Bridgewater Out For the Season

With Teddy's knee injured, you can pretty much call this season a bust.

sigh

I was REALLY looking forward to this season.  Now it looks like it's just going to be another rebuilding year. I've always said a football team is only as good as their top two quarterbacks.  I have no idea how good the backups are. Yes, I've watched them in preseason, but that's not the same thing as getting a feel for their game.

Rumors are flying about possible trades to acquire someone good. I don't think there are that many good, available quarterbacks out there. And what cost would they have?

Minnesota. Land of disappointing sports teams.

I'm thinking about discontinuing the blog. There's just not enough good sport news to report anymore.

Mr. Fuji

Headis

The Olympics showed me lots of sports I have no real interest in. Ping pong is cool when played well, but I don't want to watch a whole match. Soccer displays great skills in a very boring overall setting. So much so, that you can't even appreciate those skills.

Some folks have combined those two sports and came up with a very satisfying mix. It's been around for a while and it's called Headis.

Here's some samples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2BbCBAtMMk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skxagVPbVro

This should be in the Olympics ahead of a lot of other sports. One on one competition with no judges is a good place to start.

Vike Win

The new stadium is impressive. So are the Vikes in preseason. But, like any preseason game where the starters don't play that much, all you can do is watch, and wait for the real season to begin.

Romo Hurt Again, Vikes Play In New Stadium

Tony Romo has a fractured vertebrae. As a result he will miss perhaps the next 10 weeks of football for the Cowboys. Dallas fans are starting to squirm because of all of Tony's recent injuries. It looks like another bleak season down Texas way.

The Viking play an unusual Sunday afternoon exhibition game today. It will be the first in their brand new stadium. I'm planning on watching some of it. This third exhibition game is the one that looks most like a real game. Everyone pretty much rests next week.

Go Vikes!

When Realities Collide

Is it Just Me?

I'm not interested in any sports right now. I go to the ESPN main page everyday, like always, to check the latest headlines, and nothing posted there makes me want to read further.

Someone ALMOST had a no-hitter for the Giants last night.

So?

How is that the major headline? In the end it was ruined with one out to go. So he didn't have a no-hitter. What else is going on?

Tom Brady MAY play tonight for New England in their preseason game.

So?

He's a football player. It's preseason. It's getting late in the preseason. Yep. He might play.

How is that a headline?

It goes on and on.

I'm guessing it's not just me. Sports reporters across the country have deadlines to meet and column inches to fill and THEY don't have anything to talk about either. It's just that time of the year. Everyone's waiting for the baseball season to end and football season to get rolling and we're all like in a limbo right now.

My brother mentioned that Hope Solo was Han's girl yesterday. He seems just as bored as the rest of us.  Me? I've been trying to think of names for even more of Han's kids.

Guitar, Piano, Drum, and Trumpet come to mind...

Yeah, that's all I got.

My brother's was better.

Hope Solo Suspended For Not Losing Graciously

Love or hate her, Hope Solo, has been a lightening rod for team USA Soccer.

The federation suspended her for six months for calling Sweden, the team that beat them in the Olympics, a bunch of cowards for the way they played (and won) that game. She went on to say the best team did not win that day.

She was suspended for what best could be described as a lack of good sportsmanship.

I don't like soccer. I don't even know why she called out the Swedish team for their style of play, but I do think that as an American citizen she has a legitimate right to free speech when she's asked her opinion after a heated contest, otherwise the media shouldn't be allowed to ask questions of the players.

She didn't do anything except express her opinion. Since when is it a punishable offense to do such a thing? Political correctness has long since went too far in America. It forces people do do things that aren't necessarily right, but just popular at the moment.

Yes, you can lose your job in America for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. It's always been that way. But, if you are asked for your opinion, as long as it's well-reasoned, you should be able to give it. IF they just want you to tow the company line, they should make that clear ahead of time as well.

Hope crossed an invisible boundary with her comments. She can't expect the support of her teammates on this. They might lose their jobs as well for speaking up.

What a bunch of cowards.

What really bothers me about this is that she said she's had a career on this team for 17 years. It just seems wrong that someone who represents this country in international play HAS A JOB doing this. Shouldn't it be volunteer and for a shorter period of time?

When did representing your country in the Olympics become a full-time job that you can be suspended from?

Is that weird or is it just me?

Imagine an NFL player being suspended for a year for saying that another team cheated. Just the opposite happens. They look into the allegations and then suspend the player accused of cheating without a shred of legitimate evidence.

Just like they should.

USA! USA! USA!

Twins Lose Again

I'm not going to be writing much more on the Twins this season. They are no longer worth the effort.

Fall TV starts in a couple of weeks, and so does real football. I'll try to entertain myself in the meantime.

WWE

I realize that pro wrestling is an acquired taste. That being said, the WWE has had THREE major broadcasts in three days.

The NXT special on Saturday was fantastic. The great mix of younger stars and veteran performers always seems to come though for the fans. The booking was pleasing and the action was fantastic. It gets a solid A grade.

Sunday's SummerSlam was a mess. The booking was awful. The matches were at best average and their top new star (Finn Balor) was injured. The Styles/ Cena match was great. Everything else was not. To make matters worse, guys like Cesaro and Zayne were relegated to the pre-show so that they could give the women two awful matches during the real show. Grade D. If you're going to show 6 hours of wrestling straight, at least have it make sense. Better? Don't have 6 hours of wrestling straight!

Raw continued the messy booking. Nothing stood out for me last night. And I stopped watching before the Dudleys retired and the main event. Just another D grade. Nothing could make me watch those last 40 minutes.

Nearly a dozen hours of wrestling in 3 days and the only 3 hours were fun.

Smackdown tonight. We'll see if they can get their act together.

Still better than the Twins, though...

USA!

With the Twins getting swept this weekend by the Royals, I thought I'd stick to the Olympics for one last day.

The medal count looks impressive, but it was the US women and their incredible gold medal performances in swimming, gymnastics, and track and field that made such a tremendous difference in the overall standings. Michael Phelps' last Olympic appearance didn't hurt, either.

I didn't get see any weightlifting, even though I was watching for it. I did get to see lots of badminton and ping pong waiting for it, though.

sigh

I got to see the U.S. win in men and women's shot put.  I did get to see women's high jump. And I got to see all the major sprints and relays.

I still think that "sports" determined by nothing but judges scores aren't really sports. They might be fun to watch, but they're more art exhibitions than competitions. The people performing them are athletes, but real sports have teams and/ or players in direct competition with one another, defense and offense, and points scored, or times recorded in such a way that judges shouldn't be the only ones knowing what actually happened.

My general rule of thumb? Judges shouldn't determine champions.

Overall, I was satisfied. WAY, WAY too much basketball, soccer, golf, and tennis was broadcast. Entire channels devoted to those four sports was just too much. But when you have that many channels to fill with programming, I guess you have to show something.

It was nice to see the USA dominate. It's just one of the reasons I prefer the summer games.

USA!

Twins Lose in Seven Hours

sigh

Vikings

I haven't talked much about the Vikings this season yet. Yes, they're 2-0 in preseason, but I haven't watched a second of their games. Why?

It's preseason.

And I just haven't got the interest yet. When it's mostly subs playing, it's not REALLY a Vikings game. I figure next weekend I'll catch the first quarter and let the momentum build from there.

I expect great things. I just hope they don't disappoint.

Twins Blast Atlanta!

Highlights? Gibson, who has been horrible as of late, went the distance for the first time this year. AND old man Mauer is on fire.

We're not the worst! We're not the worst! We're not the worst!

Santana

The Twins look better every time Ervin Santana pitches. The bullpen was a bit shaky, but they still beat the worst team in the league 4-2.

Whee.

Up Close and Personal

Julius Yego burst on the scene in 2015, at the World Championships, setting an African record for the farthest javelin throw. This sets him as the first possible Kenyan to win an Olympic gold in the javelin toss.

Looking into his background, Julius comes from an area in Kenya’s Rift Valley, where they’re known for Olympic sprinters, but no one knew how to throw a javelin; so he turned to YouTube. He’s self taught and found inspiration in Andreas Thorkildsen from Norway, who competed in 2004 and 2008. He watched videos and learned from his technique and training methods.

Who says you can’t learn anything from watching YouTube?

Olympics

Usain Bolt is really fun to watch. The way he gains speed after everyone else is slowing down is simply amazing.

And having Simone Biles win the individual vault competition in primetime instead of at 11 p.m. was an added bonus.

NOW, I'm enjoying the Olympics.

Duff

Tyler Duffy did his job last night. So did Brian Dozier.

Go Twins! There is not much of the season left. More games like this would go a long way in getting Twins fans excited about next season and beyond.

Stuff

Phelps lost last night. The women's soccer team lost. The men's basketball team escaped by the skin of their teeth.

What do all of these events have in common?

I watched the endings of all of them.

Live.

I'm not a big Olympics fan, but I'm sick of the Twins losing again, and I wanted to watch some sports.

By watching, you find out stuff, too. I wish I could have caught more of the details, but it was something like this. Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all-time, possibly the greatest athlete of all-time, cannot sign endorsement deals with companies because it would "affect her status."

Huh?

Where all of the women soccer players want to join a union so they get better pay. Where pro golfers, pro basketball players, and tennis legends, are now actively playing in the Olympics, representing their country, and ALL have major contracts and salary deals with all kinds of sponsors, why can't Biles sign an endorsement deal with Coke, when she has a can of it with her literally every where she goes?

I  didn't get the details, but Olympic athletes, especially the STAR Olympic athletes haven't been amateurs for decades.

This makes no sense.

I'm going to be looking into this a little bit more. It just sounds weird.

Cashing in on your fame is what America stands for. For crying out loud, we're capitalist pigs. It's time for Biles to make her fortune while the iron is hot. NBC is rolling in dough based on Biles' performance. The Olympic committee members have been living off the the free labor of world stars for over a hundred years. It's time that the athletes get their fair share.

U$A! U$A! U$A! U$A!!!

Olympics

I was trying to watch some of the Olympic Games yesterday and I noticed that there are women's archery and air rifle competitions. And I was wondering. Why?

Surely, for all the rifle and archery events, shouldn't the men and women be competing together? A man's physical strength or stamina should have no real bearing in these events. I mean Israel has some of the best snipers in the world and they are women.

Couldn't women regularly win these events?

Just curious.

Medal Count

Me (sarcastically): If you like swimming, there was a lot to watch last night.

How Good Is the US Gymnastic Team?

If their best gymnast, Simone Biles, scores were thrown out, and their fifth gymnast's scores were used instead, the women's team would still have won the gold medal. They were all that good.

Prince Fielder's Career Over?

It certainly looks like it. He is not medically cleared to play after his latest neck surgery. He had a similar surgery on other vertebra in his neck once before. At 32, it looks like his career is over. He'll finish his 12-year career with 319 home runs, the same amount his dad had in 13 seasons. He'll continue to receive his $24 million a year salary until 2020.

Beyonce Thrives in the Olympics

Russian Girl Banned

Twins Win

This headline is kind of fun. The Twins are a far better team in the last month and a half than they were when the season began. Last night it was Duffy and Rosario leading the charge.

Go Twins!

Hall Of Fame Game Cancelled

A temporary grounds crew put paint on the field incorrectly. At least that's the reason the NFL gave for canceling the first pre-season game of the season yesterday. I'm not sure we'll ever find out how such an embarrassing public relations disaster could occur for the NFL.

To be sure, fans won't really care. ESPN is kind of ticked that they didn't have a game to show, but no one who really likes watching football will miss this game from the schedule.

Unsafe field conditions matter. Again, that's the NFL's bottom line, and they are sticking with it.

Sano

Just a few games ago the Twins were talking about sending Sano back to AAA ball until he learns how to hit better. In the last two games he has hit three homers, including TWO yesterday, along with four RBI in the Twins 6-3 win over the Rays.

I would say one of two things has happened. He took the threat seriously, or he's stating his case better. Either way, I think it would be pretty hard for the Twins to send him away just now.

What's cool is that he had another ball off the roof of Tropicana Field. Since he's the first player to do that, it's officially the highest pop fly ever made in that ballpark which opened in 1998.

In other major baseball news:

A-Rod, who was benched by the Yankees for quite a while now, is retiring from baseball this Friday. He only needs 4 more home runs to reach the 700 mark, but realizes that will probably not happen, hence the press conference yesterday.

Ichiro got his 3,000 hit yesterday. He still is playing like a much younger player. He says he wants to play until he's 50, and I'm not sure if he's joking or not. He's 42 and only has 200 at-bats so far this year.

Stuff

I didn't watch the Twins yesterday. It doesn't seem like I missed anything.

I am watching some of the Olympic events. It's weird, as a kid, there was ONE channel (ABC) that broadcast the Olympics games. And it showed USA athletes almost exclusively. Lots of boxing, weightlifting, wrestling, track, gymnastics and swimming.

Now? Half a dozen channels are showing the Olympics. But what are they showing? Air rifle, long outdoor bicycle rides, Norway vs. Brazil in women's team handball, and endless, all-day tennis.

Very little of the coverage is showing U.S. athletes except in primetime on NBC.

They were actually bragging about the upcoming badminton coverage, and women's rugby.

I used to like the Olympics. Now most of the sports seem made-up. And hardly any of the coverage shows U.S. athletes. Isn't the idea of all that coverage on all of those channels to give us great American athletes pursuing the GOLD?

I hate that they don't show massive athletes competing in weightlifting as a big deal. I hate it that the don't show women's and men's shot putting live. We've become such a mamby-pamby country of viewers that I guess they think we'll watch anything.

The worst part? Even if they did broadcast some of the stuff I like, I don't know when and where they are showing it. The program guides are worthless. They might show you what they say they are going to show eventually, but not before you have to sit through 3 or 4 hours of tiddly winks to get there.

One channel showing everything they could cram in 16 hours a day was far superior to 6 channels showing you lots of stupid stuff all day long. Worse? Not all of their channels are showing it all day long. So all of the sudden you check MSNBC and they aren't broadcasting it any more. It's now on USA network interspersed with a Law and Order: SVU marathon.

At least it's better than 6 channels broadcasting curling all day long. The winter Olympics were even worse.

Twins Rally Late, Beat the Rays

6-2 .

That might not seem like much considering how much runs the Twins have been scoring lately, but the Rays had a streak of 10 straight games where they had given up three runs or less.

Rosario's pinch hit homer was the key. Sano finally had a good night at the plate. And old man Mauer just keeps on plugging away. Santana was his usual brilliant self.

Go Twins!

118 Russian Athletes Banned From Olympics

It's official. The track and field team got caught using steroids. Others were affected as well.

Twins Get Clubbed

Oh well, you win some. You lose some.

Twins Club Indians Again

This is not getting old. Another game. Another slugfest. And that old guy, Mauer? He just keeps on knocking the cover off the ball. Last night he had two doubles and a triple. And Dozier added his 21st home run of the season, late. This team isn't just winning, they're beating up some of the best teams in the league as of late.

I'm watching and enjoying. Their record doesn't matter at this point. It's their current performance level. Ten runs or more in their last three games? Wow.

Go Twins!

Olympic Metal Count

Someone's added a new category. Australia is running away with it so far, and the Olympics haven't even started yet.

Update

With the Olympics days away, the New York Time is reporting that the water conditions in Rio where some of the outdoor events will occur are even worse than previously believed or reported.

Dr. Daniel Becker told the Times that, "foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap, and they risk getting sick from all those microorganisms." The advice of experts? Keep your mouth shut.

Rio officials still maintain that the reports are exaggerated.

I'm publishing the new Olympic Logo to go along with the report:

Twins Win 10-6

The Twins are among the leagues leaders in basically all offensive categories since June 25th. They're actually first in several, including runs and slugging percentage. They are such a different team to watch.

But I still had to turn the game off last night.

They were up 8-0, just cruising, when BAM, it was suddenly 8-6 and Gibson couldn't get anybody out in the 5th.  Relief was good. The homers kept flying, and the Twins managed to hang on for the win.

But I couldn't sit through what could have been a collapse of epic proportions. I'm just glad they won.

Max Kepler

Cleveland might be the best team in the division, but the Twins have a secret weapon when facing them.

Max Kelpler.

Last night, Kepler went yard, not once, not twice, but THREE times, driving in six as the Twins clobbered the division leading Indians 12-5. Kepler is starting to stand out as THE A.L.'s leading rookie of the year candidate. His performance last night makes him the man to beat now that the season is heading into the home stretch.

Perhaps lost in all of this was that the old pro, Joe Mauer had four hits last night as well, including a home run of his own.

Rookie starter, Jose Berrios gave up 3 runs in the first but settled down to retire the next 15 Indians to face him. The Twins need him to be successful as they they keep pegging him as a future star of their rotation.

Twins had 19 hits last night, so it's not like Mauer and Kepler were the only Twins swinging the bat well. The Twins are starting to look like the team everyone expected them to be at the beginning of the season. They're just doing it with a different roster.

Go Twins!

Did I mention that the Twins traded Nolasco? The news just keeps on getting better. One good performance does not a season make...

Twins Win As Trade Deadline Looms

Vargas homered again. Dozier hit TWO. The Twins defense was sloppy...again, and Ervin Santana pitched well.

And lots of people are talking trades- from Suzuki to Kintzler. I guess, even though the Twins are playing much better as of late, the lost season is forcing them to rethink several of their options. The new Twins GM may pull the trigger on several trades, based on contracts and expenses. He's the current temporary GM, though. That makes it tougher for him.

We'll know tomorrow what he decides.