The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

I failed to notice for last Week's WMNSS that the fallow season had ended.  Gopher soccer (and since there is no men's soccer club at the U., I think, if I had not done so before, that I will refer to that squad as "Gopher soccer," since there is no need for differentiation) started last Week, so more and more teams are going to get added until the spring.

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -1).  In what may be the most pedestrian workweek a baseball team can have in the middle of their regular season, the Twins played only five Games.  Unfortunately, they went only 3-2, punctuated last/Saturday night by a 7-4 home Loss to Pittsburgh where Sonny Gray, deemed to be a prime Cy Young candidate, continued his pattern of being brilliant through five Innings, then getting dressed down in one particularly bad Inning soon thereafter.  Last/Saturday night it was the Sixth, wherein he coughed up three Runs that hung the Loss around his neck.

So why do they take the top spot in this Week's survey when the two teams below them went undefeated during their screening Weeks (although to be fair both squads played only one Game)?  They currently are five Games ahead of Cleveland in the Division.  And while I have plenty of doubts they'll contend for the World Series (even though they may be more equipped to do so this Year than in previous Years -- I might get to that some other time), after their September collapse last season, I want these guys to prove they can reach the postseason.  It's putrid competition they're facing, and the Guardians are finally falling off the face of the earth after their selling spree, but I'm getting a little more confident they'll wrap up the decision, the results of this Week excepted.

After finishing up with the Pirates this/Sunday afternoon, they have a mid-Week two-free at Milwaukee Tuesday and Wednesday.  They then immediately come home to start a four-Game series against The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0.  Texas will be stiff competition, however the Twins are in a chunk of the schedule where they play 12 of 14 Games at Target Field.  They should -- should take advantage of this.

#-2: Lynx (Last Week: -2).  They had eight Days to prepare for their only Game this Week, at Seattle on Friday.  There was no All-Star break or anything, it was just a ... break.  And in a contest you could watch for free (well, you have to buy a TV and an antenna) on ION, the Lynx held off the Storm in Seattle, 78-70.  They're now in sixth place in the WNBA, and while they are "only" three Games up on ninth-place Chicago, I am resigned to the fact that the 15-16 Lynx are going to make the playoffs and lose out on moving up in the order for The Most Target-Rich WNBA Draft Possibly Ever.  I'm not OK with that -- it is very easy to think like a CEO and decide you should nuke your roster in order to get Minnesotan Paige Bueckers, and I know the Lynx have thought about that scenario -- but I have made my peace with it.

Busy screening Week: The return date for the home-and-home vs. the Storm is this/Sunday evening.  They then have another home-and-home versus The Bastard Detroit Shock; Tuesday's is at Target Center (and my friend just got me a ticket for that!), Thursday's is in Big D.  Finally, on Saturday they will host New York.

#-3: Gopher soccer (NEW SEASON!).  Believe it or not, the Twin Cities is a fertile area for coverage of local soccer -- not just the U., but St. Thomas, Aurora, lower-level semi-pro leagues, even stories about events and the culture in the area.  I want to point out two: Sota Soccer and Equal Time Soccer.  The former concentrates on United FC, the latter exclusively covers women's soccer in Minnesota.  And they both can be supported on Patreon.

I checked Equal Time Soccer on any preview for the University of Minnesota women's soccer club, which started their 30th season Thursday.  This is where I saw women's soccer (or "woso") maven Chris Henderson's tweet that he projects the Golden Gophers to finish eighth in the Big Ten.  Not bad.  That projection might get them into the NCAA Tournament.

Their season started with a bang, taking out Niagara, 5-1, with Megan Nemec bracing.  Beating the Purple Eagles may not be much of a feat -- Niagara went to St. Paul yesterday/Saturday afternoon and got drilled by St. Thomas, 7-0 -- but hey, a Win's a Win.  This/Sunday afternoon they are at Robbie Stadium versus New Hampshire.  They then go to Milwaukee to play two Matches, the first Thursday vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee.