The only reason I can't put this team about negative numbers is because New York remains perfect as well. And they're pretty fuckin' badass again this season. Commissioner's Cup Games started Sunday, which was when the Liberty annihilated Connecticut, get this, 100-52. Put aside how much of a Borg-like juggernaut you have to be to do that: I believe total Point Difference is the first tie-breaker in determining who hosts the Commissioner's Cup Final, so if New York and the Lynx are destined for a rematch of last season's cup Final, it once again will be held in Brooklyn.
In the meantime, the Lynx, after beating Phoenix last/Tuesday night, are off until Sunday, actually, when they face the Wings in Dallas for the second time in less than a month.
#-2: United FC (Last Week: -2). The Loons are a good club. I hope they're playing this well at the end of the Year, when it matters, but better to be playing good than bad, obvi. They had a tough two-Game roadtrip to the Pacific Northwest over four Days. They held league leaders Vancouver to a scoreless Draw last Wednesday, and you may quibble that they should've beaten a Whitecaps side that was heavily rotated because the organization's main focus was on the CONCACAF Champions Cup that Sunday (which, by the way, they lost to Liga MX's Cruz Azul 5-0), but normally the Loons would still fold and lose in such a situation.
Then, on Sunday Night Soccer (a new marketing property to get more people excited about MLS on AppleTV+), MNUFC did something they had never done before: They actually earned a Point while in Seattle. Ten times United FC went to play the Sounders, and ten times they lost. But they beat that curse with a 3-2 Win that got very, very nervy before the final whistle blew. Tani Oluwaseyi got a Brace (the first one from a beautiful Assist from the indispensable Robin Lod, who scored the Loons' second Goal), and Joaquin Pereyra continues to prove his value by making a thrilling and valiant 75-Yard run down the left side of the pitch while fending off Sounders star Cristian Roldan the whole way before the sequence ended with a Penalty Kick, which Lod slotted home to make it 2-0. Loons fans have PTSD over the last time MNUFC had a two-Goal lead in Seattle, and Nicolas Romero's unfortunate OG made the last dozen Minutes or so of the Match a heart-pounder. But they won, and that grit is something this Minnesota squad, or any Minnesota squad, hasn't seen quite in this way a whole lot this Year.
International Break. Off till the 14th, when they have another big test and face expansion side, and team second in the West, San Diego FC at Allianz Field.
#-3: Twins (Last Week: -3). A 3-3 Week which began with them dropping the series last Wednesday in a Shutout to the Bay Rays (who, by the way, are actually playing in Tampa). Over the weekend in Seattle they lost what was the most exciting three-Game series Minnesota has played in a long time. On Friday, the Twins were down to their final Out and then scored nine Runs over the Ninth and Tenth Innings to win going away. The Mariners, however, won Saturday and Sunday on back-to-back Game-ending plays.
They have regained their equilibrium by taking the first two over The Oakland Sacramento Bastard Philadelphia-by-way-of-Kansas City Athletics in Sacramento Monday and last/Tuesday night. The Twins scored ten Runs in both Wins over the A's, which belies their current scoring slump. But the big news may be the current impotence of once red-hot prospect Royce Lewis. He was pinch-hit for in last/Tuesday night's 10-3 victory, and he is the first Twins position player ever to slog through at least two 0-for-30 hitting droughts. There's talk he has to get demoted down to AAA St. Paul to work on his swing.
Two more in Sactown, then they jet home to play three vs. Toronto over the weekend. The Blue Jays fanbase regularly flock to Minneapolis in droves, but that ain't happening because Trump stupidly declared war on Canada, the dumbass. They then host The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0 for three starting on Tuesday.
#-Infinity: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4). In last screening Week's WMNSS, I said I was going to write more (and their post-mortem) here. Well, turns out that I don't. Well, I guess I can talk about some stuff, but I don't have the energy to eulogize the bitter finish to the end of this squad.
I just looked up the scores of the series versus The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics, and they got their asses handed to them ... except for Game 4, which they lost only by two, 128-126. Goddammit, man, if they could've pulled it out and evened the series at two Games apiece ... could it have changed the tenor? Maybe not by the way they they lost by 26, 15 and, fuck, 30. But it's obviously that the Game 4 Loss broke the team, and that's why they didn't even fuckin' show up for Game 5.
So now what? I hear that the Wolves are interested in Kevin Durant. The Phoenix Suns say they want a Center. Many fans want Rudy Gobert to be traded. I guess that's a match made in heaven, but I will repeat what I think I said this time last Year: You aren't promised a return trip to this level of the playoffs. Yes, fuckin' A, the Timberwolves did it again. But first of all, you still failed to win a championship, and second of all, do you really know you can get to the conference finals, and beyond, a third straight season? I hope so, but shit, I'm betting against it.
And, once again, #MinnesotaIsLoservilleUSA
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