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.