EUPHORIC BLISS
A long suffering fan base was vindicated when the San Francisco Giants won their first title since moving to the Bay area. Good for them, we can only hope for this in the land of 10,000+ lakes.
POPULOUS PRIDE
None. Teams in this category are championship contenders and not just playoff participants.
CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC
The USA Today and AP pre-season NCAA Basketball rankings recently came out and the Gophers Basketball team didn't make either, but weren't too far off, coming in at 29th and 30th respectively. Joe Lunardi ESPN's bracketologist just released his first NCAA Tournament Bracket of the season and he has the Gophers slotted as an 8 seed team. This is all good news in Tubby land. This signifies that the experts believe the Gophers will be competitive and one of the best teams in the country. However this doesn't necessarily mean the Gophers will be elite and at the top of the Big Ten.
The Gophers have 10 non-conference games to start the year. Often times these non-conference schedules face mainly cream-puff teams and give only a brief indicator of how competitive a team will be in the Big 10 conference slate. That won't be the case for the Gophers though. Their schedule may seem very favorable, but an in depth look shows that of the 10 teams they face, 6 have made the NCAA tournament either last year or the year before or both; Wofford, Siena, Western Kentucky, North Dakota State, Cornell, and Akron. Of the others, Eastern Kentucky won 20 games last year, annual ACC foe Virginia is no pushover, and St. Joseph's is the only road game. That leaves South Dakota State as the one true cream puff on the schedule. Don't get me wrong here, the Gophers should be favored in every game and if they come out 8-2 or better, this could be a great Gophers Basketball season.BANDWAGON TEAM OF THE MONTH
Something is happening that profoundly made a statement on the Minnesota sports landscape that the other 2 active Pro Teams cannot say at this time, the Minnesota Wild have more wins than losses! Pandemonium right? Ticker tape parades and riots?
Well not yet, but the Wild are providing some hope in the frozen North. After starting the year looking shaky in Finland and a so-so October, the Wild have reeled off 3 straight wins and are undefeated in November. At 7-4 and 2nd in the Northwest Division, ESPN just skyrocketed their Power Ranking to 9th in the NHL, up 11 spots from last week alone. How are they doing it? Penalty kills and power play goals, currently ranked in the top 10 in each, and with Backstrom in goal have allowed the 4th fewest goals per game. Can they keep it up? We will see as the season is still in infancy. For now they are driving a full double decker of fans hoping for a chance of glory or a snippet of hope.WAITING ROOM OPTIMISM
Its Hot Stove season for Major League Baseball, also known as the offseason. Free agency has opened its doors and the big names are deciding where they should take their services next year. ESPN and Sports Illustrated recently released their top 50 free agents and the Minnesota Twins can find 2 of their 2010 players on the list. The most sought after Twin will be Carl Pavano, who won 17 games last year and established himself as a reliable veteran innings eater who has a lot left in the tank. The question will be whether teams are willing to throw the Yankee type contract he received from New York several years ago. Everyone knows that turned out to be a bust, injury plagued decision that cost New York millions (never mind that they can afford it). The Twins have built a good relationship with Pavano and he might just decide to stay in Minnesota where he has a loyal following and a good thing going to finish his career. Plus, his mustache has reached legendary status and has its own separate following.
The other big free agent decision is 40 year old Jim Thome and his 589 career home runs. Although he only spent 1 season in Minnesota, you can tell Thome and the Twins got a long really well and he was more than just a good character guy, he was a force at the plate, leading the team in Home Runs and providing clutch hits in about half the at bats as the regulars. If the Twins bring back these 2 veteran free agents, optimism for 2011 will grow steadily.HANGING BY A THREAD
The team that never stays far from the headlines, whether good or bad, is producing another roller coaster season of emotions. Vikings fans are standing on the edge of the cliff. One win gets you one step closer to safety, one loss pushes you one step closer to going over the edge and landing at the bottom of the gorge where dreams are squashed and the next best thing is the NFL draft. Last Sunday's game versus the Cardinals epitomized these feelings. The Vikings eventually won the game in overtime, but not before pulling out the teeth and hair of all its fans by giving up 2 special teams touchdowns and losing by 14 points with 7 minutes to go. A win is a win, but nothing is easy this year.
The team is fighting to stay sane with a litany of negative press, mainly aimed at one man, Brad Childress. The guy who played Major Dad and Buffalo Bill (ok not really), never gained the support of the fans in Minnesota, and now has the entire fan base and according to reports, his own players against him. His fate is already likely sealed, even if the team starts winning again, its likely the Vikings will blow up and look quite different next year and a new head coach is just what a re-building team needs. Oh, did I forget something? Randy Moss. There I said it. Are you happy now?STANDING OUTSIDE A BROKEN PHONE BOOTH WITH MONEY IN OUR HANDS
Gophers Hockey epitomizes this statement, which is actually a song by the Primitive Radio Gods and can be found on the Cable Guy soundtrack. The team is 5-4-1 on the season, including 3-4-1 in WCHA play.
The Gophers have loads of talent, but can't seem to skate their way past a WCHA conference that has caught up to the Gophers over the past couple years in terms of competition and talent. In fact, the Gophers are no longer the best team in Minnesota, at present time, that honor goes to the University of Minnesota Duluth, who's only blemish on the season comes at the hands of perennial favorites North Dakota in Grand Forks. The Gophers have a 13 day layoff between games, and will pick up action again on November 19th against Michigan Tech, maybe just the opponent they'll need to pick up some momentum as MT often occupies the cellar of the WCHA.GLIMMERS OF HOPE AMONG SEAS OF DESPAIR
I started writing this edition a few days ago, but life got in the way and I had to shelve my thoughts for a bit. In that time, the Minnesota Timberwolves created a new category and buoyed themselves from utter despair for the time being. Last night I couldn't sleep, so I stayed up and watched the Wolves-Kings late night west coast game. I couldn't believe it, but I saw a very competitive 1-7 team play like they knew what they were doing. The T-Wolves beat the Kings last night to improve their record to 2-7 and for the time being hold a slightly better record than 3 other teams (Raptors, Rockets, Clippers).
This team likely needs to savor its victories, because they'll probably be few and far between. But I place them in this glimmer of hope category for a 2 reasons: Michael Beasley and Kevin Love. I watched Beasley toss up a career high 42 points last night and take over in the 4th quarter the way all-stars do. Beasley was dominant, albeit against the Kings, but non-the-less, he's a go-to-guy at the end of the game that this team has sorely lacked since the days of you know who. The other T-Wolf that you got to love, is coincidentally named Love. Kevin Love pulled down a whopping 24 boards and put up 23 points. Love is a rebounding machine the likes of Dennis Rodman, but with far less tattoos and a better jump shot. He's 2nd in the league in rebounds and the Timberwolves are the best rebounding team in the league. Love and Beasley are just 22 and 21 years of age respectively, so they have much developing to do, but if they can produce like this now, can you imagine what they'll be like in 2 to 3 years? COMICAL DEPRESSION
The Gophers football team hasn't had much to hold itself up against. The team is staring at its 2nd 1-11 season in just three years. Not what Tim Brewster had in mind when he stated the Gophers would make history upon his arrival in 2007. He's now gone, but not much has changed. The Gophers have lost all 3 games since Brewster left by a combined 116-39.
You can circle November 28th on your calendar if your a Gophers Football fan, that's the day after the last game of the season, when the carnage of 2010 comes to an end and we can all ice our backs for the rest of the season. The Gophers football team does have a distinction though that the basketball team can't say yet. They have been featured in weekly rankings on ESPN.com. Unfortunately however, these aren't the rankings you want to be in. The Bottom 10 features the worst teams in College Football and out of the 11 weeks, they have found themselves on the list 5 times and on the waiting list 4 times. Ouch. The Gophers can at least thank the Zips of Akron for their winless season thus far, making the Gophers only the 2nd worst team in all of college football by record.That's it for this Month's edition of the Minnesota Sports Misery Rankings. Yesterday was the last 60 degree day in 2010 and today is likely the last 50 degree day this year. Therefore I hope you got a cup of hope with your misery coffee today and see the bright lights in the dark cold that awaits the Minnesota landscape for the next 6 months.
Until next time, remember that guns don't kill people, but people with guns often do.
bsv
the courtesy wave
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