#-1: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -7). In what was a horrible, no-good, very bad screening week for local sports, it is the Golden Gopher men's hockey team that comes out on top after getting out of the weekend, and South Bend, Ind., relative unscathed. They took five-of-six Points over Notre Dame, winning the 3-3 Shootout Friday and holding on to defeat the Fighting Irish 2-1 Saturday. Because of that, the U. is now in a three-way tie for 15th in the PairWise. That's still not on the right side of the bubble, but I don't think they've been this close to tournament position in a year and a half. And by the way, these young men have won seven of their past eight Games. I told you about the time I went to Game at Mariuccui against Penn St. when it was more than half empty. I hope some people are giving this club another chance, and I hope this club isn't squandering that chance.
A pivotal series comes this weekend. The team travels to State College to play two Games against Penn St., the team they are tied with (at least in Points; I assume Regulation Wins are the tie-breaker, and the Nittany Lions have that), Friday and Saturday nights.
#-2: Gopher softball (Last Week: -8). I really, really don't know what to make of this squad's performance in the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational (which, I was just made aware, is actually a tournament involving 16 teams; UCLA was the only team to run the table, and that's why the Bruins are #1 in this week's rankings) in Florida over the weekend. First they got shut out by Oklahoma St., 2-0, late Friday morning. In the early evening, the U. scores two Runs in the bottom of the Seventh Inning to walk it off over Florida St. Late Saturday afternoon they lose to Virginia Tech, 2-1. Finally, on Sunday morning they Mercy-Ruled Missouri, 10-1, by scoring four in the top of the Sixth.
Of the four opponents, only the Hokies were not ranked. The Tigers were ranked 19th; the Cowgirls 16th; and the Seminoles fifth. So, does one give the Golden Gophers more credit for winning twice over ranked teams, once via Game-ender and the other via slaughter? Or does one ding them for getting upset by Va. Tech?
The USA Today Coaches Poll rendered its verdict. The Gophers dropped from 14th to 17th. As for their foes: Florida St. dropped to ninth; Oklahoma St. actually overtook Minnesota and replaced them at 14th; Missouri actually moved up one spot to 18th; and Virginia Tech entered the Top 25 at 24th.
The club moves to Waco, Tex., and participate in the Baylor Tournament. Five Games total: The requisite tilt vs. the host Bears, and a pair of contests each versus Texas St. and Tulsa.
#-3: Gopher baseball (Re-Entry!). It sure as hell doesn't feel like spring now, but the college baseball season has begun. Per usual, the Gopher Nine began in warmer climes -- Tempe, Ariz. -- and participated in the 2020 Angels College Classic over the weekend, where they started the season with a 12-10 victory over Oregon but then dropped decisions to Pepperdine and San Diego. The team then seemingly stayed in Tempe Monday to play an out-of-tournament Game vs. Arizona, and they beat the Wildcats by a score of 5-2.
The Gophers, which did not reach the NCAA Tournament a year after making it to Super Regionals, have some things expected of them this week. Baseball America predicts the Golden Gophers will finish third in the Big Ten, while website D1Baseball.com thinks they'll finish second, behind College World Series loser Michigan. (These two and Ohio St. figure to be the top three schools in the league this year, although Indiana appears to be a live dark horse.)
One thing that seems to be conventional wisdom: Golden Gopher Righthander Max Meyer is the best Pitcher in the B1G. He was voted as a first-team Preseason All-American, and the Woodbury native might be picked in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft. Minnesota may have the best rotation in the conference, with Patrick Fredrickson and Sam Thoresen behind Meyer. Those two, it is expected, will get a shot in making baseball a career after their time at Dinkytown comes to an end.
Will the young offense be able to round into form to take the U. back into the tourney? We shall see -- and all of us will be able to see them this weekend. U. S. Bank Stadium is free this weekend for the U. to host a three-Game series against TCU. Shoot! I was planning on seeing a Game in this series, but I work Monday, I probably won't be able to make it in time to get to the 2 o'clock start Sunday, and I'll probably go to the Minnesota Girls' State Hockey Finals Saturday.
#-4: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -9). From this point forward, all the teams finished the week winless. I guess I am ordering these five sorry-ass teams based on how damaging the losses they suffered were to their postseason hopes. And frankly, I chose the U. wrestlers to be first among this morass because I have surmised for a long time that this is tournament team that has no chance on winning a title, and therefore this screening week hasn't really "changed" anything, know what I mean?
Just like I figured in last week's survey, the grapplers went down to Iowa City and got smoked by the Hawkeyes, 35-6. The Dual started off at 184, and Minnesota's Owen Webster beach Iowa's Cash Wilcke by a 3-2 Decision. Hawkeyes took the lead at 197 via Major Decision, but Gable Steveson, ranked 1st among Heavyweights, defeated Tony Cassioppi (ranked third) to give the U. a 6-4 lead.
But then Minnesota forfeited at 125. This is the second straight Dual where they just didn't have somebody at that weight. I attended a Gopher wrestling match once; the program listed, like, 50 wrestlers. There isn't one, like, fucking walk-on who they could trot out? No? The Hawkeyes took a 10-6 lead and surged away, sweeping the last six weight classes and racking up 25 Points. How can Minnesota be in the same fuckin' gym as these guys at this point in the program?
They finish the regular season Friday at Maturi against Nebraska.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). Well, that was fun while it lasted. They drop a second straight at home Wednesday to lowly Charlotte by seven. Well, they weren't going anywhere anyhow, right?
Coming off of the All-Star Break they host Boston Friday, then have a back-to-back Sunday and Monday at Denver and at Dallas.
#-6: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -6). These young men are now projected to be left out of the field after an incredibly damaging 58-55 loss to Iowa at home. They took an eight-Point lead on an 8-0 spurt with more than five minutes to go in the Game ... then proceeded to not score for the rest of the Game. A late lead versus a beatable opponent at home, and then you choke on it? That doesn't look good on the tournament resume.
Tonight/Wednesday night they host Indiana. They then visit Northwestern Sunday afternoon.
#-7: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -5). These young women are now projected to be left out of the field after back-to-back blowout losses on the road to Ohio St. and Michigan St. (I put the women below the men because at least the men lost only one Game this screening week.) They've lost three in a row now. It just feels as if Lindsay Whalen has run out of ideas. They're now just holding onto a second straight spot in the WNIT.
Only one Game -- Saturday vs. Indiana at home.
#-8: Wild (Last Week: -4). For once in the WMNSS it was difficult to decide which is the worst of the teams in a screening week. The last three teams suffered winless weeks that threw them out of playoff contention, although they were on the outside looking in when the week began.
Of the three, I decided the Mild had the worst. They finished up a four-Game homestand in a part of the season where they have a surfeit of home Games. But on Thursday, the Mild choked on a 3-1 lead to the New York Rangers and lost in the Shootout (although Artemi Panarin reportedly made an illegal backward self-pass in his Penalty Shot). That apparently was the final straw for General Manager Bill Guerin; the next morning, he canned Head Coach Bruce Boudreau and appointed Dean Evason as his replacement on an interim basis. That should inject a bit of life into the squad, right?
Nope! The club apparently played like they didn't give a shit Saturday in a listless 2-0 loss to San Jose. They dropped three-of-four in the homestand. And while they were once in position to be one Point from a playoff spot, other teams have won, and now the Mild are seven Points away from a birth. For all their "effort," players after the Sharks humiliation said they were happy with the energy and urgency they exerted. The facts say otherwise.
There are a couple people on Twitter postulating a conspiracy theory that Guerin made this HC switch because he really wants the Mild to tank. If so, well, the reverse psychology worked! It'll suck to see this team disintegrate, though -- and potentially to see Matt Dumba and/or Jonas Brodin get traded to contenders.
This week: At Vancouver and Edmonton, then home to St. Louis and Columbus.
A pivotal series comes this weekend. The team travels to State College to play two Games against Penn St., the team they are tied with (at least in Points; I assume Regulation Wins are the tie-breaker, and the Nittany Lions have that), Friday and Saturday nights.
#-2: Gopher softball (Last Week: -8). I really, really don't know what to make of this squad's performance in the ESPN St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational (which, I was just made aware, is actually a tournament involving 16 teams; UCLA was the only team to run the table, and that's why the Bruins are #1 in this week's rankings) in Florida over the weekend. First they got shut out by Oklahoma St., 2-0, late Friday morning. In the early evening, the U. scores two Runs in the bottom of the Seventh Inning to walk it off over Florida St. Late Saturday afternoon they lose to Virginia Tech, 2-1. Finally, on Sunday morning they Mercy-Ruled Missouri, 10-1, by scoring four in the top of the Sixth.
Of the four opponents, only the Hokies were not ranked. The Tigers were ranked 19th; the Cowgirls 16th; and the Seminoles fifth. So, does one give the Golden Gophers more credit for winning twice over ranked teams, once via Game-ender and the other via slaughter? Or does one ding them for getting upset by Va. Tech?
The USA Today Coaches Poll rendered its verdict. The Gophers dropped from 14th to 17th. As for their foes: Florida St. dropped to ninth; Oklahoma St. actually overtook Minnesota and replaced them at 14th; Missouri actually moved up one spot to 18th; and Virginia Tech entered the Top 25 at 24th.
The club moves to Waco, Tex., and participate in the Baylor Tournament. Five Games total: The requisite tilt vs. the host Bears, and a pair of contests each versus Texas St. and Tulsa.
#-3: Gopher baseball (Re-Entry!). It sure as hell doesn't feel like spring now, but the college baseball season has begun. Per usual, the Gopher Nine began in warmer climes -- Tempe, Ariz. -- and participated in the 2020 Angels College Classic over the weekend, where they started the season with a 12-10 victory over Oregon but then dropped decisions to Pepperdine and San Diego. The team then seemingly stayed in Tempe Monday to play an out-of-tournament Game vs. Arizona, and they beat the Wildcats by a score of 5-2.
The Gophers, which did not reach the NCAA Tournament a year after making it to Super Regionals, have some things expected of them this week. Baseball America predicts the Golden Gophers will finish third in the Big Ten, while website D1Baseball.com thinks they'll finish second, behind College World Series loser Michigan. (These two and Ohio St. figure to be the top three schools in the league this year, although Indiana appears to be a live dark horse.)
One thing that seems to be conventional wisdom: Golden Gopher Righthander Max Meyer is the best Pitcher in the B1G. He was voted as a first-team Preseason All-American, and the Woodbury native might be picked in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft. Minnesota may have the best rotation in the conference, with Patrick Fredrickson and Sam Thoresen behind Meyer. Those two, it is expected, will get a shot in making baseball a career after their time at Dinkytown comes to an end.
Will the young offense be able to round into form to take the U. back into the tourney? We shall see -- and all of us will be able to see them this weekend. U. S. Bank Stadium is free this weekend for the U. to host a three-Game series against TCU. Shoot! I was planning on seeing a Game in this series, but I work Monday, I probably won't be able to make it in time to get to the 2 o'clock start Sunday, and I'll probably go to the Minnesota Girls' State Hockey Finals Saturday.
#-4: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -9). From this point forward, all the teams finished the week winless. I guess I am ordering these five sorry-ass teams based on how damaging the losses they suffered were to their postseason hopes. And frankly, I chose the U. wrestlers to be first among this morass because I have surmised for a long time that this is tournament team that has no chance on winning a title, and therefore this screening week hasn't really "changed" anything, know what I mean?
Just like I figured in last week's survey, the grapplers went down to Iowa City and got smoked by the Hawkeyes, 35-6. The Dual started off at 184, and Minnesota's Owen Webster beach Iowa's Cash Wilcke by a 3-2 Decision. Hawkeyes took the lead at 197 via Major Decision, but Gable Steveson, ranked 1st among Heavyweights, defeated Tony Cassioppi (ranked third) to give the U. a 6-4 lead.
But then Minnesota forfeited at 125. This is the second straight Dual where they just didn't have somebody at that weight. I attended a Gopher wrestling match once; the program listed, like, 50 wrestlers. There isn't one, like, fucking walk-on who they could trot out? No? The Hawkeyes took a 10-6 lead and surged away, sweeping the last six weight classes and racking up 25 Points. How can Minnesota be in the same fuckin' gym as these guys at this point in the program?
They finish the regular season Friday at Maturi against Nebraska.
#-5: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). Well, that was fun while it lasted. They drop a second straight at home Wednesday to lowly Charlotte by seven. Well, they weren't going anywhere anyhow, right?
Coming off of the All-Star Break they host Boston Friday, then have a back-to-back Sunday and Monday at Denver and at Dallas.
#-6: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -6). These young men are now projected to be left out of the field after an incredibly damaging 58-55 loss to Iowa at home. They took an eight-Point lead on an 8-0 spurt with more than five minutes to go in the Game ... then proceeded to not score for the rest of the Game. A late lead versus a beatable opponent at home, and then you choke on it? That doesn't look good on the tournament resume.
Tonight/Wednesday night they host Indiana. They then visit Northwestern Sunday afternoon.
#-7: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -5). These young women are now projected to be left out of the field after back-to-back blowout losses on the road to Ohio St. and Michigan St. (I put the women below the men because at least the men lost only one Game this screening week.) They've lost three in a row now. It just feels as if Lindsay Whalen has run out of ideas. They're now just holding onto a second straight spot in the WNIT.
Only one Game -- Saturday vs. Indiana at home.
#-8: Wild (Last Week: -4). For once in the WMNSS it was difficult to decide which is the worst of the teams in a screening week. The last three teams suffered winless weeks that threw them out of playoff contention, although they were on the outside looking in when the week began.
Of the three, I decided the Mild had the worst. They finished up a four-Game homestand in a part of the season where they have a surfeit of home Games. But on Thursday, the Mild choked on a 3-1 lead to the New York Rangers and lost in the Shootout (although Artemi Panarin reportedly made an illegal backward self-pass in his Penalty Shot). That apparently was the final straw for General Manager Bill Guerin; the next morning, he canned Head Coach Bruce Boudreau and appointed Dean Evason as his replacement on an interim basis. That should inject a bit of life into the squad, right?
Nope! The club apparently played like they didn't give a shit Saturday in a listless 2-0 loss to San Jose. They dropped three-of-four in the homestand. And while they were once in position to be one Point from a playoff spot, other teams have won, and now the Mild are seven Points away from a birth. For all their "effort," players after the Sharks humiliation said they were happy with the energy and urgency they exerted. The facts say otherwise.
There are a couple people on Twitter postulating a conspiracy theory that Guerin made this HC switch because he really wants the Mild to tank. If so, well, the reverse psychology worked! It'll suck to see this team disintegrate, though -- and potentially to see Matt Dumba and/or Jonas Brodin get traded to contenders.
This week: At Vancouver and Edmonton, then home to St. Louis and Columbus.
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