#-1: United FC (Last Week: Positive Numbers). This week, just like last week, is a tough one. This week, though, is tough for the diametrically opposite reason as last week: Everybody kind of had a shitty screening week. So, what do I look for? Well, there are mitigating circumstances, as I'll explain with the Loons. But mostly it's about where these disasters leave the club. How are the squad's playoff chances after the week? Are they playing well? Are their competitors playing well? I could look at record and rank strictly from that, but ... well, I sort of am, and I am sort of not. It's complicated.
With all those factors, I'm putting MNUFC on top for another week, although at -1. That's because their streak of not losing in Matches that actually count ended at 11 with a 5-3 loss at Dallas Saturday night. It really, really sucks to see a team I'm economically (and thus emotionally) invested in go down the tubes after such a great run. But then I have to remember these mitigating circumstances:
#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -1). When I said above that it's complicated, I mean that here. I am still very torn over putting the Jynx over the Twinks because, overall, the Jynx are nowhere near contending for a fifth WNBA title in as many odd years while at least the Twinks are still (at least ostensibly) in the thick of a pennant race. I was almost sure that I was going to pen this club in last place.
But then I look at what they did last week. They were able to crush the Dream in Atlanta (by far the worst team in the WNBA) Tuesday by 16, then came home and absolutely beat the shit out of a good Connecticut team by 32 on Friday. And yet I had Sunday's result, where the Jynx went to Washington and the Mystics showed they should be considered a favorite for the WNBA title by routing Minnesota by 23, in my brain.
This usually puts a team of Minnesota's current predicament -- where it's really Sylvia Fowles, Napheesa Collier trying to work things out, and everybody else -- into a tailspin. And they sort-of are, at 12-12. But they actually improved to seventh in the league. That's not much, and they have another Tuesday-Friday-Sunday screening week ahead of them (respectively: At New York, home to the Mystics, in Seattle), so shit can go sideways again. But expectations were dampened after last year, and they didn't quite get fans' hopes up during the season this year (at least not yet), so there is no huge or outrageous comedown. That's opposed to the team below:
#-3: Twins (Last Week: 0). This fucking tears it. As of press time, for the first time since April 20th, on the heels of their 6-5 victory over Boston last/Monday night courtesy of a tie-breaking, Game-ending solo shot by Carlos Santana, the Minnesota Twinks do not lead the American League Central Division. Their collapse is complete (too soon to say that?) thanks to a 1-5 screening week featuring a series loss to Atlanta (the Twinks lost Tuesday and Wednesday despite driving in seven Runs in both defeats) and dropping three-of-four to Cleveland. They lost four in a row for the first time all season. Oh, and did I mention that they were at Target Field for the week?
Sunday afternoon might be the turning point of the season. Down 3-1, the Twinks somehow battled back in the bottom of the Ninth Inning to tie it. They could have won it, but a relay throw beat Pinch-Runner Ehire Adrianza to prevent the Game-winning Run to score. That sent the Game to the Tenth, where the otherwise-indefatigable Taylor Rogers gave up a Grand Slam to ... Carlos Santana.
It's better to win than to lose. But it's much better to be peaking late in the season than early. Cleveland is peaking now. The Twinks seemed to have peaked early. And now they are huffing and puffing to a finish as they get continually lapped by other squads. And now these assholes don't even have the fucking division.
I have heard a lot about how the end of the schedule favors Minnesota over Cleveland. And yet, it seems as though that they face a team they should beat on paper when they are in much better form. This week, for example, Cleveland hosts Boston. The Red Sox are defending World Champions, but they are nowhere near that level now and they are basically playing out the string this year. Then, Cleveland goes to the Yankees, who are in the lead but have lost basically everyone to the Injured List. Meanwhile, the Twinks finish up their annual interleague rivalry games with two at Milwaukee, a team that is scuffling right now but are still in the playoff hunt. Then they travel to Texas to take on the Rangers, who have been playing well right now, before coming home and staring a three-Game set versus the White Sox Monday. Are the White Sox any good? Who knows? At any rate, this strength-of-schedule bit might be a bunch of malarkey. And it's not as if the Twinks are in a position to dominate anyone, at least not right now.
With all those factors, I'm putting MNUFC on top for another week, although at -1. That's because their streak of not losing in Matches that actually count ended at 11 with a 5-3 loss at Dallas Saturday night. It really, really sucks to see a team I'm economically (and thus emotionally) invested in go down the tubes after such a great run. But then I have to remember these mitigating circumstances:
- They were bound to lose at some point. Losing on the road to a team fighting for a playoff spot isn't an unheard-of situation.
- The team was heavily rotated. I didn't listen to the match, but it was well close to being over when I headed over to ESPN.com and looked at the lineup, and it was vastly different from their last game. There was a lot of turnover, and there were many guys starting who not usually don't start but usually don't come off the bench. I mean, Brent Kallman? Collin Martin? Carter Manley? I've seen Rasmus Schuller and Lawrence Olum play several Games this season, but I don't remember the last time they started. And frankly, I can both affirm the positive (the B-Squad XI took the lead and came back to tie twice before coughing up the Game-winning and insurance Goals late) and touch on the negative (there might be many reasons why these guys usually stay on the bench) after the defeat.
- The rotation is probably the result of keeping the best players fresh. They played on Wednesday at Allianz versus the Portland Timbers in the United States Open Cup Semifinal. And in a tight Match that featured a Timbers tally that should not have counted (for offsides; Head Coach Adrian Heat reportedly confronted the officials in the tunnel at Halftime), Mason Toye came up with the Game-winner to beat Portland 2-1 and advance to the USOC Final in Atlanta Tuesday the 27th. I am warming up to the idea that a sports league could have more than one thing to go for. Thus, I am beginning to consider this U.S. Open Cup to be "a thing," and when the 27th comes around, I guess I'll go to the Brew Hall at the stadium to watch. If advancing to the USOC Final is important enough to the team, it makes sense to prioritize Wednesday's Match over Saturday's.
#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -1). When I said above that it's complicated, I mean that here. I am still very torn over putting the Jynx over the Twinks because, overall, the Jynx are nowhere near contending for a fifth WNBA title in as many odd years while at least the Twinks are still (at least ostensibly) in the thick of a pennant race. I was almost sure that I was going to pen this club in last place.
But then I look at what they did last week. They were able to crush the Dream in Atlanta (by far the worst team in the WNBA) Tuesday by 16, then came home and absolutely beat the shit out of a good Connecticut team by 32 on Friday. And yet I had Sunday's result, where the Jynx went to Washington and the Mystics showed they should be considered a favorite for the WNBA title by routing Minnesota by 23, in my brain.
This usually puts a team of Minnesota's current predicament -- where it's really Sylvia Fowles, Napheesa Collier trying to work things out, and everybody else -- into a tailspin. And they sort-of are, at 12-12. But they actually improved to seventh in the league. That's not much, and they have another Tuesday-Friday-Sunday screening week ahead of them (respectively: At New York, home to the Mystics, in Seattle), so shit can go sideways again. But expectations were dampened after last year, and they didn't quite get fans' hopes up during the season this year (at least not yet), so there is no huge or outrageous comedown. That's opposed to the team below:
#-3: Twins (Last Week: 0). This fucking tears it. As of press time, for the first time since April 20th, on the heels of their 6-5 victory over Boston last/Monday night courtesy of a tie-breaking, Game-ending solo shot by Carlos Santana, the Minnesota Twinks do not lead the American League Central Division. Their collapse is complete (too soon to say that?) thanks to a 1-5 screening week featuring a series loss to Atlanta (the Twinks lost Tuesday and Wednesday despite driving in seven Runs in both defeats) and dropping three-of-four to Cleveland. They lost four in a row for the first time all season. Oh, and did I mention that they were at Target Field for the week?
Sunday afternoon might be the turning point of the season. Down 3-1, the Twinks somehow battled back in the bottom of the Ninth Inning to tie it. They could have won it, but a relay throw beat Pinch-Runner Ehire Adrianza to prevent the Game-winning Run to score. That sent the Game to the Tenth, where the otherwise-indefatigable Taylor Rogers gave up a Grand Slam to ... Carlos Santana.
It's better to win than to lose. But it's much better to be peaking late in the season than early. Cleveland is peaking now. The Twinks seemed to have peaked early. And now they are huffing and puffing to a finish as they get continually lapped by other squads. And now these assholes don't even have the fucking division.
I have heard a lot about how the end of the schedule favors Minnesota over Cleveland. And yet, it seems as though that they face a team they should beat on paper when they are in much better form. This week, for example, Cleveland hosts Boston. The Red Sox are defending World Champions, but they are nowhere near that level now and they are basically playing out the string this year. Then, Cleveland goes to the Yankees, who are in the lead but have lost basically everyone to the Injured List. Meanwhile, the Twinks finish up their annual interleague rivalry games with two at Milwaukee, a team that is scuffling right now but are still in the playoff hunt. Then they travel to Texas to take on the Rangers, who have been playing well right now, before coming home and staring a three-Game set versus the White Sox Monday. Are the White Sox any good? Who knows? At any rate, this strength-of-schedule bit might be a bunch of malarkey. And it's not as if the Twinks are in a position to dominate anyone, at least not right now.
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