Positive Numbers (tie): Twins and United FC (Last Week: -2 and -3, respectively). I wish I had more time to do this survey, but yesterday I was so wiped out come midnight that I just went to bed. (Had time to do a lot of things Monday night; should have done it then.)
If I had more time, I would do proper justice to both the Twins and United FC, both of who, on Wednesday, sewed up their spots in the postseason -- the former for the first time since 2010, the latter for the first time in top-flight American soccer ever. (Because of this milestone I am ignoring the screening week records.) Chronologically, they earned their sports less than an hour apart -- the Twins needed to wait until Cleveland lost to the Chicago White Sox before they could celebrate. I was at Allianz Field to see the Loons fight back from an early 1-0 deficit to Sporting Kansas City (and by the way, that SKC Goal should not have been allowed because the ball hit the Goal-scorer on the hand before he kicked it in), the Match-tier by Ozzie Alonso off a Corner, the Match-winner by Hassani Dotson, who dribbled inside the box parallel to the Goal Line before hiking the ball off a Kansas City Wiz defender (maybe the same one who scored that Goal?) and past the Goalie.
The plan was for the soccer team to at least contend for a playoff spot. No one in his or her right mind thought the baseball Nine would get to this point. But both clubs have, and after a year where none of the professional teams (save for the Lynx) reached the postseason, Twin Cities sports fans have not one but two reasons to harbor title dreams.
#0: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0). Began Big Ten play with a pair of home sweeps over the Indiana schools. The reason I'm placing this squad above the women's hockey team is because I just saw on YouTube of a rally in the Purdue Game where Libero C. C. McGraw repeatedly was saving the ball. But how will these women fair tomorrow/Wednesday at Iowa and home Saturday against Rutgers?
#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Re-Entry!). This seems an early beginning to the women's college hockey season, late September. No matter; they kicked it off sweeping Colgate over the weekend at Ridder Arena, 2-0 and 8-1. It appears as though Minnesota is a prime contender for the championship but still behind defending champion Wisconsin, who beat the Gophers in the NCAA title game last season. Women's hockey remains extremely niche and top-heavy, so unless there's an upstart program I'm not aware of (Clarkson?), the mission for the U. is to take down Bucky Badger.
They already swing into conference play with a two-Game series vs. Minnesota State at Mankato.
#-2: Gopher football (Re-Entry!). I tuned in after work and was blown away that the U. gridironers were kicking Boilermaker ass in West Lafayette, Ind., by 21. And then I see that they held on for dear life to defeat Purdue, 38-31. It's not much of a finishing kick, but hey, this club is 4-0. And looking ahead, they have at least decent chances of winning their next four contests, starting with Saturday's Homecoming Game versus Illinois. This could be the start of something good.
#-3: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -4). I was at the Friday night "Rock The Robbie" Match against Penn St., mere hours after a huge rainstorm passed. And they looked like what their record suggested. These players aren't that good -- a lot of disconnected passes, no organization out front, and, finally, a mistake in the Backfield. The Nittany Lions repelled another mediocre Gophers attack and went on the counterattack. Quickly they passed the ball up the field, leading to a shot by Sam Coffey from long that GK Maddie Nielsen blocked while diving to her left. But who was there, though? PSU's Ally Schlegel, who kicked the rebound all by herself above the prone Nielsen. Golden Goal, and the Game was over in the 97th Minute (officially 96:24).
But hey, the team won their next Match, 1-0 over Ohio St. on Sunday! Athena Kuehn got the only tally with an Assist by Patricia Ward. That's the team's first in the conference and boosts its record to ... uh, 2-2-8.
This week: Home to Michigan St. Thursday, at Indiana Sunday.
#-4: Vikings (Last Week: -1). Like with my alma mater Saturday, what was more disconcerting than the loss Sunday at Chicago was the moribund play of the offense. That the defense could not bring down the backup QB, Chase fuckin' Daniel, after Mitch Trubisky was injured is one thing, and it's one thing that should not be overlooked. But this team is predicated on running the ball, and they achieved only 40 Yards total on the ground. Adam Thielen caught only two Passes for six Yards. And Kirk Cousins threw for only 233 Yards, had no Touchdowns and fumbled the ball twice. Cousins quickly has become a liability (although I've heard at least one sabermatrician tweet that the Offensive Line still blows), and in Games like this, where the running game has just been erased, you need a Quarterback that can take his team on his back and win it for him. And that hasn't happened yet in his career.
Sunday the Vikes head to the Meadowlands for a tilt vs. the Giants. This is deceptively a dangerous Game for Minnesota. Lose this, and the rumors of Stefon Diggs getting traded will become very real.
If I had more time, I would do proper justice to both the Twins and United FC, both of who, on Wednesday, sewed up their spots in the postseason -- the former for the first time since 2010, the latter for the first time in top-flight American soccer ever. (Because of this milestone I am ignoring the screening week records.) Chronologically, they earned their sports less than an hour apart -- the Twins needed to wait until Cleveland lost to the Chicago White Sox before they could celebrate. I was at Allianz Field to see the Loons fight back from an early 1-0 deficit to Sporting Kansas City (and by the way, that SKC Goal should not have been allowed because the ball hit the Goal-scorer on the hand before he kicked it in), the Match-tier by Ozzie Alonso off a Corner, the Match-winner by Hassani Dotson, who dribbled inside the box parallel to the Goal Line before hiking the ball off a Kansas City Wiz defender (maybe the same one who scored that Goal?) and past the Goalie.
The plan was for the soccer team to at least contend for a playoff spot. No one in his or her right mind thought the baseball Nine would get to this point. But both clubs have, and after a year where none of the professional teams (save for the Lynx) reached the postseason, Twin Cities sports fans have not one but two reasons to harbor title dreams.
#0: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0). Began Big Ten play with a pair of home sweeps over the Indiana schools. The reason I'm placing this squad above the women's hockey team is because I just saw on YouTube of a rally in the Purdue Game where Libero C. C. McGraw repeatedly was saving the ball. But how will these women fair tomorrow/Wednesday at Iowa and home Saturday against Rutgers?
#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Re-Entry!). This seems an early beginning to the women's college hockey season, late September. No matter; they kicked it off sweeping Colgate over the weekend at Ridder Arena, 2-0 and 8-1. It appears as though Minnesota is a prime contender for the championship but still behind defending champion Wisconsin, who beat the Gophers in the NCAA title game last season. Women's hockey remains extremely niche and top-heavy, so unless there's an upstart program I'm not aware of (Clarkson?), the mission for the U. is to take down Bucky Badger.
They already swing into conference play with a two-Game series vs. Minnesota State at Mankato.
#-2: Gopher football (Re-Entry!). I tuned in after work and was blown away that the U. gridironers were kicking Boilermaker ass in West Lafayette, Ind., by 21. And then I see that they held on for dear life to defeat Purdue, 38-31. It's not much of a finishing kick, but hey, this club is 4-0. And looking ahead, they have at least decent chances of winning their next four contests, starting with Saturday's Homecoming Game versus Illinois. This could be the start of something good.
#-3: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -4). I was at the Friday night "Rock The Robbie" Match against Penn St., mere hours after a huge rainstorm passed. And they looked like what their record suggested. These players aren't that good -- a lot of disconnected passes, no organization out front, and, finally, a mistake in the Backfield. The Nittany Lions repelled another mediocre Gophers attack and went on the counterattack. Quickly they passed the ball up the field, leading to a shot by Sam Coffey from long that GK Maddie Nielsen blocked while diving to her left. But who was there, though? PSU's Ally Schlegel, who kicked the rebound all by herself above the prone Nielsen. Golden Goal, and the Game was over in the 97th Minute (officially 96:24).
But hey, the team won their next Match, 1-0 over Ohio St. on Sunday! Athena Kuehn got the only tally with an Assist by Patricia Ward. That's the team's first in the conference and boosts its record to ... uh, 2-2-8.
This week: Home to Michigan St. Thursday, at Indiana Sunday.
#-4: Vikings (Last Week: -1). Like with my alma mater Saturday, what was more disconcerting than the loss Sunday at Chicago was the moribund play of the offense. That the defense could not bring down the backup QB, Chase fuckin' Daniel, after Mitch Trubisky was injured is one thing, and it's one thing that should not be overlooked. But this team is predicated on running the ball, and they achieved only 40 Yards total on the ground. Adam Thielen caught only two Passes for six Yards. And Kirk Cousins threw for only 233 Yards, had no Touchdowns and fumbled the ball twice. Cousins quickly has become a liability (although I've heard at least one sabermatrician tweet that the Offensive Line still blows), and in Games like this, where the running game has just been erased, you need a Quarterback that can take his team on his back and win it for him. And that hasn't happened yet in his career.
Sunday the Vikes head to the Meadowlands for a tilt vs. the Giants. This is deceptively a dangerous Game for Minnesota. Lose this, and the rumors of Stefon Diggs getting traded will become very real.
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