In ESPN's NFL power rankings this week, it was stated that "The Patriots are undefeated, the Celtics are preseason favorites in the NBA's Atlantic Division, Boston College is No. 2 in the nation, and the Red Sox are in the World Series. Not a bad time to be a Boston sports fan. Not a bad time at all." Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Minnesota sports fan. Let's analyze this, shall we?
1. Minnesota Timberwolves - After ending an era of sustained mediocrity by parting ways with perennial superstar and franchise cornerstone, Kevin Garnett, the team has officially entered "rebuilding mode" and plans to start the season with numerous inexperienced, albeit talented, young players in his stead. The stat sheets are most certainly going to be dismal for a while and T-wolves fans should prepare themselves for a season of boneheaded mistakes. On the positive side, with this group, it's also fairly likely that we'll see glimpses of brilliance.
2. Minnesota Twins - After finishing well out of the race this past season, franchise mainstay Torii Hunter is projected to find a different home this winter. There are trade Rumors involving Johan Santana. There are gaping holes in the Twins infield and there is no emerging talent in the farm system to fill them. There are uncertainties surrounding young ace Francisco Liriano after Tommy John surgery. And as time passes, it becomes increasingly expensive for the club to sign Morneau and Cuddyer. Most signs point to the window of opportunity that had presented itself to this club a couple years ago is closing...fast.
3. Minnesota Vikings - Other than rookie standout Adrian Peterson, the team's offense is a mess. It's quarterback, although young, is currently playing at a level that might get him cut from most Arena Football league teams and the head coach seems unable or unwilling to use AP in the manner necessary to win ball games. The defense, while increasingly stingy against the run, continues to have trouble preventing the pass. And while some of the blame for this has to be placed on the secondary, in reality it is the fault of the linemen and the lack of ANY pass rush whatsoever that perpetuates the problem. It is not outside the realm of possibility that this team finishes the season with a 4-12 record...and I'm being generous.
4. Gophers football - NDSU came into their house, took $300K and stomped their guys out. And with a 1-7 record, they are quite possibly the worst team I have ever seen.
5. Gopher Hockey - UND looks awfully tough boys. Good luck with that one.
Frankly, the Minnesota Wild hockey team is about all that the area has to cheer about lately. However, considering the putrid NHL ratings lately, I wouldn't be surprised if there were more people tuned into the 2 episodes of "Viva Laughlin" than there were viewing NHL games on OLN. I don't blame them either. After all, no matter the success of the team, it's still hockey. And while hockey is fun to watch in person, on TV it's about as entertaining as "Becker."
So for Minnesota fans like me (sans Gopher hockey/football), it's a tough time. Oh, and Boston fans, enjoy Randy and KG.
3 comments:
I actually watched about 10 minutes of the Gopher/Bison game, and had to change the channel. My God, it was awful. It was like watching a mediocre high school game.
You nailed it on the Viking's D line. No one talks about the defensive line's inability to generate a pass rush. The secondary can only cover for so long, even the best in the league can easily get beat if the QB is given enough time in the pocket.
Are you still rocking your other fantasy leagues? I'm quickly falling to the bottom. So is Heather w/ Ronnie Brown going down. Tell you wife to accept my trade offer (or at least decline it so I know she's paying attention to her team :) ).
She's not paying attention to her team, other than asking me whether she won or lost. She had 4 people starting last week that were on a bye. I hate that.
I have Ronnie Brown on my other team too. However, I also have Lamont Jordan, Clinton Portis, Randy Moss, Plaxico Buress, Thomas Jones, and Tom Brady. Instead of dominating everyone by 40 points, it'll be more like 30 now.
There are 10-12 in that league too, but I went straight up dark horse in that draft and it paid off.
I'm worried about New England's bye week though. Tom, Randy and Gostkowski will be hard to replace. Damon Huard and Curtis from Philly is who I've got waiting. Not good. Maybe I'll get that Tennessee kicker (Bironas) for Ronnie.
I noticed she had a couple people on bye last week - that's why she should trade me :) The combo of Alexander and Foster will at least provide her with more bodies to play (in case of more bye weeks), plus combined their output is nearly double of what Lynch has done.
Go to bat for me JB, if you think it's a fair trade overall. ;)
Nice, the dark horse theory, I like it. I think I need to go your route next year - no research. I spent way too much time to get a crappy team.
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