Positive Numbers: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: 0). Hey, we know that overall, the University of Minnesota sports a good volleyball program. Final Fours are good. Truly, they are. But I'm at the point where I think it's more than due for them to win the whole goddamn thing. And whenever they fall short -- exiting before the Sweet Sixteen, for example, or getting upset despite being one of the 16 seeded teams -- I consider that to be underachieving, and they don't deserve that cushion if they haven't won an NCAA championship.
With that said, objectively, they are in the thick of the tourney right now, and the 12th-seeded Golden Gophers are playing quite well right now, and thus are worthy of getting the top spot in this Week's survey and to be elevated into Positives. Sweeping South Dakota in the First Round was a given. Stanford in the Second Round? It's very surprising to see one of the bluest of the bluebloods slumming as an unseeded squad, and thus I was fearful they could spring the upset, but the U. dispatched them in three Sets.
By seed, their run should have stopped in the Regional Semifinals, which unbeknownst to me was played yesterday/Thursday afternoon. But in a back-and-forth tussle, they finally notched an upset of their own, beating fifth-seeded Baylor -- the team they opened the season against, and a club that beat them in that opener in four -- in five. Overachievement, even if it's into the Elite Eight? I'll take it. Now, can they reach the Final Four yet again? To do that, they'll have to face the host of the Regional, fourth-seeded ... Wisconsin. A nice fuckin' border battle. Can the Gophs do what their fellow student-athletes on the football team -- as well as the Vikings, and the U. women's hockey squad (see below) -- and whip Sconnie? Match is Saturday. Win that, and the Final Four matchup in Columbus is at, I think, Thursday.
#0: Wild (Last Week: Positive Numbers). I feel bad not giving the Wild Positive Numbers, or even putting them alongside the U. volleyballers up top. The stakes of a postseason tournament are what put the volleyballers on high. Nevertheless, let us recognize the Minnesota professional hockey club for running the table this Week, beating Toronto, Edmonton and San Jose (the latter two on the road) for their eighth straight Win. They lead St. Louis in the Central Division by seven Points. And most impressive: As of press time, they have the most Points of any team in the NHL.
Because of that, I decided to buy a ticket to see this team in the New Year. I forget the exact date and the opponent; all I remember is I got enticed by the team selling these tickets without fees, which could add an extra, oh, 20% to the total cost. I jumped at the chance to see the makings of a really, really good team. How can I resist?
This Week they finish their road trip out west with Games vs. Los Angeles and Las Vegas, then come home to face The Bastard Hartford Whalers and Buffalo.
#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -6). I also give unfair short shrift to the U. female icers. All they did over the screening Week was go into Madison and sweep a series from Wisconsin, which was ranked #1 in the polls. To nitpick, however, their winning streak is at two, and if I can get real technical, Saturday's tilt ended up as a 2-all Tie; Minnesota won in a Shootout, but that technical Tie meant that they dropped a Point, so they only got five-out-of-six.
Nevertheless, they "won" both contests versus the Badgers, and they rose in the polls ... only from fifth to fourth? And Wisconsin retains the #1 spot? I don't fuckin' get that.
They end 2021 with a pair at Ridder against Top 10-ranked Minnesota-Duluth.
#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -1). OK, so the club began B1G play with a 75-67 home Loss to Michigan St. on Wednesday. This is Ben Johnson's first Year, so I don't think it's right to expect anything from this team. Nevertheless, I am heartened by the other Game this team played this Week, a gutty 81-76 victory at Mississippi St., of all places, Sunday afternoon. Payton Willis broke a 76-76 Tie with a Three-Pointer with 18 Seconds remaining, then iced it with a pair of Free Throws off a Bulldogs miss. Join that with the U.'s previous Game, a 54-53 win at Pitt which was won on a putback by Luke Loewe with 2.4 Seconds left in regulation, and you have an impressive pair of Wins over fellow BcS schools. I don't remember the last time the Minnesota men's basketball program played two fellow major programs in non-conference play, let alone won both tilts. Now, it won't matter dick if the U. doesn't reach The Big Dance, and they probably won't, but that one-two punch is still noteworthy, I think.
This aperitif of conference play ends tomorrow/Saturday evening at Michigan. They then go back to non-con for the rest of the Year, resuming such play Tuesday at Williams Arena against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
#-3: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -4). This is kind of the point in the WMNSS where I go through things quickly because 1) I don't want to talk about teams having bad Weeks and 2) I'm tired. But it's not as if a split on the road is a bad thing. The Gophs won Friday at Michigan, 5-1, and the Wolverines returned the rout the next evening, 6-2. Seven Goals for both teams? That's what you call even.
Well, look it -- they're done for the rest of the Year!
#-4: Vikings (Last Week: -7). Last/Thursday night's 36-28 "thriller" over Pittsburgh was, according to one commenter, the Vikingest Vikings Game ever. They were fucking leading 29-0 before the Steelers mounted their hellacious comeback. If you didn't have a dog in this fight, this Game was entertaining as fuck. If you were a fan of one of these teams, this was painful to watch. And both fanbases have ample evidence to demand the Head Coach be fired. When neither squad is that good, it's possible to have a Game like this, where one team (the Vikes) dominate the First Half and then, somehow, the other team dominates the Second.
And by the way, this victory doesn't erase the emasculating loss in Detroit at the hands of the then-winless Lions. They only rushed three in the last play of the Game, but the other eight defenders were told to protect the back of the End Zone, so Amon-Ra St. Brown can just tiptoe past the Goal Line and catch the ball for the winning Touchdown with no time left? The Vikes don't deserve to make the playoffs ... and yet, because they beat Pittsburgh, they're still on the fringes of the postseason picture.
Meanwhile, not only did they kick off the NFL's Week last/Thursday night, they end the league's following Week on the 20th as they visit Chicago for Monday Night Football.
#-5: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -5). Yeah, I guess we're waiting for next Year's recruits. Caught a part of this club's home Match against Nebraska while at the community center Monday. They were down big but came back in the Third Quarter to enter the Fourth down by one. However, after Kadi Sissoko's jumper in the paint gave the Gophs a 63-61 lead, the Cornhuskers put them away, led by Minnesota native Sam Haiby. And so Whalen's crew stands at 6-5 with a road date with ranked Michigan coming Sunday afternoon. Also, Ohio comes to The Barn Wednesday.
#-6: Whitecaps (Re-Entry!). Shit, man, got swept at Connecticut? I don't think that's ever happened before. And I don't think the Whale are that good. But they got routed by scores of 5-1 Saturday and 4-2 Sunday. Ick. They host Buffalo this weekend.
#-7: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). I am still encouraged for this organization's future. But any momentum gained by victories over the previous couple Weeks has been dashed because they lost all three Games this screening Week (Brooklyn, Atlanta, Utah) to extended their skid to four. They seem to be in better shape than the real dregs of the Western Conference, but most cynical Wolves observers are thinking they're reverting to their natural state with this winless Week. They host Ricky Rubio and Cleveland tonight/Friday night, then visit Portland and Denver.
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