Greetings (again) Rubes!
Well, with the Vikings having literally and figuratively gimped their way to a
2-5 record, I think it's fair to say: Stick a fork in the Vikes....they're
done. Having said that, I'll reiterate that these are my guys, and I'm sticking
with them for the duration. And don't get me wrong, I'd love to see this team
catch lightning in a bottle and rattle off 9 straight and soar into the
playoffs, but....eh?.....I doubt it. There's still a ton of talent here, and
we'll win some games and have some highlight worthy moments, but I'm just not
seeing a dominant stretch run on the horizon. Failures in multiple areas are
the culprit: dumb penalties, dropped passes, inconsistent o-line play, poor
Favre play, zero pass rush, failure to create turnovers,...it all adds up to a
2-5 team, and that's just where we should be.
I think we're seeing the aging process affecting former studs like G Steve Hutchinson and the Williams Wall, and for some reason, DE Jared Allen has reaffirmed my hatred of haircuts: He cuts his mullet and becomes a horseshit player in one offseason. That's incredible. If he has any credibility whatsoever, he'd be giving back game checks on a weekly basis. I'm honestly thinking that maybe it's time to pull the plug on the Favre-era and give QB Tarvaris Jackson a 9 game audition to see what we have there, if anything.
Thinking ahead to next year, I'd like to see WR Randy Moss re-signed to a 3-year deal while cutting WR Bernard Berrian's ridiculous contract from the books, and also dicing S Madieu Williams, who isn't a bad football player, but who's play doesn't nearly equate to the (also)ridiculous contract that he's getting. I know there's a ton of support for getting rid of Head Coach Brad Childress, but I'm not comfortable with that idea unless I know that Bill Cowher or someone of that ilk is willing to come in. There is still of lot of football to be played yet, so we will see how this all plays out, and with the rather surprising mediocrity of the NFC conference,
anything can happen, but I'm seeing a Packers division title well within their grasp. Oh, and the Bears?....no,...their frauds. Stay tuned....
In cheerier news, the Wild have started the year 4-4-2, which is a notch better
than last years 5-9 start. They haven't been great, but they've been
competitive, and have played watchable hockey. G Nicklas Backstrom mirrors this
statement: He's not elite, but if he has decent defensive play in front of
him, he's a very good positional goalie that we can win with, provided we can
get some goals of our own. I also wish Head Coach Todd Richards would quit messing around with his line pairings, (a criticism I also had of former Head Coach Jaques Lemaire). Last year RW Marty Havlat and LW Guillaume Latandresse were excellent together and I was hoping that adding C Matt Cullen to this line would really add some zip, but Havlat hasn't played much and Cullen has been used with everybody, so I'm not seeing how ANY of these lines can develop the continuity that is so crucial to melding a top-flight line together when it's just a nightly mish-mash. Here's hoping Richards settles on some lines and these guys get used to playing with each other!
Also, just out of the gate, the new look Timberwolves have started out 1-1, and
could have been 2-0. If you haven't seen them play yet, they're WAY beyond last
years snooze-fest of "dump it in to Al......and wait". These guys are active,
athletic, and are at least TRYING to play defense. I mean, let's face it,..F
Kevin Love is never going to be confused with Dennis Rodman, but he's trying,
and if the team plays good team defense, we're going to surprise some people
because we can PLAY!
Anyone happen to catch that Gophers-Ohio State (yawn) "football game" this past
weekend? If you did.........shame on you. You must get some perverse enjoyment
of watching executions or something too......eh?
should say something about the Twins repeated meek demise from the MLB playoffs,
getting swept, yet again, by the Yankees 3 games to none. I think it's become
crystal clear that this is a good team, not a great team, and it's a team of
players incapable of stepping up in the big moment and delivering. It's very
frustrating, but big-time teams have big-time players who step up and get a
clutch hit, or make a diving stop, or get a key double-play, and it's very
obvious that this team has zero players capable of doing that. They've been in
the playoffs most of this decade and I believe we've lost a dozen playoff games
in a row. 12 IN A ROW. That's not exactly going down fighting is it. That's
just an embarrassment. And there has been some clamoring for Manager Ron
Gardenhire's dismissal as a result of this. This is understandable, but he can
only work with what he has. I don't recall Gardenhire hitting a two-hopper to
2nd with the bases loaded for the fortieth time in this past series? Hmm...and
don't forget, this team will look different next year with RHP Carl Pavano, DH
Jim Thome, 2B Orlando Hudson, RHP Matt Guerrier, RHP Jon Rauch, RHP Jesse Crain,
LHP Brian Fuentes, LHP Randy Flores, LHP Ron Mahay, and INF Nick Punto all up
with contracts due.
Regarding the Twins ALDS Game 1 loss last night: Ah crap. And we had our
chances too. Better luck tonight....and don't have double-digit guys left on
base tonight either.
The San Diego Charges have signed former Golden Gopher safety Tyrone Carter.
The Minnesota Wild lost their season opener in Helsinki, Finland today, 4-3.
Also, don't look now,..but the Minnesota Timberwolves won their 1st two
pre-season games. WE'RE COMIN'!! WE'RE COMIN'!!
Greetings Rubes!
Well, as unlikely as it would have seemed a week ago, WR Randy Moss will be back
in a Vikings jersey for at least the forseeable future. OH YES!! Fantastic
move. Then again, there's no secret to what happened here. Obviously the
Vikings brass received word of my recent scathing indictment of the handling of
the Sidney Rice absence, knew I was making them look bad, and decided to rectify
the situation by going out and getting Randy Moss. Therefore,.....I am taking
full credit.....and gratuities will be accepted. Moss is still one of the most dangerous deep threats in the league and knowing
that he plays biggest when he's motivated, this could be a lot of fun. (Picture
Brett Favre,... sitting on his mower......giggling to himself) But really,
think of it this way: Even if he doesn't come busting out with a 9 catch, 172
yard, 3 touchdown game Monday night against the Jets, just having him standing
out there immediately improves the running game by getting those safeties to
step further back from the line of scrimmage. Hell, the fade pattern might be
brought out of mothballs? Percy in the slot may wind up facing nothing but
safeties and linebackers....HA! Now let's see what Brad "The Mad Scientist"
Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell can come up with to get the
hitch out of the offense's giddy-up.
There's no question the Vikes are in "all-in" mode this season, and with good
reason. Decisions will have to be made in the offseason regarding a bunch of
free agents: K Ryan Longwell, LB Chad Greenway, DE Ray Edwards, WR Sidney Rice,
and LB Ben Leber to name a few. Not to mention that it's entirely possible that
next years starting QB is not on the current Vikings roster, so that's one more
thing to consider. Let's just re-focus and take this season a game at a time
and start building some momentum.
Also, don't forget that the Wild open the regular season this week in Finland
against the Carolina Hurricanes. They haven't looked particularly sharp in
preseason play, but we'll just have to see how our new guys acclimate to Todd
Richards system. Nice move also, by signing G Jose Theodore after back-up
goalie Josh Harding was lost for the year with a torn ACL.
Call me crazy, call me kooky, but I'm actually fired up over the upcoming
Timberwolves season. Yes,..I said fired up,....and Timberwolves,......in the
same sentence. Hard to believe. But I just like the fact that we're younger,
bigger, stronger, faster, and can shoot better than last year's squad.
That HAS to initiate some positive results doesn't it??
I honestly think that with hungry, motivated guys like F Michael Beasley, C Darko Milicic, F Kevin Love, G/F Martell Webster, F Anthony Tolliver, and rookie G/F Wesley Johnson, I think we can compete. Playoffs?....playoffs?? I don't know about that. I'm not going to map out my championship parade route for next summer just yet, but I expect to see much growth and energy from this years' team, and next year I expect to see PG Ricky Rubio running the whole she-bang towards the post-season.
Mass props to the A.L. Central Division Champion Minnesota Twins on winning
their 6th Division Title in the past 9 years. And we did secure home-field
advantage in the first round match-up vs. the dreaded Yankees, so if there was a
series where home-field was needed, it was this one. All you will hear in the
next day or so hours is how the Twins have been spanked repeatedly in the past
playoff series by the Yankees and how we have no chance against them and blah,
blah, blah. We'll they're right. We've been terrible against NY both in the
regular season as well as the playoffs. The loss of 1b Justin Morneau for the
rest of the season should be looked at two separate ways:
1.) I fell awful for him. This has to be killing him to not be out there enjoying this with his
teammates.
And 2.) From a Twins perspective, they should be used to this. Morneau has been either miserable or missing the past 3 Septembers anyway, so
this isn't anything new. The Yankees are the far more storied franchise, and
have all the rings to show for it, but we're a good ballclub too, and I don't
think that right now they're any better than we are. Postseason baseball is
about who steps up in crunch time, and who doesn't. Who pitches a gem, and who
has a meltdown. Maybe this is our year and maybe we get some Target Field karma
going and finally knock these guys off.
The drama begins tomorrow night.....stay tuned...
Okay folks, with regards to the Minnesota Golden Gopher football program, I will
say this:..........EEAAAAGGGHH!!! Enough of the Tim Brewster Head Coaching
Experiment. Losing 4 consecutive home games to USC (understandable), but also
to such leafy-greens as South Dakota, Northern Illinois, and Northwestern is
just not acceptable. We're going nowhere and before we take glittering TFC Bank
Stadium and turn it into a dustbowl, let's remove this guy and PLEAD with Tony
Dungy or Marc Trestman to come up here and run the football program!
Well, after having stumbled out of the gate the vaunted Vikings come back from
an early bye week and stand at 1-2, and with a LOT of questions. The offense
has been a sporadic mess, with poor play from QB Brett Favre, an inconsistent
offensive line, and getting absolutely nothing out of any wide receivers not
named Percy Harvin. It's been ugly and if not for the efforts of RB Adrian
Peterson, and TE Visanthe Shiancoe, it would resemble the feeble unit Chilly
stuck on the field in 2006. The defense has been excellent and I expect
improvement with the return from injuries of CBs Cedric Griffin and rookie Chris
Cook. Not to mention that DE Jared Allen has been largely invisible and it
would be nice if he began making regular appearances once again. The loss of WR
Sidney Rice has been HUGE, and I absolutely fault the coaching staff for failing
to 1.) make more than a marginal effort to replace him and 2.) for not being
able to come up with a way to circumvent this loss and come up with other ways
to move the football. Very shabbily done, and to be perfectly honest,
unprofessional. Here's a hint Chilly: Can't stretch the defense?...how about
some slants and crossing routes? Screen passes? Reverses and/or flea flickers.
I don't dislike Brad Childress, and last year we got to see what his "vision" of
this thing could ascend to. And it was awesome. However, the inability to
adjust on the fly and react to the now equals poor coaching, and the fish stinks
from the head down.
'Nuff said.
