April 2008

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The Short Money

Filed under: Horse Racing

From:
Jack K. Sparks
Hillbilly Number One
El Platano Blanco

To:
SGT Sparkes, Michael
FSC 1-327 IN REG
1ST ARMORED DIV
Somewhere Overseas

Cousin Mike,

Spring is breaking across Minnesota; however, we aren't experiencing it fully because the good Lord has seen fit to extend old Martinmas into damn near May. Unfortunately, Mother Nature's roulette wheel always lands on Black around this time of year as she ushers in all of Summer's shortsighted pursuits. Chief among these are man's search for sustenance from the feral fauna of the land, and, man's search for the big score from an endless procession of glue factory nags at Parimutuel windows from Santa Anita to Belmont.

This is where the story both begins and ends though, Michael, because these days are always fogged over with a green cloud called Demko. The world is full of bad ideas, and the Kentucky Derby has always been one of them. The Kentucky Derby at a track roughly 600+ miles North of Churchill Downs is borderline ridiculous.

The fact is, the REAL Kentucky Derby is full of the worst kind of people, from the very rich to the very stupid to the very rich and stupid. These people often have too much money and a warped sense of "the finish line." A bad day for them either consists of an hour not wearing silk, or an hour having not fired a shot in anger. Sobriety is a luxury.

Transpose this ill conceit to a wind torn suburb belched from a set of highways and roads designed and built by a colony of inbred chimps from a long forgotten Medeival zoo. Couples named George and Martha show up at this event in matching denim Mickey and Minnie Mouse varsity jackets bought ten years ago, "when the kids were little" on a terrible 4 day weekend in Orlando. They'd throw the jackets away, but in a crowd like this, it's good to mark yourself with something familiar. These strays are surrounded by slovenly drunks named Chip and Chaz who read one Hunter S. Thompson article in a Journalism 101 course and decided that a lot of alcohol in a public place is the functional equivalent of living the high life. These people are 50 kinds of dumb.

But I'm not going to plead immunity from prosecution. I have my own vaccuum of intelligence and it all begins with the 651 area code. This man calls me every year to begin the descent into evil...horses, strong drink, and money I don't have. Somewhere during the unholy abortion that is my friendship with one Paul J. Demko, he convinced me that it is possible for man to predict the performance of beast and profit from the enterprise. But this is folly. We are the beasts.

And then he goads me, annually, into this contest of words full of equine nonsense.

But we don't have time for this. James Scully had to wipe off his tip with his own dirty sock after watching Big Brown work out this morning, which is good for scumbags like Demko who will box him in an exacta with the field with money they stole from of a passed out drunk sleeping it off under the Cracker and Cheese table at Liquor Lyles the night before. This is money ill spent, because the returns will be even, and given his proclivity for strong drink, and misguided bets on Maiden Sprints featuring the local hippodrome, Demko will go home poor.

Between the rails, on the dirt, the Kentucky Derby rewards WINNERS. And there will only be one winner this Saturday, a great grandson of Seattle Slew named Pyro. This balls out bastard ran a semi-circle around the field at the Risen Star Stakes and then did it again at the Louisiana Derby a few weeks later. His poor showing on the Polytrack is a rope-a-dope, and the dopes are eating it like dessert.

But Big Brown can't be totally discounted. He'll have just enough gas to finish second, a half length ahead of a Sheila named Eight Belles, followed by Colonel John and Gayego or Monba. Yes, for the losers, this will be the Super Hi-5, a sucker bet that will build the latest, most depraved "executive suite" at Churchill Downs in less than a year. These are the crimes that never go reported, especially in states like Kentucky.

I weep for humanity Mike. Stay safe and sit on your helmet.

Ad astra per aspera.

Posted by Jack Sparks at April 29, 2008 10:37 PM | Comments (2)

 

The Demotion of Liriano

Filed under: MLB

There's no arguing with the numbers. Francisco Liriano's much-trumpeted return to the bigs ended with an unceremonious and ill-timed cymbal clash after he went just 2/3 of an inning and gave up 6 earned to the A's back on 4/24, bringing his 2008 totals to an unseemly 0-3, with an 11.32 ERA in three starts. Two days later, he was sent back to AAA Rochester.

Less than 30 games into this season, I've already devoted great space herein to "The Franchise," having said both that he'd need to win 25 for the club to be truly competitive, and that his return from Tommy John should initially be viewed as an exercise in form, rather than instant result.

And while the show is surely no place to go to school, not a training ground to learn on-the-job, I was somewhat surprised at the alacrity of the hook the Twins exercised, thinking that --despite the overt negativity of his numbers-- Liriano may have (and perhaps should have) been given at least 5 starts before a move was made. Furthermore, I was also surprised that no one in either the Twins ranks, nor within the pages of the Sports dailies, made any contrary reaction. It all felt so very accepted. And what has been reported, somewhat buried behind the blunt force of the crappy stats, is that Liriano could be gone for a lengthy period of time.

Maybe I'm still married to the 2006 image of Liriano in all his greatness and dominance. It's tough not to be. And so, I'll claim that as the onus for the following list of reasons why Liriano should have remained with the club for at least two or three more starts:

1. Alternatives: Neither right-handed relief pitcher Brian Bass (4.67 ERA in 7 appearances), nor recently-recalled Bobby Korecky are impact arms. Bass is a career journeyman who has made for a nice story but has shown that there's a reason why he has all those stickers on his suitcase. Korecky is a well-touted prospect (at age 28), although he's made his name as more of a closer. I think we have a guy there.

2. Youth Without Youth: To borrow the title of Coppola's latest, Liriano is no doubt young at the age of 24, but really not that young. In the A.L. alone, on Active, 25-man rosters, there are currently 19 pitchers who are younger than "The Franchise."

3. History: Liriano has some history with shitty starts. Looking back to 2005, when he started 4 games, going 1-2, giving up 14 runs and 7 walks in 21.2 innings.

4. AAA Track Record: While the 2007-2008 ascension of former Rochester starting hurlers Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey and Boof Bonser shows promise, there is also a track record of starting arms coming via our AAA-affiliate that were not to be. Here is a brief list of those untoward chestnuts from days of yore:

2003- Mike Nakamura, Adam Johnson
2004- Brad Thomas, J.D. Durbin, Joe Beimel, Carlos Pulido, Seth Greisinger
2005- Travis Bowyer, Dave Gassner
2006- Willie Eyre, Matt Garza
2007- Julio DePaula

5. Thinking Man's Game: Invoking memories of fictional luminary Crash Davis, Gardy recently quoted Liriano as saying that, prior to his injury he "didn't think, I just threw." Let's hope this thing isn't mental. But should this be the (head) case, I've checked with both the Twins and Rochester and have learned that neither club employs a sports psychologist on-staff. Yet, should he still be in the Show, perhaps Liriano could consult Scott Baker's "performance coach," whom he has credited with providing him with "a change of perspective."

6. Timing: While it's far, far too early to count the club out of anything, the fact the it's not yet May means that some rocky starts aren't coming at a pivotal time. When he does come back later in the season, that's when the games will carry more weight.

Lastly,

7. Health: He's not hurt. There has been no mention of pain or discomfort.

Today, the Twins are 11-14, heading into a two-game home series with first place Chicago and all the attitude that comes with this rivalry. Tomorrow, Francisco Liriano is scheduled to go for Rochester against Pawtucket before 4,500 fans. Let's hope that his recall, and his confidence, return with all the celerity of that 2006 slider.

Posted by Judd Spicer at April 29, 2008 9:20 AM | Comments (13)

 

What, what, we got Booty!

Filed under: NFL

The NFL Draft is the annual two-day event where the 32 NFL teams choose former college football players and everyone is treated to Mel Kiper Jr.’s endless rants and impossible pompadour.

Only in America can a guy with no football playing, coaching, or scouting experience get a plush gig on national sports television making wild predictions about a player’s “raw athleticism”, “explosiveness”, and the curious ability to be “faster than the stop-watch suggests.”

I don't know about you, but I would rather hear about how a player does on the Twinkie Test than on the nebulous Wonderlic Test.

The Minnesota Vikings made they’re biggest splash the week before the draft when they sent their first round pick (no. 17 overall) and two third round picks to Kansas City for defensive end Jared Allen. A guy my brother-in-law pinned as a “someone very capable of saying some really outlandish things” after games. Indeed.

This guy should help drag the Vikes out of the cellar when it comes to pass defense.

A lot has been made of giving up so much for one player, not to mention the contract the Wilfs shelled out. But the draft is a crapshoot, getting a fifth year player before or at his peak, in a position the Vikes needed to address, is hard to put a price tag on.

With one move the team established the most feared defensive line in football. It makes me giddy thinking about opponent’s 3rd downs in the dome with the crowd on its feet with Allen coming hard off the corner and Kevin Williams busting up the middle.

Former QB Steve Young from ESPN pointed out that Jon Kitna may now be the best quarterback in the division. That's scary. But it also means that Minnesota should now be positioned to make a run at the crown. Chicago is a mess especially after the re-signing of Rex Grossman; enough said. Green Bay returns most of their team from a year ago with one glaring exception, the retirement of Brett Favre, which will at the very least will cause some growing pains that come with breaking in a new signal caller. As for Detroit, they’ll find some way of mucking it up, they always do. In addition, they lost their force in the middle Shaun Rogers to the Cleveland Browns.

For the Vikes, the passing game remains a big question mark. Will Tarvaris Jackson show marked improvement this year and connect with new wide receiver signee Bernard Berrian? It remains to be seen. Another looming area of concern is the offensive line. Center Matt Birk is in the last year of his contract and less than happy with the team’s attempts to resign him. Throw in Bryant McKinnie’s recent run-ins with the law, and the long-term health of this formidable unit is in jeopardy.

However, this fan is beyond optimistic for this season. With the reigning rookie of the year in Adrian Peterson and a defense that has only gotten stronger with multiple offseason moves by the front office, hopes and expectations are high.

Again, they have us right where they want us.

Posted by Eric Refsland at April 28, 2008 7:57 AM | Comments (7)

 

Now is the time! Now is the time?

Filed under: MLB

It is perennially at this juncture of the baseball season that I feel some anxiety over the Twins' performance. Of course, the campaign is merely 21 games young. However, with both the Wild and the Wolves now done for the year, with the NFL draft conducted this weekend, and with SportsCenter pumping the leviathan popularity of the NFL our way as early as July, I've developed an unrest that the Twins need to win now to truly magnetize their fan base, ride the wave of early-season buzz, and maintain sports page headlines.

Furthermore, summer competition for fans has become more intense over the last decade. The St. Paul Saints remain popular and begin at the end of the month (although the Twins ensuing open-airness will surely grab some of their fans). Then there's a sport that I don't get (MN Swarm) that has been drawing upwards of 11,000 fans and has the playoff potential to bleed into mid-May, and a sport that I don’t personally care for (MN Thunder) that has both men's and women's teams that play heavily in the summer months, with the former's season going long into September.

And so, I worry. But I shouldn't. Because after poring over a sample of some Twins attendance numbers, I soon learned that my concern was misguided. The following -- from 2002-07-- charts the average attendance for the 7 Twins' home games that follow the closure of whichever winter sport concluded latest (after day of date provided), compared with average attendance for the 7 Twins home games following the completion of the first Vikings pre-season game (after day of date provided). Also noted are both the Twins respective records at the onset of both points in each year, and if the club made the playoffs in said season.

2002, (4/29/02):
Record: 15-11
Average Attendance: 15,312

(8/11/02)- Playoffs
record: 70-49
Ave. Atten.: 30, 607
% increase of 99.9

2003, (5/17/03)
Record: 24-18
Ave. Atten.: 22,572

(8/10/03)-Playoffs
Record: 60-57
Ave. Atten.: 29,648
% increase of 31.3

2004, (6/1/04)
Record: 28-23
Ave. Atten.: 16,442

(8/15/04)-Playoffs
Record: 64-53
Ave. Atten.: 31,435
% increase of 91.2

2005, (4/21/05)
Record: 10-6
Ave. Atten.: 23,319

(8/13/05)
Record: 59-57
Ave. Atten.: 29,559
% increase of 26.8

2006, (4/20/06)
Record: 7-8
Ave. Atten.: 15,985

(8/15/06)-Playoffs
Record: 69-49
Ave. Atten.: 37,315
% increase of 133.4

2007, (4/20/07)
Record: 10-6
Ave. Atten.: 21,488

(8/11/07)
Record: 58-58
Ave. Atten.: 32,579
% increase of 51.6

And while there are no doubt piles of additional factors that play into the disparity of numbers (e.g., level of visiting competition, weather, local events, lake homes, soccer, sunburn), the overwhelming increase in attendance percentages largely suggest that Dome seats will be far more inhabited come August whether we're winning, losing, or just average.

My early-season neurosis is for naught. Shit, did I leave the iron on?

Posted by Judd Spicer at April 24, 2008 9:14 AM | Comments (11)

 

Minnesota Thunder season preview: Happy Birthday Frederico Moojen! Now score some damn goals!

Filed under: Thunder

The Minnesota Thunder have endured three-straight miserable campaigns. Struggling with a paltry player payroll in a league that escalates in quality each year, the once-proud franchise (having advanced to the league championship four times between 1998 and 2003) hasn't qualified for the post-season since 2004. During Amos Magee's first two campaigns as coach, the club has compiled a sad 12-27-17 record.

As an obsessed fan of this lowly team, I have endured approximately 24,387 minutes (whether at The Jimmy or watching games on the Internets) of abject misery over the last three years. Now granted that statement probably says more about the misguided priorities of my life than it does about the state of a minor league soccer franchise that the general public really doesn't give a shit about. But that's the path I've chosen and it's too late to alter my destiny.

So it was a great relief for sad sacks like me when two oddly well-dressed strangers showed up at the tailgate prior to last year's final match. These gentlemen turned out to be Dean Johnson and Henk Habers, principals of Belgium-based developer WingField Corporation, and the unlikely new owners of the Thunder. In the ensuing six months the team's payroll has roughly doubled and the roster has been overhauled accordingly. Only eight players return from last year's squad, highlighted by redoubtable central defender Kevin Taylor and shot-blocker extraordinaire Nic "El Disco" Platter.

Just yesterday the Thunder announced their final pair of pre-season signings, Andres Arango and Frederico Moojen. The former is 25-year-old defender from Medellin, Colombia who has considerable experience in the USL First Division. He was twice named defender of the year for the Toronto Lynx and last year logged over 1,700 minutes while playing for perennial title contenders Montreal. "He's selfless," says Magee, reached by phone yesterday. "He's a good stay-at-home defender who brings experience in this league, toughness in this league, and reads the game very well."

Moojen has been a prolific scorer at pretty much every level he's played. The 25-year-old Brazilian striker found net just twice last year in 14 games, but saw his season cut short by an abdominal injury. During his collegiate career, split between Lincoln Memorial University and Clemson University, Moojen tallied 59 goals. In his first indoor campaign this year he hit the net 22 times for the New Jersey Ironmen and was named to the league's all-rookie team. "He is very, very good with his back to the goal," says Magee. "Very good skills, smart player who gets in the box and scores goals."

This seemingly formidable duo will join a Thunder roster that didn't exactly set the grass on fire in the pre-season. The squad played six contests, primarily against inferior opposition, and managed just two wins. But Magee insists that the lackluster results aren't a concern. "We've gotten better every game," he says. "I haven't been as focused on results as I have been on getting guys on the same page. We're not going to be where we want to be for probably another month or so because it's a long process."

Magee praises a couple of newcomers, Stephen deRoux and Ricardo Sanchez, for their pre-season performances. DeRoux is a speedy, left-footed, 24-year-old mid/defender who formerly played for MLS side D.C. United. "He's young," says Magee, "he'll make mistakes, but his athletic ability allows him to recover."

Dirty Sanchez is a midfielder with a rocket shot who played for the (now defunct) First Division club California Victory last season. He forever earned a place in Thunder fans' guts last season when he scored the game-winning goal in a U.S. Open Cup contest, only to get tossed from the match when he celebrated by simulating canine urination. "He's a great guy," assures Magee. "He's been great in the locker room, he works his ass off, and his ball striking is second to none in this league."

Informed media coverage of the lowly First Division is about as common as dates for your (equally lowly) correspondent. The only attempt at analysis that I've seen, by Anne Ramzy at ESPN Soccernet, forecasts the Thunder to finish last. But such predictions in a league that's notoriously fluid and difficult to peg, don't count for much. "I certainly don't see us as a last place team," says Magee. "I expect us to make the playoffs and compete for a championship."

The first test will come tomorrow night when the Thunder travel to take on the dirty stinkin' hippies Portland Timbers. Thunder supporters will be gathering at the Sweetwater to prepare for this (hopefully) promising season and to view the opener. Festivities will begin at 7 p.m.; kickoff is slated for 9 p.m. Join us for the jackassery. Free cajun creole hot nuts to the first 420 people through the door.

Posted by Paul Demko at April 23, 2008 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

 

Air Fair? Rochester to Minneapolis

Filed under: MLB

The Twins have an unofficial rule regarding AAA call-ups from Rochester that essentially guarantees a position player will be in the starting lineup for the first game for which he is eligible. Which, I've long felt, is a good thing: A young fella doesn't have time to let the nerves fray, day-after-day, watching the starters, and waiting for his chance to play. You get up, you get in.

That's the Twins way. But is it a good way? After watching 3B Brian Buscher's pedestrian 2008 debut on Sunday (1-for-4 with a suspect toss to second in a failed 8th-inning double play attempt), I got to wondering why our call-ups rarely, if ever, seem to make the proverbial splash upon arrival to the big club.

Buscher's debut follows those of fellow arrivals Denard Span (2 hits in his first 3 games) and Francisco Liriano (0-2; 6.52 ERA; 10 walks) in 2008. And while I've written in this space that Liriano's initial starts should be viewed as an exercise in form, these dubious debuts, collectively, got me to thinking that, "Rochester, New York is a long damn way from Minneapolis, MN."

Sure, these guys are used to travel in many respects. And true, the lack of gaudy stats could be attributed to either the aforementioned nerves (even if these guys aren't chewing seeds on the bench), or to the simple facet of advanced opposition- but, as a point of consideration, here's a list of distances between all MLB teams and their respective AAA locations (from closest to furthest):

1. Seattle- 34 Miles
2. Boston- 44 Miles
3. Detroit- 59 Miles
4. Philadelphia- 62 Miles
5. Colorado- 70 Miles
6. Oakland- 81 Miles
7. Cincinnati- 106 Miles
8. Arizona- 121 Miles
9. New York Yankees- 133 Miles
10. Houston- 168 Miles
11. Kansas City- 184 Miles
12. San Francisco- 187 Miles
13. Cleveland- 193 Miles
14. Texas- 212 Miles
15. Baltimore- 240 Miles
16. Toronto- 243 Miles
17. L.A. Dodgers- 270 Miles
18. St. Louis- 283 Miles
19. Chicago Cubs- 333 Miles
20. Pittsburgh- 259 Miles
21. Washington- 417 Miles
22. Atlanta- 534 Miles
23. Milwaukee- 562 Miles
24. L.A. Angels- 689 Miles
25. Tampa Bay- 701 Miles
26. Chicago White Sox- 797 Miles
27. Minnesota- 1009 Miles
28. San Diego- 1084 Miles
29. New York Mets- 1324 Miles
30. Florida- 1960 Miles

As while it surely should be noted that AAA call-ups may not necessarily be going to straight to their club's hometown, it goes without saying that -- based in the unbalanced schedule most-often keeping team's within their division -- clubs that aren't playing at home are most likely playing in the same region of the country.

Again, some food for thought. Something to chew on when the seeds make the cheek raw.

Posted by Judd Spicer at April 21, 2008 7:17 PM | Comments (15)

 

UEFA Champions League: the final four

Filed under: Soccer

Liverpool hosts Chelsea on Tuesday. Most troubling for the hosts is the questionable status of midfield talisman Steven Gerrard. He was ruled out against Fulham on Saturday owing to a neck injury, but is expected back in the lineup for tomorrow's showdown. Will Gerrard be fully fit? Chelsea has more significant woes. Midfield dynamo Michael Essien is suspended owing to yellow-card accumulation, while Michael Ballack (hamstring) and Didier Drogba (knee) are banged up. Liverpool is looking to dump the Blues from the semifinals for the third time in four years. In six Champions League encounters all time between the clubs, a miserly three goals have been scored. Expect nothing different this time around. A single goal should make the difference. Who will it be? Fernando Torres.

On Wednesday the two most famous clubs in the world, Manchester United and Barcelona, square off at the Camp Nou. It's been a miserable campaign by Barcelona standards. They've failed to win in four straight league matches, allowing Real Madrid to run away with the La Liga title despite some shoddy results recently. On the upside for Barcelona, the scintilating Lionel Messi returned to the field on the weekend and is expected to start on Wednesday. Manchester has been brilliant all season, with Cristiano Ronaldo netting an extraordinary 35 goals. But the defense looked vulnerable against Arsenal two weeks ago without injured centerback Nemanja Vidic, and they could only muster a 1-1 tie against Blackburn on the weekend. Vidic is exepected to be in the lineup this week, despite lingering knee troubles.

The match will mark a return to the Camp Nou for Manchester the first time since their incredible 1999 Champions League final comeback against Bayern Munich. I stumbled upon that match one afternoon while drinking beer with a crazy Cuban prosecutor at a pub in Fort Lauderdale and have been obsessed with the game ever since. Here's the highlights:

Posted by Paul Demko at April 21, 2008 1:04 PM | Comments (4)

 

All mediocre things must come to an end

Filed under: Timberwolves

To: Benjamin Polk
From: Jonathan Kaminsky
Date: 4/16/08
Subject: Randy recognize Randy

Hey Benjamin,

Say what you will about me, but throughout this trying season, I have remained a die-hard supporter of our (and by 'our' I mean 'Glen Taylor's') Timberwolves.

And yet the season finale left me feeling unexpectedly conflicted. I've always reflexively been against tanking. And yet, it was really hard for me to appreciate the Wolves' undeniable effort during their comeback down the stretch against the Bucks.

The Wolves were one game ahead of the Grizzlies in the loss column, and the Grizzlies were getting trounced by Dallas. Why not keep the extra ping pong balls (156 instead of the 137/8 a tie for 3rd worst earn you, out of a possible 1,000) in the draft lottery?

Just before Brewer readied to shoot the potential game-tying free-throw with 27 seconds left, I remarked that his making it wouldn't be worth the team losing one of the top two draft picks. Silly to think about, and impossible to truly gauge, but a thought difficult to shake. I don't recall you disagreeing with me.

Anyway, enough deep thoughts about tanking. To Wittman's final post-game press conference of the season: It sure seemed like he's pretty high on Foye. Like, how Foye's emergence has been connected to the team's winning games over the past couple weeks (that
six-game losing streak notwithstanding).

Or how "he's a confident kid," and how that "rubs off on people."

Or how he took over the Bucks game in the fourth quarter.

It seems Wittman's sending a strong message that his beacon of hope alongside Al Jefferson (who one almost takes for granted, so essential is he to the Wolves' chances) is none other than Randy Foye.

The implied flipside of this, of course, is that Rashad McCants doesn't have a lot of options with this team. If Foye is the stud of the Wolves' backcourt, given his proven on-court incompatibility with McCants (Foye looking for his shot, McCants waiting for the ball so he can shoot), it seems likely that Rashad's gonna be the sixth man. Is that a role that McCants, at his age, with his temperament and ego, should be playing? Have we seen enough of Foye to be
confident that he's the better bet of the two? If we ship one of them off, who/what should we be looking for in return? Does it make sense for Israel to unilaterally disengage from portions of the West Bank, or should it wait until an accord can be reached with at least one faction of the Palestinians?

Please strike the last question.

Yours,
Jonathan

To: Jonathan Kaminsky
From: Benjamin Polk
Date: 4/17/08
Subject: You are a bad person.

Hi Jonathan,

First a note on tanking and the lottery. I admit that I was right with you and your mixed feelings last night (although the reason I didn't disagree with you about Corey's free throws was that I was still feeling bad for him about drawing front-iron on that tragic and amazing 1-on-0 dunk attempt earlier on). Certainly, I was pleased and heartened--as I have been all the last month--that they weren't tanking and I was happy that the fans and players got to be enthusiastic about something on the season's last day. At the very least, though, it would have been kind of nice if Memphis had put in a better showing against Denver.

That said, those 18 or 19 lost ping-pong balls notwithstanding, I'm not sure it even makes a difference. As both the Celtics (before Danny Ainge wove that magical web of trades that brought us Al Jefferson oh, and also turned the Celts into title faves) and the Wolves discovered last year, the lottery is a total crapshoot. Even once you get past the nearly blind luck of landing a top pick, almost nobody knows which college player is going to be good and which isn't. Its true that Lebron and Dwight Howard were both taken first, but so were Kwame Brown, Andrea Bargnani and Andrew Bogut. And though it seems likely that Greg Oden will be pretty good, nobody really knows for sure; and things only get dicier once you get past the first pick. When you throw in McHale's awesome post-KG draft track record...bottom line, I know that Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose are really good but I would much rather win a game any day than trade one for a minutely less slim chance in, y'know, a lottery.

One more thing about tanking. I've been on teams at levels so far below the NBA that its barely reasonable to use the word "sports" to describe both. But I cannot imagine something more destructive to team morale than tanking a game. So.

As for your your good questions about the Wolves' guard situation. I go back and forth about Foye all the time. Last night's win is a good example. Seen through almost any lens, Foye was pretty dominant offensively. He shot 11-18, scored 32 points and hit some seriously clutch threes in overtime. But again, the offense did not exactly run smoothly with him on the floor (much of this can also be attributed to the clearly fatigued Al Jefferson's problems inside). And watching him get burned all over the floor by, ah, Ramon Sessions was a nice reminder that he has a long, long way to go to grasping NBA defense.

Still, my sense is that Foye has better potential than McCants. For one thing, though he does seem a little stubborn at times, he doesn't really display Shaddy's petulance. I could easily see that stubbornness and pride morph into a kind of leadership as it has for Lord Chauncey (for the record, Foye mentioned after the game that Mr. Billups is one of the players he loves to watch and learn from--a good sign, I think) And whereas Foye shows signs of climbing the steep learning curve of running a team (and Wittman made the good point that, after his injury, Foye was playing major catch-up in learning the offense), I'm not sure Rashad is ever going to get much better than he is right now. Will McCants ever be ok with the sixth-man tag the team seems intent on pegging on him? I'd be surprised.

As for the West Bank, didn't we fix that little problem when we helped ignite a civil war between Hamas and Fatah? And by "we" I obviously mean the Wolves.

love,
ben

To: Benjamin Polk
From: Jonathan Kaminsky
Date: 4/17/08
Subject: I have been grossly misunderstood.

Hey Benjamin,

All I'm saying is that part of me didn't want to see the Wolves win Wednesday night. I would've been pissed to watch players intentionally miss shots or throw the ball out of bounds or even make lazy passes. Obviously, the team's supporters deserve more. But that's different from sort of feeling torn about effort equaling execution in the final minutes of the final game of the season. I can't help but think Randy Wittman shared my ambivalence on some level, seeing as
how he sat Al Jefferson for the final 11 minutes of the fourth quarter as well as overtime. (His post-game explanation that he pulled Big Al because he seemed tired? Not convincing.) Anyhow.

As for Shaddy and the sixth-man role, it's hard to imagine him ever being happy in it, but that doesn't necessarily mean he couldn't be effective. For all his moodiness and seeming inconsistency this season, he averaged 15 points (I believe) coming off the bench, second in the league only to Manu Ginobili. On a more fundamental level, it seems like a role he gets: Enter
the game and immediately demand the ball. Dribble around the perimeter a little. Create space. Shoot the ball.

McCants' discord with the world around him, while it obviously makes him a difficult teammate, is also the thing that seems to fuel him. So who knows? I'll say this: If there's a future star--not solid contributor, but actual star--on this team not named Jefferson, I'd be hard pressed to bet against it being McCants. Granted, the chances of a dominating or even a well-rounded McCants aren't good, but who else on the roster is even worth thinking of in these terms?

Broadening out the conversation a bit: How many keepers are on this team, Ben?

Greetings,
Jonathan

To: Jonathan Kaminsky
From: Benjamin Polk
Date: 4/18/08
Subject: Foye is a natural leader; McCants is a freak of nature.

Your points about McCants are well taken. While the best case scenario for Foye is probably Chauncey Billups, Ginobili would definitely be something for Shaddy to shoot for (minus the flopping). Here, I think is my fundamental distinction between the two. I think that Foye has the potential to be a leader on a championship-caliber team (again, think Billups); driven, focussed, adept at running an offense, but also able, at well chosen moments, to attack and score. McCants, on the other hand, will probably be at his best when surrounded by other veterans who are comfortable with their roles, veterans who know the habits of winning, who are not afraid to let Shaddy go off but also not afraid to tell him to shut up, force him to play defense and pass the ball. Stephen Jackson got a ring with the Spurs in just this way. Rashad is way too talented to ever be a marginal player, but I would also be very hesitant to build a team around him.

As for the keepers. Though I think that both Foye and McCants could be great, I still want more info--like, for example, a full season of them playing together--before making any big proclamation. Brewer, with his stunning athleticism, length and energy could be a Tayshaun Prince someday, but, obviously, that jumper (not to mention his play at the rim) needs to get (uh, vastly) better before we say anything. That leaves Al Jefferson, who will be a sure all-star if this team ever wins more than 40 games, and our boy Ryan Gomes. The stats don't bear this out quite yet, mostly because Wolves put him in some bad positions both by asking him to guard power forwards almost exclusively and also by leaning on him for 20+ shots on nights when the team was struggling. But, with his consistent aggressiveness and a savvy awareness that belies his youth, Gomes was clearly the Wolves second-best player for most of the year. He's a restricted free-agent this summer; I promise you, if the Wolves fail to keep him, he will be making big contributions for somebody late in the playoffs sometime very soon.

all my very best always,
ben

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at April 18, 2008 5:21 PM | Comments (4)

 

Baseball 101: Carlos Gomez and the bunt

Filed under: MLB

Fifteen games into our young season, new CF Carlos Gomez is looking most comfortable in his new environs, as evidenced by his sound batting average (.262), his confident body language manning center field (0 Errors; 1 Assist), and in oft-demonstrating his well-documented speed.

Gomez, in fact, leads the majors with 9 steals (having been caught just once).

But while we're collectively enjoying the youngster's celerity and flash, it needs to be noted that, should Gomez truly grow to be one of the league's top leadoff men (especially in the A.L.), he will no doubt need to refine two very specific skills: hitting the ball to right field and bunting

Here in the Bread Basket -- as Gomez will surely come to learn -- we're big on the basics, the fundamental foundations of baseball. And although Gomez reached based with a bunt single last night, it seems that most conversations I've had regarding the kid involve his present inability to lay down a sacrifice bunt -- intentionally giving up his at-bat to move along a base runner.

As a longtime coach, here are some of the basic tenets of bunting I've passed along to my ballers:

#1: It's a sac bunt. You know you're going to lay it down, as do the bulk of your opponents. So square early, by pivoting both feet toward the pitcher in an athletic position with knees bent. (Some coaches instruct you to move your back foot around to parallel with the front, so the chest is fully facing the pitcher. I never liked this, as it runs the risk of stepping on the plate and thereby being called out by rule should the ball be put in play).

#2 Slide the top hand up toward the barrel, performing a "Fonzie" with the bat resting on all curled fingers, and the thumb raised. The lower hand acts as axis. The upper hand regulates the feel, or touch.

#3 Get the bat out in front of the body, with the barrel tilted up and the handle down. A ball bunted employing this angle will greatly enhance downward movement, while also greatly reducing the chance of a pop-up.

#4 While reacting to the pitch, use the knees to direct the necessary height of the bat position -- not the arms. The arms should remain in place, extended. We have less control of placement when the bat is too close to our chest.

#5 Watch the ball make contact with the bat- focusing the eyes on the barrel.

#6 Be soft with the hands. It's okay to allow the force of the ball to impress the bat back toward you slightly, creating english and touch. We don't want a ball bunted with too much force, going right back to the pitcher or respective corner infielder. Don't "punch" at the ball, allow it to come to your ready hands.

#7 Run like Hell.

Here are a few examples of both good and untoward bunting:

I don't like this guy. Note the poor angle of the barrel. This ball is certain to be popped-upward. In addition, the grip of his top hand is more Potsy than Fonzie. An 85-mph fastball won't do any favors for those exposed knuckles.

This guy is far better. The bat is tilted properly, and top handed is masked, and look at where the eyes are focused.

Young Gomez has already shown us a great deal in his first month as a Twin. If such promise is indicative of future results, this too shall come in time.

Lastly, as an homage to our greatest bunter of modern day, please enjoy this super-chill and romantic tribute to Omar Vizquel:

Blogger's Note: On a very personal level, the greatest congratulations go to my little brother (a fine bunter in his own right) who just this morning learned that he passed the MN Bar Exam. Way to go, kid.

Posted by Judd Spicer at April 18, 2008 5:56 AM | Comments (11)

 

Liveblogging the Wild: Game 5 vs. Avalanche; Wild lose 3-2

Filed under: Wild

Coming home off a drubbing in Colorado, this game is huge in terms of momentum. History shows than 81% of the time, the team that wins Game 5 wins the series.

First Period

Let's get the band back together: Wild coach Jacques Lemaire has wisely decided to reunite the Fedoruk/Dmitra/Gaborik line that has proven to be a winning combination. Puck drops and the Wild are out to show that even if the Avs are too chicken to drop the gloves, this is going to be a physical game. The Boogeyman chases John-Michael Liles who gets blindsided by Stephane Veilleux! Boy, Veilleux is looking fired up this shift. Must have something to do with that fight last game. Todd Fedoruk lays out Peter Forsberg with a big hit. This is bigtime physical hockey and the Wild are really punishing the Avs. Ryan Smyth drives for the goal but Martin Skoula cuts him off and corrals him around the back of the net. That booing from the crowd means Derek Boogaard is back on the ice and looking for trouble. Colorado is on the power play--Milan Hejduk fires it in, the puck bounces off a skate and lands in Andrew Brunette's lap and he chips it in for the goal. 1-0 in the first period is becoming all too familiar for the Wild. Cody McLeod is in front of the goal chirping again. Forsberg takes a dive. Great sign in the crowd: "Swedish diving champion Peter Flopsberg." Brent Burns drives to the net and shoots; Fedoruk has a good look at a second chance but can't finish. Wild on the power play working the cycle--Burns with a beautiful dish to Pierre-Marc Bouchard who scores! Finally, the Wild end their long drought of first period scoring. That's a big momentum shifter as the period comes to an end.

Second Period

The puck drops and Wild get the draw. Boogey lines up against Laperriere but Lapussy wants nothing to do with it, Boogey squats in front of the goal and snaps back Liles head with a stiff shove. Gaborik to Demitra but the puck won't settle down. Veilleux in front of the net with a chance but Theodore kneels down on it. Bouchard leaves it for Rolston but his slapper is stuffed by Theodore. Veilleux is called for hooking and the Avs will have the man advantage. Burns loses his stick but he still throws a nice hit. Two minutes down with no shots on goal. Good penalty kill, boys. Keith Carney fires it in and Gabby has a great second chance but Theodore gets his left shin pad on it. Boogaard collides with Laperriere who stays down and eventually limps off the ice. Just desserts. Rolston gets a step and takes a great wrist shot that trickles across the crease but nobody's there to follow. Rolston fires a missile of a slapper and Theodore with another great stop, though he'll be feeling that one tomorrow. Avs have a two-on-one breakaway but it's broken up by Erik Reitz. Potential game-saver by a guy without a lot of minutes--good to see him stepping up. Demitra with a long slapper that scores, but the refs whistled it dead. Damn. Gabby to Skoula back to Gabby who has a great look. Fedoruk with another opportunity. Wild are getting a lot of chances--shot differential is 30-13--but Theodore is having a great series in goal. Rolston crosses to Burns who by all rights should score but Theodore shrugs it off, literally stopping the puck with his shoulder. Here's Gabby with a shot--stoned! Theodore is like the opposite of Neo from the Matrix--he sees projectiles in slow motion and finds a way to get his body in front of it. He's singlehandedly keeping the Avs in this game. The period ends tied 1-1.

Third Period

We're all tied up going into a crucial third period. Wild have played strong late in the game all series, so let's hope they can keep it up. Leperriere gets leveled by Fedoruk! Boy is Leperriere taking a well-deserved beating this game. Gabby on the odd-man rush with Demitra but it's broken up. Avs are getting off a lot of shots--this is dangerous. Smyth flops and it's another power play for the Avs--the officials have not been kind to the Wild. Across the ice to Wojtek Wolski one-timer scores! Let's get it back. Burns loses it to Hejduk who dishes to Stasny who backhands it past Backstrom and just like that the Wild are down 3-1. After dominating the game, it's starting to look out of reach for the Wild. Burns drives the net with Gabby but there's nothing there. Avs are sitting on their lead and running down the clock. With seven minutes left the team of 18,000 is getting restless and eyeing the exits. Sheppard with a great chance in front of the goal but Theodore dives on it. That may have been our last best chance. Lemaire pulls Backstrom at just under 2 minutes. Wild gets the draw and Rolston shoots and scores! Too bad there's only 2.5 seconds left. It would take a miracle slapper from center ice. Nope.

What a frustrating loss. Saturday is a must-win. In the meantime, check out my colleague Ben Palosaari's take on the game.

Here's a game summary courtesy of Wild PR dude Ryan Stanzel:

Post-Game Notes

April 17, 2008 ♦ Xcel Energy Center ♦ Saint Paul, Minn.

ATTENDANCE: 19,364 (overflow sellout)

Team 1st 2nd 3rd F
COLORADO (3-2) 1 0 2 3
WILD (2-3) 1 0 1 2

LW Wojtek Wolski and C Paul Stastny each scored early third period goals and G Jose Theodore made 38 saves as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in front of 19,364 at Xcel Energy Center to take a three games to two lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference Quarterfinal series. Former Wild LW Andrew Brunette also scored for Colorado, which can win the series on their home ice Saturday at 9 p.m. (CDT).

G Niklas Backstrom made 14 saves for Minnesota in suffering his third loss of the postseason.

RW Pierre-Marc Bouchard’s first period power-play goal marked the Wild’s first goal in the opening 40 minutes of any game in this series. The Wild had been outscored 10-0 in the first two periods, including LW Andrew Brunette’s goal at 12:24 of the first, and hadn’t scored a goal on its first 50 first period shots of the series. Bouchard netted his second goal of the series and third of his post-season career. He scored the game-winner in overtime in Game 3.

LW Brian Rolston’s goal at 19:57 of the final stanza marked the fifth consecutive playoff game that the Wild has scored in the third period. It marked Rolston’s second goal of the postseason and, combined with his assist on Bouchard’s second period goal, gives him a team-leading six points in the postseason (2-4=6).

C James Sheppard earned the first point in his playoff career with an assist on Rolston’s goal.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, when a best-of-seven NHL post-season series is tied 2-2, the Game 5 victor has gone on to win the series 158 of 196 times (80.6 percent). Minnesota is a combined 6-2 in games five, six and seven.

The Wild has twice won a series when trailing 3-2. The Wild is the lone team in NHL history to come back from a 3-1 deficit in back-to-back playoff series - against Colorado and Vancouver in 2003. Minnesota is 7-2 all-time in elimination games.

Colorado has won Games 4 and 5 by a combined 8-3 margin.

Before the Avs tallied a pair of third period goals tonight, the Wild had a 7-2 third-period advantage in the series, and a 9-3 bulge counting overtime. The Wild has led for 4:31 of the 324:23 played in this series - 1.4 percent of the time played.

The Wild fell to 4-9 all-time in home playoff games. A victory tonight would have marked Minnesota's first set of back-to-back victories at home in franchise history.

Minnesota has allowed the game’s first goal in nine straight playoff games, dating back to Game 1 of the 2007 Western Conference Quarterfinals versus Anaheim - the last time the Wild scored first.

Wild D Erik Reitz made his NHL playoff debut.

Minnesota’s 40 shots tied a team record for a playoff game last accomplished on April 17, 2007, in a 4-1 win over Anaheim in Game 4 of the conference quarterfinals. The Wild’s 17 first-period shots were a team playoff record. The old mark of 16 was set May 14, 2003, in the first period of a 4-0 loss at Anaheim in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at April 17, 2008 10:58 PM | Comments (1)

 

Playoff Liveblog: Wild Are So Close to Great... But Not

Filed under: Wild

The Wild have been playing, especially in the second period, like they’re constantly on a power play—passing at will, shooting at the right time, but it’s all for naught. It’s thrilling, frustrating playoff hockey.

Minnesota has been spending so much time in Colorado’s zone, they should have their mail forwarded there. While the Avs’s five skaters have been trying desperately to handle the Wild’s assault, they’ve been ineffective at preventing shot after shot from just about Wild player. But Theodore is negating both Minnesota’s impressive shooting, and Colorado’s lackluster defense.

The man simply will not yield. He showed a possible chink when a shot from the blue line zoomed past him and found the net, but was called off for off sides. Otherwise, he’s been an impenetrable wall of goalie supremacy. Wild lead scorer Marian Gaborik is still goalless despite having a couple decent chances in this game. Let’s hope Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom has found some way to stay awake (maybe he keeps a copy of War and Peace or something in the net), because the Avs might actually come out with an offensive pulse in the third period.

Update: Backstrom ovbviously got cold while going untested for so long. The Avs just went up with two quick goals.

Update: Finally, the Wild blow one past Theodore with about 2 seconds left. Not much help in this game, but maybe it will be a psychological boost in game six. These are the games that frustrate fans more than anything else. Minnesota out played Colorado, they did almost everything right, but were beat soundly and repeatedly by one player. That’s all that takes in some games. Onto game six in Denver. The end.

Posted by Ben Palosaari at April 17, 2008 9:33 PM | Comments (0)

 

Colorado fears Boogaard

Filed under: Wild

With the score out of reach in the first blowout of the series, Game 4 got chippy and also gave us the first fisticuffs. So which of the many goons on the Wild did the Colorado Avalanche decide to throw down with? Stephane Veilleux, a 181 pounder who hardly holds a reputation as a prolific pugilist:

While Veilleux was in the penalty box, there was a lot of chirping between him and Cody McLeod, the gap-toothed agitator who earlier took a cheap shot at Eric Belanger, boarding him when he didn't have the puck.

In fact, the Colorado Avalanche have made being pussies a major part of their playoff strategy, according to this Strib story. But that hasn't deterred Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard from calling them out. Here's Boogaard on McLeod:

"I'm pretty sure it's the same McLeod that my brother [Aaron, former Wild draft pick and current Pittsburgh farmhand] was chasing after in juniors. My brother said he pulled the same stuff. That's probably why he has no front teeth -- somebody caught him."

And on Ian Laperriere, who was brave against the smaller Veilleux ("He plays hard and he knows he has to back it up, and he did.") but skates for the bench when tougher guys are around:

"Tell Laperriere to step up [tonight] if he wants to say that," Boogaard said.

Why are they so afraid of the Boogeyman? Here's a sampling of three YouTube clips from Derek Boogaard's Greatest Hits.

Boogaard's marathon beatdown on D.J. King

Boogaard breaks the face of his future teammate, Todd Fedoruk

Boogaard vs. the glass at prospects camp

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at April 17, 2008 3:33 PM | Comments (1)

 

Derby days are here again

Filed under: Horse Racing

Jack K. Sparks--hillbilly music aficionado, Kansas City Royals fan, and certain product of at least three generations of inbreeding--has been sending me hostile, deranged emails for months about the Kentucky Derby. On opening day of the baseball season, slurping Miller Lite like a hog at a trough, the drunken savage hollered at me incoherently until I agreed to go in with him on some ludicrous superfecta bet on the first Saturday in May. (Which by the way is the name of a documentary about the Kentucky Derby that opens on Friday at the Lagoon.) It was almost as pathetic as watching that sad drunk Hank Goldberg analyze races for ESPN.

But with all the significant prep races out of the way it's time to start seriously contemplating the field for the finest day on the racing calendar. There's still the Lexington Stakes this Saturday, but only a few half-assed contenders (Atoned, Salute the Sarge and Tomcito) are slated to run.

Andrew Beyer is whining (registration required) that the increasing prevalence of synthetic tracks makes it nearly impossible to predict what these three-year-old beasts will do once they hit the dirt at Churchill Downs. But the Derby's always been a fool's bet, with horses running in the largest field of their lives and at a distance that none of them have previously competed at. I'll not be dissuaded by one more wildcard.

The top three contenders, according to current odds, are Big Brown, Colonel John, and Pyro. The first two thoroughbreds won their final tests at the Florida Derby and the Santa Anita Derby respectively. But Pyro--the horse that Sparks has been frothing at the mouth about for two months--finished a dismal 10th at last Saturday's Blue Grass Stakes. Horse gambling fiends are now feverishly debating whether that wretched performance should be ignored because of Keeneland's polytrack surface. (Last year's winner, Street Sense, also faltered in the Blue Grass.)

War Pass was the favorite heading into the prep season, but he's failed to win in two straight races and doesn't look to have the stamina for the 1 1/4 mile test. To my bloodshot and misguided eyes, Gayego (winner of the Arkansas Derby), Z Fortune (2nd in Arkansas), and Recapturetheglory (winner of the Illinois Derby) look like longshots that could prove worthy of watching.

The last two years I've correctly picked the winning beast, but failed to put any money on either because the odds weren't sufficiently profitable. It's that kind of betting brilliance that repeatedly results in me leaving the track broke.

The fabulous Daily Racing Forum web site has video footage of almost every single prep race so there's no excuse for ignorance. For the third year running, the Derby will coincide with the commencement of the racing season at Canterbury Park.

Posted by Paul Demko at April 17, 2008 1:42 PM | Comments (2)

 

Team of 18,000 Reams Denver Post Columnist

Filed under: Wild

In his Tuesday sports column in the Denver Post, writer Mark Kiszla complained about some rough play from the Wild. Minnesota fans decided to give him a piece of their collective mind on the Post's discussion boards. Ouch.

Once the faithful team of 18,000 caught wind of Kiszla's nagging about 'mugging' being the only Minnesota will win the series, the board became one giant crap on Kiszla fest. He claims, ignoring the major injury issue the Wild have had, that their weapon of choice against the aging Avs is brute force. He takes the liberty of bestowing a motto upon the Wild: 'If you can't beat 'em, break 'em.' Which isn't entirely true, but at least it's clearly marked as his opinion. Kiszla does cross the line however when recounting the Wild's Pierre-Marc Bouchard's game-winning overtime goal in game three as the result of luck. That is in no way an accurate portrayal of the goal, which could adequately be described as 'pretty darn snazzy'. And to add fuel to the fire, one smart reader posted a 2003 Kiszla column which was, er, very similar to this one. Anyway, there have been more than 500 comments left on the Post's site about this column, mostly it appears from Wild fans. Here are some choice comments:

'I didn't realize the Denver Post hired 12 year olds to write articles for them.'

'Grow up and stop the sour grapes, juvenile journalism.'

'Rip the uniforms, rip the fans and rip the state. It's all you can do when you know absolutely nothing about the sport that you are trying to cover. The truth is, fans from both teams have seen three great hockey games with plenty of scoring chances and great goaltending at both ends. I expect it will continue tonight and look forward to another great game.'

'Wow. You weren't watching the game, fella. Our "Goons" didn't even make a difference last night. Voros was ineffective, as was Simon, and the Boogeyman didn't play a lick.'

'And finally, the best posting, to lauded for its succinct, pointed analysis:
Kiszla overall I think you are as worthless as a rubber crutch in a polio ward, but congratulations, you have everyone in the Twin Cities laughing this morning with your cut-and-paste job from your 2003 article.

P.S. It shocks me that you have a job.'

The thrashing continues here.

Posted by Ben Palosaari at April 16, 2008 3:35 PM | Comments (2)

 

Study: Girls play sports, but get less exercise

Filed under: General sports

According to a University of Minnesota study released earlier this week, girls are participating in sports in record numbers, but they are on the whole less fit.

"While some girls are physically active, many girls fail to meet minimal standards of physical activity needed to accrue developmental and health benefits, or worse, they are completely sedentary," writes Nicole LaVoi, who authored the report for the U's Tucker Center.

Translation: Suburban (mainly white) girls are able to get their soccer or broomball on like nobody's business. Poor (largely inner-city and minority) girls face more obstacles in going out for the team.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at April 16, 2008 1:39 PM | Comments (0)

 

The Return of Liriano

Filed under: MLB

Pre-game: The Kansas City forecast calls for 45 degrees, following a series of early-morning flurries. At approximately 1:10 p.m., Francisco Liriano will make his first MLB start in nearly twenty months following Tommy John surgery. In recent days, AAA Rochester manager Stan Cliburn, prior to learning that "The Franchise" would be called up to start, told reporters that he didn't feel Liriano was quite ready for the task, following the lefty's bulky 7.56 ERA in two minor league starts.

But ready or not ... Hell, from my vantage, it's time to remove the kid gloves and replace them with spit and leather. Personally, I'm all for patience when it comes to injury =- but in this instance, the time is now. Twenty months is considered to be at the longer end of waiting periods between MLB starts following Tommy John, and given that the club has won three straight to ascend the .500 mark at 6-5 (without our bats really going yet), let's keep the mojo moving, I say, ride the early wave, and enjoy what days we have with a winning mark before the tide of Detroit, the White Sox, Boston, Toronto, and Colorado provides the undertow to begin May.

What we should focus on today is not so much the proverbial End, and opposed to the Means. Countless hours, away from the Big Stage, have been spent refining Liriano's delivery. If he goes 5 today and gives up three or four runs, that's fine. It's how he looks in doing so that we should be mindful of.

Considering such intense magnification of mechanics, I thought it wise to revisit some recent reading I'd done on the great Sandy Koufax's opinions (from Jane Leavy's A Lefty's Legacy) as pertaining to proper pitching mechanics. Here area few excerpts of what another legendary southpaw had to say:

"Everybody who performs an athletic event of any kind is a system of levers. You can't alter what the bones do. If you can make the bones work, the injuries to the soft tissue will be a lot less. It's when guys are in a bad position and now they try to make the muscles do something to compensate for the bad position that they injure themselves . . . You gotta do what the bones do."

Today, should those aforementioned countless hours of behind-the-scenes work a have paid off, we should look for the following from Liriano's delivery:

-A slight turn and torque in his initial motion
-Followed by his upper body out over his leg just after release
-Concluded with a less-violent body crossover to complete the deliver

Such information was gleaned, in part, from a great article/diagram by the Pi Press' Kelsie Smith in a recent piece on Liriano and pitching coach Rick Anderson, although I also feel confident in identifying -- based on my own baseball background -- that the 2006 version of Liriano, while brilliant, was also flawed in that he was employing too much upper-body versus leg power, and that his barbaric finish, while offering flair and intimidation, lacked the polish required for the long and prosperous career we collectively envision for such a rare talent.

To further illustrate the "old" Liriano, here is some video of him in his 2006 form:

Postgame: The Twins lost Liriano's return 5-1, and the lefty's line worked out in the following form:

IP H R ER BB SO HR
4.2 6 4 4 5 4 0

But still, I felt we saw some of the things we needed to view to feel confident in his return to the Bigs. While the 5 walks were sticky, his 4 K's stood out, as did his overall body language on the mound. He appeared neither nervous, nor apprehensive, tossing his slider with some authority, and battling a few Royals in what became victorious showdowns for the good guys.

As per the aforementioned mechanics, I didn't really pick up on much of a change in the onset of his motion, although I think it was readily apparent that the follow-through was far more tame than what we saw in '06. This is a good sign, maybe a great one for things to come, as that finish was most seemingly the onus of the ligament issues. This "new" finish appeared far gentler on the young man's body, had some newfound polish, and was, at times, quite effective.

All great journeys (or re-routes) require some kind of beginning.

Here's a photo of Liriano from today:

Blogger's Note: I'll make haste in concluding my report on Mexican prospect Jorge Gomez Luis Rivas Gomez. After seeing him toss for close to an hour -- I extended the portly, albeit largely talented unknown a contract for which my betters at C.P. had provided authority. For legal purposes, I cannot divulge dollar amount. Yet, although the money was earnest, Gomez declined, insisting that a codicil be added in which he would be allowed take Diablo Cody out for dinner. After a series of heated calls back to the States, I ultimately swam back to my hotel that night with my lovely assistant, leaving Gomez' unsigned contract floating aimlessly with the unchained tides of the Pacific . . ..

Posted by Judd Spicer at April 13, 2008 8:54 AM | Comments (19)

 

Liveblogging the Wild: Game 2 vs. Colorado Avalanche; Wild win 3-2 in O.T.

Filed under: Wild

This is a huge game. If we drop two at home, our chances of winning this series are crippled. I'll be updating this post between periods.

Photo by Jeff Hunsaker's F'ed up Camera

First Period
Before the game begins, the Wild introduce Kurtis Foster, who is back watching his team for the first time since his season ending injury March 19. I don't know if that's a harbinger or what, but shortly after, Branko Radivojevic absorbs a brutal hit and goes down. It looks like either his shoulder or leg. He's helped off the ice and back to the lockerroom. Not a good sign. Lots of pushing and shoving on the ice. Big hit on Kim Johnsson. I'm guaranteeing a fight in the second period. Stick catapulted into crowd! Peter Forsberg shoots and scores! Wow. What a turn of events. I've never seen a stick flung into the crowd like that. I wonder if Niklas Backstrom was distracted by it? Hope nobody was hurt. Looks like they're gonna trade the guy for a souvenir stick to keep the game stick. THROW IT BACK! THROW IT BACK! Brent Burns throws a huge check. Delayed penalty on the Wild for tripping. And that brings an end to a very contentious period.

Photo by Jeff Hunsaker's F'ed up Camera

Second Period
Avalanche starts on a power play. We're giving them way too many shots. Mikko Koivu hits the pipe. Gabby off the post! We're getting lots of chances, but it's a game of inches. Wild are creating opportunities on breakaways. Ian Leperriere is a marked man. Huge brawl about the break out on the ice. Here's Foster again ... let's win one for him! Koivu almost got a great rebound. Ouch, that hit on Ruslan Salei looked uncomfortably like the Foster incident. Huge hit from Martin Skoula on Cody McCleod. Another big hit from Skoula! This is a very rough game. Big save from Backstrom! Backstrom is making a lot of big stops to keep the Wild in this game. Forsberg takes out Backstrom--wow, this could get ugly. Forsberg is called for hooking. Pavol Demitra has a great shot! Todd Fedoruk takes a stick to the face. He's rubbing his jaw. Looks brutal on the replay.

Photo by Jeff Hunsaker's F'ed up Camera

Third Period

Starting on a power play, we need a goal here. Marian Gaborik centers to Fedoruk but he can't get it off. Aaron Voros is taking a beating in front of the net. Demitri slapshot scores! How loud is the Xcel? Jeff Hunsaker, our man on the scene, reports: "I can't hear myself." Huge save by Backstrom on a 2-on-1. Backstrom is complaining about goaltender interference. Wish we could send out Boogaard to regulate. Gaborik gets wrapped up. Penalty at 6:49 could give the Wild the chance for the win. Nice one-timer by Burns but Jose Theodore is a brick wall tonight. Leperriere on the breakaway--stoned by Backstrom! Koivu with a slapper through the 5-hole scores at 1:49! Wild up 2-1. Avs pull Theodore for the empty net. Penalty on the Wild. Hooking on Kim Johnsson. Coach Jacque Lemaire is looking pissed. 1:09 to kill for the win. Avs shoot and score! Assist by the referees. We're going to O.T. ... again.

Photo by Jeff Hunsaker's F'ed up Camera

The O.T.

It all comes down to this. Somebody stick to Super Joe Sacik. Keith Carney shoots and scores! Wild win! That was quick! Series ties 2-2 going into Colorado. What a series!

Photo by Jeff Hunsaker's F'ed up Camera

Photo by Jeff Hunsaker's F'ed up Camera

Posted by Kevin Hoffman at April 11, 2008 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

 

Playoff Liveblog: Photos from The X

Filed under: Wild

I'm disappointed that I haven't seen any homemade Stanley Cup hats, but there are plenty of rabid fans in the sea of 19,360 worth showcasing.

It's another sweat towel give away night.

The National Anthem. They've really perfected the whole projecting images on to the ice thing. The video highlights and graphics are really sharp.

Scott and Brianna Wukawitz from Cottage Grove with matching facepaint.

David Foster of Minneapolis.

Scott Drain of St. Paul says he dresses like this for every game. The gloves are vintage from the 1960s with steel plates in the thumbs.

Youth hockey teams sell game programs and the Wild donates a percentage of sales to their team. These kids are relentless! They rove in packs intent on earning dough, and they're good little salespeople. Several yelped '$3! CHEAPER THAN A GALLON OF GAS!' Christian Johnson of Bloomington was making his pitch loud and clear.

Ty and Nathan Hall came from Denver to see the game.

Mike, from Thunder Bay, Ontario, drove in through the latest blizzard to get to the game. He says that he finally stopped driving at 1:30 a.m. because there were whiteout conditions and he saw four cars marooned on the side of the road. He was a fan of the Qubec Nordiques, and when they abandoned him and moved to Colorado, he kept supporting them anyway.

Noah Ratgen of Lino Lakes.

Victory! Defenseman Keith Carney lights the lamp at 1:14 in overtime giving the Wild a 3-2 win and evening the series at 1-1.

Saluting the fans.

Posted by Ben Palosaari at April 11, 2008 8:25 PM | Comments (1)

 

Twin Cities: 10th Most Miserable Sports City

Filed under: General sports

A recent Forbes article ranks Minneapolis-St. Paul as the 10th most miserable sports city in the country. The writers, Tom Van Riper and Andrew Farrell, worked on the assumption that it's more miserable to be a fan of teams that routinely play well and reach the post season and then blow it.

That's a sound argument, but 'heartbreaking' seems like a better adjective here. All 20 hardcore fans of Tampa Bay Rays (they've dropped the 'Devil' from their team name in a rebranding effort, which seems like rebranding shit as 'poo') might argue that it's far more depressing to lose more than 60 percent of your games than to get beat in the playoffs. That's also a sound argument. The system Forbes used was taking cities with at least 75 combined seasons of football, hockey, baseball, and basketball. They looked at which cities had teams perform poorly in championship playoff rounds, then they looked at failures in semi-finals, and then calculated the ratio of championships to total seasons played.

So, which city can claim to be home to worst playoff teams in history? The heartbreaking teams that build up confidence and then give away championships? The resounding answer is Atlanta, Largely due to the Braves knack for regular season dominance and playoff debacles. Seattle came in second, story of their franchises, followed by Buffalo, Phoenix, and San Diego. As for our beloved teams, the article makes some very good points for them having a place on the list. The Vikings were shown up in Super Bowls 4, 8, 9, and 11 (maybe a contributing factor to landing Carl Eller in the clink this week?).

The source of much misery.

Although, the piece said nothing about the infamous 1998 conference championship disaster against the Atlanta Falcons, who, of course, lost that year's Super Bowl to Denver (no. 7 on the list). With the Timberwolves never having won the NBA crown and now in rebuilding mode, and the Twins usually good enough to make it to the playoffs, but not good enough to advance very far, the Twin Cities is poised to only go up on the list. Of course, with a long-awaited Stanley Cup championship this season, the Wild have the power knock the Twin Cities off the list.

Posted by Ben Palosaari at April 11, 2008 4:16 PM | Comments (0)

 

Bill James: were Puckett and Gaetti juicers?

Filed under: MLB

Bill James is a legend among baseball analysts, an iconoclast unafraid to submit all ideas (including his own) to rigorous tests. He's also not afraid to skewer a sacred cow or two, which is good.

Mostly.

In his new book, The Bill James Gold Mine 2008, he slyly suggests that a few local heroes may have been powered by more than Wheaties.

While writing about atypical seasons, James notes that Kirby Puckett went from hitting zero home runs over 128 games in 1984 and four homers over a full season in 1985 to 31 the ensuing year. This was at the same time teammate Gary Gaetti was experiencing a power spike of his own.

You can read the full item and a critical take at the blog Bugs and Cranks. James writes this:

Two of the greatest home run under-producers of all time were teammates: Kirby Puckett and Gary Gaetti in 1984. Puckett hit no home runs (-16), Gaetti hit only 5 (-19). Suggesting the possibility that the Twins’ two World Championships may have been aided by their team being among the first to discover…well, I’d better not go there. Nor will I point out that Gaetti was bald and had acne and Puckett died young.

Holy irresponsible speculation, Batman!

I'd break down all of the reason this isn't necessarily a logical conclusion to draw even if you buy the premises. But I'd rather point out a broader fact of this whole steroids issue.

Tarring players with the "steroids" brush without real evidence is silly and dangerous, as I wrote extensively three years ago, when this whole flap started with Jose Canseco. Parts of that article looks a touch naive in retrospect, given that Canseco turned out to have the goods on certain players. I firmly stand behind its larger points, though: that this kind of speculation is dangerous and opens innocent players up to smears based on nothing more than "well, he did have zits."

Let me state the obvious: of course there are steroid users in baseball. No one doubts that. But it is unwise and unfair to let that truism kick critical analysis out the window.

James knows this, of course, and is just trying to be provocative. And it's a great thing to have smart people that are willing to take on taboo topics. But in this case, raising an issue this emotional about a player who can no longer defend himself -- being dead and all -- is in poor taste.

Posted by Jeff Shaw at April 11, 2008 8:10 AM | Comments (4)

 

Whither the Wolves: An Email Exchange

Filed under: Timberwolves