#0: Gopher football (Last Week: -2). This may be the most impressive victory the Gopher footballers have had under P. J. Fleck since Penn St. I gave the Gophs pretty much no chance of going into Seattle and beating a Washington club that received a few votes in the polls. But they raced out to a 21-10 Halftime lead, looked really good while doing it, and then held on to win. Like I alluded to, when's the last time Fleck and his team upset someone, let alone on the road? That is why I elevate the U. gridiron boys above both all the other local sports teams and negative numbers. But can they continue on this run versus a Michigan team run by a legendary Head Coach (Kyle Whittingham) in his first Year. If there's any season to take down the Wolverines and get The Little Brown Jug (and they're playing at Huntington Bank Stadium), it's this early Saturday afternoon.
#-1: Vikings (Last Week: -1). I still don't know how they're doing it. Featuring a Third Quarter that had nine possessions alone, the Vikes managed to go 3-0 after going into Tampa and beating the Buccaneers late Sunday afternoon, 23-16. Will Reichard should get some lush hosannahs, but right now, the Defense is carrying this team. Isaiah Rodgers is fast becoming a household name and a highlight reel onto his own, but Dallas Turner may be The Most Improved Player In The NFL. He seems to "get it" now, and he is developing moves that will terrorize Offensive Lines for years to come. The only problem is that the Offense still isn't jelling: Kyler Murray, in his first Game back since suffering a concussion in Week 1, went only 15-of-29 for 168 Yards and a sweet Touchdown to Jordan Addison, which is his first TD of the season.
I'm getting paid to watch the Vikes host Miami late Sunday afternoon. But since this is a Minnesota sports team, if I am a betting man, I would jump on the Dolphins as much as my fear allows. Fun fact I heard last Week: Miami is the only team in the NFL that has not had a snap in the Red Zone. That will change Sunday -- mark my words.
#-2: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -5). Going to the Hoosier State, they beat Indiana Thursday, 2-1, but got blitzed by Purdue, 3-0, where all three Goals were scored over a span of ten Minutes early in the First Half, ouch. Looking at one women's soccer bracketologist, Minnesota is not projected to be in the NCAA bracket. But hey, maybe things can change beginning with tomorrow/Friday night's Rock The Robbie! Game vs. Maryland.
#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -3). I'm realizing there's going to be a lot of talk about Head Coaches in this Week's WMNSS. Let's begin with Keegan Cook, whose Minnesota volleyballers started B1G play with a pair of four-Set defeats, at Illinois Thursday and home to ranked Oregon Saturday. That has prompted a few volleyball diehards on a sports chatroom to begin the death watch on Cook. And frankly, I can't blame them; Cook has been very underwhelming. This Week they're home to host Northwestern tonight/Thursday night and sixth-ranked Wisconsin early Sunday evening.
#-4: United FC (Last Week: -7). With a 3-1 Loss to Seattle, that's now five Losses in a row for the Loooooooooons, and they now sit next-to-last in the West, six Points behind the final playoff spot. It's sad and maddening to see this XI rack up the defeats, and only now (IMHO) have they started to look like they're giving up.
And yet ... I got kind of into it on Bluesky over whether Cameron Knowles should continue to lead this squad. I mean, some people think he should be fired right now. I'm in the no camp. MNUFC is trending in the wrong direction, no doubt. But I believe the big problem is talent acquisition. They lost or let go of four players (Dayne St. Clair, Robin Lod, Joseph Rosales and Hassan Dotson who, by the way, scored the Game-winning Goal in the Sounders' Win over the Loooooooooons) before the season started and haven't really bought someone who could link up play in the offensive third or finish (and no, James Rodriguez doesn't count, even though I bought his Colombia jersey, sue me). While some see players not developing under Knowles' reign, I see guys who aren't up to snuff. Now, I will say that their competence on Set Pieces is something that's gone missing. But I'm pinning this lost season on the Front Office, not the Manager. Besides, teams change Head Coaches too often in international soccer. Oh, and finally, I heard Knowles is a nice guy off the pitch.
Off till the 10th, when they face Houston at Allianz. So glad I have a conflict.
#-Infinity: Lynx (Last Week: -4). I, I, I ... can't with this team. I hope to God I'm not harder on the Jynx than I am with any other local sports team because of my misogyny. (Wish I had a stable mother.) Because, goddammit, fuck this team. This year they had all the goddamn excuses at the ready as to why they became the first #1 seed to lose in the First Round of the WNBA Playoffs: The Liberty had a lot of Wins for an 8-Seed, New York has championship mettle, Olivia Miles is a rookie, Napheesa Collier still needed time to round into shape (I thought she already fuckin' did that), the refs fucked 'em ... blah-blah-blah, not only did they lost, not only did they get swept, they were completely uncompetitive in either Loss. You can't just insult them merely asking in jest which team is actually the 1-Seed and which the #8; the Jynx looked like The Worst Team In The WNBA who miraculously stumbled into the postseason like Forest Gump.
I keep thinking about this, and I've come around to a change that I didn't think is possible and one I think many Jynx fans will regard as blasphemy: Cheryl Reeve needs to go. I don't like it, and I am sure that she is a good person whose morals I love. But shit, man, that team should have the past three league titles, and yet they are still without a championship since 2017. And beyond the ritual humiliation that happened these past two Games were the strange moves and comments by Reeve after it. The size the Liberty threw on the court completely locked down the Jynx, and Olivia Miles, who was just named Rookie Of The Year, has seen that achievement immediately tarnished when she was benched for the entire Second Half of Game 2, and that was after her shitty showing in Game 1. And then Reeve said that the Jynx, who led wire-to-wire in the W, wasn't supposed to win the title this Year? And then she says that she feels no pressure because she's a Hall Of Fame Coach?? Did she really say that??? Are you fucking kidding me??? That may be her trying to defend her players or deflect from a colossal failure, but this team has in fact retreated from a WNBA title stage by stage, from the WNBA Finals to the Semifinals to the Quarterfinals. This franchise is going backwards, and Reeve, as Head Coach and General Manager, has to be held accountable. Sorry not sorry.
This may be my emotions talking, but fuck it -- blow up this team. Collier's a Free Agent, and since she's coming off a disastrous last month of play, she can chase that paper elsewhere. Miles, for all her preternatural talent and success, still needs to bone up on Defense and learn how to get around bigger players. And fuck it, get bigger! I don't care if this means wasting two or three Years of Miles' career; it's time to turn the page, let go of Reeve's favorite players (alongside Reeve), and get a Coach and a roster hungry to win. There's something that has ossified behind the scenes with this organization. I thought that a championship or two or three would mean that putting up with that rot was worth it, but it has only turned the Jynx into The Buffalo Bills of the W. Start the fuck over with this sorry-ass team.
