Gym Idea

Two Big Games Tonight

College football's four best teams play this afternoon and evening. Root for the underdog. Hope for lots of points.

That's the best way to enjoy these games.

Golden State Gets Whomped

Former T-Wolve, J.J. Barea led the Dallas Mavericks to a rout of the Warriors last night. Golden State was missing Stephen Curry due to a leg injury. 114-91 was the final.

The Warriors are now 29-2 on the season.

Once Weres

Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, and Kobe Bryant.

They've been getting a lot of press lately, and it's all for the same reason. They're old and their bodies are starting to fail them.

It wasn't that long ago that everyone was wondering how many Super Bowls Manning would win. The answer to that question now looks like ONE. He's had great success at quarterback over the years, but getting back to the Super Bowl, and actually WINNING another one seems remote at this point. His team has a chance again this year, but even if that happens, he might not be its quarterback.

Tiger Woods had the most incredible start to his career. People were wondering how many years it would take him to pass Jack Nicklaus for the most major titles of all-time. He was so far ahead of Nicklaus' pace that it wasn't even a contest...

...but then injuries happened, and domestic unrest. He had his 40th birthday yesterday, and there are rumors that he can barely walk. The rehab from his latest back surgery, which was months ago, hasn't even started yet. It isn't even scheduled yet. And a once promising career is now most likely over.

There are younger, better golfers now, and the sport has grown passed him. And Jack Nicklaus's records once more look very safe.

And then there's Kobe. He has had the career that everyone thought he would. His scoring and  championships are legendary. But even he can't control the effects left by years of injuries. He's on his farewell tour this year, playing an aging guard on one of the worst teams in the league. Fans voting has left him atop the All-Star balloting. That's his last hurrah.

They were all great once. Their careers are all  ending with a whimper.

Gophers Win Bowl Game!

Just to set the record straight, I didn't even know the Gophers were IN a bowl game this year. A 5-7 regular season record isn't going to impress many bowl sponsors. But I did come upon their game last night with about a minute left, and I decided to watch that last minute.

I've never heard of the Quick Lane Bowl either, but there you are. The Gophers won, snapping a seven bowl game appearance losing streak.

And as long as we're admitting things, I thought the Gophers were the OTHER team while I was watching. My wife had to point out to me that I was rooting for the wrong team.

Did I mention that the Gophers didn't impress me much this year despite their big bowl game win?

Maybe I'll recognize them NEXT year.

Football!

Carolina lost. Seattle lost. New England lost. Pittsburgh lost. Green Bay lost.

The Vikings won. Big.

Big. Big. Big. Big. Big.

What a dominating game!

One week left. The whole shooting match. The last scheduled game of the season. Primetime next Sunday night.

Who would have thunk it?

Connections

Former Twins' second baseman, Luis Castillo (2006-2007) is on the Hall of Fame ballot this year.

When the Twins fell out of contention in 2007 we traded him for Drew Butera, who was on the Twins for four seasons.

We traded Drew for Miguel Sulbaran who never made it to the majors, but we traded Miguel for Eduardo Nunez, who has been a Twins bench player for four seasons.

So Castillo is directly responsible for Butera and Nunez both being on the Twins eight years after we traded him. Few players give you eight good years of major league service after you trade them. But the Twins have gotten a lot of milage out of that one trade.

Who knows? Maybe the Twins will get a roster player for Nunez if we trade him as well. Castillo was not only a great second baseman, he was the gift that kept on giving.

Two Great Games

Packers at 3:30. At Arizona.

Vikes at 7:30. At Minnesota against the Giants without Odell.

The outcomes of those games could set up an interesting season finale next week.

Much like the Twins this season, the Vikes are surprising many.

Go Vikes!

NBA Action

Regular readers know I don't watch much basketball, but yesterday I found the Golden State/Cleveland game early and decided to watch the WHOLE THING. Curry vs. Lebron. An NBA finals rematch from last year. THE game of the year so far...

Thoughts? Though I left the game on in the background I found myself doing other things around the house instead. When Curry got hurt, I kind of lost interest. It was a sloppy game and neither LeBron nor the returning Curry did much shooting or scoring. It was always Golden State up by a couple of buckets. And the fouling at the end was ridiculous even by NBA standards.

In short, the NBA's showcase game of the year was really not worth watching.

It just made me long for NFL action Sunday.

Merry Christmas!

I came across an amusing item this morning. What does Rudolph do in the Christmas off-season? Why play baseball of course!

Christmas in Mayberry

CBS will be broadcasting one of the BEST episodes of the Andy Griffith show Christmas night. The one where Ben Weaver wants a prisoner to be in jail for Christmas. For the first time ever, it will be shown in color. They'll be showing Aunt Bee's pickle contest episode as well.

I wish they wouldn't do the same colorization process that they are doing with "Lucy,"  but at least Andy is back in primetime on CBS.

We're really looking forward to this.

WWE

I haven't stopped watching pro wrestling, I just watch it much less. Vince McMahon's vision of what's best for fans no longer matches what longtime fans wish to see. It started with his reluctance to push Daniel Bryan as champ a couple years back, and it continues with his insistence on pushing Roman Reigns, leaving all other worthy contenders (the true fan favorites) to fend miserably for themselves.

The womens' division, which he insists on calling the DIVA's division gets worse week by week, to the point where their product is almost unwatchable. Last night's live Smackdown was a great example of that. The announcers actually criticized a female wrestler for NOT being distracted enough to help someone at ringside while she was IN A MATCH with an opponent. She focused on the match and WON instead of blowing the match to help someone and lose. Her friend at ringside was fine after the match was over so there really was no reason to help her, yet the announcers continued to disparage the woman who kept her focus on the actual match and won.

Wrestling fans know this is all scripted, but for any of it to work, you have to PRETEND it's real competition, AND that winning or losing matters. If losing doesn't matter, why are you even "competing?" This type of writing now permeates the whole WWE universe.

Wrestling has always been a joke to non-fans. We all get that, too, but all scripted television isn't "real." You can't defy logic and reason every step of the way and expect anyone but small children to enjoy your product. That goes for every scripted show on television. Wrestling barely makes sense to begin with. You can't ignore good writing and say it doesn't matter. You come off looking like Roller Derby, or even worse NASCAR. With a product as absurd as pro wrestling you have to try even harder. You need better writing than your average TV show, not worse.

Vince is losing viewers. Eventually he'll have to do something about his inane plotting and writing. Forcing average entertainers down our throats and calling them champions and superstars is beginning to wear a bit thin.

He has far better wrestlers to push, but he's currently blind to it all. Making his young women wrestlers look like morons isn't helping their cause any either. He could start by just having wins and losses matter again. Over time, folks will get their suspension of disbelief back.

IF they chose to continue watching.

Inside the Twins

Projected Twins Bullpen (based on who we still have)

Closer: Perkins
Setup 1: Kevin Jepson
Setup 2: Trevor May (The Twins have said they want him as a starter this season but he doesn't fit)
Middle Relief 1: Casey Fien
Middle Relief 2: open (But we just signed veteran Fernando Abad who will probably get first chance at this because he is left-handed and has 250 major league appearances.)
Long Man: Ricky Nolasco (He's under contract, the Twins can't trade him, and there's no way they want him in the rotation unless someone gets injured)

Projected Rotation?

Tyler Duffy, Kyle Gibson, Phil Hughes, Tommy Milone, and Ervin Santana

There's not much room for anyone else, though the Twins could add one more guy to the bullpen. They went with 11 pitchers most of the year last season. So I expect them to do that again this year. Molitor likes to have that extra guy as a bench player/pinch-hitter/extra catcher/extra infielder/extra outfielder kind of guy.

Even if this is the current plan, injuries occur all the time, especially to pitchers. So nothing is less solid than a pitching roster.

Wolves Lose BUT...

...Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points and 16 rebounds.

In the last 30 years, the only other player to do that while being so young, was LeBron.

That's kind of cool. The Wolves still got beat pretty badly though. Towns and Wiggens combined for 51 points and we still got killed.

sigh

Odell

IF Beckham's suspension is upheld after appeal, he will sit out the Vikings game this week. That should give the Vikings the edge against the Giants in Sunday night's game. And IF the Cardinals beat the Packers this weekend, it sets up an interesting season finale.

Who would have thunk it?

Football has been great this season. And the likely outcome of all of this is that the Pack and the Vikings will end up playing each other two games straight at the end. We just won't know which team will have the home field advantage in that last one.

Yet.

Go football!

The Force Awakens Review

(I started this review yesterday. If you're interested you may wish to read that blog first.)

How difficult is it to relaunch one of the most successful movie franchises in cinema history? MOST hardcore Star Wars fans did not like the previous 3 prequel movies. They made a lot of money. They broke box office records. BUT they did not satisfy the fans' thirst for really good stories.

What about THIS latest movie?

They did it.

These new heroes are a nice blend of iconic heroes. They have purpose. They have character flaws. And in the end, they do what they have to do  simply because it is the RIGHT thing to do. The old favorites are there as well, but they are not the focus of this movie. They are there as the strong supporting cast meant to mentor our young heroes as they find THEIR destiny.

Yes, there were too many action scenes. Yes, they could have explained the new rebel plans in greater detail. Yes, they could have had greater insights into character motivations, but I figure they are going to do all of that in the next couple of movies so I'll be patient. None of these movies is ever meant to stand on it's own. It's all part of a greater, expanded story.

In reference to yesterday, it's all a part of what makes TV shows so great. Playing off what happened in the past is what makes this movie so surprisingly good. And it also leaves me with a sense of hope for future episodes in the Star Wars saga. I hear Disney is planning on doing some stand-a-lone movies to supplement this trilogy and future trilogies.

That's the way to make this all work. Make them good. Make them work together. Give us these stories more often.

It'll gives us all "A New Hope" for what's coming next.

I can't wait.

And for my twin brother who has never seen any of these movies, they are way better than Shane or Dragnet. Just watch them all in order before you jump to the new one. It's never too late to catch up...

Sweet!

Remember how I said that the Vikings looked great against Arizona while losing last week? The primary reason for that success was the game plan that unleashed Teddy's short range passing game.

Yesterday, the Vikings expanded on that and, as a result, Bridgewater's performance and execution was simply dazzling. He threw for 4 TDs while running one in as well.

The banged up defense, still without three key starters, looked much better this week as well.

The problem? We did not clinch a play-off berth yesterday. We still have to beat the Giants next week at home knowing full well that the Giants almost beat undefeated Carolina yesterday.

This season keeps us all watching. I guess that's all anyone can ask.

Go Vikings!

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

My brother out in California hasn't seen this movie yet, so out of courtesy to him I'm not going to review it today. But I'm going to give you a pre-review.

Though my wife and I like watching a lot of movies, we aren't big movie fans. Why? Because TV shows are better than movies. I'd rather watch 100 episodes of a well-written, favorite TV show than see any major Hollywood blockbuster. Good TV shows are better than great movies just because you have a chance to get acquainted with characters over time. And supporting casts and storylines have so much more depth to play with.

Case in point: I've liked all the Marvel Universe movies so far (except the Hulk, I don't think it's possible to to a good stand-alone Hulk movie). The first Iron Man and Avengers movies were great, and the Thor and Captain America movies were right up there, too, BUT my favorite Marvel Universe story right now is the ABC television show, Marvel: Agents of Shield. The first season was kind of hokey. The second season got much better when it took itself more seriously. And the third season, after a rough start, has became the best thing the Marvel universe has produced. Why? Because Agent/Director Coulson has become the best written character on television, while the actor who portrays him has made that character the most believable/intriguing character on television.

Good writing, over time, gives you a more well-rounded glimpse into the universe portrayed. Supporting characters become more believable as a result. In a world where extraordinary individuals are the norm, you need the stability of regular people realizing it. The foundation of a show like this is that a normal person can figure out how to live in a world with Super Heroes and Super Villains and make it seem normal. Coulson, and by default, the supporting cast, has done that.

When might movies establish that kind of connection? When they are given well written sequels that play off the history of the established mythos. Did The Force Awakens manage to do that?

I'll tell you tomorrow.

The Vikings

It seems so simple, if the Vikings can beat either the Bears or the Giants in the next two weeks, they'll probably make the play-offs. Green Bay could be in the play-offs before they even play this afternoon, if the right couple teams lose early games.

The problem for the Vikings? Green Bay is most likely going to win the division and Seattle, with the way they've been playing as of late, is probably going to be the top wild card team. BOTH have tie-breaker status over the Vikings due to their wins over Minnesota.

That means all the Vikings are playing for, at this point, is to simply to make the last play-off spot. When just one win in three games will accomplish that, they probably aren't going to win much more than that. The incentive for winning has been removed.

And when the incentive isn't there, most teams don't play very well. The Vikings have gotten smoked too often in recent weeks. That doesn't give them or their fans much hope, especially with the recent rash of injuries.

With three games left the Vikings, at best, could possibly win two of them. More likely? A single win. Chicago and the Giants have been playing miserably this season, too, but the Giants still have a chance at the playoffs and will be playing every week for their playoff life.

That means that Vikings best chance of making the play-offs comes down to their beating the Bears TODAY. If they don't, they probably won't win any more games this season.

Either way, the Vikes will either be a 9-7 team that barely makes the play-offs or an 8-8 team that barely misses them. Teams like that don't win in the play-offs.

IF they win the next two weeks, all of that will change.

How many more games do you think the Vikings will win?

Wolves Win

They beat a team that is 10-16. They are now 10-16, too.

Star Wars today. Pumped. Hope the theater is not sold out.

Wild Win Again

Once more I watched some of the game, and once more I didn't see any goals even though the Wild won 5-2. I did see a lot of play in the Rangers end, including a Wild player whiffing on an open net chance, but my interest waned and I decided to read instead.

Go Wild!

Other stuff:

I don't go to movies in theaters very often any more. My wife and I are making an exception for the latest Star Wars movie tomorrow. We've always been Star Wars fans and the reviews have been outstanding. Seeing an event movie like this the first weekend with other pumped up fans is going to be pretty cool. It's already breaking box office records internationally and could possibly become the biggest movie of all-time (beating out Avatar) by the time it's run is over.

We were surprised that there's a showing in New Ulm on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. They NEVER have showings of any movies before noon. I mean NEVER. They're anticipating a huge weekend. I told myself that I'm going to enjoy it instead of being a critic. We'll see if it delights or disappoints. We never buy tickets ahead of time either, so we hope it's not sold out. Even event movies in New Ulm rarely produce auditoriums more than half full. IF we don't get in, this movie is going to be bigger than anyone thought. We'll get there early and hope for the best.


The Twins are putting up more netting at Target Field. They're extending it past the dugouts now for fan safety. Though hardcore fans will be disappointed at not being able to get more foul balls, baseball officials are more concerned about fan safety after the number of bat and balls in the stands incidents the last few years. They realize most are lost on their phones and not paying attention. Which in a nutshell is our society today.

Warriors, Spurs, Wolves

Golden State had Clay Thompson back last night. His ankle must be feeling better as he had 43 points. Their current winning streak is ONE. The Spurs are 22-5 on the season having won their 23rd straight home game. These are the two best teams the NBA has to offer.

The Wolves? Rubio had a good night, almost producing a rare quadruple-double. But he didn't. And the Wolves lost again, too. They played better the second half, but a 20 point half time deficit was too much to overcome. They are now 9-16 on the season.

sigh

At least they aren't the 76ers.

Wolves and Wild

I know the Wolves are young, but I think I'm going to wait until they're a lot older before I watch another one of their games. Denver is not a very good team either, but they didn't have any problem last night beating the Wolves.

One bright spot? Because the Wolves were losing badly most of the night, and because all major network shows are basically in rerun, I decided to watch some Wild hockey last night. I watched most of the third period, and, as usual, didn't see one goal. They had 6 before I started watching. So there's that. Hockey is just hard to watch. Lots of movement. Little actual achievement. And if a goal is scored, you're usually out in the kitchen making a snack when it happens.  You don't build toward scores in hockey. They just happen. But usually it's just a lot of movement without anything happening.

Mediocrity

Last week I published the standings of a really bad NFL division. This week I'm doubling down on that. Please note: TWO of these teams WILL make the playoffs and each will host one playoff game.

My Patriots and My Packers Back On Track

And Cam with Carolina are still undefeated.

Everything is right with the world once more.

No, I take that back. My Broncos lost to Oakland.That was disappointing.

Streak Over

24-1.

Michael Cuddyer Retiring

At 36, Michael Cuddyer is calling it a career. Last year he saw limited time playing for the Mets and ended up with career lows in all of his stats. He had one year remaining on his contract but it's thought the Mets may have bought out that last year as incentive to Michael.

He had a good 15 years.

In Twins news: Miguel Sano has left his winter league team to start a conditioning program to get him ready for the outfield. He's currently 268. The Twins want him at 260 or less come spring.

Maybe they really are going to do this!

TWO Overtimes Result: 24-0

Golden State is not as good without Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes who were both out with injuries. But with Draymond Green stepping up, Stephen Curry and the Warriors managed to pull off their 24th straight win of the season. Even if it did take them two overtime periods to do it.

I was actually watching another NBA game last night just so I could see the extra coverage they had of the Golden State/Boston game. This streak is way cool.

And so are the Warriors.

Vikes Lose

Those three fumbles absolutely killed us.

Bright side? Our banged up defense, despite giving up a couple of huge plays, held strong and tough. And Norv Turner figured out a way for Teddy to move the team all night. We LOST, but we lost to a very good team, and for the most part we looked good doing it.

Where everyone else is praising the Cardinals great team this morning, I'm excited about how good the Vikings looked MOST of the night. A three point loss, on the road, against one of the best teams in the league, is nothing to hang our heads in shame over.

The Geen Bay and Carolina games were embarrassing. This game was not. IF this same Vikes team played the Cardinals again next week, I would fully expect the Vikings to win. I want to see THAT team show up the next three weeks.

Just no fumbles.

Wolves

If not for the Sixers, the Lakers would be considered the absolute worst team in basketball. The Sixers ONLY win of the season came against the Lakers. The Wolves beat the Lakers by ONE point last night in overtime.

It's going to be another long season in Minnesota.

Warriors Now 23-0

Go Warriors!

Wolves Lose Again

For anyone following the Wolves for the better part of three decades, this should come as no surprise. Their current losing streak is four straight.

Cowboys Win

At 4-8, the Cowboys are now just ONE game out with 4 games to play.

THIS is what a bad division looks like:

Warriors 22-0

They beat Brooklyn by 16 last night. Only 60 games to go.

The most amazing part? Brooklyn fans were cheering for the Warriors last night. Not in a mocking sort of way, but because they love this team more than their own. THAT'S what a good basketball team looks like.

How 'Bout Them Vikes?

I missed the entire game yesterday, but I still got to enjoy the later games. Denver looks great with Brock at the helm. And Carolina, with their remaining schedule, looks to go undefeated.

I think more fans are starting to see the very real possibility of an 8-8 (perhaps 9-7) season for Minnesota. That ESPN experts were picking the Vikings this weekend was laughable. The Cardinals are up next on Thursday night. I'm probably going to avoid that one as well.

Vikings fans shouldn't feel too bad. The Patriots lost to the lowly Eagles yesterday, too.

UNC

The football games went pretty much as predicted yesterday. Number 5 Michigan State beat number 4 Iowa in what was a close game the whole way.

The biggest moment? UNC was called offside on a successful onside kick. The play wasn't reviewable. The only thing is that replay showed they weren't. UNC was denied one last 50 yard drive to tie because the refs blew the call.

That's been happening a lot lately. At all levels. That the play wasn't reviewable is the biggest crime of all.

Spoiler

I told myself I wasn't going to watch the Star Wars trailers so that I wouldn't spoil the upcoming movie. I should have followed that. I now have wrecked one of the coolest movies in history by watching all the trailers (spoilers) in a row several times yesterday.

I know the basic plot and I figured out THE HUGE SURPRISE TWIST. IF you don't want to know it stop reading HERE.

I noticed fans have been complaining that they aren't showing Mark Hamill in any of the trailers. Oh, aren't they? Luke, as it turns out, is indeed his FATHER'S son. I warned you not to read this.

A Bodybuilder with a Dream

Clemson and Alabama

Number one and number two both play conference championship games today. Both might lose. Both are afternoon games. I plan on watching both even if I have to have the remote close at hand. Nothing would please me more than both going down. THAT is the thrill of college football.

Go Florida! Go UNC! Mess up the rankings!

David Price and Zach Greinke

Wow. Just when you think baseball has learned its lesson about spending too much money on aging free agents, this week alone Boston and Arizona demonstrated that they think a 30-year old David Price and a 32-year old Zach Grienke are worth close to a half-BILLION between them.

And what's even more surprising is that neither deal is longer than seven years. Has any pitcher who ever signed this type of deal EVER performed well for the length of their contract? David Price was having arm problems late last season with Toronto. Both will be in their late 30's when their contracts expire.

I'm just glad the Twins have seen the error of their ways in deals like this. One Joe Mauer deal is enough to last me a life-time.

At least I HOPE they've learned their lesson.

My Packers Win

An incredibly iffy facemask penalty at the end of regulation (though you can easily see WHY the refs called it) gave the Packers one last chance to win.

One untimed, 70-yards in the air, Hail Mary pass later...

...and the Packers pulled off one their most dramatic comeback wins of all-time.

Detroit has nobody to blame but themselves. They had a 17-0 lead early and simply squandered it.

I admit this hurts my Vikings chances to take the division, but with Minnesota's upcoming schedule the next two weeks (Seattle and Arizona), and then the Bears, the Giants, and the Packers to end the season, they really don't have much hope of winning the division title anyway.

I shouldn't say it that way. The Vikings must WIN 4 of those remaining 5 games to show they deserve to be the division winner. What Green Bay does the rest of the way should be irrelevant to the Vikings success IF they are really a good team.

Most don't see them winning more than two of those remaining five games. And pessimists (realists?) like myself see even less.

Rodgers and the Packers showed last night that they aren't ready to surrender their title of best team in the division just yet. It's up to the Vikings to answer the call this weekend at home against Seattle. IF the Vikings win that game, they'll have to beat the Cardinals at Arizona next Thursday night as well.

I'm not optimistic. Seattle and Arizona, right now, are two of the hottest teams in the conference. Both are on major rolls.

If the Vikings had beaten Green Bay two weeks ago, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Winning proves how good you are. Green Bay showed who they are two weeks ago and again last night.

It's up the the Vikings to prove who they are the next two weeks and beyond.

Either way, I'm happy with what Minnesota accomplished this year. Much like my Twins, they were and are a pleasant surprise.

I do want more, but like I said I'm a realist.

I sure hope they prove me wrong.

Rio

When Rio captured the winning bid for next year's Olympics 5 years ago, one of the requirements that the International Olympic Committee made of them is that they HAD to clean up the area's municipal water/sewage treatment problem.

With just a few months to go, they haven't done a thing.

How big a deal is this? I encourage you to find a good article on the subject and find out for yourself, but basically the way Rio takes care of all their waste is to flush it down the drain and let it flow freely to rivers which carry it to their bays. As some reporters are saying, several Olympic events will be held in sewage water.

Germany's Erik Heil, while doing warm-up sailing runs in the very same bays he's going to compete in for next summers event, contacted MRSA, a flesh-eating bacteria that nearly killed him. Tests show that nearly ALL the water to be used for these events is going to have bacteria and viruses in them 10, 000 to several million times more than America or European countries allow in their recreational water.

The worst part? Olympic officials are ignoring the problem while merely redefining their parameters. Much like FIFA (the governing body of world soccer) whose corruption is just now being sorted out now, Olympic officials are starting to be called out on this. Corruption is afoot once more.

This water is dangerous and the health and lives of athletes will be at stake.

Rio broke their promise that they'd address this. I say take the Olympics away from them. They got the rights based on promises they did not and will not keep. We'll live without one more Olympic Games. And officials will be forced to be less corrupt in the future.

I feel sorry for the athletes that might miss this. We'll feel a lot worse if some of them die because of the dangerous mess.

Twenty Straight

Golden State ran away with another win last night. 20-0 is putting them in pretty elite territory. Stephen Curry scored 28 points in THE THIRD QUARTER. He had 40 for the night and sat out the entire fourth quarter because of their huge lead. Cooler? The Charlotte Hornets were honoring their all-time leading scorer and broadcaster last night, Dell Curry. Yes, that's Stephen's dad.

Go Warriors!

Press Conference

The Twins (Terry Ryan) repeated at Byung Ho Park's press conference yesterday that Trevor Plouffe IS the Twins third baseman this year and that Miguel Sano WILL be in the outfield.  Color me skeptical. If Sano can't play the position where will they put him?

At the same time, can you imagine if Sano, Park, and Plouffe all have career years at the plate?

The Twins signed their second catcher of the week yesterday picking up John Hicks from Seattle. His caught stealing rate is impressive. He can't hit but it looks like he's the Twins primary back-up plan for Suzuki coming out of spring training. Juan Centeno got a minor league deal. He can't hit either, but the Twins signed him for his defensive skills.

The Park Signing

I was surprised that we signed him for only 3 million a year. The 12 million dollar guaranteed deal was actually the same amount we paid his old club just to have the rights to sign him. In effect, we  get him for four seasons for the same cost as Joe Mauer's cost this season.

IF, and this is a big if, he's any good at all, we got a great deal. If he's not, he didn't really cost us that much as his strikeouts are as legendary as his home runs in Korea.

I just hope he doesn't cost us Trevor Plouffe, too. The Twins have too many third and first basemen/DHs now. I'm hoping Sano really does transition to outfield, but at his size, I don't see it happening.

Getting rid of an established 29-year-old player who is one of your best, to make room for a 29-year-old rookie may not be the best strategy for the organization.

Sano is playing third base in winter ball this offseason.  He hasn't went any where near the outfield.

Monday Night Football Is Not What It Used To Be

The 3-7 Ravens went against he 2-9 Browns last night. It's a shame that someone had to win. At least the Ravens made it cool with a blocked field goal attempt ran back for a touchdown as time expired. If you're going to 4-7, that's the way to do it.


In other sports news: Golden State is now 19-0 to start their season. They had to come back, late, to do it. That's something. Projected over a whole season at this pace? 82-0.

Okay, maybe we can't start projecting like that, but the season is nearly 1/4 over.

Twins News: Remember Joe Benson? He was the Twins next outfielder rookie of choice in 2011. The Twins eventually left him go. He's since been dropped by a few other teams as well AND has been signed by the Twins again to a minor league contract. He's 28. Rochester needed another outfielder since all the good ones are now up with the Twins.

Kobe

It was time for Kobe to retire. Even he finally realized that. The rest of the season will be a retirement tour for him.  The NBA is a youth league, and father time has taken its toll.

Pats Lose

The recipe for beating the Patriots?

Have a good defense and bad weather.

I was impressed with my Broncos last night. When Manning went down with a foot injury a couple of weeks ago, last night's game went from "must see" to "might  miss." I mean, how good could Manning's back-up, Brock Oswieler, be, right?

It turns out that the guy, with only 14 college starts on his resume, is pretty good, beating the reigning "king of quarterbacks" Tom Brady, in only his second start ever.

I admit I missed the ending. I smelled an upset brewing but was too tired to finish the game. I missed Gronk getting hurt as well.


The road to the Super Bowl is definitely becoming more cloudy.

And Carolina is  the only undefeated team currently left standing. This season is certainly becoming more interesting than most.

Big Plays Rule the Day

If not for Anthony Barr's heads-up  pursuing defense which caused a fumble, a Terence Newsome INT in the end zone on a questionable Matt Ryan pass, and a 35-yard TD scamper, late, by Adrian Peterson, and a couple of other big plays (including a sack and goal line stand) as well, we might be talking differently today.

But as it is, the Vikings seemed to have turned into a Big Play Team. And even though Atlanta has lost four straight and 5 of their last six, the Vikings looked good yesterday. The only thing that kept the game close was those same stupid penalties that hurt us last week against Green Bay.

I'm not counting any chickens just yet as the Giants and Seahawks are going to be delivering some pretty impressive unhatched eggs in the next couple of weeks. As to the Vikings 8-3 record alone atop the division?

Oh, yeah!

But it just gets tougher from here.

Go Vikings!

Football

No major upsets yesterday in college, though Notre Dame losing late showed why they left the top 4 last week. Number ONE Clemson had a lot tougher time of it against a team with 9 losses, and Alabama has to be glad they only go against Auburn once a year. Good games, but only the Notre Dame game was great.

Like all Vikings fans, I'm anxious to see how they play against Atlanta today. Will they dominate? Will they self-destruct again? Or will it be a close game against a team having a bad season?

It was actually easier before everyone expected so much of them.

Go Vikings!

Golden State Now 17-0

Stephen Curry, last year's MVP is playing so well that there are now broadcasters suggesting he should get the MVP award this year again AND the most improved player award as well. Golden State had a franchise record  22 3-pointers in the process.

They are one of the few reasons to watch the NBA brand of basketball.

The T-Wolves returned to .500 last night with a win at Sacramento. They're not good yet, but those young players could mature into something worth your viewing time. Nate B Nimble certainly thinks so.

I'll give them a bit more time before they become "must-see TV". Winning 7 of their next 10 would  certainly point me in that direction. The Wolves have disappointed too many times in the past. They have to earn our trust at some point. Winning more than half of their games is at least a starting point.

There's a fine line between "promising" and "good".  They haven't crossed it yet.

My Vikings Alone In First Place

How sad is it that the ONLY team that the Packers have beaten in the last five games is the Vikings?

Even though the Vikings are temporarily back in first, you have to wonder if what Green Bay is currently experiencing will happen to the Vikings next. One of the reasons I hated talking about last week's loss is that the Vikings didn't just lose to the Packers, they self-destructed. All of those penalties, especially the stupid ones, like knocking Rodgers down on a third down situation near the goal line, giving the Packers 4 more plays inside the five, just should not happen to a team that's going places. THOSE types of plays and penalties determine a team's character and destination. And those kind of plays and penalties offer foreshadowing of awful things to come.

Atlanta is having a miserable season. The Vikings play them this week. It may be the last game the Vikings are favored in for the rest of the season, BUT after last Sunday's disaster, are there any smart Vikings' fans out there thinking, "we got this one?" A Viking (who shall remain nameless) after last week's game was quoted in the locker room that he didn't understand the hatred for the Vikings after last week's loss saying "it was only one game." The problem was NOT that the Vikings lost, or that Green Bay beat them, the problem was the WAY that they lost. They just didn't lose a well-played game to a superior opponent, they lost by playing horribly against a team that has lost 4 of their last 5 games.

The same kind of team that Atlanta currently is. I mentioned BEFORE the game last week that I wouldn't be  surprised if the Vikes finished 8-8 this season despite their great start. This Atlanta game is the best hope of that eighth win. And bad habits develop quickly and are hard to get rid of. Green Bay fans know what I'm talking about. They didn't see it coming either.

This week's game against the Falcons should tell us if the Green Bay game was just a blip on the radar or a sign of things to come.

The number of stupid penalties the Vikings have this week will tell us more than the score.

Two Straight

The T-Wolves did manage to pull out a win last night, their second straight at home. I tried watching it and kept asking myself, "Why?"

Rubio hurt his ankle again, so I didn't get to see much of his cool passing either, since he spent most of the game on the bench.

At least they won, which was better than the Wild.

"Football and Feasting" today. I love Thanksgiving.

My Warriors Now 16-0!

As I've explained often in the past, the Minnesota Timberwolves have never really been "my" team. I grew up with no NBA team in Minnesota so I watched the Lakers a lot on ABC when I was younger. Led by Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, they were MY team. At one point they had a 31 game win streak on their way to a 69 win season. THEY were my example of what an NBA franchise should be. When I later found out they were originally the Minneapolis Lakers and they had simply moved to L.A., I realized I'd been following a team that was always MINE all along.

I became less interested in the NBA game with my brief love affair with the Gopher basketball team in the 1970's. The team with Mychal Thompson and Kevin McHale leading the charge. Once the Gophers started losing, I kind of lost interest in basketball. Magic and Kareem on the Lakers and Larry and Kevin on the Celtics kept me watching occasionally, but it just wasn't the same.

Golden State and Stephen Curry are starting to draw my attention to the NBA once again. If they are playing and I happen to catch part of the game, I'll usually watch it awhile. A great NBA franchise should WIN. And that's just what Golden State does. That they also have Klay Thompson, the son of former Gopher, Mychal Thompson, gives me a link to the past. There's a lot to like there.

I grow weary of the Timberwolves being just a placeholder franchise. They are there just to give the good to great teams a team to beat. They never have been fun to watch. One good year does not make a franchise worth watching. The same applies to the Twins and Vikings. You need to contend. You need to win. And you need a tradition of winning and contending year after year.

.500 just doesn't cut it in this day of 100's of TV channels, the internet, and countless good movies and TV shows. I need a franchise that's more than a placeholder.

That's why I like the Patriots and Golden State when I watch sports. They're winners. Year after year after year.

And the Twins and Vikings are starting to grow on me.

My Pats Now 10-0!

Even the refs couldn't stop the Patriots last night. An inadvertent whistle was blown last night just as the Pats were ready to score a long touchdown on a completed pass from Brady to one of his many receivers. Instead of a 17-3 lead at that point, the Pats were forced to try a 54-yard field goal attempt and missed. Buffalo then scored 7 on their next drive to tie the score at 10.

The league stops at nothing to try and stop the Patriots, but Goodell and his cronies came up short again.

Go Brady! Go Patriots!

Josmil Pinto

The Twins didn't need his bat as a DH, and they certainly saw no need for his defensive "skills". As a result, the Twins gave him to San Diego this weekend. That's three catchers the Twins have taken off their 40 man roster this off-season (Fryer and Herrmann were the others.)

My Pack is BACK!

They may have played a mostly terrible game themselves, but my Packers were much better than the self-destructing, always disappointing, purple.

I honestly don't see how anyone can root for such losers. The highlight? My nephew Tim, a Minnesota native who lives in Wisconsin, roaming the sidelines yesterday as one of the photographers. Great job Tim!

Vikings

There's an old adage in sports that to win a division title, you have to put some distance between you and the pack.

In the Vikings case, they have to do that literally. Time to put some distance between them and the Pack. They have their chance to do just that this afternoon AT Minnesota.

No predictions, just anticipation for the game. That's a feeling Minnesota sports' fans haven't had for awhile.

And it feels GOOD.

College Football

Both Ohio State and Oklahoma State did the unpardonable yesterday. They lost.

Any hope for either to take home a national championship just went up in flames. And even Oklahoma, which now has a chance to move higher in the rankings with their win over number 18 TCU, didn't look so good in their victory.

I'm looking forward to this weeks rankings. Iowa, most likely, is now in. Notre Dame, despite a close win over a losing team, will get to stay, and everyone else is going to have play some great football next week to have a chance. The games matter again. I just wished they had mattered all season. 

The Best Team In American Sports?

With the current NBA champions, Golden State, off to a 14-0 start, people are proclaiming the Warriors the best team in all of sports right now. But are they?

Maybe...

The NBA record for the best undefeated streak at the beginning of the season is 15-0, and they're certainly closing in on that possibility, but I think of other great teams right now, too. Teams like the KC Royals who lost a close game seven in the World Series last season only to come back and win the whole thing this year, in convincing fashion, against some very good baseball teams.

And let's not forget about the New England Patriots. They are also defending world champions and have yet to taste defeat this season, and they are doing it under the scrutiny of a world that once suspected them of cheating. I'd say the pressure the Patriots have been under trumps anything Golden State has experienced during their current run.

So are they the best?

No, I don't think so. They certainly are the cream of the NBA crop right now, but other defending champs have had good streaks of wins, too. I'd like to see them finish the entire NBA season to make any kind of proclamation that bold. And I still think what the Royals are continuing to accomplish in Kansas City, on a limited budget at that, is more impressive as well.

Golden State is great, but they aren't in the same league as the Royals and Patriots.

Literally.

What about the NHL you may ask? It's just hockey. Ice soccer has never really counted.

Vikings

I'm excited that the Vikings are getting so much good press by the national sports media. In the last couple of days, I've even heard Teddy Bridgewater compared to a young Joe Montana!

It's nice. It's fun, but let's get real for a second here. The Vikings have to play against Green Bay TWICE in the last seven games. They also have games with the Falcons, Seahawks, Cardinals, and Giants. Even the Bears are looking better lately. That is one tough schedule. Before the season began that looked like a potential 0-7 or 1-6 gauntlet, a real season killer.

My opinion hasn't changed. I don't see the Vikings winning most of those remaining seven. I don't care if they have a good defense, Adrian Peterson, and a young Joe Montana, that kind of schedule could end the Vikings season early.

7-2 is great, but by the time it's all over, 8-8 is still a realistic number. The game with Green Bay this weekend should tell us a lot more.

Until then, I'm cautiously optimistic about a possible play-off spot while preparing for the national media's disappointment when talking about Minnesota's utter collapse two months from now. It won't be a collapse. It's just that there are several good teams in this league, and over the next seven weeks we have to play many of them.

When it comes to Minnesota sports, you learn not to take anything for granted.  That's where disappointment  and frustration come from.

College Football

I'm finding it amusing that the very same sports commentators that complained about the computer rankings of the BCS polls a couple of years back are now complaining about the committee of experts that compiles the current top four for the college playoff system.

Right now, Clemson is ranked number ONE with a 10-0 record.

But then everything gets muddy. Alabama with a 9-1 record sits at number TWO, while undefeated Ohio State, Iowa, and Oklahoma State are at numbers 3, 5, and 6 with perfect 10-0 records!  Notre Dame has a 9-1 record, yet because of the committee selection process, they are still currently NUMBER 4 and IN the tournament.

Numbers 7-10 also have only one loss, and they think they belong in "the tournament of four" as well. So basically what you have are 10 deserving teams waiting for a committee to decide if you're good enough to be in the magical final four.

The new way to determine the top four, is at this point, far worse than the BCS's way of determining the top 2. The committee says they base it more on strength of schedule than record, which is fine, but you end up with undefeated teams that may not make it that way.

Thankfully there are conference championship games yet to play. For example, either Iowa or Ohio State will have at least one loss by the time the final four is selected. So things will probably get less muddy.

The problem? Notre Dame could conceivably get jumped at the end even if they win the rest of their games. If that's the case, how can they be number four right now?

Folks are already discussing a larger playoff  system which would include the top eight teams. One extra game would be added to the schedule of the top eight and they would play the first round of the playoffs immediately when the regular season ended while the final four teams would play around New Year's like always. Considering the college schedule already has more games because of  the revenue producing conference championship games, MOST think that this is a bad idea. That's a lot of games for college players to play each year.

There is no perfect system. The best would be a sudden death tournament that lasted the entire season with all the teams, where if you lost even ONE game you would be eliminated from contention from the championship game. That way, every single game would matter and a committee wouldn't have final say based on what of the individuals of a committee thought.

The best part of THAT system would be that teams with a light schedule wouldn't even be considered for the final two even if they finished the season undefeated. It would force great teams to have tough schedules.

Which was what the BCS system WAS.

Currently, it'll only get worse and more muddied as time goes on. And fans still won't realize how good the old system was.

I've been ranting on this for years, but even experts are starting to see the logic of the argument.

Vikings

I don't post this to irritate Packer fans. It's just that seeing something like this is so rare in Minnesota. And we all know how fast this could turn around. I'm posting it as a permanent reminder that it really did happen this late in the season.

Nick Bockwinkel

Wrestling lost another legend this past weekend.

Nick Bockwinkel was the perfect villain and counterpoint to Verne Gagne's hero. He was also the best talker the AWA had. In combination with Bobby Heenan as manager, he was responsible for making most of Verne's

money in the 1970's.

In the 1980's he was responsible for launching the career of Hulk Hogan. His feud with Hogan sold out arenas across the country. Vince McMahon, who had given up on Hogan once before, saw the potential in Hogan as a babyface because of his feud with Bockwinkel. He quickly stole Hulk back to the WWF, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Bockwinkel was 80.

And Then There Were Two

The Bengals lost last night. That leaves only the Panthers and the Patriots left undefeated.

It's a LONG season that's just a little past half over. It's about time some of these teams come back down to Earth.

What I find amazing is that it was the Texans' back-up QB that had the only touchdown drive of the night. It was a pretty dull game otherwise.

Vikings > Packers?!

I don't care how big of a Vikings fan you are, there is no way you saw the season taking this type of  a bizarre twist. Here we are on Monday morning after game nine of the NFL season for both Minnesota and Green Bay AND the Vikings are in FIRST place all by themselves in the division with a 7-2 record, while the Green Bay Packers now sit at 6-3, after three straight losses, including yesterday's stunning upset by the lowly Detroit Lions, who hadn't won in Green Bay since George Washington was president.

What just happened?

There is no way I'm proclaiming, at this point, that the Vikings are going to win the division, but there's a couple of players who have had dramatic, almost unexplainable,  turnarounds the last three weeks that might help explain what we're seeing. Aaron Rodgers for the Packers is suddenly playing like an injured Peyton Manning, and Adrian Peterson is running the ball like someone who doesn't even remember how to get caught consistently behind the line of scrimmage on carry after carry.

My biggest complaint against Peterson the last 5 seasons is that he ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS stutter-stepped and jived before going forward with each carry. NOW he simply goes to where the hole is supposed to be (like every other back in football history is supposed to) and THEN jukes and jives IF NECESSARY. He has totally remade himself as an NFL runner in the last three weeks. He's not running better, he's running SMARTER. And to tell you the truth, I never saw that one coming. Never, never never, saw that coming.

A smart Adrian Peterson is a dangerous Adrian Peterson, and a dangerous Adrian Peterson is scary news for the rest of the league.

How scary? 200 yards scary!

Teddy keeps moving the team. The defense keeps the other team's offense in check, and Adrian runs like he never has before.

And Green Bay looks lost. Next week's showdown should tell us a lot more.

Wow, this is fun.

And my Patriots won again, too. This is becoming a really great season.

Unless you're a Packer or Seahawks fan.

College Football

I've been too tough on the Gophers this season. They have lost a lot, but the teams they lose to are pretty good football teams. Last night was just another example of that. Iowa is ranked number 5 in the country and the Gophers managed a great game against them, especially late.

There were several games that mattered last night. Number 9 LSU lost to unranked Arkansas. Number 6 Baylor lost to number 12 Oklahoma, and Number 7 Stanford lost to unranked Oregon. I got to switch between all of these games last night while also keeping an eye on number 1 Clemson as well.

It was a great night of college football. The only bad part? ALL of the top 5 ranked teams won. It would have been nice to see a couple of them knocked off.

Vikings play Oakland this afternoon. We're all looking forward to that one.

Down Goes Rousey

Like most casual MMA fans, I used to like Rhonda Rousey, but lately there was just too much hype. I was just hoping SOMEONE would step up up and put her in her place. Yes, Rousey is good, but the greatest fighter of all-time? I don't think so.

Last night Holly Holm stepped up. She dominated Rousey the entire fight. These pictures tell the story far better than me.

Way to go Holly!

Paris

I don't feel like talking much about sports this morning. I'm looking forward to some of the big college match-ups tonight.

Stephen Curry

Last year I wrote a blog that said Stephen Curry is the best pure shooter the NBA has ever seen.

Two seasons ago he set the all-time three-points made record. Last year he broke that record, and this year he's on a pace to shatter THAT record. That skill was on display in Minnesota last night. The Wolves played him tighter than most teams and his solution was to simply back up and shoot from even FURTHER away. He ended up 8 for 13 from three-point land and with 46 points for the night.

The Wolves simply did not have a chance.

But Stephen Curry is sure fun to watch and Golden State is off to a 10-0 start.

Soccer Causes Concussions

In studies released the last few days, it been discovered that soccer causes more concussions than all other sports played combined.

All other sports COMBINED.

This is sending shock waves through the U.S. soccer community. You see, an essential skill and facet of the sport is "the header." It also is the primary reason the sport boasts so many concussions. Hitting your head repeatedly against a ball causes brain damage. Hitting your head against another player's head while going after the ball causes even more long-term damage. And high speed head collisions are common in the sport where both teams are going after higher balls.

Junior soccer leagues are starting to panic. There is talk of not allowing headers in youth leagues at all, and limiting how much headers are allowed in practice for older players. But this all comes with a catch 22: If you can't practice an ESSENTIAL SKILL for a sport when you are young, you will never truly master the skill or your sport when you get older. And if the the skill itself actually causes the concussion, should we ever really allow it in practice OR real games at any level? That's the question doctors, leagues, and maybe even congress will have to decide.

Bottom Line? The U.S. will no longer be able to compete with the rest of the world in soccer.

The rest of the world doesn't care about concussions, at least not like the USA does. The rest of the world will continue playing soccer to the best of their ability (and to the death if necessary) to be the best in the world. They aren't going to change what they do just to make their beloved sport safer.


But the U.S. will be forced to. Because that's what we do.

And that's why soccer kids, fans, parents and organizations are panicking. The U.S. brand of soccer will eventually be very different from what the rest of the world plays. And we won't be playing with the rest of the world.

I say let the kid use their hands as fist bumps.

I can hear the outrage now.

I always thought not using two perfectly good hands was stupid. Now we all know it's not only stupid, it's dangerous not to.

Like I said, purists will be outraged. I say, think of the children.

Twins Get Another Catcher, Trade Aaron Hicks!

I wasn't looking for that either.

The Twins have LOTS of outfielders, and even though I liked Hicks this past season, he is at best fourth on their depth chart behind Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario, and Max Keplar. Hicks being gone actually does give the Twins some wiggle room now to use Sano in the outfield. Daniel Parka, the power-hitting first baseman we acquired yesterday, also plays a little outfield.

The guy we got, John Ryan Murphy, was not going to be used by the Yankees, and though he doesn't get glowing reviews, he is a better option as our back-up catcher than anyone in the Twins' organization currently.

I will miss Hicks' defensive prowess and speed, and we was improving at the plate, but you don't need 8 outfielders any more than you need four or five first basemen. The log jam is staring to clear...

Twins Get Another Power Hitting First Baseman

I'm not sure what the Twins are doing this off season.

Yesterday they traded their back-up catcher, Chris Herrmann to Arizona for another  power hitting first baseman, Daniel Palka. He's only 24, but I'm not sure why the Twins got rid of their ONLY reliable defensive back-up catcher in the whole organization. Yes, they still have Josmil Pinto on the protected 40 man roster, but there is a good reason he's not in the majors. He has all the defensive skills of Matthew LeCroix at that position.

And why would we trade him for ANOTHER power hitting first baseman? First base, by default and a horrible contract, is Mauer's. That gives us Vargas, Sano, Park, and now Palka to compete for the same position that won't be officially open for three more seasons.

sigh

At least the Wild won last night.

Wolves Blow 34-Point Lead, Still Win

Whew!

Byung-ho Park

Summary: 29 years old, 105 home runs over the last two seasons, the league is somewhere between Double A and Triple A farm club level. They only have to pay the Korean team $13 million IF he signs with the Twins in the next 30 days.

The Twins tried this with "Ishy" Nishioka from Japan a few seasons back and the results were not pretty.

If the Twins can't trade Mauer, and I don't think they are even thinking about that (we can't and nobody else wants THAT contract), it puts the Twins in a weird bind. There's talk of putting Sano in the outfield even though he's never played there, which we all know would be a HUGE mistake. If I thought Hunter playing there last year was a bad idea, I can't imagine how bad putting Sano out there this season would be. One of things that was great about last season is that we finally had a great defensive outfield at the end.

I don't want to see Plouffe traded to make room for Sano at third. Consistently, offensively and defensively, he was probably our second best player last year behind Dozier. He belongs in the lineup.


BUT so does Sano. Using him at DH and first last year, splitting playing time with Mauer was pretty much perfect.

Park MIGHT be great, but because of Mauer's contract, which runs three more years, we simply don't have room for him. That Mauer deal continues to be an anchor around the neck of our franchise.

In the end, I see Plouffe going elsewhere, and the talk of Sano in the outfield is just a smoke screen to increase Plouffe's trade value.

I'd take Plouffe over Mauer in a heart beat IF we had a choice. But we don't.

Only in Twinsland is the potential of getting someone with Park's potential a problem. But it is. As long as we have Mauer, it will always be that way.

At least Torii Hunter had the decency to retire.

Baseball By the Numbers

Defensive shifts:


Baseball Info Systems, which generates the numbers in the annual Bill James Handbook, is prominent in the world of public defensive metrics. Its work has, among other things, laid out for public viewing the rationale behind the current trend toward infield shifts,

In his essay accompanying the shift stats in the 2016 Handbook, John Dewan says that major league teams shifted 13,298 times in 2014 and 17,733 times in 2015. That's a 33 percent increase last year.

The shifts, by BIS' calculations, prevented 266 runs over all. That's a 36 percent increase over 2014's 196, and suggests that teams are becoming more efficient at shifting.

One other general point, BIS believes that the optimal number of shifts is more than double last year's total, that the upper limit is probably around 40,000 shifts. MLB isn't there yet, but if shifting continues to increase, 40,000 is possible in a few years.

OK, that's the general stuff. On to the Twins specific shift data:

In 2014 -- with Ron Gardenhire as manager and Paul Molitor assigned to handle shifts (an assignment widely viewed as being an override of Gardenhire's preferences) -- the Twins deployed 478 shifts. Only three teams in the American League used fewer shifts.

In 2015 -- with Molitor now the manager -- the Twins used 724 shifts, sixth most in the AL. That's an increase of 246, That's a 34 percent increase.

The Handbook does not provide a team-by-team breakdown of runs saved by shifts, so I don't have a precise number for the Twins. Across the majors, teams saved 1.5 runs per 100 shifts, so if the Twins shifted at average efficiency they saved roughly 10 runs with the shifts. Ten runs sabermetrically equates to a win.

Any extra win is important, especially when you're eliminated from the playoffs just one day before the end of the season. Next year we might figure out how to get a couple more just by playing all the metric numbers on both offense and defense.

And now we have a manager that understands that.

Half Way Through the Season: Vikings in FIRST PLACE!!

Admittedly, the Vikings have a share of the division lead with the Green Bay Packers, BUT first place is first place. And since the season s half over, it doesn't seem like that big a fluke. Odd, but not a fluke.

And Green Bay played horribly for the second week in a row. Oh, they almost came back and tied it at the end, but Aaron Rodgers just looked a lot more human for the second week in a row as well. That Denver got kicked by the Colts yesterday as easily as they kicked the Packers last week, and you have to start to wonder if the Pack is really that good at all this season. Maybe, so far, they've been the lucky ones.

What brings Vikings fans back down to earth is the realization that Teddy got knocked out cold yesterday, and that he left the game with concussion symptoms. We all saw how bad Shaun Hill was as his back-up. Our future, immediate or otherwise, rests with the condition of Teddy's noggin. And if the league is as serious as they say about concussions, Teddy may very well miss some games. The more he misses, the better Green Bay fans have to feel.

Peterson is still running forward, and not dancing around in the backfield. He has been a pleasant surprise the last two weeks. I hope coach Zimmer continues to keep Adrian focused in that direction. Adrian going forward is hard to stop. BUT... Peterson had TWO fumbles again yesterday. We didn't lose the ball on either play, but both could have  been disastrous. Either could have cost us the game.

Lots of tough games remain even if Teddy heals quickly, but much like the Twins this season, I'm actually looking forward to at least a few more games.

A 6-2 record is nothing to sneeze at.

In fact, it's actually amazing. More please.

Deer Hunting Opener

I don't hunt.

I don't fish.

I shop for food.

Yesterday I was watching the news and there was a story about how much revenue deer hunting season brings to the state. I admit I MIGHT have some of these facts wrong, but this is how I remember them.

The gist of the article was that this hunting season generates nearly 3/4 of a billion dollars. 500,000 hunters will kill approximately 165,000 deer by the time it's all over.

Now, I was thinking, if I got the numbers right, that means that each dead deer costs about $4,500.

That cost is shared among the two out of three hunters that doesn't get one. I other words, the one hunter who gets a deer pays $1500 for it, but the two that don't pay $1500 each as well.

Looking at it another way, one hunter pays $1500 a year for three years, to get one deer once every three years. Any given year a hunter may get a deer, but if he hunts a lot, it costs him a lot of money.

If I went shopping and spent $4500 for 120 pounds of usable meat one weekend every three years, I'd have some explaining to do to my wife.

But we have half-a-million hunters doing that.

On the brighter side? We have half-a-million armed men carrying loaded weapons around the countryside and we rarely, if ever, hear of some one shooting someone on purpose from said event.

Guns don't kill people.

Bad people kill other people, and sometimes they use guns. The vast majority, of gun owners don't shoot people on purpose.

500, 000 guns and hunters

Deer killed on purpose? 165,000

People killed during the season on purpose by hunters? 0

That says a lot about hunters. They might be stupid enough to pay 35 dollars a pound for gamey, tough, dry meat, but they aren't crazy.

NFL Quarterbacks

Colin Kaepernick is the latest golden boy quarterback to get benched by his coach. No one's talking much about RGIII much any more, even though he was the hottest young QB on the planet  just a couple of seasons ago.

Past Heisman trophy winners now in the NFL aren't fairing too greatly as of late, either.

Tim Tebow, despite clinging to hope of having an NFL future, continues to strike out with the teams who have given him a chance. Johnny Manziel finally got another start with the Browns this week, but it was only because the the other starter was injured. And he sure didn't fare that well against the now 8-0 Bengals.  Marcus Mariota is having nothing but injury problems with the Titans, though he is now scheduled to start against the Saints this weekend. Jameis Winston has 10 TD passes to go along with his 7 INTs while helming the Bucs down in Tampa Bay. His team is dead last in their division.

Teddy is 5-2 with the Vikings this season.

It's starting to look like the Vikings had the best choice.

NFL Network

Is still don't see why the NFL insists on having their own network. All reports are that Andy Dalton had yet another great game last night as his Bengals went to 8-0 by romping Johnny Manziel and the Browns, but like me MOST of America didn't see the game last night because it was on the NFL premium network.

Even most die-hard football fans aren't going to shell out money for ONE game a week for a couple of months. It's time that the remainder of the season be shown on some standard network, you know the ones that people actually get and watch. Selling the rights to CBS for Thursday night games for the first half of the season was the right idea. Now it's time to do that with the rest of their games.

I don't know what their usual viewership is for games on the NFL Network, but it's got to fall far short of the 12-15 million viewers CBS was averaging for theirs.

Much like the NBA's t-shirt jerseys, it's time to end the experiment. After awhile it just becomes embarrassing.

I tried watching the Wolves again last night, but it was just too painful. Early, the Wolves couldn't shoot. Come to think of it, they weren't rebounding well either. The game got out of hand early and just steamrolled from there. It still doesn't look like the Wolves are ready for primetime.

And the Wild? They not only lost the game, they lost Parise as well.

This is going to be a long winter season for sports.

Go Vikings!

Cavs' Jerseys

I was watching just part of the Cleveland game last night, and my only thought was, "How can players play in those jerseys?"

They are sharp looking t-shirts, but they have tight form fitted sleeves. They would look great just for wearing, like most shirts, but they look so confining for players.

I've brought this up a while back, but I see the NBA is still using them. I play a lot of basketball most summers, and though I do wear t-shirts, I find them rather uncomfortable for most shots. I'm constantly pulling or tugging on my shirt after a shot to readjust it. The looser ones are better, but tank tops work best. Form fitting t-shirts would constrict too much...

I found out this morning that LeBron James does not like them. As a matter of course last night he tore his sleeves, on purpose, just so he could play naturally. Now, I'm not a big LeBron fan, but I have to agree with him on this one.  Style has to fit function. A jersey that limits movement becomes a distraction and puts a team at a disadvantage. The last thing you want from a jersey is for it to make a player worse! It's time to put these jerseys in storage, or just sell them to the fans.

There's a great reason that players have been playing in tank tops for so long. They work best.

Gardy

Washington went with Dusty Baker after Bud Black turned them down. Don Mattingly got a four-year deal with the Marlins and Andy Green finally got the Padre's job.

There are no other current managing vacancies. Gardy struck out again.

Both he and his agent are probably waiting for someone to get canned early next season now.

NFL

It looks like Adrian  Peterson is third in the league in rushing so far this season, but in reality, the two guys ahead of him haven't had a bye-week yet. They've each played one more game. Peterson is averaging more yards per game than either.

The Vikings have the 7th best record in football. 4 teams are still undefeated, but after that, only Green Bay (6-1), Atlanta (6-2) , and Arizona (6-2) have better records.

Indy has lost three straight, but they still lead their division with a 3-5 record (they're tied with Houston.)

Cam Newton

He's big. He's quick and strong. And he keeps winning. But it's his running ability more than his passing attack that gives him his job.

I'm still not sure, even with a 7-0 record, if the Panthers are REALLY that good. The Colts aren't playing as well this season, and it was raining hard most of the game, so neither team seemed that good last night.

Some polls have the Panthers as the best team in football. I really don't see that. Not after the way that both the Patriots and Denver played this week.

The Panthers host the Packers this week. That'll give me a more accurate picture of both teams.

Wolves

They started hot, and ended flat. Pretty much like every T-Wolves game I've ever watched.

That's why I don't watch many.

What a Day!

The Vikings had an incredible comeback with Adrian Peterson running FORWARD the whole day rather than that stupid stutter-stepping. I didn't even recognize him. IF he keeps doing this, he's going to be great again.

The Royals stunned everyone last night, not just the Mets, by tying the game in the ninth off Harvey and then crushing all hope in the 12th. What an amazing World Series for KC. I'm just bummed I missed the ending, but it got so late...

My Broncos killed my Packers. I didn't really look for that. I knew that Denver's defense was good, but Manning was playing like the great he is again. The Packers were simply outclassed and dominated last night. I thought it was going to go the other way.

Packers 6-1
Vikings 5-2

This is starting to get interesting.

Go Sports!

Error Leads to HUGE Rally

That was a much better game last night. Mets fans were stunned.

That made it better.

The Mets have their two best starters scheduled for games 5 and 6. I don't think Royals fans can relax just yet. Denver and Green Bay go at it in primetime tonight against game 6 of the Series.

It looks like a lot of channel changing is in store.

All of that and the Vikings AT Chicago today.

It should be a good day of sports viewing.

Gophers Come ThisClose

I'm glad that the Gophers went for it last night. It's too bad the quarterback sneak was stuffed, but that was still a great drive and a surprisingly good game.

I have no idea where the Gophers go from here, but Coach Kill's staff is pretty good themselves. The Gophers team? They are not hitting on on cylinders like last year, with or without Kill, but last night we got a glimpse of a better team.

So close.

Wild

I actually watched the last three minutes of last night's game. That's a record for me.

The Wild were going against the Hawks, and are off to a fantastic start this season.

It was a good three minutes. If they keep winning, I probably won't watch the actual game any longer (it is ice soccer after all and most of the scoring is just lucky bounces) BUT, I'll tune in to see a couple of minutes in more games.

Go Wild!!!

Gopher Football

The ESPN primetime game tonight against Michigan, we'll see how the team responds with the loss of head coach Jerry Kill.

Go Gophers!

World Series

The last two games have been blowouts, and they are definitely not as much fun to watch. Maybe tonight's game will be better.

Karl-Anthony Towns

It's a little early to say that Karl-Anthony Towns is the best first-round draft pick the Wolves have made since Kevin Garnett, but his 19-year old kid is sure fun to watch. He had 28 points and 14 rebounds last night as Minnesota easily beat Denver.

This seven-footer is the center the Wolves have always been missing. So far this season his field goal percentage is nearly 60%.

Howl at the moon!

Go Wolves!!!

Stat of the Day

In the three games without Stephon Diggs this season, Teddy Bridgewater was averaging 168 passing yards. In three games with Diggs, Bridgewater is averaging 278 passing yards.

Gardy

Ron Gardenhire is the odds on favorite to be the Padre's next manager. We'll see what happens in the next couple of days.

Brady, Pats Defense Obliterate the Dolphins

I know its difficult for a team to go undefeated in the the NFL, but it's not hard to imagine THIS team doing just that. The last couple of weeks the Dolphins, under new coach Dan Campbell had averaged 41 points. Their running back, Lamar Hill, had 175 rushing yards just a few days ago.

The Patriots held him to 15 yards on NINE carries.

And then there is the unmistakable offensive juggernaut known as Tom Brady, who has now won 8 straight games (seven this season) with the whole world watching his inflation rates.

This could be the best Patriot team of all-time. And that in itself is saying an awful lot. I got to watch Belichik's boys dissect a pretty good football team last night. And they never stop. They keep applying pressure offensively and defensively, the entire game, until something gives.

I'd like to think that the Vikings have a chance of winning it all this season, but with teams like Green Bay and the Patriots out there, I think that's just a pipe dream. Good teams look good even in defeat, but great teams don't even look like other teams can beat them. In this day and age of league parity, a team like this just screams greatness.

The league is going to have to make up things and suspend people to have a chance at stopping New England.

Wait. They already tried that, and that didn't work either.

Maybe Green Bay?

Go Football!!

Wolves Win!

At Los Angeles.

For Flip.

Jerry Kill Retires

Jerry was forced to retire for health reasons.  He was the only good Gopher football coach that the U of M has had in a long, long time.

Baseball

I hated missing the ending of last night's game, but I'm guessing most fans did. Wow...

Everybody said this was two very evenly matched teams. I think they showed us that last night

Go Baseball!!!

Stupid Football

Last night, Chris Johnson was tackled but since he landed on his defender, he got up and ran another 40 yards.

Is it any wonder that there are late hits in football? How's this, IF you are laying on someone who is laying on the ground, you too are considered laying on the ground?  I've seen variations of this play so many times over the years, and every single time, the ball carrier is allowed to keep running. I'm sorry, but every single time he was stopped. He was tackled. That's the dumbest rule there currently is. The biggest problem is that everyone can clearly SEE him tackled and they stop pursuing. You know why? Because he WAS tackled.  Change the rule. It wasn't his own incredible balance that kept the play alive. It was the dumb luck of landing on the guy or guys who tackled him.

Enough rant.

I do have another suggestion to add more scoring to the game. Any time a place kicker or punter puts the ball through the uprights it should count as ONE POINT. That way every single kickoff and every single punt becomes a potential scoring play. If your kickers are good enough, you could conceivably get several more points a game. Yes, it's radical, but since BOTH teams would have the same potential advantage of scoring on these plays, it would actually add more interest to the game. The name is FOOTball, right?

I'm Missing Baseball

The postseason has way too many off days. During the season, a team rarely has more than one day off at a time. By the time they play tomorrow night,  the Mets will have had five days off. A rest is nice, but that kind of delay in baseball is just not normal.

I know that FOX and baseball schedule these games to get the biggest bang for their buck, but that kind of time off has to mess with a team's regular rhythms.  Still looking forward to the next game, though, it can't happen soon enough for me.

Vikings Mount Huge Comeback

I'm guessing most Minnesota fans were feeling pretty awful after the lowly Lions took such a big lead so easily and so early in the game.

Not me.

I missed that part. I only got to see Teddy's big, dominant comeback. And that happened just as the defense asserted it's dominance.  The game I saw was quite different. I started watching at just the right time.

That 4-2 record is actually quite remarkable. But like most fans, I still don't know if the Vikings are good or just lucky.

I missed Peterson's great run, but at the same time noticed he only got about 23 yards on his OTHER 17 carries. That sideways, backwards running has got to stop.

Stephon Diggs has sure made an impact in the receiving corp. That TD catch was a thing of beauty, And Teddy's increased yardage is a direct reflection of Digg's arrival. I'm looking much more forward to the Vikings air attack the next few weeks.

My Patriots and Panthers won as well. Who else is looking forward to next Sunday night's game between the Packers and the Broncos?

Go Vikes!

Flip Saunders

Wow.

That was a shock. I guess the organization didn't want to say too much when they made the switch just a few days ago.

Saunders was always my favorite coach.

Upsets

I watched some of the Utah/USC and FSU/Georgia Tech games last night.

Both Utah (number 3) and FSU (number 9) lost to their unranked opponents. Normally, before the playoff system was established, these would have been  season ending losses, with no hope of playing in the championship game at the end of the season. These losses would have been huge. These games would have mattered.

Now?

They're just losses that mean very little.

That's why I didn't watch both games at the end.

The ratings are down across the board this year for college games. TV networks and the NCAA are puzzled.

I'm not. I predicted this would happen. If the games don't matter. If WINNING EVERY SINGLE GAME no longer matters, if the whole season isn't one sudden death playoff, viewers will not watch like they did before.

They are still good games.

But less is at stake.

As a result, it's no longer must see TV. They'll watch the playoff games at the end but the rest of the season holds less interest.

I'm now content just reading about the endings in the morning.  That FSU/GT ending sounded great, almost as good as last week's Michigan/Mich St. game. I missed that, too.

Oh well, there's NFL football today. And most of my favorites are playing.

Flip Saunders

Hodgkin Lymphoma.

A very curable and treatable form of cancer.

Flip Saunders has it and his recovery took a step backwards in September. Glen Taylor has asked Flip to step aside from his duties as GM and head coach of the Wolves until he's all better. Former T-Wolve Sam Mitchell will assume interim head coaching duties in the meantime.

Saunders is 60 years old.

Great Ending!

Jose Bautista tied the game with his second homer of the night in the top of the eighth inning with former Twin Ben Revere already on.

KC's Lorenzo Cain then scored from first on a double by Eric Hosmer in the bottom of the eighth to retake the lead for the Royals.

Then everybody sat around for 45 minutes with a rain delay.

KC closer then had to get American League MVP choice, Josh Donaldson, out with runners on second and third for Toronto in the top of the ninth.

Donaldson grounded out to third to end the game and send the Royals to the World Series for the second year in row.

I love baseball.

Go KC!

Wild Now 4-1-1

The Columbus Blue Jackets, the team they beat, is now 0-8, off to one of the worst starts in league history. Don't really care at this point. The Wild have been flirting with greatness for a couple of years now, and yet, it seems, that the Black Hawks always manage to finish the season great no matter how they start.

We'll see if this is the year that changes. In the meantime, I'll just keep an eye on the standings.

NFL

Only 10 of the 32 NFL teams have winning records. 5 of those are undefeated.

That's really weird. Historically through six games, there are is an average of 1 1/2 teams still undefeated. Even weirder  is that ALL teams have at least ONE win as well. Those numbers are just hard to account for.

Fantasy numbers guys and Vegas odds makers recognize the weirdness of those numbers more than most. It shows up on their bottom lines and takes odds making outside of the norms.

My guess is that by the end of the season, everything will pretty much even out, but right now, this kind of weirdness  has never been seen before.

Daniel Murphy

The games were lopsided again yesterday. The only thing of real interest was that the Mets Daniel Murphy has now hit a home run in 6 straight post season games.

No one has ever done that before. He also tied Lou Gehrig as the only man to have a hit, a run, and an RBI in seven straight games.

And please note that in 2012, with over 600 at bats, he only had SIX homers the entire season. He is not known for his power. He's a good hitting second baseman, but he has never hit like this.

Toronto is still battling in their series. They needed three straight at the end against Texas in the first round, too. They still need two more to pull it out against KC.

The Mets will just rest now and see what happens in the AL.

It's Starting to Look Like a Mets/KC World Series

KC obliterated Toronto yesterday.

The Mets took a 3-0 lead in their series with the Cubs.

The fat lady isn't signing yet, but she's warming up just off stage.

I was hoping for two closer seven games series, but I don't think either will manage it now.

Go KC!

Toronto Blasts Cueto

You forget how powerful the bats of the Blue Jays are, then BOOM last night happens.

And Philly beat the Giants last night in a Monday Night Football game between division leading .500 ball clubs.

There wasn't enough to make me watch either game much. Blowouts aren't much fun unless it's YOUR home team.

Maybe baseball will be better today.

My Vikings, My Packers, My Broncos, My Patriots, My Panthers, My Bengals All Win

It was a good day of football in the Casual Observer's house yesterday.

The Vikings, Packers, and Broncos had a lot harder time of it than they should have. And I don't have any idea what the Colts' head coach was trying to accomplish with all his stupid, failed, trick plays, but he ended up giving my Patriots a win they didn't really deserve.

But all the right teams won any way. My teams.

Best? Panthers beat Seattle. On a last minute touchdown. Did I mention that I despise Seattle?

Second Best? I now have another favorite team. GO BENGALS!

Worst? The Cubs are down 2-0 to the Mets. I can't believe that the Mets have beat Kershaw, Grienke, and now Arietta, the three best pitchers in baseball, in the span of just a few days. They deserve to win the NL pennant with that performance. I'm still rooting for the Cubs, but I won't begrudge the Mets. They are playing unbelievably great baseball.

Tom Brady

Four weeks into the season and I was reading an article on Tom Brady at ESPN yesterday.

His potential suspension was supposed to be for those first 4 games, roughly the same time period
as someone caught doing steroids. The main reason he protested the suspension was very simple: He didn't need an under-inflated football to play well and he never did. He wanted the commissioner to know how ridiculous the proposed suspension was.

It would be like suspending him for thinking he was wearing the wrong socks.

With the stats he's putting up this season in four games being better than the stats he put up LAST season in the first four games, he's proven his point. And now most players and  fans also realize that even thinking about Brady doing something like he was accused of seems really, really stupid.

The smart players and fans always knew that Brady never needed different balls than anyone else.

His stats? 72.5 completion rate. 350 yards per game passing. 11 TDs and no INTs.

Oh, and lest we forget, he WON the Super Bowl last year with the new rules in place as well.

Brady made a mockery of the whole process and eviscerated every argument used against him.

Tom Brady merely wanted the chance to prove how stupid the allegations were.

His performance speaks far better than his words ever did.

Go Patriots!