The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  Well, the bad news is that the Lynx blinked first before The New York Liberty, losing their first Game of the season at Seattle Wednesday by ten.  That actually put the Storm in the driver's seat to be The Western Conference's representative for The Commissioner's Cup.  But they lost their next Game, to The Golden State Valkyries (and congratulations to them for standing up for themselves and proving they won't be pushed around).  That allowed the Lynx to spurt past Seattle for the West's CC spot by routing Los Angeles at home Saturday afternoon by 23 and, after going into the Half down nine, doubling up The Bastard Utah Starzzz/San Antonio Silver Stars 46-23, to beat Las Vegas by 14 last/Tuesday night.

They will get New Yo ... no!  Interestingly enough, coming into last/Tuesday night, the team controlling its destiny in the East was Atlanta.  But the Dream lost to the Liberty by five in Brooklyn.  That then gave the birth to, of all clubs, The Indiana Fever, who blitzed The Bastard Orlando Miracle by 16 (in a ugly Game; Caitlin Clark and a couple Sun players got into a scuffle and got T'd up).  In their Game before, they gave New York their first Loss of the Year, which also was Clark's first Game back from her left quad strain.  She scored 32 Points, grabbed eight Rebounds and dished out nine Assists.

That victory over the Liberty was the tie-breaker that got the Fever into the Commissioner's Cup Final vs. the Lynx.  It'll be held on Tuesday, July 1, and it'll be held in Target Center.  They should probably pull down the tarps for that one.  But will they have Napheesa Collier for that cup final?  She left in the First Half of the Game versus Las Vegas.  The others stepped up to ace out the Aces, but will she need to sit out league Games against the Sparks (at home Saturday) and the Mystics (in D. C. Tuesday) to heal up?

#-2: United FC (Re-Entry!).  I described much of the Match -- well, from the perspective of missing San Diego FC's go-ahead Goal because I was only Twitter or Bluesky.  But there is a bigger takeaway from this Loss.  The two best sides in The Western Conference all season up to this point have been The Vancouver Whitecaps (in first) and SDFC (in second).  Both clubs came to Allianz Field in highly-anticipated matchups, but missing key pieces ... and yet came away with two-Goal Wins.  I still think the Loons are a good team.  But if those two defeats are any indication -- and I am prepared to step out on a ledge to declare this is a pattern -- MNUFC are a clear tier above the squads below them right now, and a clear tier below the ones above them right now.  Sorry to sound didactic, but this is a hard truth that will be more difficult to dispel as the Matches get more important.

Hmmm ... when they played Saturday, it was 13 Days from the previous tilt, and it'll be another 11 before they play again, home to Houston.  So they're dropping out of the WMNSS next Week.  Cool.  Saves me work.

#-3: Twins (Last Week: -2).  The sudden shakiness of the pitching, both from the Rotation and the Bullpen, is sinking the Twinks right now.  They started the screening Week defeating The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0, 6-2, but have lost five in row since.  That includes getting swept in Houston by the Asterisks/Trashstros, the last two in excruciating, Game-ending fashion.  They are 2-8 in their last ten contests, slipped back to .500, and freefallen out of a playoff spot.  All these injuries that currently are plaguing the team have overshadowed the fact that the most notable face of this organization's injury woes of recent years, Byron Buxton, has been relatively healthy so far.  He's been producing pretty well, but it's going for naught.  What cruel irony.

They're finishing a trio in Cincinnati, they will host The Bastard Seattle Pilots for a three-Game series over the weekend, then they will host The Seattle Mariners for a four-Game set starting Monday.