#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -2). OK, maybe I was wrong about Cheryl Reeve having a post-Olympic hangover stemming from Team USA having a very unexpected challenge from France in the Gold Medal Game. They swept Washington in a home-and-home to basically pick up where they left off. Even better, while they remain third in the WNBA, they now sit only half a Game behind Connecticut for second place. (First place belongs to New York, and they're four Games ahead, so they're not gonna catch the Liberty). They keep up that Defense and do their best to hold off hard-charging Las Vegas, and they should be seen as a contender.
Speaking of said Bastard Utah Starzz-via-San Antonio, they have another home-and-home, this time with the Aces, this screening Week (there Wednesday, here Friday), then have another shot at Caitlyn Clark and Indiana Saturday night. You'll remember that the Fever came into Target Center and beat the Lynx by seven July 14 in a Game where Hawkeyes fans turned the arena into Carver North (again) and Clark may have showed up Coach Reeve for not selecting her for the Olympic team even though Clark says she's not upset.
#-2: Gopher soccer (NEW SEASON!!!). The college season normally kicks off with women's soccer, and this one will be unlike any before, with Minnesota and the Big Ten Conference annexing four Pac-10/12 schools to make for the super-conference every sports fan dreads. The U. will face both Los Angeles schools this season. But they begin this season with a 2-1 Win over Creighton at Robbie Stadium Thursday via a brace from Redshirt Freshman Forward Caroline Birdsell. This program has yet to reach the NCAA Tournament under Head Coach Erin Chastain; don't know the prospects of this team, but is this the Year?
They're easing into the season; they have only one Match this Week, and that's against St. Thomas in St. Paul Sunday afternoon. I wonder if I should go. ...
#-3: Twins (Last Week: -1). This is a harsh ranking for the Twins. Really, all three local teams had great Weeks. It's just that only the Twins lost any Games. They did go 5-2 this screening Week, and it really should've been 6-1 with a Week-ending four-Game sweep of The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0, but inexplicably Jorge Alcala, who has been pretty steady this season, cratered in the Seventh Inning, allowing five Runs to blow a 4-0 lead. Minnesota would tie it up in the top of the Ninth but lose it in ten.
That was a sizable blown chance to creep ever closer to Cleveland, who got swept in Milwaukee by The Bastard Seattle Pilots over the weekend. Still, the Twins are now only two Games behind the Guardians. (Meanwhile, Kansas City remains a Game behind Minnesota after they swept the Reds in Cincinnati.) The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman pointed this out on X/Twitter; discounting the first 20 Games or so of the season, the Twins have the best record in the league. I don't want to sound like a Pohlad Pocket Protector, and as always it only matters what this team does in the postseason. But even with their small-market mentality and their maddening unwillingness to spend nor trade big, they have managed to overachieve, and this team appears to be a standout edition of that approach, like it or not. I have to give them credit -- for now.
This Week they're in San Diego for a three-Game series versus the Padres beginning tonight/Monday night, then come back home to play a weekend trio vs. St. Louis. I wonder if I should go. ...
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