The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Gopher softball (Last Week: 0).  Finished the regular season by sweeping Michigan at Cowles, 2-0.  The third-seeded Gophers had to survive their first Game of the B1G Tourney Thursday, outlasting Ohio St. in eight Innings, 3-2.  But the underdog run some bracketologists (and I think I found at least one other person who does bracketology in softball, so that makes two) predicted came to an end the next afternoon as they were stopped by second-seeded Indiana, 5-3.  (The Hoosiers in turn lost to top-seeded Northwestern in yesterday/Saturday afternoon's Championship Game.)  No worries, for the most part.  It appeared as though they were going to be a 2-Seed in some Regional for some time, and their run to seed in the tournament probably didn't change that.  Oh well.  We'll see where they go, and we'll hope that they have an upset in them that gets them to the following Week's Super Regional.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -1).  The thing currently plaguing this ballclub right now is hitting.  They're not, Carlos Correa more than the others (or least he's taking the heat the most out of any Twin).  They broke out the sticks yesterday/Saturday afternoon in beating the Cubs at Target, 11-1, but it's the first time they reached double-digit Runs since April 19.

That Win got the Twinks to 3-3 for the Week.  They started Sunday losing a rubber Match in Cleveland, then won two-of-three at home versus San Diego (themselves a squad being assailed for not hitting with Runners In Scoring Position), and have so far split with the Cubbies with this/Sunday afternoon's tilt being the decider.  And still they hold a not-narrow lead in the A. L. Central, namely 3 1/2 Games over the Guardians.  And Minnesota remains the only team in that Division above .500.  I don't think this team is all that good, and they're definitely not playing great right now, so lording over this dungheap of a Division is ... bemusing, to say the least.

After finishing up at Target Field, they'll go out to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers for three beginning tomorrow/Monday night.  They'll then hit Orange County to play The Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Angels Of Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Angels Of ... for a trio starting on Friday.

#-3: Vikings (Re-Entry!).  Forgot to talk about the Vikings NFL Draft haul.  Well, there's not much to say.  I like that they drafted Jordan Addison only because he's from my alma mater.  But other than that, meh.  They should have gone Defense, I really do.  Some people think the talent dropoff in Wide Receiver after Addison was steep.  Some other people think finding a complement to Justin Jefferson (and, don't forget, T. J. Hockenson) was a priority.  I think they're wrong.  Now, if Addison wins Offensive Rookie Of The Year, I'll admit I'm wrong.  But I'm sticking to my guns here.

Meanwhile, they had a relative paucity of draft picks compared to normal years, so it's not a normal haul of fresh, cheap talent that can help replace an old, cash-strapped team.  They still need to shed salary.  They started doing that Friday night when they traded disgruntled Edge Za'Darius Smith to Cleveland; the two teams traded a couple of Day 3 picks to balance out the deal.  Meanwhile, I keep hearing that Dalvin Cook is as good as gone.  This team is going to look hella different.

#-4: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -2).  Couldn't complete the sweep of Michigan at Siebert Field last Sunday, losing 4-1.  Starting a three-Game set at 19th-ranked Maryland Friday by winning a slugfest, 10-7, but lost in a one-sided affair yesterday/Saturday evening, 14-5.

It is possible that they sneak in to the Big Ten Tournament, which takes only the top eight teams.  But they have no margin for error.  They've got to beat the Terrapins this/Sunday afternoon, and they're gonna have to sweep a pretty decent Rutgers outfit for the last series of the regular season, which is at home and will begin Thursday and end Saturday.  Plus they'll probably need Michigan St. or Purdue to have a bad Week.  Otherwise, it's curtains for the Golden Gophers this time next Week.  (Oh, and to give the benchwarmers some playing time, the U. hosts South Dakota St. Tuesday.)

#-5: United FC (Last Week: -3).  Got drilled last/Saturday night at Kansas City, 3-0, in what may have been the worst Match these Loons have played (or "played") since their TCF Bank days.  Adrian Heath trotted out a 3-5-2 formation against SKC.  They don't have the horses to pull off Heath's pet 4-2-3-1 formation until Emanuel Reynoso gets back on the pitch.  But the players looked lost, if not completely disinterested, as the ass-kicking on the scoreboard indicates.  I was watching on Apple TV+.  I have a rule to turn off any Game I'm watching on TV or listening to on the radio until the team playing my team takes the lead, at which point I turned it off.  Sporting Kansas City scored in the Ninth Minute and I watched something else.  As always when it comes to loser Twin Cities teams, doing that is a smart move.

And that may not have been the worst result for MNUFC this screening Week.  It could've come Wednesday -- and that's a Game they won.  In their U. S. Open Cup Round of 32 Game at home vs. the Philadelphia Union, United FC built a 2-0 lead, only to blow it and be taken by the Union into Added Extra Time at 2-all.  That second Union Goal, by Kai Wagner, came with seconds to go in regulation.  The Loons scored in the First Half of AET (Bongokuhle Hlongwane's second of the Match), but Philly tied it up with seconds to go in the Second Half of AET on a Free Kick by Kai Wagner.  And to (sorta) square the circle, the two clubs had to go to Added Penalty Kicks before MNUFC Goaltender Clint Irwin (this is only the U. S. Open Cup, so Dayne St. Clair ain't playin' this) blocked the PK by ... Kai Wagner.  I was looking at my phone during PKs.  Fuck, man, I was scrolling through my phone once the Union tied it up at 2.  I was distracting myself from thinking, "Yep, I wasted my goddamn money on this bullshit."  And I am right.  They didn't deserve to win that Game.  They deserved to lose that Game.  And pulling that fucking Match off still exposed the Loons as the underwhelming frauds that they are, as last/Saturday night attests.

Bebelo can't come back soon enough.  In the meantime, United FC, who has lost five of their last six league matchups (and that other contest was a scoreless Draw) continue a busy part of their schedule.  On Wednesday they host Houston, and then on Saturday they travel to Portland.