To be a great football squad, you have to win ugly trench battles like this. And it was raining all day in Chicago, so Offense would be at a premium. But Minnesota didn't punch it in; their nine Points was just three Will Reichard Field Goals. As great as the Defense is playing right now (Dallas Turner is blossoming, although it's too late for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to use that to keep his job with the Vikes), the Offense is sputtering. And while Carson Wentz at least looks like a competent backup Quarterback, he couldn't keep possession of the ball at any point in the day. What I'm scared of is that we get what we saw most of the time last season -- Wentz hitting his low ceiling through his errant throws and scattershot decision-making. Right now, the D is carrying the O. How long can that last if they continue to have trouble scoring Touchdowns?
Sure, I'm a worrywart. But I'll say that they lose late Sunday afternoon in Tampa Bay.
#-2: Gopher football (Last Week: -6). Finished their non-con Saturday ripping through and apart Akron at Huntington Bank, 41-7. I feel safe in saying that the program is at a point where they won't lose to non-BcS teams. But now they enter conference play, and they start with a B1G After Dark special, where they go to Seattle and play ranked Washington at 10 p.m. our time Saturday night. Anytime you want to spring an upset, P. J. Fleck, we're ready.
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -2). Finished their non-con in Sioux Falls, S. D. beating South Dakota and South Dakota St. in the SD Lottery College Volleyball Classic. But is there anything to dropping one Set to both non-BcS clubs? I think so. I think championship teams sweep schools beneath them. But hey, we'll see how good (or not) this Year's Gopher volleyballers are in league play. They're at Illinois tonight/Thursday night, then host #25 Oregon Saturday evening.
#-4: Lynx (Re-Entry!). This team is ass right now, and they're about to complete a collapse for the third goddamn season in a row. They have had a chance to clinch home-court advantage throughout the WNBA Playoffs for what seems like a Decade, but they have failed to finish this screening Week by dint of Losses at home to New York and at Indiana (they beat the Sun in Connecticut, though everybody beat the Sun in Connecticut this Year). It got so bad in their defeat to the Fever Tuesday night that all five starters were benched for the Second Half. The second-stringers actually cut their deficit to seven, but Indiana managed to pull away.
And yet fortuned smiled upon them. The Golden State Valkyries were coming on like banshees for the #1 spot. They would have been able to reach a tie by record with the Lynx atop the WNBA if they had beaten the Fire in Portland. But after staking out to a 17-0 lead, Portland won it in OT, and so the Jynx were able to backdoor their way to the best record in the Dub. Thank goodness their torrid start to begin the season is insulating their shit play as of late. There are some galaxy brains that believe Cheryl Reeve & Co. have the league right where they want them. Olivia Miles was nursing a hamstring, so she was held out of Tuesday's drubbing. But there is load management and then there is not playing well down the stretch, and what's been happening to the Jynx for the past six Weeks is something you can't explain away. Add to that the First Round is a best-of-three and the Semifinals remain a best-of-five, and the season that started out like gangbusters and raised the hopes for an entire state could slide away with two awful efforts, of which the Lynx have become quite apt.
I don't know and I don't care if any starters play tonight/Thursday night at home vs. Indiana. They'd just better fucking show up at some point, and the sooner, the better.
#-5: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -3). Salvaged a 2-all Draw at Robbie Sunday afternoon thanks to a Penalty Kick from Ava Westlund in the 87th Minute. Could be better, could be worse. They're at the Indiana schools this screening Week (Indiana tonight/Thursday night, Purdue Sunday afternoon).
#-6: Twins (Last Week: -5). A 4-3 screening Week, the highlight being Taj Bradley's great start in defeating The Bastard New York Giants Tuesday, and very nice Year overall. Nice, but they were eliminated Sunday and have been in an existential crisis this Week. They finish the Year this weekend when they host The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0. It means nothing to the Twinks, but as of press time, Texas is tied with Houston atop The American League Western Division. The Loser most likely is eliminated from postseason play. Therefore, I expect the Twinks to end their Year by getting swept, which is something Twinks fans know all too well.
#-7: United FC (Last Week: -4). I have tried to defend this organization through a trying and long season. I still believe that Losses by a Goal aren't routs, despite what over-dramatic queens in supporters sections would say. A run of one-Goal Losses suck, but I can blame that on statistical bad luck.
But do you know how you lose me? Blow a lead. If I were a neutral, I would've liked seeing the Loons' defeat to The Los Angeles Galaxy Saturday night. L. A. went up in the 12th Minute off a Set Piece, but Marcus Caldeira and Kelvin Yeboah hit back to lead at Halftime, 2-1. I was hoping like hell they could hold the lead, but too often the Backline failed them, and the Galaxy potted two late in the Match, four Minutes apart, to win, 3-2. And they're not much better than MNUFC. But now, with tie-breakers, they are next-to-last in the West. Believe it or not, a Win Saturday night could put them in the final playoff spot -- still! Unfortunately, that Game is at Seattle, a place they had recently one won for the first time ever. Then again, this club appears to play better away from St. Paul.
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