First off, who were those guys wearing Twins jerseys against the Yankees last night? Winning by 6 runs over the Pinstripes is unheard of, a couple more outbursts like that and we can actually start calling Jason Kubel a legit Yankee killer, two HRs and five RBI will do that. But lest you think I'm going to get all fired up over this one win, think again. As I wrote about a week ago, there's still not much to indicate that the Twins could take a postseason series from one of the teams in the AL East. Last night's firepower doesn't change the fact that this most recent run-in with the Yankees still ended in a 2-1 series loss; if you want to take a warm fuzzy from the fact that the two losses were by a single run and the Twins scored more runs in the series, that's your business, I'll just say this is America's pasttime, not England's, so total score means jack, and move on.
(I will however agree that there is a silver lining to this season's 2-4 showing vs. the Bombers in the form of 6 quality starts from Twins pitching. The rotation looked a bit shaky coming in, and has certainly had it's wobbles so far, but good games against probably the best lineup in baseball is an indication that they at least have the stuff to compete. As far as the mental makeup to pitch in New York in October, hopefully we can avoid having to answer that question this season...but I doubt it.)
As for the big event on the horizon, if you're anything like me, there's only one thing on your mind heading into the holiday weekend: Hockey. Well that's not entirely true, I am thinking about powerwashing a deck, working on my golf game and various other summer pursuits, but once the sun starts to fade I will be glued to my TV for the most-anticipated Stanley Cup Finals I can recall in a long time.
You see ever since covert operative Gary Bettman (henceforth know as 00-Gary) was sent by NBA commissioner David Stern to infiltrate the NHL and end it's run as a upstart competitor to the NBA, the league has been infatuated with shunning Canada and the Northern US in favor of warmer climes. This was allegedly intended to grow the league into a nationwide presence in the US, but has instead had the effect of alientating fans and watering down the talent level league wide. This wasn't a huge problem for the average fan (save for Winnipeg, Quebec, Hartford and of course Minnesota fans, who had their teams stolen to fuel the warm-weather gambit) until something awful happened: The warm weather teams got good. Now those of us trying to casually watch a playoff game had to deal with half-full arenas full of clueless fans watching teams with no history. In short, it was a trainwreck, kind of like everything else attempted by 00-Gary before or since (see Versus TV "deal").
At any rate, after the nauseating succession of Cup champions who couldn't sell out Finals games (Tampa Bay), had fans who'd rather be watching NASCAR (Carolina) or were basically just killing time between Angels games (Anaheim), it's nice to have a good, old school rivalry this season. (Omitting Detroit vs. Pittsburgh, due to the sychophantic obsession of the TV networks, was burned out on them by February, so couldn't really enjoy the Finals either season.) Chicago is an Original Six team that hasn't won a Cup since 1962, Philadelphia is a Second Six team that hasn't won it all since 1975; in terms of history it doesn't get much better than this. In fact, I think it's time to dust off a bit of NHL lore and reference this clash between the champions of the Campbell Conference (Blackhawks) and Wales Conference (Flyers) in the proper terminology (yet another awful casualty of 00-Gary's Reign Of Terror).
So there it is, I'm pumped. The crowds should be awesome, the ice shouldn't be crap (because it's not a million degrees outside) and the games should be fierce, if you're a hockey fan, you can't ask for much more than that.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Swept away
Is it just me, or are the NHL and NBA playoffs kind of boring this year?
The conference finals in the two sports are playing out pretty much the same as the previous rounds have, with a decided lack of drama. The Chicago Blackhawks swept their way into the Stanley Cup finals on Sunday, a day later the Philadelphia Flyers ousted the Montreal Canadiens in five games. Basketball has gotten a bit better with Phoenix winning last night to pull even with the Lakers, but even though the series is tied, there have been no individual games that were very compelling. Boston took a 3-0 lead over Orlando and will likely finish them off in Game 5 this evening, where exactly is the playoff drama this season?
Now it has to be said that you can't force drama (well, that might depend on your view of NBA officiating conspiracies) and there have been some notable good games in these playoffs (see Canadiens, Montreal), but all in all, it's been kind of a snoozer. Where are my multiple-OT thrillers? Where are my last-second game-winning shots? Perhaps this is all just a hangover from last year's Celtics-Bulls "best playoff series ever" coup de grace, but for the most part, when I've sat down to watch a big game, it hasn't ended up being big. Yahoo's Puck Daddy blog posed an interesting query on this topic, wondering if first-round NHL upsets might've ruined later rounds by taking out the best teams early.(http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/What-We-Learned-Did-the-1st-round-spoil-Stanley?urn=nhl,243153) It's a good question, given that big upsets are always very fun, but the underdog runs often tend to be over quickly, and in grisly fashion.
Then again, maybe I'm just being greedy about things, expecting compelling storylines and non-stop drama may just be too much to ask. On a personal level there is still one great storyline in each sport keeping me tuned in; the Blackhawks first Cup finals in nearly 20 years while being led by my favorite college hockey player of all-time (Jonathan Toews) in the NHL being one, and the potential renewal of one of the greatest rivalries in sport (Lakers vs. Celtics) in the NBA being the other. If you'd asked me what I wanted to see when the playoffs started, these Finals matchups wouldn't have been too far off, so should I really ask for much more?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes, because more is what we've been spoiled with in the past, don't blame me because the bar has been set high. Great teams AND great games are a staple of the playoffs, with this year conspicuously devoid of the latter. Maybe it is greedy, but since I don't get the enjoyment of watching either of my teams play even a single game, I feel I'm entitled. Now let's hope the Finals in both sports make up for the couple of ho-hum weeks leading up to the.
The conference finals in the two sports are playing out pretty much the same as the previous rounds have, with a decided lack of drama. The Chicago Blackhawks swept their way into the Stanley Cup finals on Sunday, a day later the Philadelphia Flyers ousted the Montreal Canadiens in five games. Basketball has gotten a bit better with Phoenix winning last night to pull even with the Lakers, but even though the series is tied, there have been no individual games that were very compelling. Boston took a 3-0 lead over Orlando and will likely finish them off in Game 5 this evening, where exactly is the playoff drama this season?
Now it has to be said that you can't force drama (well, that might depend on your view of NBA officiating conspiracies) and there have been some notable good games in these playoffs (see Canadiens, Montreal), but all in all, it's been kind of a snoozer. Where are my multiple-OT thrillers? Where are my last-second game-winning shots? Perhaps this is all just a hangover from last year's Celtics-Bulls "best playoff series ever" coup de grace, but for the most part, when I've sat down to watch a big game, it hasn't ended up being big. Yahoo's Puck Daddy blog posed an interesting query on this topic, wondering if first-round NHL upsets might've ruined later rounds by taking out the best teams early.(http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/What-We-Learned-Did-the-1st-round-spoil-Stanley?urn=nhl,243153) It's a good question, given that big upsets are always very fun, but the underdog runs often tend to be over quickly, and in grisly fashion.
Then again, maybe I'm just being greedy about things, expecting compelling storylines and non-stop drama may just be too much to ask. On a personal level there is still one great storyline in each sport keeping me tuned in; the Blackhawks first Cup finals in nearly 20 years while being led by my favorite college hockey player of all-time (Jonathan Toews) in the NHL being one, and the potential renewal of one of the greatest rivalries in sport (Lakers vs. Celtics) in the NBA being the other. If you'd asked me what I wanted to see when the playoffs started, these Finals matchups wouldn't have been too far off, so should I really ask for much more?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes, because more is what we've been spoiled with in the past, don't blame me because the bar has been set high. Great teams AND great games are a staple of the playoffs, with this year conspicuously devoid of the latter. Maybe it is greedy, but since I don't get the enjoyment of watching either of my teams play even a single game, I feel I'm entitled. Now let's hope the Finals in both sports make up for the couple of ho-hum weeks leading up to the.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Lowering the ceiling
So is it better to root for a team that is perenially awful, and extinguishes all hope early on, or one that consistently contends, only to fall short of it's goal?
I know how a Kansas City Royals fan would answer that question, they would resounding opt for the latter, and most likely call me a spoiled fool for even asking the question. But the day after another poor swing through the AL East for the Minnesota Twins, I'm left with one overwhelming thought: What's the point?
Every year my team competes for the AL Central title, and every year they fail to beat the teams they need to, if they hope to accomplish something more than a first-round playoff exit. The latest chapter in this story was a 2-5 roadtrip through New York, Toronto and Boston, completed last night in ugly fashion, which left Twins fans to ponder if their cute little team is ever going to do anything. We thought we had some pitching, we thought we had a lot of hitting, we thought we were a force to be reckoned with in the American League this season; at the moment, it appears we thought wrong.
Breakdowns in every phase of the game have been a staple whenever the Twins take on a squad from baseball's best division, and this season has been no exception so far. After the formerly dominant Francisco Liriano got rocked around Fenway last night (the last in a string of pedestrian outings) and the offense failed to muster much of anything for the third game in a row, it would be tough to argue that this Twins team would do anything other than battle Baltimore for the cellar if moved into this division. Part of the problem is talent, part of it is attitude, who knows what portion of each is the perfect recipe for failure? The only thing we do know for sure is that the Twins have perfected that recipe, and whip up a big batch every time they hop on a plane pointed eastward.
It can be pointed out that one roadtrip does not a season make, that sitting 7 games over .500 in a first-palce tie is an enviable position, and that May is no time to panic, but I say nuts to that. Unfortunately this team is a product of it's own success and aggressive offseason moves, expectations have been raised accordingly. Another division title followed by another 3-game thumping from one of the big kids just can't be viewed as a success, at least not if you're goal is to win a title.
So while there are many games yet to play, and rough stretches are an inevitably part of the game, it's hard to not be discouraged after watching this mostly non-competitive stretch of baseball. Odd as it sounds, this wouldn't be nearly as hard to take had it come from a division foe, rather than the teams that must be bested in October if something truly unique is going to happen. With 120+ games left, nothing is broken beyond repair, but at the moment it's difficult to muster much enthusiasm. The future will bring highs, lows and very likely another division title, which would be great if I was a Royals fan, but is leaving me a bit cold in the meantime. I guess what I'm saying is, please allow me a moment to be bitter.
And now let's go beat the Brewers.
I know how a Kansas City Royals fan would answer that question, they would resounding opt for the latter, and most likely call me a spoiled fool for even asking the question. But the day after another poor swing through the AL East for the Minnesota Twins, I'm left with one overwhelming thought: What's the point?
Every year my team competes for the AL Central title, and every year they fail to beat the teams they need to, if they hope to accomplish something more than a first-round playoff exit. The latest chapter in this story was a 2-5 roadtrip through New York, Toronto and Boston, completed last night in ugly fashion, which left Twins fans to ponder if their cute little team is ever going to do anything. We thought we had some pitching, we thought we had a lot of hitting, we thought we were a force to be reckoned with in the American League this season; at the moment, it appears we thought wrong.
Breakdowns in every phase of the game have been a staple whenever the Twins take on a squad from baseball's best division, and this season has been no exception so far. After the formerly dominant Francisco Liriano got rocked around Fenway last night (the last in a string of pedestrian outings) and the offense failed to muster much of anything for the third game in a row, it would be tough to argue that this Twins team would do anything other than battle Baltimore for the cellar if moved into this division. Part of the problem is talent, part of it is attitude, who knows what portion of each is the perfect recipe for failure? The only thing we do know for sure is that the Twins have perfected that recipe, and whip up a big batch every time they hop on a plane pointed eastward.
It can be pointed out that one roadtrip does not a season make, that sitting 7 games over .500 in a first-palce tie is an enviable position, and that May is no time to panic, but I say nuts to that. Unfortunately this team is a product of it's own success and aggressive offseason moves, expectations have been raised accordingly. Another division title followed by another 3-game thumping from one of the big kids just can't be viewed as a success, at least not if you're goal is to win a title.
So while there are many games yet to play, and rough stretches are an inevitably part of the game, it's hard to not be discouraged after watching this mostly non-competitive stretch of baseball. Odd as it sounds, this wouldn't be nearly as hard to take had it come from a division foe, rather than the teams that must be bested in October if something truly unique is going to happen. With 120+ games left, nothing is broken beyond repair, but at the moment it's difficult to muster much enthusiasm. The future will bring highs, lows and very likely another division title, which would be great if I was a Royals fan, but is leaving me a bit cold in the meantime. I guess what I'm saying is, please allow me a moment to be bitter.
And now let's go beat the Brewers.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
A return to the back burner
Dear Mr. Kahn,
Well, here we are again, left wondering where it all went wrong. Well not wondering so much, it's easy to pinpoint the exact moment where everything started a slow swirl to the bottom of the bowl, think it was around pick #6, when the Golden State logo came out of the envelope and it was clear that two teams with higher picks had found their way into the top 3. Sure there was a slim chance that the Wolves still could've ended up in their rightful position, but those of us who have seen this movie before knew how it ended, and it wasn't pretty.
I'm not really mad about it, just disappointed; probably more so than I should be, given past history and expectations that were at rock bottom. But even when you expect nothing, it's hard not to feel a twinge of excitement as the dominoes start to fall, and one team after another takes it's correct place. The moment was similar two, although not approaching the significance of, the Vikings march down the field as time ran down in the NFC Championship game. You try so hard not to care, but once you get a glimpse of that goal line, emotion overrides logic, and you start to believe, only to be slapped down hard once again.
On the bright side, I suppose we've really lost nothing here. No lead has been blown, no big name is leaving town, the cost of this misfire is just a series of hypotheticals, which may even prove to come true in some other roundabout way. As a master of spin Mr Kahn, you've been quick to offer a fallback, and we appreciate that. Perhaps history will eventually bear out your claims that moves can be made and not all is lost with your team's failure to land one of the two big names in this year's draft. Perhaps soon, even the fabled Rubio will come from across the sea to usher in a new era of Wolves basketball alongside Lottery Pick X, who's presence we will no doubt bemoan when it's announced next month. Maybe, perhaps, possibly, things could work out in some oddly ironic way. But at the moment Dave, from where I'm sitting, you don't appear to have a damn thing.
Going into last night, I was ready to give things the benefit of the doubt and reinvest myself in the Timberwolves basketball. At one point I was an entusiastic fan, but years of stagnant, fringe-playoff teams had dampened that enthusiasm. But with the Wolves poised to take the first steps back to relevance, it seemed time to check back in; after all, rooting for a young team on the rise is far more intriguing than an established squad stuck in the middle. Youth offers the promise of improvement, that tomorrow will be better than today, instead of the gnawing concern of the same familiar flaw popping up again to derail a season, as it always does in the world of the perennial also-ran. The Wolves teams during the last few years of the Garnett Era were a caricature of their previous selves, continually trying to plug one hole in the dam, just to have three or four new ones spring forth. The team was neither good enough to win it all, nor bad enough to gain a high draft pick, it was simply spinning it's wheels; frankly, as a sports fan, I consider this the worst possible place to be.
So fast forward a few years, and while this wasn't exactly a team on the rise, it was certainly a team ready to move onto the next chapter. Gone were the ill-advised contracts handed out in last-gasp attempts to salvage the end of an area, replaced instead by malleable (albeit underskilled) parts that could be shifted as necessary in pursuit of a nucleus. From that nucleus we'd build a competent squad, then a playoff team, and then a contender; at least that's the way it gets drawn up. The path has been laid out by many other organizations throughout sports history, and while falling into absolute irrelevance is tough to stomach, it also provides the freedom to do whatever is necessary to change the conditions that put you there in the first place. Nothing is sacred, it can all get blown up, all that's required to rise from the ashes is a shrewd evaluator of talent at the helm, ownership that was will to spend as needed...and a little bit of luck.
You see Dave, that's where it's always gone wrong around here, as yesterday once again hammered home. It would seem that random chance should dictate a single instance of success in 15 tries at anything with a resonable probability of success. Yet time after time, despite odds that are certainly more than reasonable, the failure continues to perpetuate. (Meanwhile, teams like the Wizards, who wouldn't be within a mile of the lottery had their best player not been suspended all year, strike gold, you really can't make it up) Adding in the abysmal front office missteps over the years, and the fact that NBA free agents apparently view Minnesota as a slighty more desirable destination than Siberia, it gets pretty tough to imagine a scenario in which this franchise will ever be able to free itself from it's current morass.
I guess what I'm trying to say here is, this isn't working for me and something needs to change. It's not you, it's me; you've barely been here a year, my fear and loathing regarding the draft day misadventures of the franchise go back a decade more. While it can be said your first runthrough has not been overly encouraging, you're not to blame for even one-tenth of the apathy I feel toward your franchise; the seeds of boredom were sewn long ago, and they now stand as a towering oak of indifference that even the sharpest axe could not fell. It's true these situations do not fix themselves overnight, but this team has been teetering toward irrelevance for the better part of a decade, falling over the brink a few seasons ago, perhaps never to be heard from again.
So you're on your own Dave, sorry to say, but I just can't muster the interest for another season where 20 wins is the ceiling. I'll check back again in a year or so, in the meantime re-iterating the same hope I had at this time last year: That the coming draft yields at least one player who gives the appearance of being a future building block (one who sees actual NBA minutes this season would be preferable). I have to admit, I have my doubts about your acumen, but I like your sense of humor and hope you succeed in spite of my reservations. After all, we're in this together...well, you know, after you get something resembling a professional basketball team on the floor.
Best wishes,
Pat
P.S. I know you said you don't believe in luck, but even so, bringing the Vikings play-by-play guy to the lottery couldn't have helped.
P.P.S. Rubio is never going to play here, trade him for anything of decent value.
Well, here we are again, left wondering where it all went wrong. Well not wondering so much, it's easy to pinpoint the exact moment where everything started a slow swirl to the bottom of the bowl, think it was around pick #6, when the Golden State logo came out of the envelope and it was clear that two teams with higher picks had found their way into the top 3. Sure there was a slim chance that the Wolves still could've ended up in their rightful position, but those of us who have seen this movie before knew how it ended, and it wasn't pretty.
I'm not really mad about it, just disappointed; probably more so than I should be, given past history and expectations that were at rock bottom. But even when you expect nothing, it's hard not to feel a twinge of excitement as the dominoes start to fall, and one team after another takes it's correct place. The moment was similar two, although not approaching the significance of, the Vikings march down the field as time ran down in the NFC Championship game. You try so hard not to care, but once you get a glimpse of that goal line, emotion overrides logic, and you start to believe, only to be slapped down hard once again.
On the bright side, I suppose we've really lost nothing here. No lead has been blown, no big name is leaving town, the cost of this misfire is just a series of hypotheticals, which may even prove to come true in some other roundabout way. As a master of spin Mr Kahn, you've been quick to offer a fallback, and we appreciate that. Perhaps history will eventually bear out your claims that moves can be made and not all is lost with your team's failure to land one of the two big names in this year's draft. Perhaps soon, even the fabled Rubio will come from across the sea to usher in a new era of Wolves basketball alongside Lottery Pick X, who's presence we will no doubt bemoan when it's announced next month. Maybe, perhaps, possibly, things could work out in some oddly ironic way. But at the moment Dave, from where I'm sitting, you don't appear to have a damn thing.
Going into last night, I was ready to give things the benefit of the doubt and reinvest myself in the Timberwolves basketball. At one point I was an entusiastic fan, but years of stagnant, fringe-playoff teams had dampened that enthusiasm. But with the Wolves poised to take the first steps back to relevance, it seemed time to check back in; after all, rooting for a young team on the rise is far more intriguing than an established squad stuck in the middle. Youth offers the promise of improvement, that tomorrow will be better than today, instead of the gnawing concern of the same familiar flaw popping up again to derail a season, as it always does in the world of the perennial also-ran. The Wolves teams during the last few years of the Garnett Era were a caricature of their previous selves, continually trying to plug one hole in the dam, just to have three or four new ones spring forth. The team was neither good enough to win it all, nor bad enough to gain a high draft pick, it was simply spinning it's wheels; frankly, as a sports fan, I consider this the worst possible place to be.
So fast forward a few years, and while this wasn't exactly a team on the rise, it was certainly a team ready to move onto the next chapter. Gone were the ill-advised contracts handed out in last-gasp attempts to salvage the end of an area, replaced instead by malleable (albeit underskilled) parts that could be shifted as necessary in pursuit of a nucleus. From that nucleus we'd build a competent squad, then a playoff team, and then a contender; at least that's the way it gets drawn up. The path has been laid out by many other organizations throughout sports history, and while falling into absolute irrelevance is tough to stomach, it also provides the freedom to do whatever is necessary to change the conditions that put you there in the first place. Nothing is sacred, it can all get blown up, all that's required to rise from the ashes is a shrewd evaluator of talent at the helm, ownership that was will to spend as needed...and a little bit of luck.
You see Dave, that's where it's always gone wrong around here, as yesterday once again hammered home. It would seem that random chance should dictate a single instance of success in 15 tries at anything with a resonable probability of success. Yet time after time, despite odds that are certainly more than reasonable, the failure continues to perpetuate. (Meanwhile, teams like the Wizards, who wouldn't be within a mile of the lottery had their best player not been suspended all year, strike gold, you really can't make it up) Adding in the abysmal front office missteps over the years, and the fact that NBA free agents apparently view Minnesota as a slighty more desirable destination than Siberia, it gets pretty tough to imagine a scenario in which this franchise will ever be able to free itself from it's current morass.
I guess what I'm trying to say here is, this isn't working for me and something needs to change. It's not you, it's me; you've barely been here a year, my fear and loathing regarding the draft day misadventures of the franchise go back a decade more. While it can be said your first runthrough has not been overly encouraging, you're not to blame for even one-tenth of the apathy I feel toward your franchise; the seeds of boredom were sewn long ago, and they now stand as a towering oak of indifference that even the sharpest axe could not fell. It's true these situations do not fix themselves overnight, but this team has been teetering toward irrelevance for the better part of a decade, falling over the brink a few seasons ago, perhaps never to be heard from again.
So you're on your own Dave, sorry to say, but I just can't muster the interest for another season where 20 wins is the ceiling. I'll check back again in a year or so, in the meantime re-iterating the same hope I had at this time last year: That the coming draft yields at least one player who gives the appearance of being a future building block (one who sees actual NBA minutes this season would be preferable). I have to admit, I have my doubts about your acumen, but I like your sense of humor and hope you succeed in spite of my reservations. After all, we're in this together...well, you know, after you get something resembling a professional basketball team on the floor.
Best wishes,
Pat
P.S. I know you said you don't believe in luck, but even so, bringing the Vikings play-by-play guy to the lottery couldn't have helped.
P.P.S. Rubio is never going to play here, trade him for anything of decent value.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Honestly, does anyone think this is going to go well?
I got a text this morning from the President of the Denver branch of Loserville Alumni, Brent Okerson, comparing the Minnesota Timberwolves success in the NBA lottery to that of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game. Sadly, and I can't believe I'm saying this, it's even worse than that.
For one thing, although it's hard to believe if you're under the age of 40, the Vikings have actually had some success in NFC Championship games. I can logic that one out just by looking at their 4 Super Bowl losses. On the other hand, the NBA Draft Lottery has never aided the Wolves in their history, and it certainly isn't for lack of opportunities. This isn't to say they've never picked an impact player with a lottery selection, just that the lottery has never improved the team's draft position over what they're record dictated, even moving them down several times. Let me repeat that, in 14 previous trips to the draft lottery, the Wolves...have...never...moved...up. Not once.
So why should we expect this time around to be different? You got me. There should be no easier time to sell hope than lotto time, and some people may claim optimism, but can anyone honestly say they expect to land one of the top two picks, which is where the consensus impact players will be taken? If you said yes, I will politely retort by saying bullshit.
Why is this such a big deal? Two reasons:
1. In basketball, more than any other sport, one elite player can completely reverse a team's fortunes.
The most famous example in Wolves history is of course the 1992 lottery, where the team came in with the worst record and best chance at drafting Shaquille O'Neal, would've been happy to settle for the Alonzo Mourning consolation prize, but instead slipped back to third and ushered in the Christian Laettner Era. I'm going ton go out on a limb here and say that the course of both Timberwolves and NBA history would've been dramatically different had the percentages borne out in the draft order; surprisingly, I'm not the first to come to that revelation.
And while the Shaq/Mourning debacle may be the best known case of GTL (Grand Theft Lotto), a laundry list of other impact talents have been missed over the years due to the bounce of the ping-pong balls, including Mutumbo, Iverson, Webber, Kidd, Hill, Durant and Rose; just to name a few. Now I know this team has had it's share of self-inflicted carnage when it's come to draft day (can't ignore it if you try) but that doesn't changed the fact that anyone of these players could have changed the path of Wolves history, even if everything else had goen down the same way. Now would we have traded Allen Iverson for Stephon Marbury and the rights to a 7-foot Eastern European goatherder with a nice hook shot? Totally possible, but at least it wouldn't feel like a cosmic conspiracy. Lotta practice with abject stupidity in these parts, dumb luck just seems...well, dumb.
2. Luck happens!
What I'm suggesting here isn't some far-fetched, once-in-a-lifetime scenario, it happens with alarming frequency. In the 20 lotteries conducted so far, a team with a less than 10% chance has landed the #1 pick 8 times (40%); in fact, it's happened 4 out of the past 5 years. Twice in lottery history a team with a less than 2% chance has landed the #1 overall, with Orlando doing it in 1993 as part of unfathomable back-to-back #1s and Chicago pulling it off to grab Derrick Rose two years ago. Both of those teams were young and on the rise, had barely missed the playoffs, and are the textbook cases for why this idiotic system needs to be reworked. A team that misses the playoffs by one game, as Orlando did in 1992, should just not have a shot at a #1 pick, period. Although Chicago may have been in a slightly tougher position, they were still only the 9th-worst team and in no way deserved the opportunity to draft the most highly regarded point guard to enter the league in some time. (Honorable mention to San Antonio winning the right to draft Tim Duncan 1997, following a season-long injury to David Robinson, keying a dynasty that lasted a decade. At least they'd sucked the year before...albeit when down an MVP candidate).
So while other teams stumble bass ackwards into lottery riches, my favorite NBA squad chokes down it's turd sandwich, while trying to make us believe it tastes delicious. The Wolves have approximately a 20% chance of landing the #1 pick this evening and a 37% chance of landing in the top 2. Given the two can't-miss players in the draft, and their position with the league's 2nd-worst record, anything else would be an abject failure. But failure is expected, hell it's a lock, the only shocking thing would be if something good actually happened, as the Annual Death of Hope (as I like to refer to it) has almost become comforting in it's dependability. As the saying goes, you seen the sun rise every day of your life, it gets to the point you sort of depend on it; death, taxes, and picking one spot after the last impact player is off the board, that's the Minnesota way.
But hey, since I'm on a roll with the reverse-jinx these days, we'll give it another shot here: I guarantee the Minnesota Twimberwolves do not move up in tonight's lottery. They will pick 4th and end up with a stiff, as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, bank on it.
For one thing, although it's hard to believe if you're under the age of 40, the Vikings have actually had some success in NFC Championship games. I can logic that one out just by looking at their 4 Super Bowl losses. On the other hand, the NBA Draft Lottery has never aided the Wolves in their history, and it certainly isn't for lack of opportunities. This isn't to say they've never picked an impact player with a lottery selection, just that the lottery has never improved the team's draft position over what they're record dictated, even moving them down several times. Let me repeat that, in 14 previous trips to the draft lottery, the Wolves...have...never...moved...up. Not once.
So why should we expect this time around to be different? You got me. There should be no easier time to sell hope than lotto time, and some people may claim optimism, but can anyone honestly say they expect to land one of the top two picks, which is where the consensus impact players will be taken? If you said yes, I will politely retort by saying bullshit.
Why is this such a big deal? Two reasons:
1. In basketball, more than any other sport, one elite player can completely reverse a team's fortunes.
The most famous example in Wolves history is of course the 1992 lottery, where the team came in with the worst record and best chance at drafting Shaquille O'Neal, would've been happy to settle for the Alonzo Mourning consolation prize, but instead slipped back to third and ushered in the Christian Laettner Era. I'm going ton go out on a limb here and say that the course of both Timberwolves and NBA history would've been dramatically different had the percentages borne out in the draft order; surprisingly, I'm not the first to come to that revelation.
And while the Shaq/Mourning debacle may be the best known case of GTL (Grand Theft Lotto), a laundry list of other impact talents have been missed over the years due to the bounce of the ping-pong balls, including Mutumbo, Iverson, Webber, Kidd, Hill, Durant and Rose; just to name a few. Now I know this team has had it's share of self-inflicted carnage when it's come to draft day (can't ignore it if you try) but that doesn't changed the fact that anyone of these players could have changed the path of Wolves history, even if everything else had goen down the same way. Now would we have traded Allen Iverson for Stephon Marbury and the rights to a 7-foot Eastern European goatherder with a nice hook shot? Totally possible, but at least it wouldn't feel like a cosmic conspiracy. Lotta practice with abject stupidity in these parts, dumb luck just seems...well, dumb.
2. Luck happens!
What I'm suggesting here isn't some far-fetched, once-in-a-lifetime scenario, it happens with alarming frequency. In the 20 lotteries conducted so far, a team with a less than 10% chance has landed the #1 pick 8 times (40%); in fact, it's happened 4 out of the past 5 years. Twice in lottery history a team with a less than 2% chance has landed the #1 overall, with Orlando doing it in 1993 as part of unfathomable back-to-back #1s and Chicago pulling it off to grab Derrick Rose two years ago. Both of those teams were young and on the rise, had barely missed the playoffs, and are the textbook cases for why this idiotic system needs to be reworked. A team that misses the playoffs by one game, as Orlando did in 1992, should just not have a shot at a #1 pick, period. Although Chicago may have been in a slightly tougher position, they were still only the 9th-worst team and in no way deserved the opportunity to draft the most highly regarded point guard to enter the league in some time. (Honorable mention to San Antonio winning the right to draft Tim Duncan 1997, following a season-long injury to David Robinson, keying a dynasty that lasted a decade. At least they'd sucked the year before...albeit when down an MVP candidate).
So while other teams stumble bass ackwards into lottery riches, my favorite NBA squad chokes down it's turd sandwich, while trying to make us believe it tastes delicious. The Wolves have approximately a 20% chance of landing the #1 pick this evening and a 37% chance of landing in the top 2. Given the two can't-miss players in the draft, and their position with the league's 2nd-worst record, anything else would be an abject failure. But failure is expected, hell it's a lock, the only shocking thing would be if something good actually happened, as the Annual Death of Hope (as I like to refer to it) has almost become comforting in it's dependability. As the saying goes, you seen the sun rise every day of your life, it gets to the point you sort of depend on it; death, taxes, and picking one spot after the last impact player is off the board, that's the Minnesota way.
But hey, since I'm on a roll with the reverse-jinx these days, we'll give it another shot here: I guarantee the Minnesota Twimberwolves do not move up in tonight's lottery. They will pick 4th and end up with a stiff, as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, bank on it.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Saved by the (Ku)bel
Whew! That was a close one.
So I might not have held out much hope for a good showing by the Twins this weekend in the Big Apple, but walking away from the series with zero wins would've been a kick in the nuts all the same. That fate appeared to be all but sealed yesterday, with the Yankees leading by 2 runs and needing only 4 outs to extend their dominance in the matchup between these two teams. It took the rarest form of one of the rarest occurences in sports to turn the tide, Mariano Rivera blowing a save (which he never does against the Twins) on a grand slam, of all things (which hasn't happened in 8 years and hasn't happened at home in 15, wow).
Add it all up and at the end of the day, it totals out to a victory, although I would temper enthusiasm by saying what just happened is unlikely to happen again this season. Given the percentages, if the Twins face Rivera down two in the postseason, the odds on a repeat performance are about the same as Beyonce leaving Jay-Z for yours truly...okay maybe not that long, but don't bank on it by any means.
Now it's on to Toronto and Boston, which have also been hostile locations in prior years, and don't look to be getting any more forgiving. Toronto in particular has seemed a bane to this team going back to the World Series, too lazy to grab stats on that, but I can recall as a kid going to see the Blue Jays a lot, and losing just about every time. Last year the Twins compiled a 3-4 record against Toronto, but were 2-9 against them in the two seasons prior. Considering the history against Jays, their league-leading home run total and the fact that tonight's opposing lineup is 22-for-44 all time against starter Kevin Slowey, I'm going to take the not-so-bold step of guaranteeing defeat this evening. Still think a split of the remaining games is possible though.
Tomorrow is a very special occasion on the Loserville calendar, the NBA Draft Lottery, aka the Annual Death of Hope. We'll be taking a trip down memory lane, in preparation for that magical moment when the Wolves logo is pulled from the envelope for the 4th pick, how very special that will be.
So I might not have held out much hope for a good showing by the Twins this weekend in the Big Apple, but walking away from the series with zero wins would've been a kick in the nuts all the same. That fate appeared to be all but sealed yesterday, with the Yankees leading by 2 runs and needing only 4 outs to extend their dominance in the matchup between these two teams. It took the rarest form of one of the rarest occurences in sports to turn the tide, Mariano Rivera blowing a save (which he never does against the Twins) on a grand slam, of all things (which hasn't happened in 8 years and hasn't happened at home in 15, wow).
Add it all up and at the end of the day, it totals out to a victory, although I would temper enthusiasm by saying what just happened is unlikely to happen again this season. Given the percentages, if the Twins face Rivera down two in the postseason, the odds on a repeat performance are about the same as Beyonce leaving Jay-Z for yours truly...okay maybe not that long, but don't bank on it by any means.
Now it's on to Toronto and Boston, which have also been hostile locations in prior years, and don't look to be getting any more forgiving. Toronto in particular has seemed a bane to this team going back to the World Series, too lazy to grab stats on that, but I can recall as a kid going to see the Blue Jays a lot, and losing just about every time. Last year the Twins compiled a 3-4 record against Toronto, but were 2-9 against them in the two seasons prior. Considering the history against Jays, their league-leading home run total and the fact that tonight's opposing lineup is 22-for-44 all time against starter Kevin Slowey, I'm going to take the not-so-bold step of guaranteeing defeat this evening. Still think a split of the remaining games is possible though.
Tomorrow is a very special occasion on the Loserville calendar, the NBA Draft Lottery, aka the Annual Death of Hope. We'll be taking a trip down memory lane, in preparation for that magical moment when the Wolves logo is pulled from the envelope for the 4th pick, how very special that will be.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Toppling the Evil Empire
Double whammy today, as I feel compelled to join everyone else in this town in previewing the upcoming series between the Twins and New York Yankees. In case you hadn't heard, beating the Yanks has been a bit of a problem for oh, about the last decade or so. The numbers have been drilled into my mind: 3-23 overall since 2002, 0-10 last season, 2-9 in playoff meetings, etc. Throw in the fact that the Yankees are 10-2 at home so far, despite getting minimal contributions from a couple key offensive players, and it all spells doom on the horizon once again.
As hard as it is to fathom for those that know me, I do want to be optimistic and hopeful. I want to believe in the worst way that this new-look Twins team will walk into Yankee Stadium and throw down a butt-kicking that will permanently remove the monkey from their backs; problem is, I can't overlook the mountain of evidence to the contrary. Frankly I just want a win, a single win any way we can scratch it out, then focus on finishing the roadtrip strong with Boston and Toronto, going 3-4 over these 7 games would not be a failure in my mind.
The only real bright spot I think I can offer is this: It can't be as bad as last season. Almost one year ago to the day, we began the most excruciating Twins series I can recall in my many years of watching, 4 one-run losses, with the first 3 coming in the final at-bat. I thought we had seen the worst of what could happen when Joe Nathan blew a save in the 9th inning of Friday's game, but it turned out they were just getting warmed up. The Yankees were a .500 team coming in, afterward they never looked back. Once again, we had the Evil Empire on the ropes, only to see them rise up and crush our hopes, things were growing more disturbingly cosmic by the day.
So while it can be said that the lineups in that series prominently featured the likes of Matt Tolbert, Brian Buscher and Mike Redmond, while this one sports upgrades across the board, permit me to temper my enthusiasm. We will still be opening the series with (Moonshot) Scott Baker, who's lack of a decisive out-pitch always seems to be made most glaring by the potent Yankees lineup (If he gets through five innings in under 100 pitches, first beer is on me). We will still be rolling with a bullpen that lacks the overpowering arms necessary to get big outs in the late innings. We will generally still be the team that seems to wet itself and find a way to lose everytime they glimpse pinstripes, and frankly I think all the extra questions about this being a "statement series" are going to make that worse, not better.
But hey, let's roll the dice and hope they don't come up snake eyes. If things go poorly, we can always fall back on the mantra that it's only May. If they go well, make sure to stay firmly affixed to your seat on the bandwagon, lest some interloper attempts to wrest it from you.
Damn Yankees.
As hard as it is to fathom for those that know me, I do want to be optimistic and hopeful. I want to believe in the worst way that this new-look Twins team will walk into Yankee Stadium and throw down a butt-kicking that will permanently remove the monkey from their backs; problem is, I can't overlook the mountain of evidence to the contrary. Frankly I just want a win, a single win any way we can scratch it out, then focus on finishing the roadtrip strong with Boston and Toronto, going 3-4 over these 7 games would not be a failure in my mind.
The only real bright spot I think I can offer is this: It can't be as bad as last season. Almost one year ago to the day, we began the most excruciating Twins series I can recall in my many years of watching, 4 one-run losses, with the first 3 coming in the final at-bat. I thought we had seen the worst of what could happen when Joe Nathan blew a save in the 9th inning of Friday's game, but it turned out they were just getting warmed up. The Yankees were a .500 team coming in, afterward they never looked back. Once again, we had the Evil Empire on the ropes, only to see them rise up and crush our hopes, things were growing more disturbingly cosmic by the day.
So while it can be said that the lineups in that series prominently featured the likes of Matt Tolbert, Brian Buscher and Mike Redmond, while this one sports upgrades across the board, permit me to temper my enthusiasm. We will still be opening the series with (Moonshot) Scott Baker, who's lack of a decisive out-pitch always seems to be made most glaring by the potent Yankees lineup (If he gets through five innings in under 100 pitches, first beer is on me). We will still be rolling with a bullpen that lacks the overpowering arms necessary to get big outs in the late innings. We will generally still be the team that seems to wet itself and find a way to lose everytime they glimpse pinstripes, and frankly I think all the extra questions about this being a "statement series" are going to make that worse, not better.
But hey, let's roll the dice and hope they don't come up snake eyes. If things go poorly, we can always fall back on the mantra that it's only May. If they go well, make sure to stay firmly affixed to your seat on the bandwagon, lest some interloper attempts to wrest it from you.
Damn Yankees.
And while we're on the subject
So after discussing athletes and their transgressions in my last post, it got me thinking, who would make up the Felonious All-Stars, the athletes who've committed the most disturbing and/or ridiculous crimes? Now I suppose some of the folks I'm going to discuss deserve to have the term "allegedly" placed in front of their rap sheet, but I don't have time to make those kind of distinctions. I mean we all know OJ did it anyway, so what's the point? We'll do this NBA style:
First Team (Run for your life)
OJ Simpson (Murder, Assault) - No further explanation required, the man revolutionized the "dangerous athlete" genre. Although it is impressive that he didn't learn his lesson the first time around and decided to start threatening people with guns over memorobilia (by the way, failure to learn from past mistakes and general stupidity are going to be a recurring theme, just FYI).
Rae Carruth (Murder) - Bit of a tragic figure here, in the sense that OJ got so much attention as a murdering football player, while Rae was glossed over rather quickly. But when you take into account the profile of the player (OJ - Heisman winner and All Pro, Carruth - Marginal WR) and the manner in which they committed their crimes (OJ - Takes matters into his own hands, Carruth - Pays some amateur hitman to shoot from a vehicle), I suppose it's easy to see why The Juice got more headlines.
Mike Tyson (Rape, Assault) - Jail time for rape, multiple assault charges, bit a man's ear off, Iron Mike's history of insane/dangerous behavior is well documented. I'm guessing even the other guys on the list wouldn't mess with him, he's that scary. Let's move on just in case he somehow finds out I wrote this.
Lawrence Taylor (Rape, hit-and-run, enough drugs to kill Keith Richards) - New addition in the past week, given the new accusation that he raped a 15-year-old girl. This adds to a rap sheet spanning two decades, in which LT was arrested roughly 1,200 times for drug use or possession, then capped it by hitting a guy with his car and driving off. For those of you keeping score at home, hit-and-run is good if you're a baseball player, bad in every other setting. Amazingly enough, he probably wouldn't have even cracked the first team, had the latest legal snafu not occurred, but that's what the great ones do, they never settle for second best. Wouldn't be surprised to see press release from LaDanian Tomlinson in the next few weeks, emphasizing that he'd like to be know as LDT form now on, just to avoid any confusion.
Lawrence Phillips (Pick a crime, any crime) - This was a tough pick, a lot of guys could make a strong argument for filling out the 5th spot on the squad. While Phillips has never killed anybody, the sheer volume of his transgressions, and fact he perpetrated many against friends and acquaintances, puts him over the top. Although his forte was beating up women, Phillips versatility allowed him to rack up charges and/or convictions for child abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, terroristic threats and auto theft. In 2009 he was sentenced to 31 years in prison for driving his car into a group of teenagers following a dispute over a pickup football game. THAT my friends, is a First Team Felonious All-Star.
Second Team ( Keep your guard up)
Bam Morris (Drug possession with intent) - Just kept showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time, typically with a couple hundred pounds of marijuana. Athletes with drugs doesn't even register these days, but throw in the phrase "in excess of 200 pounds" and it begins to catch the attention.
Michael Vick (Dogfighting) - Okay, so it's not on the level of killing or maiming people, but this guy is pretty damn despicable. From several close encounters with drug dealers to the civil suit alleging he passed on herpes to a couple of women, not interested in having him around. If not for the hilarious use of the alias Ron Mexico while procuring treatment for his herpes problem, there would be no redeeming value in the Michael Vick story whatsoever.
Dontae Stallworth/Leonard Little (Vehicular homicide)- Valuable lesson learned here, getting drunk and plowing your car into somebody is really no big deal if you're rich. This lesson was not lost on Little, who had a 2nd drunken driving conviction a few years after he killed somebody. In this, he did learn something...just not something positive.
1990s Dallas Cowboys (Drugs, Guns, All Type of Crazy Shit) - Seemed fairly harmless, unless of course you were a lady who liked to party in Dallas circa 1994, then things might've gotten a bit dicey. No word on whether Michael Irvin will have to sell off part of that snazzy wardrobe to pay legal fees, suppose he could always go into the "import/export" business with Nate Newton (wink, wink).
Dwight Gooden/Darryl Strawberry (Drugs with a capital D) - Good teammates often hang out off the field, and these two guys shared the same hobby. New York is the City That Never Sleeps, and in the case of Doc and Straw, that was perfect, who can sleep after snorting a cubic foot of booger sugar? Multiple counts of drug possession, capped off with soliciation of a prostitute for Strawberry and fleeing police for Gooden finally landed both in jail. Although they never reached the violent heights of others on the list, the possibly squandered more potential than any set of teammates in history, which deserves a salute in my opinion.
Honorable mentions
JR Rider - Toughest omission, because of the jaw-dropping stupidity he displayed so often. A multi-millionaire sitting in the back of a car pulled over on an interstate, smoking grass out of a pop can is just priceless. Hey JR, are you aware you could afford to buy a house reserved for the sole purpose of doing drugs? Call up the Dallas Cowboys, they know how that type of thing works.
BenRapelisberger Roethlisberger - Not charged or convicted of anything, so tough to include, still one of the last guys any parent with teenage daughters would want to see moving in down the street.
Pete Rose - Went to jail, but tax evasion is so pedestrian; there's no there there.
Jamal Lewis - Making a phone call to set up a drug deal lacks sizzle, frankly it's hard to believe he did jail time, must've hired the wrong lawyer.
Travis Henry - When you have 12 kids to feed, sometimes you need to get crative
Delonte West - Okay, so the guns were registered, but did you really need to be rolling around on your motrocycle with 3 of them? A 9MM, magnum and shotgun, were you planning on re-enacting a scene from Blade or something?
Ugueth Urbina - So close, but things that happen in another country really hurt the news value. Hacking guys up with machettes, then pouring gasoline on them and burning them would get you on the team if it had happened in the US.
First Team (Run for your life)
OJ Simpson (Murder, Assault) - No further explanation required, the man revolutionized the "dangerous athlete" genre. Although it is impressive that he didn't learn his lesson the first time around and decided to start threatening people with guns over memorobilia (by the way, failure to learn from past mistakes and general stupidity are going to be a recurring theme, just FYI).
Rae Carruth (Murder) - Bit of a tragic figure here, in the sense that OJ got so much attention as a murdering football player, while Rae was glossed over rather quickly. But when you take into account the profile of the player (OJ - Heisman winner and All Pro, Carruth - Marginal WR) and the manner in which they committed their crimes (OJ - Takes matters into his own hands, Carruth - Pays some amateur hitman to shoot from a vehicle), I suppose it's easy to see why The Juice got more headlines.
Mike Tyson (Rape, Assault) - Jail time for rape, multiple assault charges, bit a man's ear off, Iron Mike's history of insane/dangerous behavior is well documented. I'm guessing even the other guys on the list wouldn't mess with him, he's that scary. Let's move on just in case he somehow finds out I wrote this.
Lawrence Taylor (Rape, hit-and-run, enough drugs to kill Keith Richards) - New addition in the past week, given the new accusation that he raped a 15-year-old girl. This adds to a rap sheet spanning two decades, in which LT was arrested roughly 1,200 times for drug use or possession, then capped it by hitting a guy with his car and driving off. For those of you keeping score at home, hit-and-run is good if you're a baseball player, bad in every other setting. Amazingly enough, he probably wouldn't have even cracked the first team, had the latest legal snafu not occurred, but that's what the great ones do, they never settle for second best. Wouldn't be surprised to see press release from LaDanian Tomlinson in the next few weeks, emphasizing that he'd like to be know as LDT form now on, just to avoid any confusion.
Lawrence Phillips (Pick a crime, any crime) - This was a tough pick, a lot of guys could make a strong argument for filling out the 5th spot on the squad. While Phillips has never killed anybody, the sheer volume of his transgressions, and fact he perpetrated many against friends and acquaintances, puts him over the top. Although his forte was beating up women, Phillips versatility allowed him to rack up charges and/or convictions for child abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, terroristic threats and auto theft. In 2009 he was sentenced to 31 years in prison for driving his car into a group of teenagers following a dispute over a pickup football game. THAT my friends, is a First Team Felonious All-Star.
Second Team ( Keep your guard up)
Bam Morris (Drug possession with intent) - Just kept showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time, typically with a couple hundred pounds of marijuana. Athletes with drugs doesn't even register these days, but throw in the phrase "in excess of 200 pounds" and it begins to catch the attention.
Michael Vick (Dogfighting) - Okay, so it's not on the level of killing or maiming people, but this guy is pretty damn despicable. From several close encounters with drug dealers to the civil suit alleging he passed on herpes to a couple of women, not interested in having him around. If not for the hilarious use of the alias Ron Mexico while procuring treatment for his herpes problem, there would be no redeeming value in the Michael Vick story whatsoever.
Dontae Stallworth/Leonard Little (Vehicular homicide)- Valuable lesson learned here, getting drunk and plowing your car into somebody is really no big deal if you're rich. This lesson was not lost on Little, who had a 2nd drunken driving conviction a few years after he killed somebody. In this, he did learn something...just not something positive.
1990s Dallas Cowboys (Drugs, Guns, All Type of Crazy Shit) - Seemed fairly harmless, unless of course you were a lady who liked to party in Dallas circa 1994, then things might've gotten a bit dicey. No word on whether Michael Irvin will have to sell off part of that snazzy wardrobe to pay legal fees, suppose he could always go into the "import/export" business with Nate Newton (wink, wink).
Dwight Gooden/Darryl Strawberry (Drugs with a capital D) - Good teammates often hang out off the field, and these two guys shared the same hobby. New York is the City That Never Sleeps, and in the case of Doc and Straw, that was perfect, who can sleep after snorting a cubic foot of booger sugar? Multiple counts of drug possession, capped off with soliciation of a prostitute for Strawberry and fleeing police for Gooden finally landed both in jail. Although they never reached the violent heights of others on the list, the possibly squandered more potential than any set of teammates in history, which deserves a salute in my opinion.
Honorable mentions
JR Rider - Toughest omission, because of the jaw-dropping stupidity he displayed so often. A multi-millionaire sitting in the back of a car pulled over on an interstate, smoking grass out of a pop can is just priceless. Hey JR, are you aware you could afford to buy a house reserved for the sole purpose of doing drugs? Call up the Dallas Cowboys, they know how that type of thing works.
Ben
Pete Rose - Went to jail, but tax evasion is so pedestrian; there's no there there.
Jamal Lewis - Making a phone call to set up a drug deal lacks sizzle, frankly it's hard to believe he did jail time, must've hired the wrong lawyer.
Travis Henry - When you have 12 kids to feed, sometimes you need to get crative
Delonte West - Okay, so the guns were registered, but did you really need to be rolling around on your motrocycle with 3 of them? A 9MM, magnum and shotgun, were you planning on re-enacting a scene from Blade or something?
Ugueth Urbina - So close, but things that happen in another country really hurt the news value. Hacking guys up with machettes, then pouring gasoline on them and burning them would get you on the team if it had happened in the US.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Short and sweet
I'm about to run out the door for a final exam, after which I will have my life back form the evil clutches of grad school for a few months, so this is going to be a quicker entry. I just had to comment on the stupidity of the Associated Press looking to re-vote on the Defensive Rookie of the Year award given to Brian Cushing of the Houston Texans.
For those of you who don't know, Mr. Cushing has been implicated in the use of some sort of performance-enhancing drug; due to the cryptic rules of NFL disclosure, we don't really know what, just that his body did something it shouldn't be doing...we think. The last thing I want to do is defend cheating, but taking away the guy's award is as meaningless as it is self-aggrandizing, I mean at the end of the day, who gives a rip about a stupid defensive ROY?
Obviously the AP thinks very highly of itself, but if they're going to hang this very minor recipient of this very minor award out to dry, why not all the frauds who won bigger ones before him? I'm talking Pete Rose and Alex Rodriguez MVP awards, Mark McGwire's AP Athlete of the Year, Roger Clemens' Cy Young, etc. In fact while we're at it, let's pull Lawrence Taylor's bust out of the Football Hall of Fame, because what he's been in the news for lately is FAR more egregious than anything Brian Cushing might or might not have done. I know I'm blurring the lines between cheating on the field and breaking the law off it, but you get my point, all or nothing.
Re-writing history may make a couple self-important blowhards feel better, but it changes nothing, even any incentive money Cushing received for winning would be protected from forfeiture, per the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Be back with more thoughts tomorrow, and hopefully a lot more to say with my additional free time over the next few weeks. In the meantime, Go Blackhawks, Caltics and Twins.
For those of you who don't know, Mr. Cushing has been implicated in the use of some sort of performance-enhancing drug; due to the cryptic rules of NFL disclosure, we don't really know what, just that his body did something it shouldn't be doing...we think. The last thing I want to do is defend cheating, but taking away the guy's award is as meaningless as it is self-aggrandizing, I mean at the end of the day, who gives a rip about a stupid defensive ROY?
Obviously the AP thinks very highly of itself, but if they're going to hang this very minor recipient of this very minor award out to dry, why not all the frauds who won bigger ones before him? I'm talking Pete Rose and Alex Rodriguez MVP awards, Mark McGwire's AP Athlete of the Year, Roger Clemens' Cy Young, etc. In fact while we're at it, let's pull Lawrence Taylor's bust out of the Football Hall of Fame, because what he's been in the news for lately is FAR more egregious than anything Brian Cushing might or might not have done. I know I'm blurring the lines between cheating on the field and breaking the law off it, but you get my point, all or nothing.
Re-writing history may make a couple self-important blowhards feel better, but it changes nothing, even any incentive money Cushing received for winning would be protected from forfeiture, per the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Be back with more thoughts tomorrow, and hopefully a lot more to say with my additional free time over the next few weeks. In the meantime, Go Blackhawks, Caltics and Twins.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Viking Stadium...take 7
With the Vikings stadium issue bubling up in the legislature once again, I asked for some opinions on the latest proposal from my buddy Derek, who follows the issues quite closely and was involved in the previous Anoka County stadium proposal. Here is what he sent back, obviously "a few thoughts" was a bit of an understatement:
First thought: is there any way we can convince Lester Bagley to just not say anything when asked? He hurts more than he helps, at least with his words. I thought I saw the worst stadium effort of my lifetime with the Twins, and then the Marlins came along…well…the Vikings are already well past them overall because they learned NOTHING from the Twins mistakes, as they are making the same ones all over again.
Bagley’s comments are that the Vikings can’t get behind this proposal as it stands because it costs them too much and the lease is too long? Are you flipping kidding me!?!? SHUT UP!!!! That only hurts the chances with the legislators if they see you aren’t even on board. WAIT FOR CONFERENCE COMMITTEE YOU STUPID IDIOT!!! If you are that focused on making sure your voice is heard, say something generic like, “We are hopeful that State leaders can find a way to listen to our proposal in the midst of dealing with the many more important matters they currently face.” This guy is bush league. I have no idea how he keeps his job.
My thoughts on the actual proposal, keep in mind that I am trying to be as brief as possible, could write a novel:
1) Less than two weeks left makes this all moot. ZERO chance this gets accomplished. Had they shown up with a bill in January (which means they needed to have their ducks in a row by Thanksgiving) this might have stood a 10% chance. I can’t tell you how many times the Twins thought they ‘really had a shot’ with two weeks left. Meanwhile, there were committee meetings canceled, or with a very light agenda, all session long, and they didn’t take advantage. Each side will have a minimum of five committees to endure unless there is a procedural maneuver to take the bill from the Ways and Means committee to the House or Senate floor, which is a political fireball and almost never happens unless it’s a bill to find a lost child or do something procedural that makes everyone look good.
2) Fixed roof option sucks, but I understand how it happened. Can’t afford retractable, gotta be able to host events year ‘round. They need to compromise since both the Vikings and MSFC are bull-headed and short-sighted. MSFC and State need political capital raised by hosting events besides Vikings football, Vikings don’t want to fund more than one-third of an open-air stadium. It’s amazing what happens when you get large groups of idiots together to make decisions. At the end of the day, if it keeps the Vikings, although I don’t like it, gimme the dome. Baseball belongs outside, college football does too, and while NFL should be also, at least a semi-reasonable argument can be made for the NFL to be indoors. Randy and I agreed that we all hope Zygi comes to his senses and ponies up the extra $100 or so it takes to make retractable. (Also, anyone find it funny that in a struggling economy where everyone is reducing the prices of homes/building materials/interest rates/etc…that this silly stadium seems to get $50M more expensive every single year?)
3) I like that the bill asks for 1/3 from the Vikings for total cost. I believe that the Vikings will ultimately agree if that is what it takes.
4) Last I heard, the bill is not site-specific, which will impede its progress. Twins finally had to get site-specific. If they choose the Metrodome site, they are going to hurt themselves, because the Governor and Legislature have demanded the Vikings to find a local partner for five years now, while the Vikings sit with their finger in their ear and do nothing on that front, other than alienate the only two groups willing to partner with them in Blaine and the U of M. The Vikings will tell you all day neither site worked, but I bet they would take it if they could get it now! (I can’t tell you how horrible of a job they are doing at this stadium project.) There is no local partner available for the Metrodome site. Minneapolis doesn’t have money, as it is in the red, requires a referendum to spend more than $10M on a facility, and has all it can handle with the Target Center remodel from a few years ago. Hennepin County has the Twins ballpark in their tax right now, so not sure they could afford more.
5) I like the idea of lottery game to raise $5.5M. I like the idea of the rental cars and hotels because it taxes mostly out-of-town businesses. Not a huge fan of the jersey tax because it hits specific businesses and specific consumers hard…and not necessarily those who go to games. But, it is creative. If I were the Vikings, I approach Ramsey County (St. Paul) and tell them I want to put our new facility on the State Fairgrounds. My favorite option has always been slot machines at Canterbury, but with the Indian lobby being so strong, probably won’t happen.
6) It isn’t gonna happen this year, but would have a chance next year if they follow my simple ideas. It isn’t rocket science, if they would set aside their arrogance for 10 minutes, like the Twins FINALLY did…oh man this could have a real shot.
Thanks for the perspective Derek, obviously a lot of things that still need to shake out here. For my part, I will just say that one way or another, the Vikings are getting a stadium, they are too popular not to. Frankly I don't see why it's necessary to spend this kind of money, when they could remodle the Dome for a fraction of the cost, but that probably has to do with the fact that I'm over the NFL as a in-person sport.
My fellow fans would probably want to tar and feather me for this, but it wouldn't kill me to see the Vikes leave town, at least not as much as it would with the Twins or Wild. As much as I love Vikings football, I just can't stand attending NFL games, it's hugely expensive, has way too much downtime, and takes up a huge amount of your Sunday. In this day and age, I prefer my couch or a barstool to a seat at the game, so having my team actually play in my town is a bit meaningless. If they moved them to LA and kept calling them the Vikings, I really don't see how that changes a thing for me personally, just more late games!
Yes, I know this makes me a traitor, but it's true.
First thought: is there any way we can convince Lester Bagley to just not say anything when asked? He hurts more than he helps, at least with his words. I thought I saw the worst stadium effort of my lifetime with the Twins, and then the Marlins came along…well…the Vikings are already well past them overall because they learned NOTHING from the Twins mistakes, as they are making the same ones all over again.
Bagley’s comments are that the Vikings can’t get behind this proposal as it stands because it costs them too much and the lease is too long? Are you flipping kidding me!?!? SHUT UP!!!! That only hurts the chances with the legislators if they see you aren’t even on board. WAIT FOR CONFERENCE COMMITTEE YOU STUPID IDIOT!!! If you are that focused on making sure your voice is heard, say something generic like, “We are hopeful that State leaders can find a way to listen to our proposal in the midst of dealing with the many more important matters they currently face.” This guy is bush league. I have no idea how he keeps his job.
My thoughts on the actual proposal, keep in mind that I am trying to be as brief as possible, could write a novel:
1) Less than two weeks left makes this all moot. ZERO chance this gets accomplished. Had they shown up with a bill in January (which means they needed to have their ducks in a row by Thanksgiving) this might have stood a 10% chance. I can’t tell you how many times the Twins thought they ‘really had a shot’ with two weeks left. Meanwhile, there were committee meetings canceled, or with a very light agenda, all session long, and they didn’t take advantage. Each side will have a minimum of five committees to endure unless there is a procedural maneuver to take the bill from the Ways and Means committee to the House or Senate floor, which is a political fireball and almost never happens unless it’s a bill to find a lost child or do something procedural that makes everyone look good.
2) Fixed roof option sucks, but I understand how it happened. Can’t afford retractable, gotta be able to host events year ‘round. They need to compromise since both the Vikings and MSFC are bull-headed and short-sighted. MSFC and State need political capital raised by hosting events besides Vikings football, Vikings don’t want to fund more than one-third of an open-air stadium. It’s amazing what happens when you get large groups of idiots together to make decisions. At the end of the day, if it keeps the Vikings, although I don’t like it, gimme the dome. Baseball belongs outside, college football does too, and while NFL should be also, at least a semi-reasonable argument can be made for the NFL to be indoors. Randy and I agreed that we all hope Zygi comes to his senses and ponies up the extra $100 or so it takes to make retractable. (Also, anyone find it funny that in a struggling economy where everyone is reducing the prices of homes/building materials/interest rates/etc…that this silly stadium seems to get $50M more expensive every single year?)
3) I like that the bill asks for 1/3 from the Vikings for total cost. I believe that the Vikings will ultimately agree if that is what it takes.
4) Last I heard, the bill is not site-specific, which will impede its progress. Twins finally had to get site-specific. If they choose the Metrodome site, they are going to hurt themselves, because the Governor and Legislature have demanded the Vikings to find a local partner for five years now, while the Vikings sit with their finger in their ear and do nothing on that front, other than alienate the only two groups willing to partner with them in Blaine and the U of M. The Vikings will tell you all day neither site worked, but I bet they would take it if they could get it now! (I can’t tell you how horrible of a job they are doing at this stadium project.) There is no local partner available for the Metrodome site. Minneapolis doesn’t have money, as it is in the red, requires a referendum to spend more than $10M on a facility, and has all it can handle with the Target Center remodel from a few years ago. Hennepin County has the Twins ballpark in their tax right now, so not sure they could afford more.
5) I like the idea of lottery game to raise $5.5M. I like the idea of the rental cars and hotels because it taxes mostly out-of-town businesses. Not a huge fan of the jersey tax because it hits specific businesses and specific consumers hard…and not necessarily those who go to games. But, it is creative. If I were the Vikings, I approach Ramsey County (St. Paul) and tell them I want to put our new facility on the State Fairgrounds. My favorite option has always been slot machines at Canterbury, but with the Indian lobby being so strong, probably won’t happen.
6) It isn’t gonna happen this year, but would have a chance next year if they follow my simple ideas. It isn’t rocket science, if they would set aside their arrogance for 10 minutes, like the Twins FINALLY did…oh man this could have a real shot.
Thanks for the perspective Derek, obviously a lot of things that still need to shake out here. For my part, I will just say that one way or another, the Vikings are getting a stadium, they are too popular not to. Frankly I don't see why it's necessary to spend this kind of money, when they could remodle the Dome for a fraction of the cost, but that probably has to do with the fact that I'm over the NFL as a in-person sport.
My fellow fans would probably want to tar and feather me for this, but it wouldn't kill me to see the Vikes leave town, at least not as much as it would with the Twins or Wild. As much as I love Vikings football, I just can't stand attending NFL games, it's hugely expensive, has way too much downtime, and takes up a huge amount of your Sunday. In this day and age, I prefer my couch or a barstool to a seat at the game, so having my team actually play in my town is a bit meaningless. If they moved them to LA and kept calling them the Vikings, I really don't see how that changes a thing for me personally, just more late games!
Yes, I know this makes me a traitor, but it's true.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
On the outside looking in
The first of May is typically when it hits me every year that the baseball season is going to have many ups and downs that can kill a guy if he overreacts to every one. Is that going to keep me from flying off the handle on an almost daily basis when things go wrong? Probably not, but I can at least take a break from chronicling every step of the journey here to chew over some other issues.
With that in mind, I've spent a lot of time this week watching something we're not very familiar with here in Loserville: Spring playoffs. The NBA and NHL are both leagues with ridiculously drawn-out seasons that grow tedious toward the end, fortunately they more than make up for it by delivering stellar (albeit also ridiculously drawn-out) playoff action that answers the question "What would it be like if these guys tried hard all the time?" The only thing better than catching a great playoff series this time of year is catching a great playoff series involving one of your teams, and that's where the trouble starts, at least around these parts. Sure our teams show up once in awhile, a few years ago it was actually pretty frequent, but even when it happens, the trips are short lived. My question is, which one of our winter teams will make the return first, and when, for the love of God, is that going to be?
The Timberwolves have made 8 playoff appearances in their 21 years of existence, advancing past the first round only once and compiling an overall record of 17-30. The Wild have batted at a slightly higher clip, managing a postseason appearance in 3 out of their 9 seasons and also one trip out of the first round on their way to a 11-18 overall record. The bad news? That was the good news, it all goes downhill from here.
Compounding this historic futility at the moment is the fact that both teams are coming off seasons of historic ineptitude. The Wolves limped home with a 15-67 record, tying the mark they had in the 1991-92 season (their third in existence), while the Wild finished with 84 points, their lowest total since the rule change that began awarding points for shootouts five years ago. I suppose this means there's nowhere to go but up, unfortunately it also means there's a long climb ahead for both squads.
Consensus opinon seems to be that the Wild are in a much better situation than the Wolves, given both their current level of talent and the league they play in. This is not to say that either is a threat to reach "contender" status any time soon, in fact it would seem ludicrous to aim that high at the moment. This is Remedial Sports 101, if they knew anything they wouldn't be in attendance, we're simply shooting for one notch above abject failure here. First round exits don't sound like much, but when you're face-down in shit, having it washed off with urine doesn't seem so bad...or something like that. Anyway, back to the Wild before I get too far off track.
As stated previously, the NHL is a league where teams can (and do) rise and fall with great speed. Minnesota finished 11 points out of a playoff spot this season, and could've been right in the mix had the team not stumbled out of the gate with a 2-9 record that put them behind the 8-ball for the rest of the year. Only problem is that there were 4 other teams falling within that 11-point gap, meaning the team not only needs to beat more teams, they need to beat the right teams and hope those teams don't start beating better ones.
An overarching theme with both of the puck and hoops squads is that they play in the wrong conference and division if you're a mediocre team, and that's not going to change in the immediate future. The Wild faces a slew of opponents that are either on the rise or well established, most have more depth in their development pipelines, as well as higher ceilings for their current teams. So how, you might ask, is this the better of the two situations? Short answer: Because the NHL is wacky.
This season the NHL saw 4 playoff teams from the Western Conference who weren't participants in last year's tourney, including the bottom 3 in the conference standings. Goaltenders get hot, lines begin to click, good scheduling, good energy, staying healthy, any number of things can be enough to tilt the scale. While the Wild may lack big time impact players who are ready to make the leap, they do have a solid (if unspectacular) squad that will not have the burden of adjusting to a new coach and system, as they did last year. Unfortunately they have a huge amount of their payroll tied up in an 18-goal scorer, a goaltender who got increasingly shaky as the year wore on and a bunch of good-not-great defensemen. On top of this is the fact that little help is available in the minors, with the small amount that is there being redundant to the spots that are already well-manned in the pros. All of this adds up to the fact that, barring some moves to shed salary, the guys we've got are the guys we're going to have for quite some time.
In my opinion, it may be a bit much to expect a playoff appearance in the coming season, but seeing the team grab a 7 or 8 seed would certainly not be surprising. Maybe Latandresse isn't a flash in the pan (likely), Backstrom stands on his head (possible), Havlat finds his scoring touch (plausible)and the defensive corps finds a way to contribute more offense (cough, Schultz, cough), but betting on ALL that stuff to happen? Those are some long odds. Official prediction is a return to relevance during 2010-11 and a fight down to the wire, falling just short of a playoff spot. At least we'll have some intrigue, and a return to the best tourney in sports should be on the horizon for two seasons from now...then we can lament how long it will take to actually contend for a championship.
The Wolves are in a wholly different situation on a lot of levels, I'd rank their problems as follows:
1) It's a players league, and we have no players - In the NBA, systems can't save you, talent can't be masked and your team is as good as your 2-3 star players make it. By my count, we have exactly zero guys who could be one of the top 2 guys on a playoff team, and one (Jefferson) who could be a capable 3rd, as long as you have the personnel to hide him defensively. At the risk of beating a dead horse, the failure of the 2009 Draft grows by the day, and unless Ricky Rubio shows up with all the game he was credited with having in the Olympics, that's not going to change any time soon.
2) Nobody wants to play here - I love my hometown teams first and foremost, and a big part of why I have trouble getting into the NBA is because the Wolves can't seem to convincing players to play here. Whether it's the cold, the nightlife, or just the fact the team is crap, no help is coming from free agency and even draft picks need to be regarded with skepticism. The aforementioned Rubio situation is the latest example, as I believe he would be an NBAer currently had he went to New York or Miami, but there are others as well.
OJ Mayo should be knocking down threes and playing lockdown D (think we could use some of that?), which would solve our perimeter problems and the Love/Jefferson redundancy. Heck, Stephon Marbury might've had a productive career alongside KG if we'd been a more cosmoplitan destination...on second thought, scratch that, I don't want to speculate on the motives of the insane. But however you spin it, it's obvious this franchise is operating with a degree of difficulty, which is understandable for free agents, but really a drag when you consider having to pass on the most talented players in the draft because they don't like your city. The GM made a serious blunder by thinking he could overcome this with the Rubio pick, he should've taken a cue from other NBA wastelands like Memphis, Oklahoma City and Sacramento, who passed on a guy they knew wouldn't suit up for them, maybe the first clue was when he wouldn;t come here for a workout? Oops.
3) Lousy draft/Lotto hex - First off, I don't want to get into a lot of jinx talk, as that is the Vikings exclusive domain, but just once can we get some luck in the damn lottery? By all accounts there are two players in this year's draft, John Wall and Evan Turner; the Wolves can select no lower than 5th and statistically are most likely to select 4th. You know where we're picking? 3rd, bank on it. Not only will this allow us to miss out on the two "can't miss" guys, but it will put our GM, Mr. Kahn, staring smack dab into the unplesant possibility of DeMarcus Cousins, who is not only a bit crazy and a terrible fit for a team with two undersized power forward/center types, he also seems like he would take a season or two on Team Rubio before he ever showed up here. We're not tops on his list, just a hunch, and this draft isn't deep either, so the 4 picks = 4 starters scenario some people seem to have in their minds is a pipe dream.
It's very depressing when you lay it all out, all things considered, I don't see the Timberwolves knocking on the playoff door for at least a couple of seasons and it's probably a couple more before they actually kick it in. As with the Wild, a lot can change, but for that to happen, this franchise would need something that has been in short supply throughout it's history: Good luck.
All in all, we'll probably be right back here next spring having this same conversation, which would truly be a shame. Playoffs are fun in general, but become exponentially more so when you add in a rooting interest, and it does not look like that is on the horizon. For the moment I will pick surrogate teams to live through vicariously, celebrating when they win, bumming when they lose, but not truly internalizing as I would if it were "my" team. A lot of teams make the postseason in both leagues, so playoff droughts should theoretically be short lived. Unfortunately when a franchise is run as far into the ground as these two have been, just getting back to the surface is quite a climb, nevermind soaring to new heights.
What time does the Twins game start again?
With that in mind, I've spent a lot of time this week watching something we're not very familiar with here in Loserville: Spring playoffs. The NBA and NHL are both leagues with ridiculously drawn-out seasons that grow tedious toward the end, fortunately they more than make up for it by delivering stellar (albeit also ridiculously drawn-out) playoff action that answers the question "What would it be like if these guys tried hard all the time?" The only thing better than catching a great playoff series this time of year is catching a great playoff series involving one of your teams, and that's where the trouble starts, at least around these parts. Sure our teams show up once in awhile, a few years ago it was actually pretty frequent, but even when it happens, the trips are short lived. My question is, which one of our winter teams will make the return first, and when, for the love of God, is that going to be?
The Timberwolves have made 8 playoff appearances in their 21 years of existence, advancing past the first round only once and compiling an overall record of 17-30. The Wild have batted at a slightly higher clip, managing a postseason appearance in 3 out of their 9 seasons and also one trip out of the first round on their way to a 11-18 overall record. The bad news? That was the good news, it all goes downhill from here.
Compounding this historic futility at the moment is the fact that both teams are coming off seasons of historic ineptitude. The Wolves limped home with a 15-67 record, tying the mark they had in the 1991-92 season (their third in existence), while the Wild finished with 84 points, their lowest total since the rule change that began awarding points for shootouts five years ago. I suppose this means there's nowhere to go but up, unfortunately it also means there's a long climb ahead for both squads.
Consensus opinon seems to be that the Wild are in a much better situation than the Wolves, given both their current level of talent and the league they play in. This is not to say that either is a threat to reach "contender" status any time soon, in fact it would seem ludicrous to aim that high at the moment. This is Remedial Sports 101, if they knew anything they wouldn't be in attendance, we're simply shooting for one notch above abject failure here. First round exits don't sound like much, but when you're face-down in shit, having it washed off with urine doesn't seem so bad...or something like that. Anyway, back to the Wild before I get too far off track.
As stated previously, the NHL is a league where teams can (and do) rise and fall with great speed. Minnesota finished 11 points out of a playoff spot this season, and could've been right in the mix had the team not stumbled out of the gate with a 2-9 record that put them behind the 8-ball for the rest of the year. Only problem is that there were 4 other teams falling within that 11-point gap, meaning the team not only needs to beat more teams, they need to beat the right teams and hope those teams don't start beating better ones.
An overarching theme with both of the puck and hoops squads is that they play in the wrong conference and division if you're a mediocre team, and that's not going to change in the immediate future. The Wild faces a slew of opponents that are either on the rise or well established, most have more depth in their development pipelines, as well as higher ceilings for their current teams. So how, you might ask, is this the better of the two situations? Short answer: Because the NHL is wacky.
This season the NHL saw 4 playoff teams from the Western Conference who weren't participants in last year's tourney, including the bottom 3 in the conference standings. Goaltenders get hot, lines begin to click, good scheduling, good energy, staying healthy, any number of things can be enough to tilt the scale. While the Wild may lack big time impact players who are ready to make the leap, they do have a solid (if unspectacular) squad that will not have the burden of adjusting to a new coach and system, as they did last year. Unfortunately they have a huge amount of their payroll tied up in an 18-goal scorer, a goaltender who got increasingly shaky as the year wore on and a bunch of good-not-great defensemen. On top of this is the fact that little help is available in the minors, with the small amount that is there being redundant to the spots that are already well-manned in the pros. All of this adds up to the fact that, barring some moves to shed salary, the guys we've got are the guys we're going to have for quite some time.
In my opinion, it may be a bit much to expect a playoff appearance in the coming season, but seeing the team grab a 7 or 8 seed would certainly not be surprising. Maybe Latandresse isn't a flash in the pan (likely), Backstrom stands on his head (possible), Havlat finds his scoring touch (plausible)and the defensive corps finds a way to contribute more offense (cough, Schultz, cough), but betting on ALL that stuff to happen? Those are some long odds. Official prediction is a return to relevance during 2010-11 and a fight down to the wire, falling just short of a playoff spot. At least we'll have some intrigue, and a return to the best tourney in sports should be on the horizon for two seasons from now...then we can lament how long it will take to actually contend for a championship.
The Wolves are in a wholly different situation on a lot of levels, I'd rank their problems as follows:
1) It's a players league, and we have no players - In the NBA, systems can't save you, talent can't be masked and your team is as good as your 2-3 star players make it. By my count, we have exactly zero guys who could be one of the top 2 guys on a playoff team, and one (Jefferson) who could be a capable 3rd, as long as you have the personnel to hide him defensively. At the risk of beating a dead horse, the failure of the 2009 Draft grows by the day, and unless Ricky Rubio shows up with all the game he was credited with having in the Olympics, that's not going to change any time soon.
2) Nobody wants to play here - I love my hometown teams first and foremost, and a big part of why I have trouble getting into the NBA is because the Wolves can't seem to convincing players to play here. Whether it's the cold, the nightlife, or just the fact the team is crap, no help is coming from free agency and even draft picks need to be regarded with skepticism. The aforementioned Rubio situation is the latest example, as I believe he would be an NBAer currently had he went to New York or Miami, but there are others as well.
OJ Mayo should be knocking down threes and playing lockdown D (think we could use some of that?), which would solve our perimeter problems and the Love/Jefferson redundancy. Heck, Stephon Marbury might've had a productive career alongside KG if we'd been a more cosmoplitan destination...on second thought, scratch that, I don't want to speculate on the motives of the insane. But however you spin it, it's obvious this franchise is operating with a degree of difficulty, which is understandable for free agents, but really a drag when you consider having to pass on the most talented players in the draft because they don't like your city. The GM made a serious blunder by thinking he could overcome this with the Rubio pick, he should've taken a cue from other NBA wastelands like Memphis, Oklahoma City and Sacramento, who passed on a guy they knew wouldn't suit up for them, maybe the first clue was when he wouldn;t come here for a workout? Oops.
3) Lousy draft/Lotto hex - First off, I don't want to get into a lot of jinx talk, as that is the Vikings exclusive domain, but just once can we get some luck in the damn lottery? By all accounts there are two players in this year's draft, John Wall and Evan Turner; the Wolves can select no lower than 5th and statistically are most likely to select 4th. You know where we're picking? 3rd, bank on it. Not only will this allow us to miss out on the two "can't miss" guys, but it will put our GM, Mr. Kahn, staring smack dab into the unplesant possibility of DeMarcus Cousins, who is not only a bit crazy and a terrible fit for a team with two undersized power forward/center types, he also seems like he would take a season or two on Team Rubio before he ever showed up here. We're not tops on his list, just a hunch, and this draft isn't deep either, so the 4 picks = 4 starters scenario some people seem to have in their minds is a pipe dream.
It's very depressing when you lay it all out, all things considered, I don't see the Timberwolves knocking on the playoff door for at least a couple of seasons and it's probably a couple more before they actually kick it in. As with the Wild, a lot can change, but for that to happen, this franchise would need something that has been in short supply throughout it's history: Good luck.
All in all, we'll probably be right back here next spring having this same conversation, which would truly be a shame. Playoffs are fun in general, but become exponentially more so when you add in a rooting interest, and it does not look like that is on the horizon. For the moment I will pick surrogate teams to live through vicariously, celebrating when they win, bumming when they lose, but not truly internalizing as I would if it were "my" team. A lot of teams make the postseason in both leagues, so playoff droughts should theoretically be short lived. Unfortunately when a franchise is run as far into the ground as these two have been, just getting back to the surface is quite a climb, nevermind soaring to new heights.
What time does the Twins game start again?
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