Positive Numbers: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -5). OK, this does not make up, at all, for their choke job last year. But as the seventh-overall seed they were supposed to be finished after this past weekend, and no, they are not. For the sixth time in program history -- and, impressively, the third time in the past five years -- the University of Minnesota volleyball program has reached the Final Four.
That destination was not without its drama, nor its luck. For the second consecutive Game, the Gophers had to rally from a 2-1 Set deficit. Friday's Sweet 16 match vs. Florida quickly went lopsided; the Gators won Set 1 at 23, but the U. won the next at 14 and Florida responded by taking the Third at 16. While it looked real, real bad after Set 3, Minnesota turned on the afterburners, taking the Fourth at 15 and the Fifth at 11.
This Regional was being played in Austin, Tex. because the overall #2 Seed, Texas, won its first two NCAA Tournament Games. But inexplicably, they got upset in the Sweet 16 to unseeded Louisville, which upset 15th-seeded Western Kentucky in the Second Round. That frightened me into thinking the Cardinals, of all fucking programs, would reach the Final Four. But the prevailing wisdom won out on Saturday as the Golden Gophers blitzed Louisville, 21-14-16.
So the club is going to Pittsburgh for Thursday's National Semifinal where they face what is credibly a tournament nemesis, Stanford. The Cardinal is seeded third overall, so it's very possible (and probably likely) that the journey ends there. But if they win and make it to Saturday's final, they face two schools I have a problem with. The fourth-overall seed is Wisconsin, which yuck. The other entrant is The Proverbial Queens Of The Hill, Baylor. How in the hell is Baylor, of all colleges, the #1 overall seed in women's volleyball? And how have they not gotten upset before Pittsburgh? They have never been this good, ever. So the 2019 title Game will feature either Bucky Badger or a school I think is cheating. Eh.
#0: Vikings (Last Week: -3). I've been debating between the Vikes and the Gopher men ballers. In the end, a few things stand out with the Vikings' lone Game over the Gopher b-ballers. Well, a lot stood out in Sunday's 39-10 pounding of the Los Angeles Chargers:
#-1: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -7). I said last week that if they lost to Ohio St. on Sunday, this would surely be a rebuilding Year. Well:
On the back of Marcus Carr pouring in 35 Points (a career high), the U. took down the third-ranked Buckeyes (who were going to be ranked first if they got out of The Barn with a win), the first time Minnesota has taken down a squad ranked in the top three of the Associated Press poll since they defeated #1 Indiana seven seasons ago.
A fact that I saw while watching this contest and sleeping in bed at *a***'s place: So far in Big Ten play, the home team is 13-0. Great for parity, I think. I'm not sure how much juice this Win gives the U., especially since they so far are 4-4 in non-conference play (albeit with a valiantly tough schedule). But maybe defeating Oklahoma St. in Tulsa, Okla., Saturday afternoon could be yet another chit they can throw onto the NCAA Tournament pile.
#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -1). A perfect 2-0, though neither opponent was all that daunting. Tuesday they went to George Washington and throttled the Colonials by 33. Then on Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena (4 1/2 Hours before the men played, natch), with a pre-Game ceremony where the number of Janel McCarville was retired (or was it? Does the U. retire numbers, or do they just, like, commemorate players with posters hung from the rafters?), the club outlasted California-Davis, 76-67.
One final non-con Game: Home to Lehigh Saturday afternoon.
#-3: Wild (Last Week: -4). You know, the Wild didn't have a bad screening week. They had three Games at the X and got a Point in all three (they lost Tuesday to Anaheim in the Shootout). Then they became Chicago's slumpbuster by a score of 5-3; the Blackhawks broke a four-Game losing streak on Sunday.
So that makes Points accrued in 14 out of the past 16 Games. That's good. Unfortunately, their slow start means they still have a hole to climb out of; the Wild sit three Games out of the final playoff slot in the Western Conference. And they've got another four-Game screening week (including a third consecutive Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule) coming up: At Vegas and Arizona (featuring the newly-acquired Taylor Hall, then home to Winnipeg and, on Monday, Calgary.
#-4: Timberwolves (Last Week: -8). There is no doubt as to which local team deserves the cellar. With an 11-Point loss to The Bastard New Orleans Jazz and a seven-Point loss to The Bastard Buffalo Braves/San Diego Clippers, the Woofie Dogs' current losing streak is seven. Worse than that, the club's Defensive Rating is on a pace to beat last Year's Cleveland Cavaliers as the team with the worst DR in the history of the National Basketball Association. This is low. This is the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This week: Home versus The Bastard Charlotte Hornets, then a four-Game roadtrip, the first three of which are against Denver, Portland, and Golden State.
That destination was not without its drama, nor its luck. For the second consecutive Game, the Gophers had to rally from a 2-1 Set deficit. Friday's Sweet 16 match vs. Florida quickly went lopsided; the Gators won Set 1 at 23, but the U. won the next at 14 and Florida responded by taking the Third at 16. While it looked real, real bad after Set 3, Minnesota turned on the afterburners, taking the Fourth at 15 and the Fifth at 11.
This Regional was being played in Austin, Tex. because the overall #2 Seed, Texas, won its first two NCAA Tournament Games. But inexplicably, they got upset in the Sweet 16 to unseeded Louisville, which upset 15th-seeded Western Kentucky in the Second Round. That frightened me into thinking the Cardinals, of all fucking programs, would reach the Final Four. But the prevailing wisdom won out on Saturday as the Golden Gophers blitzed Louisville, 21-14-16.
So the club is going to Pittsburgh for Thursday's National Semifinal where they face what is credibly a tournament nemesis, Stanford. The Cardinal is seeded third overall, so it's very possible (and probably likely) that the journey ends there. But if they win and make it to Saturday's final, they face two schools I have a problem with. The fourth-overall seed is Wisconsin, which yuck. The other entrant is The Proverbial Queens Of The Hill, Baylor. How in the hell is Baylor, of all colleges, the #1 overall seed in women's volleyball? And how have they not gotten upset before Pittsburgh? They have never been this good, ever. So the 2019 title Game will feature either Bucky Badger or a school I think is cheating. Eh.
#0: Vikings (Last Week: -3). I've been debating between the Vikes and the Gopher men ballers. In the end, a few things stand out with the Vikings' lone Game over the Gopher b-ballers. Well, a lot stood out in Sunday's 39-10 pounding of the Los Angeles Chargers:
- It was the first time they had at least seven takeaways in 24 Years;
- It was the first time they beat a team on the road by at least 29 Points in 27 Years;
- And, not for nothing, did you see the crowd at Dignity Health Sports Park? It was all purple. Had a friend of a Facebook friend (both of whom went to the Game with other friends, all of them Vikings fans living in Los Angeles) say that he believed 80-5% of the crowd were Vikings fans. Hey, I need to point out that the Chargers started in Los Angeles and were stolen away to San Diego. But eyes don't lie -- the Chargers never should have left San Diego.
#-1: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -7). I said last week that if they lost to Ohio St. on Sunday, this would surely be a rebuilding Year. Well:
On the back of Marcus Carr pouring in 35 Points (a career high), the U. took down the third-ranked Buckeyes (who were going to be ranked first if they got out of The Barn with a win), the first time Minnesota has taken down a squad ranked in the top three of the Associated Press poll since they defeated #1 Indiana seven seasons ago.
A fact that I saw while watching this contest and sleeping in bed at *a***'s place: So far in Big Ten play, the home team is 13-0. Great for parity, I think. I'm not sure how much juice this Win gives the U., especially since they so far are 4-4 in non-conference play (albeit with a valiantly tough schedule). But maybe defeating Oklahoma St. in Tulsa, Okla., Saturday afternoon could be yet another chit they can throw onto the NCAA Tournament pile.
#-2: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -1). A perfect 2-0, though neither opponent was all that daunting. Tuesday they went to George Washington and throttled the Colonials by 33. Then on Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena (4 1/2 Hours before the men played, natch), with a pre-Game ceremony where the number of Janel McCarville was retired (or was it? Does the U. retire numbers, or do they just, like, commemorate players with posters hung from the rafters?), the club outlasted California-Davis, 76-67.
One final non-con Game: Home to Lehigh Saturday afternoon.
#-3: Wild (Last Week: -4). You know, the Wild didn't have a bad screening week. They had three Games at the X and got a Point in all three (they lost Tuesday to Anaheim in the Shootout). Then they became Chicago's slumpbuster by a score of 5-3; the Blackhawks broke a four-Game losing streak on Sunday.
So that makes Points accrued in 14 out of the past 16 Games. That's good. Unfortunately, their slow start means they still have a hole to climb out of; the Wild sit three Games out of the final playoff slot in the Western Conference. And they've got another four-Game screening week (including a third consecutive Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule) coming up: At Vegas and Arizona (featuring the newly-acquired Taylor Hall, then home to Winnipeg and, on Monday, Calgary.
#-4: Timberwolves (Last Week: -8). There is no doubt as to which local team deserves the cellar. With an 11-Point loss to The Bastard New Orleans Jazz and a seven-Point loss to The Bastard Buffalo Braves/San Diego Clippers, the Woofie Dogs' current losing streak is seven. Worse than that, the club's Defensive Rating is on a pace to beat last Year's Cleveland Cavaliers as the team with the worst DR in the history of the National Basketball Association. This is low. This is the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This week: Home versus The Bastard Charlotte Hornets, then a four-Game roadtrip, the first three of which are against Denver, Portland, and Golden State.
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