#-1: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -7). OK, so the team bounced back from a jaw-dropping season-opening defeat at Williams Arena to Jacksonville by ripping off three Wins in a row this screening Week. The most notable, if only because of the name, is Friday's 66-59 victory at Arizona St. The Gophers then came home and beat a pair of mid-majors, George Washington on Sunday afternoon (albeit by a score of, ugh, 48-32 where one team [the Colonials in the first three Quarters and the U. in the Fourth] only scored in single digits each Quarter), and American Wednesday night, 73-56.
A more encouraging sign for this program came off the court. National Signing Day was Wednesday, and according to espnW (although I'm refracting the news through the Golden Gopher athletics website), Minnesota has the 10th-best recruiting class in the nation. I'm sure that the U. has never had a class that lauded. Lindsay Whalen signed four players, and they're all One Of Us, headed by Wayzata's Mara Braun, the 28th-best incoming Freshman in the country. Quite an impressive haul for someone who is in her fourth Year at the job and has had three (let's just say) non-notable Years before now. For those reasons, I'm putting the squad up first this Week.
They are in the Bahamas this weekend for the Women's Battle 4 Atlantis. First up early tomorrow/Saturday afternoon: Paige Bueckers and Connecticut. No big whoop.
#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -1). It's mainly the women's b-ball recruiting results that pushed them over the top. But I should give some dap the men's team. They went into Asheville, N. C., and won the Asheville Championship by holding off Western Kentucky and, in Double Overtime, Princeton in the Final. Ben Johnson's club is 3-0 to start the season and have a tournament trophy to show for its performances so far.
This upcoming screening Week comes a pair of tomato cans at the Barn -- Purdue-Fort Wayne this/Friday evening (a Game I am going to because I bought a ticket at the State Fair) and Jacksonville Wednesday night.
#-3: Gopher women's hockey (Re-Entry!). In a sign that women's hockey still is in an embryonic stage, the Gophers just curbstomped the Rochester Institute of Technology -- which is a top-flight women's hockey program -- at Ridder Arena over the weekend by scores of 10-0 and 7-1. Better Wins than Losses, but ... come on, now. A slightly-tougher foe this weekend, as the U. does a home-and-home with St. Cloud St. Tonight's (Friday night's) contest in at the Cloud, but Saturday's return date, at Ridder, constitutes the 2021 United States Hockey Hall Of Fame Museum Women's Face-Off Classic.
#-4: Vikings (Last Week: -9). They didn't blow out the Los Angeles Chargers (who, throughout its history, is one of the most enigmatic franchises in American professional sport), but Sunday's 27-20 Win was a bit more, uh, comfortable than all the other Wins (and, come to think of it, Losses) that have come so far. The Defense's inability to lock down is still there, and the Offense remains shambolic a lot of the time. The big differences in this tilt was an emphasis of throwing the ball down the field to Justin Jefferson (which they did) and Head Coach Mike Zimmer's decisions to go for it on critical plays actually succeeding, none moreso than the decision to, yet again, go for it, this time on 4th & 2 call from L. A.'s 36-Yard line. Dalvin Cook took the ball and hustled around the right side of his line and got four Yards, the First Down, and the Game.
This was played at SoFi Stadium, the place the Chargers play (I think rent-free) from the Rams. I listened to the Game on TV, and even though I saw a lot of baby blue and I heard cheers when the Chargers made a big play or the Vikings got penalized, I don't believe it. I still think the crowd was majority Vikings. It was a similar situation to when they played the Chargers at the Los Angeles Galaxy's stadium in Carson, Calif. Someone posted a picture of the heavily purple-clad crowd in that soccer stadium on Twitter. I asked if he could glean a percentage; he estimated it was about 80% Vikings. I don't think it was 80% Sunday, but I would bet some money that it was a majority.
Nevertheless the Vikes are on the outside looking in on the NFC playoff picture. And now they have Dr. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers coming to town. Green Bay current has the #1 seed in the NFC, but I have the feeling, for no reason at all (not like you need to have one in this NFL season) that Minnesota will play the Cheeseheads tough.
#-5: Wild (Last Week: -3). It is always a good day when The Team That Was Stolen From Us gets beat by the Wild! That's what happened last/Thursday night -- beat the ever-lovin' shit outta them, actually, 7-2. Before the Game I went back-and-forth with a bunch of Dallas hockey thieves on the comment section of The Athletic's piece (well, it's a Michael Russo joint) about Ryan Suter visiting the X as a member of the Bastard North Stars. I worry from time to time that there aren't enough Minnesota pro hockey fans still bitter about that team being taken from us, but those that are showed up to berate these Dallassholes. And all is right with the world.
The Week for them started with a 4-2 Win at Seattle, avenging the Kraken beating them earlier a few Weeks ago. But inbetween those two Matches was an inexplicable 4-1 loss at home vs. ... San Jose? I thought all the California teams are supposed to be bad this Year. There was talk after that defeat that Kirill Kaprizov just isn't working as hard as he did last Year. Well, he got a Goal and three Assists over the BNS, so maybe he's back! Besides, right now they're tied with The Bastard Atlanta Thrashers atop the Central Division, so it's all good regardless of how much production comes out of Dolla Bill Kirill (his preferred nickname, even though Kirill The Thrill is better).
This Week they are out east: Florida and Tampa Bay in a tough back-to-back this weekend, then at The Bastard Colorado Rockies Dranksgiving.
#-6: Timberwolves (Last Week: -8). Speaking of The Athletic, Jon Krawczynski is that publication's beat writer for the Wolves. That squad, fresh off of putting on the afterburners in the Third Quarter of their 107-83 beatdown of The Bastard Minneapolis Lakers at Staples the night before, followed it up with a turgid 129-102 humiliation at the hands of the Stapes "renters," the Clippers.
Krawczynski's gamer may be an all-timer. He just ripped the entire fucking franchise a new asshole, yelling at them for their lack of execution and heart and making fun of them for again believing they summited Mount Everest after just one good Win. I have never seen a beat writer go after the subject of their beat like that in a long time, if not ever. And frankly, that gives me hope that journalism isn't dead. Sports "journalists" nowadays are so dependent on, if not thirsty for, access to the team that they often will self-censor in order to maintain that access. Krawczynski obviously didn't give a shit; he told the truth about these Timberwolves instead. That's what you call reporting.
And, frankly, the ballclub has played much better after that piece. They lost a close one to Phoenix,99-96, but that extended the Suns' winning streak to I believe ten, so ain't no stopping them now. Then the Timberwolves actually followed that up with back-to-back victories at Target Center, 107-97 over the Kings Wednesday night and 115-90 over San Antonio last/Thursday night. Maybe what this team needed was a kick in the ass.
I didn't realize that the Wolves had five Games this past screening Week. This Week will be quieter. They finish the homestand hosting The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies Saturday, jump to the Crescent City to face The Bastard Charlotte Hornets Monday, then come back up here to play Miami Wednesday.
#-7: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -4). It's a competitive Week where splitting a two-Game series gets you third from last. Such as it is, as the Gophs lost then won versus Ohio St. at Mariucci. And I just took my first look at the PairWise for this season: The U. is tenth, safely in even as an at-large. Not bad. Host Penn St. for two.
#-8: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0). Well, that was a fucking buzzkill; the team's six-Game winning streak came to a crashing, crushing end Sunday, to then-ninth-ranked Purdue, in four Sets, at home, on Alumni Day. Triple yikes. So, maybe they will finish in the Sweet Sixteen after all.
This is interesting ... tonight's/Friday night's home date vs. Rutgers is cancelled. It's because there is a rash of illnesses plaguing the Rutgers program now -- but the school says it is not related to COVID-19. I didn't know an illness that's not the coronavirus could wind up cancelling a Game. But it has, and under Big Ten rules, the Scarlet Knights forfeit and the Golden Gophers pick up a Win. I don't know how to calculate that for Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey purposes. This might change in the future, but I will just credit the forfeit/Win for next Week's survey because the Match was supposed to take place tonight/Friday night.
There is another Match scheduled this Week (for now), and it's a damn doozy. They host fifth-ranked Wisconsin in their final regular-season match at Maturi. Any chance to move up to a two-seed rests on beating the Badgers.
#-9: Gopher football (Last Week: -6). Yeah, another opportunity to break through has been lost as the Gophers fall at Iowa, 27-22 Saturday and spend another Year without Floyd of Rosedale. They lose their lead in the B1G West Division as well. They (along with Purdue) sit one Game behind both the Hawkeyes and Wisconsin for the lead. A date in Indianapolis no longer appears to be in the cards.
Oh, well. At least they visit Indiana, winless in-conference, Saturday afternoon.
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