#-1: Gopher men's hockey (Re-Entry!). One of the two tickets I bought at the Minnesota State Fair was for the men's hockey team's Game versus Lindenwood, a private university located in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Mo., who had a storied history at the (I guess you would call it club-level) ACHA, winning four championships including last Year. Back in March, Lindenwood announced that it would upgrade its program to varsity level, competing in top-flight Division I as an independent. (It follows in the footsteps of the women's program, which has been top-flight since 2011.)
The University of Minnesota were proud opponents of the Lindenwood Lions' first-ever Games at the Division I level, held last weekend at Mariucci Arena. The first Game, on Saturday, was a 4-0 Gopher shutout. I had a ticket to the Sunday Game (which, it has to be said, I gladly would have skipped out on if the Chiefs and the Buccaneers indeed did play their Sunday Night Football Game up here instead of Tampa because of Hurricane Ian), and apparently the Lions were smarting from that Saturday ass-kicking. It was an extremely chippy contest; Lindenwood followed up its 33 Penalty Minutes Saturday with another 18 Sunday, but the Gophers responded to the cheap shots and the shit-talking with 14 of their own. Hey, what the Lions did wasn't "right," but if you're a program that upgraded to the bigtime and you know you're going to take your lumps, wouldn't you expect that you'd try and dirty up the Game a little to make it a fairer fight, and to see if the other team takes the bait and plays down to your level?
That thuggery, by the way, worked, at least up to a point. Lindenwood got its first-ever Division I Goal five Minutes into the Game (on the Power Play) courtesy of Kyle Jeffers. The Lions also got their first-ever lead at the DI level, taking a 3-2 lead on Minnesota with seven Minutes left in the Second Period on a Goal by Adam Conquest. And they were able to tie it up a minute into the Third Period on Ryan Finnegan's PP tally. But the Gophs finally were able to clinch victory on Power Play Goals by Bryce Brodzinski and Mike Koster. (All ten Goals scored in the Game, by the way, were scored by ten players -- no braces, no hat tricks.) I never felt as though the Win was in doubt, but maybe I should have. It certainly makes one doubt why Minnesota was the preseason #2.
But then last/Friday night happened, where fifth-ranked Minnesota-Mankato came to town and got poleaxed, 4-1. Many players from last Year's Frozen Four team decided to come back for One Last Ride, and that veteran presence and hunger will be key if they take it all this Year. It'd be one hell of a feat, but results like that ass-kicking over the Mavericks show that they're capable of doing it.
They complete a home-and-home tonight/Saturday night in Mankato. They then begin a two-Game series at home vs. sworn rival North Dakota beginning Friday.
#-2: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -2). I still don't fucking get this squad. They beat Iowa at Maturi Sunday in four Sets, then travel to Ann Arbor and sweep then-24th-ranked Michigan last/Friday night. But that goddamn home Loss to lowly Northwestern bothers me and haunts them. I am still not convinced this club can last till the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament. They finish the Michigan roundelay with tomorrow/Sunday afternoon at Michigan St., then return home for a pretty big contest against sixth-ranked Ohio St.
#-3: Gopher women's hockey (Re-Entry!). Started off their season curb-stomping Bemidji St. at Ridder Arena last/Friday night, 6-0. Once again, Minnesota is a program that will crush all lesser programs. The question once again comes at tournament time: Will they underachieve again and bow out before they're supposed to, like in last Year's tourney? All Games between now and then really don't matter. Nevertheless, they finish up their series against the Beavers this/Saturday afternoon, then do a home-and-home with Minnesota-Mankato beginning with the road portion Friday.
#-4: Vikings (Last Week: 0). Yes, I keep saying that you give a mulligan to a Head Coach's first Year. Still, I can see the shortcomings of an old and thoroughly overmatched group. Against the Saints Sunday in London, facing a New Orleans outfit without its star Wide Receiver (Michael Thomas) and starting Quarterback (Jameis Winston), the Vikes Defense got picked apart by, of all people, Andy Dalton. The Red Rifle was able, when it counted the most, to march the Saints down the field for a Field Goal attempt at the end of regulation that would have sent the Game into Overtime, only for Saints Kicker Will Lutz to hook it left (even though he had plenty of distance). And yet it shouldn't have come down to that. The Defense, to its credit, got forced and recovered two Fumbles. However, the Vikings Offense continued to stagnate in the Red Zone, settling for Field Goals instead of scoring Touchdowns after both Turnovers. They left eight Points on the field, meaning it should have been an eleven-Point Win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, not three.
While they're 3-1, the Vikings have so far been more lucky than good. I think their Wins are going to look more like the ones the past two Sundays, where they squeak by thanks to finding their competence a little later than they should and good breaks provided by the opponent, not the winning gameplan executed in beating Green Bay. Which probably makes tomorrow/Sunday afternoon's fight with the Chicago Bears another tight, discomfiting one.
#-5: Gopher football (Last Week: Positive Numbers). And wouldn't you know it, they did fuck it up, losing at home to Purdue, 20-10 -- and on Homecoming, too! The Offense completely derailed as Tanner Morgan got intercepted thrice. (By the way, it's the first time they've lost to the Boilermakers since 2017.)
This hurts a lot more than it usually would because of the huge opportunity that lays before this squad. The two traditional powers in the Big Ten West (aside: Conferences are so big that meeting some fellow conference members have fallen into such infrequency that Divisions within the Conference matter much more than the Conference itself) are Iowa and Wisconsin. Well, Iowa can't seem to score if you give them the ball at the one-foot line, and Wisconsin just blindside-fired their Head Coach, Paul Chryst, Sunday night (I saw the news while scrolling through Twitter at the Gopher men's hockey Game). The Division, and a date in Indianapolis for the B1G Championship game, are there for the taking. All the Gophs have to do is take advantage, and yet they come up woefully short against a probably mediocre Purdue club.
So now the B1G West is up for grabs. Yes, the U. still has a chance, even a solid one. But could the title return to the tradition bluebloods, the Hawkeyes or the Badgers? Could Purdue sneak in and take it? Or how about, of all teams, Illinois, who seems invigorated under first-Year Head Coach Bret Bielema, who went up to his old stomping grounds of Madison, Wisc., last Saturday and humiliated his old team so much that they decided to can Chryst the next Night? The Fighting Illini is Minnesota's next foe, by the way, on the 15th. P. J. Fleck & Co. have two Weeks to gameplan against what could be the Division favorite.
#-6: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -1). A 2-1 defeat at then-23rd-ranked Wisconsin on Sunday extends the side's losing streak to three. They're 5-1-7 -- yeah, no tournament for this XI. Host Iowa tomorrow/Sunday afternoon, then visit Rutgers Thursday.
#-Infinity: Twins (Last Week: -Infinity). It doesn't matter how they finished up their season. After spending the first half of the season in first place in the American League Central, they finish in third place with an utterly forgettable record of 78-84. They also finish 14 Games behind first-place Cleveland. Don't forget: At the end of Labor Day, they were tied with the Guardians in first place. Now, again, Cleveland has caught fire. But the Twinks did not, and now they have so many replacement-level players on their roster (at least I think so) that a fan doesn't know where they should begin to improve.
But hey, at least Luis Arraez won the American League batting title! He prevented Aaron Judge from getting the Triple Crown, which is even better. (And by the way, all the cut-ins to see Judge chase down Roger Maris for the A. L. Home Run record were pretty fucking gratuitous. First of all, steroid-riddled Barry Bonds, like it or not, holds the record for most HRs in a season. And second, and probably more pernicious, if Judge were a Twin, ESPN wouldn't be cutting into broadcasts to show his at-bats, and no one would be lauding him for surpassing Maris when Major League Baseball recognizes the professional level, both leagues record of 73 Homers, not Maris's 61. Fucking Yankees bias.)
At any rate, Arraez is a keeper. So is Jhoan Duran. I don't know if Carlos Correa is going to opt out and play the field. But he had enough of a down Year where I wonder if the Twins would welcome him back if he did opt out, but if he does come back, he's a cornerstone. Joe Ryan, Gio Urshela, maybe Sonny Gray, maybe Gary Sanchez, maybe Kenta Maeda? That's eight players the Twins could build around ... and yes, that doesn't include Byron Buxton, whose load was managed and yet he was still fucking shut down before the regular season was over. The Goal by management was for Buxton to play 100 Games. He got to 92. Oy. The public stopped giving a shit about these guys around Labor Day. I wonder if people will give a shit about them on Opening Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment