The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Positive Numbers: Saints (NEW!!!).

OK, I have been to Saints games in the past, mostly when they played in charming Midway Stadium.  I have been to a few at CHS Field, including one earlier this season where a friend and I were going to hang out but it got delayed a couple times by a rainstorm that wasn't going to be brief, so we bounced after the game was stopped, I think, after one Inning.  Anyway, even though they've been part of the local scene for more than a quarter-century, they're not included in The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey.  Why?  I have a rule: I only track local teams that are in the best leagues for their sport at their level.  Minor league baseball cannot count because there is Major League Baseball.  And that, I'm afraid, is how it's always going to be.

With that being said, if the Saints win a league (before it was the Northern League, but now it's the American Association) title, hell yes I'm gonna put them in the survey!  And it's about goddamn time this team won a fucking championship.  The crown jewel of the AA, if not independent minor-league baseball, had not won anything since the 2004 Northern League, and that seems odd to me.  However, with a 6-3 win over the Sioux City Explorers back on Sep. 14, the Saints swept the Championship Series 3-0 and ended a 15-Year drought.

This ballclub had seen heartbreak in past seasons, coming close but being denied at the doorstep.  Things were hairy this postseason, too.  They were down two-Games-to-none in the Northern Division Series to the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks, but luckily, Games 3-5 were at CHS.  Both Saints losses were by a Run, and the remaining Games in the series would be almost as tight; St. Paul took Game 3, 6-4, and Game 4, 1-0.  But after Game 5 was postponed a day due to rain, the Saints completed the comeback Tuesday, Sep. 10 with a 9-7 win.  They started the Champ Series the next day back in Sioux City, Ia., but it didn't matter after that; the Saints won their last six Games to take the title.

Good for them!  I've always liked minor-league ball because it was friendlier to the fanbase.  A lot of that gregariousness is reflected in how low stakes everything is, and in particular how ... uh, un-serious those ballclubs take themselves.  I remember helping out the production of a Twins broadcast; before the Game I was on Target Field's field, and I made the innocent mistake of stepping on the grass.  Some dude in a Twinks uniform -- I never knew whether it was a player or an ass-kissing assistant -- ordered me to stay off the grass.  But on that Saturday night, after the Game- (and series-) ending Double Play to clinch the title, I and all the other fans at CHS Field were invited down onto the grass, and the diamond, and the bases, to celebrate with the team.  I got to touch the outfield grass, the infield dirt, home plate -- everything.  That's how you generate love.  That's how you cast loyalty with a sports team in iron.

Congratulations to the St. Paul Saints!  At least one local team is a champion!

#0: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0).  Neither Clemson nor Oral Roberts are v-ball powers, so naturally the Gophers would sweep them both in the Diet Coke Classic.  So why are they up at 0?  Well, this team has won its last five Matches, and despite me thinking they're still not going to win it all, I feel that, right now, their ceiling is a little higher than the Vikings and Twins, team I still have grave doubts over.  My hypothesis will be tested as this club opens B1G play with Pavilion Games against the Indiana schools (Indiana Friday, Purdue Saturday).

#-1: Vikings (Last Week: -3).  A 34-14 victory over The Soon-To-Be Vegas Raiders where, it needs to be said, they looked like they were in control for the entire Game.  And they are doing it their way, with power running and a stout defense.  That demands less from Kirk Cousins, which is a good thing.  But while smacking around the Raiders is one thing, going on the road to Chicago and trying that combination on the Bears in the Sunday late Game (which, weirdly, will be on CBS and not Fox -- yeah, conference/network affiliations don't seem to matter anymore) is another entirely.  Can this team win away from home?  Can they win while not doing what they want to do?  And can they win being led by Cousins?

#-2: Twins (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  A 4-2 screening week didn't put Cleveland away for good.  But there has been no imminent collapse, and therefore it seems certain that, with a press-time Magic Number of 3, the Minnesota Twins will win the American League Central Division and reach the playoffs -- the real playoffs -- since 2010.  What matters now is getting everyone healthy and figuring out the rotation.

On that beat, it appears as though Kyle Gibson, who has seemed to struggle ever since getting called up to The Big Show, has played his way out of any high-leverage position with the club.  He was asked to start Thursday's tilt versus Kansas City, but he lasted only 1 2/3 Innings and was pulled after giving up three Runs and back-to-back Walks loaded the bases.  The Twins came back to win, 8-5.  But that appearance appears to be a nadir to a squad tenure that, ever since he got called up to pitch in the majors June 29, 2013 (at home against the Royals, ironically), has never been able to piece it all together with enough consistency to make management and fans believe in him.  Coincidentally, like with Miguel Ibarra and Brent Kallman (see below), it seems, I'm afraid, that this Minnesota stalwart likely has played in a local uniform for the last time.

And like the Loons, the Twins can clinch a playoff spot with a win (and with some help) Wednesday evening.  They finish the regular season with three Games at Detroit (starting tonight/Tuesday night) and three at the Royals.

#-3: United FC (Re-Entry!).  Totally forgot to bring back this team from International Break last week -- and I'm a season ticket holder!

In the intervening two weeks the Loons have lost in Houston, beaten Salt Lake City at Allianz and tied with Portland on the road.  That Timbers Draw is the most important, as they cling onto third place in the West.  But I want to talk about two United FC stalwarts who've been with the club before the elevation into top-flight.  Because I'm afraid it looks like they won't be on the squad anymore.

The more immediate, and dire, case is Brent Kallman.  On Thursday, Major League Soccer suspended him ten Matches after he got busted for PEDs.  He always seemed to me an underrated player, not making starter's wages and yet being good enough to be a starter.  Despite Ike Opara getting signed and slotted into the spot Kallman probably could have played, he remained a quiet substitute, always ready to step in ... even though he was rarely asked to.  I still think he can start for MNUFC, but with the way he's been used, and now his 10-Game bit for PEDs, it appears as though he has already made his last appearance for his longtime side.

The other, in case you haven't deduced, is Miguel Ibarra.  The signs have been there.  He was a starter for a cup of tea, but then Kevin Molino got healthy, and then Manager Adrian Heath started trusting Ethan Finlay a little more, and then the team signed Robin Lod and then Thomas Chacon and ... well, the writing's on the wall.

It doesn't help that there are clues on social media.  A couple weeks ago Batman put his condo up for sale.  And then there's this tweet:

When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back.

— Miguel Ibarra (@Migue10Ibarra) September 16, 2019

I reacted to last offseason's purge, where many Loon players who played their hearts out for a not-good side where told to scram, including longtime Loon Ibson, with disdain, if not disgust.  I don't care if management and/or us fans want to win championships -- you don't treat your loyal soldiers like this.  But since then I've come to understand and accept that soccer grinds through players mercilessly, and that players once depended on are quickly hustled to the bench and then escorted off of the team because soccer organizations routinely just find the next player, always and regardless.  There are no lifelong players in soccer.  There can't be.  And that, it looks like, includes Ibarra.  This time, unlike with the trade of Christian Ramirez, I am boiling with anger and pain.  Maybe that's not a good thing.

At any rate, it appears as though one more win will seal up the first MLS playoff spot ever for the Loons.  And this week would be the time to do it; they have two Matches, Kansas City Wednesday and the Galaxy Sunday night, but both of them are at home.  This franchise, undoubtedly and with some great sacrifices, is improving.

#-4: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -2).  Yeah, this club doesn't have it this year.  They began the Big Ten season this weekend with a pair of 2-0 defeats at Rutgers and Maryland.  They just have to rebuild for next year, I suppose.  They have a Friday-Sunday schedule this screening week but at home.  They face Ohio St. Sunday afternoon.  Friday's match versus Penn St. is a "Rock The Robbie" event, for which I spent a buck at the State Fair to buy a ticket.  Unfortunately, early forecasts say it'll rain that evening.  Unlike the contest against N. C. St., I'm going regardless because I already bought a ticket.