#-2: United FC (Last Week: -5). Giving how easy the end of their MLS schedule is, they should be getting all the Points available. In that light, smashing rebuilding Sporting Kansas City at Allianz Field Saturday 3-0 was exactly the thing they needed to do, and the result I needed to see. Moreover, the two players who may be playing the best out of anyone on the XI were the goalscorers: Anthony Markanich got a Brace (including a Goal from, yes, a Set Piece), and Joaquin Pereyra continued to outwork his opponents and scored in the 59th Minute.
I only put the Loons second because I failed to see the entire standings. The top of the West remains a tight and winning bunch. Four teams have broken away; the three besides MNUFC (San Diego, Vancouver and LAFC) all won over the weekend. Moreover, even though United FC are only two Points behind both San Diego and the Whitecaps, Vancouver gets to play one more Match because of delays due to other competitions that club had to play earlier in the Year. Finally, LAFC is only two Points behind the Loons, and also because of other competitions, they have two Games to make up. I think MNUFC are a very good club, but they could finish the regular season only fourth in the West.
Those make-up Games are coming between now and the 18th, when United FC finish the regular season at The Los Angeles Galaxy.
#-3: Vikings (Last Week: -6). Think of how badly the vibes around this team would be if, after spending ten Days playing back-to-back Games in the British Isles, they came home with a pair of Losses. They avoided that fate by clawing back to defeat Cleveland at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Sunday morning, 21-17, to get to 3-2. The winning score came from a pass from Carson Wentz, who was injured for a short time during the Game, to Jordan Addison, who was benched to start the contest because, apparently, he missed a walkthrough during the team's stay at a palatial estate 90 miles north of London leading up to Sunday. Add this to his DUI conviction, and it's becoming apparent that, sadly, he is a bit of a headcase who cannot be relied upon. I can see the Vikes moving on from Addison after his rookie contract is up and finding a new #2 for Justin Jefferson.
I think Bye Weeks should be doled up with more intention. This will screw up the schedule making, but I want to see teams choose which Bye Week to take based on the finishing order of the previous season. So, for example, the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles would choose their Bye Week first, then The Bastard Dallas Texans second, and so on. Regardless, the Vikes were given this upcoming weekend off, and considering they have so many people on Injured Reserve, this break cannot happen soon enough.
#-4: Gopher men's hockey (NEW SEASON!). I can't think of a time where the men's college hockey season has started this early. Anyway, the Gophers began it by doubling up Michigan Tech at Mariucci Arena Friday, 6-3 ... then followed it up by losing to the Huskies Saturday, 5-3. This is a season of change in the sport: Players from the Canadian junior leagues, who were heretofore forbidden to ever play in college hockey in the States, can now do so freely (and vice versa, and for all I know a student can hopscotch from one to the other). That opens up another avenue in the arms race, but I don't know if the U. has taken advantage of that. Regardless, splitting at home to a CCHA school ain't a great way to start.
But at least they're not shying away from competition. Boston College, who is ranked either tenth or eleventh depending on which poll you look at, comes to town for showdowns tomorrow/Thursday and Friday.
#-5: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -3). What is going on with this program? The Gopher volleyballers of old would not lose at an unranked Michigan club, let alone in four Sets. What's more distressing is the way they lost that Game last Wednesday: They won the First Set, 25-18, but then got dismantled over the next three, scoring only twelve, 14 and twelve Points. The hell?
They defeated Northwestern Sunday in Evanston, but it's Northwestern, and worse, they lost a Set to the perennially undermanned Wildcats program, and they struggled to close them out, too. They won Set 2, 25-22, then lost Set 3, 25-17, then had to go a bit over extra time to finally close them out in the fourth, 26-24. This is a team that is struggling to put away opponents they should be sweeping with ease. And there is a sign that the fanbase is starting to notice as well. I am seeing what time my alma mater plays the U. next month. I thought volleyball tickets always sell out, but someone from my alumni group actually looked at the online ticket map and saw that there were dozens of seats available for that Match. I would go, and not only would I root for my alma mater ... I think my alma mater will win. That's how far the U. has fallen.
Host UCLA tonight/Wednesday night and Ohio St. Sunday.
#-6: Gopher football (Last Week: -4). Yeah, for all my talk about how P. J. Fleck has introduced a level of success that has made the fanbase grow expectations for the program and how that's good, he is still miles away from getting the Gophers back to their ancient perch of being a national contender like they were six decades ago, and getting 14-timed at the #1 team in the nation, Ohio St. (by which I mean the final score was 42-3), is both disappointing and very, very expected. But at least they have Homecoming coming this Saturday, and it's against a squad they should beat, Purdue. Also, at least they aren't the ...
#-7: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -7). ... who continue to flounder, currently sporting a conference record of one Win, one Draw and four Losses after getting their brains beat in in the Border Battle at home versus then 24th-ranked Wisconsin, 3-0. I see that the Badgers were ranked, but couldn't the Golden Gophers mount any fight? Oh, well, that should mean my alma mater should win handily when they play the U. on Thursday. Fourth-ranked UCLA then visits Sunday afternoon; while that Match ends the Goofers' three-Match homestand, it looks as though they could lose every single one, and there's the potential that each Game could be a bloody, embarrassing one.
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