Why You Should Still Get Up Tomorrow Morning

Look, Minnesotans, I feel you. I am one, so I know. It's tough right now. The weather is 20 degrees below normal, the golf courses are empty, the winter clothes are still not put away, the Twins are the worst team in baseball, the Vikings picked a mid 2nd round QB with the 12th pick, the Timberwolves finished dead last in the NBA, the Wild missed the playoffs and folded under pressure, and the Gophers big 3 sports (football, basketball, and hockey) collectively, were a major disappointment.

All that said, you should still get up and go to work, school, dance, fishing, hunting, or whatever it is you do on a Monday. Why? Because maybe it's not THAT bad. There has been a lot of negative lately, but that loop needs to change, even if we don't see it in the newspaper.

Let's work backwards. Yeah the Gophers big 3 revenue sports were dreadful, but the Gophers Football team beat Iowa at the end of last year. Iowa had 6 players drafted in last week's NFL draft. The Gophers had none, and while you can get down on the team for the latter, you can point out that the team finished with heart. And with a new coach and new QB, how can you not be at least a little optimistic about the Gophers. Plus they have beautiful TCF Bank Stadium, a fan treat. I'm not a huge hockey mind, but the fellas at the Daily Gopher do a great job and have provided some reason for optimism next year. Read about it here. The basketball team had an epic collapse after a brilliant start. The Gophers will lose most of the starting line-up, but the one man they needed to come back, Trevor Mbakwe recently stated he'll be back for his senior season. Mbakwe has NBA talent, no doubt, but you gotta think he doesn't want to end his collegiate career that way. And with Tubby Smith still able to reel in high-grade talent, don't count out the Gophers b-ball team as competitive again next year.

The Wild, in the self proclaimed, "state of hockey" left Minnesotans out of the playoffs for the 3rd straight year. Because of this, the Wild fired head coach Todd Richards. Like the Vikings and Gophers Football, Wild fans can find optimism in a new coach and a fresh start. They recently sent 7 players to the World Championships, so this team definitely has a lot of talent. Also, like Gophers football, the Wild has one of the best home arenas in the nation. The Excel is truly a treasure.

Ah the Timberwolves. I know what you're thinking, this is going to be tough. I could take the easy way out and highlight Kevin Love's amazing season and Most Improved Player Award. Yes, that is remarkable. But then again, the Timberwolves had more rebounds then they should have because they missed A LOT of shots. The reason for optimism lies in the Timberwolves having the best shot at the #1 overrall pick. While this has never happened, you can't deny the fact that this is the best chance they'll have. While there's no LeBron James or Kobe Bryant in this draft, that's unrealistic to think about anyways. The Wolves can support their Love-Beasley combo with playmakers like Derrick Williams, Kemba Walker, and Kyrie Irving. Look at the Memphis Grizzlies, they were just like the 2007-2011 Timberwolves not too long ago. How did they go from laughing stock to beating the Spurs in round 1 this year? Part of the reason is they stockpiled first round picks from years of futility. Mike Conley, OJ Mayo, Marc Gasol, and Rudy Gay. All top 10 picks, a pretty nucleus there.

The Vikings have now wiped themselves clean of the Brett Favre experiment. An endeavour that we all know should have ended with only 1 year. The Vikes finished 6-10 and tied for last in the NFC North. Because a ton of other teams were just as bad, the Vikings only got the 12th pick for their miserable season. With that 12th pick they got a QB ranked around 45th overrall in a lot of expert minds. Kevin Seifert, a blogger for ESPN, and former beat writer for the Vikings wrote a great article the other day on why the Vikings had no choice but to choose Ponder because, among other things, he was the best quarterback available. He argues that they only had one choice. Check it out here. The last time the Vikings put the faith of a 1st round QB to lead the team to glory, was 1999 when they chose Daunte Culpepper at #11. A pick that despite the decline in later years, actually proved pretty worthwile in the end.

The Twins are the worst team in Major League Baseball. Give that a moment to sink in. You can slap or pinch yourself all you want, but the fact is its May 1st, and the only team in baseball that has yet to reach double digits in wins is the Minnesota Twins. The Twins have the 9th highest payroll, a future hall of famer (Thome), 2 MVPs (Mauer & Morneau), two 15 game winners (Pavano & Baker), and 2 closers in the top 105 of all time (Nathan & Capps). Yet with all this talent, the team has collectively failed. There are the obvious injury reasons. The DL has been visited by Mauer, Nishioka, Young, and Slowey. Nathan & Morneau have played but are still coming back from devastating injuries. But when the team is healthy, there isn't much left for excuses. Here's why you shouldn't give up on this team yet. Jason Kubel. If All-stars were picked today, Kubel would be the lone Twins rep. He's batting .351 with 9 doubles, 2 home runs, 10 RBI and a .511 SLG %. Yeah that doesn't set the world on fire, but last year he hit .249 and had 116 strikeouts. This could be a bounce back career year for #16. Jim Thome. Ok if all else fails and this turns out to be a "rebuilding year" (I just can't believe I wrote that). Then we still have Thome's pursuit of history to join the 600 home run club. Only 7 players have done it, it's about as elite as it gets. If you catch yourself at the game when he cracks #600, consider it one of the highlights of your life. Target Field. C'mon Twins fans and Minnesotans, do you understand how lucky we are to have Target Field? Going from the Metrodome to Target Field is like replacing your 13" black & white TV with a 62" 3D/HD TV. The Twins have always had great fan support, consider Target Field as the gift that'll keep on giving for generations to come. The teams will change, some will win and some will lose, but Target Field is here to stay and we are so lucky to have it. Finally, the Twins may be 9-18, but that doesn't mean the season is over. The 1914 Boston Braves were 9-22 to start the season. How did they end up? They won the World Series. It can happen, keep the faith.

Oh and as for the weather, I'll take rain and cold over earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and hurricanes ANY day. Maybe we are more lucky than you thought.

Until next time, remember you've got 1 week 'till Mother's Day.
Brock
TCW

Misery Rankings - April edition with a Glass of Hope/Despair

Holy smokes were halfway through April and yet there's still snow on the ground and in the forecast. I skipped March's misery rankings because, well, I needed a break from writing about the sad state of sports in this area. But keeping with tradition, I'll ramp them up again this mont. The last two months, like this winter, have been exceptionally miserable. Last year at this time witnessed our first ever March without any snow, the opening of Target Field and an NCAA tournament berth from the Golden Gophers. This year, the winter has dragged on to a comically insane beat. According to Paul Douglas, this is already our 4th snowiest winter to date, and with flakes still in the forecast and always the chance for the white stuff until May, it'll go down as one of the harshest ever.

Longing for some normalcy, March and April have been especially unpredictable and hardly kind. Although it is tough to live with 6 month winters, we will take that over any hurricane, earthquake or tsunami of which have ravaged parts of the world with unbelievable losses and heartbreaking stories. It is easy to forget that we still have it pretty good.

On the sports side, the winter teams did not do much to help us get through to spring. In fact, they probably contributed to an extra exodus of Minnesotans this winter, permanent and non. Collapses and disappointments are abound and with so much negativity, I'm going to try to find the bright spots amid a sea of despair, because why live life with a glass half empty?

First off it should be noted that the land of 10,000 lakes had something to celebrate recently, as the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs won their first ever National Championship as Division 1 Hockey champs. About half of the alumni from UMD live in the Twin Cities and neighboring communities, so it was definitely a bright spot in a sea of gray among the other teams.

TWINS
Records: 5-10, 5th in AL Central
Rankings: 21st ESPN
Glass Half Empty: Here we go. No team had more pressure going into the season to save its fan base from insanity than the Twins. The optimism regarding this team was overflowing if not for anything but we as fans were dying to see a competitive team. Well 2 weeks in and we've yet to see that. Here's a short list of what's gone wrong. New Japanese all-star import, Tsuyoshi Nishioka breaks his leg in the first week. Joe Mauer has already landed on the DL. Joe Nathan has 2 blown saves and just lost the closer job to Matt Capps, who also has a blown save. Twins are last in the Majors in runs (41), home runs (4), and RBI (38). While the pitching and fielding have been average at best.
Glass Half Full: It's April. The baseball regular season is 6 months long and we're not even 1/10 of the way done. Despite the team's struggles, a few players are coming around. Denard Span is 10th in the AL in hitting at .339, a welcome sight after last year. Kubel is 16th at .320 and leads the team with 2 home runs (hey gotta be positive here). Carl Pavano is holding down the fort in the rotation. He's 1-1, but easily could be 3-0 because of the lack in run of support. Pavano has 3 quality starts, 11 K's, a 3.60 ERA, and an impressive 0.95 WHIP. He's definitely been worth the money.

GOPHERS FOOTBALL
Records: 3-9, (2-6) 10th in the Big Ten
Rankings: 85th in Sagarin Ratings
Glass Half Empty: New coach + difficult schedule including USC, Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Wisconsin = slim chance at more than 3 or 4 wins.
Glass Half Full: Because of what happened this winter to the Hockey and Basketball teams, believe it or not, Gophers football is on top of the U revenue sports. Spring practice is under way and there is a ton of optimism regarding the new coach and new quarterback Marquis Gray. And the best news of all, they can't lose until September!

GOPHERS BASKETBALL
Record: 17-14, (6-12) 10th in Big Ten
Rankings: 85th RPI
Half Empty: Lost 10 of last 11 games in one of the most epic collapses in Big Ten history. Team losing entire starting lineup Al Nolen and leading scorer Blake Hoffarber to graduation. Trevor Mbakwe and Ralph Sampson III to NBA draft (likely), and Colton Iverson to transfer.
Half Full: Starting over might be the best thing for this team. Getting some fresh faces with a clean slate, records, and attitudes might be what the Gophers need.

GOPHERS HOCKEY
Records: 16-14-6, (13-10-5) 5th in WCHA
Rankings: 23rd USCHO.com Poll (March 21st)
Glass Half Empty: The team ended one of its worst seasons in recent history with consecutive losses to perennial WCHA doormats Alaska-Anchorage. The Gophers misses the Final Five at the WCHA in consecutive years for the first time in 11 years since the WCHA expansion era.
Glass Half Full: This team may not have been great, but they at least were smart. 12 players on the roster earned Academic all-WCHA for having a GPA of at least 3.0, not too shabby.

VIKINGS
Records: 6-10, Last NFC North
Rankings: 12th Draft Pick
Glass Half Empty: A superbowl pre-season pick turned into a nightmare of a season. The team doesn't have a quarterback, proven at least and you can't win in the NFL without that. Off the field, efforts for a new stadium are being shot down left and right. If the team can't turn it around on the field, they'll have an even tougher time pushing for a new stadium with public financing. You think the Twins would have gotten Target Field if they played like they did in the mid 90's? Their 2000's resurgance was a big reason why their still in Minnesota. Can the Vikings play the same card and rally behind the purple to stay in the frozen north?
Glass Half Full: Good bye and good riddance the Brett Favre experiment is over. It worked for one season and should have ended there. Not only did his age catch up with him, but his off-field behavior too. The Vikings have a long history of off-field problems and last year was just no different. A new head coach, Leslie Frazier will be a big boost for the team. For one, he has the support of his players, which Childress hardly had, for another he's a super bowl champion player and brings that player mentality with him. Whatever the QB situation, be it McNabb, Newton, Locker, Dalton, or Joe Webb, the team can still rely on their young guns AP, Harvin, and Sid Rice to keep this team electrifying.

WILD
Records: 39-35-8, 12th in Western Conference
Rankings: 23rd ESPN
Glass Half Empty: Finished the season 4-10-1 after flirting with the 8th spot in the West. Gave up 4 or more goals in 8 of those games including an 8-1 drubbing at home vs. Montreal.
Glass Half Full: 1 win better than last year. Kicked Dallas out of the playoffs with gutsy win in last game. Todd Richards fired as head coach.

TIMBERWOLVES
Records: 17-65, Worst Record in NBA
Rankings: does it matter? 30th if you're counting.
Glass Half Empty: The Wolves lost its last 15 games to finish behind Cleveland for the worst record overall. The one bright spot on the season, Kevin Love didn't play in the season's last 5 games and on the season the team surrended a league worst 108 points per game. David Kahn and Kurt Rambis should be re-doing their resumes as neither should warrant another contract. Also, the Timberwolves now have the longest playoff drought in the NBA at 6 years.
Glass Half Full: With the worst record, comes the best chance for the #1 overrall draft pick. I'll keep this positive and it right now.

Well that's it for now. I'll try to keep pace with some other interesting and possibly uplifting stories. Until next time, remember to exercise for 30 mins a day.

Brock
TCW

Minnesota Sports Misery Rankings - January edition

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

Minnesota Sports Misery Rankings - November edition

If there were to be a correlation study of the weather and moods in Minnesota, it's likely you'd find a correlation coefficient close to 1. That is, as one variable goes up, the other does too, but just the same as one goes down. Such can be said about weather and sports in the state of Minnesota. The highs of the summer and the Twins glorious regular season are gone, and the lows of winter and a struggling Minnesota sports landscape is upon us. It'll only get colder and it could get much worse. But then there are days like we've had in early November, where the weather inadvertently spikes up 20 degrees and all of a sudden there's reason for hope. So as we roll into late fall, TCW presents the November edition of the Minnesota Sports Misery Rankings.



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

Minnesota Sports Misery Rankings

As I turned the key in the ignition this morning, my radio came on and the first song I heard was Maroon 5's Misery and I thought to myself, how fitting. Just a day after the Vikings loss on Monday Night Football and a couple days after the Twins got swept out of the playoffs, "Misery" was a fitting song for the drive in this morning.



It also has inspired a new weekly post idea here at the Courtesy Wave. A lot of sites and sports writers have "Power Rankings". We don't need anymore of those, every expert from Tijuana to Tehran presenting their thoughts on who's the best of the best. No, we need something more defining of Minnesota Sports, therefore the Courtesy Wave proudly presents The MN Sports Misery Rankings. Here's how it will go and what teams will be measured. Minnesota is one of 13 markets to house all 4 of the major professional sports: MLB, NFL, NBA, & NHL. That gives us the Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves, and Wild respectively. Next is the Division 1 sports teams of the University of Minnesota: Gopher Football, Gopher Basketball, Gopher Hockey. There are 4 other D1 Hockey schools, Bemidji State, Mankato, Duluth, and St. Cloud, but they are considered more regional and only gather a city or alumni following usually, thus are left off the rankings.

Each team will find themselves in different categories of hope and despair and everything in between. All teams will be included in the rankings whether they are in season or not; an off season trade or signing can often effect the Misery Rankings. I will start with the team with the most hope and slowly dwindle down to the last team, leaving you in despair, just the way it should be.

EUPHORIC
None, a team would have to win a championship to reach this level. The state would effectively shut down if any team were to win one.

GLEEFUL
None. Teams in this category are championship contenders and not just playoff participants.

CONTENT
The Twins top the optimistic side of the rankings this week despite recently losing to the Yankees in the ALDS. The reason I have this team as keeping the fans content, is because they once again had a great regular season run and made the playoffs for the 6th time in 9 years. Although the Twins have not advanced to the world series since 1991, this ranking is about the current state of the Twins, who may be just a few key players away from taking the next step into Gleeful..but they could step down just as easily though. And even Mauer's ineptitude in the postseason will most likely be forgotten in time as Baby Jesus can do no wrong.

OPTIMISTIC
The Minnesota Golden Gophers Basketball team is coming off a 20 win season and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in just their 3 years under Tubby Smith. The start of the 4th year begins this Friday at Midnight madness when college teams can officially start practicing. You might be wondering why I put a Gophers Basketball team that loses its top scorer, Westbrook, top post man, Johnson, and a host of legal issues in the optimistic category, it all relates to one man, Tubby Smith. The man is a Messiah around these parts, booted out of Kentucky, we throw rose pedals at his feet and beg that we're not worthy to be in his presence...that's how hungry Minnesota fans are. This year, they bring a talented young team with Nolen back at the point and Hoffarber, Williams, Mbakwe (barring legal issues), and Iverson, this team could be headed back to the big Dance and even make some noise.

POTENTIAL OPTIMISM
The Gopher Hockey team always gives the state's loyal hockey followers reason to hope. U Hockey consistently pulls in the top talent around the country and world which gives the fans hope that the Gophers will light up Mariucci for another title run. However, they have fallen behind as teams in the WCHA have caught up to the Gophers and now the competition is just as good with Wisconsin, UND, and even UMD ahead of the Gophers in many pre-season rankings.

JURY'S OUT
The Minnesota Wild begun there season across the pond in Finland, unfortunately the team left their jockstraps at home, scoring only 1 point in 2 games against Carolina. Not even the 3 Finnish Wild players could help this team to a win, however 2 games isn't enough to make this team depressing yet, however, so they will teeter for now until the Jury comes back from lunch.

DEPRESSING
The Vikings come in this week in the depressing category after they're heartbreaking loss to the NY Jets on MNF, left the team at 1-3, even after the re-acquisition of Randy Moss. If I we're making this post 2 days ago, the Vikings would be in the Optimistic category after the Moss trade and a rested team off the bye. Well all of that energy was sucked out of Minnesota last night after Favre showed up in the 2nd half to play, but ultimately was too late to the party and threw the game costing pick late in the 4th quarter. The team was really hyped this year, Favre's last and all the key players back, this has definitely been a depressing first quarter of the season.

FLEETING HOPE
The Minnesota Timberwolves have become the laughingstock of the NBA after failed trades, draft picks, and free agent signings. But with bad teams, come high draft picks, which means the some of the best college players come to Minnesota (at least that's the theory). This year's team has 7 former top 10 draft picks, that's amazing in itself. However, a bunch have been bust material, some like Beasley and Love have a ton of upside. This team will not come close to contending this year, but they have just enough hope to give the fan base something to think about...at least until the 2nd week of the season.


MISERABLE
Congratulations to the Gophers Football team for topping (bottoming) out the first Misery Rankings here on the TCW. Actually, the term miserable is maybe going too light on these Gophers, pathetic, embarrassing, and painful, might better describe this years version of Gophers football. After beating Middle Tennessee on the road to start the season, its been all downhill, and a steep downhill at that, for the boys in Maroon & Gold. Since that squeaker of a victory over a Sun Belt team, the Gophers made history by becoming the first U team to lose 4 straight home games in 100 years, one of which came to FBS South Dakota...yep, the Coyotes, who got beat by North Dakota State a couple weeks later 38-16. The Gophers will not be favored in any remaining game and will be hard pressed to make any remaining game worth watching.

There you have it folks, the Courtesy Wave's first MN Sports Misery Rankings. I'll try to update this weekly, we can all "hope" that our "misery" will soon be lifted or at least relieved, even if briefly.

Until then, remember to dot your i's and cross your t's.

bsv
the Courtesy Wave

Minnesota Sports - a measure of thick skin...

The temperature has dropped into 50's and 60's, headlights dot the morning drive, kids are eagerly off to school, and shorts and tank tops are being put away, all signs that fall is arriving. Officially summer doesn't end until September 22nd, but it might as well end on Labor Day, especially in Minnesota where unlike other places, the temperature can fluctuate 40 degrees from one day to the next.

When you live in Minnesota, you must have things to look forward to other than the summer, because if that's all you like about Minnesota than you're miserable 3/4th's of the year. People say they like the change in seasons around here, a true 4 season state, the unfortunate part is that the breakdown is not even, about 2 months of spring, 3 months of summer, 2 months of fall, and 5 months of winter; it's the last one that makes it really tough to live in Minnesota year round. But I love this state and part of the reason why is I love, love, LOVE Minnesota sports. Plus when you border states like North & South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, you realize it could be worse.

Minnesota has a very unique sports scene, creating a following unlike anywhere else in the country. All of the professional teams are out of the Twin Cities, but none of them are named Minneapolis or St. Paul. Out of the 13 U.S. metropolitan areas that have all 4 major professional sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL), only Minnesota has all 4 represented by the state's name instead of the city they play in. (New York's teams are represented city wise and they're NFL teams actually play in New Jersey). The state also has only 1 full Division 1 college sports institution...aptly named the University of Minnesota. And when you include the U, the state has 6 major teams: Vikings, Twins, Timberwolves, Wild, Gophers Football, and Gophers Basketball. (Hockey is more of a regional sport and despite an intense following in Minnesota, is not a major national sport.)

It is very powerful to have an immediate identity with the entire state. Having grown up outside of the Twin Cities, never once had a I thought the teams only belonged to the urbanites, they are as much Minneapolis as they are Milaca. The fandom extends out past the state too, every team has fans from all over the country, but Minnesota has a unique geographic position on the U.S. sports landscape. Unlike many teams that lie on the coasts and have only a few hours between other metros, the closest city with another professional sports team is 278 miles to the east in Green Bay, Wisconsin; which happens to have only 1 team, the Packers, and is by far the most hated team in Minnesota. From a directional standpoint, the closest cities with professional sports teams are as follows:
East: Green Bay - 278 miles (Packers)
Southeast: Chicago - 410 miles (Bulls, Blackhawks, Bears, Cubs, & White Sox)
South: Kansas City - 436 miles(Royals & Chiefs)
Southwest: Denver - 870 miles (Nuggets, Broncos, Avalanche, & Rockies)
West: Seattle - 1,624 miles(Seahawks & Mariners)
Northwest: Calgary - 1,192 miles (Flames)
North: None
Northeast: None

The closest drive is 4 hours and anything to the west is a day trip or an expensive plane ride. Minnesota thus captures northern Iowa, most of the Dakotas and even as far as eastern Montana.

Aside from geographical and nomenclature, the teams are based in Minneapolis-St. Paul, which represents the 16th largest metropolitan area, meaning a few cities with larger populations actually have less professional sports teams. Most people associate the teams from Minnesota in the mid to small market when compared with teams from the giant metros of New York, LA, Phoenix, Atlanta, Chicago and the like. This is reflected on the team's payrolls and ability or lack thereof to bring in top level talent, also being a northern state, aside from the Twins who play mostly in the summer, selling the cold winter weather AND mid-market to a basketball or football player that could opt for the many warm weather cities of the south or the big exposure metros of the Chicago and New York ilk can be a tough sell. These factors all create an underdog mantra in the state of Minnesota. That the teams compete on an uneven playing field and if they win, its all the more sweeter because of the conditions, fiscally, geographically, and weather wise, that exist. And in the sports world when faced with an indifference in which team to root for, it almost always goes to the underdog, which makes the state's teams compelling to root for.

Much like the cold winter weather, being a Minnesota sports fan can be harsh and bitter. At the current time, there is no other metro area that has all 4 professional sports that has gone longer without a championship than Minnesota (Mpls-St. Paul). You have to go back to 1991 to find the last one, when the Minnesota Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves in what many sportswriters (in and out of the state) call one of the best world series ever played. The next closest is Washington D.C. where the Redskins hold the city's last championship, winning the Super Bowl, ironically here in Minnesota at the Metrodome. The Twins are actually the only Minnesota named team to win a championship and they've won 2, the other in 1987. The only other championships come from the Minneapolis Lakers of the 40's and 50's, last one in 1954. But that team shipped off to LA and went on to real stardom when the NBA became more popular and expanded in the 60's & 70's.

If you're looking to the college landscape to fetter you're national title appetite, than you'll only be more disappointed. Gophers Football last won the national championship in 1960 and Gophers Basketball in 1919. Actually and surprisingly most people don't know or remember that Gophers Football was one of the best teams in the country in the 30's and 40's. In fact, the Gophers are the last team to win 3 straight national championships (1934-36). Unfortunately since you had to be at least in your 80's by now to enjoy those, the Gophers are in desperate need of a return to Glory (a term not used often in conjunction with Gopher sports. The football team hasn't even been to a New Year's Day Bowl (considered a top 5 bowl game) since 1962. Despite they're lack of dominance, the U was able to secure and build a brand new stadium, bringing college football back to where it belongs, on campus. Here's hoping that changes their fortunes. (losing to South Dakota doesn't help though).

Over on the hardwood, the Gophers Basketball team competes at the Barn (Williams Arena) an old historic place that in 1919 must have been wonderful. It still holds its charm and is a great place to watch a game. The team had success in the late 90's and even had a run to the Final Four in 1997. But you won't find that team in the record books, they were vacated after a massive cheating scandal was discovered during those years. Fitting.

The Timberwolves have been around since 1989 and aside from the Kevin Garnett era have been largely pathetic. They are cellar dweller team that's never reached the NBA Finals, let alone win a championship. To pour salt into the wound, Garnett won an NBA championship with the Celtics the very next year after he left Minnesota. The current team's outlook is bleak and they have been lost in the shuffle of Minnesota sports and don't have a very loyal following. The only way to get butts in the seats is by winning and they do a horrible job of that.

The Wild are the only team that is housed in St. Paul, at the beautiful Xcel Energy Center. The team has only been here since 2000, introduced as an expansion team. The old NHL team, the Minnesota North Stars moved in 1993 to Dallas of all places and much like the Lakers, retained their mascot name, only dropping the North moniker. Being a young franchise, the Wild, have a ways to go to get to the level of title droughts the other teams in Minnesota currently have. However, after 10 seasons, there has yet to be a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, the closest being in 2003 when they were swept in the Conference finals by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

The Twins as mentioned before, are the only team in the modern era to win a championship, and they did so twice within a span of 4 years. The team is my personal favorite. I have been a die hard Twins fan my whole life and know the team's history back and forth. But I'll get into that with another post, including my prediction for this fall's postseason. From a fans standpoint, the Twins have brought championships and entertaining baseball to Minnesota for years and yet at one point we're almost eliminated from the MLB entirely. But since that time, 10 years ago, they have consistently been a competitive team that has won several Division Championships. And finally they were rewarded with a state of the art stadium, Target Field, that is an utterly amazing place to watch a ballgame. I highly recommend you do so. The Twins at this point arguably are the best chance to bring back another championship to the state.

The other team that at present state has a chance to bring glory back to Minnesota and the last on this list, for good reason, is the Minnesota Vikings, The team with the biggest following in Minnesota. The franchise has been to 4 Super Bowls and lost them all, the last of which came in 1977. The team has been fairly competitive throughout their history, gaining at least 4 trips to the playoffs in each decade since the 70's. Enough to keep the fan base satisfied, but extremely hungry for that 1 Super Bowl victory that seems to elude this team, year after year. The Vikings we're immortalized and in many ways summed up entirely in their 1998 season. They went 15-1 and utterly dominated the league that year with Cunningham and Moss lighting up opponents in record fashion. However, the NFC Championship game with Atlanta was closer than expected and with the Super Bowl in sight and a 7 point lead with less than 3 minutes to play, the Vikings sent out Gary Anderson to kick the insurance points to get them into the Super Bowl (where they would be heavily favored). Anderson was a perfect 35 for 35 on field goals for the year, including the playoffs, and at 38 yards, it was as close to a sure thing as you could get. So when he missed the kick, even though the Vikings still had the lead, most fans knew that the fate had been sealed...there would be no Super Bowl victory...let alone even getting there. Despite that season and all others, there is an intense Vikings following and they have been competitive for many years and have provided glimmers of hope recently that there may be light at the end of the tunnel coming very soon.

Well there you have it. Yes, there is a lot of misery accompanied with Minnesota, the winter weather and title droughts have become 2nd nature. However, there is a lot of good that comes from the sports, it gives the state identity, unites a fan base across several regions and demographics, gives each other hope (if only to deflate it, but hope nonetheless). The teams may not bring us championships every year or decade for that matter, but they do provide entertainment and an avenue to channel our inner kid hopes and dreams that sustain our abilities to stay sane and be positive about the future. And when those title days come, and come they will eventually, just imagine how sweet they will be.

hope you enjoyed the read, till next time,

bsv
the Courtesy Wave