My Thoughts on the Vikings - One of the best seasons in 30+ years, impact of injuries, my wish list for the coming weeks & how one gutsy call would’ve guaranteed no overtime vs. the Bears

These are my thoughts, and you have no obligation to agree, but even if you disagree, they will still be my thoughts…

 

Once Brett Favre was on board, before this season started, I predicted a 12-4 record for the Minnesota Vikings, assuming no major injuries. They are currently 11-4, so a win vs. the Giants in the friendly confines of the Metrodome (I’m not saying Mall of America Field) would give them that record, and they have had some major injuries, which would put them ahead of what I would’ve expected.

 

Antoine Winfield’s foot issues have been huge, both due to all the games he missed, and while playing the past 2 weeks, when he clearly has been far below 100% (or even 70%). The loss of EJ Henderson has been very mentally painful to fans, while quite physically painful to him. The Arizona game was already decided when he was injured, but in the 3 games without Henderson, the team is 1-2. Plus there have been all of the week to week injuries, which are commonplace in the NFL, but exist nonetheless.

 

Everyone knows that injuries are a part of the game in football (or any sport for that matter), but I think these two injuries have made the defense much more vulnerable, and while I wouldn’t have predicted the offensive issues for 10 of the last 16 quarters, it will take adjusting to play w/o Henderson, and Winfield needs to figure out if he is hurting the team in 1-on-1 coverage if he is not healthy enough now. Pittsburgh Steelers are a great example of what can happen when a great defensive player is out. For the season, the Steelers are 8-7 and are one of a handful of AFC teams with a shot at one of the last 2 playoff spots.  Troy Polamalu has only played in 4 full games this season (playing only the opening series vs. the Bengals before being injured again doesn’t really count). In those 4 games, the Steelers are 4-0, including the win over the Vikings. This makes them 4-7 without him. Talk about a huge impact on the team!

 

The Vikings have only had 5 games this season with both Antoine Winfield & EJ Henderson playing for the whole game. In those 5 games, the Vikings are 5-0. In all games with EJ Henderson, Vikings are 10-2, and in games with a healthy Antoine Winfield (last two weeks seemed to show he was not healthy, and he went out halfway through the Ravens win, after which QB Joe Flacco ripped through the MN pass defense & nearly led his team to a win), the Vikings are 6-0. So while teams need to adjust to injury losses, there are solid stats showing what that has done to the team.

 

That being said, EJ Henderson will not be returning this season, and with the looming possibility of no bye week in the playoffs, Antoine Winfield has no extra time coming up to heal, so if the Vikings want to make an impact in the postseason, they need to play around these injuries…and even if both were suddenly & magically healed, they don’t play on the offensive line or in special teams.

 

However, with all this gloom & doom, the Vikings are going to finish the season 12-4 or at worst, 11-5, which would be their best record since being 11-5 in 2000, or 15-1 in 1998. If they do beat the Giants and get that 12-4 record, the last time they had 4 or fewer losses other than 1998, was 1976 when they finished 11-2-1 (back when the seasons were still 14 games, before the switch to 16 in 1978).  12-4 would be their 2^nd best record in the 32 seasons of a 16-game schedule, and 11-5 would be 2^nd as well, but tied with 2000, 1992 & 1988. Everyone would love to be finishing the season on a higher note, but the 2^nd best record in 32 years would be a solid accomplishment regardless.

 

The back-to-back division championships are something special for the Vikings too. ESPN analyst/former Super Bowl Winning Coach Jon Gruden pointed out before Monday Night Football that this was the first time the Vikings had pulled that off in over 30 years. They had that solid era in the 70’s, where they won the division each year from 1973-1978 (and they won 11 of 13 division titles from 1968-1980), but in modern history, that just hasn’t happened. Prior to last year’s NFC North title, their last one had been back in 2000, when they were still in the Central division, so even standalone titles had been rare lately.

 

While 3 of the last 4 weeks have been less than pretty on the field (minus the 2^nd half of this Bears game…only the 1^st half & OT were ugly), this is still a regular season that will go down as one of the best since the reign of the Purple People Eaters. I have only been able to enjoy that wining era through books, since it took place before I was born, up until I was starting preschool. Hence, I am going to try to look at this season as a whole, rather than just the last month. If the Vikings go on to the Super Bowl, no one will care how they did in December. On the other hand, if they had won all these December games & lost early in the playoffs, all the talk would be about why they didn’t rest their players. I’ll cross my fingers that these “learning experiences” will carry over to the post-season, as a reminder of what they need to do to win those games when it counts!

 

My hope for the weeks ahead, aside from the obvious wish for the Vikings to win any other games they play, includes the following things:

• A Cowboys win over the Eagles (along with the Vikings win), to get the Vikings that first round bye. The bye honestly doesn’t matter to me; in recent Super Bowls, it has not increased the odds of winning it all, but this team clearly plays better indoors, and that would guarantee starting off with a home game.
• If the Eagles win next week, and get the #2 spot, then I will be cheering for them to lose so Minnesota could avoid playing there. Preferable locations to play of the teams in the playoffs, in my opinion, in order (this is based on the location alone, not the team) – Dome, New Orleans, Dallas, Arizona, Green Bay & Philadelphia
• The defensive secondary covering the receivers like TMZ covers Tiger Woods’ other women.
• Offensive line playing a complete game, with pass protection & run blocking. Of course no game can ever be perfect, but if they protect for Favre, he’s shown repeatedly (and in the 2^nd half vs. the Bears) that he will find open receivers. Plus, I couldn’t write about the Vikings without mentioning that Favre is 40 years old, so they need to keep him from being plowed onto his backside repeatedly; he is almost old enough to be at risk for breaking a hip with each fall. As for run blocking, look at what Adrian Peterson did vs. the Bears once he got past the line of scrimmage. It seemed like if he could get ½ yard, he was getting at least 6 yards.
• Peterson should go ahead & give up that one last yard in exchange for holding on to the ball (though a facemask call would’ve been nice, as the neck swiveling might make it harder to hold on), but I wouldn’t harp on that play too much. Sure, the Bears won the game after that, but a better hold by Kluwe on the extra point, a better punt by Kluwe early on, a catch by Berrian early in the 2^nd half when the ball hit him on the hands, 1 or 2 interceptions by Ben Leber when the throw was to him (though 1 can be canceled out by the Bears dropped INT) or a tackle on multiple kick returns, would’ve eliminated the need for that OT altogether. AD drops the ball too often, but he also has that special explosive game that no one wants to take away, and sometimes that risk-taking & reward goes hand-in-hand. Go check out Walter Payton’s first 3 years in the league, and you just might discover that he fumbled even more often than Peterson. The point here though, is to make the plays that are right there for you. Hold the ball, catch the ball, turn the ball the right direction, kick the ball or hit the runner with the ball.
• Jared Allen and Kevin Williams’ (and Ray Edwards for that matter) pictures being removed from milk boxes. It seems like, in terms of a pass rush, that they have been non-existent. The Bears have had a shaky o-line this season, yet they looked Pro Bowl worthy for much of Monday night. That’s a problem, considering the talent that was lined up against them.
• Special Teams tackling. Defensive tackling.
• Brett Favre running the offense. No, I don’t think I’m a coach, and I don’t have a better plan than Childress does, but maybe Favre does…it seemed like in the 2^nd half, when Favre was allowed to open up and play his style of game, things moved along much nicer in the offense. And this didn’t mean that the run was abandoned; it just worked better, as the pass opened it up more. Old school football knowledge says you run to open up the pass, but this season, when the Vikings have been successful, they’ve passed to open up the run.

 

That’s almost all for now; congratulations if you’ve managed to make it this far!  One final head-scratching thought: if Brad Childress wanted to take a chance that if they lost, would’ve taken the heat off his team and moved it all to him, or could’ve made him a hero if they won, he could’ve gone for two after Sidney Rice’s TD catch with under 20 seconds left. If they were successful and came out with the win, the talk would’ve been about how gutsy he was, and what a tremendous comeback was led by #4. If they had failed, the talk would’ve been about what a dumb decision he made, and how it ruined the great comeback by #4, rather than focusing on all the other issues the Vikings had throughout the game. Just an interesting option to ponder after the fact…

Posted via web from trueliz's posterous

Perhaps I should've waited a day

I was quite proud of myself for managing to write the Urban Meyer blog just hours after the news, but now it just becomes a tribute of sorts to a current coach, who happens to be on a leave of absence. At least I enjoyed writing it!

Posted via email from trueliz's posterous

Urban Meyer...

I was sitting with my parents & aunt on Saturday night, discussing all the knee-jerk reactions the airline industry was already having to the attempted terrorist attack on the NWA flight in Detroit (which deserves a complete post of its own), when I looked to my phone & saw a new AP news alert text message out of Gainesville, FL "Urban Meyer is stepping down as coach of the University of Florida football team." I did a double, or possibly quadruple take on this text, and quickly switched to my ESPN text feed, to see that they had already posted two messages about Coach Meyer's decision. I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say that I would’ve been less surprised to see a leprechaun next to a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

 

I have always been a fan of both Florida St. & Florida football. I realize if I lived in Florida, that this could get me killed, but as a Minnesota resident, I felt I had the right to cheer for both (behind my favorite hometown Gophers, of course). Florida St. was usually my favorite of the two, especially when former Cretin Derham Hall QB Chris Weinke was there, even though the Gators were my favorite basketball team of the two (still bummed that Teddy Dupay & company did not pull out the 2000 Championship over Michigan St., but just reaching the finals helped me win multiple March Madness pools). That shifted when Urban Meyer arrived in Gainesville. Being a fan of the underdog, I was quite excited about Utah’s big BCS win (see the next paragraph), which somehow led to me becoming a big fan of a dynasty. Go figure. Tim Tebow’s arrival merely cemented the Gators position as 2^nd on my list of teams, ahead of the Seminoles, but Urban Meyer is why they would stay in the spot for me next year & beyond.

 

This is the same Urban Meyer, who brought an undefeated Utah Utes team to a BCS bowl game, in his 4^th year of being a head coach of college football (2^nd year at Utah following 2 years at Bowling Green). Utah is in the Mountain West conference, which makes them an outsider in the BCS conference party. Lead by QB Alex Smith & Meyer’s spread offense, the Utes pounded the Pitt Panthers (out of the BCS member Big East conference) to win the Fiesta Bowl & finish their season with no losses on their record, becoming the first non-BCS team to win one of these bowls. They joined Auburn & Boise St. as three teams undefeated before the bowl games that had no chance to compete for a National Championship, but that would take a few books to write about, not just a blog entry. (USC ended the 2004 season as the “National Champion” with their crushing of Oklahoma, and Boise St. lose their bowl game, leaving Utah, Auburn & USC as the only teams with no blemishes/e)

 

The once feared Florida Gators had been stumbling (especially by their standards) since legendary Coach Steve Spurrier had stepped down (and been humbled in the NFL), being replaced by Ron Zook, whose qualifications included something like being a high school gym teacher, if I remember correctly. The Gators parted ways with Zook after the end of the 2004 bowl season (which is actually in early 2005, which sometimes gets confusing), and courted the hot young Urban Meyer to move east to Gainesville. Meyer was barely 41 yrs old by the time he coached his first Gator football game, but he showed that age was not what mattered for coaching success, nor was a lot of time as a Division I head coach. The Gators finished 9-3 in his first season there, ranked #12 in the AP poll. This still isn’t a successful season in the eyes of Florida fans, but after not even being in the AP poll at the end of the 2004 season (and falling behind rivals Georgia & Florida St., as well as in-state school Miami), this was a leap in the right direction.

 

The 2006 season showed everyone why Florida President Dr. Bernie Machen had wanted Urban Meyer at Florida (Dr. Machen was the Utah president from 1998-2003, so he was very familiar with Meyer already). Behind the solid, but not superstar, senior quarterback Chris Leak, the 12-1 Florida Gators became a surprise contestant in the BCS National Championship game vs. Ohio St. Many thought that the 12-1 Buckeyes should’ve been playing Louisville (12-1), LSU (11-2), USC (11-2), Michigan (12-1, but their only loss had been weeks earlier to Ohio St.) or even the underdog Boise St. Broncos, who once again stood at 13-0 before the bowls, but the BCS computers chose Florida. Oh, I forgot to mention that besides that senior QB Leak, there was a highly recruited freshman out of Nease High School’s football team (he was home schooled for classes), Tim Tebow, who came in to play QB for some plays, including goal-line situations where he could plow through the line, or try one of his never-seen-before jump passes. Tebow would go on to be a decent QB after Leak’s eligibility was exhausted.

 

9 ½ out of every 10 “experts” predicted that Ohio St. would crush the “overrated” Gators. Perhaps Boise St. set the stage for Florida the week before. In the Fiesta Bowl, taking place in the same Glendale, AZ stadium where the National Championship would soon be played, the Broncos somehow found a way to beat the mighty Oklahoma Sooners, who even had the return of their injured running back, Adrian Peterson. Boise outplayed the Sooners, then fell behind late, before some of the most incredible plays in college football led them to an improbable win. Many sports fans would agree that was one of the most fun games (in any sport) that they had ever witnessed. Perhaps it was not merely a coincidence that the underdog wearing blue & orange uniforms pulled out the win.

 

I was lucky enough to be in Florida for a work trip for that National Championship, wearing my blue Gators sweatshirt as I watched the game with my co-workers from our hotel bar. If I believed in gambling of any sort, I might have placed a $5 online bet for the Gators to win, which might have paid out a whopping $20…if I’d ever done that sort of thing. After all the talk about if Florida even belonged in this game, they left everybody with the impression that perhaps Ohio St. didn’t belong in that game. As I recall, Buckeyes kick returner/wr Ted Ginn ran the opening kickoff back for a TD (and injured his foot in the celebration), but Florida didn’t blink, and just set out from there to win the game & finish #1. As a side note, this championship was sandwiched nicely between Billy Donovan’s men’s basketball team winning back-to-back National Championships. It certainly was good to be a Gator!

 

To avoid turning this into a full book, I’ll skip the play-by-play of the following seasons, but Urban Meyer definitely made his mark in college football. Sophomore QB Tim Tebow won the 2007 Heisman Trophy, becoming the first sophomore to win the award, and later became the first player to finish in the top 5 in Heisman voting in 3 different seasons. Urban Meyer has just had a standing flight to New York every year lately for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. They only finished the 2007 season as the #13 team, but they bounced back rather nicely in 2008, winning the National Championship over Oklahoma. This championship was part of an amazing 22-game win streak, started after Tim Tebow’s “Promise” following the loss to Ole Miss (“I’m sorry…I promise you one thing…you will never see a team play harder than we will play the rest of this season. God bless.”) Along with being a fantastic Head Coach & Quarterback combination, Urban Meyer & Tim Tebow had possibly the best bromance in the country! Perhaps this could be explored in a later blog as well.

 

Unfortunately for Gator fans, that 22-game win streak came to an end a few weeks ago in the SEC championship game vs. Alabama, relegating the Gators to the Sugar Bowl, rather than the storybook ending of Tim Tebow riding off into the sunset after a 3^rd National Championship. But while everyone knew that the Sugar Bowl would be the send-off of Tebow, no one thought it would be the last college football game for Urban Meyer. Sure, there were people who thought Urban (named for Pope Urban) would take the Notre Dame job, but he’d turned it down once before, and I had no concerns about that. I had no doubt that the Gators would re-load again next year, even if Coach Meyer was going through Tebow withdrawal (something I am trying to prepare for as well).

 

We have heard that Meyer has health issues, and wants to spend more time with his family, and while it is not life-threatening, the 27 hr a day/8 day a week head coach of football job, is one that provides enough stress to continually put his health at risk. So the man with 2 National Champions (& 3 BCS bowl game wins, hopefully 4 soon), winner of 6 different National Coach of the year awards in 2003 & 2004, and just named Sporting News Magazine’s Coach of the Decade, will be retiring now, at age 45. After the shock has gone away, I will just miss Urban Meyer being a part of college football. I am glad to see him putting his health, faith & family first though, as all too often, we sacrifice all of the above for the job, and somehow the job never shows the same dedication to us when the situation changes. His college-student daughter has already commented that she will be happy to get her daddy back. I wish him & his family nothing but the best, as he goes through this healing process, which will be both physically & mentally difficult. I have a feeling his players might be a little extra inspired for his final game on January 1, against the Cincinnati Bearcats, who already lost their head coach to Notre Dame. Go Gators!

Posted via web from trueliz's posterous

"Strandom" Thoughts - College Basketball edition: WCC, Zags, Trey Thompkins, Wesleyan School & more

I (once again) have neglected this blog for awhile, so I am just going to jot down some college basketball thoughts that are on my mind, just to get back into the swing of it!

• In the first month of this men's college basketball season, there was a lot of talk about the West Coast Conference (WCC) possibly sending more teams to the NCAA tourney than the Pac-10, due to all the solid wins from the conference, including Gonzaga winning the Maui Invitational, San Diego over Stanford & Oklahoma, Portland over Oregon, UCLA & Minnesota, St. Mary's over Oregon (& crushing San Diego St.), and even last year's 3 total wins team, Loyola Marymount, winning at USC (& now at Notre Dame just a few days ago). Even though Portland cooled off after Anaheim with some weak losses, the WCC has still looked strong. My favorite conference might want to erase today from the calendars though...Gonzaga played the 2nd worst game I've seen them play (@Virginia a few yrs ago was the worst in my opinion even though the point totals made today's the worst in over 20 years) in Madison Square Garden vs. Duke, losing 41-76 while shooting 28% overall, 10% on 3's & even a pathetic 48% on free throws. The Portland Pilots were taking on Washington in the evening, with a chance to redeem the conference, a yr after knocking off Washington in Oregon. The Huskies annihilated them though, 89-54 (both Zags & Pilots only had 17 1st half points). University of San Francisco lost the green & gold "USF' battle vs University of South Florida by 20 pts. San Diego lost a lead vs. Southern Illinois to fall by 2 points...but at least Loyola Marymount gave the conference one win for the day (and already their 5th on the season) over Cal State Baskersfield. Yikes.
• Speaking of the Zags & Duke...I am trying to find something redeeming out of the absolutely pathetic game they played in almost all aspects (they actually weren't terrible on defense for much of the game). Here's all I can come up with: They have made a habit of falling behind early this season, and coming back to win (or having a chance to win, such as their 2 pt loss vs. Wake Forest). Perhaps this absolute butt-kicking will hammer home the message that falling behind by double digits & coming back is not the way to have a successful season. It's good to be able to do that, but it's not a best practice to try to make a habit. To keep myself sane, I'm just comparing this game to the Vikings vs. Cardinals 2 weeks ago. Gonzaga just wasn't "there," but hopefully they will show in their next few games that it was an aberration, and not a sign of things to come.
• One final WCC related thought: When Notre Dame looked at their schedule earlier this year and saw they were playing two Los Angeles teams in one week, if you had told them they would be 1-1 in those games, I'm guessing the entire team (& 98% of fans) would've assumed a win over Loyola Marymount & a loss vs. UCLA. Again, this is the LMU team that was one of the worst in the country last year, with those three wins, during the season in which they got a new head coach, who took a medical leave a few wks into the season, quit 2 months later w/o ever returning from that medical leave and then took a Portland Trailblazers asst job the very next week. Yet when the final buzzer sounded in South Bend, Indiana last Saturday night (12/12), the final score was Lions 87, Fighting Irish 85, thanks to a Notre Dame 5-second violation and a game-winning 3 by Jarred DuBois. I was very happy (and surprised) to see LMU get that win, and was even more disappointed that it was not televised anywhere on my 100 DirecTV sports channels, than I had been when I discovered that before the game...yet somehow, I could find a game like Northern Iowa at North Dakota in Grand Forks today (not the North Dakota St. team from Fargo that was in the NCAA tourney last season, the UND team that regularly loses by 40 points in their slow process of acclimating to D1 basketball). Go figure.
• I figure the job of the analyst in a college basketball game is to research stuff about the teams/players, and be able to speak quasi-intelligently about that throughout the game. I realize this often doesn't happen, but the ESPNU team for Saturday's Illinois at Georgia game were selling a local school a little short. Georgia's leading scorer is sophomore F Trey Thompkins (given name Howard Thompkins III, hence "Trey"). Analyst/Former Alabama head coach Mark Gottfried, twice mentioned that Thompkins had gone to high school at Oak Hill Academy (the basketball "factory" school in Virginia that has a long list of former players including Carmelo Anthony, Michael Beasley, Kevin Durant, Brandon Jennings & Rajon Rondo, to name a few), and that Thompkins wanted to be closer to home, so he chose Georgia. While it is true that he went to Oak Hill & he chose Georgia, he skipped a step. Trey had been a student at the Wesleyan School in Norcross, GA, before transferring to Oak Hill for his junior year. After one year in VA, he came back to Wesleyan for his senior year, where he, along with Clemson sophomore G Tanner Smith, led their team to a Class A Georgia State championship. This game was even being played in Duluth, GA rather than on campus in Athens. Duluth is just a few minutes from Norcross (and Duluth is also where Gophers Soph Ralph Sampson III is from, but I digress...). Since my aunt Margaret works at Wesleyan, I know how much fun it is for the school (employees & students) when this is mentioned! Heck, it's fun for me when this is mentioned.
• While on the subject of Norcross, and the Wesleyan School, one other note is on Al-Farouq Aminu, the Soph star for Wake Forest/future NBA lottery picks. Aminu graduated from Norcross High School, immediately across the street from Wesleyan, where he won two 5A state titles. But before he transferred to Norcross his sophomore year of high school, he too was at Wesleyan. So if you look at the freshman on the basketball team in '04-'05 , one is a starter at an SEC school, and two others at ACC schools. Not bad for the little Christian school with barely over 1000 total students, K-12. They also have had many other athletes playing division one sports including former Air Force star RB/WR/KR Chad Hall, Georgia women's basketball player Anna Marie Armstrong & Colorado St. basketball player Chantel Kennedy, just to name a few. When Aunt Margaret told me a few years back that they had some really good basketball players, I was thinking of my high school, which was about the same size, who during my years had some D3 basketball players, and one D1 walk-on player. I soon realized that when she said they were really good, she meant D1 college star athlete type good!

That's all for now. I have many more thoughts stored away on subjects other than college basketball, but it is time to rest the brain once again!

The Future of Tim Brewster plus Strandom Thoughts: Baby Zags, Andre Agassi, T-Wolves & Greinke

I had very good intentions of trying to write some each day, but unfortunately, after using my brain for things I had to accomplish, it just didn't happen. But I'm here now, so I'll take advantage of that!

Tim Brewster has been a popular topic the past two weeks. Between the Minnesota Gophers football team losing at home to (currently) lowly Illinois, and barely squeezing out a win against I-AA team South Dakota State, spirits are not exactly soaring among the Gopher faithful (yes, I know I-AA doesn't exist anymore, but I'm ignoring that just like I ignore the BCS was of deciding champions). I certainly can't say that I am happy with how the team has performed this year, and I definitely can't figure out why the switch was made to running a pro style offense while keeping Adam Weber behind center. He was very good as a spread quarterback. Pro style has lowered his overall numbers, while putting a magnifying glass to his already pesky interception rate. I like Weber, but I don't think he is being put in a position to succeed.

As for the call to fire Tim Brewster, I'm not quite on board with that yet. He was hired because of his recruitment skills. There are some questions as to whether or not he has recruited up to the reputation, but regardless, a coach who is put in position because of recruiting, needs 4 to 5 seasons in place to really see the whole picture. If the Gophers fare worse next year than this year, then it will be time to move on, but if they show any actual signs of taking steps forward, then a 5th year would be warranted. I know this position isn't popular among many Gopher fans, but they have been Bowl eligible the past two years. Bowls are pathetic now compared to what they used to be, but it's not as if Glen Mason brought the team to January Bowl during his way too long tenure.

Give Brewster another year, and if they don't come out with a winning Big Ten record, start looking for the next coach, now that there is a nice new stadium & wonderful facilities to use to entice the big names that have turned Minnesota down in the past. Maybe Brewster is a good recruiter, but doesn't know what to do with the players once he gets them. All the more reason to keep him a 4th yr - give the new coach great freshman - senior players to turn into a winning team.

Now for the Strandom thoughts:

• Andre Agassi has taken a lot of heat from many different walks of life, about the revelations in his new autobiography "Open" but the thoughts from Martina Navratilova have been puzzling. She compared Agassi to Roger Clemens, for using the drugs & not coming clean when given the chance. Ok, where to start...Roger Clemens is accused of using performance enhancing drugs; ones that give people a competitive edge over other athletes. Andre Agassi used Crystal Meth, a drug that is an advantage only if one wants to join Oasis' Noel Gallagher in trying to break the world record for consecutive hours awake without sleeping. As for Andre not telling the truth, he is well aware that it was not right for him to react the way he did then, writing the letter to the ATP tour & lying about how ingested the drug, but he's telling the truth now. He is a very private person, but he is not just hiding behind the book now, he is going out & doing the interviews and facing people. Perhaps Roger Clemens could learn something from Andre Agassi about how a star athlete should respond to their past transgressions.
• The Timberwolves are bad right now; worse than any of us could've imagined. For the first 2 weeks or so, they were hanging in the games, giving it a good fight the whole way. Now they seem to be outmatched as soon as they step on the floor. I think it's just a wee bit too early to start jumping to conclusions though. I believe Kurt Rambis will be an excellent coach, and I believe the Wolves have a few of the pieces that will get them where they want to be down the road. But I also believe that (like most everyone else) that they have a long way to go in terms of needing more talent on the team. I don't want to see them abandon the offense Rambis is trying to teach, just so they can win a few more games this year (and to appease young players who are in no position to be complaining about what systems the coach is using). I would prefer to see them learn it for the future, while in the meantime, increasing their odds for a #1 pick and hoping that just once, the ping pong balls will drop their way. They can't be cursed forever...can they?
• Gonzaga at Michigan St. on Tuesday night showed me a lot of things about the young Bulldogs team that will be calling the "Baby Zags" or the "Bullpups" during this season. After losing 5 seniors (Jeremy Pargo, Josh Heytvelt, Micah Downs, Ira Brown & fan favorite Andrew Sorenson) as well as sophomore Austin Daye departing for the NBA, the Baby Zags have 9 freshman on their roster. They decided to redshirt David Stockton (you may have heard of his dad John) and Sam Dower, out of Osseo High School right here in Minnesota. Thanks to the leadership of Matt Bouldin, and the strong inside play of redshirt sophomore Rob Sacre (who missed all last year with an injury) and freshman Elias Harris, this already looks like the toughest Zags team I can remember in many years, if not ever. It looked like a Big Ten game out there, and I mean that as a compliment. The "finesse" style Gonzaga had last year was fun to watch, but Heytvelt & Daye had no interest in getting bruises inside the paint; their strengths were in outside shooting. So while I went into that game just hoping the #2 ranked Spartans wouldn't blast the Zags out of the gym, I ended the evening bummed that GU couldn't hold on for a win, and feeling very optimistic for the season up ahead. Still a lot of freshman, which will lead to a lot of growing pains, but on their good days, there could be a whole lot of excitement too.
• I am very glad that Zack Greinke won the American League Cy Young award. No pitcher was more dominating this season than Greinke. He should not have been punished just because he played for the hard luck Kansas City Royals, and thankfully, the voters looked past the win-loss record. Wins should just be taken out of the equation, as this is for the best pitcher, not the most valuable pitcher.

I have more thoughts, but I'm going to give the brain a break and stop writing for today!

Carlos Gomez - Which Side of My Brain Wins?

Throughout my schooling & work life, I was frequently given the opportunity to take various personality tests, many of which would establish whether I was dominant in my left or right brain. All that was actually established is that I clearly have no idea. Sometimes I was barely left, sometimes barely right, and almost anytime the middle was an option, I seemed to fall right there (no pun intended). This makes sense for many reasons: I write & eat left handed, yet am right handed in any athletic activities, and text message right handed as well. I was a teaching assistant for a Logic class in college, yet I spent my younger years writing stories, telling myself stories when I was bored, thinking up imaginary worlds, etc. (no, I didn't think I was in those imaginary worlds, so I wasn't completely nuts). Just like all those personality tests, the trade of Minnesota Twins outfielder Carlos Gomez to the Milwaukee Brewers for shortstop J.J. Hardy leaves me right in the middle.

Since Americans always lean toward the right first (when two paths appear, we veer right; in retail stores, we go right first...sometime go ahead and compare the right & left sides of a Best Buy store), I will start with the left. I like this trade. Carlos Gomez is a coveted "5 tool" player, but at times he seems to have left most of the tools in the box at home (for those who don't know, a 5 tool player is considered to be excellent in speed, hitting power, hitting average, fielding ability & throwing ability). We all know Gomez had speed & combined with his great glove, he could make some amazing plays. However, his strong arm had a tendency to throw about 15 feet to the side of his intended target, his power numbers are barely above little Nicky Punto, and his batting average is, well, average.

Then there is that small issue of a crowded outfield. Denard Span has shown that he needs to be an everyday player, and now he will be the Centerfielder, and not the utility outfielder. Michael Cuddyer had a phenomenal year, and with Justin Morneau taking back 1st base, Cuddy will return to right field. Delmon Young used late August & September to give us a glimpse of why he was drafted #1 overall by the Tampa Bay (then) Devil Rays. He is still the most awkward runner I have ever seen, but apparently has some speed if you can get past the complete lack of style. GM Billy Smith said Delmon had become a better teammate as well, which is important. Now if only Jose Mijares could get someone to hit him more often, since that really fired him up,so he could knock out 50 homers a year...and finally, Jason Kubel.

Kubel should be the everyday DH, but he likes to play in the field, so every so often Gardy will throw him out there in right or left. When he gets to the ball, he actually is a much better fielder than people give him credit for, but the key phrase is "when he gets to the ball." I'm not sure who would win a foot race between Kubel and nearly 40-yr old Mike Redmond. So the outfield is full, and Gomez was spending most games on the bench, until being inserted late as a defensive replacement. His tendency to swing out of his shoes at any count, in any game situation, which put him at a disadvantage against most pitchers in the league. Plus, speed on the bases is only good if you know how to use it. He seemed to think he could outrun the ball on throws to second, which led to way too many "caught stealing" box score entries.

Finally, the Twins need a shortstop. Smith had already talked to Orlando Cabrera's agent the morning before the trade, and he said OC was going to be looking in a different direction, so going after Hardy was a logical choice. He had the worst year of his career in 2009 (though the numbers overall looked better than Gomez's), but he was an All-Star in 2007, and he's still only 27 years old, with 2 years left on his contract. Usually it seems the Twins wait until late February to try to fill these holes, but this time they took advantage of the opportunity right away, and can now decide what they want to do with 2nd, 3rd & various pitching possibilities.

Well, that was the logical side, which usually takes up more space as it requires analyzing & supporting arguments. Now for the more passionate right side of the brain.

I love Carlos Gomez!! How can you not love a kid who is always smiling & having fun, who can fly around the bases and the outfield like a cheetah and who has really fun hair? Go-Go would always bring the energy. Even when he would swing out of his shoes, you always knew he was trying as hard as he could, even if he wasn't thinking enough. After losing perennial Gold Glove centerfielder Torii Hunter, it was a lift to have Gomez racing around the same territory as Torii & Kirby before him, chasing down everything in sight. He was the top outfielder in Baseball Tonight's Web Gems, even though he was rarely a starter this season.

If he could've slowed down a little bit, he would've had even more Web Gems, but when you're that fast, you're able to get to balls while still on your feet, that others could only dream of catching. Racing a ball down and staying on your feet will never make Web Gems. What Twins fan didn't feel secure with Gomez in CF & Span in RF late in a game? The Twins probably don't make the playoffs without this line-up, as Span chased down a sure run-scoring extra-base hit in right during the final game in Detroit, in which a Tigers win could've ended the season 5 days earlier than the eventual conclusion.

Speaking of making the playoffs, Carlos Gomez may have come off the bench, but how crucial was he in Game 163 in the last Twins win ever at the Metrodome? Getting that big 12th inning hit, and then that speed...as soon as Alexi Casilla singled the ball between 1st & 2nd, there was no question that Go-Go could race from 2nd to home with time to spare, to clinch the American League Central Division title. That old baggy roof stadium went nuts as he crossed the plate & then flew up in the air like a young Michael Jordan after the game winning shot over Craig Ehlo.

Who could forget that night on the southside of Chicago in 2008, when Gomez managed to become the first Twin to hit for the cycle since Kirby Puckett in 1986. Hitting for the cycle requires many of those 5 tools - power for the homerun, average to get that single & double, and speed to get the triple (unless hell freezes over like it did this year, when Jason Kubel managed to get a cycle). Seeing the joy on his face as he crossed first base to complete the cycle just gave me the chills!

Sure, the kid made mistakes & played like he wasn't always sure what game he was in, but the key word there is "kid." He's only 23 years old. Justin Morneau was 24 in his first full season in the majors, and his .239 average did not exactly scream out "MVP" (he'd have to hit the ripe old age of 25 for that to happen). It seems awfully early to give up on the only member of the Johan Santana trade who had shown any real potential in the last 2 seasons. And most importantly, I just liked Go-Go. There's a reason his jersey was so popular with Twins fans and it had nothing to do with his stats on the field; he has charisma & excitement, which is contagious for anyone who is able to see him, in person or on TV. We will miss Gomez!

There, I clearly solved that issue. Obviously the right side of my brain won...wait, what? Oh, the left side is claiming victory now. Hmm...I guess only time will tell!

I Have a Man's Brain, and I Want My Brain Back!

That's what my dad told me last night...that I have a male brain now, and he may have a point. No, it's not because I am a sports fanatic; he's much too evolved to think something like that! And no, I have not suddenly become interested in looking at women in skimpy little swimsuits. Nor do I have the need to always be right and I don't have an aversion to asking for directions. So why do I agree?

Let's take a step back first. After my concussion/mild traumatic brain injury in 2007, I noticed a lot of things changing, including the way I cognitively processed things. I had lost the ability that women have, to truly multi-task effectively. I always used to work on the computer while watching TV and taking work phone calls, and was able to focus on all activities at once (had I not been able to do this, it's possible I never would've had time for any TV shows, or heaven forbid, sports!) Suddenly, I was having trouble doing just one of those activities at a time, let alone more than one. Unfortunately, I had not gained the skill men have, to completely hone in on something and be able to ignore everything around them (like we all know men can do when their wives are asking them to take out the garbage). So I have been sort of stuck in limbo.

However, without me realizing it, I had acquired another "talent" that men seem to have, which I hadn't realized until dad said I had a man's brain now. When I focus on some thought specifically, I don't seem to see that other things around it that would normally make sense. Now I realize I am making no sense either and I may be confusing my brain too much to finish this blog, so let me try another way of explaining it.

Since the day Brett Favre signed with the Vikings, if you had asked me "What date do the Vikings play at Lambeau field?" I would've been able to answer "November 1st" without much thinking required. However, if you had said to me, "Is anything happening on November 1st?" I would've had no idea. (According to the neuropsych tests I had to take, this has to do with being able to recall, but not retrieve, but a blog about a female having a man's brain sounds more interesting than one about recall vs. retrieval...) So if I am focused on a specific thing, I can explain it, but I often can't get that information from wherever it is hiding in my brain, if that is not what is being discussed. Another example would be when I am asked what things I have trouble with cognitively since the brain injury. It is hard for me to list things out; I can never think of things (other than remembering the fact that I have a problem when I need to think of things). But if I am asked specific questions such as "Do you have problems processing information?" or "Do you have loss of long term memory?" I could answer yes & no respectively.

This brings me to the overall point of this whole boring and chaotic stream of thought. Yesterday, I was discussing sports, and was giving the countdown to College Basketball's March Madness & Selection Sunday, knowing that March Madness started on Thursday, March 18, and Selection Sunday would always be four days earlier. But my dumb (male?) brain didn't associate anything else that I knew was happening during that same time, because that was not what I was specifically writing/thinking about. So if you were to ask me what day my sister is getting married, I could tell you it's March 14, but if I am thinking about college basketball events during that week, I don't think of anything else that is at the same time (like cousin Nate's birthday on March 15). This is what my dad said was like a male brain; the ability to focus on something singular like that, without seeing other things nearby, which are not directly connected to my original thought. While I didn't get the male ability to focus enough to block out people talking, or a TV in the background, apparently I now have that kind of focus within my thoughts.

So let's try this portion of yesterday's blog again...Speaking of countdowns, it is 134 days until the beginning of March Madness, which means it is 130 days until Selection Sunday, the present-opening "Christmas" of sports, and more importantly, 130 days until my little sister is getting married, when I will have the honor of standing next to her to show my support and love! (And all of this is indication that she'll need that support since she is marrying someone with a biologically male brain...)

Disclaimer: No men were injured in the writing of this blog. If you are a man and feel that this represents you, it is purely coincidence, and if you are a man and feel this is false and disparaging of you, blame my dad, since thankfully, I don't really have a man's brain, so I had to take his word on this! Now this damaged (and worn out) brain of mine needs to go rest for a long time.

"Strandom" Thoughts of the Night: Timberwolves, NBA Refs, Gophers, Zags & Damages

I had a suggestion tonight from @olearychris on Twitter to call my blog Strandom Thoughts. I like it. I'm not going to change the blog name (yet), but I will use Strandom Thoughts as the title whenever I'm going to be jotting disjointed ideas, rather than writing about one subject. So here goes the debut of Strandom Thoughts:

• The Timberwolves are only 1-3 so far this season, but for some reason, they seem to be much more fun to watch than last year. GM David Kahn did promise me in the security line at the airport, that I would enjoy watching them play, so I had expectations, and so far they have been met. Obviously this is not a playoff year for the Timberpups, and they will likely have twice as many losses as wins, but learning the new system under Kurt Rambis, acclimating new players to the line-up, missing Kevin Love due to injury & having Al Jefferson & Corey Brewer returning after long injury rehabs, all indicate that it is a growing year for the team. But they are showing that "growing" does not need to be brutal to watch.
• Speaking of Corey Brewer...he is by far the most improved player on the team so far. I have been a fan of Florida Gators basketball for awhile; not ahead of the Gophers or Zags, but I've enjoyed watching them since the days when Teddy Dupay was running point (and apparently learning how to run bets at the same time). So I was excited for Corey Brewer to be on the Woofies. His rookie year was obviously a learning experience (and what the heck was with Randy Wittman not allowing rookies to wear headbands; Brewer had always worn one & felt like you & I might feel if we left the house without wearing shoes). Then last year, he was showing some huge strides defensively before that knee injury. This year, he is finally showing the whole package out there. After his career high of 19 points on Sunday night, he had 14 pts on Monday, plus 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and most impressively, 5 steals (with only 1 turnover). Now he just needs to get that shooting percentage up a little higher, but with his 2010-11 option picked up, he will have the opportunity to continue to improve his game.
• Final Timberwolves thought, about Monday's game in L.A. vs. the Clippers. When Ryan Hollins had a very athletic dunk to cut the Clippers lead to one point with under 20 seconds left, he was very clearly fouled, yet no call was made. This allowed the Clips to just hit their free throws & ride out the rest of the game. I'm not sure if the NBA refs spent their work stoppage time last month watching MLB umpires or SEC football refereeing crews, but they might want to wipe those images from their minds now...
• It is almost time for my attention to be focused on "real" basketball, as the college season is just around the corner. While I will always cheer for the Timberwolves, the overall NBA game is not my thing; too many isolation plays & not enough teamwork out there. College ball just makes me smile. The countdown numbers are almost in single digits now: 10 days until the University of Minnesota Men's Basketball team takes on Tennessee Tech, although it's only available to watch online (Fri. Nov. 13 at 7:00pm CST). Gonzaga Bulldogs kick off their season in 11 days vs Mississippi Valley St., which I can watch on FS Northwest thanks to the DirecTV sports pack (Sat. Nov. 14 at 7:00pm CST). Finally, it is 12 days until the Gopher women get started vs. Lamar, which is unfortunately, like most of their non-conference schedule, not available to watch on TV (Sun. Nov. 15 at 2:00pm CST).
• This leads to the other important countdown atop my list: 135 days until March Madness begins (meaning 131 days until the Christmas day of the sports year; Selection Sunday).
• Speaking of Gonzaga & Minnesota, they are once again linked, and this time it has nothing to do with Dan Monson. Osseo alum Sam Dower is a freshman at Gonzaga this season. As far as I know, he is the first Minnesota native to play for the Zags. He had a great game on Monday night in the exhibition vs. Alberta, getting 15 points & 5 boards. I'm not sure yet if he will be red-shirted for the season, but I'm looking forward to watching him play again. I enjoyed seeing him (along with current Gopher/Hopkins alum Royce White) during the MN State tournament a few months back.
• My writing time is up for the evening, so I will conclude with one non-sports thought. Find Season 1 of FX's show "Damages" (starring Glenn Close & Tate Donovan, my favorite former Space Camper accidentally launched into orbit) on iTunes or Netflix. I enjoyed the new USA Network show Royal Pains this summer, and got to like Campbell Scott, who played the millionaire Boris on that show. Upon reading that he would be in Damages Season 3, I decided to check out the first episode from Season 1, just to get an idea of what the show was, so I would have a clue of what was going on in Season 3. All it took was one episode for me to be completely hooked in this serial law thriller, with more twists than Chubby Checker (wow, that was way too cheesy). I just finished Season 1 and am ready to kickoff on Season 2 soon. Ted Danson was a main figure in this season, but the real scene-stealer was Zeljko Ivanek (who has also played Emile Danko on Heroes, JJ on Big Love, Governor Delvin on Oz & Andre Drazen on 24, as well as one episode guest appearances in about every hour-long drama on television in the last decade. Visit his IMDB page at http://bit.ly/4AgMkl if you want to count how many shows you've seen him on over the years). The Slovenian actor convincingly played a lawyer with a down south accent, and he managed to grab the spotlight from the bigger name stars in the show. I promise you won't regret checking this out (unless you find yourself missing your bedtime because you want to watch just one more episode before sleeping.)