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But on some WNBA teams, nicknames on the uniforms have been replaced by corporate logos, which makes it hard for casual fans to figure out which team is which.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?