Wolves Lose Again

I'm losing interest again.

Hawks Now 15-35

And they beat the Wolves last night.

Ronda Rousey

The sports headlines this morning had Ronda joining WWE.

At one point in her career, this would have been cool, but she lost her last 2 UFC fights rather badly, and the women that beat her then lost THEIR next fights rather badly. At one point she was considered the "baddest woman on the planet."

Now?

I don't think anyone much cares.

The WWE will make a big deal out of the signing trying to garner publicity by attempting to make her the female Brock Lesnar.

But personally, I don't like the WWE women's division at all, and this is going to make me dislike it even more. SOME of the women they have are pretty good, but now Ronda will get the push THEY deserve, making their women's division even worse.

And I'm afraid even the men that the WWE should be pushing will have to take a back seat to the coming Rousey blitz.

sigh...

Butler's Back!

There's no doubt that the Wolves missed Jimmy Butler their last four games, but with him back last night the Wolves took care of Brooklyn.

Go Wolves!

Roger Federer

Just to let you know how long I've been doing a sports blog, it was over 10 years ago that I wrote about which person was better in sports. The post compared two great champions in their respective sports, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods.

Even though both were at the top of their respective games at the time, I gave the edge to Federer. I argued if he ever had a bad day, he was done with any tournament he was in. Woods frequently had bad rounds, but golf was a more forgiving sport, and he could make up for bad days with follow-up great days.

10 years later, it's obvious that I was right. Federer is no longer the best in the world at what he does, but he's still good enough to win grand slam championships. He took the Aussie Open yesterday, his 20th grand slam title. Tiger? He was just happy to make the final cut in his last tournament. He hadn't even done that for such a very long time.

You can argue the greatest ever for any sport all you want, but Federer has to be in the conversation. His dominance over a long period of time with a sport that is grueling and unforgiving is unmatched.

I'd nominate Federer for GOAT. ( Greatest of all-time) What Brady is doing in football is amazing. What Michael did in basketball was unbelievable, but what Federer is still doing is unmatched.

Okay, Brady with another Super Bowl ring NEXT weekend would at least get me thinking about it again...

Wild

I haven't said much about the Wild this season. Primarily, because, you know, they play hockey. BUT an even better reason was because they got off to such a poor start.

That's been changing lately. They've been winning and impressing commentators for the last month. The latest ESPN power rankings now has them at number 11.

Read for yourself:

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons  tried an experiment this past season. They cut the price of their concessions by 50%

The result? They cleared 16% more on food and beverage sales this season. And fans were happier with the lower prices.

They also hired more people to make and distribute the food. A big win for everyone involved.

Let's see if other sports teams take notice!

XFL

Vince is making the same mistakes all over again. Only 8 teams and he's bankrolling the whole thing.

Again.

Yes, if the 320 players he gets for those teams are good, it could provide an entertaining 10 weeks of football viewing for the hardcore fan. There's LOTS of sports channels that would love to fill in with two Saturday games and two Sunday games every week.

I'm just not sure why the average fan would tune in to see new teams, not their own, play.

AND he only has enough money to finance ONE season.

Again.

32 billionaires could go all out for 20 seasons. But one will probably fizzle in one.

sigh

The NFL should start a summer league. I've discussed those plans in the past. Maybe it's time to do so again.

Wolves Lose to Warriors

Not a surprise, but still disappointing.

Wolves Lose

Still on pace for a 50+ win season (31-19), so I really have nothing to complain about.

Yet.

Glen Perkins

Glen has decided to retire. The Twins have a job for him in the front office if he so desires.

Wolves Win

That's two in a row.

More. Please.

Philadelphia Phailure

The Vikings remembered their Minnesota roots last night.

sigh

Thielan, Sendejo

Both expected to play.

Those injuries last week looked awful. Sendejo was knocked out and didn't move for a while and he had to go through the concussion protocol this week.

Thielan's back injury was a result of Curt Henning-type tackle  on him last week by the Saints' defense. Kind of pulling on his head while summer-saulting forward over him. It looks bad in wrestling. It looked far worse for real on the football field.

Most experts favor the Patriots and Vikings today.

We know those opinions don't mean anything.

I expect nothing. I hope for the best.

One play can turn everything around rather quickly. The Saints, sitting at home this week watching with the rest of us, know that better than anyone.

I said it before, and it's still valid, the Vikings are better than most teams this season, and as good as anybody that's left. They have a team good enough to win two more games this season.

But those very same thoughts apply to the other three teams still playing as well.

Skol Vikings!

Vikings

I can't help thinking about this game.

I'm not obsessed by any means, but I figure two things have to go right tomorrow to give the Vikings a reasonable chance of winning. Their defense has to play a lot better than it did against New Orleans AND their offensive line and/or play calling has to put less pressure on Keenum. That last half was hard to watch Sunday (okay, the last 25 seconds was really good, I'll give you that.)

I just wish it wasn't an outdoor game in January. Too many variables like wind and turf condition can mess up anything for both teams.

Skol Vikings!

Wolves Clubbed By Houston

Elite, huh?

Morneau Signs With Twins Again

As a special assistant.

Come on now, you didn't think he could still be a player, did you?

The Wolves

So, yesterday afternoon, CBS Sports decided to declare the Minnesota Timberwolves one of the league's ELITE teams. In their latest power rankings they had the Wolves ranked THIRD behind only the Celtics and the Warriors

So, what do the Wolves promptly do last night in Orlando? Stumble through the fourth quarter and lose to to the 13-31 Magic 108-102.

sigh...

Vikings Reaction

I don't watch sports opinion shows in the morning like I used to. Too many opinions about teams and players that just don't matter.

Yesterday was the exception. EVERYONE was talking about THE PLAY. If you have to ask, "what play?" then you really shouldn't be reading this post in the first place. My favorite reaction was this New Orleans paper yesterday:

Amazing Finish

Okay, admit it. You didn't think the Vikings were going to win last night.

It's okay. We all thought that.

History was on our side.

It was a typical Viking game. Good, consistent, but not great, for the first 2/3 of the game. And then-BOOM disaster struck because we never quite kicked it into another gear. We went backwards and before you know it we we're only up 17-14, and you knew by the way the tide had turned so dramatically that it was only a matter of time before New Orleans would take the lead.

And they did.

And then we did.

And then they did AGAIN...

...and then with 11 seconds left and 65 yards to go, you're clinging to hope thinking, just maybe we will get into field goal range with enough time left on the clock to at least TRY for the win.

And then THAT play happened.

That wonderful, impossible play.

And we're now in the NFC Championship game.

Wow!

The problem is that win was so satisfying last night that we're now thinking we just had OUR Super Bowl. And that there'll be a let down in Philly next weekend.

We still have history on our side, you know?

Still...

...maybe?

SKOL Vikings!!

The Falcons

I've rarely been disappointed by a team (other than the Vikings, of course) who looked and played so badly.  How they were favored to win this game is absolutely beyond me.

They looked awful.

Of course it really doesn't matter unless the Vikings win today against the Saints.

Hoping for the best, preparing to be greatly disappointed.

Like any long-time Minnesota fan.

Skol Vikings!

Football

The early game today is Atlanta at Philly. I don't know of any Vikings fan that wants to travel to Philadelphia for the game next week. Go Falcons!!

The second game is the Titans at New England. No matter how good that game is, I won't stay up much past the third quarter. I hate late primetime games...

Wolves Win 4th Straight!

I could get use to this.

My Favorite Sports Photo of the Week

Cleveland fans threw a parade for their beleaguered Browns (0-16 for the season) last week.

These two guys:

Wolves Win Again

Those standings for the top four teams are getting a little closer to each other...

                       

Vikings

It's hard not to look at the Vikings and smile.

Case Keenum, the Vikings backup quarterback had one of the best seasons of any quarterback in Vikings history. His 3,500 yards passing would have easily surpassed 4,000 if he had started all the games this season.

Latavius Murray had almost 850 yards rushing and he wasn't even the Vikings top choice at running back. Dalvin Cook had that honor and over 400 yards rushing before he went down in week 4.

What I'm trying to say, is that an undrafted wide receiver (Theilen), a rejected quarterback (Keenum), and an underperforming running back (Murray) all came together this season for the Vikings and turned them into the Super Bowl favorites for the NFC.

As star performers.

I no longer expect any Minnesota team to win it all, but I'd certainly enjoy it if this particular team would be the one to do just that. There's a strong possibility that they could win three straight (maybe even all home games with a little help from our friends in Atlanta).

They are as good as any team in the league this year, and much better than most. Maybe just maybe this is their year.

No team or game will be easy from this point on, but they have as good a shot as anybody.

That's all anybody could ask for.

Wolves CRUSH Cavs

They ended up winning by "only" 28, but dominated from start to finish. Probably the best Wolves game of all-time!!

Instead of praising the Wolves, national commentators are wondering,"what's wrong with the Cavs?"

I'll tell you what's wrong. They're OLD.

Time for new blood.

Go Wolves!!

Alabama Wins National Title

Of course they did.

Good close game, though, and Bama needed a comeback.

That's what a finals game should be like.

Football

The Panthers dropped an easy touchdown pass in yesterday's game against the Saints. They followed THAT up with an easy missed field goal (from a kicker who never misses). And then they were forced try lots of stuff at the end of the game to try and win it.

The result?

New Orleans plays the Vikes next Sunday afternoon.

Everybody thinks it will be the best game of the playoffs this year.

I won't argue. The two teams that face each other Sunday will not be the same two teams that played the first game of the season together. Too much has changed since then, for both teams.

Skol Vikings!

Wolves Cruise

Good teams win at home after tough road losses.

smile

Football

 I enjoyed what I saw of yesterday's games. I couldn't get into them as much as usual, because I'm really just waiting for NEXT week's games...

That first one was quite a comeback for the Titans. And a continuing disappointment for Chiefs fans who have now lost SIX STRAIGHT HOME PLAYOFF GAMES. That the officiating in that one was as bad as any game in recent memory sure didn't help ease the Chiefs pain.

The second game? The best team clearly won. The Falcons looked like the better team throughout. I even went to bed early on that one. That means the Eagles host the Falcons next week in their game. The Vikes will host the winner of the Saints/Panthers game today.

SKOL Vikings!!

I just think it's funny that the 6th ranked Falcons team now have the easiest schedule. I'm sure they would rather play the tattered Eagles next week than the Vikings, Panthers, or Carolina. Sometimes squeaking into the playoffs is better than being ranked number one.

Wolves

I freely admit that the Celtics are once more one of the very best teams in the league. The Wolves played them more or less even the whole game, but lost AT Boston.

I really can't complain.

Wrestle Kingdom

I've mentioned New Japan wrestling a few times before in this blog. At their best, they are considered the WWE of Japan. They have lots and lots of top stars, and they manage to use them well so that they all seem like top stars.

They do that much better than WWE.

Yesterday, I started watching THEIR version of Wrestlemania, a 5-hour event at the sold-out Tokyo dome. They are trying to penetrate the U.S. market now, so they offer it on PPV with American announcers.

I'm looking forward to one of the main events today: Chris Jericho versus Kenny Omega. That's IF I get to it. 5 hours is a long show, even if it is good.

I may not get to the main events until tomorrow...

Wolves Lose By ONE

sigh

Vikings

It's weird this year. I'm actually enjoying sports again. I know a lot of it has to do with the Twins, Vikings, and Wolves WINNING, but it's more than that.

For the most part, they are making the right MOVES to win. Take the Twins for example. Their only real mis-step  this season was starting Santana in their playoff game with the Yankees. Granted, it was a HUGE mistake, but every Twins fan understood WHY the decision was made. I kind of like to think that the Twins might have surprised everyone this year if Gibson had been the starter of that game instead.

My point? If my teams are generally making the right moves consistently, I can't be as critical as I usually am. That allows me to settle back and enjoy the games rather than seeing everything they are doing wrong.

The Vikings? They have a real chance to win it all this year. They have the right quarterback and good receivers. They have the right running game (two good running backs alternating carries and styles rather than one huge back that you rely on too much.) They have a great defense.

My only worry is that they'll rely too much on the running game on first and second down early in the game, like they've been doing lately, and that pattern will continue through the playoffs. ALL head coaches fall into that trap eventually, and Keenum is good enough NOT to let the team be trapped by that if they allow him to throw more often before third down. I don't want to see the Brad Childress years repeated. They can't become complacent even with a good running game. We saw what Chicago and their defense did with our running game this past weekend. Mixing it up, being less predictable, is the key to winning against good teams in the playoffs.

We have the offensive weapons. We must use them all throughout each game. I'm not talking 50-yard bombs. I'm taking 6-8 yard possession throws to  Rudolf and both wide outs. We have a guy who can throw. We have guys who can catch AND hold onto to those passes.

Let's use them early.

Skol Vikings!

I'm glad we have a bye week, but I can't wait for the next game.

Vikings Third In ESPN Power Poll

That makes them first in the NFC.

No pressure.

Wolves Coast

The season is nearly half over and it's starting to look like the Wolves are one of the NBA's top teams.

Who would have thunk it?

College Football

Georgia and Alabama will play for the National Championship next Monday.

As long as they give losers second chances now, it might as well be Alabama.

Clemson found that out the hard way.

Vikings!

The NFC's top teams yesterday?

Eagles- shutout
Vikings- WON
Carolina- lost
Rams- lost
Saints- lost
Atanta- won- they needed to beat Carolina to make the playoffs

The Vikings special teams (and the FOX cameramen) were tricked into a punt return touchdown, but otherwise the offense and defense were once again steady and solid.

The Vikings truly earned their second seed yesterday.

I hope to talk more about the Vikes the next two weeks...