#0: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -5). Let's give some dap to the University of Minnesota soccer club for its undefeated Week. First, playing at 8:30 Central Time Monday morning (man, soccer is getting screwed over this Year!), Sadie Harper's rebound was the difference in the XI's 1-0 victory at Michigan St. Then on Thursday afternoon on the campus of the U., Harper completed a comeback from a 1-0 deficit with a Golden Goal in the 97th Minutes to defeat Northwestern. Not bad.
One Match this Week, a home date versus Illinois Saturday at ... 8 p.m.?
#-1: Gopher softball (Re-Entry!). And I almost forgot that the Minnesota softball program is back up and running! And a program that has cultivated a lot of success the past several Years ... has started the 2021 season by splitting three pairs of Games. What may be most puzzling is the 2-1, 11-Inning loss to Ohio St., where stud Pitcher Amber Fiser took the loss. (I had thought about giving the Gopher soccer team Positive Numbers, but the choppy screening Week of the team clearly the best of the rest convinces me that the softball program has to be -1 this Week, therefore the soccer team has to be 0 this week.)
The opponents the squad has played to begin the Year isn't Michigan-caliber -- Maryland, the Buckeyes, and Indiana. And with Fiser and Utility superstar Natalie DenHartog (both All-America candidates) on the squad, I really think they should be kicking ass. But they're not. This is Piper Ritter's first Year as Head Coach of the U., being elevated from Pitching Coach after last Year's abbreviated season. Pandemic-induced early turbulence? Or is this a symptom of something more serious?
Because of the pandemic, Minnesota and seemingly the rest of the Big Ten are playing in what appears to be a bubble in Leesburg, Fla., through next weekend. They have a three-Game series vs. Rutgers, the first two of which will be played Thursday morning.
Parise was on the ice when Las Vegas pulled Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (was it him?) for the extra skater. In a statement released after the loss, Parise stated that his intention at the end of the match was for Marcus Foligno to get a Hat Trick. Instead, there was a turnover on the ice and, instead of ending his shift like his fellow linesmen, he stayed out. Then he fucked up, Alex Tuck scored the Game-tying Goal, and the Knights won the Game in Overtime. This was not fired up at all for a bounce-back; they lost Wednesday, 5-1.
As bad as that sweep was, what happened after Tuesday's loss was the more important news. Because of his decision and failing, Head Coach Dean Evanson healthily scratched Parise. It was the first time has been scratched this way in his tenure with the Wild, and only the second time, I think, in his career. And that represents a sea change for the franchise. Because of his massive contract (which he signed with Ryan Suter), Zach Parise has been considered untouchable -- not just in trade talks but also within the structure of the squad. But the lack of success has tarnished Parise's reputation. Trades, which were once thought impossible to pull off, almost happened two Years ago. And in the meantime, although he's been OK, the past few seasons has seen a diminution of production from Parise.
He had still been seen as invulnerable ... until Tuesday. Evanson pulled rank as HC and benched the Forward earning the most on the team because of his actions on the ice. And, in theory, that should be a great thing, and probably will be met with approval in many areas of the fan base. But I wonder how this would affect the team. And if results are any indication, a 5-1 ass-kicking by a start-up given a mass infusion of Venture Capital meant that Evanson didn't really rally the troops.
So how is this going to go? Has the once-unassaible Parise been humbled, and will he get back to working for the club? He said that he disagreed with the benching, however; will this be another fissure in the relationship between star and organization? Will trade talks heat up after this move? Will Parise demand a trade? And how will the Wild players continue to respond to this decision that should have more ramifications over the course of the season?
This week they play two in Phoenix before coming home to play a pair vs. said Knights.
#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: -6). I don't know if this past Week was a new low. But if anybody has a way of falling through what appears to be the basement, it's the Woofie Dogs. Three more losses (with the help of even more shitty Third Quarters, a symptom that opposing Head Coaches are able to adjust to the Game and the Wolves do not) extends this club's losing streak to nine, and Chris Finch still has not won a Game as Head Coach. And the losing is grinding on the team. Ricky Rubio has stated that he doesn't know which direction this team is going. And now the franchise's franchise, Karl-Anthony Towns, is voicing frustration with this squad, saying (and I'm paraphrasing) that he has too many demons he needs to face at home to deal with any he has to deal with on the hardwood.
Rubio and KAT have a point: Where the hell is all this going? Does Gersson Rosas know what he's doing? Or can all this be rectified once Malik Beasley returns from his 12-Game suspension for brandishing a gun on a lost couple?
Well, at least there's the All-Star Break. It seems incredibly unnecessary now, but this team needs some time away from each other, and the basketball. They return to "play" at New Orleans Thursday.
#-4: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -7). The collapse is complete. To have any credibility in being an NCAA Tournament team, this sorry squad had to win on the road, something it heretofore has not done. They had two final shots at it, both this past screening Week ... and they will finish this season 0-10 in pure road Games. Their better shot was Saturday night in Nebraska, but they finally petered out in the end, 78-74. And they were never in it Wednesday against Penn St., losing 84-65. They are now riding a six-Game losing streak with the season finale at home against Rutgers tomorrow/Saturday afternoon.
Shit. These guys are fighting for a spot in the NIT, which will only be 16 teams big. And, not for nothing, Richard Pitino is now fighting for his job.
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