It looks as though the WMNSS's busy season will start earlier than before. Great:
#0: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3). You want to be peaking at the right time, and I shouldn't say the U. male icers are doing that right now, but they are on a three-Game winning streak after completing a sweep of cellar-dwellers Michigan St. at 3M Saturday, then outlasting Ohio St. in Columbus last/Friday evening. Their current run of form has the club sixth in the PairWise, and barring an epic collapse, that is an almost-certain lock for the NCAA Tournament. I cannot put these guys in Positive Numbers because either I need to see them in the progress in the NCAAs or they have to win a regular season title or Big Ten championship. But they're demonstrating they're a good team.
After finishing up at the Buckeyes this/Saturday night, they'll go to Penn St. to start a two-Game set.
#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: Positive Numbers). Completed a home sweep of Bemidji St. Saturday afternoon, then started a home-and-home with St. Cloud St. by beating the Huskies yesterday/Friday afternoon, 5-3 at the Cloud. (The Huskies actually led after one period, 2-0, then ripped off five in a row.) As I have said, their schedule is now cake, so it now is all a matter of staying healthy and not slipping. They can easily fall from the top spot in the PairWise, the perch they enjoy now; that's why I'm not putting these women above negative numbers. They play the Huskies again at Ridder, then begin the final series of their regular season by beginning a home-and-home with new top-flight program St. Thomas; they'll play the Tommies at Inver Grove Heights first.
(Aside: I have noticed that the Gopher women's hockey team plays a lot of Games in the mid-to-late afternoon. I have also noticed, as I am scouring the daily schedule for men's and women's basketball Games I could hear on SiriusXM that on some days, there are a few women's b-ball contests that are played on weekday afternoons. I may have seen, like, one men's b-ball tilt that was played on, like, a Friday afternoon, and I suspect that was played at that time because it was a make-up Game that was delayed due to COVID protocols. I believe that prime time/evening slots are the ideal time to watch a Game, of any sport, either in-person or on the TV. Therefore, I think this noticeable practice of having women's basketball Games when it's highly unlikely the public would have the time and wherewithal to come and watch it is sexist. Let's be real here.)
#-2: Whitecaps (Re-Entry!). Out of sight, out of mind. I last tracked the Whitecaps on Christmas Eve. The Premier Hockey Federation still has erratic schedules where teams have Weeks-long chunks of time off. I didn't even think of looking at the 'Caps until I think I heard a quick blurb about them on National Public Radio. Then I looked up their schedule and saw they played a two-Game set against the Buffalo Beauts three Weeks ago. Whoops.
But hey, at least they swept Buffalo by a combined 9-2 score. Those two teams then met back at TRIA Rink last Week and split their two Games. They're playing better than they were at the start of the season, but they still are mired in fourth place.
They're in Toronto this weekend for two versus The Toronto Six.
#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: 0). I wonder the sailing is going to be as smooth as I thought it would be this time last Week. It started out well. I was at Minnesota's Game at Target vs. the Detroit Pistons Sunday afternoon, and they had trouble breaking away. But I was really impressed by the bench crew, in particular Malik Beasley, who was able to rain three after three, and Jaden McDaniels, who had a sequence in the Second Half where, if I recall correctly, he hit a three, made a massive Block on a Piston who got the ball off a great pass underneath the basket, then hit another three in the ensuing Turnover. Maybe the Timberwolves should have beaten Detroit by more than 13, but this is a type of Game that shows the depth a playoff team needs.
That completed a home-and-home sweep of the Pistons. They then went to Sacramento and destroyed the Kings by 20. But then Sacramento made a sizable trade with Indiana where they got Domantas Sabonis, and he made an instant impact, scoring 22 Points and and 14 Rebounds in 33 Minutes of play as the Kings beat the Wolves in the rematch, 132-119. (I see that last Week I said these two clubs were playing a home-and-home. I was wrong; they played both Matches in Sacto. I regret the error.) Then last/Friday night they lost by a dozen in Chicago.
I was a fan of standing pat at the Trade Deadline. The Wolves, believe it or not, are up against the salary cap. But it turns out this roster has some organic, genuine talent, and they appear to be settling into their roles really well. If that's the case, why would you want to trade Beasley, or Naz Reid, or even D'Angelo Russell? Well, because they saw in The Bastard Rochester-By-Way-Of-Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings the positive effects of a shake-up. They had a hole in the middle of their starting lineup, and while we need to see how they deal with the pieces they deal to Indiana, for one night at least it looked like a very smart move. I hope the Timberwolves continue to gel and improve, but I am now afraid that not making a move will prove to be not the smart move.
At said Pacers tomorrow/Sunday afternoon, then back-to-back home Games versus Charlotte and Toronto to finish the First Half of the regular season. I am going to the Hornets Game because the Timberwolves offered an upper-level ticket for six bucks!
#-4: Gopher softball (Re-Entry!). Yeah, and suddenly, softball is back. They began their season, as usual, on the road -- this time in Orlando for the CFX Classic. They started play yesterday/Friday afternoon with a 3-2 Loss to twelfth-ranked Georgia, but bounced back with a 3-1 Win over the host Golden Knights. Not for nothing, but I saw one B1G preseason poll that has the U. finishing third behind Michigan (which appears to be an overwhelming favorite in the league) and Northwestern, but I don't think they're ranked in any poll right now.
Today/Saturday they play the Bulldogs again, then throw down with Longwood. They finish their tournament Sunday morning vs. Fresno St. The Gophers then travel to Phoenix for another tournament, the Littlewood Classic. They'll have six Games there, there of which fall under the screening Week: Grand Canyon and host Arizona St. Thursday, then Texas-El Paso Friday afternoon.
#-5: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -5). Home victories over Michigan St. and Northwestern buttress a road defeat to Iowa. This squad has alternated Wins and Losses over its last six tilts. But the more surprising news may be coming from Mark Rosen, who is retired from sports television but still puts in work on The Common Man Progrum. He has heard from his sources that, possibly for the first time, there are, well, grumblings over the direction of the program under Head Coach Lindsay Whalen. The Goofs are 4-9 in-conference, 12-14 overall, and have yet to make an appearance in, I think, any tournament (NCAA or worse) since she took the helm. Now I don't want to diss her, but Jesus fucking Christ, what did you expect hiring someone who had no, absolutely zero, coaching experience? I thought this was a bad idea from the beginning, and having at best mediocre results this far into her tenure shouldn't surprise anyone. I still stick to my feeling that the athletic department wanted to set and forget that program for a while, and they hired Whalen because she's One Of Us; no one would want to oust a favorite daughter, and she likely feels she can't leave because she owes the U. for her big break. But both things can go bye-bye if she doesn't show results soon.
Hosting Rutgers Thursday.
#-6: Wild (Last Week: -1). See-see-see? This is the problem with not having Games in hand when you're hot. They now have to play them in a new and congested part of the regular season schedule, and they start off Tuesday losing for the first time in regulation in their last ten Games ... and getting shut out, too, 2-0, The Bastard Atlanta Thrashers. Remember that they were once atop the Central Division. They are now third -- for now -- and eleven Points behind The Bastard Quebec Nordiques. Sure, they have three more contests to play than them -- actually, only the New York Islanders have played fewer Games up to this point -- but as I have said before, there is a chance that this club goes through a run of bad form and bleed Points they need to actually stay in the playoff race. I am afraid that's happening now, and therefore my teeth are chattering, and that's why I have thrown these guys down here: For fear of what might happen next.
They host a good team, The Bastard Hartford Whalers, tonight/Saturday night. Detroit comes here Monday, and they play in Winnipeg again on Wednesday, and then they host another good squad, the Florida Panthers, on Friday. You see the hopscotch, cobbled-together schedule they need to make up, playing every other Day like this? It is so easy to slip into a losing streak. I fear for this team.
#-7: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: -2). A very disappointing 18-14 road Loss to unranked Purdue Sunday afternoon. Gable Steveson did his thing, putting a Technical Fall on his opponent/poor bastard, unranked Michael Woulfe, 18-2. But the Boilermakers won six out of the other nine Matches to win. Of those six defeats, the Gopher was the higher-ranked rassler in four of those matchups, the most egregious of which was 26th-ranked Cael Carson losing 3-2 to unranked Hayden Lohrey at 165.
It gets worse. Last/Friday night, for Senior Day in front of their home crowd, the 14th-ranked Goofers lost to eighth-ranked Ohio St. -- a program that was once beneath the U. -- 24-14. Like with Purdue, the Buckeyes won six of the ten Matches; they ran off five Wins in a row to put the Dual away. And like on Sunday, Gable Steveson technically fell his overmatched foe, Tate Orndorff, 19-4. As he was slated to go last, in his last Match at Maturi Pavilion, he (I presume) was showered with a standing ovation.
The U., which finished 4-6 overall and 3-5 in league play -- when was the last time the U. finished below .500? -- now get ready for the B1G Tournament in Lincoln in early March.
#-8: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -6). Lost at Iowa Sunday by a dozen even though the Hawkeyes were without their Head Coach. Worse yet, they then lost Wednesday at Nebraska by worse, a baker's dozen -- and that was the Cornhuskers' first Win in Big Ten play. Yeah-yeah, first Year, mulligan. But these young men have now lost five in a row. Hope there's a lot of culture-building going on. This week: Home to Penn St. Saturday, at Ohio St. Tuesday, then at Penn St. Thursday afternoon. It's being played in the afternoon presumably because it's a make-up date; this matchup was originally scheduled for January 19 but was postponed because of COVID-19.
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