I've gotta be honest: I don't really feel like doing a survey this Week because the government is trying to burn the city down. I spent the past hour looking at lawyers in case I get snatched up. It's no fun feeling besieged like this, so if you don't mind, I will do this WMNSS in a slapdash manner:
#-1: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). It would have been much, much better for the female icers to have swept all four Games this season from Minnesota State-Mankato. In fact, coming into last weekend, it was the Mavericks poised for the season sweep. But it's obvious these Gophs remembered the shocking Losses they took in November and vowed, "Never again." And boy howdy, they absolutely beat the shit out of the Mavs -- 11-3 Friday in Mankato, 6-3 Saturday at Ridder. They were scoring so many Goals, they were hoping some of those Goals could be counted in the Losses earlier in the season. Now that's the type of petty vengeance I want to see, in both sports and, well, now.
At Bemidji St. for a pair this weekend. The Gophers can get the four-tilt season sweep against the Beavers.
#-2: Gopher wrestling (Re-Entry!). OK, this is impressive: The seventh-ranked Gophers went into Champaign and tripled eleventh-ranked Illinois Saturday, 27-9, to begin conference play. It's their seventh-straight Win over the Illini, their biggest margin of victory against Illinois since 1968, and it kept Head Coach Brandon Eggum perfect against them (7-0). Defeating a good, ranked team on the road isn't something I can say much about the program these days. Home to Nebraska Friday.
#-3: Timberwolves (Last Week: -2). Split a home-and-home with Cleveland, stormed back from a Fourth Quarter deficit to defeat San Antonio at home on Sunday by a score of 104-103, then, without Anthony Edwards (nursing a hamstring, I think) and Rudy Gobert (suspension for getting too many Technicals), they walloped a tired Bucks outfit in Milwaukee Tuesday, 139-106. I was at my game-watch bar when that Game started; the Timberwolves were making shots like they were throwing dimes into the ocean.
They might be gelling; they are now fourth in the West, and just one Game from second-place Denver. But this Week they are finishing a four-Game roadtrip vs. Houston, the Spurs (these contests are back-to-back), and Utah.
#-4: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -4). Despite being 3-3 in the B1G, it looks like the Gophers are making a credible-enough case to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Dawn Plitzuweit. In a Week where they played all three of their Matches at Williams, they routed Northwestern by 32 Thursday, outlasted my alma mater Sunday afternoon (they couldn't rebound worth shit, goddammit, and seeing that in person really pissed me off ... oh, I should add that that triumph snapped a losing streak of 36 Games against ranked teams), but couldn't withstand third-ranked UCLA last/Wednesday night, falling 76-58. Still, Charlie Creme says the U. would make it in, and safely, as an 8-Seed. Now, can they survive a West Coast swing this screening Week and play the other two Pac-12 refugees, Washington and Oregon, on the road?
#-5: Wild (Last Week: -3). Not good; they're stumbling a bit, losing four of their last five and five of their last seven. This screening Week they blew a two-Goal lead at Seattle before winning in Overtime, then came home to the Gica and lost to The New York Islanders in OT and get blown out by The Bastard Colorado Rockies. They're in no danger to fall into the Wild Card spots, but the Quinn Hughes honeymoon effect is over.
This Week is a busy one: They finish a three-Game homestand tonight/Thursday night hosting The Bastard Atlanta Thrashers, then go on a three-Game roadtrip versus Buffalo, Toronto and Montreal (the last two back-to-back).
#-6: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: 0). Yes, they lost both Games this Week. But you get the feeling that Niko Medved has this team prepared and confident in a way that, unfortunately, Ben Johnson rarely demonstrated when he was Head Coach. They came back from a double-digit Second Half deficit before falling to my alma mater by a Point in Overtime Friday night. On Tuesday, the Gophers coughed up a double-digit lead early in the Second Half to Wisconsin, then battled back from a deficit that got as high as nine, before a Cade Tyson Three-Pointer to tie the Game with five Seconds left was answered by a John Blackwell deep Three at the buzzer to give the Badgers a thrilling 78-75 Win. You're not supposed to accept moral victories, but you can't help but think things are moving in the right direction for this club, you know?
On the road this Week -- Illinois Saturday, Ohio St. Tuesday.
#-7: Gopher men's hockey (Re-Entry!). This young, possibly NIL-less squad just doesn't have it this season. Getting swept at Penn St. over the weekend by three-Goal margins (3-0 Friday, 5-2 Saturday) is a testament to that. And they'll have the top-ranked team in the nation, Michigan, coming into town this weekend. Good luck taking away lessons!
No comments:
Post a Comment