It's Working Again

I'm doing this from my new web browser Opera. It seems my current Mac operating system and latest versions of Safari and Firefox don't currently work well with Blogspot's latest update.

This is merely a test. There should be more tomorrow.

Friday Stuff

Looks like Blogger has stopped working with my Mac. I can edit old posts but I can't make new ones. So I'll keep updating here for awhile until I can get new posts.

The Vikes had 560 yards of offense last night and still only scored 24 points. It was all second, third and forth stringers anyway.

The Twins lost. Willingham had an error that allowed a run to score AND hit this 33rd homerun. Hoping Blogger will work differently soon.

OLD STUFF NEXT...




Mauer On Trade-Waiver List PLUS THURSDAY

The Twins actually placed Mauer on this list to gauge interest from other teams. Though Mauer has a no-trade clause in his contract, he's always said that he wants to play on a competitive team. No one expects anything to happen THIS season, but it sure opens up the door for the future.

Mauer is a good ball player but he's getting paid like someone who is an elite superstar. IF the Twins can ditch that contract and start acquiring reasonably priced talent again, the team's potential will grow by leaps and bounds.

We might even be able to keep Willingham.


MY BLOGGER ISN'T WORKING THIS MORNING SO I'M POSTING HERE!

DEDUNO!!!!

Sam Deduno had a rough start last time out. Last night he gave up just two hits AND NO WALKS in seven innings of work as the Twins offense suddenly came to life as well. The final was 10-0.

The 3D's of Diamond, Deduno, and De Vries really are starting to look like Twins starters and not just guys filling in. Deduno's extreme wildness simply vanished last night. He was amazing.

Other great stuff? Willingham hit his 32nd homer. Plouffe ended a homerun drought that had went more than 100 at bats and Joe Mauer responded with three singles after his waiver announcement.

All in all it was a great night of baseball.
And I'm still stoked about the "future" Twins. It's just the current product that's difficult to watch.

VIKINGS

Webb gets the start in the last preseason game of the season. I figure I'll miss most of the first half as I'll be in New Ulm tonight. I was hoping to see Webb, but I'll probably see Sage by the time I get home. I'm just hoping they look good before the regular season starts.

I know that's hoping for a lot.

Sure hope blogger fixes their problems by tomorrow.

Reality TV

It's seems weird, in the past I never watched any "reality shows" other than American idol. I even stopped watching that last season as I just didn't care any more.

I've also stopped watching most sports on a regular basis. I can't stand watching the Twins lose all the time and the Vikings have been bad just long enough for me to become more indifferent than angry with their losses.

So what do I watch? Not the idiotic reality shows like Big Brother, and Jersey Shore, but the good shows that show people at their actual jobs. As a result sports has been almost completely replaced by Auction Hunters, Storage Hunters, Storage Wars, Pawn Stars, American Pickers. Counting Cars, and American Restoration.

The common theme of these shows? Making money by finding or restoring something collectible. Finding out the history of the things they find makes each even more compelling.

Until the Twins or Vikings become winners again, I have found something to watch and enjoy. I'd prefer local sports teams that win, but until then I can watch augmented reality shows to take their place.

In local sports news: The Twins lost while Target Field was awarded the 2014 All-Star Game.

meh

Bills Cut Vince Young To Make Room for T-Jack!

I really never thought I'd type that headline.

Liam Hendriks

We all know the Twins are having one of their worst seasons of all-time. But even in theses horrible times there are reasons for optimism. Felix Hernadez may be the best pitcher in all of baseball right now, that he shut the Twins out is not a surprise.

What was a nice surprise last night, however, is that he was outpitched last night by a 23 year=old Aussie named Liam Hendriks. One bad pitch, a homerun ball, was all Hendiks gave up last night. Yes, we lost 1-0, but Hendriks could be another potentially great starter for the Twins in the future. He still has not won a game at the major league level, but he sure looks like he knows what he's doing out there.

The Three D's (Diamond, DeVries, and Deduno) have all showed major flashes of brilliance this year. Hendriks can now be added to that list. The present is putrid, but there are a few rays of hope shining in the darkness.

Lydia Ko

At 15 years old, Lydia Ko won the LPGA Canadian Open yesterday. She's the youngest female to ever win a pro golf event.

Her plans? Remain an amatuer. Finish high school. Graduate Sanford. THEN join the pro tour.

She would have won $300,000 yesterday if she had elected to go pro. Instead, second place finisher Inbee Park received the winner's purse.

I'm really not sure that was the right decision. She could still finish high school, go to Sanford and be a pro at the same time while earning money to PAY for college.

There's simply not a lot of part-time summer jobs that pay you $300,000 for a week's work.

Twins Win

This really has become my once a week headline. Cole DeVries was good through five innings. Ben Revere was 4 for 4 and scored three times AND the Twins ended a huge losing streak by finally beating Texas in the last game of the series.

Horrible season. Good game.

Harrelson

As an announcer, there's no bigger home team supporter than Ken Harrelson. If you ever watch a White Sox game on WGN when they go against YOUR team, he'll drive you nuts as he roots for the Sox.

But he also likes to call them as he sees them. Case in point? Harrelson was quick to point out  how bad the home plate umpire was in yesterday's Sox game. He became livid when both catcher A. J. Pierzynski and manager Robin Ventura were tossed yesterday for arguing the umpire's strike zone.

He called the umpire "absolutely brutal." And also called him "terrible." He also let the fans know that film of this game will go back to the league office to show how bad he is.

The problem is, as an employee of the White Sox, Harrelson is also a representative of the league. The league does not allow this kind of treatment by it's announcers.

Harrelson will be punished for this "infraction of protocol" in some way.

I just hope he keeps calling them as he sees them until he gets fired. That's who Harrelson is and he should not change for anybody.

Roger Clemens

Clemens is now 50 years old. He has decided he wants to pitch again. Yesterday he went 3 1/3 innings giving up no runs while striking out two in a minor league game.

He's not sure if he wants to come all the way back or just continue pitching to see what he's got. Either way, baseball is better with Roger Clemens in it.

I'm hoping he sticks around for awhile. The Astros have already said that he is welcome to pitch for them any time he wants.

Summaries

The Vikings first team could not beat the San Diego second team last night.
The Twins didn't even get a hit until two outs in the seventh.
Scott Diamond was suspended for 6 games for throwing, in retaliation, at Hamilton.
WWE Smackdown was awful last night without Daniel Bryan.
Giving was WAY up for the Lance Armstrong Foundation yesterday in a show of support for Lance who did end up having his titles stripped.

I'm really getting sick and tired of sports.

Lance Arnstrong

Lance Armstrong has passed every drug test he was ever administered. Every single one.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency started a witch-hunt of accusations (that he somehow cheated) years ago with absolutely no proof offered of such charges.

The USADA offered Armstrong an arbitration process "to prove his innocence" and Armstrong who officially retired from competitive cycling last year, turned them down saying he wasn't interested in wasting any more of his time fighting these unfounded charges.

The USADA took his declining of the process as "an admission of guilt" and will now start the procedure that will strip him of all 7 of his Tour de France titles and his 2000 bronze Olympic medal.

I'm sick of all of this. He either did cheat or he didn't. There is either proof or their isn't. An arbitration process should have nothing to do with it. Show us the conclusive evidence or leave him alone.

What a joke. Suspicions and lack of a fight may simply indicate that Lance is sick of the whole business as well.

Blood doping is a tricky business. Prove it or shut up USADA. I can't believe all the time and money wasted on this stupidity. At the the expense of a man's reputation.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The USADA has too much power and too much money and it wields both way too casually in a society that wishes to remain indifferent.

We live in scary times and it's just going to get scarier.

Bartolo Colon

The A's lost one of their primary starters to a 50 game suspension yesterday. He admitted he was doing performance enhancing drugs. He also apologized. We'll see if he disputes any of this or if he just sits out the team's next 50 games.

Immediately following the announcement the team went out and kicked the Twins 5-1.

Somethings never change.

Peterson

Adrian Peterson will not play in any preseason games as the Vikes want to save him and his precious knee for the regular season. Good call. IF he's healed, he'll be much fresher for the long season as well.

They should never play him in preseason.

Brett Anderson

Oakland Ace Brett Anderson took 15 months off  to have Tommy John surgery. He returned last night and was rusty for exactly one inning and then he mowed down the Twins in a A's 4-1 victory.


De Vries was good for the Twins, just not good enough.

The Twins did do something remarkable last night, though. Trevor Plouffe, who has been just plain awful since his return, hit into a rare triple play. I didn't say it was good, just remarkable.

Carl Pavano has been shut down for the rest of the season. He needs complete rest because they finally discovered that his pain was coming from a bruised humorous. The problem is he was actually still  pitching rehab because they thought it was his shoulder. This actually screwed up any chance of his coming back this season. He's probably pitched his last game as a Twin. And Pavano is not happy.

Twins Win!

I get to type that about about once a week now. Duensing was great and the A's were red-hot. 15 hits for the Twins.

I still can't figure out how a line-up like the Twins can hit so poorly so many games in a row and then do something like this.

Oakland, as hot as they've been at home lately, only had about 10,000 fans last night. Most left by the late innings with the Twins gaining such a big early lead. The final was 7-2.

Melky Cabrera

Remember when I said he "just accepted his fate like a man." I take it all back.

This guy pretended to be contrite so that a fake website that HE launched could show how he could have "accidently" bought the supplement in question that got him banned.

The best part? The website was launched in July before he was banned just in case he was caught.

Baseball investigators aren't as stupid as Cabrera thought as the whole plot was uncovered quickly as they searched for the source of his synthetic steroid.

Poorly played, Cabrera, poorly played.

Deduno Wild Again But Good

The Twins got just one run though, so now they are 20 games below .500. Hard to believe that there is still over 25% of the season left.

Diamond Great Again

BUT the Twins lost again. This time in the bottom of the ninth.

Harder and harder to watch...

Ejected Fans

NFL fans who get ejected from games must now take a four-hour online course in anger management that deals with alcohol abuse and hurting other people's feelings in order to ever be allowed back in the stadiums of their favorite teams.

I chuckle. I can't think of a worse punishment for these unruly louts. (Now THAT'S how civilized people should speak. I sure hope it's part of the course.)

.

Vikes

I'd like to be excited about what I saw last night in the Vikings blowout win of Buffalo. Ponder was great. The receivers were great. The running game was dominant and Joe Webb was running wild.

The problem is that they were doing this against Buffalo, a team with the worst defense in football last year.

So instead, I'n now cautiously optimistic that last week was the "fluke" and that from now on the Vikngs will be a fun team to watch this season.

If nothing else, the Vikings defense looked much better last night as well.

I can now look forward to at least the next Vikings game. We'll take it from there.

The Twins, on the other hand...

Well, don't get me started.

Woman Burns Butt, Sues Cowboys

You  KNOW it's a slow sports day when I comment on this sad item.

A woman, we'll just call her Stupid for the rest of this article, has sued the Cowboys for injuries based on a "bench-warming incident."

The Cowboys have black marble benches OUTSIDE their stadium that people can sit on if they wish. Stupid sat on one too long and received burns so bad that she suffered mental anguish, physical pain, and disfigurement. (!?)

Stupid said she didn't realize the bench was that hot WHILE SHE WAS SITTING on it and that the Cowboys should have posted WARNING SIGNS letting people know that the bench would be too hot to sit on when the 100 degree sun was beating on it.

The Cowboys declined comment.

I have no problem making a comment, however.

Stupid is as Stupid does.

Peterson's Leg Doesn't Fall Off

Adrian Peterson had his first full contact practice yesterday. His knee didn't bother him. He now wants more carries and more downs.

The Vikings plan on bringing him around slowly.

Melky Cabrera

He was given a 50 game suspension by MLB yesterday testing positive for steroids. In a refreshing change of pace Cabrera said he was suspended for using a substance that he knows he should not have used.

He didn't deny what he did. He admitted it. And then he apologized to his fans and teammates.

Has ANYONE ever done that before?

Ryan Braun could learn a lot from this guy.

U.S Beat Mexico 1-0 in Mexico

I think that this proves my point about soccer better than anything I've ever said.

The men's U.S. team wasn't even good enough to MAKE the Olympics this year. Mexico won the GOLD MEDAL as the best team in the world just last week.

This is so common in soccer that it's not even funny anymore. If the best team and a team that is average can play a game where just one score is the difference, it just shows that ALL the teams are about the same.

That's soccer. Parity is the rule and superstars don't make a difference. One lucky bounce and BOOM, the best suddenly becomes an also-ran.

Defenses in soccer are smothering. Shots on goal are rare and even the best players shoot wide or high way more often than the "highlight goal" you see on Sports Center.

with all that being said....


USA! USA! USA!

It's the first time in seventy five years that the US has beat Mexico south of the border.

Felix Hernandez

Perfect.

That's the THIRD perfect game this year. There's only been twelve in the last 25 years.

It was also the SIXTH no-hitter in baseball this season.

All of these stats are just amazing numbers.

Baseball is still cool even when the local team is not so good.

EETHER or IITHER

Anybody else annoyed that over the last 10 years or so that Americans have started using the British pronunciation of the words "either" and "neither?" Every TV show or movie I watch now has every single actor pronouncing it with the "long-i" sound instead of the "long-e" sound all of us grew up with. It doesn't matter if they are old or young, rich people educated at Harvard or bums on the street of Brazil. They all now say "IIther."

I'm still a holdout, but I'm hearing more people in real life say it as well.

It reminds me of the time when I was a kid when teachers started pronouncing the "t" in often. That died out fairly quickly for most. I think this change is going to be with us for a while.

And I don't like it nEEther.

The classic Disney baseball cartoon did it right. "Safe. Out. EEther, nEEther, or both."

I'm afraid Disney will re-edit that cartoon so that it matches today's new arbitrary standard.

Who decides this stuff anyway? I'd like to discover why there's been such a sudden switch and who started it.

Willingham Hits Number 30

The rest of the game really wasn't worth mentioning.

A Great Quote

Tom Peilissero of ESPN 1500:

"No one should be surprised by this at all that the Vikings are seriously considering rookie Harrison Smith as one of the starting safeties on Friday against the Bills in the Vikes pre-season home opener.
Watching Jamarca Sanford and Mistral Raymond Friday was about as pleasing on the eye as watching Tsuyoshi Nishioka bat or field for the Twins."

Burn.

Deduno Now 4-0

Samuel Deduno has been way more good than bad since joining the Twins starting rotation. Last night was another excellent example of the good. Through seven innings last night he only gave up TWO hits. He's still wild (giving up 5 walks) but he managed to get himself out of every jam he found himself in until Detroit finally nailed him for three hits in the eighth. That was probably more fatigue than anything else.

His ERA for the season is still a sparkling 3.38. If he can ever find the location on that wild fastball, he could be one of the Twins finest for a very long time.

Another plus?  Darin Mastroianni continues to impress as the Twins extra outfielder. He can play all  three outfield positions well. He has good speed and a strong arm and some decent power. He proved that again last night by going yard for the third time in his limited playing time for the Twins so far this season. An added bonus? He can also play second base for the Twins in a pinch.  The Twins lost some defensive flexibility when Michael Cuddyer left for free agency this year. Mastrioanni and his .296 batting average are giving us some of that back.

More? Ryan Doumit is on fire as of late as well. He hit his 14th homer of the season last night driving in 3 more RBI in the process. He's now batting .297 on the year with 59 RBI. He's having a great season as the Twins' primary backup catcher.

Joe Mauer is quietly putting together a good season for himself. He was three for four last night and added another walk as well. He's managed to keep his batting average at least .320 for several weeks in a row now. He's not worth a quarter of a billion dollars, but he at least looks like a good ball player again.

It was great to see Trevor Plouffe back in the lineup as well. That bruised thumb took forever to heal. Here's hoping he finds his swing and some power again in the near future.

USA! USA! USA!

The U.S. won the Olympics yesterday and though I enjoyed much of what I saw these last two weeks it's harder and harder to watch some of the "sports" that are now being included.

Yesterday afternoon was a good example: TEAM rhythmic gymnastics. We've all made fun of the original rhythmic gymnastics for several Olympics now, but watching a group of ladies swirl around with hoops, clubs, and flowing streamers and getting awarded GOLD medals for their efforts is almost laughable.

I'm not saying it doesn't pass as fun entertainment. It's like watching dance line or cheerleading "competitions." But none of what I've just mentioned are sports.  I'd like to see something like the Olympics where ALL sports involving judges and "artistic scores" are eliminated completely from the schedule.

I know that would also take women's gymnastics, the most popular and most watched competition out of the mix, but it's a sacrifice I'd be willing to make just to get rid of MEN'S synchronized diving.

I've also decided that the dumbest of real sports are those involving some kind of "goaltender." Whether it be field hockey, team hand ball, soccer, water polo, or lacrosse, it's all basically the same sport, and each variation of the same concept is equally ludicrous to watch.

Eliminate the goaltender and all would be infinitely more watchable, but they'd all still be essentially the same sport.

I'm still trying to figure out why Rugby isn't an Olympic sport. It's played world-wide and enjoyed by tens of millions, yet somehow women's wrestling and boxing (sports enjoyed by perhaps tens of hundreds world-wide) gets TV time and gives out medals.

Like I said, overall, I liked much of what I saw, but if I had missed all of it, I wouldn't really have missed that much.

I was happy to see that the men's basketball team took it easy on Spain yesterday. By just "barely winning" they kept basketball safe for at least one more Olympic Games. That involved a lot of restraint on their part.

I believe this is the final medal count, but remember, over half of these were given for "sports" involving judges who awarded artistic merit.

Oh, and one last question. Why do horses compete in the Olympics?

Bolt Goes All Out

Maybe Usain Bolt can learn new tricks. In the men's 4 x 100 relay last night he gritted his teeth and ran through the tape instead of just showboating at the end. Jamaica got the gold and the new world record.

That was nice to see.

The U.S. got the silver, tying the old world record in the process.

The U.S. also took the lead in the overall medal count with one day to go.

The First Inning and Other Thoughts

The game was really good last night except for the first inning. Those three runs made it impossible for the Twins to beat Price who is as good as anybody right now.

They should discontinue women's basketball in the Olympics. The U.S is so much better than anybody else in the world that it's no longer a competitive event. That was the reason that they cancelled softball last Olympics and the funny thing is the U.S. didn't even win the gold medal in that competition last time.

The women's squad won every game in basketball by more than 30 points, just like every other time they've played in the last several Olympics.

The men's team isn't quite as dominant but they are expected to clobber Spain Today before it's all over. When does an event cease to be a contest? When one team is so good that they can't lose. Basketball has become that in the Olympics.

Manny Machado

If you're like me, you've never heard of this kid before. At twenty years of age, he was just brought up by the Orioles for last night's game.

The result? He hit TWO homeruns to lead the Orioles to a big win last night. He's the youngest Oriole to ever have a multi-homer game.

But I probably wouldn't be typing this if it was just those two homeruns. What was cooler? The same fan caught BOTH homerun balls.

I'm not sure I've ever heard of any fan catching two homerun balls in the same game before let alone both being hit by just one player.

Baseball is cool even when your home team plays horribly.

Dwight Howard Officially a Laker

Lots of rumors and reports the last couple of days finally reached fruition last night.

Dwight Howard has a huge reputation but now he's going to be in the spotlight playing with Kobe and the Lakers. I'm not sure he's as good as he's billed, but we're all going to find out this coming season.

L.A. fans will now be expecting multiple championships and I'm thinking they are just going to be disappointed. It's going to be difficult to live up to all those expectations and all of that hype.

More Thoughts

This is when it gets difficult to write blog comments again. The Vikings look horrible. At best Ponder is average in an above average division and none of our receivers can catch passes consistently. Joe Webb looked absolutely lost last night while playing with the second team and NONE of the play calling made any real sense.

I know it's preseason, but bad receivers drop passes and bad QBs miss passes. That never changes. It's going to be a long, horrible season.

Watching the Twins was even harder. Last night De Vries was as bad as any pitcher we've had all year. I stopped watching in the second and he was so bad I don't even want to watch today's game.

I'm glad the Olympics are still on. It gave me something else to watch when the local sports teams start performing according to their own miserable standards. The highlight for me last night was the women's 400 relay. ALL FOUR went all out on every step with near flawless exchanges. In the process they won gold and broke a world record that had stood for a long, long time. Usain Bolt, as good as he is, could learn a lot from watching those women. You don't coast in a finals.

Thoughts

I didn't watch the U.S. women's gold medal win yesterday. I caught highlights later. That's just too much soccer after watching the whole game the day before..

I tried watching the Packers and Chargers game last night but, knowing it was preseason, the game simply did not matter. I only watched it for a couple of minutes.

The Vikings play their first game tonight. I'm going to try watching the first half. Preseason ball is hard to watch. I'm also a little concerned about substitute officials. I figure if the pro refs miss calls all the time, these subs will probably be much worse.

I sure wish Usain Bolt would take his races more seriously. Yes, he's the fastest man on the planet, but it's hard to watch him COAST the last ten yards. I'd like to see him go for the world record instead of the win. I don't understand his philosophy at all. He's the best but he doesn't go all out. It's just weird watching him.

U.S. Takes Lead in Medal Count

Now that track and field events are in full swing, the U.S. is starting to gather medals at a much faster pace. I didn't watch much yesterday, but I'll probably watch more today.

I even LIKED watching the U.S. women in soccer action yesterday. It helped that there was actually quite a bit of scoring AND that the U.S. won in O.T.

Ishi Nishi

Another error. Two unearned runs as a result. Duensing gave up just four earned runs in seven innings but the Twins offense went into hibernation yesterday.

Twins Rally

I admit I turned it off early and was completely shocked when I turned back at 9:25 last night to see the game was still going on AND that the Twins had taken the lead. We were watching the balance beam and floor exercise at the Olympics after the Twins got off to such a horrible start.

Revere extended his hitting streak to 21 and Doumit went 3-5 to raise his average to .295. Cleveland lost their 11th straight and the Twins are now just ONE game behind them in the standings.

One more game in the series. I hoping to see it this afternoon.

Twins Unload on Cleveland

Anybody else get the feeling that Justin Morneau's starting to feel more like his old self?

The Twins had one of their best nights in a good long time yesterday including a TEN run second inning that included THREE homeruns. Justin hit one in the second and then added another in the fourth for good measure.

Willingham (number 29) and Doumit (12) hit theirs in the second, too.

Scott Diamond always seem to get more run support than the Twins other starters and last night was no exception. The funny thing is that he rarely needs it. Last night was another great performance giving up just two earned runs in 7 innings of work.

Ishi Nishi was back in the lineup for the Twins after being recalled from Rochester. In hindsight, we should have probably left him there. He had two errors for the Twins last night and I see that horrible glove causing nightmares for us any time he's actually playing. He will cost us wins before the season is over.

The Twins shipped Danny Valencia to Boston earlier in the day to make room for him.

The best part? All four of us brothers and our families were watching the game at my house last night during one of the best visits we've had in a long, long time. None of us could remember the last time we've been able to do that but it's been quite a few years.

Experiencing that TEN RUN second together was pretty cool.

The Twins might be about average (or worse) but I'm a baseball fan because of games like last night.

Just like the Visa card, last night was priceless.

Top Home Runner Hitter in Baseball?

Since July 29th of last season, the answer is Josh Willingham with 44. No one has more in either league.

Vikings Down One Reciever

Greg Childs, the Vikes number 4 draft pick managed quite a feat yesterday. He landed awkwardly trying to make a simple catch and managed to tear tendons in BOTH his knees.

We probably won't be hearing from him again.

Twins Lose

Nick Blackburn is the weakest link in the Twins rotation. He gave up 4 runs and nine hits in just 5 innings yesterday.

The Twins made it LOOK close by scoring 3 runs off two homers in the ninth, but they were 0-8 with runners in scoring position for the day.

At least Revere kept his hitting streak alive. It's now at 19.

Phelps Retires

He swam his last race last night giving him 18 Olympic gold medals in his career. He also  ended up with 22 total medals. That's most ever by anyone in any sport.

How do you sum up his career? It went swimmingly...

Serena

I can't believe how dominant Serena Williams was yesterday when she beat Maria Sharapova for the gold medal in women's tennis. We watched most of the match yesterday which really didn't take much of a time commitment as the entire match only lasted a bit more than an hour. The final was 6-0, 6-1.

That's the best I have ever seen anyone play tennis. If Serena stays healthy, she could still do this for a few more years as she's only 30 years old. Absolutely amazing.

Joe Mauer_ The Golden Child

I hate to admit it, But Joe Mauer is starting to earn my respect again. Last night, with two outs and two on in the top of the ninth with the Twins trailing. Mauer hit a homerun to put the Twins up 6-4.

That means the Twins have won 7 of their last nine and they've also got 9 solid starting performances in a row as Devries only gave up 4 hits and two runs in his seven innings of work.

I've also noticed that Morneau's batting average has went up over 30 points in the last month or so. The Twins are suddenly a hitting ball club again.

The Twins go for the sweep today. Boston hasn't been very good this year, so it's not like the Twins are beating one of the league's powerhouses. But beating the bad teams is the first step in proving you aren't so bad yourself. We're now only THREE games behind third place Cleveland.

Another highlight? Ben Revere had three more singles, extended his hitting streak to 18 games and he's now batting .323 for the season.

One game at a time.

The Evening Meal

This has nothing to do with sports, but I've been thinking about this for the last couple of days based on conversations I've had with my displaced brother who now lives in California with his wonderful family.

Depending on where you grew up and when you grew up (and other cultural variations) the term "dinner" means something different to different people. For some it is the noon meal. For others it is the  evening meal. When making plans, that one word could make the difference between easily getting together with folks at the right time or missing them entirely because you planned on going to the wrong meal.

I've decided to make the following proposal: Since "dinner" is the word that causes the miscommunication, it should be removed from American culture entirely. The noon meal should, from now on, always be called "lunch" and the evening meal should always be called "supper."

Though this idea would be unpopular among people who always call the evening meal "dinner" it would instantly stop all confusion as to our dining times. Remember those who currently call "lunch" dinner would also have to change their ways as well. It's part of the necessary cultural compromise.

Think about it. When people hear the word "lunch" EVERYBODY knows that would be the noon-time meal. We all KNOW that's  what "lunch" means. There's no mistaking the term. So let's all use it.

Likwewise, if people hear the word "supper" they would never mix that term up with the noon meal either. If you hear the word "supper" even if you rarely use it yourself, you KNOW people are always talking about the evening meal when they use it.

It might not be a popular decision among the varying regions in America, but it would bring us all closer as a country. It would be a momentous first step in being a truly "United" States of America.

Breakfast. Lunch. Supper. So simple. No more confusion.

Teach it at school if you have to, but let's do this for the good of future generations. There is no room for diversity in our meal-time terms, not if we all want to live together in peace. And isn't peace more important than cultural preference? Especially when cultural preference, in this case, has nothing to do with race or skin color.

Twins Win

Duensing was very good last night, but you wouldn't know it from the score. Morneau dropped out number three in the third and that resulted in THREE unearned runs.

In the long run it didn't matter. Morneau also got a couple of doubles and a total of four hits. Carroll got four hits too, including the game winner in the tenth.

That's 8 straight good starts by the rotation and the Twins have now won 6 of their last eight.

It's August and I'm still watching.

Deduno Does It Again

Samuel Deduno looks like he's for real as the Twins got their seventh straight very good start. This time Deduno pitched 6 shutout innings while the bullpen was perfect for 3 more in the Twins shutout of Boston 5-0. For the second straight game Deduno gave up just TWO hits.

The Twins young starters are giving me some hope for the future. Deduno walked four again but his slider and curve are super sweet. Maybe he should just stop throwing his fastball so much. It's not like he really needs it. His ERA in three starts for the Twins is less than ONE. I'm sure that can't continue, but I look forward to the rest of his starts this season.

More hope for the future? Revere had another hit last night extending his current streak to 16 games. His defense in the outfield has always made me smile but this recent offensive surge makes me think he's got what it takes for the long haul. He might only hit singles, but his speed then puts him on second more often then not.

Morneau is whacking the ball again and Doumit and Dozier are knocking the stuffing out of the ball lately as well. It's making the Twins worth watching.

Duensing gets the start tonight. (I admit that he still worries me some.)

More Olympics

I was watching the U.S. basketball team yesterday afternoon destroy Nigeria. I stopped watching when the U.S. set an all-time record for most three-pointers in a game (14) and it was STILL THE FIRST HALF! Much like Tunisia earlier, they really aren't good enough to be in this tournament.

I just read the U.S. ended up scoring a record 156 points in the game and that none of the starters even played in the second half. This is more embarrassing than anything else. Remember when they discontinued women's softball in the Olympics because the U.S. team was always too good? How is THIS any different? Get rid of basketball or bring back softball. You really shouldn't have it both ways.

I've come to the conclusion that the best time to watch the Olympics is between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. That's when all the prime events occur where all the U.S. athletes have their best chance at gold. Last night it was Phelps getting his first individual swimming gold and Gabby Douglas winning the women's gymnastics all-around gold. I was SOOO tired last night after another great night out with family at Pizza Ranch that I could barely stay awake. But I'm glad I stayed awake long enough to watch these moments, That's why we all watch the Olympics in the first place.

Olympics

What caught my attention yesterday was something that was odd just on the face of it.

A top Chinese women's badminton doubles team lost unexpectedly early in the tournament. As a result FOUR other teams (8 total players) decided to play poorly and lose so that they could be placed in an easier bracket in the next round.

They actually played poorly so that they would deliberately LOSE. The fans were booing at the matches and the officials were outraged because a mockery was made of every single point.

The official result? ALL 8 players were disqualfied from the competition because "wanting to lose" goes against the very spirit of the Olympic games.

My Take:

I look at this completely differently. They weren't trying to lose the tournament, they were doing their absolute BEST to make sure that they could win medals. These 8 players represented some of the absolute BEST players in the whole world.

I blame the tournament set-up itself. What kind of tournament is set up in such a way that it ENCOURAGES players to lose so that they actually GAIN an advantage?

I don't think the players did anything wrong at all. If anyone is to be blamed it's got to be the officials who set this tournament up. The sport has been around for thousands of years, and the goal has always been clear. IF you win you advance. Setting it up in such away that losing HELPS your chances is absolutely asinine.

The wrong people were punished. The officials should all be fired and the players should be reinstated. And then change the rules for the next tournament so the problem will never happen again.

Either way, I'm guessing the rules WILL be changed for next time. And the same stupid officials will still be around. And idiotic people will still think the players got what they deserved.

Mankato Roadtrip

The latest Batman movie was absolutely fantastic. But I think I enjoyed it way more than the average moviegoer because I've read so many of the comics and have watched all the recent cartoons as well. So much of the pleasing aspect of the movie was that they really did incorporate so much of the source material while introducing a great  new version of an old character.

Even better? I got to share the movie with my youngest brother who is as big a Batman geek as I am.

AND the Casually Observing Wife spotted something I hadn't figured out yet during the movie. She had her geek on as well.

Because I liked the movie SO much, I have to admit that Vikings training camp placed a distant second on the enjoyment meter. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't so hot. As Paul Douglas always liked to say, "good old-fashioned stinking hot."

We ended up leaving early as a result. IF anyone else is planning on going, I'd suggest you spend time in the merchandise tent and play some of the free games (for kids) and activities early and just watch the last hour or so of practice. The real scrimmaging is fun (and close-up).

Simpson made a really nice catch after a great long pattern yesterday and Webb looks like the fastest most elusive man on the planet.

Toby Gerhart took most of the running back snaps and Adrian Peterson was as far away as you could possibly imagine doing very little because of his status. That was pretty disappointing.

Biggest surprise? Percy Harvin and his tiny little calves. He looks so small out there compared to everyone else.

It was the best day of summer for me so far and a GREAT double-header. And the chicken strip meal at Perkins last night finished it off perfectly. French Fries AND mashed potatoes? What a country.

Pizza Ranch tonight with even more family!!! It's just keeps getting better.

Twins

Another very good starting pitching performance by the Twins. That's six good starts in a row.

The problem is that the Twins lost another one-run game 3-2 yesterday.

They may have scored a lot of runs in July but August started off with a thud.

Diamond took the loss and a shot off his leg in the eighth.

Chicago is better than the Twins this year and over the course of the season they are proving it.

At least Valencia hit a homerun.

Big Double-Header Today

And it has nothing to do with baseball. My younger brother and his family will be traveling to Mankato today with the Casual Sports Fan and the Casually Observing Wife.

We'll be taking in the Dark Knight Rises early, and then going to Vikings camp right across the street right after. Somewhere in all of that we will eat and enjoy the day.

Can't wait! This will be the first time most of us have gotten to one of these camps. The Casually Observing Wife used to go all the time when she went to school in Mankato. She's the old vet. Many thanks to Super Steve and the hints and tricks he told her yesterday so that we get the most out of this more recent trip.

Can't wait!!

Olympics

They fixed the cable line sometime yesterday! it was good timing as the U.S. women won the team gold last night and we actually got to see it. Not much drama there, though. Russia fell apart and all the U.S. girls had to do was be themselves. They won easily.

Michael Phelps was having a rough time so far this games but in the end yesterday he ended up with both a gold and a silver medal which made him the most decorated medal winner in the Olympics all-time.

I watched part of the second half of the U.S. men's basketball game yesterday afternoon. It was just a blowout. Some countries should not have basketball teams. Tunisia is one of those countries.

Liriano and Blackburn Both Great

Neither had part of the decision, though.

You knew eventually that the Twins would lose a close one again. A.J. Pierzynski's 2-run homer in the top of the ninth was the difference.

Good game but we came out on the short end.