Before we begin, a reminder: Yes, I understand that the Whitecaps began their season this weekend. But they began it by raising their NWHL championship banner. And if you have been a devoted reader of WAF or the WMNSS, you'll know that I do not write about a team after they won a title until the week they end a season short of winning a title. You'll notice that nearly all the teams I write about are listed starting with a rank of -1; that means that I'm ranking these local teams as which is the least worst. When you win a championship, you get to escape the clutches of my negativity ... until you lose. So be free Whitecaps, and I hope to God that you win as many championships in a row as possible.
#0: Gopher football (Last Week: -3). We have earned a skepticism for our teams. But you should suspend disbelief, even for a little bit, for the University of Minnesota football team. Many people though that the first half of the schedule was a cake walk, and I don't think the Sagarin rating for this club is high. Nevertheless, on Saturday night, the Golden Gophers routed Nebraska at TCF Bank, 34-7. The margin of victory is nowhere near the beats Tom Osborne's Cornhuskers took on the U. in the early eighties. But this was an ass-kicking nonethless, and it takes the squad to 6-0 -- and already bowl-eligible.
It is safe to say that P. J. Fleck is continuing to make strides with this program. While this may be a cupcake schedule, many predecessors still would have had trouble to reach .500 from it. Hosannas have been coming as a result. Senior Linebacker Kamal Martin was named Big Ten Defensive Player Of The Week, and the team is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in five years. Moreover, Minnesota is ranked 20th, its highest ranking in the AP since reaching #20 on November 1, 2008. These are good things, and Fleck should be given credit for turning this around
The team easily will got 7-0 Saturday afternoon. They travel to Rutgers, a team that fired its Head Coach, Chris Ash, two weeks ago. They have a killer back end of the schedule, but so what? Worry about that then.
#-1: Vikings (Last Week: -4). The game plan, and the key to winning Sunday's tilt vs. Philadelphia, was simple: Since the Eagles are stout against the run but vulnerable to the pass, the Vikes had to air it out. The problem was the club had, up to that point in the season, not been able to do anything close to passing with success. They ran the ball, a lot and real well, but Kirk Cousins was showing major weakness holding up his end of the bargain. So while Eagles Linebacker Zac Brown said that the Iggles' gameplan was to make Cousins beat him, it may have been construed as trash-talking, but he was also right, and stating the obvious.
Which makes the 18-Point beatdown the Purple gave the Eagles (in Philly's first visit to US Bank since winning Super Bowl LII) very surprising. They had to abandon what they did well in order to win, and they adapted successfully. Cousins threw the ball, often and deep -- and hit. And moreover, Stefon Diggs was utilized a lot. Offensive Coordinator (at least in name) Kevin Stefanski got Diggs involved early with a jet reverse, but then he was able to roast his single Cornerback defender and score Touchdowns of 62 and 51 Yards, on his way to a 173-Yard, 3 TD Game, by far his best this season. And yesterday/Monday, Philadelphia cut Zac Brown.
So the Vikings are now 4-2 and chasing first-place Green Bay (who beat Detroit last/Monday night) in the division. They are not out of the woods yet, but they surprised me in easily beating a team in what I thought was a scary matchup. But now this is a scary matchup: They visit the Lions Sunday afternoon. I listened to much of the Monday Night Game, and there appears to be consensus that Detroit was called for a pair of Hands To The Face Penalties that, to tweeters at least, was complete bullshit. The Packers eked out a one-Point win with a Mason Crosby Field Goal at the gun. That motivation, coupled with a underrated attacks on both sides of the ball, and the Vikings cannot go into Ford Field thinking they've got this in the bag.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). Hmmm ... I see a little shakiness coming out of the team's weekend series at Robert Morris. Sure, they swept, keeping them perfect on the year. But the Colonials took the Gophers, ranked second in the polls overall, to Overtime in the Friday Game before Taylor Wente ended the upset bid on the Power Play 77 Seconds into Overtime. I'm not sure if one of The Bluebloods Of Women's College Hockey should be taken to OT by some rando program out east. The U. re-established dominance Saturday, tripling up RM, 6-2. But still.
This week they come home to play a pair vs. St. Cloud St.
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -2). Beat the Illini in four Wednesday, but got swept in Wisconsin Sunday afternoon, ending their winning streak at ten Games. Not championship-caliber now, huh? Host the Illinois schools over the weekend; the Goofs play at home against Illinois just ten Days after beating them on the road.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -7). I was ready to shove the Mild down to the bottom of this list for a long, long time. They got their doors blown off in Winnipeg Thursday, and for Saturday's home opener, they decided defense was a rumor and got their asses kicked, 7-4. So even though it's owned by what a journalist from sports website The Ringer The Worst Sports Franchise Owner In North America, I was sure the Wild were going to go to 0-5 after playing the Ottawa Senators yesterday/Monday afternoon (and it was played yesterday/Monday afternoon because, and I didn't know about it until I woke up yesterday/Monday morning, that there were holidays on both sides of the border: Indigenous People's/Columbus Day here, Canadian Thanksgiving there).
But they didn't. Viktor Rask stole the puck in the offensive zone and wristed what amounted to the Game-winner past Sens Goalie Craig Anderson halfway through the Third Period, and Zach Parise iced the team's first win of the season in The Most Contested Empty Net Goal You'll Ever See. But while it was good that these guys aren't as shitty as the Senators at least, they were still plenty bad. I watched the Game at the gym, and that squad looked out of sorts and at times uninterested.
In other words, shit could still go sideways as they continue to trek through Canada ... and it did tonight, just now, in Toronto, as the Mild resumed their losing ways, 4-2 versus the Maple Leafs. (Man, I don't remember the last time I had a Day-Of Bleed-Over. It's just that after dinner I rested my eyes, and boom! I have 3 1/2 Hours now to complete this and I have a Tuesday Night result I need to factor in.) Funny enough (well, maybe not, since they did beat The Worst Team In The NHL), Devyn Dubnyk was in the pipes for this loss and the four losses that began the team's year. Am I saying that Dubs's career is over? I'm not not saying it, OK?
Will the team's woes continue with a home-and-home filling out the rest of the screening week (tying up the season series already, just three Weeks into the regular season) with the Montreal Canadiens?
#-5: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -6). I'm always sort-of shocked that women's soccer, the sport that begins the fall season (and the season season) of college sports, hurtles to a fast close in October. Anyway, the side played only one Match this screening week, and they dropped that, 1-0, Friday in Wisconsin. At 1-5-1 in-conference, the U. is tied with Michigan St. for dead last in the B1G, 1 1/2-Games behind Nebraska for the eighth and final spot in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. They have four Matches in which to pull off a miracle similar to last year, where they finished seventh, ran the table to win the conference title and an automatic birth to the NCAA Tournament, and actually won their First Round Match -- and in a pure road contest too.
They finish the home portion of their schedule this screening week -- Thursday against said Nebraska, Sunday afternoon against Iowa.
#0: Gopher football (Last Week: -3). We have earned a skepticism for our teams. But you should suspend disbelief, even for a little bit, for the University of Minnesota football team. Many people though that the first half of the schedule was a cake walk, and I don't think the Sagarin rating for this club is high. Nevertheless, on Saturday night, the Golden Gophers routed Nebraska at TCF Bank, 34-7. The margin of victory is nowhere near the beats Tom Osborne's Cornhuskers took on the U. in the early eighties. But this was an ass-kicking nonethless, and it takes the squad to 6-0 -- and already bowl-eligible.
It is safe to say that P. J. Fleck is continuing to make strides with this program. While this may be a cupcake schedule, many predecessors still would have had trouble to reach .500 from it. Hosannas have been coming as a result. Senior Linebacker Kamal Martin was named Big Ten Defensive Player Of The Week, and the team is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in five years. Moreover, Minnesota is ranked 20th, its highest ranking in the AP since reaching #20 on November 1, 2008. These are good things, and Fleck should be given credit for turning this around
The team easily will got 7-0 Saturday afternoon. They travel to Rutgers, a team that fired its Head Coach, Chris Ash, two weeks ago. They have a killer back end of the schedule, but so what? Worry about that then.
#-1: Vikings (Last Week: -4). The game plan, and the key to winning Sunday's tilt vs. Philadelphia, was simple: Since the Eagles are stout against the run but vulnerable to the pass, the Vikes had to air it out. The problem was the club had, up to that point in the season, not been able to do anything close to passing with success. They ran the ball, a lot and real well, but Kirk Cousins was showing major weakness holding up his end of the bargain. So while Eagles Linebacker Zac Brown said that the Iggles' gameplan was to make Cousins beat him, it may have been construed as trash-talking, but he was also right, and stating the obvious.
Which makes the 18-Point beatdown the Purple gave the Eagles (in Philly's first visit to US Bank since winning Super Bowl LII) very surprising. They had to abandon what they did well in order to win, and they adapted successfully. Cousins threw the ball, often and deep -- and hit. And moreover, Stefon Diggs was utilized a lot. Offensive Coordinator (at least in name) Kevin Stefanski got Diggs involved early with a jet reverse, but then he was able to roast his single Cornerback defender and score Touchdowns of 62 and 51 Yards, on his way to a 173-Yard, 3 TD Game, by far his best this season. And yesterday/Monday, Philadelphia cut Zac Brown.
So the Vikings are now 4-2 and chasing first-place Green Bay (who beat Detroit last/Monday night) in the division. They are not out of the woods yet, but they surprised me in easily beating a team in what I thought was a scary matchup. But now this is a scary matchup: They visit the Lions Sunday afternoon. I listened to much of the Monday Night Game, and there appears to be consensus that Detroit was called for a pair of Hands To The Face Penalties that, to tweeters at least, was complete bullshit. The Packers eked out a one-Point win with a Mason Crosby Field Goal at the gun. That motivation, coupled with a underrated attacks on both sides of the ball, and the Vikings cannot go into Ford Field thinking they've got this in the bag.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). Hmmm ... I see a little shakiness coming out of the team's weekend series at Robert Morris. Sure, they swept, keeping them perfect on the year. But the Colonials took the Gophers, ranked second in the polls overall, to Overtime in the Friday Game before Taylor Wente ended the upset bid on the Power Play 77 Seconds into Overtime. I'm not sure if one of The Bluebloods Of Women's College Hockey should be taken to OT by some rando program out east. The U. re-established dominance Saturday, tripling up RM, 6-2. But still.
This week they come home to play a pair vs. St. Cloud St.
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -2). Beat the Illini in four Wednesday, but got swept in Wisconsin Sunday afternoon, ending their winning streak at ten Games. Not championship-caliber now, huh? Host the Illinois schools over the weekend; the Goofs play at home against Illinois just ten Days after beating them on the road.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -7). I was ready to shove the Mild down to the bottom of this list for a long, long time. They got their doors blown off in Winnipeg Thursday, and for Saturday's home opener, they decided defense was a rumor and got their asses kicked, 7-4. So even though it's owned by what a journalist from sports website The Ringer The Worst Sports Franchise Owner In North America, I was sure the Wild were going to go to 0-5 after playing the Ottawa Senators yesterday/Monday afternoon (and it was played yesterday/Monday afternoon because, and I didn't know about it until I woke up yesterday/Monday morning, that there were holidays on both sides of the border: Indigenous People's/Columbus Day here, Canadian Thanksgiving there).
But they didn't. Viktor Rask stole the puck in the offensive zone and wristed what amounted to the Game-winner past Sens Goalie Craig Anderson halfway through the Third Period, and Zach Parise iced the team's first win of the season in The Most Contested Empty Net Goal You'll Ever See. But while it was good that these guys aren't as shitty as the Senators at least, they were still plenty bad. I watched the Game at the gym, and that squad looked out of sorts and at times uninterested.
In other words, shit could still go sideways as they continue to trek through Canada ... and it did tonight, just now, in Toronto, as the Mild resumed their losing ways, 4-2 versus the Maple Leafs. (Man, I don't remember the last time I had a Day-Of Bleed-Over. It's just that after dinner I rested my eyes, and boom! I have 3 1/2 Hours now to complete this and I have a Tuesday Night result I need to factor in.) Funny enough (well, maybe not, since they did beat The Worst Team In The NHL), Devyn Dubnyk was in the pipes for this loss and the four losses that began the team's year. Am I saying that Dubs's career is over? I'm not not saying it, OK?
Will the team's woes continue with a home-and-home filling out the rest of the screening week (tying up the season series already, just three Weeks into the regular season) with the Montreal Canadiens?
#-5: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -6). I'm always sort-of shocked that women's soccer, the sport that begins the fall season (and the season season) of college sports, hurtles to a fast close in October. Anyway, the side played only one Match this screening week, and they dropped that, 1-0, Friday in Wisconsin. At 1-5-1 in-conference, the U. is tied with Michigan St. for dead last in the B1G, 1 1/2-Games behind Nebraska for the eighth and final spot in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. They have four Matches in which to pull off a miracle similar to last year, where they finished seventh, ran the table to win the conference title and an automatic birth to the NCAA Tournament, and actually won their First Round Match -- and in a pure road contest too.
They finish the home portion of their schedule this screening week -- Thursday against said Nebraska, Sunday afternoon against Iowa.
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