#0: Vikings (Re-Entry!). OK, yesterday/Sunday afternoon's gut punch Win in Seattle was pretty fucking impressive. I was shopping for groceries, getting my sis lottery tickets, and washing my parents' minivan during a second half where the Seahawks climbed back into the Game and then took the lead. As a fatalistic Vikings/Minnesota sports fan, I was totally prepared to hear that the Vikes lost; it just goes with the territory, you know? And yet, goddamn, Kevin O'Connell, Sam Darnold, and Justin Jefferson took the team on a Game-winning drive that culminated with a Darnold-to-JJ Touchdown Pass that put the Vikings ahead for good.
It was a resilient victory over a game opponent in a situation where too many times before this franchise would just come up short. While I can nitpick (they are playing a third-place schedule, and this organization has historically yo-yoed depending on the strength of the schedule), not too often do you see these Vikings beat a good foe on the road, especially in Seattle. My goodness, they're tied with Detroit atop the NFC Central with a 13-2 record. O'Connell is the first Head Coach in franchise history to lead the Vikings to two 13-Win seasons ... and he's done it in his first three seasons as HC. I'm not totally believing, but more parts of me are getting on the bandwagon, if you know what I mean.
Now, there are still two Matches left in the Year. First up is a crucial one at home versus Green Bay Sunday afternoon. But these Vikings have shown they can come up with the crucial play when the situation calls for it, so I'm not ruling the club out. Gosh, could these guys ... actually win it all?
With all the being said, while they obviously take the top spot in the WMNSS, I'm not putting them in Positive Numbers only because the rest of the sports scene had lackluster results, and none of the other squads that played over the last Week deserve 0. Even ...
#-1: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -2). ... the U. of M. women's basketball team, who finished up their non-conference schedule by beating the shit out of Prairie View A&M Friday afternoon, 96-57. Hope the check for the bodybag Game was worth it, because it proved nothing about your team's strength. Hosting Penn St. Saturday afternoon, however, will.
#-2: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -5). Beat Farleigh Dickinson, only the second school ever to defeat a #1 Seed in the NCAA Tournament while being a #16 Seed, at Williams Saturday, 74-60. I can't help but think that if the Gophers were a better team, they would've beaten the Knights by a larger margin. Anyway, they have one final chance to feel good about themselves Sunday afternoon, when they finish up the non-conference portion of their schedule hosting Morgan St.
#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: -1). OK, now's the time to panic. They had only two Games this screening Week, both of them were at home, and they were not competitive in either one. On Thursday, Karl-Anthony Towns came back to the team that made him and he and the New York Knicks (with former Wolves Head Coach Tom Thibodeau in tow) embarrassed the Two Elves, 133-107. Then on Saturday, they were playing catch-up all Game and fell to The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors, 113-103.
Any problems that could be ironed out to prove that the club has been able to adjust to new personnel should have been solved by now. The Wolves are not an excellent team right now, and they just might not be a great team, either. And they have slipped back down to tenth in the West. Like I said, it is time to get seriously worried about the Timberwolves.
It is a privilege to be one of the ten teams selected to play on Christmas. They will do so in the afternoon at Dallas. That is the middle of a three-Game road trip that starts in Atlanta tonight/Monday night and concludes Friday night at Houston. They then come home Sunday to host San Antonio.
#-4: Wild (Last Week: -3). Shit, man. You could say what happened to the Mild. Then again, they are still under an onerous salary cap deficit and no one predicted they would even be in the playoffs this Year. Still, it is injuries that are biting this squad hard right now, as evidenced by them getting totally wiped out this Week, losing at home to Florida and The Bastard Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix-Arizona Coyotes (both at home) and at The Bastard Atlanta Thrashers. They once tied with Winnipeg for most Points in the NHL; as of now, five teams have more Points and two are tied with the Mild. Oh, and they've lost five out of their last six. But like I said, maybe they are who we once thought they were.
This Week: Home dates with Chicago and Ottawa bookend a trip Friday vs. The Bastard North Stars.
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