Starring in the Role of Justin Morneau's Cosmic Killjoy - Corey Koskie??

It has been many months since I last entered any thoughts in this blog. It's not for lack of things to write about; it's due to that pesky post-concussion stuff. When I choose to use the brain power to write in the blog, it tends to mean I'm not able to do other things I'd like to (or need to) do, so I dialed it back to rest the head, and now perhaps I can ease into it again, a little at a time. So I figured, what more appropriate subject to return with, than Justin Morneau's concussion!

Morneau has been working out again, trying to get back into shape after not playing in a game since suffering a concussion/mild traumatic brain injury (the definition of a concussion is to have an mTBI) on July 7 in Toronto, and is hoping to do a rehab stint soon. I haven't read an update in awhile, so I checked out Joe Christensen's column in the Star Tribune on Saturday. It all sounded very good, but I'm struggling with one particular comment from a quote. Christensen mentions that Morneau has received advice from former Twin Corey Koskie, whose career was ended by concussions, and Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell, who missed half of last season with a concussion. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire's comments about this are what bother me. "You talk to players that ended their careers with concussions -- I don't think you're going to get a lot of positives out of them, know what I mean? They have a lot of knowledge, but we go with what our doctors say. And our doctors say Justin Morneau will be the one to tell us [he's ready] and not anyone else."

Ok, so basically he thinks Koskie & Mitchell will tell Morneau that he's doomed, it won't heal, and don't play? I would be willing to bet my non-existent salary, that they are giving him advice to help ensure that he continues to have a long & successful career, rather than having his season or heaven forbid, his career, come to a close from the brain injury. Koskie & Mitchell both had multiple mismanaged concussions, which very likely contributed to their long-term issues. But I'm quite certain neither of them will be trying to keep Morneau from playing, or talk him into staying on the couch to watch soap operas, if he is feeling good and healed!

To clarify, it appears that both the Twins and Morneau have handled this concussion properly since it occured, so I have no complaint with the athletic training staff; my only issue is with the sentiment behind Gardy's comment. Since concussions don't show up on scans, blood tests, x-rays, etc. (the brain damage from concussions can be found in an autopsy, but that would seem to be a rather drastic step...), Gardy is correct that Justin is the only one who can truly tell the Twins when he's ready. Surveys recently have shown that in professional & college sports, however, players tend to be less than truthful about their symptoms, because they want to play, ignoring the potential long-term (and short-term) results. I'm guessing Koskie is telling him to be honest, and not to say he's fine if he's still having issues, but if he's doing well with the workouts, then keep going and get back on the field. What could be more encouraging to Justin, than to have someone who has seen the worst side of the concussion effects, tell him that based on him being symptom-free during his workouts, his brain is in a great place, and he won't need to worry about Koskie's situation happening to him?

With all the work Koskie has been doing with schools & organizations about concussions, his goal has been to help kids, parents & coaches get the young athletes back on the field in the right way, so once they return, they can stay active, and don't suffer further consequences. I'm quite certain Gardy doesn't want Morneau to come back simply because he is anxious to play, or "chomping at the bit" only to have a minor head hit on a play at 1st or whiplash while diving for a ball become a career-threatening injury. He wants him to come back at full strength, and to be able to stay back. However, just because Koskie's career ended due to concussions, doesn't mean he would tell Justin the same thing will happen to him, anymore than Gardy would tell players they'll never be able to become consistent .300 hitters, just because hitting is what he struggled with most in his pro career.

My life has been drastically changed because of my concussions, and I wish with everything in me that I had listened when my sister told me to stop working (& reading, writing, texting, analyzing etc.) until my symptoms were gone. Instead, I kept pushing through it for over a month, and got worse with each day. Had I listened right away, I may have only missed a few weeks of work and then been back to normal (though we'll never know for sure). That being said, if Morneau was asking me for advice (which seems about as likely as me winning the lottery), I wouldn't tell him to not play, or say that his life was going to be ruined now. I'd say to listen to what his body and brain are telling him. I'm guessing it's insulting to Koskie that Gardy seems to think he won't be positive about the situation. As someone who has dealt with that issue, I guarantee he would be thrilled to see a healthy Morneau back on the field, winning games for the Twins.

So if Justin Morneau still has headaches, or that "not right" feeling he described before, then he should wait until those are gone, no matter how boring it is. However, if he no longer has any of the concussion symptoms while working out, throwing, hitting in the cage & doing the regular stuff of life, then by all means, he should be on track to get to a rehab assignment soon, and join the team when he's in baseball shape & back up to speed!

Which Conferences are Doing the Best in March Madness So Far?/My Dream Final Four

The original 65 teams from Selection Sunday have now been shaved down to just the Sweet 16. Which conferences have the most representatives and which ones are doing the most with what they have?

From the, um, mighty Big 6 "BCS" conferences:
Big Ten - 3 of their 5 NCAA teams are in the Sweet 16 (#5 seed Mich St., #2 seed Ohio St. & #4 seed Purdue), and people laughed when I said the Big Ten would look like the best overall conference in the tourney, though I was expecting Purdue to be out by now and Wisconsin to still be alive.
SEC - 2 of 4 (#6 Tennessee & #1 Kentucky)
Big 12 - 2 of 7 (#2 Kansas St & #3 Baylor)
Big East - 2 of 8 (#1 Syracuse & #2 West Virginia)...Anyone remember one week ago when the Big East was supposedly the most powerful conference of all? Those were the days!
Pac 10 - 1 of 2 (#11 Washington) - they were supposedly by far the worst conference, but look better than the "strong" ones since they advanced 50% of their entries and they had a much worse starting point for their two teams than the other big guys.
ACC - 1 of 6 (#1 Duke) - I bet my ACC-loving buddy Jeff Kelberg would not have imagined that the ACC would have the same number of Sweet 16 teams as the Valley, Horizon, Pac-10, A10, Ivy & WCC...

So the ACC has the worst percentage advancing to the 2nd weekend, but considering the Big East was touted as the best conference by far, they definitely look the worst!

Now for the "little" guys:
Missouri Valley - 1 of 1 (#9 Northern Iowa)
Horizon League - 1 of 1 (#5 Butler)
Ivy League - 1 of 1 (#12 Cornell - the "Cinderella" that looks more like a good team with a bad seed!)
West Coast Conference - 1 of 2 (#10 St. Mary's - never thought over the last 10+ years that if only 1 WCC team was in the Sweet 16, it wouldn't be Gonzaga!)
Atlantic 10 - 1 of 3 (#6 Xavier)

11 different conferences are represented in the Sweet 16, which I'm guessing has to be a record, but I can't say for sure. If it is though, I imagine we'll hear about a few times on ESPN & CBS in the next 5 days or so. Only other conferences with more than 1 bid that didn't have anyone advance are the Mountain West (0 for 4), Conference USA (0 for 2) and the WAC (0 for 2).

Three #1 seeds are still alive, as well as three #2s, but only one #3 seed and one #4 seed remain. If you are a fan of the underdog (as I am) you have to love this year!

Shockingly, my brackets are actually still in good shape, since I had Kansas, Villanova, Georgetown, New Mexico, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Maryland & Vandy losing between Round One and the Sweet 16 (except Kansas which I had losing in the Elite 8). So if I'm following my brackets, I'd want a Final Four of Ohio St., Kansas St., Kentucky and Baylor, with the Buckeyes beating the Kentucky version of the Wildcats for the championship.

However, since this is the tournament where anything can happen, this is my dream for the next two weekends:
Sweet 16 -
Northern Iowa def. Michigan St. (I like Tom Izzo, but I have to pick the cute little school that is just a few hours away)
Ohio St. def Tenn (gotta pick the Big Ten if neither one is a "mid-major" school)
Butler def. Syracuse (The Bulldogs #5 seed is the best seed of any the remaining small conference schools)
Xavier def. Kansas St. (Might as well support the Jesuit schools since my sister teaches at LMU & I love the Zags)
Cornell def. Kentucky (Perhaps the worst seeding of a tournament team in 10+ years)
Washington def. West Virginia (Both big conferences, but I'll take an #11 over a #2)
Purdue def. Duke (Considering many people, including myself, had the Boilermakers losing in the first round to Siena without Robbie Hummel, they are pretty much an underdog story; plus I hate Duke)
St. Mary's def. Baylor (even though many other Zags fans can't cheer for their big conference rival, I will, while wearing my St. Mary's sweatshirt which I only purchase a couple years ago because I was looking everywhere for the soft, comfy adidas 3-stripes on the arm hoody sweatshirts, and they had one, with colors that match all my Twins, Gonzaga & Loyola Marymount clothing!)

Elite 8 -
Northern Iowa def. Ohio St.
Butler def. Xavier (who wouldn't want to see Butler in the Final Four at home in Indianapolis? It could be a real life Hoosiers story!)
Cornell def. Washington
St. Mary's def. Purdue

Final 4 -
Northern Iowa def. Butler (I just said I wanted Butler in the Final Four; didn't say they needed to win it. Gotta cheer for the 2 Tartan High School Kids, Asst. Coach Ben Johnson formerly of the Gophers & DeLaSalle high school & North Dakota native Ben Jacobson, who could be a good choice for the Gophers if the unfortunate Tubby rumors come true).
St. Mary's def. Cornell (Cornell's Ryan Wittman is a Minnesota kid, but I pull for St. Mary's normally outside of West Coast Conference games, plus that's another excuse to wear the aforementioned sweatshirt)

Championship Game -
St. Mary's def. Northern Iowa (as Omar Samhan suddenly becomes a lottery draft pick in the NBA after not even being on most team's list of players to watch...and then Coach Randy Bennett likely leaves for the Oregon spot once Mark Few and Tubby Smith turn it down, causing the Aussies on the team to go back Down Under and St. Mary's fades into oblivion the year after their National Championship, kinda like that school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina)

Not exactly realistic, but it would just be my dream picks from who is left, and who could have imagined everything that's happened so far? Either way, I think there will be another fun weekend of basketball starting Thursday night! Now I hopefully I have a few days to relieve my Tivo Stress...

Who is to Blame?

Gerard Kemkers is not exactly a household name, perhaps even in his own home. I'm not sure many of the speed-skating fanatics in the Netherlands knew too mach about Kemkers, the coach of superstar Sven Kramer...at least how much they knew of him prior to Tuesday (2/23) afternoon in Vancouver.

While Sven Kramer glided his way to gold in the 5000m race last week, we got a glimpse of just how much the Netherlands love their speed skating. We learned that a power company offered a 50 euro discount on quarterly bills if Kramer won a gold medal. That makes America's love of football look like a mere childhood crush. Going into Tuesday's 10,000m race, it was clear the country would be glued to their TVs close to midnight in Amsterdam, to watch Kramer in the race he hasn't lost since 2007 (yes, there are places that show the Olympics live all day; come to think of it, that's basically everywhere but the US).

This distance once again looked like it should be named the "Sven Kramer Challenge" as the only real competition was for 2nd place. Kramer was skating in the last pair and had a solid 6 second lead with only a few laps left, when he came to the transition area where the skaters switch between the inside and outside lane on each lap. Kramer was heading for outside lane when he hesitated and suddenly jumped over the orange cone to the inside lane.

He proceeded to keep cruising around the ice, finishing 7.57 seconds ahead of his closest competitor. As the crowd went nuts, he flashed his winning smile and pumped his fist, until Coach Kemkers came up next to him to say something, and suddenly Sven was throwing his glasses, yelling & looking nothing like a man who had just claimed his 2nd gold medal of the Vancouver games.

The voice of the arena announcer began to explain some sort of issue, which the NBC commentators passed along to confused viewers like me. In a 25 lap race, the skater should not end in the same lane where he began, yet Kramer had started and ended on the inside lane. This means he missed a lane change and was automatically disqualified. Speed skating analyst (and former athlete bringing us heartbreak and then triumph) Dan Jansen said he had seen this happen before, but never by the top skaters, and never in the Olympics. I just sat on the couch wondering how a skater of his caliber could forget to make a lane change. I got my answer during NBC's primetime broadcast (I could've looked it up earlier online, but that would've lead to finding out who won the Men's Giant Slalom race that NBC wasn't showing until later, so I yet again avoided the Internet).

Video shows that as Sven Kramer was prepared to move to the outside lane, his coach Gerard Kemkers emphatically pointed toward the inside lane. Kramer had to decide in a split-second whether to go with his gut, or listen to his coach. Unfortunately, he made the wrong decision (and ultimately a costly decision, literally, with that medal being worth nearly $500,000 US dollars from his sponsors).

So whose fault is it? Some of the media and other athletes say the blame lies squarely on Sven Kramer's shoulders, since he is the world-class athlete, solely responsible for his performance on the ice. While this is technically true, I'd have to put the majority of the blame on the coach (who, as Bob Costas mentioned, might want to look into witness protection).

By this point in the race, Sven Kramer had been skating about as fast as I drive my car, for about 10 minutes. He thought he knew where he was supposed to go, but his coach, the man entrusted with making sure he did everything possible the last 4 years to prepare for these races, was telling him something different. Kramer is an amazing athlete, but even bionic men get tired, which can make the mind tired. Coach Kemkers had been on the sidelines watching, just skating back and forth a few times. Surely he wouldn't have a mental lapse in a moment as important as this, would he? As he watches Kramer move toward the outside lane, he wouldn't adamantly point inside unless he was 100% sure he was right, would he?

As both a former coach and athlete (albeit at the somewhat smaller stage of the high school level), I'd have to place the majority of the blame on Gerard Kemkers. The coach can't mislead his athlete like that, even if it is obviously unintentional. Certainly, he wasn't trying to sabotage Kramer's top event, and Kemkers definitely looked rather inconsolable later, but he was the one pointing his athlete toward the wrong lane.

Of course everybody makes mistakes, but regardless of magnitude and regret, they are still responsible. Yes, Kramer could've continued in the direction he was heading, and yes, he does have to take some responsibility as well, but every athlete is taught from day one to listen to their coaches and to follow their directions (which Kramer did quite literally in this case). Dan Jansen later added that while he had seen skaters forget to change lanes, he had never before seen a coach point his skater in the wrong direction, so it would've seemed improbable to Kramer that Kemkers could be giving him bad advice.

That being said, it would be honorable if Kramer would publicly put the blame on himself and apologize for his (understandable) tantrum after the race. Kemkers would still know he made a huge mistake, as would everyone else watching, but it would be a classy move by Kramer nonetheless, and show that he is also a champion off the ice, which could end up being meaning more to both of them in the long run.

Mass Failure of College Basketball Coaches Previously and Erroneously Thought to be Good

Many college hoops fans & members of the media, especially those living in the Twin Cities, had high expectations for the Minnesota Golden Gopher Men’s Basketball Team. After all, they made the NCAA tournament last year with essentially the same line-up, and they’re led by National Championship winning Coach Tubby Smith. The fact that they are 5-7 in conference (14-10 overall) means those Tourney hopes are essentially out the window, barring 5 or 6 wins in the final 6 games (vs. Wisconsin, vs. Indiana, vs. Purdue, at Illinois, at Michigan, vs. Iowa) or a victory in the Big Ten Tournament which comes with an automatic bid. Stranger things have happened, but clearly this season has been a disappointment, and there’s no one to blame other than the coach, right? After all, good coaches are able to rally the troops even when the top two recruits never play a game and the best defensive player on the team/starting point guard is out for the 2nd half of the conference season due to grades, right? A coach with 1 National Championship, 3 Elite Eights and 5 Sweet Sixteens, who had a string of 14 straight NCAA tournament appearances with three different teams (Tulsa, Georgia & Kentucky) broken in his first year at Minnesota, clearly isn’t as good as his career record if he can’t get this team back to March Madness. If this is the case, as so many local writers & fans have said, there are a lot of bad coaches out there this season that used to masquerade as legends & leaders of the game!

UCLA is 11-13 this year, with a 6-6 record in the very “down” Pac-10 conference. They lost to Cal State Fullerton, to Dan Monson’s Long Beach St and were absolutely annihilated by Portland, who later lost by 30+ points to Idaho. Ben Howland used to be a good coach, back when UCLA went to 3 straight Final Fours in 2006-2008; or those two Sweet Sixteen trips for Pittsburgh, which landed him the Bruins job. Heck, he can’t win this year even though they only made Nikola Dragovic sit out a couple games when he was charged with felony assault. His trial has been pushed to March 15, and unlike the Gophers’ Trevor Mbakwe, Dragovic doesn’t have any witnesses saying he wasn’t even in the state where the assault occurred. UCLA clearly knew they were down on talent this year, due to multiple early entries into the NBA the past few seasons (Kevin Love, Jrue Holiday & Russell Westbrook, just to name a few) so little things like a felony assault didn’t bother them, but still they can’t seem to win. I guess Ben Howland just isn’t a good coach anymore.

Remember a few years ago, when the Florida Gators celebrated the first back-to-back men’s college basketball championships in nearly 15 years? Billy Donovan was a hot coach then, being offered the Orlando Magic NBA head coaching spot, accepting it, and then changing his mind & returning to Florida. His team is 17-8 this year, which sounds good, but is a bit deceiving. Their win over Michigan St is nice, but the loss to South Alabama and no other significant non-conference wins has them on the outside looking in for March Madness. Nick Calathes clearly left college a year or two early, and prior to that, it apparently hurts to lose all 5 starters from your National Championship team. If they fail to make a late run, this will be two years in a row in the NIT. I guess in Billy the Kid’s old age (he is at close to the nursing home entry level at the age of 44) he has forgotten how to coach, because we’ve heard around here that these things must be overcome by enthusiasm and leadership of the head coach. 3 Final Fours (2 championships & 1 runner-up) and a Sweet Sixteen just aren’t worth what they used to be…)

Jim Calhoun’s normally strong UConn team has really struggled this season. Their overall record is 15-11, but they are only 5-8 in the Big East conference, which won’t get them into the big dance. Connecticut has losses against strong teams like Duke, Kentucky, Georgetown & Syracuse, but has also struggled against weaker teams such as Michigan, Providence, and a suddenly down Louisville (come to think of it, Rick Pitino is another coach I could feature for this blog). Their only wins this season against likely tournament teams are vs. Texas, who has been free-falling for weeks, Villanova and…William & Mary. Pretty bad if William & Mary is one of your teams’ 3 marquee wins! But this one is really hard to figure; the Huskies troubles started with Jim Calhoun on the bench, but even when he took an extended medical leave, they weren’t able to bounce back from the clearly weak coaching they had been getting from the man with 2 National Championships, 1 other Final Four, 5 Elite Eights & 4 Sweet Sixteens (with a grand total of 21 NCAA tournament appearances as a head coach). It must be really bad leadership to continue to affect a team even when he wasn’t there anymore!

It seems like only yesterday that everyone thought Roy Williams knew how to coach basketball, like, perhaps, last April, when he was celebrating a National Championship victory for North Carolina. Now, he is talking about his therapist visits to discuss his feelings about this season being a catastrophe, as the Tar Heels hold a 3-8 record in ACC games, and have conference losses this season to Clemson, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland & Duke including a stretch of 7 losses in 8 games. They also were witness to the College of Charleston fans rushing the court after an “upset” over UNC. At least Charleston is leading the Southern Conference now that Stephen Curry left Davidson to take his game to a higher level, so perhaps that isn’t a bad loss…but a team that started the season ranked #4 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, isn’t supposed to be miles away from even being on the bubble. Never mind the players they lost after last year’s championship; Roy Williams simply is not able to motivate this team to victory, as he has stated that the methods that worked with previous teams, just aren’t getting through to this team. Those methods clearly must be inadequate, as they only got him 2 National Championships & 5 other Final Four appearances between North Carolina & Kansas, plus 2 Elite Eights and 4 Sweet Sixteens.


If you haven’t yet caught the sarcasm dripping from these words, then I clearly am not doing any better with my writing than those 5 are with coaching, and I don’t even have any championships on my non-existent writing record. Perhaps, rather than jumping on the “Tubby is a bad coach this year” bandwagon, some other reasons for the disappointing (yet perhaps not underachieving) season should be considered, such as the missing recruits/players, struggles making shots in close games, an inability to get steals or make crisp & accurate passes without Al Nolen on the floor, a less impressive performance by the Top 10 team they beat a few games after Minnesota played them and numerous others that I may explore in future days if my brain cooperates.

Of course a coach has an impact on how a team is performing, and they have to take some responsibility even if they are doing everything “right” and it isn’t working, but to act as if Tubby has lost his touch, and start discussing if he can win & recruit here in the future, is almost as absurd as the Vikings naming Les Steckel as a head coach in the 80’s or Mike Lynn trading 321 draft picks for an aging Hershel Walker. Perhaps we have forgotten this team was 9-22 in 2006-07, that the ’07-08 NIT appearance was considered a “victory” for the program and that the ’08-09 team was never actually expected to be an NCAA tournament team until that big upset of Louisville.

I suspect this would be a much different season if Trevor Mbakwe & the 5 star top ranked recruit in the Big Ten, Royce White had ever stepped foot on the floor, even if Al Nolen still didn’t do his homework. But I guess that’s a scenario that is only happening in a parallel universe along with Brett Favre running for 4 yards and Ryan Longwell kicking a FG to go to the Super Bowl.

Nick Punto Day - Why I love Nick Punto!

Today is Nick Punto Day for Twins bloggers, as created by Andrew Kneeland of the Twins Target blog. I have been looking forward to this day because Nick Punto is one of my favorite members of the Minnesota Twins. Seriously. No, I don’t think he’s one of the best players on the team, and I’m certainly not interested in debating his value with any Nick Punto haters. I know you’re out there, and I know you’d love to tell me why he shouldn’t ever play, but I don’t care, so feel free to write your own blog about why he doesn’t belong in the major leagues, but don’t rain on my parade. This is just me explaining why I love Nick Punto!

I wrote last year about why Punto played as often as he does if you want to look at statistics, but this blog is kind of like explaining why I love my big comfy soft Adidas sweatshirts or my perfect fitting Twins Enterprise Twins hats (Twins Enterprise has nothing to do with the Minnesota Twins, but it’s only “fitting” that they make my favorite hats). Punto is obviously not the best player on the team, and my favorite clothing items are not straight off the fashion runways. I just really enjoy Nick Punto, just like I enjoy my most comfortable clothes! Punto isn’t my first choice for who I’d want to bat with the game on the line in the 9^th inning, just as I wouldn’t wear my favorite sweatshirt/cap combo to meet with a publisher about getting my new book into print (not that I have written a book, started a book or thought about starting a book…). Nicky is just a player that I know will make my evening more comfortable overall!

-Just to clarify, earlier tonight, long after I started writing this blog, I saw that Kbrobaseball had her Punto blog title comparing him to a “good ol’ pair of shoes.” I swear I did not steal her idea, as I had been planning this line of thought since hearing about Nick Punto Blog Day. Apparently this merely means that Punto has this kind of effect on some of his fans!-

Nobody hustles and goes all out quite like Punto does on every play, both on offense and defense. I am not at all a fan of him diving into first base, except in those rare occasions where it is necessary to avoid a tag. Even though physics says that’s not the fastest way to reach the base, he believes that it is until someone can prove him wrong. While he knows he’s putting himself at risk of injury, he does it because he wants to do whatever he can to get on base. His logic may be faulty in this case, but I still can’t be mad about the effort. He only has one gear: going all out all the time.

The Twins are always known for solid consistency on routine grounders, and the ability to make the spectacular plays as well. Of all the fantastic defenders the Twins have had in the last handful of years, I would put Nick Punto’s collection of Web Gems (even if they weren’t all on Baseball Tonight) up against anyone else on the team, or almost any other team for that matter. Torii Hunter has obviously had some of the most amazing catches in Twins history, so he would have to be at the top of that list, but I would still argue that Nick would be right there with him.

There are two Twins plays of the last 5 years that stand out in my mind above all others, in terms of the quality of the play (and I know once I write these, I will think of 30 other ones that should be at the top as well, but such is life). One was Torii Hunter in the 5^th inning (I think) of a game in which Johan Santana had a no-hitter going at the time. The ball was hit to left-center field, and seemed to be at a trajectory that would be impossible to even reach in time to cut off on a bounce, let alone to snatch out of the air. The cameras didn’t even show anyone in the area as the baseball shot out toward the direction of the fence. All of the sudden, there was Torii Hunter flying across the field turf, channeling his inner Usain Bolt (even if we didn’t know who Bolt was yet), propelling off the ground horizontally toward the ball and somehow capturing it in the leather pocket of his glove, followed by a good 2-3 somersault/rolls toward the warning track. I can still hear Twins television play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer saying the following lines as his excitement and volume level increased with each word: “He didn’t catch that did he?!?! He didn’t catch that did he?!?! He sure did!!” The catch itself may have been routine for Torii, but actually getting to the ball way out of his range combined with making the catch; that is what made it amazing.

The other play that is at the top of my own personal web gem list is what I titled The Nick Punto Superman play at 2^nd base, for my own personal DVD highlights. It was in Yankee Stadium a few years ago. I don’t remember if it was a bunt, or just a roller slowing up in the grass, but I know there was no chance it was going to be anything other than an infield hit. Punto got up to the ball, but the angle at which it was rolling vs. the direction he was coming from = no chance in the world of physics to get the ball to 1^st base accurately, let alone before the runner reached safely. He grabbed the ball barehanded, and had his whole body off the ground, almost as if he was lying down and had started levitating in a perfect Superman type pose. The fact that he was in the air should’ve eliminated any ability to put some torque on the toss, since the arm is only one component in getting power behind a throw. Yet somehow, he was able to take the energy from pushing his legs off the ground for the dive, and move it along to his arm, which was hanging below his body between his torso & the grass, to get something on the throw to first. As for accuracy, I have no idea how it got where it was supposed to go. Throwing across your body very rarely works out well for even the strongest and most accurate of arms (ask Brett Favre or Peyton Manning about that…), especially when you are suspended in the air. Yet little Nicky Punto got that throw to 1^st base in time for the out. The play continues to amaze me just thinking about. Even more amazing to me is that he made almost the identical play in 2009, in the exact same borough of New York, albeit on the opposite side of the street. The pretty much cemented that fact that it wasn’t a lucky play!

I would need to write that book I mentioned previously in order to describe all my favorite defensive plays from Nick Punto over the years (and I would need a Lord of the Rings size series to cover all the plays by every Twin that I’ve enjoyed through time), but that play at Yankee Stadium just embodies who he is out on the field. He never believes that a play is impossible and he will always give it his all. I’ve often wondered what would happen if the effort and attitude of players like Nick Punto & Mike Redmond was combined with the talent of a Milton Bradley. That would be one unstoppable ball player.

I still can’t quite understand why Punto only seems to be able to swing the bat well in even numbered years, but that means we should be in for a good season for him, regardless of what different position he heads out to each game. I just know I can rely on him to play hard, and to care about what he is doing, no matter what the situation. No one can control their talent; sure, they can work hard on skills and practice consistently, but talent is a gift. Effort and dedication is what can be controlled, and I think that must be why Nick Punto is one of my favorite Twins of the past decade. My favorite sweatshirts & cap certainly have been there for me repeatedly, never failing to be comfortable, even when they felt perhaps they needed a break. So as sappy & sugary as this superfluous post may be, this is why I love Nick Punto!

(1st Photo taken by Liz Strand, 09/21/07. 2nd Photo taken by Kathy Willens, 07/04/07)

The Vikings Must Win, for the Sake of My Mental Health

I'm not exactly a happy (sports) camper right now. My Zags won their Thu & Sat games vs Pepperdine & Loyola Marymount, but completely forgot their defense on the team plane, after putting it to good use in Portland, Moraga & San Diego. Had they been playing any team with something resembling a winning record, they would've been tagged for a loss. I believe LMU had 5 key players injured, yet it was tied at the half, and close until the last 5 min or so. But hey, they got the wins, which gives them 8 in a row. Undoubtedly their RPI will fall, but they'll keep their spot in the top #10-12 in the rankings.

I was also disappointed by the Timberwolves ending on Friday night. Trailing by 3 with under 6 seconds left, rookie Jonny Flynn drove to the hoop, got the lay-up as well as a foul call. Flynn never gets foul calls! This is a frequent topic during the broadcasts. He calmy swished the FT, and the New Orleans Hornets called a timeout with 3 seconds remaining. As assistant coach Tim Floyd handed out money to college recruits and the two NBA teams took the floor for the pivotal last possession of regulation, Minneapolis local station KSTC-45 promptly cut to a furniture commercial.

I was not born for the Heidi game 40+ yrs ago, when the AFL championship between the Raiders & Jets was cut off for the start of the movie Heidi, with 65 seconds left and the Jets leading by 3 points, but I read all about it as kid wearing my purple Tommy Kramer jersey. While angry football fans flooded the network switchboards, only those in the stadium were able to watch Oakland somehow score 2 touchdowns in one minute, to win by 11! Not long after that, football television contracts included provisions that games would be broadcast in full, regardless of time.

Ok, so the Hornets-T-Wolves is not exactly the AFL Championship, and the number of viewers affected was slightly smaller, but it was still frustrating as I yelled at the TV screen, until the commercial ended and video of Hornets players celebrating appeared on my screen. Apparently they hit a shot...

My mother had the perfect response to this Hornets win though, stating that it was good that New Orleans won, since that was the only win that city would get this weekend. Atta girl mom!

In honor of today's annual Hockey Day Minnesota, where FSNorth shows wall-to-wall hockey games, including outdoor high school challenges, the Gopher men's hockey team made sure outstate Minnesota had more to cheer about. After a few winning weekends to get back on track, including a solid 3 pts (out of 4 possible) last weekend vs. North Dakota, Minnesota followed that up by letting St. Cloud sweep them in a home-and-home series, 4-3 in St. Cloud on Friday (the Huskies built leads of 3-0 & 4-1) and 4-1 on their home ice. Impressive...

Finally, Tubby's boys took the floor Saturday morning, for a huge game against #7 Michigan State. This was a "not quite a must win but pretty much a really need to win due to the pathetic loss at the currently not good Indiana Hoosiers" game that looked more difficult with the news that junior starting point guard Al Nolen would be out due to academic suspension, which could extend the rest of the season. Devoe Joseph started in his place, and he is a better offensive player, but Nolen definitely is the stronger defensive presence. Considering this, I just hoped the little yellow rodents could stay in the game. Maybe I should've wished for more...

Minnesota took control, with a commanding 8 point lead at the half, and 2nd half advantages of 13 or 14 points (I'm doing this insomniac blog without any stat sheets). Devoe Joseph filled in very nicely, as a scoring presence, and dishing out a good number of assists (I know he had 7 midway through the 2nd half). Unfortunately, Michigan St made the run every good team makes to try to get back in it, and that would've been a great time to have a stopper like Al Nolen on the floor, especially since he's one of the only guys quick enough to try to keep up with Spartans PG Kalin Lucas. Michigan St found a way to tie it late, and of course, Kalin Lucas was the gut who got open enough to hit a 3 pointer with 1:29 left to take a 3 point lead.

Senior Damian Johnson was able to cut it to 1 point, and the Gophers played shutdown defense to get the ball back with about 17 seconds left. Lawrence Westbrook took a shot with close to 5 ticks remaining (remember; no stat sheets), and even though CBS' Seth Davis tweeted that there sure was a lot of contact on his shot, it would've been rather surprising to hear a whistle at that point in a game, for better or worse. Westbrook's shot just sorta floated straight up, and a few Gophers tried to tip it to the net, but luck wasn't on their side and time expired with the scoreboard showing a Michigan State win.

In terms of sports losses, this hit me pretty hard. Knowing they had the game under control and lost it, keeping themselves on the outside of the NCAA tourney bubble with only a few more chances to beat a team "better" than they are, was quite a bummer.

So as you can clearly see, I am so due for a big win that sends me leaping off the couch for joy (that would be a roughly 1-1.5 inch leap), and I'm guessing many other Minnesota sports fans feel the same. So Dear Vikings, please take this opportunity to ensure that no one in purple & gold takes the field for the Pro Bowl next week, as you would be preparing for a much more important game in Miami! My mental health & well-being is counting on you! (Who knows...I might even fall asleep before morning if they win!)

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While You Were Sleeping...

Anyone who follows me on Twitter or is my friend on Facebook, has likely noticed the odd hours during which I usually publish blog entries. My brain is still healing (very slowly) from a concussion/mild traumatic brain injury (mtbi) from a couple years ago. This limits how much time I am able to read and write (or do things requiring analysis) in any given day. I still love to write though, so when my head allows, I like to jot down some thoughts about whatever is on my mind. This usually happens after midnight, and before 6 am. My best guess as to why, is that it's quiet at night. Anytime things are going on around me, my brain seems to work harder to separate everything, so when late night arrives, my creative side comes to light as most distractions have gone away, even though it is usually headaches keeping me awake that late. Go figure. I generally send out the link to the blog later in the day on Twitter too, since normal people are usually sleeping when I post my thoughts. On Tuesday, I just started that tweet with 'While You Were Sleeping:" and Amanda Rykoff suggested I should just go with that for the blog name. While I do hope that I can have something resembling a normal sleep schedule again in my near future, for now, "While You Were Sleeping: Random Thoughts from Liz" does seem like the perfect title!

Oddly enough, I am about to post this blurb while most of you are sleeping, or wishing that you were still sleeping while smacking the snooze button on your alarm. Goodnight from me, and good luck with your day!

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Random thoughts on Captain Sully Sullenberger, Boise St-TCU & the BCS, and the former GB QB

As usual, I have a lot of sports-related things on my mind, but I’ll start with a hero; a real hero, not the kind of hero who hits a game-winning shot in the playoffs.

 

Sully

Captain “Sully” Sullenberger was the big hero last year, and has been able to start 2010 in the news, without any miraculous landings needed. As I watched a few of the 2009 retrospective type shows (yes, I’m a sucker for anything like that; could be why I was a History major), I continue to be amazed each time the story is told about him piloting U.S. Airways 1549 to safety in the river. I got to hear the discussion with the tower for the first time, I believe during the VH1 look at 2009. The tower tells everyone else that takeoffs & landings need to be stopped, since a plane has an emergency and needs to return. Sully comes on & says that he needs to land in the Hudson. Verbatim response from the tower “I’m sorry, say again?” I can only imagine what they must’ve been thinking when they heard that.

 

The camera phone type videos that have been shown of the landing (which I somehow hadn’t seen before) just solidify how amazing it was that everyone survived. That plane was still going fast! The line “brace for impact” isn’t usually followed by such a successful finish. As my mom & I were discussing this, she said looking at the video again in the last week, of the people standing on the wing of the plane in the water, she was suddenly more amazed. As a flight attendant, she had to do safety training that included going out on the wing, and the wing is slippery. It’s not exactly a stable place to stand. Yet in the water (which I’ve heard can make things more slippery), everybody was able to stay in place until the rafts & boats rescued them. I cannot even fathom that no one was lost, and to continue to have the presence of mind, and selflessness, of waiting until everyone else was off, and then going back to check the whole plane again, even as the back end inside the plane was dangerously full of water, just adds to the heroism of Sully Sullenberger.

 

The man has shown in the nearly 12 months since this happened, that he’s not big on getting a lot of attention, or taking a lot of credit; he was just doing his job, is what he keeps repeating. Yet, he also was wise enough to realize that if he didn’t acknowledge the praise people from the flight were giving him, that he was minimizing the fact that their lives were saved. I’m guessing he would like to have just started flying again quietly and continued his life, but of course news cameras & media followed his first day back on the job, so he is learning to somewhat embrace the position he’s including writing the book “Highest Duty” which I have on audio book, so I can hear him tell his story.

 

On January 1 of this new decade, Sully was the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses parade, along with his wife Lorrie, and had the honor of doing the coin toss for the Rose Bowl game between Ohio State & Oregon. On Monday (Jan. 4) he spoke to employees at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and was even able to speak to Astronauts (& Cosmonauts) on the International Space Station from mission control (video can be found here on NASA’s Featured Videos page: http://bit.ly/6nChxi ).  I’m a little jealous that NASA employees in Houston get to see Astronaut Mike Massimino and now Sully Sullenberger, but I’ll make a New Year’s resolution to get over my envy! 

 

Of course, you know you’ve made it when Harrison Ford is going to narrate your documentary, which will be shown on TLC (January 10, 9 EST/8CST) called, appropriately, “Brace for Impact.” My Tivo is already set!

 

I’m just pleased, that with all the end of year talk about Jon & Kate, Britney, K-Fed, Kanye, Rihanna’s horrifying abuse from Chris Brown (& his return to the music charts in less than a year), Spencer & Heidi, and White House party crashers, that discussion of a true inspirational hero could stand out as one of the great stories of the year. Thank you Captain Sullenberger!

 

 

BCS: Boise St. & TCU

Since I already expounded on this subject with both Facebook & Twitter, I’ll keep it brief here: I am about as irritated as I can get about something in sports (I can get more irritated about real life, but we’re just talking sports now) at the fact that the BCS matched up Boise St. & TCU in the Fiesta Bowl Game, played last night, 01/04/10. I’m glad they “admitted” two very worthy schools from non-BCS conferences, but they are robbing all of us the opportunity to see how they matched up against schools from the big, bad, “powerful” BCS conferences. All this does is guarantee that the little conference schools will be .500 in BCS bowls this year, and since there are no playoff games, so there is no advancing to the next round, we can’t see if they are Cinderella teams whose clock strikes midnight or if they are worthy applicants for the National Championship game. Let’s face it; they couldn’t look any worse than Cincinnati did in the first half vs. the Florida Gators in the Sugar Bowl, and if Nebraska had held on to beat Texas a month ago, Cincinnati would have been the #2 team in the BCS and would’ve been in that Championship game vs. Alabama. Computers should not be deciding championships.

 

Another thought stream that I put on Facebook the other day:

College football needs a playoff, because undefeated teams like Cincinnati, TCU & Boise St. deserve the chance to try to prove that they are the top team in the nation.

 

College football needs a playoff, because Cincinnati was only a few Nebraska plays away from competing for the National Championship, and clearly, they were not qualified.

 

 

Pro Bowl is not in Hawaii? And it’s before the Super Bowl?

Can someone please explain to me the logic behind putting the Pro Bowl the week before the Super Bowl? Aside from the fact that players don’t want to go to play; they want to go to Hawaii with their families, it makes no sense! Generally the two teams in the Super Bowl will have some talented players on their roster, and likely a number of them will have already been named to the Pro Bowl. But this guarantees that fans won’t get to see those players participate, as they obviously won’t be playing an exhibition the week before the big game.

 

 

The Legacy of Brett Favre

Speaking of Pro Bowlers…Brett Favre. I recall stories all summer on any network that carried sports, discussing that Brett Favre was likely ruining his legacy with his waffling about retirement, and would certainly ruin his legacy by trying to play this year, after ending last year on the down month (never mind that pesky injury he had). While the Vikings lost some games they should’ve won and we don’t yet know what will happen in the playoffs, it would be hard to argue that these numbers will bring him down: 12 wins, 33 touchdowns while the gunslinger only tossed 7 interceptions, 4200 yards (his 3^rd highest total) and a career best 107.2 QB rating (which is not my favorite stat to compare quarterbacks, but can be valuable to compare seasons of any one quarterback). He completed 68.4% of his passes, which is his personal high. Only Drew Brees (70.6) & Peyton Manning (68.8) had better completion percentages, and they had better completion percentages to the opposing teams as well, throwing 11 & 16 interceptions, respectively.

 

Just to clarify about Brett Favre, I did not jump on this bandwagon, or do a 180 on cheering for a player I hated. I never hated Brett Favre. I have recently learned this was rare among Minnesota Vikings fans. Of course I hated the Packers, and wanted to see Favre throw to the team in purple, and wanted John Randle to slam him into the icy turf at Lambeau & concrete floor in the Dome, but I always enjoyed watching Favre play. While I never quite understood why his interceptions were because he was “just trying to make a play” while Dante Culpepper (back when he was actually good) would be making “a dumb decision,” I still thought he was fun to watch, and thought he showed how football showed be played. I just wanted him to lose every time he was on the field against the Vikings, or in any game that would affect the Vikings.

 

Once there was a shot at the Hall of Famer coming to Minnesota, I was on board for that, though I certainly could’ve done without nightly reports about him, when nothing new had happened; just tell me when there’s something I need to know! Now I can only hope that Favre can help lead the Vikings to somewhere they have never been: the winner’s circle of the Super Bowl! If that should happen, all those meaningless reports of him on high school football fields, or false sightings of his wife shopping in Minnesota, will be nothing but a distant memory!

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