Turd in the punchbowl

Sometimes in life, there are situations that appear to be 99% good, but one huge, glaring problem exists that just cannot be ignored.  Take being gay for instance.  Seems like something I could get into, like hanging out with guys, enjoy a fine dining and a good bottle of wine, well decorated homes, can even appreciate a good musical.  Unfortunately, the whole plowing dudes thing is a major problem, and I can't stress strongly enough the word major in that sentence.  Not a value judgement, if the sight of a man's hairy ass turns your gears, to each their own I suppose.  It's just that the very thought of it causes me to shudder along the lines of being on a long road trip, reaching over to grab your bottle of soda, taking a big swig...and realizing too late you accidentally grabbed the bottle your buddy used to relieve himself a couple of hours back.  F***ing yuck dude, absolute definition of the term "dealbreaker".  (But the way, I swear I didn't intentionally use the word 'turd' in the subject line because of the topic being discussed, that's just a fortuitous comedic occurrence).

Another good example of this is the state of Wisconsin.  Beer, bratwurst, cheese, great fishing, picturesque landscape, relaxed drinking laws; on the surface, it seems like a place I could be very happy.  But then you throw in the sports teams, and the whole thing goes straight to hell.  Living in the southeast metro, only 20 minutes from the Wisconsin border, my life gets inundated with Packer fans every fall, and I hate it.  They come out of the woodwork every Sunday like cockroaches, descending on otherwise pleasant bars and generally making life miserable.  Root for who you want, JUST DO IT IN YOUR OWN STATE!  Whole thing casts a pall over what is otherwise a pretty solid group of people and places.

(Side note on this that came up yesterday, I've become a total hypocrite on the Brett Favre thing.  For years I rolled my eyes while listening to the nonsense Packer fans would spew about the guy.  Good old St. Brett who could do no wrong, how he was so tough, how he was just like a kid having fun out there, how his midseason waffling was really just a tortured soul who loved the game too much to walk away, but couldn't live with himself if he let his team or fans down with declining play.  Everything was genuine, none of it was carefully contrived BS.  Hurl.  As recently as two years ago, if ESPN had shown him throwing passes to high schoolers, I would've screamed "ATTENTION WHORE" at the television and disparaged this annual farce for what it was, pure bullshit. 

Now?  Well Brett's just like a kid having fun out there!  What could be a greater slice of Americana than the old gunslinger, testing out the cannon on the high school field in his hometown?  Brett Favre is an American icon, and probably the toughest guy to ever play the game, did you see those pictures of his ankle last year?  Nothing short of a miracle he finished that game, it's like the football gods picked him up and carried him, as a show of their awe and appreciation for the greatest player to ever step on the gridiron.  I know in his heart he wants to come back and play, but the guy just couldn't bring himself to let down us Vikings fans if he's less than 100%.  And I'm sure that if he misses the first couple weeks of training camp, there will be no ulterior motive, just the titanic struggle he's grappling with in his heart, brought on by the fact he loves his teammates and fans so damn much.  We love you too Brett, you're the greatest.  What?)

I bring all this up as prelude to the discussion of last night's Twins game, a thoroughly entertaining battle against a top AL opponent that unfortunately ended in defeat.  Beyond the loss though, was how it unfolded, with a late inning comeback, a lead being scratched out...then a bullpen collapse leading to defeat.  The whole thing screamed Fatal Flaw.

The sky isn't falling because of one loss, but a blown save in the 9th inning against a tough AL East team opens up to many old wounds to count.  John Rauch has been a solid fill-in for Joe Nathan this season, yesterday's game was only his 4th blown save in 21 attempts, and the first of the 4 that the Twins actually ended up losing.  We knew that the loss of Nathan was going to cost 4-5 victories this season, and that even giving up a lot in trade for an established closer would likely only get 2-3 of those games back.  In short, the closer position was not crucial enough to warrant parting with a king's ransom to shore up.  But after game's like this one, and knowing the division has come down to a single game the last two seasons, that's hardly comforting.

Tampa Bay is one of the best teams in baseball, sitting among the 4 teams that have to be considered the AL Elite (Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Angels) over the last few seasons.  This is the only group of teams that the Twins have had trouble beating over the year, unfortunately it's the group that they're guaranteed to see in the playoffs.  Letting wins slip away against good teams like this is not only a blow to division title hopes, it's a nasty reminder of the postseason futility we've been dealing with for a decade, as well as the glaring hole that a non-elite closer can become.  Once again, the Twins appear to have a player who is better than the rest, but unable to measure up against the best.  Fortunately, there's another game (and shot at redemption) this evening.