#-1: Timberwolves (Last Week: -1). Overall, this has been a relatively shitty screening Week for Twin Cities sports. But this might be the first time in a long time that the top spot goes to the local NBA club ... in which said club, the T-Wolves, legitimately earned this position. They are doing so by making hay against a soft part of their schedule, but of course past Wolves teams haven't been able to win against such squads. Even then, last/Friday night's inexplicable 118-110 Loss in Orlando harshes many a mellow.
But that can't quite undermine what this team earlier in the Week: A two-Game home sweep of the reeling, soon-to-be-rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers followed by a 30-Point ass-kicking at Target Center of The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics. (By the way, I remember talk about OKC "being different" and bucking usual trends by always being a contender when they were initially moved. Most people felt that as a small-market club, they would have many, many long periods where they would be retooling, many more seasons than at a larger market such as, oh, Seattle. "No, that's not gonna happen! We have Durant, and Westbrook, and sure we may have had to trade Harden, but we're getting role players that'll keep us in contention every Year!" bastard Sonics brass said. Well, only The Bastard San Diego Rockets have a worse record in The Association and it doesn't seem they've bottomed out yet, so I ask: Wouldn't this team have been better off staying with the good people of Seattle?) They remain stubbornly in seventh, mostly because the team in front of them, the Denver Nuggets, have won eight-of-ten, but again, it wasn't too long ago that being part of the Play-In was considered a pipe dream.
By the way, people are raving about the atmosphere at Target Center. I think any arena comes alive with fans when the team they're cheering on is good. There have always been Timberwolves fans. They haven't cared enough to show up because the squad that squats there haven't given them a reason to show up ... until now.
They mosey on down from Central to South Florida to take on the Miami Heat a day after their six-Game winning streak (their longest streak of that many Games in 18 seasons) was snapped. They then touch down in San Antonio Monday before flying home and hosting The Team That Was Stolen From Us v.1.0 on Wednesday.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: Positive Numbers). After crushing Minnesota-Duluth 5-1 Saturday, they lost the WCHA Final Faceoff, er, Final to Ohio St. in Overtime the next afternoon, 3-2. I am not too crushed about it when it comes to the overall picture; that defeat put the Gophs behind the Buckeyes as the top two seeds in the NCAA Tournament, so by seed, they are expected to meet in the final on the Penn St. campus anyway. However, it's never good to lose at home when you're hosting your conference's tournament. More worrying, the U. had a two-Goal lead and they blew it. Maybe Head Coach Brad Frost told his troops to throttle down the effort and save that energy for when it really counts. That's smart. Or ... Ohio St.'s a better team. That's scary.
By the way, I didn't know until I looked at the bracket Sunday night that they expanded the tournament field. It's been eight for Years. It should still be eight. But now it's ... eleven? Yeah, it's eleven teams, and so the bracket is this unbalanced, monstrous-looking thing that seems half-formed, kind of like seeing a stillborn chick in a cracked-open egg. I mean, there are five seeded teams, yet only the top three had to wait until Thursday to find out their opponent? Besides, I don't remember a bunch of new teams now playing top-fight women's college hockey. I love the sport, but it ain't growing like that.
Anyway, the U. begins the tourney in earnest this/Saturday afternoon against ... the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, also at Ridder, just like they did this time exactly a Week ago. In fact, it's a Week and an Hour: Those two played last Saturday at 1, and they'll drop the puck for this contest at 2. Win that -- fingers crossed -- and they play either third-seeded Northeastern or ... unseeded and defending champion Wisconsin in the Semifinal on Friday.
#-3: United FC (Last Week: -2). I was looking forward to Saturday's home opener against Nashville SC. I even blogged about how it was going to be a centerpiece of my day. But ... well, first I was shitting like crazy for a big part of the day; I think it was the Caribou mocha I got. And then the storm, which was a type of storm people south of us usually get, with its vicious mix of rain, sleet and ice, blew through, and it settled upon Allianz Field right when the Match started at 5.
It was a joyous occasion regardless. The crowd was back, in full force, for the first time in two Years. But then there was a defensive breakdown and the Loons conceded a Goal, like, within the first five Minutes. And then you could see the sheets of precipitation passing in front of the stadium lights.
And then a sight I had never seen happened. Early in the Second Half, around the 50th Minute, the Referee blew his whistle, jogged toward the Touchline, and frantically waved everybody on the pitch off it. Then the announcement came: The Match had been halted because of lightning in the area, and for our safety, everybody should get off their seats and head to the concourse. Lightning? In early March? In what looks like a winter snowstorm? Well, come to think of it, because of climate change, shit yeah that could happen. And honestly, the weather forecasters said that there could be lightning coming with this storm. But still, it was jarring. And it fucked up my plans, because I was having ******a come over to rub me down at a certain time after I got home from the tilt. Frankly, the weather wasn't going to get better; it was going to get colder, convert to ice, then convert to snow. The longer I stayed at the Game, the worse the weather was going to get. So, even though I hate leaving Matches early, shortly after that announcement, I decided it was best for me to leave. I actually got home early enough to have ******a come over earlier than we scheduled, and my massage was great. Meanwhile, that Match was delayed 70 Minutes. I made the right choice.
And I made it even though I missed Hassani Dotson's equalizer in the Second. It was off a Corner Kick, and apparently, for all their consistent play punching above their weight, Nashville SC has gotten a reputation for being leaky on Set Pieces. That eventually gave MNUFC a Draw and a Point, as many such Draws and Points in as many Matches. Are we happy with that?
They're on the road to face the Red Bulls in New Jersey tonight/Saturday night.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -5). After their recent form I was actually dreading going to the Mild's Game vs. the New York Rangers back on Tuesday, a Game I bought a ticket for back in January. They had just come off an emasculating defeat by The Bastard North Stars (again, fuck them for stealing our history) and were in precipitous freefall.
But instead they turned in what appeared to be their best performance in a while. They skated out to a 2-0 lead after the First Period. They then choked on that lead, allowing two Rangers Goals in a bad way. The second one was on a Wild Power Play; a Turnover had Mats Zuccarello trying and then falling over ass backwards to defend against an onrushing Mika Zibanejad, who deked past Cam Talbot for the Game-tying Goal. It looked as though the fragile Mild was going to piss this one away. But then, in the same PP, Kevin Fiala (I think) sniped in a Goal to take back the lead, and then Minnesota deposited two more later in the Second Period, and they were able to skate away with a 5-2 victory. That was a show of resilience this club, frankly, hasn't demonstrated in Weeks now.
That was followed up by a Shootout Win in Detroit Thursday -- one, however, in which the Wild had to come back from a deficit. Signs of vulnerability there. And then came last/Friday night's Shootout Loss in Columbus. It is not one step forward, one step back for this crew, which is slightly better than the fall down a lengthening set of stairs these guys were on a screening Week ago. Moreover, they're only a Point behind St. Louis for second in the Central Division. Go figure.
Light schedule but a portend for the near future staring this Week. They host Nasvhille tomorrow/Sunday and Boston Wednesday. Those are the first two Games of a nine-Game homestand; they're making up for ceding the Xcel Energy Center for the Boys' (and really also the Girls') State High School Hockey Tournaments. If home cooking's any salve for this squad, it better happen starting now.
#-5: Gopher softball (Last Week: -3). I should be putting this team up ahead of Mild; by principle, whenever the Mild lose to The Team That Was Stolen From Us, I knock them down a peg more than I usually would. But I'm looking at this ballclub's schedule from the past Week, and it's both weird and, ultimately, demoralizing.
They played seven Games. (They were supposed to play an eighth, last/Friday night versus Texas, hosting the Bevo Classic the U.'s participating in right now, but it got postponed.) Three Wins sandwich a four-Game losing streak. One of those Losses, the first Game of a Doubleheader Wednesday at eighth-ranked Oklahoma St., was a ten-Inning affair. The second Game was a laugher, 7-0 in favor of the Cowgirls. The Goofers were mercy-ruled in the other two defeats: A 9-1 beatdown at #1-ranked Oklahoma Monday in five, and more disconcerting, an 11-3 crushing in six, at Stillwater, Okla., to Stanford, a team that got votes but is not in the Top 25. Their Wins, by the way, were over DePaul, Tulsa, and Nicholls St. (whom they walloped 17-9 in six.) Some extreme Games there, but ultimately it adds further evidence that this team cannot hang with the big girls this Year. And I don't know if it's going to get any better.
They have three or four more Games in Austin, Tex. (I see that a rematch against the Nicholls St. Colonial scheduled for tomorrow/Sunday morning has been cancelled for some reason ... ?) And that's it for non-con play. They'll begin B1G play at Rutgers for a three-Game series beginning Friday.
#-6: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -4). I keep saying there are worse ways to spend your waking days than at a baseball Game. Why not three, and who cares if it's indoors, in winter, the day after a vicious storm that dropped rain, sleet, ice and (overnight) eventually almost four inches of snow, in a football stadium?
That's where I was: At U. S. Bank Stadium seeing the final three Games of the Cambria College Classic. I am proud to say I saw all three. The first was OK: West Virginia had a chance to rally in the seventh but lined into a rally-killing Double Play, the Michigan St. Spartans broke it open late to win, 9-3. The second Game was the best of the three. There were six lead changes between Kansas and Illinois. The Jayhawks hit a Grand Slam, then tied the Game at seven as they beat (I say "they" only because I don't know the players' individual names) out a Double Play turn-two that plated the tying Run, then in the Ninth some dude who had to come off the bench because the starter got pulled early hit a three-Run Home Run to left-center to beat the Illini, 10-7.
The nightcap was Minnesota versus Notre Dame. I doubt this Goofers Nine is scant better than last Year's debacle, and Notre Dame was ranked twelfth in the polls, but they had their chances in a 3-1 defeat. It's just that the Starting Pitcher for the Fighting Irish, Austin Temple, was dealing, striking out nine Minnesota batsmen before leaving after the Seventh Inning. Have no idea if Temple is considered a pro prospect, but he sure looked like one Sunday night.
The host Gophs went 1-2 in the CCC, beating the Jayhawks the night before, 8-1, but losing in Friday's opener to the Mountaineers (ranked 25th at the time), 5-4. But they added two more Losses at Das Bank, however, losing to North Dakota St. (!!!) 5-2 Tuesday, then beginning their three-Game set with Air Force last/Friday night with an 8-7 setback. They're 4-9 right now.
After finishing up with the Falcons, they go to Omaha, Neb., to play three against Creighton starting on Friday.
#-7: Whitecaps (Re-Entry!). Shit, man, what the fuck happened to the Whitecraps? Champions their inaugural season in the NWHL/PHF, losing in the Isobel Cup Final the second Year, and now next to last after getting swept at home by the Connecticut Whale over the weekend? I know there isn't much coverage of this squad, but someone's got to know what is going on with this team.
The only saving grace I can say is that, in answering my question from an early WMNSS, all six teams in the Premier Hockey Federation reach the playoffs; it's that the top two teams get a bye. That certainly won't happen with Minnesota, who finish up their regular season this weekend at the Metropolitan Riveters for a two-Game series.
#-Infinity: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -6). Finished their Year losing at Northwestern by 13. That sewed up last place in the Big Ten. The last time the University of Minnesota finished dead last in the league was Clem Haskins's first Year. They then stumbled into the First Round of the B1G Tourney and promptly stumbled out of it, and ending their season, with a 60-51 Loss to Penn St. As they did sometimes during the regular season, the Golden Goofers were leading at Halftime. As often was the case this regular season, the Golden Goofers were outrebounded -- in this Match, 30-22.
Yeah, mulligan, mulligan, mulligan. But again, my perception over this team is warped by the rah-rahing in some parts of Twitter. They fawn over seeing how Ben Johnson is instituting a "culture of winning" around this club, and they could see the growth of players and this squad over the course of the season. Let's pump the brakes here. Yes, maybe it was time to move on from Richard Pitino. But in ten Years here, he never faced a scandal involving his players (there was that thing where he used company travel for personal gain, or something). And even though it's Johnson's first Year, in Pitino's first Year, he got the U. to the NIT championship ... which is nothing, but he also did win one NCAA Tournament Game. There are some things Pitino accomplished, so it is not factual that there was culture of losing here. They might not have won enough, and Pitino's main flaw was failing to keep much of the state's bumper crop of blue-chip players in Minnesota, but there are critics shoveling dirt on the previous regime based on exaggerations, if not outright lies.
You don't have to tear down Pitino to build up Johnson. Besides, Johnson has now used up his mulligan. He now has to prove himself.
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