Minnesota Football: Going In Different Directions

English: its a leslie fraizer and he wants to be on wiki cuz im hes broda (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The two most prominent football squads in Minnesota--the Vikings and Golden Gophers--concluded their 2013 seasons within days of each other.  These now-former Metrodome tenants will spend the next two years co-existing at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium.  Whether this temporary arrangement becomes a positive or negative development remains to be seen.  So here is a look at what happened this season.

Vikings:  Leaving the Metrodome--and Leslie Frazier--Behind

In Leslie Frazier's three seasons (or so) as Vikings coach, the NFL team has rollercoastered from the depths of high-draft-pick mediocrity to surprise playoff spot and back again.  Inconsistencies abounded from starting quarterbacks to defense and special teams.  For those reasons, and also because the Vikings face a two-year transition period before their new glass football palace opens in 2016, the team bid adieu to Frazier Monday.

With a 21-33-1 record over three seasons (5-10-1 this year), Frazier committed the cardinal sin of not getting to the playoffs often enough.  This season alone, none of their victories came on the road.  Four of the five games they did win came at the Metrodome, including that so-called "home" game in London over the Pittsburgh Steelers.  There was one tie at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers, and too many come-from-ahead losses to count for anyone to stomach.

At quarterback, Christian Ponder caused plenty of folks to, you know, ponder his effectiveness.  Josh Freeman, acquired from Tampa Bay, started a Monday night game against the New York Giants, played poorly, suffered a concussion and was never heard from again.  Which left us with Matt Cassel, who played well enough in the second half of the season to earn the starting job--that is, unless the Vikings draft another hotshot college signal-caller.  Like Christian Ponder.

With Adrian Peterson sidelined by injuries and personal problems, Cordarrelle Patterson has arrived as the next big offensive star of the Vikings.  Whether it's a runback or a big gainer, this type of back hasn't been seen around here since Percy Harvin.  Which just happens to be last season.

If you want to know about the Vikings' biggest need, it's the defense.  Any team that gives up as many points (480), or blows as many leads as the Vikings have this past season certainly needs an overhaul.  Part of it may come through free agency, where Jared Allen and Kevin Williams are not expected back.

Whoever the Vikings get to become their new head coach (they hope to have one in place before the Super Bowl) is not nearly as important as signing players who are ready and willing to play outdoors for a rebuilding team for a couple of years, not to mention selling that kind of team to a skeptical public.  This is not going to be easy.

Projected Super Bowl Matchup

Seattle vs. New England.

Golden Gophers:  Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

The University of Minnesota ended their football season with another close loss in a Houston-based bowl game, this time to Syracuse 21-17 in the Texas Bowl.

Since coach Jerry Kill's last epilepsy seizure forced him to watch games from the press box, letting his assistants do the actual coaching, the Gophers have played better.  They posted an 8-5 record this season, and 4-4 in the Big Ten.  They did, however, drop their last three games to Wisconsin, Michigan State (the conference champion) and Syracuse.

This was Kill's third year as Gopher head coach.  If, as they say, the third year represents a turning point in the improvement of the football program, then the gophers might just be on the road to bigger and better things.  Or they just reached their level of competence.

It depends, of course, on what kind of players Kill and his associates can recruit.  They know full well that (A) Minnesota isn't exactly a hotbed of football talent, (B) what talent there is will likely go elsewhere, and (C) the cream of the crop around the country want to play for football factories that win.  And Minnesota is no football factory.

For Jerry Kill, it's all a matter of doing what he can with what he's got.  If he can win with what he's got, then great.   It simply means another appearance in some third-rate ESPN-televised bowl game played in an empty stadium.  If not, then it's what everybody expects out of the football program anyway. 

In 2013, We Learned That . . .

Katherine Webb @ Hangout Festival 2013 (Photo credit: ConcertTour)

Dennis Rodman became unofficial U.S. ambassador to North Korea.

Manti Te'o made news for having an imaginary girlfriend.  Last we heard, he was playing football for the San Diego Chargers.  Or, to paraphrase the Temptations, was it just our imaginations running away?

Brent Musburger of ESPN drools all over Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron's real-life girlfriend Katherine Webb during the BCS Championship Game.  Was the game that boring?

Concussions have become such a big issue in sports that the NFL now penalizes helmet-to-helmet contact, and Major League Baseball has outlawed home plate collisions.  Good luck enforcing both.

The "Frontline" documentary "League of Denial" ensures that PBS will not be in business with the NFL any time soon.  And that ESPN should check its credibility at the door.

Minnesota Gophers football coach Jerry Kill should spend more time in the press box during games.

If you're going to help pay half the cost of the new Vikings football stadium, we should at least know where the money's coming from.  Isn't that right, Zygi Wilf?

For Chris Kluwe, speaking out on social issues is a sure-fire way of getting booted out of the NFL.

By the way, what ever happened to that NBA player who declared himself gay?

Thirteen MLB players were suspended for using performance enhancing substances, including Alex Rodriguez.  So how come Rodriguez is still playing?

Johnny Manziel (aka Johnny Football) of Texas A&M proved to be too young and immature to handle being a Heisman Trophy winner.  So how come the award this year went to Jameis Winston of Florida State, a freshman who was recently acquitted of sexual assault charges?

For all the passing records Peyton Manning has accumulated during his career, why is it that brother Eli has more Super Bowl rings?

If Major League Soccer wants more American fans, they should stop confusing TV viewers who mistake the home side with the visitors, and vice versa.  This isn't European soccer.

After leaving MSNBC and Current TV (now Al Jazeera America) high and dry, Keith Olbermann is back doing sports on ESPN.  Now if we could only find out which channel his show's on . . .

According to the tabloids, Lindsay Vonn and Tiger Woods are a couple.  Vonn is having trouble getting healthy for the downhill competition at the upcoming Winter Olympics.  Woods is having trouble remaining relevant in golf's majors.  So you could say they have something in common.

The Minnesota Twins are trying to buy their way out of three losing seasons, signing whatever free agent who is desperate enough to play here.  They'll need to spend more than that to field a competitive team.

The Minnesota Timberwolves would have a better shot at making the playoffs if they moved to the NBA's Eastern Conference.

If Lance Armstrong has to go on TV to defend himself to Oprah Winfrey, then he really is in trouble.

Women's sports are alive and well in Minnesota.  The WNBA Lynx and the University of Minnesota women's hockey team won national titles.  Which means Rachel Banham now has to step up.

Will Ferrell certainly went the extra mile to promote his movie "Anchorman 2".  As Ron Burgundy, he's hawked cars, co-anchored a real newscast in North Dakota, and interviewed Peyton Manning for ESPN.  When does Ferrell get back to being himself?

Does anyone miss Tim Tebow?

Marion Bartoli won the Wimbledon women's singles championship, then retired from tennis.  Now that's quitting when you're ahead.

Diana Nyad swam solo from Cuba to Florida.  If only people believed she didn't get a little help.

The blackout that delayed the Super Bowl was an excellent example of what the NFL could do in a crisis situation, and of how CBS needed a Bob Costas of its own.  As it was, the delay was one of the most-watched TV shows of the year, just behind the game itself.

Bud Adams, Bum Phillips, Ken Norton, Jerry Buss, Pat Summerall, Earl Weaver and Stan Musial were among those who died this year.

2014 can't come soon enough.

The 2013 Owljock Bowl Guide

BCS Logo 2006–2010. An alternate version of this logo (used more often on television) had the Fox logo in lieu of the stars. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Welcome to the fourth annual Owljock Bowl Guide, our interpretation of the 35 college football bowl games that will take place between December 21 and January 6, 2014. 

This is the final season of the Bowl Championship Series, whose national title game will be played at the Rose Bowl January 6.  No matter how many people are willing to wave 'adios' to the BCS, you have to admit that the final two teams chosen were usually worthy of a national championship.  The BCS will be replaced next season by something called the College Football Playoff, in which four teams have a shot at a national title.  It will no doubt have a title sponsor by then.

Until then. here's the bowl lineup.  In addition to the games, matchups, when and when they'll be played, and who televises them, we'll include a brief description of what the sponsor sells or promotes.  The information comes from ESPN.com.

Gildan New Mexico Bowl:  Washington State vs. Colorado State (Albuquerque, NM  12/21)  ESPN
Active wear.

Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl:  Fresno State vs. USC  (Las Vegas, NV  12/21)  ABC
Motor oil.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Buffalo vs. San Diego State  (Boise, ID  12/21)  ESPN
The local potato industry.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  Tulane vs.  Louisiana-Lafayette  (New Orleans, LA  12/21)  ESPN
Shipping firm.

Beef O'Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl:  East Carolina vs. Ohio  (St. Petersburg, FL  12/23)  ESPN  
Restaurant chain.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl:  Boise State vs. Oregon State  (Honolulu, HW  12/24)  ESPN
Hotel chain.

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl:  Pittsburgh vs. Bowling Green  (Detroit, MI  12/26)  ESPN
Restaurant chain.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl:  Utah State vs. Northern Illinois  (San Diego, CA  12/26)  ESPN
Financial services.

Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman:  Marshall vs. Maryland  (Annapolis, MD  12/27)  ESPN
Defense contractor.

Texas Bowl:  Syracuse vs. Minnesota (Houston, TX  12/27)  ESPN
Formerly known as Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Fight Hunger Bowl:  Brigham Young vs. Washington  (San Francisco, CA  12/27)  ESPN
Anti-hunger organization.

New Era Pinstripe:  Rutgers vs. Notre Dame  (Yankee Stadium, New York  12/28)  ESPN 
Sports apparel.

Belk Bowl:  Cincinnati vs. North Carolina  (Charlotte, NC  12/28)  ESPN
Regional department store chain.

Russell Athletic Bowl:  Miami vs. Louisville  (Orlando, FL  12/28)  ESPN
Active wear.

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl:  Michigan vs. Kansas State  (Tempe, AZ  12/28)  ESPN
Chicken and beer restaurant chain.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl:  Middle Tennessee vs. Navy  (Fort Worth, TX  12/30)  ESPN
Defense contractor.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl:  Mississippi vs. Georgia Tech  (Nashville, TN  12/30)  ESPN
Financial services.

Valero Alamo Bowl:  Oregon vs. Texas  (San Antonio, TX  12/30)  ESPN
Energy company.

National University Holiday Bowl:  Arizona State vs. Texas Tech  (San Diego, CA  12/30)  ESPN 
Private and online college.

AdvoCare V100 Bowl:  Arizona vs. Boston College  (Shreveport, LA  12/31)  ESPN
Nutritional supplements.  Formerly known as Independence Bowl.

Hyundai Sun Bowl:  Virginia Tech vs. UCLA  (El Paso, TX  12/31)  CBS
Automaker.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl:  Rice vs. Mississippi State  (Memphis, TN  12/31)  ESPN
Auto parts stores.

Chick-fil-A Bowl:  Duke vs. Texas A&M  (Atlanta, GA  12/31)  ESPN
Chicken restaurants.

TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl:  Nebraska vs. Georgia  (Jacksonville, FL  1/1/14)  ESPN2
Online tax preparation.

Heart of Dallas Bowl:  Nevada-Las Vegas vs. North Texas  (Dallas, TX  1/1/14)  ESPNU
Local civic organization.

Capital One Bowl:  Wisconsin vs. South Carolina  (Orlando, FL  1/1/14)  ABC
Financial services.

Outback Bowl:  Iowa vs. LSU  (Tampa, FL  1/1/14)  ESPN
Steak restaurants.

Rose Bowl Game Presented by Vizio:  Stanford vs. Michigan State  (Pasadena, CA  1/1/14)  ESPN
Consumer electronics.

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl:  Central Florida vs. Baylor  (Glendale, AZ  1/1/14)  ESPN
Snack food.

Allstate Sugar Bowl:  Oklahoma vs. Alabama  (New Orleans, LA  1/2)  ESPN
Insurance.

Discover Orange Bowl:  Clemson vs. Ohio State  (Miami, FL  1/3)  ESPN
Credit cards.

AT&T Cotton Bowl:  Oklahoma State vs. Missouri  (Arlington, TX  1/3)  Fox
Communications giant.

BBVA Compass Bowl:  Vanderbilt vs. Houston  (Birmingham, AL  1/4)  ESPN
Financial services.

GoDaddy Bowl:  Arkansas State vs. Ball State  (Mobile, AL  1/5)  ESPN
Domain names.

Vizio BCS National Championship:  Florida State vs. Auburn  (Pasadena, CA  1/6)  ESPN
Consumer electronics.

Hockey Change In Canada

Hockey Night in Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For over 60 years on Saturday nights, Canadians from Victoria to Halifax to Toronto to the Yukon would gather in front of their TV sets to watch many of their native sons perform on the ice in their national sport.  They called it "Hockey Night In Canada".

Now the TV landscape is changing north of the border.  Rogers Communications is paying the National Hockey League five billion dollars (Canadian) for the rights to televise games in that country starting next season, running through 2026.

Rogers is a major communications force in Canada, with holdings in cable, wireless and broadcasting.  They own Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays and the stadium they play in, which just happens to be named Rogers Centre.  They also have their name on an arena in Vancouver.

Rogers used to own some cable systems in the United States, including the one that serves Minneapolis and its western suburbs.  Comcast now owns it.

NBC, which is part of Comcast, has the American TV rights to NHL games, and is in the middle of a ten-year, two-billion dollar deal.

Rogers will soon hold the rights to carry the NHL on several of the networks it owns, replacing rival TSN, which is considered Canada's version of ESPN.  But they were nice enough to allow CBC, the Canadian government-run network that's been televising hockey since forever, to continue its Saturday night "HNIC' doubleheaders for at least four more seasons.

"Hockey Night In Canada" has long been considered the standard against which all other sports telecasts in North America are measured.  With Rogers now running the show, will that brand be strengthened or diluted?

For instance, will the new arrangement result in the breakup of the comedy team of Don Cherry and his straight man Ron McLean?  Anyone who has watched "Coach's Corner" over the past two decades (the NHL Network runs it on this side of the border most Saturdays during the regular season, when the Toronto Maple Leafs are usually playing) has been a witness to Cherry's outrageousness, whether it's in his commentary and/or his choice of wardrobe.  Cherry insisted on his November 30 broadcast that Rogers might want him to stick around.  But given the possibility that some Canadians might be getting tired of his act, Cherry could be in for a rude surprise.

This deal is more than just the changing of the guard in Canadian TV.  All NHL teams on both sides of the border will benefit from Rogers' and NBC's cash, whether it's in increasing players' salaries, possible expansion, or in keeping certain Sunbelt-based franchises afloat.

For Canadian viewers, they'll be seeing more hockey than ever before.  They'll also be paying more, too, to gain access to those games on Rogers-owned cable and wireless devices.  Blue Jays fans have known that for years.

But Rogers could be making a mistake in weaning "Hockey Night In Canada" off of CBC.  Remember what happened to "Monday Night Football" after it moved from ABC to ESPN?  It became just NFL football on Mondays with a smaller audience.  Is it worth messing with Canadian tradition, or are traditions made to be broken for the right price?.

The Washington __________________

Redskins primary logo 1965-1969 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the weeks since we did a post called "Changing Nicknames, Changing Attitudes" (Really.  You can look it up.), a few things have happened in efforts to get the Washington NFL franchise to change its name from Redskins to, well, anything but that.

• Protests by Native American groups have either gone on or are being planned in every NFL city the Washington team plays in.  In Minneapolis, one of those groups tried to get the Minnesota Vikings and the stadium commission to discontinue use of the nickname and its logos without success.
• Prominent sportswriters and broadcasters have stopped using the Redskins name.  Even President Barack Obama has called for a name change.  However, those who depend on the NFL and the Washington franchise for their livelihoods will continue to use the R-word, if they know what's good for them.
• NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington owner Dan Snyder have already met to discuss changing the nickname.  Nothing came of it, so far as we know.

And that's where we are today, with no plans in place to change Washington's name to something that would appease both fans and the Native American community.  Remember, change is slow.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  The Washington Redskins have only been in business since Franklin Roosevelt was President, and the country was recovering from the Great Depression.

To all those in sports media who are refraining from using the R-word, we say:  That's nice, but we've been here before.  The same protests and calls for nickname change happened 20 years ago.  Only at that time, the names these groups wanted to get rid of besides the Redskins were the Braves, Indians, Chiefs and Warriors.  And they also wanted to get rid of Cleveland's Chief Wahoo.

A few newspapers, among them the Minneapolis Star Tribune, decided to take a stand by not publishing the offending nicknames in question in its game stories, making an exception for direct quotes.  The Strib tried it for a few years, but has since gone back to including the names because of stories that end up sounding like this:

The Washington NFL football team defeated Kansas City 27-24 in a game played at Landover, MD Sunday.  Washington quarterback Biff Hurdle threw for two touchdowns, including the game-winner with less than a minute to play.  Running back Andarelle Cooper ran for 150 yards, catching a pass from Hurdle in the end zone for a second-quarter score.  Kansas City responded with a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Angus McCutcheon to wide receiver MarKwad Stephens-Dalton, an 80-yard punt return by Demetrius Jefferson, a sneak from the one-yard line by McCutcheon, and a 35-yard field goal by Ian Boise.  Washington is now 5-2, and will face the Dallas Cowboys next week.  Kansas City, dropping to 3-4, goes home to face the Oakland Raiders.

Until Snyder and the NFL decide that ditching the Redskins name makes sense morally and financially, it seems ridiculous to force sports fans to fill in the blanks.

Vikings 2013: Purple Meltdown

For only the second time this season (and the first time in North America), the Minnesota Vikings won an NFL football game.  They defeated Washington 34-27 at the Metrodome/Mall of America Field in the NFL Network's Thursday night game of the week, but only after surviving a last-minute charge by opposing quarterback Robert Griffin III.

This game the Vikings got right, having previously suffered last-second losses to Chicago and Dallas, and just plain sucking against everybody else--especially on national TV.  Their only victory was over an equally bad Pittsburgh Steelers team in London, England.  Their record at the halfway point is 2-7, good for last place in the NFC North division, but just behind the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the race for the top pick in the 2014 Draft.

All the ingredients for a bottom-feeding club are there:  Lack of a dependable quarterback.  Leaky defense.  Injuries.  Dissension in the ranks.  Coach's job on the line.  Need more?

Start with the quarterback.  Christian Ponder began the season with question marks about his ability and his leadership.  He's turned out to be a mediocre quarterback who couldn't lead the Vikings over the hump without getting injured, which included having to leave last night's game in the third quarter because of a shoulder injury.  Which led to Matt Cassel, a journeyman QB who led the Vikings to their win over Pittsburgh.  He played poorly in the following game, which led to Josh Freeman, who was just picked up from Tampa Bay.  Freeman was rushed into the starting job in the Monday night game against the Giants, played poorly and suffered a concussion.  Re-enter Ponder . . .

For this, the Vikings gave up McLeod Bethel-Thompson?

It also does no good for your offense if your marquee player is otherwise distracted.  Adrian Peterson went on record as saying he wanted to set the league rushing record this season.  Instead, he's nursing a hamstring injury while mourning the death of a child he just found out was his.

The defense has been marked by injuries and the seeming inability to keep the other team's offense from getting out of hand.  It has gotten so bad that Jared Allen was briefly the subject of trade rumors, because he's a free agent at the end of the season.  Allen is still a Viking, but for how long?

Finally, there is Leslie Frazier, who will be the head coach for the rest of the season.  His assistants are failing him, which is resulting in players taking potshots at them in the media.  Frazier does not have a contract extension, so who knows?

So, yes, the Vikings are starting to look ahead to 2014 and see an uncertain future as a team in transition.  They'll be between quarterbacks, coaches, defensive players, and stadiums on their way to a brighter future in the edifice that replaces the Metrodome.  All we have to do is to be patient.

Red Sox Strong

In 1918, World War I shortened the baseball season to the point where the final World Series game was played on September 11.  On that day, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs to win the world championship at Fenway Park, with a guy named Babe Ruth on the roster.  They would not win another Series for 86 years.

Nearly a century later, months removed from the bombing at the Boston Marathon, the Red Sox have won their third Series in a decade.  This time they did it at Fenway, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6.  John Lackey pitched nearly seven innings, and Koji Uehara closed out the game.

This World Series was notable for the weird finishes:  An obstruction call in the bottom of the ninth gave the Cardinals a Game 3 victory.  A pickoff play at first base the following night in the ninth ended the game in Boston's favor.

The Red Sox won 97 games during the regular season, winning the American League East division.  Most of the players, including David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, starred wearing beards that reached "Duck Dynasty" proportions, "borrowing" the idea from hockey.

This was a good World Series, with plenty of close games and fine performances between two of the most storied franchises baseball had to offer.  It may not take another century for the Red Sox to win another title at Fenway Park, but future fans might be wondering about the fascination over the song "Sweet Caroline".

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We should mention the fact that Tim McCarver has analyzed his last baseball game for Fox Sports.  He holds the distinction of having called games for local teams and four broadcast networks for a quarter century, and had no problem saying what he thought about the action down there.  Now who will be sitting next to Joe Buck next season?  Will he have as much impact on the sport as McCarver did?

Wolves 2013-14: 25 Years of Ineptitude, and Counting

The Minnesota Timberwolves, now in their 25th NBA season, have been picked by most reputable basketball pundits as the team most likely to squeeze into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.  Then they would have the honor of having been sent packing by whoever is the Number One seed.

Since the Wolves have disappointed their fans so often over the past quarter century, there is reason for skepticism over whether it's necessary to start printing playoff tickets.  The Wolves haven't had to do that since 2004, when Kevin Garnett (now with the Brooklyn Nets) once roamed Target Center.

There are already too many question marks concerning the Wolves to make anyone think they deserve a place at the playoff table.  For starters:

• Can Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love stay healthy?  If one or both go down, any interest in the Wolves quickly dries up.
• Will Chase Budinger be as effective on the court after knee surgery?
• Can Love go through an entire season without whining and demanding a trade?  Isn't this also the last season before he can legitimately make noises about becoming a free agent?
• Is recently-acquired Kevin Martin an answer or just another question mark?
• How committed is Rick Adelman to his job as Wolves coach?  He had to take time off last season because of his wife's health, and never really said when he'd return.  So Jerry Kill, the University of Minnesota football coach, isn't the only local sports coach with health issues.
• Does Flip Saunders really know what he's doing as the Wolves' president of basketball operations, or is he just marking time until Adelman steps aside?

Since 1989, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been around twice as long as the Minneapolis Lakers, who lasted 13 years here before moving to Los Angeles in 1960.  But they've never achieved anywhere near the success the Lakers have had.  Over 25 years, the Wolves have had Metrodome sellouts, Kevin Garnett, Kevin McHale, Bill Musselman, Joe Smith, botched lottery picks, a near-move to New Orleans, Stephon Marbury, Sam Cassell, Christian Laettner, Latrell Sprewell, Harv and Marv, Glen Taylor and so much more.

Why should this year be any different?

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In the rest of the NBA, David Stern is retiring as commissioner, the New Orleans Hornets are now the Pelicans, the Kings are still in Sacramento, and Dwight Howard is a Houston Rocket.  Otherwise, it's all about LeBron James.  Will he win a third consecutive NBA title with the Miami Heat?  Where does he go after that, when he becomes a free agent?  Boston?  New York?  Philadelphia?  Does LeBron stay in South Beach?  Or will he come home to Cleveland?  It's time for another Decision.

It's also time to drag out our picks for who will make the playoffs.

Eastern Conference:  Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards.

Western Conference:  San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks.

Lynx 2013: Two Titles Out of Three Ain't Bad

In a season where the WNBA promoted shiny new objects such as Brittney Griner and Elena Delle Donne, the comparatively unheralded Minnesota Lynx swept their way to a second league title in three years.

The Lynx crushed Atlanta's Dream 86-77 to take the WNBA championship series 3-0 in Duluth, GA (the Dream's temporary home, since their real one was booked for "Disney on Ice") Thursday night.  The two previous games, held on the Lynx' Target Center home court, were 25-point blowouts.

The Lynx dominated during the regular season, too, by amassing the best record in the WNBA.  That enabled them to have home court advantage during the playoffs, a factor in defeating the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury in straight sets.

It has been a dominant performance all season long for Seimoine Augustus, Maya Moore (who was named playoff MVP) and Lindsay Whalen, reflecting the experience and professionalism that comes through winning championships and Olympic gold medals.  And help from Rebekkah Brunson, Monica Wright and Janel McCarville didn't hurt either.

So what about the future?  Augustus and Whalen both signed contract extensions with the Lynx and Moore has one year left on hers, so the window for coach Cheryl Reeve's team to claim another championship has been extended a little more.  But all good things must end someday, and that's when the Griners and the Delle Donnes of the world start asserting themselves and get their hands on the same trophy Augustus, Moore and Whalen possess today.

Until then, the trophy stays in Minnesota.

Twins 2013: It's Not What You Know . . .

Under normal circumstances, if a baseball team loses more than 90 games in a season, it's usually an opportunity to clean house.  Players are traded or let go, the manager and/or the general manager gets replaced, and fans are given at least a slight risk of hope for the future.

Not the Minnesota Twins.  Despite its third consecutive season of losing more than 90 games, they have rehired manager Ron Gardenhire and his staff through 2015.

What did Gardenhire do to deserve this?  On the surface, not much.  On a team full of rookies, fading veterans and failed draft picks, these guys couldn't hit, field or pitch.  They struck out 1430 times, a new team record.  They fall behind too often.  They play worse at Target Field than they do on the road.

Joe Mauer continued to have problems getting knocked around a lot behind the plate, to the point where he had to be shut down for the rest of the season due to a concussion.  If you want the face of the franchise to justify his huge contract and keep him intact for the rest of his career, Mauer needs to be moved to first base.  No questions asked.

The number of former Twins starring elsewhere keeps growing:  Joe Nathan in Texas.  Michael Cuddyer in Colorado.  Francisco Liriano in Pittsburgh.  And now Justin Morneau is on the playoff-bound Pirates.

The one saving grace is the bullpen, particulary Glen Perkins, who is turning into one of baseball's best closers.  Unfortunately, the chance to save a game doesn't come around often on a team like this.

One major factor in Gardenhire keeping his job, in spite of the 66-96 record, is that he kept the Twins out of last place in the American League Central division.  Only the Chicago White Sox and Cubs, Miami Marlins and Houston Astros finished with worse records than the Twins did.  That's an accomplishment.  Right?

The Pohlad family, which has owned the Twins for nearly 30 years, have shown incredible patience and loyalty to their staff.  They stuck with Tom Kelly as manager through the good times and the bad.  And they're doing the same thing with Gardenhire (who just finished his 12th season) and general manager Terry Ryan.  You do not see much of that any more with any employer.

The Pohlads and the Twins want you to know that better days are ahead.  Really.  They do.  But they're not going to get there if they continue to rely more on players who need more time to develop than those who have already proved themselves.  And if they continue to reward those on the basis of past accomplishments rather than those who think outside the box, the Twins risk getting left behind by the rest of Major League Baseball.  If they aren't already.

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Our projected matchup for the World Series?  Oakland Athletics vs. Atlanta Braves.

Wild 2013-14: Not Ready for Prime Time

The National Hockey League recently awarded the 2015 Winter Classic, the one that's played outdoors on New Year's Day, to Washington, D.C.

This season's game (held over from last year's lockout) will be at the University of Michigan, when the Detroit Red Wings will host the Toronto Maple Leafs.  There will be other outdoor games taking place this season at New York's Yankee Stadium, Chicago's Soldier Field, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver.

The Minnesota Wild have been trying for years to host the Winter Classic, but they keep getting passed over.  They have the venues--Target Field and TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota have been mentioned.  They certainly have the weather (it gets cold in January, you know).  So what more do they need?  Well, there's a few important factors:

History  The Maple Leafs and Red Wings are two of the Original Six franchises that have been in the NHL since the early days of the league nearly a century ago.  The Wild have only been in business since 2000.  Minnesota's previous NHL franchise, the North Stars, would have had a better shot at the Winter Classic had they not left for Dallas two decades ago.

Competitiveness  Teams like the Red Wings and Washington Capitals have become consistent regulars in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  The Wild made their first appearance in a few years last spring, dropping four out of five to the eventual champion Chicago Blackhawks in the first round.  This year is going to be a lot harder for the Wild to get into the playoffs, as realignment puts them in a tougher division (Blackhawks, St. Louis, Dallas, Nashville, Colorado and Winnipeg) than their previous one.  Having a leaky defense and low scoring doesn't help.

Marquee Players  The Wild broke the bank last year in signing free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to long-term deals, but they have yet to reach the pantheon of NHL players people would pay good money to see.  The Capitals have Alexander Ovechkin.  The Pittsburgh Penguins have Sidney Crosby.  Enough said.

Marketability  How many times have the Wild been on national TV?  On NBC, that is.  Not the NBC Sports Network.  Hint:  not as much as the Red Wings or Blackhawks.  How many times have the Wild appeared on "Hockey Night In Canada"?  Another hint:  not as much as Montreal or Toronto.  Or even the Winnipeg Jets.  What we're saying is that you have to be consistent winners and have big-name players to interest network executives on both sides of the border (or maybe even Don Cherry) before you get to play outdoors.

For now though, the Wild and their fans will just snuggle up inside the Xcel Energy Center and build their resume.  And hope for 2016.

P.S. We should mention that the University of Minnesota will be hosting an outdoor hockey game at TCF Bank Stadium in January, as the Gophers take on Ohio State in the Hockey City Classic.

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Amid the ruins of last year's lockout, the NHL has had an extreme makeover.  There are now four divisions instead of six:  Atlantic, Central, Metropolitan and Pacific.  New owners are in place in Phoenix, New Jersey and Florida.  And there will be a full season, with a one-month break for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  Which means that the Stanley Cup champion will once again be crowned after the summer solstice.

Here's who we think will make the playoffs in these new divisions:

Central:  Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators.
Pacific:  Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks.
Metropolitan:  Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers.
Atlantic:  Boston Briuns, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings.

What Doesn't Kill a Football Coach . . .

Just as the second half of the University of Minnesota's football game at TCF Bank Stadium against Western Illinois got underway, Gophers coach Jerry Kill had an epileptic seizure and was taken to a hospital.  Assistant coaches and players kept calm and carried on, as the Gophers won the game.  They knew the drill.  Unfortunately, so did we.  This is the third time Kill's had a seizure during a game since becoming coach.

The following day, the Minneapolis Star Tribune put Kill's seizure on the front pages of both the news and sports sections.  The latter was devoted to a column by Jim Souhan, who asked uncomfortable questions about the lack of leadership in a crisis provided by athletic director Norwood Teague, and the wisdom of having a man with epilepsy coach a major college football team.  As for coverage of the game itself, the Strib buried it inside the Sunday sports section along with the latest Twins loss and Vikings game-day minutiae.

Souhan, meanwhile, got tons of angry e-mails from Kill's supporters and others threatening to cancel their newspaper subscriptions--and not always in a "Minnesota Nice" manner.  Souhan has a right to express his opinion, even if he had to make one of those "non-apology" apologies as a peace offering to all those easily offended individuals who want to put "differently abled" folks on pedestals. (We're not sure if this was Souhan's idea or his bosses)

Teague finally did address the situation in his Monday media conference, mostly saying he has Kill's back.  Well, what did you expect him to say?  From the moment the Gophers hired Kill to resurrect their moribund football program, they put themselves in a box.  Knowing Kill's medical condition, they couldn't very well fire him for as long as he remains under contract--not even if the reason is the team's continued losing.  The University of Minnesota being a federal-and-state funded institution, they'd be in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Medically speaking, Kill has a good situation here in the Twin Cities for his epileptic treatment.  He works with doctors on medications and other ways to control his seizures.  He has some of the best medical facilities in the world at his disposal, including the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.  And he has the support of family, friends and university colleagues.

Kill certainly can coach football for as long as he's physically able.  He just happens to be at a program that has been perpetually struggling to compete with the likes of Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin in the Big Ten Conference.  One wonders what would happen if Kill had been coaching at a Southeastern Conference school, where they take college football far more seriously than they do in Minnesota?

Is Kill's medical condition a distraction to recruiting?  It has been no better and no worse since the glory days of Bernie Bierman and two Rose Bowl appearances.  More than fifty years after the Gophers last set foot in Pasadena, their poor records and mediocre bowl appearances have done more to send potential recruits elsewhere than anything Kill's done.

When it comes to national and local media coverage, Kill is a distraction.  They tend to forget that there is a game to be played, not an ongoing human interest soap opera.  When ESPN covers a Gophers game, they're as likely to devote a good chunk of it to Kill's condition as they are to covering the action on the field.  (Same goes for any game involving Penn State, although epilepsy hardly compares with child sexual abuse, ruined lives and prison terms.)  And if Kill does happen to have a seizure during the game, that's all the media will talk about regardless of what the final score is.

Jerry Kill's Gophers, whether he's on the sidelines or not, has a 3-0 non-conference record so far this season.  He will be back on the sidelines for this weekend's game at home against San Jose State, and will be there for the upcoming Big Ten schedule.  Without incident, we hope.

As for the University of Minnesota's athletic department, they made an unspoken deal with Kill that may have gone like this:  In exchange for you coaching our football program, we understand that it will occasionally be overshadowed by episodes caused by your medical condition.  And we promise to stand by you.  That is what the University and Gopher football fans will have to live with for as long as Kill is coach.

UPDATE (10/10/13):  After another seizure forced Kill to miss the Gophers' last game at Michigan (which they lost), he's decided to take a leave of absence to tend to his health.  Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys will take over the team until Kill decides he's well enough to come back, whenever that may be.  Why not take the rest of the season off, Jerry?  You should know firsthand that being an epileptic is not an easy thing to fix.

Without Kill around, more people might notice that there's less to this Gophers squad than meets the eye.  They've already lost to Iowa and Michigan in Big Ten play, and the rest of the schedule doesn't look very good.

Can Tom Barnard Save "The Ticket"?

Raise your hand if you listen to Sports Radio 105 The Ticket.  Not many of you do.  Among all the sports talk stations in the Twin Cities, it ranks a distant third behind KFAN (KFXN 100.3 FM) since debuting in the spring.

It doesn't help that The Ticket is stuck on three low power FM signals (105.1, 105.3 and 105.7) compared to Clear Channel-owned KFAN's 100,000 watts, or that their programming comes from CBS Sports Radio, which owner Cumulus Media distributes and is promoting heavily on its sports stations across the country.

Well, the signal can't be fixed, but the programming certainly can.  The Ticket just made changes to its afternoon drive by replacing whatever show CBS has with local hosts Mike Miller (former Viking who was once known as "Superstar" on KFAN) and Bob Sansevere, sports columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and part of the circus that is KQRS' (92.5 FM) morning show.  (Both The Ticket and KQ are owned by Cumulus.)

Miller and Sansevere then give way to Tom Barnard, who's simulcasting the last hour of his podcast from 6-7 p.m.  With him are members of his family (the show is done from Barnard's palatial estate) and Don Shelby, the former WCCO-TV news anchor (and would-be politician) who is currently employed by the local news outfit Bring Me The News.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Barnard claims his new Ticket gig is less a money grab than a chance to promote his podcast and his KQ show--if that's possible.  He's dominated morning radio for years.  But with Barnard being more or less a conservative and Shelby more or less a liberal, one suspects that sports won't be all they'll talk about.

It's going to take more than Barnard and Shelby to get folks to switch from Dan Barreiro on KFAN.  One wonders if the frat boy humor that continues to be popular in the morning will translate to later in the day.  But we do know this:  Cumulus sure knows how to repurpose its talent.

In other Cumulus news:

• Already a major player in radio syndication, Cumulus made itself even more so with the purchase of Dial Global.  To do that, they had to sell a few of its massive inventory of stations, including some in southern Minnesota, to Townsquare Media.  As a result, Cumulus will now have distribution rights to the radio news divisions of ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as exclusive radio rights to the NFL, NCAA and the Olympics.  Only CC-owned Premiere Radio Networks is larger.
• Cumulus has also made a deal to keep Rush Limbaugh on most of its news/talk stations, with the exception of WABC-AM in New York, his original flagship.  Limbaugh is leaving for CC-owned WOR-AM.  Sean Hannity is not so lucky, with Cumulus reportedly about to drop him.  Limbaugh and Hannity are both syndicated by Premiere, and both run in the Twin Cities by CC-owned KTCN-AM 1130.

Vikings 2013: Any Questions?

Is Christian Ponder going to be the next great Minnesota Vikings quarterback?  Or is he just another quarterback?

Will the offensive line be better suited to keep Ponder (or any other QB) from getting pounded?

Can Adrian Peterson top the season he had last year?  Can he stay healthy while doing it?

Will the Vikings be better off without Percy Harvin or Chris Kluwe?

Is this really the final year of the Metrodome, aka Mall of America Field?  Or will belated "due diligence" on the part of the state of Minnesota help sink owner Zygi Wilf's finances?

How will the Vikings finish this season?  How about 6-10 and out of the playoffs, no matter how far Peterson takes them?

Now that the NFL has settled for $765 million with former players who took too many hits to the head and suffered the consequences, does this mean that the concussion issue has been swept under the helmet?  What will the future of the sport be like if more parents refuse to let their kids play?

Can the "Bill Belichick Way" really help the New England Patriots focus on football after Aaron Hernandez was charged with first-degree murder?

Does anyone still care about Tim Tebow?  Besides ESPN, that is?

Is it too soon for Robert Griffin III to start at quarterback for Washington on opening day following a debilitating injury?

Will the Baltimore Ravens, the defending Super Bowl champions, become a footnote to history after Ray Lewis' retirement?

When is Johnny Manziel turning pro, if he hasn't already?

Why do we still bother with kickoff returns when (A) most balls sail past the end zone, and (B) the player who receives the ball in the end zone is "strongly urged" by his teammate to take a knee?

Does anyone put much stock in the Old Farmer's Almanac prediction of a snowy Super Bowl next February at the Meadowlands?  Does anyone put much stock in the Old Farmer's Almanac, period?

Enough questions.  Here's our projected division winners.

NFC North:  Green Bay Packers
NFC South:  New Orleans Saints
NFC East:  New York Giants
NFC West:  San Francisco 49ers
NFC Wild Card:  Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons

AFC North:  Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC South:  Houston Texans
AFC East:  New England Patriots
AFC West:  Denver Broncos
AFC Wild Card:  Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts

Miley Cyrus: "Twerking" The Line

The MTV Video Music Awards will never be the Oscars or the Grammys in terms of importance to the entertainment industry.  But they make up for it in the outrageous, buzzworthy performances that have been a staple of the show ever since the channel played music videos, instead of "Jackass" or "Jersey Shore".

This year, at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, the prize for outrageousness went to Miley Cyrus.  She shocked America by performing her hit single "We Can't Stop" with giant teddy bears, followed by her duet with Robin Thicke on "Blurred Lines" (which has been topping every music chart this summer).  Uh, make that she performed an onstage simulated sex act with Thicke that wasn't exactly family-friendly.  If nothing else, Cyrus introduced a new word to our vocabulary:  "Twerking".

This history-making performance puts Cyrus in the same league with other women who have previously made their mark on the VMA's:  Madonna sings "Like a Virgin" in a wedding dress.  Britney Spears performs "I'm a Slave 4 U" with a giant snake.  Madonna and Britney lock lips.  Lady Gaga wears a meat dress.

Anyone who was shocked by Cyrus' performance at the VMAs, which some have knocked as either racist or further evidence of the downfall of American civilization, hasn't been paying attention.  Desperate to break free of the role that made her a star as a teenager, the Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana" (which ran from 2006-11), Cyrus started taking on more adult acting roles and more mature content in her music.  If you believe the tabloids, some of her reported antics depict her as a wild child.

Apparently, Cyrus wants to emulate Madonna, Britney and Gaga, who sell out concerts and downloads of their music because they push the sexual envelope in their acts.  She should know that there are many female artists who found success by NOT wagging their tongues and suggestively taking a penis to the rear onstage.  But that's not what sells today, is it?

We don't know what kind of long-term impact Miley Cyrus' new good-girl-gone-bad image will have on her fans and her record sales.  She has clearly left Hannah Montana behind as she moves into the adult part of her life, turning 21 in November and is engaged to be married.  But fame is fleeting.  As long as MTV still has its Video Music Awards, there will always be someone who makes a name for his/herself with a performance that blurs the line.  A line Elvis Presley stepped up to more than a half century ago.

Red Flags Thrown on Vikings Stadium.

Ever since the Minnesota Legislature approved a bill that would provide financing for a new Minnesota Vikings football stadium in Minneapolis, we've heard plenty of talk about the plans that have been drawn up to surround it with plazas, office space, commerce and parking lots.  That is, everything the Metrodome never had.

The Glass Palace, as we like to call it, is going to cost an estimated $975 million (barring construction delays, of course).  The state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis is footing the bill for half the amount, with the Vikings contributing the other half.

Into this forecast comes a few storm clouds.  The state had been hoping to fund the stadium partly through electronic pulltabs and bingo games.  But that hasn't worked out very well, so they've fallen back on the old standbys of taxing smokers by the cigarette pack and charging more by the drink in Minneapolis.

The Vikings?  Despite assurances by owner Zygi Wilf and the National Football League that they're able to hold up their end of the bargain, a red flag has been thrown at the real estate mogul by a New Jersey judge.  In a case involving a partnership deal gone wrong that's lasted two decades, justice Deanna Wilson laid into the Wilfs for (among other things) committing fraud, breaching their contract, and violating her state's racketeering laws.

The Wilfs?  Shakedown artists?  Who knew?  Certainly not Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, who professed shock at the judge's ruling and vowed to keep a close eye on the Wilfs' business dealings from now on, though the stadium has nothing to do with the real estate deal.  Other legislators, most of whom opposed the stadium in the first place, are calling for the state to walk away from the deal, or at least postpone it until all the facts are in.  So how come it took them until now to figure this out, weeks before construction is set to begin?

Minnesotans are naturally suspicious of business people who come in from somewhere else, promising big things and delivering little, as if they're hayseeds to be taken advantage of (though to be fair, there have been some native-born moguls who've done the same thing).  We don't know if the New Jersey-based Wilfs are anything like that, or what's going to happen if this proves to be the monkey wrench that scuttles the stadium and clouds the future of pro football in Minnesota.  But we do know this, and it's the one thing every legal expert reminds you to do upon entering into an agreement:

Always read the fine print.

A-Rod, the Damned Yankee

The New York Yankees are baseball royalty.  They've won many a World Series with great players such as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter.

Alex Rodriguez was going to be the next Yankee to join that list.  But his career has been riddled by injuries and rumors that he had been injecting himself with performance enhancing drugs to help him play better.  His nickname is "A-Rod", but he's heard worse ones such as "A-Roid" or "A-Fraud" because fans have refused to believe how clean he claims to be.  He has now become the Damned Yankee.

Monday, Major League Baseball announced that Rodriguez is among 14 players who have been suspended for at least 50 games in its ongoing battle to rid the sport of those who believe in better baseball through chemistry.  These players were allegedly involved with a South Florida-based clinic named Biogenesis, for whom MLB chose to believe an informant who supposedly worked there and saw what was going on.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig could have given Rodriguez a lifetime suspension from the game, as some people have wanted--an extreme measure previously given to the likes of Pete Rose and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.  Here, Selig blinked.  Instead, Rodriguez got a 211-game suspension, lasting the rest of this season and all of 2014.  He has been accused not only of  'using' by MLB, but also of interfering with their investigation of him.  Unlike the other players who accepted their punishment, Rodriguez has chosen to appeal, maintaining his innocence.

So while the appeals process is going on (a decision likely won't come until after the season), Rodriguez is determined to play baseball for as long as he can, whether anyone likes it or not.  On the day his suspension was announced, Rodriguez was in the Yankees' lineup for the first time this season, having recovered from his injury.  They were in Chicago to play the White Sox, where Rodriguez went 1 for 4 in a losing Yankee cause while getting booed unmercifully by the U.S. Cellular Field faithful.

Rodriguez will get that kind of reception everywhere he goes, even at Yankee Stadium.  Not only have the fans turned on him, but so has Yankee management.  They've made no secret that the massive 10-year, $275 million contract they signed with Rodriguez, which runs through 2017, is like an albatross they're stuck with.  They can't trade him because no other team could afford him.  So any amount the Yankees don't have to pay Rodriguez would be welcome for them, which means more money to splurge on the next big-name free agent to add to their collection.  And that's what worries their rivals, who have enough problems (financially and otherwise) just trying to compete with them.

Should Alex Rodriguez lose his appeal and has to start serving his suspension, his career will be all but over by the time he turns 40.  He had his chance to join Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle, Jackson and Jeter in the pantheon of great New York Yankees, and he blew it.  Now he's likely to join a list that includes Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds--players whose careers and legacies became suspect because of their alleged use of steroids.  Once we found out the truth, they were never looked at the same way again.

Twins 2013: Waiting For The Axe To Fall

The Minnesota Twins aren't the worst team in Major League Baseball, nor are they really a contender.  With a 39-53 record at the All Star break, twelve games behind the American League Central Division-leading Detroit Tigers, they're looking at finishing a third consecutive season with more than 90 losses.

Expectations have been considerably lowered since the boom times officially ended with the 2011 season.  You can't blame the pitching, which has improved with starters Kyle Gibson and Anthony Swarzak and reliever Glen Perkins.  You can, however, blame the weak hitting and suspect fielding that has contributed to long losing streaks and the inability to score runs in crucial situations.

If you watched the All Star game from New York (in which the American League shut out the National League, and is memorable only for Mariano Rivera's eighth inning curtain call), you probably noticed that the Twins' contingent of Perkins and Joe Mauer were outnumbered by former players, such as Joe Nathan and Michael Cuddyer, who now star for their current teams.  That certainly sticks in the craw of Twins fans.

With the exception of Mauer (and possibly Perkins), everyone on the current Twins roster is expendable as the trade deadline approaches.  This includes Justin Morneau, who has been slowly recovering from his concussion to once again matter on the field and at bat.  He is a free agent at the end of this season, which makes him the Twins' most valuable asset as trade bait.  That tells you a lot about the quality of the team's prospects present and future.  They just haven't found the type of player who could sustain his level of play in the majors without repeated pit stops in the minors.

Ron Gardenhire has been the Twins' manager since 2001.  This may be his last season unless the team starts playing better.  He's known for doing a lot with the talent that was put in front of him, leading to divisional championships during the 2000s.  In the last couple of years, as the talent got worse and worse, Gardenhire's luck has run on empty.  That's what happens when you hang around for too long.

With Target Field hosting the 2014 All Star Game, it has become clear that the ballpark that was supposed to bring years of stability and prosperity to the Twins can't hide the fact that they're still a small market team.  And they're acting the part by not signing big-name free agents and drafting prospects on the cheap.  The Twins are content to do this because they believe they have a chance of competing by the middle of this decade.  All we have to do is to be patient.  Until then, Joe Mauer can look forward to one year from now, when he's the only one from his team playing with or against a growing number of ex-Twins who became All Stars.  And he'll wonder what has happened to the franchise he grew up with.

Stanley Cup: The Originals in Six (Games)

Stanley Cup in Hockey Hall of Fame (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Until 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks had not had a Stanley Cup in its possession since John F. Kennedy was President (that would be 1961).  That was the longest drought between professional championships, unless you count the Cubs.  Now the Hawks have won the NHL title for the second time in four years.

After an amazingly close series in which three of the games finished in overtime, the Hawks stunned the Boston Bruins in Game 6 Monday night with two late goals with a minute to play in regulation, coming from behind to win 3-2 to take the series four games to two.  Then the Hawk players took turns lifting the Cup on the melting TD Garden ice.

In this shortened, post-lockout season Chicago ran the table, dominating its Western Conference foes during the 48-game regular schedule and in the playoffs with players Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and goaltender Corey Crawford leading the way.  The Bruins, were the only Eastern Conference team they've faced all season.  This was the first time since 1979 that two teams from the NHL's Original Six faced off for the Stanley Cup.

Now a little history lesson, which Mike Emrick of NBC may or may not have had time to pass along during the playoffs.  When people talk about the NHL's Original Six, this is what they mean:  From the 1940s (when the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans folded during World War II) to the 1960s, the NHL had six franchises--Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs.  That era ended in 1967, when the NHL doubled in size to 12 teams and has since proliferated to the present 30.

The series was a relative TV bonanza for NBC and the NBC Sports Network, whose ratings were the best in years.  Then again, it's late June in what is hardly hockey weather across North America, and your competition is mostly reruns and reality shows.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was booed by the Boston fans--and not just because the wrong team had won--as he awarded first the Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP to Kane, then the Stanley Cup to the Blackhawks.  And why not?  Bettman is a physical reminder that there would have been no hockey at all this season, had the owners not dragged their feet until January to get the deal they wanted from the players association to end the lockout.  In Bettman's two decades at the helm, there have been three work stoppages--one of which canceled an entire season.

Enough about the past.  The Stanley Cup will take up residence in the Windy City for the next year.  Then we'll see how dominant the Blackhawks can be over a full schedule.

NBA Finals: Another Title in South Beach

NBA player LeBron James answers questions during a press conference after a preseason practice session Sept. 28, 2010, at the Aderholt Fitness Center at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The Miami Heat used the fitness center for their week-long training camp. James is a forward for the Heat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a series where no team had won consecutive games in the NBA Finals before Game 7, the Miami Heat won two consecutive games to win their second consecutive title.  They defeated the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 Thursday night.  LeBron James, on the verge of not living up to the hype when it comes to winning championships (see:  Wilt Chamberlain), scored 37 points on his way to winning a second straight playoff MVP award.

The game was tight all the way, but the Spurs made too many crucial turnovers late to keep the Heat at bay.  And James had to will his team to play the way they did down the stretch.  That's what becomes a leader most.

This was kind of a bookend series, with four blowouts sandwiched in between three great games:  Tony Parker's buzzer beater to win Game 1 for the Spurs, the Heat coming back with a Ray Allen three pointer with seconds left in Game 6 to later win in overtime, and then the almost-anticlimactic Game 7.

The Heat had been expected to win another title, and in beating the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers during the Eastern Conference playoffs, they didn't always look dominant until it was time to assert themselves.  And again it was LeBron James who pulled his teammates through to get here.

The Spurs, with their aging lineup of Manu Ginobli, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, dominated the Western Conference during the regular season.  Then they went through the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies during the playoffs.  Given the fact that, with Gregg Popovich at the helm, the Spurs have won four NBA titles since 1999, this might very well be the last roundup.

So now King James sits atop the NBA throne clutching two Larry O'Brien championship trophies, ruling all he sees with sand and palm trees in the background, and Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Shane Battier as his royal princes.  How long will it be before James seeks out a new fiefdom, with more riches to behold and more titles to bestow upon him?  But that's for another day.  Right now in the NBA, hoops royalty resides in South Beach.

Changing Nicknames, Changing Attitudes

Former alternate logo for the Washington Redskins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Washington's National Football League franchise, known as the Redskins, has been in business since the Great Depression of the 1930s.  That was an era when few folks cared about the impact a sports nickname can have on certain ethnic groups.

Its original owner, George Preston Marshall, reflected the racism of professional sports at that time.  While other NFL teams brought in African-American players after World War II, for example, Marshall's team was the last to integrate--in 1962.

In the last couple of decades, movements to rid athletic programs of offensive nicknames considered demeaning to Native Americans have had mixed success.  High schools and universities have done the most in that department, exchanging Indians and Redskins for the more benign Blaze or RedHawks.  The NCAA forced the University of North Dakota to drop its Fighting Sioux nickname, but has allowed Florida State University to keep the name "Seminoles".  It seems that the Seminole tribe gave their blessing to the name, while North Dakota's tribes did not.

As for the pros?  In the NFL, we still have the Redskins and the Kansas City Chiefs.  In Major League Baseball, there's the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians.  The National Hockey League has the Chicago Blackhawks.  Despite protests, no real effort has been made to change those names.

The most recent attempt to get rid of the Redskins nickname is apparently going to fall flat.  Ten members of Congress, including Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), have urged the NFL to force the Washington team to find another name.  NFL commissioner Roger Goodell replied that the Redskins' name "is a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect".  How patronizing.

Current Washington owner Dan Snyder's response can be summed up in one word:  Never.

It's not hard to see why.  Names like Braves and Redskins are too well-established in the public's mind and make too much money to make a change for the sake of the political correctness crowd.  The owners don't care whether their fans are black, white or yellow.  All they see is green, as in the color of money.

These same owners complain that name-changing will cost too much.  Let's see . . . In the NBA alone, the Washington Bullets became the Wizards.  The New Orleans Hornets became the Pelicans.  The Charlotte Bobcats want to change its name back to the Hornets.  And there have been several relocated franchises that have had to change their identity, such as the original Cleveland Browns becoming the Baltimore Ravens, the Houston Oilers turning into the Tennessee Titans, and the Seattle Supersonics morphing into the Oklahoma City Thunder.  So it can be done.

Changing offensive nicknames is one thing.  Changing the attitudes we have about Native Americans is quite another.  From the day white Europeans first landed in North America, Native Americans were vanquished and sent to reservations.  In the movies and on TV, if they're not portrayed as savages who kidnap white women and children (only to be rescued by the likes of John Wayne), they could also be portrayed as simple-minded dunderheads who say nothing but "how" all the time. (Some of these actors weren't even actual Native Americans.)  More often than not, they're ignored and called names.  They don't have the political or financial clout needed to get more respect in Washington, unless you count the few tribes who have profitable casinos on their reservations.

Is it too much to ask professional sports owners to get rid of nicknames that claim to "honor" Native Americans, but really don't?  And for the rest of us to have an attitude check regarding the people who inhabited North America first?  Don't hold your breath.

Lynx 2013: Third Time the Charm?

English: Maya Moore, at Championship Dinner (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As the only Minnesota-based pro sports team to win a league championship in this century (2011), the WNBA Lynx are making another run for a banner to put atop Target Center with much of the same cast of characters.

Returning this season are (among others) Seimoine Augustus, Maya Moore and Lindsey Whalen.  Not returning are Taj McWilliams-Franklin (retired) and Candice Wiggins (traded to the Tulsa Shock).

One of the newcomers is Janel McCarville, who once teamed with Whalen to put University of Minnesota women's basketball on the map.  She was rescued from "whatever happened to . . . ?" status when the Lynx got her from the New York Liberty, where she last played a couple of years ago.  Though they hardly need to, the Lynx will sell a few tickets on the nostalgia factor of seeing Whalen and McCarville on the same court and the same team again.  It remains to be seen if McCarville can still play.

The question for the Lynx is not whether they'll make the playoffs, but whether they can get back to the Finals for the third consecutive year.  There won't be the long Olympic break to contend with this year, with Moore, Augustus and Whelan seeing extra playing time on the gold medal-winning U.S. team.  But all bets are off if injuries and poor play dominate the season.

As for the rest of the WNBA, which has a new TV deal with ESPN, there's an air of stability that's been lacking in the past.  No teams went bankrupt or were forced to move.  None were added either.

New stars have come in fresh from the college ranks:  Brittney Griner now plays for the Phoenix Mercury, Skylar Diggins for the Shock, and Elena Delle Donne for the Chicago Sky.

But on some WNBA teams, nicknames on the uniforms have been replaced by corporate logos, which makes it hard for casual fans to figure out which team is which.  Are we supposed to root for the Phoenix Mercury or the Phoenix Lifelock?  Seattle Storm or Seattle Bing?  Los Angeles Sparks or Los Angeles Farmers (as in the insurance company)?  Is the WNBA that hard up for money?  Yes.  They are.

Most of the players in the league play overseas during the winter months because the WNBA doesn't pay them enough.  LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant don't seem to have that problem.

Oh, one more thing:  Why are Lynx games still broadcast on an obscure FM country music radio station?

Wild 2013: One Round and Done

Alternate logo since 2003. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Wild's first Stanley Cup playoff appearance since 2008 ended Thursday night at the United Center in Chicago, where the Blackhawks quickly disposed of them in five games of the first round with a 5-1 victory.

The Wild finished 8th in the Western Conference standings during the abbreviated regular season, just barely getting in to the playoff dance.  They could have had a better position if they had played better down the stretch, instead of letting teams like the Edmonton Oilers run all over them on their home ice.

Instead, the Wild got the Blackhawks, the best team in the post-lockout NHL and a Stanley Cup favorite.  With the exception of Game 3, where they played their best game in an overtime win, the series was a microcosm of Minnesota's entire season.  The high-priced offense failed to show up at the most crucial time, and so did the goaltenders.  Niklas Backstrom injured himself just before Game 1.  Josh Harding, who doesn't use his MS as an excuse for how he plays (but national sportscasters were quite willing to point that out), gave a good account of himself--until he got injured, too.  Which brings us to Darcy Kuemper, a minor-league goalie clearly in over his head in a playoff situation.

Now that that's over, it should be noted that a 50-game season wasn't the true test of the Wild's ability to pull themselves up from their mediocrity.  You need a full season to truly evaluate the players you have, with a coast-to-coast schedule (which this year was mostly restricted to west of the Mississippi) and a few breaks in between.

The Wild, moving into a more travel-friendly division next season with teams like the Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, might wish they were back in a weaker division with the likes of Edmonton and Calgary.  To compete with their new rivals, they need more of everything--more scoring, better defense and more consistent goaltending.  Fortunately for the Wild, owner Craig Leipold isn't afraid to spend money.

Mike Yeo should keep his job as Wild coach for at least another season, and so should general manager Chuck Fletcher.  But don't be surprised if Leipold decides to go in another direction before next season.

This may have been the first step in the Minnesota Wild's quest for a brighter future.  But the way they've been playing this past season, they've got a long way to go.

Vikings Punt Chris Kluwe

Chris Kluwe (Photo credit: rburtzel)

Chris Kluwe, the best-known punter in pro football, is out of a job.  He was dropped by the Minnesota Vikings Monday in favor of Jeff Locke, a draft choice they picked up from UCLA.

Kluwe had been a relatively decent NFL punter before he became known for something other than football.  He wrote a highly profane letter in support of  Brendon Ayanbedejo to a Maryland politician, who wondered why the Baltimore Ravens didn't discipline the player for his advocacy of same sex marriage.  It went viral, and suddenly Kluwe became a nationally-known expert on the subject.

While Kluwe made many personal and media appearances to take advantage of his newfound fame, his punting suffered to the point where it was only a matter of time when he and the Vikings would part ways.

We will never know if the Vikings letting Kluwe go was a football decision, or if they simply got tired of all his off-the-field activism.  For a franchise that has survived Brett Favre, Randy Moss and a party boat scandal, they're now focused on getting rid of players whom they consider distractions.  You'll notice that they passed on Manti Te'o, famous for having a fake dead girlfriend, three times in the first round of the NFL draft before he was taken in the second round by the San Diego Chargers.

Kluwe has become the NFL's version of Natalie Maines.  You remember the Dixie Chicks?  They were a country music trio that sold millions of records in the 1990s and early 2000s with hits like "Landslide", "Goodbye Earl" and "Wide Open Spaces".  Then Maines made a disparaging remark about President George W. Bush at a 2003 London concert prior to the Iraq War.  Almost overnight, the Chicks became radioactive in the conservative country music establishment, and a lightning rod for other right-thinking, flag-waving, support-the-troops zealots.

Kluwe might find another NFL team to kick footballs for before next season starts.  Then again, he might not.  Ayanbadejo, by the way, has since been cut by the Ravens and remains unemployed. 

For the Dixie Chicks, it was "shut up and sing".  For Chris Kluwe, it's "shut up and play football".  Are either of them ready to make nice?

Jason Collins: The Decision.

"I'm a 34-year old NBA center.  I'm black.  And I'm gay"--Jason Collins.

So began the article Collins wrote for this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, declaring himself the first openly gay athlete actively participating in one of the big four American pro sports leagues.

Until now, most of us had never heard of Collins.  He's played for six NBA teams in 12 seasons, which includes a stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves (2008-09).  He ended this past season with the Washington Wizards, after having been traded midway by the Boston Celtics.

Everyone from Collins' fellow teammates past and present to President Barack Obama have congratulated him on making such an important personal decision.  And he has every right to do that if that's the way he truly feels about himself.

We're not questioning the sincerity of Collins' announcing his sexual preference.  Every gay rights activist and pundit had predicted such a thing would happen to an active male pro athlete sooner or later, and it just happened to be an NBA journeyman nearing the end of his career.  It would have been a lot more earth-shattering if that someone had been a younger, better known (i.e. more marketable) athlete.

There are those who are comparing Collins to Jackie Robinson, the man who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.  Please don't.  Collins kept his sexual orientation to himself and a few close friends for years.  Robinson could not hide his black skin.  Similarly, gays and lesbians didn't come to America on slave ships, or were forced to use separate, inferior facilities.

Collins is by no means the first athlete to "out" himself.  There have been others in professional sports, but they only made their preference public after retiring.  You do see some lesbians actively participate in women's sports, and no one bats an eye. 

So what does the future hold for Collins and any other gay professional athlete who chooses to come out?  Since this is still a homophobic nation, in spite of all the poll numbers that tell us how tolerant we've allegedly become of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, they have a tough road ahead.  They could expect to be treated differently in the locker room and on the field of play by some of their teammates.  They could be the target of harassment by some fans.  The sports leagues, fearing bad publicity, would find a way to put them to pasture.  Or they could be accepted with open arms, creating a whole new fan base.

When Jason Collins made his decision, he might have felt comfortable in the knowledge that, in the twilight of his career, he had everything to gain and nothing to lose.  He had the rest of his life to think about, whether it involves basketball or not.  We can agree or disagree that Collins made the right choice.  Ultimately, it was his choice that mattered..

The NFL Draft: Vikings Go 3-For-3

National Football League Draft (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Vikings made a big splash in Round One of the NFL Draft Thursday night, picking three players they hope will bolster their chances for next season.

Even with their low draft standing, having made the playoffs last season, the Vikings got players that their brain trust would claim were shocked that they would still be available.  Those three players are:

• Sherrif Floyd, defensive tackle from Florida.
• Xavier Rhodes, cornerback from Florida State.
• Carderelle Patterson, wide receiver from Tennessee.  Acquired from the New England Patriots in exchange for lower round picks.

Amid the bright lights of New York's Radio City Music Hall, where the draft was held, there wasn't a lot of glamour in the players that were chosen as most teams opted for help in the offensive and defensive trenches.  The tone was set by the Kansas City Chiefs, who used their number one pick on offensive tackle Eric Fisher of Central Michigan.

Meanwhile some of the players you might have heard about, whether it came through Mel Kiper Jr. and other folks who make their living as TV draft experts or through unflattering media coverage, were either claimed late in the round or not picked at all.  That included Manti Te'o of Notre Dame, whose stock cratered after the "imaginary girlfriend" fiasco.  Everybody thought the Vikings or Chicago Bears would choose Te'o in the first round.  Everybody was wrong.

As NFL commissioner Roger Goodell strolled out to the podium to announce which team picked what player, he was sometimes accompanied by special guests.  Goodell brought out retired New York quarterbacks Phil Simms and Joe Namath to promote the fact that the next Super Bowl will be played in the great outdoors, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in February.  Barry Sanders, who graces the cover of the new "Madden" video game (thus ensuring that no current player will get injured this season), was brought out to announce the Detroit Lions' first round pick.  And there were the time-consuming salutes to The Troops and survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing, in which the standing ovations were as phony as those so-called "optional" workouts.

When the draft ends, the hard part begins for the Vikings.  First, they have to sign Floyd, Rhodes, Patterson and whoever else they end up choosing.  Second, put them through mini-camps, summer training camps and pre-season games.  Third--and most important, because this is going to be a long process--see if any of these picks pan out in the crucible that is the NFL.