Into the abyss

Busy weekend, lot of stuff happening, unfortunately that's the last time we'll be able to say that for quite a while.  The month of July is the depths of the sports abyss, following the NBA and NHL drafts, and prior to the beginning of meaningful MLB games, it's just a long, slow grind until NFL training camps open.  I might actually have to get a life for a couple of weeks, oh the horror.

The double draft days of the past week were kind of exciting, but at the same time depressing, because when draft day is the most important day on the calendar, that means your team sucks ass.  I can't even remember when it wasn't the most important day on the Timberwolves calendar, and now the Wild have joined them.  Both teams seem destined to continue this trend next year.  It's almost enough to make me long for the sky-high expectations and brutal letdowns of a typical Vikings season...almost.

The Wolves continued their perplexing assembly of a "foundation" this past weekend as if the NBA were a fantasy league with a couple of flex positions.  The current plan appears to be obtaining players who will ensure a higher pick next year.  No real problem with their selection of Wesley Johnson from Syracuse, but trading away their second pick for the highly average Martell Webster was confusing.  I get that they might not have liked the options available to them at the #16 spot, but part of being a rebuilding team is having the freedom to gamble on raw prospects, giving them minutes to develop their game that more established teams can't spare. 

The point is probably moot, since no player that was attainable was going to change the situation this year, but if there's a big picture here, I'm missing it.  A year after drafting 4 point guards in the first round, the Wolves used their #4 pick on a small forward who's a solid shooter and defender with limited ability to get his own shot.  They then traded the #16 pick and Ryan Gomes (another average forward) for a small forward who's a solid shooter and defender with limited ability to get his own shot.  GM David Kahn may love Webster's game, but it's tough to tell why; the stats aren't there and he's certainly not the slashing-type shot creator that the team seems to be lacking. If the guy was coming off a rookie season where he showed promise, this would make more sense, but after 4 years in the league, he probably is what he's going to be the rest of the way.

Obviously it's dangerous to run a team with an eye toward popular opinion, but maybe keeping some guys with youth and potential, rather than trading them for established stiffs, would lessen the fan apathy toward this team?  Two years into his tenure, the KahnMan has turned 7 first round picks into not much.  The only buzz created was from the Rubio pick last season, and that has pretty much subsided.  At this point, the casual fan is going to need to be reminded who he is when (if?) he finally shows up.  They're also going to need an explanation on who is going to carry the scoring load, given the front office's apparently allergy to shooting guards.  Rubio may be an assist wizard, but it's never been a secret he can't shoot; current situation seems like a receipe for a lot of pretty passes followed by bricked shots.

So in general, I'm confused and a bit frustrated.  Adding to the frustration was the fact that the guy I really wanted at SG, James Anderson, was drafted by San Antonio at #20.  Always nice when one of the best college players gets undervalued because he doesn't have the potential offered by less productive players, then is snatched up by the team with the league's best track record of recognizing late first-round value.  I will remember to bring this up in 2 years when Anderson is averaging 20 PPG.

On the other side of the coin is the Minnesota Wild, who have a very clear and consistent philosophy over the years: Acquire the entire Finnish National Team.  Joining Mikko Koivu, Antti Miettinen and Nicklas Backstrom (in a couple of years at least) is Finland center Mikael Granlund, a playmaking center who's supposedly more NHL ready than many other first rounders.  Not the end of the world to draft another Euro, as it was at a position of need and the early run on forwards left things paired down, but geez is this team in love with Finnish players. 

When it comes to European hockey playuers, I tend to share the opinion of NHL GM Brian Burke, the architect of the Anaheim Ducks multiple Stanley Cup teams in the 2000s.  Burke favored North American players because they grew up dreaming of winning the Stanley Cup, and playing a more rugged style.  The Ducks two Cup-winning teams were built on size and toughness, with Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Scott Niedermeyer and Chris Pronger anchoring a nasty group of players who ground opponents down.  Looking back through history, this seems to be the norm in the playoffs; when things get nasty, North American players flourish as European players fold. 

There are of course exceptions, namely the Detroit Red Wings core of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen and Lidstrom, but in general, the best players on most Cup winners are from this side of the Atlantic.  The Wild's playoff no-shows have had several root causes, and certainly not all can be traced back to the presence of Euros as the team's top players.  But when you already have two as your top forwards and one in net, adding another seems like overkill to me.  Just my opinion of course, and certainly hope it's proven wrong.

Silver lining to the draft by the way is the selection of Jason Zucker in the 2nd round.  He might be a bit on the small side at 5'10" / 175, but after watching his play on the gold-medal winning US national team in last year's World Junior Championships, I think this guy could be a great add.  Very quick with a knack for putting the puck in the net.  Plus he'll be a freshman at the University of Denver next season, so us college hockey fans will get to watch his development over the next couple of seasons.  Unfortunate that he will be playing for the hated Pioneers, but you can't have everything.

Finally, the US soccer team lost to Ghana on Saturday, a country with slightly fewer people than the state of Texas.  Thus ends another World Cup "run" in the first game of the knockout stage, basically no better or worse than was expected.  I'm happy that the soccer fans got their moment last week on the big goal to advance the team past pool play, but the whole deal strikes me as kind of "meh".  The US team was about two minutes short of heading home after 3 tie games, which would've been the most boring result possible.  It's nice they advanced further, and I did enjoy Saturday's game, but just don't see soccer moving past it's status with me as a novelty every 4th year.

Trying to give the futbol a fighting chance

So my attempt to truly get into World Cup soccer has hit a wall.  A wall constructed of 0-0 ties, vuvuzelas and 7 AM start times.  Switzerland pulled a huge upset today over Spain, but from my seat at work, all I can think is, "if a tree falls in the forest..."  It may be the most popular sport and tournament in the world, but it's pretty tough to get drawn in with so many obstacles standing in my way; if I'm going to have to listen to buzzing for two hours, at least let me get a buzz first.

But on the positive side, the World Cup, although definitely well-publicized, does not carry the same suffocating invasion into US culture that the Olympics bring.  This tournament is like an obnoxious former high school classmate with bad breath bearing down on you in a bar, you're not interested in talking to him, but at least you can get away; the Olympics are that same guy, but in this case you're chained to the bar.  There's a classic Catch-22 thing going on for me here: If the United States was any good at soccer, I'd definitely be more into the World Cup.  Unfortunately, if the United States was any good at soccer, I'd be so sick and tired of being beaten over the head with the World Cup, I'd probably start to hate it.  It's going to take a delicate balance of an overachieving, but not outright good, team to suit my needs here.  We'll see how this goes.

So while the fervor is cooling as a result of general boredom so far, there are a few things that keep me intrigued enough to think this situation could turn.  First off, I have seen a couple of entertaining matches played, or perhaps "entertaining stretches of matches" would be more accurate.  The important thing is that I know they exist, gives me hope for the future.  Secondly, I can always get behind any US team that's a) male (sorry ladies, I can't do what you do, but neither of us can do what the guys do, and you don't see me asking anyone to pay attention to my golf game either, right?) , b) not getting totally thrased and c) not playing some nonsensical sport like water polo (good game of pool volleyball ruined) or curling (bowling on ice).  I watched the US tie England last Saturday, enjoyed the first half, was a bit bored during the second, got generally annoyed with the soccer nuts make such a big deal about a gift tie, but in general was entertained.  Third, and this is key, the playoffs haven't started.

I mean you don't really have the full measure of a game until you reach the playoffs, right?  Particularly in this cheesy round-robin of the World Cup, where half the teams have no chance and everyone seems content to play for a tie. As a playoff-only NBA fan who knows a hundred playoff-only NHL fans, I'm holding back judgement on the sport until I see a healthy dose of action in the knockout round, with the best teams playing one-and-done games that matter, rather than tuning in for the soccer equivalent of Net-Lakers or Thrashers-Blackhawks when North Korea takes on Brazil.  Of course this still doesn't change the fact that the two semifinal games are at 1 PM in the middle of the week, but we'll jump off that bridge when we come to it, until then, I will attempt to  keep an open mind.

Go Cameroon