Best Vs. Worst

Golden State went against the 76ers last night. You just knew what was going to happen. Right?

Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Golden State got off to a huge first half lead, BUT with 30 seconds left in the game, Philadelphia had come all the way back to tie it, easily outplaying Curry and the Warriors the entire second half.

Golden State DID end up winning, but it was not pretty. The lowly Sixers, probably the only team in the league worse than the Wolves, almost did the impossible last night.

Their future might be brighter than most people think.

The Warriors are now 43-4 on the season.
The Sixers? 7-41, but they are 3-7 in their last 10.The Wolves, by comparison are 2-8 in their last 10.

College Basketball

My nephew, Carter, is 6 foot 10 and plays for Northern State. They played Minnesota State in Mankato last night and even though Northern State lost in double overtime, it was an amazing game.

The final score? 119-115!!!! It seemed like neither team could miss and that includes the three-point attempts. This side of the Golden State Warriors, I've never seen so many players shooting so incredibly well. Checking the box score this morning, I noticed Carter's team was shooting 80% (8-10) from 3-point territory in the second half. That stat includes a 3-pointer by Carter  at the end of regulation that sent the game into its first OT.

I didn't know small colleges could do this. It was absolutely mind-blowing.

Illegal Activity

Remember last year where a couple high school football players tackled a referee from behind because they were instructed to do so by an assistant coach?

Well now, an NHL player, Dennis Wildman, has been suspended for doing the same thing to an NHL lineman. Watch the video if you can find it.

He should be fired. Charged with assault. And sued by the linesman he assaulted for all he's worth. I've always said that the NHL version of hockey was more thuggery than sport. The NHL can finally prove me wrong by taking a hardline stance against this type of brutal attack.

I don't expect them to, but if they don't, there will be a next time. And the next time these league officials will be without excuse. The linesman who was assaulted by Wildman should include the league officials in his suit. They are responsible for his safety. Suspensions are not enough in this case. Criminal goons should not be allowed on the ice. They should be behind bars.

Something Different

This isn't about sports. I'll warn you about that right away.

But this series of events is happening even as I type this. I have a close friend who shared this with me last week. This friend has a brother. The story involves this brother's daughter, my friend's niece and her family.

Imagine you are a law-abiding citizen with a spotless arrest record.  You've never been in trouble with the law in any way. Your reputation has never been questioned by friends or neighbors, but something awful happens. Your house is broken into, not once but TWICE is one week.

In the course of the investigation, the police find a gun in your house. It's registered, all the paperwork is up-to-date, the bullets are stored somewhere else. In other words, everything is fine. At least you think it's fine.

But what would YOU do if the police contact social services and THEY start proceedings against you to take your children away solely on the basis of finding a LEGALLY-OWNED GUN, STORED PROPERLY in your house.

And remember this house WAS broken into by real crooks twice in one week. They had bought the gun sometime back for the same reason most families have a gun. Protection. Just in case something unthinkable happens.

That's the situation the niece's family is facing right now. I really don't care where anyone reading this stands on gun control, but you have to admit that our society has went more than a little overboard on the issue. There is now an obsession by law enforcement, based on Washington sentiment, to make owning guns a crime in itself. The state where this particular series of events is taking place is one of the most restrictive in the nation when it comes to owning guns.

They are currently sending a message to legal gun owners hoping to make them re-think their need to own guns, by applying this type of legal pressure. This isn't a hypothetical situation. This is really happening. Right now.

No matter what happens in this case, the family will now have a police and social services record. That's how these things work. That way, if something like this "happens" again, they'll be able to produce a record of questionable/illegal activity with the family.

And there is no guarantee the current situation will go their way. They're still living  the current nightmare.

Walt Williams

Former White Sox outfielder Walt Williams died Saturday, age 72.

He wasn't a great player but he managed to be in the majors for about 10 years. He's best known for his nickname: "No-Neck"

That and his answer to WHY he was called "No-Neck".

Williams, "Cuz I got no neck."

Classic.

Twins Thoughts

With Plouffe avoiding  arbitration by signing a deal Monday, the Twins have shown that they are serious about trying to play Sano in the outfield this upcoming season. The last time someone played in the outfield regularly and weighed over 250 pounds? That would be Frank Howard for the Senators over 40 years ago. And the Senators had him playing first base shortly thereafter.

Of course, the Twins don't have that option. Park will be their DH for the foreseeable future and Mauer will be their first baseman. One of the reasons the Twins kept Plouffe is because Sano didn't have great third baseman skills either. IF Sano is awful in the outfield, the Twins will be forced to reconsider all of that. Sano is built for first base or DH. The Twins have too much personnel and money there already, so they are dealing with the situation as best as they can.

I don't believe the results will be pretty. If Sano, Park, and Mauer have 100 home runs between them this season, we won't care that much. W e should, but we won't.

Curry and Warriors Beat San Antonio By 30

Wow.

Of course the NBA showed the game on their own network so no one could watch it.

Stupid. Just stupid.

Football

The Denver/New England game was very good. The Brady/Gronkowski connection was incredible to watch toward the end.

Cam Newton destroyed the Cardinals.

As much as I want to see Manning win one more Super Bowl, I don't see it happening.

A while back I was talking about the current best team in all of sports. Including the end of last season, and the playoffs this year I believe the Panthers are now 22-1 in their last 23 games. I think I'll give them the nod now over Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

I've never seen a team so dominant in the playoffs. They're already the clear odds on favorites in the Super Bowl. I've been reading articles not about "who" will win the game, but by how much the Panthers will win it. That's the real betting odds in Vegas.

Two more weeks and we'll all find out.

Sunday Photo

A jobless, homeless man sleeping beneath the security of the Arnold statue.

Hey! Isn't that ...

Football

I'm getting excited about tomorrow's games. Palmer vs. Newton in a battle of the leagues best scoring machines. Manning vs. Brady in the battle between two of the top QBs of all-time, perhaps for the last time ever.

IF I had a preference I would love to see Manning ride off into the sunset with his second Super Bowl title. I also wouldn't mind seeing Brady with his FIFTH Super Bowl ring, especially with Goodell forced  to hand him the trophy.

Hacking

A common practice in the NBA nowadays is hacking an opposing player who can't shoot free throws to get the ball back. Teams don't like doing this in the remaining two minutes of the game anymore because it's an automatic two shots. Earlier, they might just get and miss one.

A guy ( I don't remember his name but I think it was Drummond) was fouled 5 times in the first two minutes of the second half the other night. He was fouled by the other team's worst bench player all five times. The strategy worked. The team that did all the fouling didn't win, but they were back in the game rather quickly, erasing a huge halftime deficit.

The discussion the last few days was should this kind of deliberate fouling be allowed as strategy or should the NBA change their rules based on a few really bad free throw shooters. They are afraid this kind of deliberate fouling will turn off viewers and affect ratings.

Personally, one of the reasons I hate watching the NBA, is all the fouling and timeouts in the last two minutes of close games. If the last 2 minutes didn't last 20 minutes to a half hour, I'd probably be more inclined to watch more games. As it is now, it's all about timeouts and "strategy" rather than actually playing.

My solution? Anytime a player is fouled, the offended team gets the ball. No more free throws. Ever. That way the offending team never gets an advantage from fouling the other team. The game will be cleaner and faster. There won't be so may game stoppages, and nobody will have to sit through a professional player's on-court inadequacies.

Yes, it will be a totally different game, but so what? A BETTER game will result.

Now, let's talk about 4 players on the court for each team instead of five. The game could be so much better...

History

The NFL has made history. Kathryn Smith has been named by the Buffalo Bills as their Special Teams Quality Coach. The first woman to ever have a full-time coaching job in the NFL. I still haven't found out exactly what she will do, but she will have "various responsibilities" while working with the other two special teams coaches ranked higher than her on the team.

I guess it's a real position because she is replacing someone else who previously had the position.

I just find it weird that no one can tell me what exactly she will do and is what she will be responsible for.

Kind of like Brad Childress I guess.

Last month the Seattle Mariners hired Amanda Hopkins as a full-time area scout, something no woman has done since the 1950's. Personally, I think that's way cooler.

Partly because I know what that is.

Congrats to both.

Current TV

With no baseball yet, and the Vikings done, my wife and I have been sampling a variety of TV shows the last few weeks.

My conclusion: Most shows are too bleak to bother with. We watched USA Network's Mr. Robot  based on it winning Best Drama at the Golden Globe Awards. I'll never watch any more episodes of this show. Writers today don't seem to understand that you need someone to root for. That show only had villains and victims, and by the time it was all over, you weren't really sure which was which. The "heroes" solution to the problem was far worse than the status quo. And the writers were too dumb or too ignorant to even see that.

That's the same problem with most of the new shows. The Expanse, and Shades of Blue are other  examples of this ongoing problem. If the heroes are so flawed or compromised that you can't root for them, it leaves a totally unsatisfying taste in your mouth. If they are merely (maybe?) a little less villainous than those they are fighting, what's the point?

Agent Carter's second season debuted last night. It was such a breath of fresh air. There were protagonists and there were antagonists. And they had mature human relationships that didn't give them the personalities of spoiled twelve year-olds. You had a rooting interest.

I make fun of my brother for watching reruns of Dragnet all the time. But, I get it. Sometimes the characters have to choose between good and evil. They can't always be riding the fence or crossing the line. You need heroes.

There's enough bleakness in the world. Most modern day writers can't seem to figure out what mature, loving relationships look like. Perhaps they've never had one. It's no wonder their worldview is so dark and depressing.

Golden State

Everybody was wondering if Stephen Curry and the Warriors had ran out of steam after unexpectedly getting beat by Detroit this last weekend.

That would be no.

Last night they faced LeBron at Cleveland and they beat them 132-98. They had a 43 point lead at one point and then started resting their starters. San Antonio looks like the biggest threat to Golden State this season as they continue to roll over everyone as well.

But Cleveland?

Let's just say, they didn't offer much resistance last night.

Football

When the season started I picked Green Bay, Denver, and New England as my three favorite teams for the conference finals. Green Bay came so close. Denver will face New England next week.

I didn't see the Cardinals being good enough. I still don't. I'm anxious to see how Cam performs in the NFC championship game .

What I'm really interested in? The X-Files coming back after next week's NFC game on Fox.

Green Bay

Wow.

It's too bad someone had to lose.

OT after a  Hail Mary that ties the game.

And a controversial coin toss and catch in the OT. This loss was more maddening than the Vikings' missed field goal attempt last week.

I feel for the Packers and their fans. I've always said officials determine the outcome of close games more than the players. This is just another example.

I've also decided that OT game rules are simply unfair, especially in the playoffs.

EACH team should get the ball at least once for a drive. IF it's still tied after that, they can continue until someone scores.  It would limit the ability of bad/iffy ref calls from determining winners.

Arbitration Negotiation Going Well

This is the time of year when the Twins try to avoid arbitration by giving their players a little less than they are asking for. Tommy Milone signed Thursday. Eduardo Nunez, Eduardo Escobar, and Casey Fien  signed Friday. And they are continuing their talks with Trevor Plouffe and Kevin Jepsen. The Twins rarely let it come down to the actual arbitration number, so expect to see both signed to a new contract any day now.

The Twins are experts at avoiding spending too much money.

Wolves Now 12-29 at Half-Way Mark

Another horrible start to another horrible season.

Tyler Duffy

With the Vikings season over, NCAA football done, and no pro football until tomorrow, I thought I'd talk baseball again. Specifically, Twins pitching.

Tyler Duffy threw 58 innings for the Twins last season in 10 starts. His final ERA was 3.10.

You can see why the Twins  and Twins' fans are high on him.

So why am I writing this blog? Well, as long as you ask, there appears to be one glaring potential problem with him. I'm not saying there IS a problem, but I see one developing in the not-too-distant future: Arm trouble.

Minors included, Duffy threw a total of 196 innings last year, so he obviously has what it takes to throw in the majors.The problem is pitch selection based on his capabilities. He has a fastball clocked in the low-nineties, and by major league standards that's a little less than you'd hope for. Because of that pitch he relies on his curve ball A LOT, probably too much. His ratio last year was 58 percent fastball, 40 percent curve, and only 2 percent change-up.

Only ONE regular starter in the majors last year threw over 30% curveballs and that was Jose Quintana of the White Sox and he was 30.9%. There's a few relief specialists who have a higher percentage but they don't throw anywhere near the number of pitches or innings as a major league starter.

There's a reason why starters don't throw curves that often. It causes arm problems and shortens or destroy careers. Bert Blyleven says that stat is nonsense, but if you look at Bert, he is the ONLY exception to that rule in all of major league history. He threw 278 innings for the Twins when he was only 20 years old. He threw the curve better and more often than perhaps anyone in baseball history as well. He pitched into his late 30's before experiencing ANY arm trouble. But there literally is no one else in the history of baseball like him.

Everyone else who threw curve balls that often didn't last long. Duffy's selection percentage is probably not sustainable unless he turns out to be another Bert. History is not on his side.

Golden State Loses

It's amazing. A team that makes headlines just because they lose. Last night they rested one of their main starters, Draymond Green, and as a result Curry and Co. lost by TWO in Denver.

Golden States current record is 36-3 almost half way through the season.

Los Angeles Rams

The name has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? After all this time, I'll finally have their name right again. It took me forever to remember to say St. Louis Rams after they moved from L.A. the first time. Now I simply have to revert back to old habits.

If only the Cardinals would move back to St. Louis I'd be set. I hear St. Louis is looking is looking for a new team.

Seriously, when things like this happen, the team that leaves should remain the home team for T.V. coverage purposes forever. In  other words, every single Rams games should be shown in the St. Louis area even if the team moves to L.A.  It's their team, too. It would sure soften the blow for the millions of Rams fans that are forced to give up their team, simply to accommodate greedy owners.

It's the least the league could do. And it would build goodwill for the future.

Ethics in Baseball

Last week, Chris Correa, former scouting director of the Cardinals, pleaded guilty in Federal Court to repeatedly hacking into the Houston Astro database to look at their scouting reports and priorities.

What's weird is that he used to be an employee of the Astros. And he just kept on using the password he always used when he was an employee there since the Astros never changed it,

EVEN if this was probably unethical, this is hacking only in the broadest sense of the word. It would be like an ex knowing your Facebook, email, or Netflix password and continuing to use it. At some point, the wronged individual, if they care enough about the information really should change their passwords. If nothing else, it shows they think what they are protecting has value.

But the Cardinals and Federal Courts feel differently. He was fired from the Cardinals when they found out and now he's been convicted of a federal crime for doing it. In a society that uses passwords to access accounts all the time this seems harsh. I'm not saying it wasn't wrong, but did they have to make a federal case out of it?

Correa has no special computer hacking skills. He didn't spend days breaking in through secured servers. He just kept using the password that the Astros GAVE him.

Anyway, it gets weirder. Even though the Cardinals never knew that their director was doing it, now the courts have to decide how much of a penalty they have to pay because Correa used that information to benefit his organization.

The dollar amount has been set at $1.7 million. BUT it may cost them draft picks as well. Even though the organization, as a whole, had no idea that Correa was using his password for such nefarious work.

My question is this: How much of this mess was the Astros fault? IF you give the keys to you car to someone and they use it once in a while is it all THEIR fault for driving it?

None of this would have happened if the Astros would regularly change their passwords. They have to be accountable as well.

Please listen to what I'm saying here. I don't think it's a family's fault if their house is broken into. BUT if you give someone the KEYS to your front door often enough, don't be surprised if one of your friends comes in and eats your cookies.

Saban Gets Fourth National Title in Last Seven Years

Bear Bryant never had to  win a final game at the end of the season. He let the writers vote him a title at the end of the year. That's how it worked back then. And he was awarded 6 of them. It was more of an MVP vote.

Nick Saban does it the hard way. He has to actually beat another great team on the field after having had a great season to even get to that championship game. Last night, he did something a little different. Clemson was matching them score for score. They were every bit as good as Alabama. He needed to do something different.

With the score tied late, he attempted an onside kick just to KEEP Clemson from having it. It worked. And they went on to win 45-40.

And he EARNED his fourth title in 7 years by doing that. The Alabama legacies of both Bryant and Saban are now cemented in time. For their eras none have been greater.

Did I mention it was a great game?

Well, THAT Was Disappointing

The Vikings used the cold to totally dominate the first three quarters of yesterday's game. They didn't score much but they scored. The cumulative affect of three plays in the fourth quarter changed the outcome of the game.

1) The ball that got away from Wilson that inexplicably turned into a huge play.
2) The Peterson Fumble
3) The missed Field Goal at the end.

If any ONE of those plays had went differently, the Vikings still would have won.

As it is, I didn't even blink when Walsh missed that last kick. My wife and I have been groomed by years of disappointing Minnesota sports to expect this sort of thing.

We both said, before the attempt, that he was going to miss, knowing full well that he would.

WE ultimately knew that with the season on the line that Adrian Peterson would fumble the ball somehow and that Walsh would would miss a short, easy kick. That's just what they do.

The Good News? My Packers won. They reverted back to expected form as well. With the season on the line, they did what they do best and are known for as well. They became the winners they knew they are.

The Vikings? Let's just say they're from Minnesota and leave it at that.

Football

The fourth quarter of last night's last game was the only thing interesting about football yesterday. And that was only because of Big Ben's injury and the Bengal's stupid penalties.

I'm hoping for a great game with the Vikes today and the Pack later tonight.

I fully expect both to lose, but you never know. That's why we watch.

Wolves Lose Fifth Straight

and 9 out of their last 10.

It doesn't matter that the Wolves young players are scoring. Last night they lost by 26. The Wolves fans didn't even boo the returning Kevin Love much last night. They've lost their enthusiasm, too.

Minnesota hasn't had a good NBA team since the Lakers were here.

Marshawn Lynch Will Not Play Sunday

After a full week of practice, It was determined that Marshawn Lynch will not play Sunday for the Seahawks. He has not recovered enough from his late season abdominal surgery. That leaves Seattle with a couple of very inexperienced backs for the game.

Playoffs start today. So does the brutally cold weather here in Minnesota. That's a good recipe for staying at home and watching football.

Former Twins

Denard Span signed a three-year deal with the Giants worth $31 million.

Josmil Pinto, who was let go by the Twins a couple months back, has now been designated for assignment by the Brewers. The Padres signed him first but decided they didn't want him either. It appears no team wants him on their 40-man roster.

WWE

I've been harping about Vince's entertainment franchise as of late, but part of the problem is the rash of major injuries. Daniel Bryan is out on a concussion protocol. Randy Orton and Cesaro are out with shoulder surgeries. Seth Rollins tore both major ligaments in his right knee and now John Cena is going to be out for at least six months because of major shoulder surgery.

The biggest problem is that Vince has never developed an interesting undercard to take their place. He's trying to get fans interested in new wrestlers now because he has no choice, but fans remember how poorly these guys were pushed before and they just aren't interested. Vince has told us by those poor pushes that they are not his best, now he wants us to cheer them as is they are.

Wrestling is an acquired taste. And most fans follow the bosses lead on most storylines, but those times are changing and Vince is finding it tough sledding against his more vocal fan base. Over time the WWE will recover, but Vince has a huge chance to build bigger, better stars for tomorrow now that so many of his franchise players are missing.  Roman Reigns is not a long term solution.

Having them all win and lose equally just isn't going to cut it. He's got to make a few of these guys unbeatable for awhile. He's pushing guys he sees as entertaining more than those who look good in the ring, and that's leaving the product look uninteresting. New Day gets far too much screen time in relation to their talent. And Luke Harper is far more interesting in the ring than Bray Wyatt. Vince is making poor choices and he has been for months. The product is just plain hard hard to look at right now, and that is a direct result of those choices and not the injuries to his major aging stars.

99.3%

Three didn't vote for Griffey out of approximately 450 writers. He'll be the top percentage for awhile. There's no one else like Griffey to vote for.

What surprised me the most is that Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, even with potentially tainted pasts, got around 45% of the vote. Both have admitted steroid use, but both have said they were unaware of their trainer giving it to them until after the fact. At least for those two, the writers are getting more sympathetic.

Of Cold Weather and Home Fields

The temperature of this Sunday's Vikings game is predicted to be around ZERO. That would make it one of the five coldest games of all time. I think Green Bay and Minnesota have all of the other records in that category, too.

The Vikings have played outside in the cold two weeks in a row. The pampered Seattle players rarely face any cold temperature games. Playing at the Bank the last two seasons has actually given the Vikings something they haven't seen since the days of the old Metropolitan Stadium, an advantage based on playing outside in the cold.

Will it help? Who knows?

I heard a stat the other day that said Peyton Manning is 1-7 in the playoffs when playing in temperatures under 40 degrees.  So it clearly affects some quarterbacks who rely on their passing game. The Vikings don't have much of a passing game. Wilson, on the other hand, this season has become one of the league's elite passers.

It certainly should make the game closer than it otherwise would be. It's just one more thing to think about.

Hall of Fame

Baseball's newest members to the hallowed halls will be announced today. After all of these years, no player has ever made it on 100% of the ballots. Tom Seaver got over 98% when he made it, but even a few writers failed to vote for him.

It could be different this year. 145 voters were dropped because they no longer cover the sport. Baseball is trying to weed out the curmudgeons that only vote for one or two players even when many more deserve it. And then they use those votes for the underdogs figuring the favorites will make it without their votes.

It's a nice strategy BUT it goes against the basic idea of the hall. You want people to recognize the very BEST. Ken Griffey Junior and his 630 home runs  is eligible this year. Many think he could become the first 100% ballot player ever. He deserves it of course, but there's going to be some writer somewhere who doesn't vote for him.

My suggestion would be to grade the sportswriters themselves based on their vote. If they don't vote for Griffey, remove them from the panel of eligible voters next year. You want the best writers voting for the best players. It's only fair.

The integrity of the game is at stake.

Vikings

"When the Twins consistently made the playoffs year after year but always had to play the Yankees in the first round." That's how I feel about the Vikings right now. I am so glad that they won the division but no one gives them a chance of going farther.

And it's weird. I don't seem to mind. NO ONE gave the Vikings the nod at winning the division before the season began either. I was hoping for a middle of the pack, .500 season. That they exceeded that by a large margin makes me positively giddy, but one of the reasons this season went so differently for us is that Green Bay was not the Green Bay team we expected either.

Both the Vikings and Packers are in the playoffs, but at this point, neither looks like a threat to win the NFC title. Packer fans, after years of unfettered success, have to be disappointed. They know Green Bay isn't going to win it all this year. They'd settle for a first round win.

Vikings fans are just excited to be in the playoffs. They'll want more NEXT year. They've exceeded all expectations for this year so anything else will just be gravy.

One last look at the FINAL standings:

Manning

Denver, in desperation last night, brought Peyton Manning off the bench.

The results were spectacular. Denver now has home-field advantage throughout the play-offs. And Denver fans are delighted.

Manning looked pretty sharp last night now that his foot is healing, and he has a couple of more weeks of healing ahead of him. With other AFC teams looking pretty average as of late, they are starting to look like the team to beat.

Go Manning. Go Broncos!

Vikings

The electricity went off at our house last night at the end of third quarter.

By the time it came back on 38 minutes later I was already in bed. I figured I either missed a Green Bay comeback or a Minnesota win. In either case I stayed in bed and checked the highlights this morning. I didn't want to have to wake up again either way.

The Packers are not the team we once feared.

That team is now Seattle, and by winning that game last night, the Vikings now have a much harder game next week than Green Bay does. In the back of my mind I always knew that would happen. But getting to the Super Bowl  is never easy. Carolina, Arizona, and Seattle are the best teams in the NFC this season and we'll probably have to beat all of them to play for the prize.

It's nice that we're still playing. It's nice to win the division. But winning it all is the reason you play.  The Vikings don't look like much when they are winning, but they win.

I dread next week's matchup against a red-hot Seattle team, but it sure beats not having a home playoff game next week. Or no play-off game at all.

Go Vikes!

And good job Green Bay. You took the easy way out. That's not a bad place to be in, either. It may actually prove the smarter route to the Super Bowl.

Vikings/Packers

This is so weird. Both teams are already in the play-offs. Today's game will still determine the division championship and the right to host a home game in the first playoff round next week, BUT that isn't nearly as important as already knowing each will be playing next week anyway.

I won't make any predictions. A few weeks ago, against Green Bay, the Vikings self-destructed early. Matt Kalil had a holding penalty on the first play of the game, and it all went south after that one stupid play.

It's been a very different Vikings team since that loss. Though they lost to the Cardinals a week later, the Vikings looked very good against the NFC's best team. Since then, Vikes have looked great while winning.

Green Bay has been looking much worse as of late. Their matchup with the Cardinals last week was absolutely awful.

All I know is that I think the Vikings have a good chance of winning tonight. I never think that about the Vikings. This year, they've been a totally different team than Brad Childress or Leslie Frasier  coached. Offensively and defensively they have shined. Bridgewater has been absolutely great as of late.

But he isn't even old enough to buy beer legally yet. You forget how young and inexperienced he is. The game could go either way. I just want both teams to come out of this healthy for next week. The last time these two teams met at the end of the season the Vikings won, but we lost Christian Ponder for the playoffs. And it was the only time Christian Ponder played well for the Vikings.

Go Vikings! Don't anybody get hurt!!!

Christian McCaffrey

Wow. I heard a lot about this sophomore from Stanford this year, but last night's Rose Bowl was the first time I actually got to watch him. He was the runner-up in the Heisman vote this year, and all I can say is this kid got robbed.

After last night's performance, he should be everyone's leading contender next year. He had 368 all-purpose yards in the game, and it looked like he wasn't even used that much. He looks so average when you see him, but with the ball in his hands as a running back, receiver, or kick returner he is the smoothest offensive player I have ever seen. It's almost like the defense wasn't even on the field. He's so elusive and so quick that on so many plays the defense can't even get close to him.

I've never seen a player like this before. Derrick Henry won the Heisman as a good, big running back. McCaffrey is more like a super hero. He plays so much better, at everything, that he's just at a whole 'nother level.

Looking up his stats for the year just floored me. That he's just 19 years old is just scary.

I also discovered something else yesterday.

I like watching football way more than I like watching baseball. Make no mistake. Baseball is the coolest sport ever invented. I can watch the Twins play every single day as long as they're having a good season. But I don't watch other baseball games unless it's playoff time.

Football is different. I find myself watching three or four NFL games every weekend. Sometimes more depending on who is playing. And I watch a lot of NCAA football as long as they're ranked teams.

I ended up watching the better part of three bowl games yesterday and I wasn't even planning on it. All I ask from the college games is there be a lot of scoring. From the NFL I demand a great quarterback.

If either is present, I'm hooked.

I'll be watching all the Stanford games I can find next year. McCaffrey is worth watching. I see a lot of great football players by watching so many top games, but I have never seen anyone like Christian McCaffrey.

That kid is special.

Duds

The tournament series that determines the National Championship of college football laid a couple of eggs yesterday.

One of the reasons I like the BCS games so much in the past was that you got to see the upsets that mattered throughout the season and that left you with two strong teams at the end.

NOW college football is forcing a FOUR team playoff, and as was demonstrated quite soundly yesterday, teams three and four quite simply didn't deserve to be there. Clemson and Alabama were there for a reason. They are by far the best college football teams in the country.

Michigan State and Oklahoma are also-rans that never should have been allowed to run with the big boys in the first place. They sure didn't put up much of a fight in those games yesterday. And those games, as a result, were not worth watching.

There's only one football game in college left that matters this season. They should have skipped to that game in the first place. All the other games this week are just unsatisfying filler.

Oh, and Happy New Year!