more impressive if Culliver could have gone six more Outs. Or won. But he averaged more than a Strikeout per Inning, and he walked no Oklahoma player. I haven't seen that in a long time, if not ever. John Anderson, mold this clay.
At Indiana for the weekend. The squad stands at 17-20 overall, by the way.
#-3: United FC (Last Week: -4). I said what I wanted to say in the wake of my initial trauma over witnessing my team blow two leads in Toronto and lose Friday, 4-3, here. But after distancing myself over that and thinking for a bit, I have more to say about the match:
- It is never good to be red-carded in the dying moments of a match. But even though I have not seen any replays, I don't think the send-offs of both Jan Gregus (which I pronounce "Grey Goose," even if you're not supposed to pronounce it like that) and Francisco Calvo were especially egregious. The team was down a Goal and were desperate to get the ball back. None of the fouls were retaliatory. And I certainly don't see how either Loon was playing recklessly.
- With that being said, Calvo should not be criticized for being sent off and unavailable for tonight's (Wednesday night's) game vs. the Los Angeles Galaxy. Criticize him, instead, for not contributing during Friday's match.
- If anyone on the XI deserves to be the goat for the defeat, my money's on Michael Boxall. On that Game-winner, what in the hell was he doing waiting for the ball to bounce in order to head it while he was standing in front of his own goddamn goal? And as a TFC player was rushing in from behind to stick it home? Oh, and Boxall forgot to mark a guy on an earlier Toronto Goal.
- MNUFC is on pace to allow 72 Goals, which is one more than last year, which was one more than the previous year, the Loons' inaugural year in MLS, and a mark which was an all-time record for Goals Allowed at the time.
- Why in the fuck did Adrian Heath not use his third and final Substitution? If anything he should have started switching out offense for defense as soon as his team took a 3-2 lead.
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