Like weather like sports. Cold and miserable. There are just a few bright spots in the land of 10,000 frozen lakes. This month's edition of the Minnesota Sports Misery Rankings takes on a weather format. Look outside folks, its cold, snowy and there's more than 6 weeks left of winter, so hunker down, this could get depressing. But don't fret, it takes tough skin to live here year-round and don't forget the winter will eventually end, even though it's not always easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So here we go, with January's edition, enjoy!
GOPHERS BASKETBALL - Mostly Sunny with periods of freezing rain
Records: 14-4 (3-3), 6th in Big Ten
Rankings: 15th AP, 19th Coaches
The Gophers were flying on cloud 9 heading into the Big Ten season with just one blemish on their record, a home loss to Virginia. However, everyone knew that the opening of the Big Ten schedule lied ahead and would be a true indicator of where the program was. The Gophers may have had the toughest start to a conference season for any team in the country, having to face 4 top 25 teams in the first 5 games, with 3 of those games on the road. The Gophers lost all three on the road to #2 Ohio State, #19 Michigan State, and #24 Wisconsin (ranking at the time). A home win versus #8 Purdue might have saved the season for the Gophers and given them the boost they need to compete with a strong Big Ten conference, likely the 2nd best conference behind the Big East this year. If I had written this column before the Purdue game, the Gophers forecast would have been much worse, especially with the loss of Devoe Joseph, who's transferring to Oregon and the arrest of Trevor Mbakwe, which at the time seemed like the knife in the Gophers back. A 3-3 Big Ten record isn't ideal, but the national media has taken notice of how difficult that record was to obtain and have given the Gophers top 20 rankings in each major poll. Three of the next four games should give the Gophers more notches in the Win column as they'll be favored against Michigan, Northwestern, and Indiana, with #13 Purdue in between. I say favorite lightly though, especially on the road, where anything can happen, but also where road teams rarely come out alive.
MINNESOTA TWINS - Mostly Sunny with a possible stray snow shower or two.
Record: Offseason, 94-68, AL Central Champions 2010
Rankings: 6th Fox Sports (updated December 21st)
The brightest sports story in Minnesota this winter didn't even come from a team in season. In fact, it came from a guy last seen in a Minnesota uniform 23 years ago. Bert Blyleven's long awaited trip to Cooperstown finally was realized after he gained 79% of the vote, just enough to get him in on his 14th try. However, the current Twins have a lot of questions and haven't made a lot of news this offseason, which can be a good thing. We're only 4 weeks away from Pitchers & Catchers reporting to Spring Training and the Twins will have to solve some big questions including: Can Morneau & Nathan return back to form? Will Nishioka's game transition well to MLB? Are the Twins good enough with last year's squad while Detroit and Chicago beefed up theirs? The signings of Carl Pavano & Jim Thome, 2 veterans that were huge keys to the AL Central Champion Twins last year, we're a huge boost to the team in an otherwise quiet and offseason that has seen the bullpen explode with the departures of Guerrier, Crain, Fuentes, and Rauch. But somehow the Twins get it done every year and stay competitive. Don't forget they won the Central last year with a hodge podge banged up roster. The Twins still give Minnesota their best Title shot right now.
MINNESOTA WILD - Lukewarm (not good if you play on ice)
Record: 24-18-5, 9th in Western Conference
Rankings: 17th ESPN, 18th SI
Minnesota is affectionately and proudly called the state of Hockey by its fans. Here is where the puck stops, unfortunately for the Wild, they'd rather play on the road than at home, where the fans actually have their # retired (1). The Wild are a surprising 13-7-3 on the road, compared to 11-11-2 at home. Not a huge difference, but good teams will almost always have a better home record. If the season only counted on the road, the Wild would be in 5th instead of 9th in the Western conference. Their home record is only 13th best in the Western. They got booed off the ice recently, but came back to beat the Canucks, 4-0. The Wild's Andrew Burnette probably said it best, ""We're a strange team, there's no doubt about it. You never know what's going to show up." For now the Wild will hold on to their playoff chances, which is more than the Timberwolves or Vikings could say this winter.
GOPHERS HOCKEY - Sleet with Pellets of Sunshine
Record: 10-9-3 (7-7-2) 5th in WCHA
Rankings: 21st USCHO
The Gophers can take a page from their professional geographic partners, the Minnesota Wild, in maintaining a mediocre status. They can't seem to get on any long term winning streaks, but haven't had any bad losing streaks either, they're pretty much even steven in the middle of the WCHA. Their start to 2011 is anything but easy and has forced the team to really bare down and save whatever playoff possibilities the Gophers have left. A split against the #1 WCHA team North Dakota is not a bad start. The Gophers better take advantage in their home series versus Alaska Anchorage, as the next two series come against the #2 and #3 teams in the WCHA in Minnesota Duluth and Denver respectively. We'll see how those series play out and if the Gophers will be suiting up in the Final 5 or not.
MINNESOTA VIKINGS - Cold, Snowy, & Gray
Record: 6-10, last in NFC North, tied for 7th worst league record
Rankings: 23rd ESPN, 20th SI
Congratulations to Leslie Frazier you get to coach an NFL team. Where was the ticker tape parade for Leslie? Nowhere, in fact it was hardly big news when the team lifted his interim tag. It would have been bigger news if the team decided to part ways and find a new coach outside the organization. The fans are subdued at this point because most like Frazier, but like the Gophers situation earlier, anyone would be better liked than Childress. No two head coaches were hated more this past year than Childress and Brewster and both got shown the door before the season ended. The Vikings had a chance to make up for the season after the firing, but finished 1-3 with a win over Philadelphia that doesn't look as impressive now. The fact of the matter is the team knew the playoffs and this season was gone with a month to go and they played the lame duck part of the season with not much energy. The team is on the verge of blowing up. Many have said this team is a Quarterback shy of greatness. However, they are closer to rebuilding mode than playoff contender.
GOPHERS FOOTBALL - Blizzard, limited visibility
Record: 3-9, (2-6) 10th in Big Ten
Rankings: 85th Sagarin USA Today
It's tough to think about Gophers Football right now when there's still 3 months left of winter, not too mention 7 months left till college football. Last month the Gophers made the headlines with the signing of new Head Coach, Jerry Kill. Those headlines are gone and the Gophers are back page material. Of the recent developments, the Gophers lost a top recruit, defensive back Tamani Carter, who committed to new Michigan coach Brady Hoke instead. The Gophers also made the news when former all-star running back Laurence Maroney was arrested in St. Louis on drugs and weapon charges. All is not lost, however, as Chris Hawthorne, the back-up kicker at NC State, has transferred to the U and will be eligible to play since he wasn't on a scholarship. This story isn't a surprise, it's more surprising that the Pioneer Press wrote an article on a back-up kicker joining the Gophers, I guess you have to scrub for any type of positive news when your a Gophers fan.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES - Dangerous Windchill
Record: 10-32, Last in Western Conference, 2nd worst overall
Rankings: 25th ESPN, 28th SI
Gregg Popovich, the great Spurs head coach was quoted as saying this Timberwolves squad isn't that far off. You have to ask yourself, that far off from what? Completely disappointing or just completely embarrassing. TheTimberwolves have two of the most talented young players in the NBA in Kevin Love and Michael Beasley. But in this league, where all-stars are joining forces, theTimberwolves are going to need more than just promising young talent to actually win games. They are 3-13 since last month's ranking and the Wolves have now gone a whole calender year, 2010, without beating a division opponent, 0 for 15 vs the Northwest. There's no doubt the Timberwolves are trying and at least they have the right character guys there, we haven't heard anything really negative regarding off-court or clubhouse news. The question will be how does this team stay positive until April 13th, the end of the season. For the fans, the question will be is this team a player or two away from being competitive again?
Well, that's it for now. It's January, so what can I say to make you feel better. It's not December and we're one month closer to spring and temperatures back to bearable. For now, hunker down and don't lose the faith. There's a silver lining in every one of these rankings and one day I hope we can turn the misery into magical.
until next time, keep the windshield washer fluid handy.
Brock from the block (new call sign)
the courtesy wave
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