Rousey TKO'd In 48 Seconds

She no longer has it. She's done.

$3 million richer, but done.

For some reason WWE is interested in her. I don't want her in the WWE.

Wild Win 12 in A Row!

Okay, even I have to start noticing this. They are now 23-8-4 on the season. Columbus has a 14 game win streak right now as well, so not everyone is noticing.

The Black Hawks still lead the division BUT, they've played 3 more games.

This might be the year I start watching a little more hockey.

Go Wild!

Wolves Winning Streak Ends At One

They nearly matched a season high, though!

Gophers Win Holiday Bowl 17-12

They didn't let threats and suspensions stop them. They finished  9-4 on the season.

MOST consider this an upset as the Washington State offense is considered pretty explosive.

No one will remember the win of course. It's all about what happens next.

Granny-Style Free Throws Are Back in NBA

FINALLY! A center in the NBA that acknowledges the BEST way for his team to win games is to make free throws when given the opportunity, even if that means shooting Rick Barry style.

Rookie Chinanu Onuaku made his debut last night for Houston. He had a chance at 2 free throws late and he shot both underhand, making both.

Shaq could have learned something last night if he was watching. A real man does what it takes to win.

Timberwolves Win One Straight

They only need one more win straight to tie their season win streak mark!

In other news:

Dallas clubbed the Lions last night. Green Bay needs a win this weekend to take the division title outright.

Go Packers!

Christmas

I kind of liked having no football yesterday. One game was on the NFL Network, which I don't get. The other was a night time blowout. It made a good background noise while reading.

The NBA has made Christmas THEIR day. It was real easy to skip THOSE games. Did I mention the Wolves lost? yawn

A nice day at home.

Ouch!

Many fans thought the Raiders had a legitimate chance at the Super Bowl this year. 7 of their players were voted to the Pro Bowl, the most of any team. Those same fans thought that New England would have a tough time beating them in the playoffs.

But their star quarterback, Derek Carr, a leading league MVP candidate, broke his fibula against the Colts yesterday.

The Vikings aren't going anywhere this year, but I sure would hate to be a Lion's fan or Oakland fan right about now. Both teams' dreams look like they are about to go down in flames. If I was Oakland, I would do anything I could to get Sam Bradford from the Vikings. We don't need him or his contract anymore. Bridgewater should be fine next season. And Oakland needs a really good quarterback for about a month. Bradford and Oakland deserve better fates than they have right now.

Bradford would give them a fighting chance.

Vikings Defensive Backs Defy Zimmer, Vikings Pay the Price

The Vikings defensive backs came up with a different strategy to cover Jordy Nelson than coach Zimmer had demanded in the first half. That resulted in Nelson having the best first half of his career (145 yards and two touchdowns).

Needless to say, they did it Zimmer's way the second half and Nelson only got 2 catches and nine yards the second. It was too late.

Bradford, under pressure as always, still had a great day. If not for an incredibly stupid snap, and then a strip fumble late, the Vikings might have made more of a game out of this.

The Packers need the Lions to lose at Dallas on Monday night, and then to beat the Lions next weekend to win the division (as I predicted two weeks ago). Both events seem rather doable.

The Vikings? They're Minnesotan.  They performed like Minnesotan sports teams.

Go Packers!

Wolves Win Streak Ends At Two

At least it was twice as long as their last winning streak.

In typical Wolves fashion, they were outscored by eleven in the final quarter, having outscored the Kings in each of the previous three quarters.

Longtime "fans" will notice the pattern.

Vikes Plane Slides Off the Tarmac

A flight that usually takes the Vikings  about an hour, slid off the slippery runway yesterday, and they ended up being stranded in the plane for several extra hours waiting to be "rescued" by local firefighters.

No one was hurt, but something that should have been quick and easy went way, way longer than it needed. They don't get to rest today. The game is at noon. Most teams will get Christmas off this year.

When Is A Lake Not a Lake?

When it's the Boise State football field.

Geese are fooled all the time when that big blue mass beckons them from the air. They land and are quickly disappointed. Most people hate watching games played on that bright blue field. Well, geese don't like it much either. And they end up landing there A LOT.

Wolves Win TWO In A Row!

That's the first time all season that they've managed this elusive feat and the season is already more than one third over. In other words, this is the first time all season that they've had a winning streak of more than ONE game!

Go Minnesota team sports!

What's weird is that they are one of the few teams in the league with three guys averaging over 20 points a game AND they are the only team doing that with a record below .500.

Their winning percentage currently sits at .321.

Gym Humor

Humor In Sports

Quarterback Brock Osweiler left Denver last year to join the Texans this season. To say he's had a disappointing season would be an understatement. Recently benched, there is talk of an outright release soon in Houston.

The memes have not been kind.

How Does One Stay A Minnesota Sports Fan?

There are four major league sports teams in Minnesota. No, the Lynx don't count. And the Wild play ice soccer, so there's no reason to watch that one. Even ESPN ranks the NHL behind soccer and the men's NCAA scores on their main menu.  It's on a sub-menu and you have to look for it. ESPN is acknowledging  that hockey fans are few and far between.

That leaves us with the Timberwolves, the Vikings, and the Twins.

Really, does anyone look forward to any of their games or seasons?

The Vikings collapse would be considered legendary by national sports commentators, but for us who grew up here, we call it Wednesday. We know that any day of the week, all year long, we are going to have all of our franchises disappoint us on a regular basis.

That's who we are.

I would sigh, but I just don't have the energy this morning.

The Wild are having an excellent season so far. They're second in their conference. BUT, they're behind the Blackhawks. They're ALWAYS behind the Blackhawks. Even if you LIKE Hockey, you know this and and accept this.

The Wild are Minnesotan. They will always be second fiddle in a largely uninteresting orchestra that calls itself the NHL. You just can't dress up soccer in skates and make it interesting.

One plus for the Wild? They are more interesting than the Lynx.  The ESPN sub-menu hierarchy tells us that.

Wolves Beat Suns

Wolves record now 8-19.
Suns are 8-20.

Peterson Awful in Rerun, Vikes Worse

Green Bay squeaked  by the Bears. The Lions Lost.

I didn't watch much of the game yesterday. It was too painful. I think I'm done with football for the season.

Wolves Have 12 Point Lead With Two Minutes Left

And lose in O.T.

Of course they did.

In other news, Adrian Peterson will play today. We'll see if a year off has rested him. The Vikings need to win their last 3 games to even have a chance at the playoffs.  Tailgating festivities have been cancelled today due to the weather. As I type this it's -23 degrees. Forecasters had said -30 is possible.

The Gopher football team has ended their boycott. The U has guaranteed the 10 suspended players a "fair" hearing. Ugly situation all around.

U Of M President Tells Whole Story

Thursday, the U of M said they couldn't legally say anything about the details of the suspension. Friday they released nearly all of the details. Again, law enforcement has done nothing as of yet. He said they uncovered more evidence than the police. That makes me wonder if the police are incompetent or if the University is just overzealous.  Maybe the U of M investigators should go into law enforcement?

I guess protecting the rights of these students wasn't as big a deal as they had first led us to believe. As bad as the alleged crime is, I'm not sure why more has not been done, and why it's just a suspension from the team at this point.

The Gopher football squad was told what they wanted to hear information they were not "allowed" to know before. No word yet on if they'll resume practices and play in the Holiday Bowl. The University has until Monday to tell the Bowl organizers what's going to happen. A new team will replace them if necessary.

This isn't over.

Not by along shot.

Gopher Football

The University suspended 10 football players this week amid allegations of all sorts of sordid activities. Unlike the press, I'm not going to tell you their names or show you their pictures.

These same players had been investigated by the police and the local prosecutor for sexual misconduct  earlier. No charges were brought. Supposedly another such incident occurred after that, the local University officials investigated that one themselves and decided to suspend the players without releasing details to "protect the players" involved. Legally they can suspend them, drag their names through the press, release their pictures to the media, BUT they can't tell us any details because that would "violate" the player's rights.

What's interesting is that the University didn't expel the students, and local  law enforcement didn't arrest them either. So what they allegedly did was serious enough to not be on the football team, but was not serious enough to have them arrested or even remove them from the general student body.

YET, the media continues to talk about their previous investigations which were dropped
for lack of evidence, while showing all their names and pictures.

This did not sit well with the remaining football players. They, as a team, walked out of the program yesterday by saying they would ALL boycott any and all football activities for the University, including all remaining practices and the Holiday Bowl on December 27th IF all the suspended players didn't have their suspensions dropped.

Well, THAT was an interesting twist. The University says they can't tell the other players what happened because, again, it would violate the player's rights to privacy.

IF the players decide that they are going to follow through on their threat, there's all sorts of legal  and financial ramifications for the University failing to appear in the Holiday Bowl. The future of the entire program may ultimately be at risk. If events go far enough, the University might even get kicked out of the Big Ten, for failure to meet their basic obligations to the league. The monetary ramifications to the University if that occurred could actually cause the University to shut it's doors.

I don't think anyone expects it to go that far. But the players feel they have right to know why they lost so many teammates, and they think somebody owes them a real, full explanation. Right now, none is coming.

The players, IF they follow through on this, could lose their scholarships and future eligibility as well. It's a tense standoff.

And it's also the most interesting story to come from the University is several years. I'm anxious to see who blinks first and how this is resolved.

Lots and lots of money is at risk. Never forget, that's what will ultimately decide this conflict.

Blink. Blink.

Resting NBA Stars

Cleveland drew the ire of sports commentators yesterday by announcing that their big three of Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, and LeBron James would not even make the trip to Memphis last night to take on the Grizzlies. The accepted fact nowadays among NBA superstars is that it's a long season, and that coaches will be giving their best a few days off now and then.

The commentators hate this. They feel the fans, especially the young fans deserve to see the league's greatest players visit their town when games are scheduled.

My thoughts? IF I'm a Grizzly fan, wouldn't I relish the idea of playing Cleveland without their biggest stars. WE would then get an easy win against one of the top teams in the league, therefore HELPING our playoff positioning at the end of the season.

And that's just what the Grizzlies did last night. It's time for NBA fans to realize that it's a team game. Baseball players (except Cal Ripken) take days off throughout the season as well. And baseball players don't have to run several miles up and down the court every night. If Cleveland chooses to forfeit a few possible games a season while giving their less experienced players more playing time and their stars some needed down time, for the good of the team in the long run, then I say do it.

I just wish more teams would do this when playing the Wolves.

Wolves Win

It's nice to get one in the win column every week or so.

New England

The Patriots did it again last night. It's hard to believe that the Ravens have such a highly rated defense, because Brady threw the ball like he always does, and the Patriots didn't have much trouble running the ball against the top rated run defense in the league either.

The Pats defense struggled some in the second half, but it was Brady throwing deep for the win.

Packers/ Pats Super Bowl?

I'm leaning that way. I don't see anyone better at this point in the season.

Lions, Vikings, Packers Win

The Lions barely beat the lowly Bears, and Matthew Stafford tore some ligaments in his throwing hand doing it. The Vikings won as expected, but looked awful inside the one yard line all day long.

And the Packers looked like the best team in football yesterday.

With three games to go, it LOOKS like the Lions will win the division, but looks can be deceiving. I'll explain at the end. The Vikings face the Packers AT Green Bay in two weeks. Both teams MUST win to even have a remote chance at making the playoffs with the Giants beating the Cowboys last night in primetime AND Tampa Bay continuing their hot streak as well.

Best guess? The Vikings will get killed in two weeks. Green Bay will win their last three and perhaps take the division as well.

The Super Bowl is up for grabs this year, and the best team going in may be the team that looks best the next couple of weeks. Green Bay could be that team as Dallas and Seattle now look very vulnerable.

What's cool is that Detroit's schedule is absolute killer the next three weeks The Giants, the Cowboys, and the Packers. There is a good chance that Detroit may not win another game. As a Vikings fan, there is not much hope. A Green Bay fan will have a totally different outlook. You see, they have the Bears, Vikings, and Lions to finish the season.

Go Football!!

Sports

We watched a couple movies yesterday with college football basically done until New Year's.  Star Trek Beyond and Kung Fu Panda 3 both get thumbs up.

Golden State got clubbed last night by the Grizzlies. An upset, but not a shocker. Every team has off nights, and Memphis is becoming a very good team, while the Warriors schedule this week was killer.

I know the Vikes are favored today over Jacksonville, but with center Joe Berger still under concussion protocol, the offensive line is still nothing but patchwork. Harrison Smith is out with an ankle injury and Marcus Sherels is still iffy (out?) with his bad ribs. We lost last week to Dallas primarily because Adam Thielen, his replacement, lost a punt deep in our territory.

Injuries cause losses. And the Vikes are the most injured team in football. I no longer expect the Vikes to be in the playoffs, but I want them to surprise me.

Not hopeful at all.

Twins News

With Terry Ryan gone as Twins GM, I thought it interesting this week that the Twins made their first trade. They got pitcher Justin Hayley from the Red Sox in a three-way, rule five pick deal.

What's interesting is how Thad Levine (who shares the GM responsibilities now with Derek Flavey) describes Justin Hayley. He cited "spin-rates" and "swing miss percentages".  Those are phrases that Terry Ryan never uttered in his life. Those are metrics terms used by the new breed of baseball GMs.

Those are the terms and facts used by baseball executives looking to the future. I'm not saying any of these words will mean anything going forward. I'm saying they are terms no longer mired in the past. It's the right direction for the Twins, who really couldn't have went any farther backwards last season.

It's the right direction. I'm looking forward to more of this kind of flavored speech in the coming months and years..

John Glenn

The first American in space died this week, but John Glenn had a unique sports connection. Glenn was a fighter pilot in the Korean War, and he was in the same fighter squadron as Ted Williams, who was also a fighter pilot. About half of their missions were flown together. Both said the other was the best they had ever flown with.

For those of you too young to remember, Williams was the last player to bat .400 in a season.

Wolves Trivia

Their are currently just TWO teams in the league with worse records, the Sixers and the Mavs.

Nothing ever changes, does it?

Chiefs Beat Raiders

While everyone was busy saying how the Raiders may have become the best team in the AFC, the Chiefs wanted everyone to know that they're not so bad themselves.

The Patriots, Raiders, and Chiefs are all looking like Super Bowl threats.

Seattle and Dallas are tops in the NFC.  I'd like to see the Lions finish strong as well just to see how good they are against top teams. Their last three are against the Cowboys, Giants, and Packers. That's quite a season ending gauntlet.

Vikes need at least 3 of their last four to make the playoffs. I think most believe they are finished. Green Bay's in the same boat.

Vikings Rumors

Harrison Smith has an injury, but the Vikes aren't saying how bad it is yet. Rumors are that he could miss the rest of the season. Or not. Adrain Peterson says he's not going to comeback this season unless the Vikes make the playoffs. That's his way of saying, he's not coming back this year unless it's worthwhile. I don't blame him. There's no sense coming back just to lose. Maybe he'll be better with a better, healthy offensive line.

Basketball

Let's see. The Wolves lost.

Just waiting for Sunday, and more football.

Klay Thompson

Everybody is always talking about the Warriors "Big Two" Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, but they keep forgetting about the other guy, Klay Thompson, who was part of the "Big Two" combo for Golden State last season.

Last night, Klay had 60 points for the Warriors, as they routed the Pacers 141-106. And he didn't even play in the fourth quarter.

I'm kinda likin' this "Big THREE" combo. Golden State is 18-3 on the season.

Football

Detroit won. Green Bay won. New England won. And Cam Newton lost.

A pretty good day of football, though I would have preferred a Detroit loss. They are currently playing like one of the best teams in the league, so I can't root against them as hard as I used to. I don't believe Green Bay or the Vikings are going to catch them with 4 games to play. And I don't think either has a great chance at the playoffs now. Tampa Bay has to start playing worse for that to happen.

Go New England! The way the Seahawks are playing, I think they're headed back to the Super Bowl as well. Dallas is not as good as I thought. Seattle's defense will handle Dallas just like the Vikings' defense did. And the Seahawks offense is really, really good right now.

Wolves Win!

They beat an above .500 team, and outscored them in the fourth quarter for a comeback win.

That's different.

Go Wolves!

College Football

Number 3 Clemson barely squeaked by number 23 Virginia Tech last night in their conference championship game. Number 7 Penn State had  a nice comeback last night against number 6 Wisconsin. My guess is Clemson will stay in the top 4 while Penn State will just miss the top 4 when the official ratings are out today. IF Clemson would have lost, big, and Penn State would have won, big, there would have been another Big Ten team in the final four. As it is Michigan, Penn State, and Wisconsin will now all miss.

A good night of football. Alabama? They clubbed their opponent yesterday like a baby seal. They are firmly rooted at number one.

Sports and Stuff

It took about 5 hours, but I finally got everything to work again after switching to Mediacom's mandated high speed modem. That's a lot more than the "few minutes" they said it would take. I haven't seen an appreciable speed change yet, but I always thought the old one was pretty fast. As long as it's working I'm not going switch to anything else for awhile.

Washington State clubbed Colorado last night, pretty much securing a top four birth in the National Championship playoffs. The Big Ten Championship game between Wisconsin and Penn State has just been rendered useless to either. And Michigan just lost what little hope they had left as well.

I enjoyed watching the Wolves for awhile last night, but it's really hard to get into them when everyone knows they are going to lose at the end. And they did. Again. That's been the Wolves their entire existence (except for one season.) It really does get old.

The Twins tendered contracts to all five of their arbitration-eligible players yesterday. That includes Escobar, Gibson, Kinzler, and Pressly. That means all will be Twins next season.

Vikings and Stuff

I thought the Vikes played great last night. They easily could have beaten Dallas. A couple of bad plays did them in, but I will not call them on it. Offense, defense, and special teams were consistently great. Those two plays? Oh, well, that's football. Yes, the officials could have called another penalty at the end, but there is no guarantee that we would have scored.

My internet is all screwy because of installing a mandatory new high-speed modem from my media provider, Mediacom. I sill can't get my router (time capsule) to work and I've spent several hours of run-around time trying.

With no wifi and no end to this disaster in sight, I'm getting a little perturbed, and am seriously switching from Mediacom to something, anything else.

The Power to Simplify is their motto.

Yeah, right.

Baseball News

The league and players have signed a new 5-year collective bargaining agreement. That means no lock-out or strike for at least the next 5 years.

Details?

Rich teams can now spend more money on players before a luxury tax kicks in. AND teams that sign those players will no longer have to give up first round draft picks to the team that lost that free-agent. Players will be signing larger contract deals than ever now.

Players will benefit. Small market teams will feel the pinch. I personally think this will weaken the league, as it will be even harder for smaller teams to compete for the best players, but players are in it for the money, and the team's best interest are not their concern.

Highlights? The World Series will now be hosted by the team with the BEST record during the regular season. The All-Star game now has no purpose whatsoever. Which makes it a fun exhibition again. NO pressure on the teams, players, or coaches.

Finally, smokeless tobacco will be banned for all major league players. I can't believe it took this long, but good job baseball!

Vikings

Remember when there used to be excitement when it was Vikings game day?

Knowing that they are going to play on two consecutive Thursdays, and this time against the Cowboys, who are  currently on their best winning streak of all-time, while we still have a horribly depleted offensive line, and it's more like a recipe for disaster than anything else. You just cringe thinking of the possibilities.

sigh

Minnesota sports.

sigh

Wolves Lose

The headline this morning was that Karl-Anthony Towns became the youngest Wolve ever to put up 40 points, but if it's in a losing effort, how big a deal is it?

It's nice, but the Wolves have lots of young players that can score.  Wiggins had a game with 45 last week. And Wiggens isn't exactly an old guy.

Towns ended the night with 47 points and 18 rebounds. That was one of the greatest young man performances in league history. But the Wolves ended up losing, at home, to the Knicks 106-104.

It's kind of like Brian Dozier having more than 40 HR for the Twins this past season, but the Twins still having more than 100 losses on the season.

sigh.

Go Towns! Turn it around Wolves!

How Baseball Has Changed

Chris Carter had 41 homeruns last year for the Milwaukee Brewers. He tied for the league lead.

The Brewers CUT him yesterday to make way for Eric Thames, an American who played in Korea the last three years because he wasn't good enough to play in the majors.

Why do you simply cut the league leader in home runs? That's a good question, but it shows how  much baseball has changed in the last decade. Carter led the league with 206 strikeouts, too. And that wasn't even his worse year. He whiffed 212 times in 2013.

His batting average was .222 last season, which was a career best. He's a .218 career hitter. He literally is an all or nothing type of hitter. And His fielding? Let's just say he reminds people a lot of Arcia with a little bit of Sano thrown in.

His overall WAR rating shows he's one of the worst players in baseball despite his 41 home runs.  Saber mathematics  is changing the way the front office looks at players. And you now know that even 41 home runs won't save you if that's all you have to offer.

That's something Twins fans should think about when it's time to re-sign Sano. I'm not saying Sano is as bad as Carter, I'm saying he should be on the watch list. He's still young, but there's more to baseball than potential power. Arcia found that out the hard way. And so did Carter.

Twins Sign Torii Hunter, Michael Cuddyer, and LaTroy Hawkins!

They'll all be in uniform this spring.

As special assistants.

Green Bay

Well, it looks like the Pack is back. The Packers were so much better than the Eagles last night that it wasn't even close. Rodgers is starting to look scary good again. If the Vikes can't win this thing, I'd still rather it be the Packers than the Lions.

And there is still plenty of time left for them to win the division. Their funk may be over. Without an O-Line, the Vikings' is going to last a while longer.

Football

I didn't watch much yesterday. New England wasn't available in our area, and with the Vikings losing Thursday, I just couldn't get interested in the other games. The Vikings play again THIS Thursday against Dallas, so I'm thinking I'll be in another football funk for at least the next two weeks. NO ONE, and I mean no one believes the Vikings have a chance in that game.

I'm still trying to figure out how the Vikings could have went through so many injured offensive linemen this season. Most teams might have an injured lineman or two, who might miss a few games throughout the season, but many don't have any real offensive lineman injuries the whole season.

Take Dallas for example. Their O Line is one of the best in football this season. None of them have been hurt. It's one of the reasons they have had such success with a rookie quarterback and rookie running back. Offensive linemen have the longest careers in pro football. Some go entire careers without missing any games.

But not the Vikings. For whatever reason, we're playing third and fourth string lineman against every one else's first string defenses. The results have not been pretty. The Vikings will continue their death spiral into obscurity until we get good, healthy offensive linemen again. That Bradford hasn't been hurt severely yet is telling us how good the offensive coordinator is at creative game plans. The whole scheme is for Bradford to throw quickly with short passes. Anything else, and we'd really be in trouble. I don't blame anyone. For me that's unusual.

But I don't expect us to be any good either.

For me, that's par for the course.

Ohio State and Alabama Win

Much as I predicted, the Ohio State/Michigan game went down to the wire and needed two OT periods to decide a winner. Michigan outplayed Ohio State much of the game, but the Buckeyes did just enough at the end to win. Jim Harbough, coach of the Wolverines, blamed the officiating. In a game this close, it often comes down to the guys in the striped shirts.

Harbough knows that even though they were ranked number three going in, and that they just barely lost, and the refs might have determined the winner more than the players, they are no longer going to be ranked among the top four teams in the country. Their chance at a national championship just went down the drain.

In other news, Penn State, number 8 in the country did win yesterday, so they are now the clear favorites to win the Big Ten championship game. As I said yesterday, Ohio State could win the national title, and not even be the best team in the Big Ten. Ohio State's only loss this season was to Penn State.

Guess which team feels they now deserve to be in the top 4 and the playoff?

Guess which team is not likely to be there?

THAT is your college playoff system in action.

Michigan and Ohio State

I feel sorry for both. They are the number 3 and number 2 teams in the country, but by one of them losing today, they will drop out of the top 4 playoff system.

Which really makes no sense when you think about it. If it's a close game won by one point with a 53-yard field goal at the end by Ohio State as time expires, it would PROVE that these teams ARE number 2 and 3 in the country and so their rank should not change.

But teams 5-8 are just waiting to move up when one of them loses. Even if they tied, they'd probably both leave the top 4. The system is now rigged.

Which shows this new way of doing it is far WORSE than the old way.

I'll be watching though.

What's funny about all of this is there is a scenario where Ohio State could win this game AND the National Championship game and not even win the Big Ten Conference.

College football used to do it right.

sigh

Vikes Fail Late Again

My biggest consolation this season is that Dallas and Seattle are so much better than the Vikings that winning or losing at this point doesn't matter. Our offensive line has had 7 major injuries this year and there really is no way to get better from here.

Sport Stuff

The Warriors are fast becoming the team that the NBA feared they would become. They lost a couple of games early this season, but have since rattled off 9 straight wins, last night beating the Lakers149-109. The Lakers were the last team to beat them a couple of weeks ago.

Former T-Wolve, Kevin Love had 34 points in the first quarter last night. Yes, that's an NBA record. He's getting his three-point touch back. Last year, Klay Thompson, of Golden State, had 37 points in a quarter, but it wasn't the first quarter. In case you're wondering, Love only scored 6 more the rest of the night in the Cavs win.

The Vikes play today, I'll be watching the game at my Aunt Maybelle's during the Thanksgiving  meal. Diggs (knee) is not expected to play for the Vikings. My hopes for the game are not high. But its Thanksgiving. Family and food take center stage. The game is just the background today.

Skol Vikes! Go Thanksgiving!

Jason Castro and other Twins News From the Last Week Or So

The Twins have a new catcher. He can't hit, but he was an all-star with Houston back in 2013. Kurt Suzuki is a free agent that the Twins elected not to re-sign.

They elected not to sign Trevor Plouffe as well. Look for Sano to be making errors at third this season.

Oh, and Gardy has a new job. He's the bench coach in Arizona.

One last note: Who was the worst pinch hitter in baseball last season? That would be former Twin, Oswaldo Arcia. The Baseball Handbook said he was 0-13 last year as a pinch hitter with 5 strikeouts.

Why Are Kickers Missing So Many Extra-Points?

That was the question put to me yesterday.

Experts, including the kickers themselves, have been asked that question a lot lately.  The answers are varied but it boils down to this. Short kicks are a lot harder to make than people think, because of the angle most are kicked from.

Those hashmark angles are killer.

AND, there are no athletes in sports who are bigger head-cases than place kickers. Their sole job is to kick it as hard as they can, STRAIGHT. And their very existence depends on them doing that every single time they come on the field. ANYTHING that disrupts that makes them bigger head-cases, and they start over-thinking every single aspect of what they do.

Kevin Seifert proposed a new idea for extra-points at ESPN yesterday, and I really like it. Primarily because it's the same exact thing I proposed when they came up with the stupid idea of those longer extra-points in the first place.

IF they want to keep messing with a place-kickers heads by forcing them to kick longer extra points, give the head coach a real alternative for the two-point conversion. Instead of placing the ball at the TWO yard line, place it at the ONE.

Coaches are just like fans. They know the two yard line on third and goal makes everyone nervous. Those two yards, that deep in enemy territory, make for difficult sledding. Very rarely does any offense score a touchdown consistently from that distance. Defenses have gotten real good at stopping the score from there.

But from the one yard line?  THAT is a totally different story. That one extra yard gives offenses way more confidence. It also gives them way more options. Most quarterbacks can run a sneak from there.

IF you gave head coaches a two-point conversion option from the one, you would see more coaches going for two points on a consistent basis. Especially with the rash of blocked or outright missed kicks we are now seeing. (18 in the last 2 weeks. Two seasons ago, before the rule change, there were only FOUR missed extra-points the entire season).

From my perspective, those missed kicks don't make for a more exciting game. They just make the game more frustrating to watch. And frustration leads to fans turning the game off. Viewership is down across the board the last two seasons. I think the extra-point fiasco contributes to those missing viewers. I know I turn the TV off every time we miss an extra-point. I just don't want to see that kind of incompetence.

More two-point attempts would get me more interested.  Isn't that the whole point? I can forgive a failed two-point attempt. But I can't stomach a missed extra-point.

Wolves Look Great For Three Quarters

And get outscored 31-12 in fourth quarter.

Does any of this seem vaguely familiar?

sigh

New Kicker Misses Extra Point, Vikes Win On Big Plays Anyway

A win is a win. Lions won. Green Bay lost.

This is not how I expected the season to go, but the Vikings have been in first place the entire season so far, so I can't really complain.

Go Vikes!

12 missed extra points yesterday. It looks like this is becoming a trend.

Football

I did catch the end of the Ohio State game yesterday. I wasn't planning on watching, but a big upset was potentially brewing, so I decided to watch most of the fourth quarter. Ohio State's number two in the country. Michigan State is having a miserable year, yet here we are with Michigan State within a touchdown and having a great day running the ball. Later, all they needed was an extra-point to send the game to OT. BUT, they went for the 2-point conversion and the win, failed miserably, and lost.

Ohio State certainly didn't look like the second best team in the country yesterday, and the Spartans slipped to 3-8 on the season.

Did I mention the T-Wolves lost last night?

Vikings today. Not looking forward to it. Will still watch. For a while at least.

Sports?

I didn't watch any sports last night, and as far as I can tell there aren't any BIG college football games today, so I don't think I'll watch anything today either.

A new Doctor Who series premieres tonight on BBC America. I believe it's animated. I just found out about it yesterday. I think I'll give it a try.

With the Vikings looking hopeless once more, it's hard to get excited about sports.

Timberwolves Win

I noticed the Wolves were leading last night in the fourth quarter against the consensus worst team in the NBA right now, the Sixers.  The Wolves SHOULD win this game.

And they did.

What's intersting is that they had THREE of their players score double doubles. Wiggins: 35, 10. Towns: 25, 10. and Dieng 12, 10.  That's a pretty rare feat for any team.

They are still just 4-7 on the season, or about the same winning percentage that the Twins had this past year.

Wiggins currently leads the league in 3-point shooting percentage at 55%.

Vikings

We have a new place kicker. He'll last as long as he makes his extra points. At this point, they are all inter-changable.  Really, in a league where most games between good teams are settled by 6 points or less, kickers are THE deciding factor. If they make their 52 yard field goal and we miss ours. And we miss an extra point, too, we'll lose by seven points. The great kickers don't miss that often. Most kickers, like ours, miss just often enough for their team to lose.

The Vikings are predicted to lose this weekend against Arizona, and then they face the Lions, at Detroit, on Thanksgiving Day for the early game. There's a very good chance they'll be below .500 with six straight losses shortly after we finish our big Thursday meal. You west coast fans? The game starts at 9:30 a.m. Set your alarms.

Walsh Gets the Boot

I'll miss him.

Wide right.

Football

The Monday Night Matchup was pretty good last night. The wrong team won, but that's what Cincinnati does in primetime. They lose.

With the Vikings losing yet another offensive lineman for the season, I think we can probably stop watching the Vikings this year. They have the worst rushing game in  the league and it's only going to get worse. I find it hilarious that pundits are criticizing Sam Bradford for not connecting on long throws down the field. He barely has time to pass at all and he was still 31-40 this week throwing. Stephen Diggs has caught at least 13 passes two weeks in a row. No receiver has done that in NFL history before. Bradford is fine. It's the line that's in shambles.

And Blair Walsh has got be fearful for his job. Enough is enough. 4 missed extra points already this year PLUS the chip-shot field goal miss that cost us a playoff win last season is just not acceptable and Zimmer knows it.

Who do you sign to replace him though?

Football

The Vike's defense is starting to look suspect. The Packers looked awful, and even the Patriots lost last night to Seattle.

That Pittsburgh/Dallas game was spectacular, though.

College Football

Number two Clemson got beat last night (by Pitt). Number three Michigan and number four Washington got beat as well.

That leaves just Alabama as the last major college (top 10) left undefeated. It seems weird that I can watch these games without knowing any of the top stars and enjoy them just KNOWING they are the best. Rooting for upsets like this is what makes the close games so exciting. The four game playoff at the end has removed some of the luster, but at least the top dog in the fight has been established.

Unless somebody knocks them off in the near future.

The Gophers were having a really good season until they got knocked off by number 19 Nebraska last night. I  stopped watching them early last night so that I could watch the GOOD games.

As disappointing as the Vikings have been the last three weeks, they are still leading the division. So I'll be watching this afternoon for at least awhile.

Football! Football! Football!

Bruno and Butch Get the Ax

Twins hitting coach, Tom Brunansky, and first base coach, Butch Davis, were given the heave ho late Thursday by the Twins. Far more was wrong with the Twins last season, but you can't argue with the decision. Bruno never was a good hitting instructor at any level. And Butch was also responsible for  the outfielders' defense.  Two problem areas that needed ( and still need) to be addressed.

I Really Can't Believe How Incredibly Awful Some People Are

This is something I've copied directly from ESPN:

"Florida International senior tight end Jonnu Smith will miss the remainder of the season after his girlfriend poured boiling water on him, causing burns to multiple parts of his body.

According to the arrest affidavit, Smith, an NFL draft prospect, suffered severe burns on his head, neck, back, a shoulder and an arm.

Mary Gaspar has been charged with felony aggravated battery. She is five months pregnant with their child.

According to the arrest affidavit, Gaspar gave this account at Florida International University police headquarters: 

• 
  
  Gaspar and Smith argued through the day on Oct. 31 about how much attention Smith was paying her and their relationship. While in Smith's dorm room and "feeling extremely emotional and stressed," Gaspar told police, she boiled a pot of water. Then she walked over to Smith and poured it on him.
• When Smith didn't react strongly enough for her, she started hitting him with her open hands, she told police.

Gaspar was arrested two days later."

My Take: Extreme Feminists will take this story and somehow twist it in such a way as to make it all seem justified. Men, you see, are the true perpetrators are violence. Even after being burned, he didn't raise a finger to hurt her, so she started beating on him.

A Rule Change Proposal

This one really bugs me. It always has. The Vikings have the ball third and goal from the 2 yard line. The defense is nailed for a penalty, too many men on the field. The penalty? The ball moves 1 yard closer to the end zone. Still third down. ANY other place on the field the ball would be moved 5 yards more down field and it would be a first down.

Now, of course the refs aren't going to give the team an automatic touchdown, but shouldn't it be FIRST down on the one yard line. You treat it AS IF you moved the ball 5 yards. Otherwise it's not really penalizing the defensive team.

They do it for pass interference and holding. They should do it for procedure calls, too.

Trump 278 Clinton 218

And some of the votes aren't in yet.

In Minnesota, with 2.8 million votes counted, Donald is trailing Hilary by just 25,000 votes.

Minnesota ALWAY votes Democrat in presidential elections. That, to me, is as shocking as any score I have ever posted here.

No comments on this one.

In other news? The Wolves lost.  Again. Not as shocking.

Curry Hits 13 of 17 Threes, Breaks His Own NBA Record

Stephen Curry may have missed all 10 of his three-point attempts last game, but he came out hot and firing last night. I guess his slump is over.

Olivier Richerts

This guy is one of the world's biggest bodybuilders at 7'2" 330 pounds. In the first couple of pictures he's standing with the actor who plays The Mountain on Game of Thrones. In the second series, he's standing with a more normal-sized bodybuilder.

Vikes

The Vikings did everything they could to lose yesterday.

And they did it!

Detroit

Two weeks ago, Vikings fans weren't afraid of anyone, now they're afraid they'll lose every game.

The offensive line is still devastated by injury and we're playing 3rd and 4th string linemen HOPING something good will happen.

It won't.

Detroit by 12. At least. And this is when a line that bad will start to allow other injuries to occur.

Did I mention the Wolves got clobbered again last night?

sigh

Lakers Club Warriors 117-97

Stephen Curry missed all ten of his three-point play attempts. That ends a streak of 157 straight games with a three.

Wow. The Warriors with Durant seem to be far worse than they were without him. And with the T-Wolves disappointing just about everyone, I think I'll just stick to college football and the NFL for the next few months.

Theo Epstein

I've been talking about metrics in baseball since I was aware of them. That's been several years now. I've mentioned in the past that Moneyball is my favorite baseball movie because of its portrayal of saber-mathmatics and the way you can and should position your team and its players by those general rules. Billy Bean does it in Oakland, but it was Theo Epstein who implemented it at Boston based on the work of Bill James.

Theo Epstein has now ended an 84 year drought in Boston AND a 107 year-old "curse" in Chicago by using math tendencies for position players and pitchers.

Of course, everyone can't win using these statistical models, but those that use them best will have an advantage other teams simply don't have. Paul Molitor tries to use them on the field but they need to be used to BUILD your team, to find the right players in drafts and through trades that will give you a better base to start with.

That means no more Nolascos and Pelfreys and their big money contracts just because scouts think they have potential. Base it on the math boys, not the gut.

Theo Epstein took a Cubs team with 101 losses in 2012 and turned them into World Series champs with 103 wins in 2016. He now has a statistical base from which to measure his success. Three championships are now under his belt. He's going to be in the Hall of Fame someday. You can do the math.

Norv Turner Resigns

Something had to give. It was Norv.

Cubs Win!

The curse of the goat is finally put to rest.

I admit I missed the ending. I was going to stay up and watch until the end but when Cleveland tied it 6-6 in the eighth, I decided sleep was the better part of valor.

What a game. What a great ending. Baseball is still amazing, even if the Twins aren't.

Great Night of Sports and Sports Entertainment

Cubs Win!

That was a fantastic game. The Cubs scored 3 in the first, and a grand slam  a couple of innings later basically guaranteed a game seven. With just one game to go, this SEEMS like the World Series now.

Go Cubs!!


Wolves Win!

Wow. I don't say that often in reference to the Wolves, but they started with a big lead and then they just piled on and coasted in the fourth quarter. Yes, the Grizzlies were short handed but we were missing Rubio. I actually found myself watching far more of this game than I intended because of the Cubs huge blowout. Fun. A real team effort. 116-80 was the final score.

Go Wolves!

Sports Entertainment

Smackdown was fun to watch again last night. They've elevated a skinny independent wrestler to the main event spotlight, not because he's good but because he's hilarious to watch. You don't just watch wrestling to see who wins. It's scripted after all. You watch it to see characters and stories, just like other television shows. If the wrestling action is good, that's just a bonus.

Go Fake Sports!

Vikes

My comments haven't changed from last week. Injuries have made this O-line as bad as any we have ever had. Unless that changes dramatically, the season will get much, much worse. I only watched about 10 minutes of last night's game. I fully expected this after last week's performance, though was cautiously hoping for a coaching miracle. There was none. There won't be one.

Another disappointing Minnesota team.

At least my Patriots won.

Did I mention that the Wolves are 0-2 and that Rubio will be out indefinitely with a bad elbow.

Minnesota, where dreams are crushed.

Daily.

Cubs Win

They still have a chance. The pitching, of course, was great on both sides. Chapman was outstanding in the end. Back to Cleveland for the last two games.

Football? Seattle lost. Detroit lost. Green Bay lost. But Dallas came back and won. Dallas is THE team to beat in the NFC.

Brady and the Pats?  The team to beat in the AFC.

Vikes tonight.

Skol Vikings!

Football

The late game today in Atlanta is the one I'm looking forward to. Green Bay might be 4-2, but no one thinks they are all that good. Atlanta has lost its last two but leads their division at 4-3.

Should be a good one.

Detroit has the Texans at Texas at noon. Detroit's three straight wins have put them in playoff contention. This game should show if they are for real. Both teams are 4-3.

New England has Buffalo. The only team that beat them this season. Of course Brady is back now, that could make a difference.

Cubs Get Klubered Again

Seriously, Corey Kluber is becoming the walking, talking, throwing embodiment of that stupid curse.

With that loss last night, the Cubs took another serious hit in their chance of breaking the 100+ year-old curse. As strong as the Cubs pitching was during the regular season, it's Cleveland's pitching that taking centerstage at this World Series.

Me? I went to bed early with the Tribe in control. Sometimes you can read the handwriting on the wall. It was spelled C-o-r-e-y K-l-u-b-e-r last night.

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

I used to love a good pitcher's duel, but when your team is on the wrong end of 1-0 shutout, the game can get pretty long.

I'm not exactly rooting against the Indians, but I've come to the point, where I'll watch something else for an hour and then come back to see if there's any score yet. I did that twice last night. I used to be glued to my set for Series play, now I just hope they're done by 10 p.m. so I can can go to bed.

They weren't, so I went to bed.

Cubs!

And as an alternative:

Indians!

Better? Score!!!!

World Series Moves to Chicago

I've said it for years, and I'll keep saying it. When American League teams face National League teams, BOTH teams should have a DH. Always.

Cubs fans won't be able to see their new folk hero, Kyle Schwarber, play at home because he's not medically cleared to take the field on defense. They MAY see him pinch hit in the series, but without the DH role, they'll be missing one of their greatest weapons.

The rest of the baseball world has been using the DH for decades. From high school through every level of college and pro ball. Except the NL. If the commissioner wants to make a difference, this is something he should mandate. Next season would not be too soon.

Cubs and Wolves

The Wolves? 14-1 lead early. Lost it late. Same story. Different year.

Jake Arrietta was baseball's best pitcher in 2105. He was again last night. This is going to be a fun series.

Golden State Blown Out By San Antonio in First Game

129-100.

Kevin Durant hasn't helped The Warriors much as of yet. And LeBron and the Cavs blew out the Knicks as well.

Amusement reigns for NBA fans.

Kluber, Cleveland Make Life Difficult For Cubs And Their Fans

Corey Kluber, the Indians ace, has been dominate all season long. Last night, was more of the same as the Indians shutout the Cubs 6-0.

Cleveland now has a 1-0 series lead, home field advantage, AND Kluber available for two more starts by series end.

Already, at this point, the Cub's dream of their first World Series win in well over 100 years is starting to fade.  The Cubs have some very good pitching of their own, but, even this early, their backs are against the wall.

This series is far more interesting than I ever imagined a couple of weeks ago. Game two tonight.

And the Wolves play, too.

It should be a good night of sports.

T-Wolves

I'm glad the NBA season is starting.  This is the first time in a long time that I've been interested from the beginning of the season. I wish that I didn't have such high expectations. In Minnesota, those feelings usually add to disappointment.

I'll probably be over it by the middle of next week. Grizzlies tomorrow night.

Go Wolves!

World Series starts tonight.

Go Cubs!  But Cleveland is not a bad second choice.

Patched Offensive Line Finally Shows Its Cracks

That was painful. The O Line was awful. The kicking team missed coverage and the defense was exhausted by the end. Could this be the end of the fairytale season the Vikes were having?

Probably. That line isn't going to fix itself, and there are no good replacements just waiting to happen.

I'm just glad there is a World Series to watch this week...

And my Patriots won.

Colts VS Patriots

I came across this meme this week. Brady and the Patriots never needed a deflated ball, which is what they said all along...

Cubs Win!

The Cubs haven't been to the World Series since 1945, and they lost that one. They had went in 1932, also but hey lost that one, too.

1908 is the year that the Cubs last celebrated a best of seven series victory.

How would you like to be Cleveland right now? Only your own fans are going to to be pulling for you. Nearly everyone else will be rooting for the Cubbies.

Will the curse finally be lifted? Stay tuned.

Cyber Friday

Yesterday I didn't get a lot done. Internet, TV, and phone weren't available due to the nationwide cyber attacks.

I was forced to read, draw, paint, go for walks, and visit people.



Hmmmm....

Lynx Lose, Packers Win, Cubs Take Series Lead

When the Packers broke the arm of the Bears starting quarterback, they gave themselves the advantage they needed. Eventually they became the better team last night.

The Cubs young bats are coming back to life. They now have 3-2 series lead and are heading back to Chicago in hopes of clinching.

The Lynx lost by one. Their coach is angry, really angry at the officiating.

Cubs Pound Dodgers

Okay, THAT game got me watching again. I started watching when it was 4-0 and I went to bed when it was 8-2. What's funny is that was a little over one inning's worth of baseball.

Go Cubs!

Did I mention Cleveland beat Toronto to take their series?

Bears and Packers tonight. I'm anxious to see if the Packers can LOOK like the Packers again against the worst team in the division. If they lose, it's going to be a long season for Packer fans.

Fox Promo

I noticed this Sunday on the FOX postgame preview of this weeks Vikings game. They must not have the pictures they want yet for Bradford because they poorly photoshopped Sam's head onto Teddy's body and then updated the number. Pretty funny.

Dodgers Win

The Cubs have incredible pitching, but it's looking like the Dodgers do as well. Chicago hasn't scored many runs in this series. And Cleveland lost yesterday, too.

At least I'm watching a little bit and still interested.

Indians Take 3-0 Series Lead

I like rooting for the underdog. Most of us do. We're one small step closer to a possible Indians/Cubs World Series. We'll have to watch and see if that happens.

Go Cubs! Go Cleveland!

Sports

I no longer fear Aaron Rodgers.

It's possible that by season's end, that will all change, but right now, he looks, acts and throws like a regular quarterback. A very average quarterback. As a result, the Packers are now just an average team.

Yesterday, the Dallas Cowboys went to Green Bay and made the once mighty Packers look like the Cleveland Browns. The Cowboys are now the team to fear in the NFC. Their rookie QB and rookie running back  are going to become two of the hottest stars in the league by season's end. They are close to it now. The Packers? Let's just say Green Bay fans everywhere are fearing this is the end of the road for their team. They might make the playoffs, but no one anywhere is thinking Super Bowl any more.

And they don't know what happened.

Baseball was cool yesterday. Clayton Kershaw, quite possibly the best pitcher in this era, the guy with all of the injury problems this season, threw a gem of a game yesterday. The ONLY thing that may knock the Cubs out of the playoffs this year is extraordinary pitching. Yesterday the Cubs saw that. 1-0 was the final. Great game.

The Lynx? They tied their series with the Sparks. One game left now either way. IN Minnesota.

Cam Newton? The Panthers are now 1-5. It was a great day of sports.

Baseball and Football

With the Casually Observing Wife spending most of the day with her siblings, I decided to watch more sports than normal. I saw significant portions of both baseball games and most of two college football games.

The baseball was pretty good. Cleveland continues to pitch great, while the Cubs game had all of its fireworks after I went to bed. The right teams won, so either way I'm happy.

The football wasn't as good. Number one Alabama had way too easy a time with number 9 Tennessee. And Stanford, who I thought was going to be real good this year, looked awful in beating an even worse Notre Dame team. I decided to skip number two Ohio State's game when the family reunion came to our house.

Best part of the day? The reunion. Food, family, and fun. That's hard to beat that.

I'm really looking forward to the Green Bay/Dallas game today. I normally root for Green Bay, but because they are THE division rival once again, I'm kind of pulling for Dallas and their rookie QB. I just hope it's a great game. It would kind of be nice to see Green Bay sitting at 3-2 at the end of the day, but a 4-1 Packer team would force the Vikings to stay on their toes.

It's fun to enjoy football this much again.

Baseball

I watched a bit more of the game last night. At least pitcher's duels are relatively fast. I'm rooting for a Cleveland/Chicago World Series.

I tried watching the Lynx game last night but it was just awful. Truly awful.

Football VS. Baseball

I tried watching baseball last night. I ended up watching football instead. San Diego dominating Denver was way more satisfying than a national league pitcher's duel. I think football has passed baseball in my mind as the sport to watch. The Twins had such a horrible season that they have destroyed baseball for me.

I even tried the Wild last night.  The Blues scored during a commercial break from football to take a 1-0 lead. That I actually saw a goal was amazing. That filled all my hockey needs for the season.

I'm ready for more football. Even with the Vikes in a bye week, the NFL and college football blows away anything else on the schedule.

Conor McGregor Says He'll No Longer Fight in Las Vegas

The Nevada State Athletic Commission fined Conor McGregor, possibly the UFC's biggest star, $150,000 for his part in the pre-fight press conference water bottle "fight" that occurred before his bout with Nate Diaz.

McGregor, smart business man that he is, has told Las Vegas, that because of that, he will never fight there again. Vegas casino owners are furious. They make A LOT of money off UFC in general and McGregor in particular, and they now are ticked at the commission.  Part of the charm of boxing and UFC IS there fighters taking jabs at each other before the fight. It's part of the marketing and hype. It gets fans interested.

My take? At least they didn't use metal folding chairs like the WWE.

McGregor can choose to fight where he wishes. If anything really serious ever occurred at these pre-fight conferences, the police would handle it. The commission has over-stepped its authority. As the Rock would say, "know your roll and shut your mouth."

Vikings Top ESPN Power Rankings

Just to show you how little these rankings really mean, the Vikings actually dropped a spot (from fourth to fifth) in last weeks's poll. That they are number one now is actually a little surprising, even if they are the only undefeated team left in the league.

At least it seems that media experts are starting to appreciate what the Vikings have accomplished thus far this season. The Patriots, with Tom Brady back, moved up from number 4 to number 2 this week.

Does any of this matter? Nope. At the end of the season, the best team will have all of its members wearing rings. The polls will be forgotten.

Skol Vikings!

Vikes Sign Jake Long

With a string of injuries, the Vikings O line needs some veteran help. They got it in the form of Jake Long yesterday. Long, a former number one draft pick says he's as healthy as he's been since 2010. At 31, and after a pair of ACL tears, no other team was risking signing him.

The Vikings decided to take the chance. They need healthy guys that can play the position. If he stays healthy, he really is one of the best in the business. He has the bye week to prepare for the Eagles wide-nine defense.

Cubs Win!

Wow.

After losing in 13 innings the night before, the Cubs scored FOUR runs in the top of the ninth and won 6-5.

As my dad used to say, "didn't look for that."

I went to bed thinking the game was over long before that ending. I guess I'll never learn.

Go Cubs!

Panthers Now 1-4

heh

Baseball

Baseball is a magical beast.

Travis Wood, a relief pitcher for the Cubs, hit a home run against the Giants in game two. Last night, Jake Arietta, one of the best pitchers in baseball, hit another home run for the Cubs. It was a three run shot that gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead early over the Giants. That's the first time two pitchers have homered in the same playoff series since 1924.

Baseball is also a finicky beast. Arietta left after the sixth with a 3-2 lead. But the Giants did not quit. Long story short: 13 innings. Giants won 6-5.

I was in bed by then.

I'm sure Giants fans rejoiced after 5 long hours. I'm also pretty sure most of America missed that ending.

Baseball, you see, is also a tiring beast.

And Then There Was One...

Five weeks into the season, and the NFL has just one remaining undefeated team.

The Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings defense certainly acted like the league's top defense yesterday, but Bradford is starting to look like one of its top quarterbacks as well, releasing the ball quickly and finding open receivers  accurately. His 70% completion percentage is certainly among  the league's best.

And still no interceptions.

Did I mention that they are now missing three of their five starting offensive linemen?

And yet the running game is far more effective now than when Peterson was playing. McKinnon and Asiata are not setting the world on fire, but they are getting first downs and keeping drives alive. Their average per carry may still be disappointing, but they are moving the ball forward.

Adam Thielen had a career day receiving and Marcus Sherels had another punt return for a touchdown. It was a real TEAM win. AGAIN.

And you have the idea that they are still going to get a lot better.

Skol Vikings! 

Diggs Out?

The Vikings will take the field today perhaps missing the services of another one of their top offensive stars.

This is pretty common for the Vikes this season. Eventually this will hurt the Vikings. We'll see if it has an impact today. Officially, he's listed as "doubtful." Coach Zimmer is only saying that he won't start, but he may play. His groin injury has been bothering him for a couple of weeks.

Skol Vikings!!!

Baseball

Much like the NFL, MLB is trying to get you to subscribe to their network. Yesterday's playoff games were there, and not on the normal "free" cable networks.

Baseball playoff games used to be on network television. Everyone with a TV could watch them for free. Baseball ratings were soaring.

Then cable TV bought the rights to some of the playoff games. Only cable or satellite subscribers could watch them IF they were were lucky enough to have those channels in their cable lineup. Baseball ratings suffered a bit, but baseball made more money.

Then all of the playoff games were on cable TV. None were left for free TV.

Now some of the games are just on the MLB premium subscription channel.

My guess is yesterday's playoff games were the worst watched ever.

I think I'll skip the next few games myself as a means of protest. Baseball used to be America's number one past time. MLB is gradually killing the interest of once rabid fans. Soon no one will care about baseball. And MLB won't understand what happened.

I'm just letting them know, if you do this during football season, you are real idiots. You've killed the national past time, one broadcast contract at a time.

Playoff Baseball

How many times have we seen this. No score. Late innings. One run will win the game.

BAM!

Javier Baez hit the homer last night for the Cubs.

1-0 was the final.

Pitching is SOOOO important this time of the year. And the Cubs pitching is as good as anybody's.

Go Cubs!

Baseball

I watched more football than baseball last night, but finally decided to watch regular TV (Blacklist) over either. I missed the three home runs in the third by Cleveland. If I'd have seen that inning, I'd probably would have watched more baseball.

The problem with so many nights of football? Not all games are created equal. The Niners in primetime? I don't think so.

Baseball

I went to bed last night with the score tied 0-0 in the ninth, and two runners on for the Giants.

Yes, I missed the 3-run, game winning  homer by about a minute.

Still, it's playoff baseball, and I'm starting to get into it.

Baseball

I only watched a couple of innings of last night's game. I stopped watching when a Toronto fan threw a full can of beer at an Orioles outfielder, just missing his head. The police said they couldn't find him as he left quickly after the incident.

This had better not catch on. The next time it happens, the outfield stands should be emptied and the fans sent home. This is serious business. Can you imagine fans, trying to "help" their team, throwing a couple dozen cans of full beer at an opposing outfielder while trying to make a catch? This has happened in Canada before.

Toronto did win the the game. I now have someone to root against in the playoffs.

So much for Canadian nice.

Vikes Win

I can't express how good it feels to see a good, confident Vikings team play football.

Mike Zimmer is the best coach we've had since Bud Grant. He knows this defense. He's got Norv Turner adjusting his offense for Sam Bradford. And everyone looks surprisingly comfortable. A team isn't suppose to look this good when they lose their starting quarterback and one of the best running backs in history.

But they do, and for the third week in a row, they've beaten some of the best quarterbacks in football. And in each game, OUR quarterback has looked better than theirs.

And McKinnon, Peterson's replacement? 18 carries for 85 yards. This team is starting to look very good. The offensive line is protecting Bradford and providing a running game.

The only guy that's hurting us right now is Blair Walsh. We all saw what happens when he misses in a close game. He's still having problems. Despite how good the team is, that's the one guy that could leave us hanging.

NFL

The ONLY game that matters this week is tonight.

New England looked awful yesterday. Pittsburgh looked unbelievable last night.

And the Panthers got beat again.

A good day of football. Only three undefeated teams left.

New England's Quarterback Today

That's going to be a game time decision.

Go Patriots!

Joakim Noah The Latest Idiot Sports Star

Joakim Noah did not join his team, the Knicks, at dinner when visiting West Point yesterday. His reason? He's against war. He respects the kids, but he can't figure out why kids have to kill kids around the world.

I don't make this stuff up.

This country is raising the greatest non-thinkers in our history. And for you young readers, I just want to clarify that is not an accomplishment despite the word "greatest" being used.

Loss 103 and Counting

Now I have a morbid fascination with the Twins season.

Notes

The Twins managed to win one last night. They are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Three games to go.

Football was on the NFL channel last night. The absolute worst place for games. Who subscribes to a premium channel just to get a handful of games a year?

For the first time in my adult life, I have no interest in the baseball playoffs this year. The Twins really sucked the baseball life out of me this season. Perhaps I'll start following the Cubs. Their pitching has been amazing this year.

Vikings Move Up to Fourth in ESPN Poll

Only 5 teams remain undefeated after week 3. Denver passed New England in the number one slot. How much does this mean? Nothing. But for any Minnesota team not named Lynx, at least it gives us  fans something to smile about.

Loss 102

Four games to go for the Twins.

sigh

Chuckle of the Day

"Records"

The Twins' record this season now gives them  next year's number one draft pick.

Also, Dozier's 42 home runs is the most anyone has ever hit for a team that has lost 100 games or more.

Vikings

The game was played in two parts yesterday.

The first ten minutes was all Panthers. They took a 10-0 lead and were dominating. The rest of the game? All Vikings. The defense and special teams made the second quarter work. And in the second half the Vikings offense started to roll.

It was an amazing team performance, on the road, against one of the best teams in the league. The running backs weren't great, but they moved the ball forward, something that was clearly missing the first two weeks of the season.

Once the Vikings got that lead, it was the defense that simply took over. 8 sacks and three INTs against Cam Newton. One of the best performances I have ever witnessed.

Go Vikings!

The Twins? Loss number 100 with 6 games to go. 102 losses in a season is their record. At this point, it looks like we're going to smash that record.

sigh

Panthers Game Declared "Extraordinary Event"

I just love how American media treats rioting and peaceful protests the same exact way. A BLACK police officer killed A BLACK man in an apartment complex parking lot on Tuesday night and rioting and looting broke out shortly thereafter.

I'm not even going to question the mindset of this. We, as a society, have now determined that this is acceptable, NORMAL behavior, ignoring the fact that if anyone else did this worldwide we'd consider it uncivilized.

Why is this happening? Even the people doing it, when interviewed, can't give any kind of consistent answer.

And now the Vikings game WILL be played there today because city officials have declared it "safe."

You see, they've hired "extra security."

Until government officials in this country, of all colors and creeds, declare this type of activity "criminal," and treat it as such, it's only going to get worse. The legal protests are being used as a smokescreen by lawless dissenters to do whatever illegal activity they want. And they are getting away with it.

Peaceful legal protests are one thing. And it is their right. Anything else should be treated differently.

I'm going to declare it something else.  These are domestic acts of terrorism. The perpetrators and their leaders should be treated as such.

I don't see how these situations are any different than the Oklahoma City bombings. No one has been killed yet, but it won't be long. This is violence for the sake of violence. It is done by motivated, misinformed, parties with deep seeded political agendas. It's our own local home-gown version of ISIS.

And we're letting it happen.

Somehow we think this type of reaction is understandable.  It's time for us to start thinking more clearly and to start acting more decisively. Hillary and Donald should both get on the same page here. And Colin Kaepernick and all of HIS follows and imitators should do the same thing. Rioting is not going to bring about positive results. Looting is not going to bring us closer together as people. It's only going to bring about a larger divide in an ever growing schism of radical, untempered thought. And its only going to cause bigger, longer term conflict. Generations of conflict. Each worse than previous generations.

We are sitting on a bombshell of society breakup. And we act like its all going to blow over.

It's not. And I wouldn't let the Vikings play anywhere near it.

Realistically, I KNOW things can't change. Political parties have been playing groups of people off one other for millennia. You see, if you're poor, it's the rich person's fault. You need to take more of their money to be happy. If you're black, it's the white people's fault. You need to take something from them to achieve societal balance. If you're Muslim, it's the Jews fault, or the Christians, or...

The list goes on and on. You see, that's what humans do. We don't live in a Star Trek society. We don't evolve past are baser, seedier roots. In reality we just get better at playing each other off one another. That's how political leaders get their power. That's how the truly successful political leaders KEEP their power. Especially when you have political pawns like Colin Kaepernick unwittingly  doing their masters bidding. People aren't naturally good. They never have been. They never will be. When someone achieves a level of success or power you see that. Most demonstrate it all along.

You've heard the saying, "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

In reality, we are all corrupt. The more power we possess, the more it shows.

Kevin Garnett Retires Quietly

The Timberwolves bought out the remainder of Garnett's contract so that he could retire. He came back to work with coach Saunders, but when Saunders died, it kind of put everyone in a difficult situation. KG was one of the NBA's all-time greats, but 21 seasons was enough.

Patriots 3rd-String Quarterback Has Injury

Jacoby Brisset needs surgery on his right thumb to fix a torn ligament. No one knows, at this point, when that surgery will happen. The Patriots are being as secretive as ever. Jimmy Garoppolo, their second-string quarterback is "making progress" on his shoulder injury, injured week one. No one knows if he'll be ready by next week's game either, or if he'll need surgery. As usual, the Patriots aren't saying.

Brady has one more game of waiting, either way.

Julian Edelman, the Patriots star receiver, played quarterback at Kent State. Most assume he's next on the depth charts for the Patriots. The Patriots, when asked, aren't saying.

I'm starting to like Belichick more and more.

Dozier Hits Number 42

The Twins lose double header.

sigh

Patriots Win 27-0 With Third-String QB

Your number one quarterback suspended  on trumped up charges? Simply play your second-string quarterback and go 2-0. Your second team quarterback gets hurt? Simply play your third team guy, and shutout the previously undefeated Texans.

Bill Belichick has never lost a regular season game at home in which he has held the lead at halftime. That's something like 75-0. He wins about 4 of every 5 games there. And it doesn't seem to matter who his quarterback is.

Pro football has never seen his kind of genius. They even have to make up new rules to stop his brand of play. They can't even slow him down when they suspend key players for perceived, but unproven wrongs.

Go Patriots.

Except, of course, whenever you play the Vikes.

In the battle of Belechick vs. Goodell, the commissioner is utterly defenseless.

The Crack of the Bat

Peterson Also Has Ligament Tear

Though none of the damage is considered severe, it will take awhile to heal after his surgery today. The Vikings will go with the same two backs (Asiata and McKinnon) who replaced Peterson a couple years ago when he missed the whole season. They have also added former Denver running back Ronnie Hillman who had nearly 900 yards rushing last year. He's only 25.

Their performance this year will determine how the Vikings view Peterson when he returns. His new contract demands a lot if the Vikings choose to keep him. For those wondering, Peterson is still over 6,000 yards away from Emmit Smith's all-time career record.  No one expects him to play long enough to break it. Even Peterson was talking about its time to think about winding down his career, and that was before the season started.

Power Rankings

By beating the number ONE Packers last week, the Vikes moved up to number 7 in ESPN's power rankings. This week's opponent, the Carolina Panthers, are number FOUR, and they have averaged over 40 points in their last seven home games.

The Panthers don't seem as good as last year's team, but the Vikes haven't given us enough games this year to see how good or bad they really are either. Losing your top quarterback and running back by week number three can puts a damper on your upward mobility.

Rankings are just a shot in the dark at this point, as demonstrated by Green Bay last week.

Go Vikings.

Peterson Has Torn Meniscus

He could have quick surgery and be back in a few weeks by simply having them shave off the tear OR have it fixed and the let it heal, in which case he will most likely miss the whole season. The longer term option gives him the chance at a longer career, but at 31 how many more years does he have in him?

This decision will affect how much money he can make in the next 3-4 years.

From a fan's stand point, I would love to see him to take the long term approach just so we could develop a real running game without him. He is not the back he used to be for quite sometime now. No one is willing to admit that in the media, but it's pretty obvious to those who have watched him his entire career.

It's highly unlikely that he will have another season as good as last year ever again. Our schemes might be better served by having blocking backs protect our quarterback, with an occasional run up the middle and screens. Just like other teams in the league. Focusing on Peterson  allows other defenses to put way too much pressure up the middle.

That hurts everyone.

We'll see what the Vikes come up with in the next couple of weeks. Preseason showed us we have some good, fast YOUNG backs in our system. Now it's time to figure out how best to use them effectively.

Vikings Beat the Pack!!!!!!

Sam Bradford was incredible in his debut for the Vikings last night. 287 yards on 22 for 31 passing. No INTs and two touchdowns. He took care of the ball with long and short tosses. The Vikings had 13 first downs last night. 11 were through the air.

The Viking defense stripped Aaron Rodgers of the ball three times last night. It's true that they only recovered one of those fumbles, but if the ball had bounced a little differently it could have even bigger win. Green Bay only had 65 yards in the first half. Their biggest play was a blocked punt.

Stephon Diggs had 182 yards receiving last night. He leads the league in that category after two weeks.

Jeff Lock's punting had the Packers starting their drives inside the 20 all night long.

Adrian Peterson was worse this week than last and left with a knee injury late in the third quarter. Early reports are that it is minor.

The Vikings clearly were the better team last night. That came as a surprise. Bradford exceeded even the most optimistic fan's expectations.

Go Vikings!!!

Mr. Olympia

I watched the posing routines of the finalists last night but grew tired when they threw in another couple of competitions in between the posing and the finals. It truly is a miss-mash way of showing a competition.

I went to bed only to discover that Phil Heath won his sixth title in an article this morning. I also found out that the Rock is bigger than everyone else in the competition when he announced that his production company bought the rights to next year's broadcast and that it will be shown on the CBS Sports channel.

Vikings/Packers Tonight

This would be a much bigger game if the Vikings had their first string quarterback. As it stands right now, the Pack is a huge favorite even though the game is going to be played at the Vikings brand new stadium.

Despite coach Zimmer's best intentions to keep the starting quarterback a secret, most assume that Sam Bradford will start the game. If he doesn't, everyone will assume Zimmer is an idiot just to trick the Packers.

Bradford got most of the snaps in practice this week and has pronounced himself ready. Vikings fans want him to be really good, but know his history. Me? I iust want Adrian Peterson to run forward when he touches the ball, because if he doesn't it's going to be a really long night and I'll be going to bed early.

Olympia

I watched most of the first round prejudging last night with my brother, the expert, visiting from California. It was enjoyable and informative.

Even a casual viewer like myself could pick out the top guys from those who are merely participants.

The finals are tonight. I probably won't stay up as late to watch them, but I'll at least watch some of it. I find it fascinating that people can get this big and still not be as good as others.

Dozier Now Has 98 RBI

AND....

The Twins WON!!!

Good pitching.

Go Twins!!

Dozier: Number 41, Now At 96 RBI

Yes, the Twins lost.

Olympia Weekend

For my bodybuilding enthusiasts:

Twins Win!

Lots of hitting. Good pitching. Only 29 1/2 games out of first with 17 games to play.

I just want them to win 63 on the season to avoid 100 losses.

Go Twins!

Twins Cast-Off David Ortiz Hits Career Homer 536, Ties Mantle

Just another of the stellar Twins decisions made over the years...

Dozier Hits Number 40!!

AND...

the Twins lost 4-2.

Go Dozier!!!

Twins: 5 Hits, 4 Errors

Wow.

Is it Time for Peterson to Retire?

I'm thrilled that the Viking's defense found a way to win yesterday, but let's face it, the team isn't going to get two touchdowns from the defense every week. Adrian Peterson was back to his old form yesterday, stutter-stepping when he got the ball and generally looking like a goof as he got tackled behind the line of scrimmage on play after play.

If he just would have ran forward at first, and hit the holes with a little speed he could have had SOME yardage. As it is, he was absolutely pathetic. 19 carries: 31 yards.

This is what I thought he was going to be like last season. It's time for him to step aside and let younger, smarter backs have their playing time. He may have some speed left, but that stupid sideways stumbling has become the norm.

Vikings

I have no idea how the season will go this year. While both Hill and Bradford are perfectly adequate NFL quarterbacks, they aren't Teddy Bridgewater.

What made Teddy special was his short passing game. He connected on 75% of them last year. THAT'S what kept the pressure off Adrian Peterson and the running game. Neither Hill nor Bradford have shown that ability. Without that short passing efficiency the Vikings are going to be a very different team.

Since most games decided among good NFL teams are decided by less than a touchdown, the difference between winning and losing is often a few extra plays of ball control.

The best stat in football for determining winners? Add the total rushing attempts by a team to their pass completions. The team with the most wins the vast, vast majority of the time.

That's what ball control is. If you're just a little bit worse at it, it will reflect in your final record. The Vikes should finish at .500 or better this year as long as neither quarterback suffers from turnovers. But, we're not going to be as good without Teddy,

I'm just hoping that Bradford and his $13 million dollar contract suddenly remembers how to be a great quarterback again, like he was in college.

And that everyone else can stay healthy.

CM Punk

CM Punk quit WWE a couple of years ago to become a UFC fighter.  He said this is where he belongs, he's never looking back.

Last night was his much awaited debut in a UFC match.

He was taken to the ground, clubbed like a baby seal for about a minute, and then quickly tapped out. All along people said there was no way he could make the transition to UFC.

It couldn't have went worse for him. I'm not even sure he'll get another chance.

I don't mind Punk being gone from the WWE, but he took AJ Lee, his wife, with him when he left. I miss watching her.

Him? Not so much.