Positive Numbers: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -5). OK, I am impressed. In a clash of #2 versus #3, the Gophers (they're the ones ranked second) went into Ann Arbor and swept the NHL prospect-laden Michigan Wolverines -- and by three-Goal margins (5-2 Thursday, 6-3 last/Friday night). The Gopher have had some setbacks that make me question how talented they can be. But then I see these results and I have to believe the sky is the limit. A road sweep of the third-ranked team in the nation? Sorry, Vikes, but that is very worthy of the top spot in the WMNSS and Positive Numbers.
They begin a two-Game set at Arizona St. and that new Mullett Arena -- the place where The Bastard Winnipeg Jets are squatting in -- beginning on Friday.
I was at work. Even despite all the injuries to the Buffalo Bills, I thought they would beat our Vikes in a low-scoring affair, especially when I heard at the start of the Game that Josh Allen was going to start. My plan at work was to listen to the opening drives. If at that point, or some other point shortly thereafter, the Vikings trailed, I would go to SiriusXM and listen to NFL whiparound coverage on their SiriusXM NFL Radio channel, which is great because you will get to hear a lot of impending touchdown drives. (Miss this for television coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, but I digress.)
So, as is their custom this year, Minnesota falls behind some time in the Second Quarter, and that's when I bail and open up satellite radio. They didn't go back to them for a long time, but the first thing I heard of the Vikings/Bills Game while listening to the whiparound was Dalvin Cook's long Touchdown run. OK, they've still got some fight in them, but they were still down by two scores, so I didn't hold out much hope.
But then they got to The Drive That Started It All -- the one that the Vikings needed to take the lead, the one with The Catch to Justin Jefferson that, even though it was 4th & long, Paul Allen (IMHO) underplayed it (and, to be honest, I still think Odell Beckham, Jr.'s catch was better when it comes to individual virtuosity), and the one where Kirk Cousins got stopped at 4th & Goal from the, like, 1/2-Yard line. Once he got stopped, I knew they were going to lose. But then ...
... oh, I can't embed Allen's Fumble from his own Goal Line that the Vikes recovered for the go-ahead TD? Cool, cool. So that was, frankly, ridic. But they still had time, and I listened (on SiriusXM) Allen calmly shred the Vikings' Defense for the Game-tying Field Goal, and I just welled up with rage inside for fucking up an all-time gift from the gods by allowing Buffalo to tie this thing with less than a Minute left. That was when I for sure thought they were going to lose, and that's when I turned the radio off and left work. See, as great at this all-time tilt was, that the Vikings couldn't put the Bills away at this point is another big reason (besides the Golden Gopher men's hockey team sweeping third-ranked Michigan on the road) they don't get the top spot in this Week's survey ... if we're gonna nitpick.
I assiduously avoided all media (TV, radio, Internet social) about the final score of the Game at least until I got my handjob from ******e, but she ghosted me. Eventually I had to do something besides look up at the ceiling from my bed, so that's when I grabbed my phone and looked at Yahoo! Sports and saw that ... the Minnesota Vikings won in Overtime??? THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS WON IN OVERTIME!!! Get the fuck outta here! They scored a FG but ended the Game with an Interception in the End Zone by Patrick Peterson?!?!?! That is the craziest fucking ending ever! Yeah, I regret not seeing it or watching it now that I know my team won!
So maybe this team is special. Maybe this Vikings edition just needed a Head Coach who could put them in the right positions to succeed and believe in them. Maybe these guys know how to win ... and win they will up through the Super Bowl. Or, they'll have a massive letdown after that historic Game tomorrow/Sunday afternoon at home vs. Dallas.
#-1: Gopher football (Last Week: -4). Crushed spiraling Northwestern, 31-3. Projections keep them on a direct hit towards the Pinstripe Bowl. Yeah, this squad's dream of playing at Yankee Stadium are still on its way! But they first have to get past Iowa, who are winning Games despite gaining only, like, a dozen Yards on Offense, this/Saturday afternoon. Do it for the pig!
#-2: Timberwolves (Last Week: -9). A 2-0 screening Week with the Wins over Cleveland and Orlando. Bonus points for those victories being on the road. But MinnPost's Britt Robson grabbed a stat from Basketball-reference.com that's very disturbing: At the time between the Wins over the Cavaliers and the Magic, the Timberwolves have played the third-easiest schedule in the NBA, and yet they were 6-8 (7-8 now after topping Orlando), and they're out of playoff position right now. It's a start summary of the underachievement we have so far witnessed. Maybe this Week will be a turnaround. But it'll be a busy Week -- at Philadelphia this/Saturday evening, home to Miami Monday, then at Indiana Wednesday and at Charlotte Friday. By the way, read Robson's piece, which is not behind a paywall. It's a reader Q&A, and Robson has been on the Timberwolves beat for Years and is very, very good at it.
#-3: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -2). Needing a buzzer-beater to beat Lehigh at home (and they were trailing by a Point) is not a sign of a healthy program. But fuck it, Mara Braun saved the team's bacon by draining the last three of her 34 Points (second-most by a Freshman in Gopher women's b-ball history) in dramatic fashion:
And then they go and lose at North Dakota St. by six. Great.
Host Presbyterian tomorrow/Sunday afternoon.
#-4: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -3). I have always said that you give a mulligan to a team with a first-Year Head Coach. That means that, although you don't have to expect them to win a title, improvement in the second Year is a reasonable goal. So it was very dispiriting to see Ben Johnson's young men get wiped off the Williams Arena floor Monday night (69-53 as part of the Big Ten/Big East Gavitt Games series) against a DePaul program that has been on the mat for decades. It is even more disillusioning to see them in-person because I bought a ticket, and because I witnessed this trauma, I am placing them below the women's U. team despite both sporting matching 1-1 Weeks.
The Blue Devils were led by a pair of beasts, Javan Johnson (20 Points, eight Rebounds) and Eral Penn (14 boards, ten Points), and the Goofs were massacred on the glass, 48-32. Less of a factor though plenty embarrassing: While Minnesota had 23 Free Throw Attempts to DePaul's eight, they missed ten of them. Again, making all of them would have resulted in a six-Point Loss instead of a 16-Point one, but seeing those missed FTs is a bad sign that we can rightly blame Johnson for not cleaning up. And no, beating Central Michigan Thursday doesn't help, especially when you only defeat the Chippewas by eight.
They participate in the low-rent SoCal Challenge at San Juan Capistrano, Calif. next week. They play what I guess is a new school to top-flight college basketball, California Baptist Monday, then play either the championship or the consolation Game Wednesday.
#-5: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -1). Swept non-descript Indiana at home Sunday, but lost in four at Penn St. last/Friday night. Look, it's getting very late in the season, and it's obvious that Hugh McCutcheon's last Year at the helm at the U. is going to end with a desultory Sweet Sixteen elimination, so I don't hold out much hope that this club can turn things around.
They'll sweep Rutgers tomorrow/Sunday afternoon, then lose handily at fifth-ranked Ohio St. Friday.
#-6: Whitecaps (Last Week: -8). Honestly, that Whitecaps club that won its charter Year is a complete thing of the past. They began their first home series of the season (in their new digs, the Richfield Ice Arena) last/Friday night with a 2-0 Loss to Boston. They've got a Point, but they're still winless. Unfortunately there still isn't enough journalism covering this team (nor the Premier Hockey Federation) to uncover why they've been crap for the past one-plus seasons. Oh, well. One more versus the Pride, then they're off a couple Weeks.
#-7: Wild (Last Week: -6). This sorry-ass squad is 17 Games into this season and they're now facing their second embarrassing losing slump. They went winless this Week: A Shootout Loss at home to San Jose, a road defeat to Nashville, and then a 6-4 setback at the X to Pittsburgh. The first two Losses are really bad because both the Sharks and the Predators aren't very good. Well, so are the Mild. Their Forward corps is mostly in traction, and now Tyson Jost was put on waivers yesterday in the hopes the First Round pick becomes a two-way player, which means the organization can shed some money as he's down in AAA Iowa. But hey, they're only one Point off of a playoff spot!
That Loss to the Penguins kicked off a seven-Game homestand. This Week they've got The Bastard Hartford Whalers, The Bastard Atlanta Thrashers, and Toronto. Will this home cookin' cure what ails them? Because they have a shitty home record right now, and a fanbase that (deservedly) will turn on them if they're not playing well.
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