They finish the regular season this weekend at Penn St., a club that, at least when it comes to the PairWise, is still out of the NCAA Tournament but has won nine out of their past 13 Games. They just swept the top team in the Big Ten, Michigan St. (even though one was won in a Shootout) in East Lansing. Again, Minnesota's in the tournament, but if the Nittany Lions are playing as if their tourney lives depend on it -- and they do -- the Gophs will end the regular season on a sour note.
#-1: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -7). Finally did on Wednesday they didn't do the previous screening Week: Beat beatable teams. In their only Game of the Week, they drubbed Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., by a baker's dozen (74-61). Charlie Creme still has this team in the "real" Big Dance, but will that change now that the U. (and women's basketball) has reached the end of its season? The Gophers host Washington tonight/Wednesday night, then travel to ranked Michigan St. Saturday afternoon.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -6). Finally, the regular season is done. And they finished it by sweeping Minnesota-Duluth at Ridder over the weekend, even though they were both one-Goal affairs (3-2 Friday, 1-0 Saturday). And so the pairings for the WCHA Tournament (the final one to take place at a neutral site, namely at the X) are finally set, and the U. hosts Minnesota State-Mankato this weekend in a best two-out-of-three.
#-3: Gopher softball (Last Week: -5). Could be worse ... went 3-2 in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. Getting blanked by Duke (albeit 2-0) and Mercy Ruled by Tennessee (9-1 after five Innings) isn't good, but victories over Fresno St., Missouri and Long Beach State kind of make up for that.
They now finally come home -- albeit at the Vikings stadium -- to host their own softball tournament, The Gopher Indoor Classic, this weekend. They will play North Dakota St. twice and Wagner, Miami (OH) and St. Thomas once.
#-4: Timberwolves (Last Week: -1). Picked up off the All-Star Break by losing at Houston by six, then getting outclassed by The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics at home by seven. But, and I have to give them credit here, on Monday, almost one full day after they played and lost at home, they flew down to Oklahoma City and, despite between down by as many as 25 Points in the Third Quarter, the Wolves scored the last 16 Points in regulation to force Overtime, where they continued to show their stick-to-itiveness in winning, 130-123. It ties the Minnesota Timberwolves record for greatest comeback victory ever, and it is the first time in NBA history that a team was down by that many Points (which, to emphasize, was 16) with four Minutes left in the Fourth Quarter and win -- and this was against The Best Team In The Western Conference.
What was so striking about that tilt was Chris Finch's reliance on the youngsters, namely Jaylen Clark (who started that Game against The Bastard SuperSonics), Terrence Shannon, Jr., and Rob Dillingham. They acquitted themselves quite well in this victory, which was not assured after Rudy Gobert sat out again because of his back spasms and Anthony Edwards sat out much of the Fourth-Quarter comeback because of his hamstring. At the very least, the squad now has solid proof they can win against anybody no matter how dire the situation is. Better case: The young pups now understand how to win in the NBA, and so they'll provide the injection of freshness that, combined with the experience of the rest of the team, might, just might, put them over the top.
They finish their four-Game road trip at The Team That Was Stolen From Us v.1.0, then The Bastard New Orleans Jazz (on back-to-back nights), then Phoenix. They are home for just one contest, on Tuesday versus Philadelphia.
#-5: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -3). Lost two-of-three in the Karbach Round Rock Classic in Round Rock, Tex. Dropped close Games to Oklahoma (3-2 Friday afternoon) and second-ranked Virginia (4-2 Saturday afternoon). But, on Sunday afternoon, they upset seventh-ranked Oregon St. going away, 10-4. I don't know if this is a foundation block, but you get your Wins whenever you can get them.
A three-Game set at Arizona St., then they finally open up the home portion of their schedule facing Wisconsin-Milwaukee at U. S. Bank Stadium Tuesday.
#-6: Wild (Re-Entry!). Got back from their 4 Nations Faceoff Break (inspired tournament idea, by the way, so grudging respect is given to National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman) by splitting a home-and-home series versus The Detroit Red Wings where the road team won. They still have the seventh-best record in the National Hockey League (even though it's a tie). But they need to continue to remain resilient as Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek continue to nurse injuries.
However, they are this low because of fuckin' Bill Guerin, who served as General Manager for Team USA for the 4 Nations. He wanted to court the attention of the orange asshole currently installed in the White House. Guerin praised the president for adding a "political flair" for the two 4 Nations Games between the U. S. and Canada, and I am fucking astounded that yet another person, without any prompting, just kissed that corrupt traitor's ass because he wanted his goddamn attention. Everything Trump touches dies, as you saw when Canada beat Team USA in the 4 Nations Final. Also, the Red Wings scored three Goals in last/Tuesday night's tilt after the Wild went up on them 2-0. So if this squad spirals out of playoff contention, blame Guerin for his unnecessary and grotesque fellating.
Busy Week -- at Utah and Colorado (two places that stole their hockey clubs) back-to-back, then hosting Boston, then going out to Seattle.
#-7: United FC (New Season!!). So, for the second time in ... uh, I want to say four seasons, the Loons serve as visitors for the kick-off Match for the Major League Soccer season, this time visiting LAFC, or Laugh-See. And they lost, 1-0, on a shot by Jeremy Ebobisse, the journeyman Striker who was available for MNUFC's first-ever Draft (as well as everyone else; United FC had the #1 pick in that SuperDraft). I'm not saying this is the soccer version of the Timberwolves passing up Steph Curry not once but twice to select Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn, but you can see the similarities. Anyway, the Goal was a cross-post once from just outside one corner of the box. The defender, and I don't know who it is, should have stepped up to block the shot, or least disrupt his timing. The thing I can't get over is Ebobisse launched into the kick by pulling back his kicking leg really far behind him. At that point, it's like a snake hissing before it bites. And you see kick attempts like this all the time, so why not step up once a player rears back with his leg?
So the sky isn't falling, but the Loons took the L. There are some prognosticators who are pretty bullish on United FC making some noise in the postseason. We'll see. In the meantime, they have their home opener Saturday night vs. Montreal. I, of course, will be there.
#-8: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: 0). I really thought their sweep of both Los Angeles schools in L. A. would be the booster for the rocket ship that is this program for the rest of the Year. After all, they had two middling teams, Penn St. and Northwestern, to play this screening Week, and both were playing at The Barn. And yet, goddamn, the Goofers lost both Games, by nine to the Nittany Lions and by a dozen to Northwestern. There's no getting this team, just none.
Thankfully there's only one tilt this Week, but it is at Nebraska.
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