Wolves Win Two In A Row!

With 5 games left in the regular season, the Wolves are still hoping for a play-off spot. They are sitting pretty good right now.

Go Wolves!

Twins Lose

The new starter was great!

Hitting?

Late inning pitching?

161 games left.

Opening Day!

I like that baseball is starting early and for everyone. More days off. More resting starters.

2:05 (Central) at Baltimore.

GO TWINS!!!

Hughes On DL

The Twins say he will be eligible to pitch as the fifth starter when he returns, so hopefully the oblique strain is not too serious.

Vikings Third In ESPN Power Poll For Next Season

Behind the Patriots and Eagles.

Which, when you think about it, is where they were when the season ended, too.

Yankees Have 7th Highest Payroll!

Red Sox top the list with $223 million.
The Giants are second with $203 million.
The Cubs are third with $183 million.

The Yankees? Only $167 million.

Considering that the Twins border on $100 million every year, I find that Yankee figure absolutely amazing. BUT, teams did make an honest effort this year not to break the bank on free agent spending. Good for them.

Baseball doesn't have to make average players rich. The guys with good stats all get paid very well.

That's the way it should be.

Kennys Vargas

You remember how the Twins waived Vargas?

Well, Cincinnati  claimed him and immediately put him on waivers so they could send him to their Triple A affiliate. They hoped that no one else would claim him.

But the Twins had Polanco suspended since then so they had a spot open on their 40-man roster.

Guess who they claimed off waivers from the Reds?

Yep, you guessed it.

Vargas is now on the Twins 40-man protected roster again.

It's a whole new game of musical Vargas...

Wolves Lose

Minnesota teams down the stretch.

So Close

My nephew had 20 points on 10-14 shooting. He held the best player in Division II in check defensively when he was in there.

But they missed a 3-point play on the last shot of the game and lost to the number 1 ranked division II team in the country by TWO.

sigh

Were there a couple real iffy calls? Of course.  It was basketball after all.

Great game. Disappointing outcome.

Delighted with my nephew's performance either way.

Wolves Win!

That guarantees them their first winning, above .500 season, since 2005.

And they could still do a lot more. I'm hopeful but not overly optimistic.

Still their best season in more than a decade. AND they do have a much better team this year.

Go Wolves!

Division II Championship Game Today

It's rare that my family and a major sporting event go hand in hand, but today MY nephew is starting in a National Championship game ON a major network.

CBS. 2 p.m. (Central)

I'm pumped. They are 37-3 so far this year and are as good as any team in the country.

The only possible drawback? We are having a major blizzard here today and that may cause some localized power outages. It's happened before during big storms. Barring  catastrophe, I'll get  to see MY nephew play for the title.

How cool is that?

It seems like only yesterday I was playing one-on-one with him in his backyard. He was in fifth grade at the time and he clobbered me. It was his long shots that killed me. I just couldn't defend him. It didn't help that he was taller and faster than me as well.

When he was born, days after birth. he looked like a long mutant bodybuilder. No kidding. And I mean that with all cute sincerity. He was the most naturally muscular kid you ever laid eyes on.

I had a snowball fight with him when he was four and he nailed me so hard with a throw from fifty feet away that it took my breath away. Right in the stomach. And I was in my prime back then.

He was, and continues to be, a great kid.

Like I said, I'm pumped.

Go 6 foot 11 Carter Evans! Win that national championship!!

WHOOO!!!!

Northern State University Wolves

I know most of you have never heard of this team, but my nephew, 6 foot 11 inch, Carter Evans, plays for them.

Last night on the CBS Sports Channel (CBS version of ESPN) which is on my cable system, Carter's team won their semi-final Division II game in double overtime 105-99. Saturday he and the Wolves go for the National Championship!

Co Carter! Go Wolves!!

WHOOO!!!!!

WWE

I was waiting to see if the return of Daniel Bryan would have a major impact on Smackdown's ratings before writing about it.

There was an uptick of about 100,000 viewers this week once word got out that he had been cleared after 2 years of concussion watch. The ratings rise was good, but, being this is Wrestlemania season, the ratings may have gone up this week without him.

Personally, Daniel Bryan is my favorite WWE performer since the Rock was in his prime. His impact last time around was felt by some very vocal fans, but the WWE (Vince) never fully embraced him as the company's face. I'd be more enthusiastic about his return if I knew the WWE would push him as hard as they have pushed Roman Reigns the last two years.

Bryan got over naturally. Reigns still isn't over.

I don't see the WWE changing their stance on Bryan this time around, though. I'm thrilled he's back, but I won't enjoy him being back unless they allow him to be one of the top two or three guys.

For the first time in about 2 years, I'm looking forward to the the WWE product. I hope they don't disappoint me.

Wolves Win

After losing 5 of their last 6.

Vikings Cut Jarius Wright

They thought that they'd re-sign him with a better restructured contract, but Jarius had other ideas.

The first loss because of the big QB contract.

That's how it works. Latavius Murray IS coming back for a year (at least) with HIS restructured deal.

Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose.

Polanco

Those home runs came with a price.

Wolves Lose

A pattern is developing.

Wolves Lose

Anybody else get the feeling they aren't going to make much of an impact this season either?

Vargas

As I predicted a couple of weeks ago, Kennys Vargas has been sent back to the minors. At this point, any team can claim him off waivers.

There's just not a need for 12 or 13 DH/first basemen on your team.

Vikings Just Got Better

With some  free agent money still burning a hole in their pocket, the Vikings picked up the top defensive tackle on the market, Sheldon Richardson. Many call this move a game-changer

Cool.

The Vikings and the Super Bowl are now occurring in the same sentence for a lot of commentators.

We'll see. I'm not counting any chickens just yet.

It Finally Happened!

I make fun of the NCCA basketball tournament on a regular basis. Too many teams. Too many games. And too many one-sided losses.

But given enough monkeys and enough typewriters, some monkey is bound to write a Shakespeare play...

Last night it happened. A number 16 seed beat a number 1 seed, and they did it rather handedly, 74-54.

 UMBC (don't ask me what it stands for) beat Virginia.

The tournament is still too long with too many teams, but if anyone was watching last night, they got a real treat.

Go UMBC!!

And if you win enough games, I'll look up what those letters stand for.

Maybe!

Buster Olney: ESPN quote

"By getting a lot done at a low cost, the case could be made that Minnesota spent this winter becoming the most improved team in all of baseball..."

Me: Our latest cheap acquisition, Lance Lynn. struck out five and gave up no hits in three innings in his Twins debut yesterday.

(smiles all around)

Siemian

It LOOKS like the Vikings are going to sign a pretty good back-up QB in the next day or so. Denver, now that they have Case Keenum, are going to trade their starter, Trevor Simian to the Vikes. He's had some shoulder surgery as of late, so he's a little risky.

Of course, the Cousins deal isn't done just yet, the Vikings hope to have THAT deal finished today.

We're all just waiting.

Quarterbacks

Keenum: Denver

Bradford: Arizona

Bridgewater: Jets

Cousins: Minnesota (Three years, $84 million guaranteed)

The Vikings went from one of the strongest fields of quarterbacks in history, to just one guy who may be pretty good.

Cousins stats for Washington for the last three years have been very similar to Keenum's this past season for the Vikings. AND the Redskins fans know their running attack, O-line, and receiver corp are not on par with the Vikes this past season.

All in all, IF Cousins stays healthy, we may actually be just fine.

The biggest problem? Signing all of the teams top young stars after this coming season. Cousins money gives us far less to play with in the future. We are going to lose some of our younger, better players. Who is the only question.

AND if Cousins gets hurt, we'll all be in deep trouble.

Think Green Bay this past season.

But worse.

All our eggs are now in one huge $84 million basket.

Case Keenum

Now a Bronco.

sigh

Wolves

Setting:

The T-Wolves have lost three straight for the first time all year. They face the Golden State Warriors, the best team in basketball, at home on Sunday night. They're still missing Jimmy Butler.

The result?

WOLVES WIN!

I can't believe I just typed that.

Just when I thought the Wolves were down for the count, they pull out an incredible win. They out shot them (including 3-point %). They out-rebounded them, and they had less turnovers.

Their stock just went up again. Way up!

Go Wolves!!!

Twins Game Short, Sign Last Starter

The Twins scored NINE in the first yesterday, but it started to rain so bad everybody kind of quit in the third. You've got to like spring training...

BIG NEWS?

The Twins signed Lance Lynn to a 1-year $12 million dollar deal. Lynn was expecting much more from free-agency, but discovered, much like most free agents this off-season, nobody was really interested.

Our rotation is now "complete": Lynn, Odrizzi, Berrios, Gibson.

Santana will be the fifth if he ever gets that finger healthy.

Hughes, Sanchez, and Mejia? Bullpen or done with the Twins.

There's not enough space for everyone.

Four Starters

In the good old days, teams used to have a 4-man rotation. I remember in the early 70's the Baltimore Orioles had FOUR twenty game winners the SAME SEASON. (McNally, Cullar, Dobson, and their ace Jim Palmer. That was a year after they had THREE twenty game winners.

Now days, with a five-man rotation, teams rarely have any starter approach 20 wins in a season.

That is, until now. Baseball has decided to have a slightly longer season this year. The same number of games, but more off days and rest days for teams and their players. In the long run, they feel everyone will benefit. But, because of that, more teams are considering going back to a four-man rotation. They'll go with an "all bullpen day" once in a while, when the schedule gets tighter.

I like the idea of great pitchers getting more starts and more rest. I think it'll help stats and make it easier for teams with two or three good starters to compete. I also like the chance it gives to modern day fans to see more 20-game winners.

Why didn't I post yesterday? The Wolves lost their third in a row Thursday night. That's the first time all season they had lost three in a row. I didn't want to talk about it.

I still don't.

Tyler Kinley

Most Twins fans have never heard of this starting pitcher, but he's on our 40 man major league roster. The Twins acquired him as a rule 5 pick from the Marlins, which means IF he doesn't stay on the major league roster at the end of spring training he will have to go BACK to the Marlins.

The guy has great stuff (a 99mph fastball and some some good off-speed alternatives) but he's also a little wild at times. He could very well be our fifth starter when the season starts, especially after all the minor league pitching cuts we made yesterday.

It's possible the Twins will also use him in long relief when a starter gets in trouble early.

Just another name to watch for, because he may not be with us long...

Case Keenum NOT Franchised

That probably means the Vikings think they can land Kirk Cousins.

At the same time, IF they can't, the Vikings can still try to sign Keenum, Bridgewater, or Bradford. All should be available at a reasonable price, for at least a few more days. No one can sign anybody for about a week yet.

Preparing To Spring Ahead

Since we lose an hour of sleep this weekend, I'm preparing early for it. I went to bed at 9 last night.

By Saturday, the time change won't matter to me.

Or I'll be going to bed at 8 on Sunday night. We'll see.

No Sports

Let's see. The Wolves lost their last two. The Olympics are over. And the Twins are playing guys you never heard of because the real season is still about a month away.

I hate this gap. And even WWE wrestling has become unwatchable. Roman Reigns is scheduled to "win" the title from Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania, but there's a scandal brewing over his possible link to a steroid distribution ring.

I can't even enjoy my fake sports anymore.

Twins News

It's official. The Twins did not sign Brian Dozier to a new long-term contract. He will be a free agent at the end of the season. That means we will be looking at younger, cheaper second basemen throughout the year. Nick Gordon is currently the guy on tap, but he's having an average spring so far.

I'm sure the Twins are already looking into other options.

Wolves Lose Again

sigh

Wolves Lose

Good for three quarters.

Stunk up the joint in the fourth.

Now THAT'S my Wolves...

Twins Starting Rotation

To start the season?

Berrios, Odorizzi, Gibson, Hughes

My guess is Molitor will go with a four man rotation until Santana comes back.

Sanchez and Meija will make the roster barring injuries or a horrible spring training, and they will get the spot starts as needed.

Actually, if all of these guys are healthy, we look more solid going into the season THIS year than last.

Kind of getting excited.