Minneapolis / St. Paul News Blog

Kevin Garnett, in the future

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                    Photo by Dariusz_Ejkiewicz

When the Boston Celtics and our old friend Kevin Garnett rolled into town on Wednesday, I'm pretty sure most of us expected to see the buzzsaw that had just carved up the Sixers 105-74 the night before, that was holding its opponents to 38% shooting on the year, and that had mangled the Wolves at Target Center a year ago. What we got instead was a tired and somewhat uninspired Celtics team, unable to hit many open shots, unable to play their customary throttling defense. Even KG's reliably feverish exuberance was a little muted. For their part, the Wolves looked spry in playing their best basketball of the year and very nearly shocking the hell out of everybody.   

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                   Photo by photomastergreg

The Timberwolves have been playing for nigh on a week now and there are very few surprises to report. Since their rather miraculous opening night comeback against New Jersey, the Puppies have gone down in spirited losses to the Cavs (104-87), Suns (120-112) and Clippers (93-90). At different moments they've looked tentative, energetic, jittery, precocious and painfully young--and occasionally, all of those things at once. So, the massive highs, the crushing lows:

 

​                                                          Images courtesy of 13twentythree Photography 

 MOUNDS VIEW, MN --

(Note: Some images and audio NSFW)

To say that the Women's Oil Wrestling Championship on Friday eve was simply a "slick" event, would serve as an understatement.  Leviathanly Lubricous would prove more apt.

 

​                                                 Images courtesy of Wiki, shgmom56,  avinashkunnath 

The spirits will appear in various forms this weekend in Green Bay.  They will arrive in their incipience on Saturday for Halloween before shifting shape to the liquid form of elixirs for the long and spooky tailgate that will extend from Sunday morn into the 3 o'clock hour.  And come afternoon, Brett Favre will reappear, returning in costumed Purple after twice rising from the NFL afterlife and once from the sister conference.

Earlier in the week, we visited how Brett will be received at Lambeau Field, so let us get to the bones of the matchup.

​ Ultimate fail: Announcing someone is dead on an official Web site when it isn't actually true. The Minnesota Vikings had to quickly retract a statement from their Web site last night after falsely reporting the death of former player Orlando Thomas. He has been battling Lou Gehrig's Disease, but his family said he was still alive and kicking, watching basketball with his family at home.

The Associated Press took the information from the Vikings site and did a write-up that made it to Yahoo News. The AP reported that Thomas died early Wednesday at the age of 37. The report said the Vikings had already planned a moment of silence of Thomas during their next home game Nov. 15.

But then the Vikings learned he was still alive and the backtracking began.

​ We could hardly contain our excitement when we saw Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton was coming to the Mall of America to promote his new autobiography, "Every Day is Game Day." Could life really get any better?

Well yes it definitely can. Want to know why? Because Tarkenson is "visiting" MOA via Skype, aka a webcam. It's the first-ever Skype video feed from MOA, so it must be amazing! You know, that technology that was really state-of-the-art and fascinating about 10 years ago? The days when you could "video chat" and it was almost like really being there with someone! Only, they moved slow and their voice cracked out every three seconds.

​                                                 Images courtesy of Wiki, shgmom56, avinashkunnath

 Lambeau Field, I've never had the pleasure.  Nor have I ever been to Green Bay, Wis., home to the Packers since 1921.  After the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals (nee: Chicago), the Pack is the third-oldest franchise in the NFL.  On Sunday, they'll host the league's second oldest (non-kicking) player when Brett Favre leads the Vikings into Lambeau.  Favre played 16 seasons in Green Bay, winning the MVP thrice (1995-97) and capturing the Super Bowl XXXI crown.

But when the all-time leader in passing yards, completions and touchdowns returns to said confines this weekend, he will find them unfriendly and will be soundly booed.  Here's why:

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The air is brisk, the leaves are changing color, and women in roller skates are beating the crap out of each other. It must be fall. Last weekend marked the start of St. Paul's Minnesota Rollergirls. This weekend it's time for the Northstar Rollergirls to be brutal in Minneapolis.

​                                                  Images courtesy of deelovely_67, Wiki , SteelCityHobbies

Mike Tomlin, former Viking defensive coordinator (2006) and present head coach of the defending champ Steelers, is 18-4 at home since getting plucked by Pittsburgh brass as a 34-year-old assistant.  In what will prove the 6-0 Vikings' most daunting test to date, Past portends Prologue lest the Purple can take advantage of a rare Steeler weakness.

Pitt is 4-2 on the season, a record which includes a Week 2 loss at the now 3-2 Bears and a rare home hiccup to upstart Cincinnati, whose record mirrors that of the Steelers in the AFC North.  Recent history between the Vikings and Steelers is spare, and prognostication is bare of even a Pitt result versus Week 6 Vikings opponent, Baltimore, whom the Steelers face twice in the final six weeks of the season.  Further evidence of the showdown's scarcity can be witnessed in the fact that this is Minnesota's first trip to Pittsburgh since 2001.  In addition, Brett Favre -- he of nearly 280 regular season games played -- has opposed the Steely prospect on just four previous occasions, going 2-2 lifetime.

Photo courtesy of the University of Minnesota

​The University of Minnesota's Goldy Gopher made national headlines after last weekend's game against Penn State. The frisky not-actually-a-gopher mascot decided to mock/imitate a Penn State player as he knelt along the sidelines to pray before a game.

The University felt the need to apologize for their gopher's bad deed, partially to avert any continuing controversy and also because mascots don't talk. All this hoopla and the player says he isn't even bothered by it.

Check out the original video of the incident and the University's apology below.

​                                                                                               Images courtesy of Wiki 

When you're playing on a team alongside Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen, Steve Hutchinson, Kevin Williams and Antoine Winfield -- it's easy to get lost in the Purple.  Hell, even with his 176 receiving yards and crucial late-game snare in the Vikings' 33-31 win over Baltimore, Sidney may not have even been the most celebrated "Rice" on the field on Sunday, given the 194 combined yards and two TD's collected by the Ravens' Ray Rice.

In the history of the NFL & AFL, just two men donning the Rice surname have graced the wide receiver position.  The latter, of course, is our boy Sidney -- Care to take a stab at the former?

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                                                                                                                   Images courtesy of SOM​

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

                   -F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby"

 

As the proverb goes: the dog barks, the caravan moves on.  As the ALCS moves on without us, gentle reader, I hope you can suffer me one more baseball bark.

Throughout this season, the Twins last in the Dome, we've taken four prior strolls to recognize the club's now-previous environs.  To revisit these pieces, please click upon the number for each respective column: 1  2  3  4.

Before engendering coverage of Vikings and Gophers football in this space, please enjoy this fifth and final entry, whereupon myriad Twins fans were kind enough to share their video impressions of their own Metrodome Memories and the team's move to Target Field.  Many thanks to all who participated back on 9/15 when the Boys were 5.5 games out with little hope at the postseason.  In about a month from now, we'll hopefully have opportunity to celebrate Joe Mauer's deserved American League MVP, earned via his unprecedented third batting title for a catcher, the highest batting average ever attained by a player at his position(.365), and league-leading slugging (.587) and on-base (.444) percentages.  Until that late-November date, please enjoy the videos below:

 

​                                                       Images courtesy of Keith Allison, ConspiracyofHappiness

In the bottom of the 7th of last night's season-ending loss to the Yankees, Delmon Young managed to hit himself in the nuts (with batted ball) during an at-bat.  The moment felt symbolic of the Twins playoff experience as a whole.

Young would later double in the at-bat.  That the Twins' were unable to bring him around to notch the score at 2's would seem another microcosm of the club's ALDS sweepage at the hands of New York.  Few believed that the Twins could outlast what was baseball's most-winning club during the regular season, however after having led in all three contests -- the chill in our baseball hearts is mirrored only by the snow upon our autumnal ground.

This series hurt; underground media outlets reported this morning that local noose sales rose 20 percent.

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Skates, pads, sticks are first-come, first-served.

The stuff will be doled out from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow at the Xcel Center, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. There are apparently more than 2,000 pieces of equipment up for grabs.

Anyone can get it. You don't even have to prove that you're poor. Here's more details from the Biz Journal on who's giving up the stuff:

 

​                                                      Images courtesy of Keith Allison, Wigstruck

The term "Must Win" has become stale at best.  Really: "If we lose we're screwed" offers more candor and edge.  So says history.

After Wednesday's 7-2 loss to the Yanks in Game 1 of the ALDS, the Twins took the day off Thursday and, from our vantage 1,200 miles away, we can only hope & trust that they Boys got some much needed rest.

I don't like the Best-of-five format.  That's not said to bemoan our chances at this stage (really), it's truly a broader brush painting the frustrating fact that since baseball brought in the Wild Card and Divisional Series 5-game format in 1995, just four teams -- Seattle ('95), Red Sox (99'), Yankees ('01), Red Sox ('03) -- have ever come back from an 0-2 deficit to win a Divisional series.  These should be seven games, which afford teams the true opportunity to flesh out their personalities.  After grinding through 162 (or more) contests, why the hell not just play it all the way out?  The best-of-five can take a team (that's not to say us) from an emotional zenith to, well, vacation, in four damn days.

Really, the Twins are far from being out of this.  Keep faith, gentle readers.  And enjoy capsules for the next two playoffs ballgames -- Game 2 today at 5 Central in NYC and Game 3 back here at home on Sunday at 6 p.m. Central.  If necessary: times are now also listed for Game 4 (Metrodome, Monday 10/12 at 4 p.m. Central) and Game 5 (Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, 10/14 at 5 p.m. Central).

 

​                                                                 Images courtesy of Keith Allison 

Have you ever tried a Whippet?  In brief, it's a little cartridge of nitrous oxide that, when inhaled, offers a brief aura of elation, followed by the sensation of feeling like your brain is kinda dead.  My apologies for beginning herein with an untoward recreational reference, but after the Twins intoxicating House of Cards win on Tuesday night, Wednesday's 7-2 ALDS loss to the Yankees proved achingly-sobering.

The Boys came out of the gates with impressive pluck, evidencing little malaise after capturing the Central crown just 20 hours prior and arriving at their New York hotel circa 4 a.m.  But the inspiring 2-0 lead the Twins took into the bottom of the third proved ultimately short-lived, as Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter pounded a Brain Duensing off-speed offering into the left field stands to notch the score.  An inning later, the Yankees took a 3-2 edge off Duensing compliments of a Nick Swisher double and the Pinstripes never looked back. 

​Span, Cabrera, Mauer and Punto had two hits apiece for the Twins.  C.C. Sabathia allowed just one earned run in 6.2 innings of work to get the win.  To see the box score, please click here.

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They're the evil Empire to the Twins' scrappy rebels. If that's not enough to make you hate the Yankees, here's 10 more good reasons.

 

​                                                          Images courtesy of Keith Allison

Perhaps someone should inform New Yorkers that -- at least for the last six days -- our T.C. sporting universe has become the city that never sleeps.  In a nearly five-hour affair that took on the bizarre dimensions of a Kubrick film, Alexi Casilla singled in Carlos Gomez in the bottom of the 12th last night to down the Tigers 6-5 and give the Twins the Central Division title.  The victory elevated our Boys to a best-of-five American League Divisional Series playoff showdown with the New York Yankees, who sported baseball's best record at 103-59.  Emblematic of the insanity was the fact that Casilla's game-winner was just his fourth hit since August 25th; in addition, the knock rescued him from the infamy of a 10th inning base running miscue that could have likely given the Twins a victory an hour prior.

To see the box score, please click here.

The Twins' victory was wrought with more history than a Stephen Ambrose biography and capped an unprecedented and wholly maniacal span of sport in the Twin Cities.  Said stretch began with the Twins vs. Royals series at the Dome last Friday, continued with Twin Cities Marathon, proceeded with the Gophers and Badgers game at TCF Stadium, corralled the nation's televisions via Brett Favre's vengeance against the Packers, and concluded in ecstasy last night.  The win tasted especially sweet considering the club's 1-0 tiebreaker loss to the Chicago White Sox in game #163 from last season.

​Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak took a stab at former Minnesota Viking Randy Moss yesterday while previewing the Vikings-Packers match-up later in the evening. In his attempt to say that Brett Favre is a good fit in Minneapolis and a welcomed addition, he said Moss was a jerk, a bad fit, and isn't welcomed back into this town.

A tough statement, but all too true. Too bad the Star Tribune sports writer didn't see it that way.

                           

Whether Brett Favre ultimately succeeds at having his vengeance upon Packer brass in this season (or the next, or the next, or the next?), will be first determined by around 11 o'clock tonight. Between the great gravity of two leviathan baseball games, the Dome is finding time to squeeze in a little pigskin tonight, as the Packers and Vikings thrown down before a national audience on Monday Night Football. Gamblers have the undefeated Vikings as 4-point favorites over the 2-1 Pack in a game that has thus far been pedestalled more for its drama than its stats.

 

                                                                  Images courtesy of SOM,  Keith Allison ​

Amidst an unparalleled and wholly electric span of days that found our Twin'd Cities holding a marathon, hosting a Gopher vs. Badgers game in the dapper environs of "The Bank," and celebrating Brett Favre's vengeance against Packer brass -- our Minnesota Twins have

blended an historic recipe of equal parts Magic and Nostalgia to schedule at least one more day of 2009 baseball.

 

It's almost as if the club is leaving a nest that isn't quite ready to let go of its sons.

While Sunday eve's postgame Metrodome salute proved wholly entertaining and brilliantly organized -- the event was also wonderfully premature.  The Twins' 13-4 win over K.C. secured

​a Central Division tie with the Tigers, whose 5-3 victory over the Chi Sox salvaged their nearly six-month stronghold on the division.  The teams meet this afternoon (4 p.m. CST) in a one-game tiebreaker to determine which club's season will end, and which will make travel plans to New York for an American League Divisional Series with the Yankees.  The Twins are 11-7 on the year versus the Tigers. 

 

​                                                                   Images courtesy of SOM, Wiki,

After a heated, contentious, and season-saving 8-3 win at Detroit yesterday, the Twins return home with enough breath left in their 2009 season to keep the Metrodome inflated for at least three more games.  Thursday's nooner victory gave the Twins a split for the four-game series, keeping the Tigers magic number for the Central at 2 games, meaning any combination of Twins losses & Tiger wins that reaches said number will ascend Detroit to the postseason. 

The Twins hope to dull that magic with a sweep of the Royals in what will be the final regular season ballgames at the Dome.  Meanwhile, the Tigers aim to make memories of 2008's last-place finish wholly vanish with a three-game set at home against the White Sox, versus whom they're 8-7 on the year.  Chicago has been fielding a really soupy lineup in the season's final week; however they offer Twin hopes in both manager Ozzie Guillen's adoration of our club, and also a trio of pitchers -- Jake Peavy, Freddy Garcia, and John Danks -- that sport a collective lifetime record of 18-9 with a 3.73 ERA against the Tigers.

The heat of the weekend is stoked with irony via the Garcia start.  Recall last season's makeup game #162 for the Chi Sox? They needed a win to tie the Twins and play onward to our #163.  That ballgame was against Detroit who offered Garcia as their starter.  Freddy was respectable in that 8-2 Detroit loss, albeit far from dominant, surrendering 2 runs in 5 innings of work.  Perhaps he can do the Bread Basket a bigger favor this weekend.

Photo via wiki

​ The Vikings will no longer call their home field the Metrodome. It's now officially named Mall of America Field. Get used to it.

MOA bought the naming rights to the field for the next three years, according to Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. They will brand the dome's exterior and interior with obnoxious signage and promote the crap out of Minnesota's giant mall.

The rights begin on Oct. 5 when the Vikings host the Green Bay Packers Monday night. The deal ends Feb. 28, 2012.

From the Business Journal:

"Branding the field as Mall of America Field represents an opportunity to share our name and image with an even larger nationwide audience," said Maureen Bausch, executive vice president of business development at Mall of America. "It also connects two treasured Minnesota brands - Mall of America and the Minnesota Vikings - which adds value to both companies."

Will the name stick after 27 years being known only as the Metrodome? Doubtful, but good luck. And is the building still called the Metrodome? This is too confusing.

​ When the University of Minnesota won Saturday against Northwestern, the campus was a mess with riled up students looking to prove their awesomely tough skills out in the street. Unfortunately one U of M linebacker decided to get involved in the brawl and got busted by police. But not before he showed off his sweet football moves trying to flee.

Sophomore Gary Tinsley was eventually caught and cited for underage drinking and fleeing police.

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 It's no secret that Peter King thinks Brett Favre is God, and after this weekend's stunning last-second victory, we're ready to join him at the altar.

 

                                                                           ​Images courtesy of SD Dirk, Keith Allison 

Déjà vu isn't a bad thing if the senses rekindled are of a pleasing nature.  For the second consecutive year -- and the third time in the past four seasons -- the Twins bring a hardball campaign down to the final week, beginning tonight with a four-game set against a Tiger club holding a two game lead in the Central.  Past becoming Prologue wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for this 2009 version of the Bread Basket, considering that the club ascended past 162 games in both 2006 and 2008 before losing in the ALDS and in game #163, respectively.

The Twins' mantra this past weekend should have been labeled: Gain Ground.  And if they indeed monikered their time in K.C. as such, then the club's objectives were realized as we scooped up a game on the Tigers, who dropped two of three to the Chi Sox while the Twins took the first two from the Royals before getting shut down by likely Cy winner Zach Greinke.

The Twins have won nine of 14 versus Detroit this season, including the two of three we took from the Tigers on 9/18-9/20.  Previous to those three ballgames in which the clubs combined for 19 runs, the Twins and Tigers had collectively averaged 12.8 runs per in their prior 11 contests.  The average for the most recent series?  About half that at 6.3.  As the adage goes: Offense sells tickets, pitching wins titles.  It will be wholly interesting to see which clubs has more (or less) juice to squeeze as the pressure cooker now bubbles at full tilt.

​​                                                              Images courtesy of Wiki, Keith Allison 

 

Ever hear of the old "K.C. Lou"?  It's the hardball lexicon to describe a first-and-third scenario with the shortstop cutting off a catcher's throw to second on a steal, designed to catch the runner on third off guard.  With just 10 games left to play in a suddenly sizzling September playoff chase, our Bread Basket needs to metaphorically step before that toss, and find the Central-leading Tigers dumfounded between third and home.

With wins in nine of our last 10, the Twins are now baseball's hottest team at a time when the MLB regular season stage is most illuminated.  With Detroit's 6-5 win over the Indians last night, the Boys trail the Tigers by 3 in the division, with a four-game set (Monday-Thursday) awaiting the two clubs next week in Motown.  While the Tigers play three in Chicago this weekend (against whom they're 7-5 on the season), the Twins have a really sneaky series at Kansas City, facing a Royals club versus whom we've taken seven of 12 on the year.

Before looking forward to the K.C. weekend, it's worthy of note herein that the Twins' nascent heat has the potential to be the stuff of September legend.  A la the 2007 Colorado Rockies that won 14 of their last 15 to force a Wild Card playoff (which they won), the Twins have tapped into a near-mystical Indian Summer that defies convention.  Consider that in taking the last two in our sweep of the Chi Sox, the Boys sported two starting pitchers with a (now) combined five career wins.  In addition, with Morneau and Span down, our lineup offered only two .300-hitting regulars, no 30 home run sluggers, zero 90 RBI batsmen, and nobody with more than 15 steals.  Offensively: Mauer's MVP candidacy, Cuddyer's crazy September, and Kubel's consistency proudly don the stat sheet.  Beyond that?  Fill the lineup card with "Smoke," "Mirror," "Duct Tape," "Tolbert," "Super Glue," and the magical autumn elixir known only as "Hot Streak."

There's something in the water now.  Drink it in full, and enjoy your Twins vs. Royals capsule: 

 

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In recent years, a game between the Vikings and 49ers would be considered a bit of a yawner. But now that the 'Niners have apparently regained respectability, this week's match-up has some intriguing story lines that make it a game to watch: