The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#0: Lynx (Last Week: -2).  On last Week's WMNSS, I described the two Games the Lynx had this screening Week as tough.  Well, they passed those two tough tests with flying colors, outlasting the Sky in Chicago Saturday, 101-95, then finally beating the Seattle Storm at home Tuesday, 76-70, on the back of Sylvia Fowles.  She became the first player in WNBA history to record at least 20 Points, 20 Rebounds, three Blocks and three Steals in the same Game.  And she was one Point short of being the first baller in league history to record a 30-Point Double-Double.  The Lynx needed every positive statistic Big Syl could get for them, but it's still satisfying to see them finally beat Seattle, a team that was playing all of its big stars (Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Jewell Lloyd).

Yet they remain in the fourth spot, just one Game ahead of Phoenix for a single bye in the playoffs.  They do catch a break, however, sorts, this Week, hosting two clubs far below them in the standings, New York and Los Angeles.

#-1: Gopher soccer (Last Week: 0).  A scoreless Tie at Robbie Stadium vs. Illinois-Chicago.  And all credit to the Flames, who took it to the Gophers and -- well, I guess they didn't earn a Point, but they didn't lose to a BcS squad.  (Not cool: My forearms getting sunburned because I failed to have the foresight to know I'd be sitting out in the midday sun and so I went without suntan lotion.  I'm so going to get skin cancer.)  They then went to their first road Game last/Thursday evening and beat Drake, 1-0, on a Penalty Kick made by Delaney Stekr, which was given due to a Bulldog handball from a U. cross.  I remember that last season's team (which, if you may recall, played from February to April of this Year) had a devil of a time scoring.  Well, two Goals in three Matches, one of which being a PK, isn't an established pattern, but it doesn't portend anything great, either.

This XI actually have the weekend off.  They next play Thursday at 1 in the afternoon versus Mississippi St. at home.  Why a weekday afternoon Kickoff?  The Gopher football team play Ohio St. at TCF Huntington Bank Stadium that evening.

#-2: United FC (Last Week: -3).  A second straight opportunity in which a player on the opposing side gets Red-Carded, only for said opportunity to go to waste, leading to a frustrating Draw.  It happened Saturday afternoon against Sporting Kansas City, whose Remi Walter was sent off in the 21st Minute (coincidentally the same Minute at which San Jose's Nathan Pelae Cardoso was thrown out of the Loons' previous Match) after he kicked Emanuel Reynoso in the right thigh with his studs.  So, they had about seventy Minutes of 11-on-10 football.  Did they score?  Nope.  And so this organization's historic inability to finish is kneecapping MNUFC's chances of doing anything special this Year.

That hit by Walter knocked Bebelo out of Wednesday's Major League Soccer All-Star Game.  It'll make him miss a road Match against Houston on Saturday, too.  But Reynoso will not be lonely; he is one of seven players right now who are too injured to play.  Robin Lod is among them.  He's the best player on the team when it comes to striking the ball.  (Note that I didn't call Lod a "Striker.")  That has led to idle speculation that the players get hurt because Head Coach Adrian Heath works them too hard at practice.  That and/or the inability to get his charge to find a different way to score is bringing back #HeathOut.

#-3: Twins (Last Week: -1).  After a good stretch in which it felt as though this club finally was showing the talent and incompetence we thought they would have going into the season -- no matter that it's much too late -- their Week going up against the traditional American League titans, the Yankees and the Red Sox, has been a disastrous one.  They were swept in the Bronx ... and it could have been worse, but the series' fourth Game on Sunday was rained out.  They then lost two-of-three in Fenway, and they were practically giving away the only victory they had in the Week: They were up on Boston 4-0 Wednesday evening -- a lead helped along by Miguel Sano, who hit a Home Run over the Green Monster 495 feet, the longest HR this season -- but Alex Colome, who has actually been decent as of late, coughed up a Blown Save in a second consecutive Game.  Josh Donaldson helped Colome get the Win (baseball for ya) with a two-Run Home Run in the top of the 10th Inning; Jake Cave put the Twinks out in front for good with a three-Run blast later that Inning.  An exciting 9-6 victory ... but a more competent group would not have let the Red Legs tie the Game.

Oh, and Willians Astudillo hit a two-Run Homer off the top of the Monster in last/Thursday night's tilt.  Those were the only Runs the Twinks scored last night; they got destroyed, 12-2.  Since the contest got out of hand, La Tortuga made another appearance pitching; he walked one but allowed no Hits nor Runs in one Inning.  And he has an ERA of 2.25 ... which, tweeted by Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic, is better than the ERAs of all but four of the players who have pitched for the Twinks this Year.  That's the 2021 squad in a nutshell.

This screening Week they're all over the place: They host the Brewers this weekend for three, then they have to fly out to Detroit to play a Game that was rained out July 16 Monday afternoon.  Really -- these two sorry teams have to make up a Game?  Then they come back to Target Field for one of those weird midweek duos, this time against the Chicago Cubs.