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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