So I am going to have to be unfair to a lot of squads. I mean, one of them is going to have to be next-to-last this screening Week. So I look at things such as overall form and how significant the Wins a team has this Week are to its postseason hopes. And when you factor in those tie-breakers, I have to put the Lynx on top again. They're the hottest club in the WNBA, running the table this Week and currently being on a six-Game winning streak. And it's not insignificant the teams they beat. They trounced the Dream, who are fighting for the final playoff spot, Tuesday in Atlanta by a dozen; they beat the hell out of the Sky, another team still alive for the postseason, at home on Friday the 13th by 17. (Aside: The three-way fight for the eighth and final playoff spot is intense. As of right now, Atlanta, Chicago, and the Washington Mystics are in a three-way tie ... albeit with a record of 13.25.) Most impressive of all, yesterday/Sunday afternoon they went into Brooklyn and bested The Best Team In The W, The New York Liberty, 88-79. Now, they basically have home-court advantage locked up ... even though the Lynx are only two Games behind, so if Minnesota wins both its remaining Games and New York loses both of its remaining, they'd be tied, and maybe the Lynx have the tie-breaker? But even if the Libs didn't care about this Match that much, Minnesota went out and won it.
The Connecticut Sun have slowed down a bit, so they are now two Games behind the Lynx, so it looks like Minnesota has second place all sewn up, which is a fantastic feat considering they've been behind the Sun for pretty much the whole season. And their Defense remains one being compared to ones in the league's history books. This team deserves Positive Numbers. And I'm getting the word out: They have a decent shot of winning the title.
They finish the regular season with contests at Connecticut tomorrow/Tuesday and home versus The Worst Team In The League, Los Angeles, Thursday.
#0: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -2). Expectations low as they are, winning conference Matches on the road is a big deal for a scuffling Golden Gopher soccer program. So I think it is notable that they traveled to Champaign on Thursday and defeated Illinois, 1-0, on a Penalty Kick by Sophia Boman in the 88th Minute. And then the squad finished their non-con by beating North Dakota St. at Robbie yesterday/Sunday afternoon also by a score of 1-0 on a 49th Minute tally by Khyah Harper, who now has nine Goals on the season.
This is the fact that pushed this U. football team over the local pro football team: At 7-1-0, they are undefeated through eight Games for the first time since 2008. That has got to mean they can bob their heads above water, at least for a little bit.
This Week: Can they keep up this nearly-unblemished pace against Michigan Thursday at home and at Wisconsin Sunday afternoon?
#-1: Vikings (Last Week: -1). I didn't give the Vikes much of a chance to beat the 49ers. I mean, they are The Defending NFC Champions -- would you? But damn, they pulled off the upset, winning yesterday/Sunday afternoon, 23-17! The big plays are what stand out to me; the Vikings picked off Brock Purdy once and recovered one Fumble (even though the Vikings returned exactly an Interception and a Fumble in kind), and there was that gorgeous 97-Yard moonshot from Sam Darnold to Justin Jefferson (with an assist, by the way, to Jalen Nailor, who was that "1P" guy with the arrow pointing out of the screen of the video game you were playing but raced down the field to screen a Niners defender so JJ could reach the far pylon and score). But it's the Defense that really told the story. Despite giving up 102 Yards rushing (and this is without Christian McCaffrey, who was put on the Injured List), San Francisco was a combined 3-for-13 in converting on 3rd and 4th Downs. If Brian Flores wasn't suing the shit out of the NFL, The New York Giants might hire him as their Head Coach in the next month.
Strange fact: The 49ers have lost their last eight Games in Minnesota, a losing streak that stretches back to 1992. And the Vikings have started a season 2-0 for the first time since 2016. (Note that Kirk Cousins was the starting Quarterback for the Vikes from 2018 till last Year.) I caught the Second Half of Houston's Win over Chicago on Sunday Night Football. They don't seem to be great shakes. The Texans come up here next Sunday. Can Minnesota, a squad no one thought would go anywhere this season (including me!) go to 3-0? Yes, they can!
#-2: United FC (Re-Entry!). I'm stealing this observation from someone on Twitter/X: The Leagues Cup has sapped such momentum from league play that I'm not sure if I care about this side right now. I haven't been to a Match since August 24. Before then, because they were eliminated in the Group Stage, they had three Weeks to twiddle their thumbs and practice. Major League Soccer took a quick one-Week International Break around Labor Weekend. And it does not help at all that the last two tilts they've played been on the road. This franchise is a rumor, and you don't want to be swept off the sports pages once the NFL gets up and running.
That being said, they won their last two Matches, both on the road, including Saturday's convincing 3-1 triumph in St. Louis. Now, City (and, before that club, San Jose), are technically the two worst teams in the Western Conference. But you have to win those Games, and win the Loons did. And because of that, they hold down the ninth and final playoff berth by five Points over Dallas and Austin. There are six Matches left, and it kind of sucks to go on the road for the Play-In Game, but considering that you can't change the mid-season swoon they had, they're in a not-bad spot.
This Week I finally get to see a team I'm paying good money to see Wednesday as they host a really good XI, FC Cincinnati. They then visit the third-worst team in the West, Sporting Kansas City, Saturday night.
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -3). Went 3-0 this Week, sweeping all three opponents, but it's not like they're playing those undefeated Penn St. teams from the past. They beat St. Thomas and then, for their Diet Coke Classic, Long Island and Auburn. These women were able to re-establish themselves after losing consecutive five-Seat Games the weekend prior, but I'm not sure that these victories prove that the U. is a really good team right now.
Next weekend the Gophers finish up non-conference action in Green Bay, where they play hosts Wisconsin-Green Bay, then North Dakota and Chicago St. It's a fall from grace to see this program decide to be a bully in some nameless volleyball tournament.
#-4: Gopher football (Re-Entry!). Note: I have made it a rule, even if I made it just now, that I will not note when these Gophers play a team from a lower division, like Rhode Island two Saturdays ago. But a Mountain West school getting left behind by more powerful ones defecting for the Pac-12, such as Nevada? Yeah, that should be noted here, as well as the result: 27-0, marking back-to-back shutouts for the Goofers.
But I don't know if that will last. They host Iowa Saturday.
#-5: Twins (Last Week: -4). I forgot to add in last Week's WMNSS Manager Rocco Baldelli's quote where, after they got swept by the Royals, he called his club's play "unprofessional baseball" and left the post-Game press conference. I'm not sure a 3-3 screening Week is going to change his mind (the Twinks won the series vs. Anaheim but lost the won vs. Cincinnati, and both were at Target). With 13 Games left in the regular season, you want to be gaining momentum, yet the Twinks have Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober, and a Bullpen that you can't trust, plus a Lineup that still isn't at full power because Carlos Correa just got back from his complicated injury.
Worse than that, the Twins are equidistant from ALWC2, the Royals, as they are from Detroit and Seattle and postseason oblivion. They're going to have to right the ship during a big and potentially fatal screening Week. They are in Cleveland for a four-Game set with the Guardians starting tonight/Monday night, then travel to Fenway Park and play a trio against Boston, a team still on the fringes of the Wild Card race, beginning on Friday. This Week could break this team.
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