Sports 2017: What We Missed, and Who

If you've been reading this here blog at any time during the past year (and if you really have, we thank you), here's a recap of what we've already covered:  Players taking a knee.  President Donald Trump criticizing players who took a knee for his own political gain.  Players refusing to appear with Trump at the White House.  New England Patriots getting away with another Super Bowl in the most dramatic way possible.  The Los Angeles Chargers and the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders.  No Olympics for the NHL.  The decline of ESPN.  Low NFL TV ratings.  The United States men's soccer team will not be in the World Cup.

And now, here's what we didn't cover in 2017.

• LaVar Ball is one of those stage parents whose actions overshadowed the accomplishments of his children, making them all look like fools.  Ball was the driving force behind eldest son Lonzo being the Los Angeles Lakers' top draft pick.  His other two sons, LiAngelo and LaMelo, are playing for a pro basketball team in Lithuania.  But that was only after LiAngelo and another UCLA teammate were caught shoplifting sunglasses in China while the team was there for exhibition games,  They might still be there if President Trump, who was visiting Asia at the time, hadn't intervened to get them home.  When the President insisted on being properly thanked for the gesture, Ball chose to pick a fight with him, resulting in Trump wishing he had just left the players in China.  Whether it's promoting his overpriced sneakers and reality show, telling women to stay in their lane or clashing with his sons' coaches, the one thing LaVar Ball seems to be selling is LaVar Ball.
• The International Olympic Committee has banned Russia from the 2018 Winter Games, which are scheduled for South Korea in February, because of evidence that their athletes had been violating the IOC's anti-doping rules.  This means the Russians really didn't win those medals on their own merits.  Some of those athletes who tested clean will be allowed to participate, but only under the Olympic banner.  While the rest of the world cheers this development, we shouldn't underestimate Russian President Vladimir Putin.  If he can manipulate the results of a presidential election in the U.S., what's to stop him from trying the same thing at the Olympics?
• Like the NBA in recent years, baseball players have gotten in the habit of choosing to spend at least part of their careers with contending teams in big markets.  Japanese star Shohei Ohtani, sought after by several teams, chose to go with the Los Angeles Angels,  Slugger Giancarlo Stanton, using his no-trade clause to turn down offers from other teams, finally left the sinking ship that is the Miami Marlins to accept a trade with the New York Yankees.  It didn't hurt that the guy who engineered the trade, former Yankees legend Derek Jeter, is now an executive of the Marlins.
• A pregnant Serena Williams sat out most of this year after winning the Australian Open.  That left the door open for two African-Americans--Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys--to face each other in the U.S. Open women's final, with Stephens winning in straight sets.  Guess that answers the question of where American tennis is headed in the post-Williams sisters era.
• Jordan Spieth continued his dominance in golf.  Sergio Garcia finally won a major tournament by conquering Augusta National.  Nobodies continued to win the other majors.  And Tiger Woods is back out on the course, hoping not to throw out his back in the process.

Finally, here's who took their final bows in 2017:

Frank Lary, Tommy Nobis, Steve Jones, Jana Novotna, Pancho Segura, Roy Halliday, Connie Hawkins, Dave Strader, Bernie Casey, Jake LaMotta, Don Ohlmeyer, Gene Michael, Rollie Massimino, Jud Heathcote, Frank Broyles, Bryan Murray, Don Baylor, Ara Parseghian, Lee May, John Kundla, Bob Wolff, Babe Parilli, Frank Kush, Jimmy Piersall, Jack Mc Closkey, Roberto De Vicenzo, Frank Deford, Jim Bunning, Cortez Kennedy, Steve Palermo, Aaron Hernandez, Dan Rooney, Dallas Green, Jerry Krause, Charismatic, Mike Ilitch, Milt Schmidt, Ferdie Pacheco and Ralph Jon Fritz.

The 2017-18 Owljock Bowl Board

Welcome to yet another edition of the Bowl Board to wind up the college football season.  Before we go too much further, a few thoughts:

• Clemson, Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma are this year's College Football Playoff final four, assuring us of another national champion from below the Mason-Dixon Line.  No Big 10 or Pac-12 school made the cut, which certainly limits the potential TV audience.  Alabama is here not because they won a conference championship game (heck, they didn't PLAY in one), but because of its past reputation.  Yet coach Nick Saban's team is still considered the favorite.
• There is a new phenomenon going on among certain players who believe they'd be a lot more marketable if, instead of playing in a bowl game with their teammates, they saved themselves for the NFL draft.  We get that these players don't want to get injured or have a bad game in front of fans and pro scouts, but isn't limiting your exposure kind of risky?  And what does that tell you about the quality of the bowl game itself (unless it's a CFP playoff) if star players keep checking out?
• There are 41 bowl games that have been sanctioned by the NCAA this season, which is down two from last year.  Sponsors come and go, of course.  The Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego has been dropped by its organizers, and the Miami Beach Bowl was bought by ESPN (which owns several bowl games) and moved to Frisco, Texas.

For those of you just joining us, here's how the Bowl Board works.  We name the bowl, who's in it, where and when it's played, who's televising it, and a brief description of the game's sponsor and what they do (where applicable).  Got it?  Here goes . . .

Celebration Bowl:  Grambling vs. North Carolina A&T (Atlanta, 12/16)  ABC

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl:  Troy vs. North Texas  (New Orleans, 12/16)  ESPN
Shipping firm.

AutoNation Cure Bowl:  Western Kentucky vs. Georgia State  (Orlando, FL  12/16)  CBS Sports Network
Automotive retailer.

Las Vegas Bowl:  Boise State vs. Oregon  (Las Vegas, 12/16)  ABC

Gildan New Mexico Bowl:  Marshall vs. Colorado State  (Albuquerque, NM  12/16)  ESPN
Active wear manufacturer.

Raycom Media Camellia Bowl:  Arkansas State vs. Middle Tennessee  (Montgomery, AL  12/16)  ESPN
Media company.

Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl:  Florida Atlantic vs. Akron  (Boca Raton, FL  12/19)  ESPN
Energy drink.

DXL Frisco Bowl:  Southern Methodist vs. Louisiana Tech  (Frisco, TX  12/20)  ESPN
Big and tall men's clothing store chain.  Formerly Miami Beach Bowl.

Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl:  Temple vs. Florida International  (St. Petersburg, FL  12/21)  ESPN
Lawn mowers.  Formerly St. Petersburg Bowl.  Gasparilla refers to a local festival held in the winter, named for famed pirate Jose Gasper.

Bahamas Bowl:  Alabama-Birmingham vs. Ohio  (Nassau, Bahamas  12/22)  ESPN

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl:  Central Michigan vs. Wyoming  (Boise, ID  12/22)  ESPN

Birmingham Bowl:  Texas Tech vs. South Florida  (Birmingham, AL  12/23)  ESPN

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl:  San Diego State vs. Army  (Fort Worth, TX  12/23)  ESPN
Defense contractor.

Dollar General Bowl:  Appalachian State vs. Toledo  (Mobile, AL  12/23)  ESPN
Retail chain.

Hawaii Bowl:  Fresno State vs. Houston  (Honolulu, HW  12/24)  ESPN

Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl:  Utah vs. West Virginia  (Dallas, 12/26)  ESPN
Chicken restaurant chain.

Quick Lane Bowl:  Duke vs. Northern Illinois  (Detroit, 12/26)  ESPN
Auto care shops.

Cactus Bowl:  Kansas State vs. UCLA  (Phoenix, AZ  12/26)  ESPN

Walk-On's Independence Bowl:  Southern Mississippi vs. Florida State  (Shreveport, LA  12/27)  ESPN
Sports restaurant chain.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl:  Iowa vs. Boston College  (Bronx, NY  12/27)  ESPN
Sports apparel.

Foster Farms Bowl:  Purdue vs. Arizona  (Santa Clara, CA  12/27)  Fox
West Coast poultry brand.
  
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl:   Texas vs. Missouri  (Houston, 12/27)  ESPN
Sporting goods discount chain.

Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman:  Virginia vs. Navy  (Annapolis, MD  12/28)  ESPN
Defense contractor.

Camping World Bowl:  Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma State  (Orlando, FL  12/28)  ESPN
Camping and RV supplies.  Formerly Russell Athletic Bowl.

Valero Alamo Bowl:  Stanford vs. TCU  (San Antonio, TX  12/28)  ESPN
Energy company.

San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl:  Michigan State vs. Washington State  (San Diego, CA  12/28)  FS1
Financial services.

Belk Bowl:  Wake Forest vs. Texas A&M  (Charlotte, NC  12/29)  ESPN
Regional department store chain.

Hyundai Sun Bowl:  North Carolina State vs. Arizona State  (El Paso, TX  12/29)  CBS
Auto manufacturer.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl:  Kentucky vs. Northwestern  (Nashville, TN  12/29)  ESPN
Financial services.

NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl:  Utah State vs. New Mexico State  (Tucson, AZ  12/29)  CBS Sports Network
Mortgage lender.

Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic:  Southern California vs. Ohio State  (Arlington, TX  12/29)  ESPN
Tires and blimps.

TaxSlayer Bowl:  Louisville vs. Mississippi State  (Jacksonville, FL  12/30)  ESPN
Online tax preparation.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl:  Iowa State vs. Memphis  (Memphis, TN  12/30)  ABC
Retail auto parts chain.

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl:  Washington vs. Penn State  (Glendale, AZ  12/30)  ESPN
Videogame consoles.

Capital One Orange Bowl:  Miami vs. Wisconsin  (Miami Gardens, FL  12/30)  ESPN
Financial services.

Outback Bowl:  Michigan vs. South Carolina  (Tampa, FL  1/1/18)  ESPN2
Steak restaurant chain.

Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl:  Central Florida vs. Auburn  (Atlanta, GA  1/1/18)  ESPN
Chicken restaurant chain.

Citrus Bowl Presented by Overton's:  Notre Dame vs.  Louisiana State  (Orlando, FL  1/1/18)  ABC
Marine and sporting goods company.

Rose Bowl Presented by Northwestern Mutual--CFP Semifinal:  Georgia vs. Oklahoma  (Pasadena, CA  1/1/18)  ESPN
Financial services.

Allstate Sugar Bowl--CFP Playoff:  Alabama vs. Clemson  (New Orleans  1/1/18)  ESPN
Insurance and financial services.

College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T  (Atlanta, GA  1/8)  ESPN
Communications giant.

Twins: Back In WCCO Radio's Arms

After a decade in the radio wilderness, the Minnesota Twins are returning to WCCO-AM (830) as its flagship station for the 2018 season and beyond.  Those folks who have warm and fuzzy memories of hearing Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall and John Gordon call the games during the team's original 1961-2006 run on the station are saying it's about time.

Entercom, having just purchased the former CBS Radio empire that includes WCCO, wanted to make a big splash locally on the first day they took ownership.  With the merger, the media company now holds radio rights to 45 pro sports teams, 14 of them belonging to Major League Baseball.

The Twins' period in exile began when WCCO was outbid for the rights by KSTP-AM (1500) in 2007, which had just switched to a sports talk format.  Both stations had 50,000-watt signals, but KSTP only had a directional antenna that limited its coverage area.  Thus the complaints from fans who couldn't pick up the games, even in the daytime.

The Pohlad family, which owns the Twins, then moved the team's broadcasts to the FM station they owned at 96.3, now known as KQGO.  There were signal problems here too, not to mention confusion over where to find the station.  Also, 96.3 seemed to change musical formats that were incompatible with a baseball audience every so often.  Currently, it's alternative rock.  They must have been thinking that, if you like baseball, you'll love Imagine Dragons.

Instead of Carneal, Hall and Gordon, you'll be getting Cory Provus and Dan Gladden when the Twins return to WCCO.  For those occasions when the station's other properties (Timberwolves basketball and severe weather coverage) take precedence, Entercom's other Minnesota stations--country KMNB (102.9 FM) and KZJK a.k.a. Jack FM (104.1)--would pick up the slack.  No word yet on what happens when there's a conflict with University of St. Thomas football games.

Both the Twins and WCCO had seen better days.  Is it any coincidence that during the separation, the baseball team's fortunes took a nosedive and the radio station's audience was either dwindling, dying off, or both?  But last season the Twins improbably made the playoffs as a wild card and Paul Molitor was named American League Manager of the Year, while WCCO got new owners.  Could this be a sign that both are about to become relevant again?

Vikings 2017: Waiting for Teddy

Minnesota Vikings logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Vikings, carrying a 6-2 record as leaders of the NFL's NFC North division, are currently on the horns of another quarterback dilemma.

It started out like this:  Teddy Bridgewater was supposed to be this Quarterback of the Future who would end the Vikings' revolving door at that position, until a freak off-the-field injury sidelined him for the 2016 season.  Then Sam Bradford came in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for draft picks, and he did pretty well.  But after one game this season, Bradford tore up his knee.  Enter backup Case Keenum, who has done surprisingly well this season.  But nobody believes he's the Vikings' long term solution.

Now Bridgewater has been deemed healthy enough to play again, a season and a half after his devastating injury.  He has been assigned backup duties to Keenum, while Bradford has been put on injured reserve.  Which begs the question:  After being out of action for so long, is it reasonable to expect Bridgewater to be anywhere near the player he was before his injury?  Or will the Vikings have to go out and draft another quarterback?  The only way to know, of course, is when he gets out on the field.

Otherwise, the defense is one of the best in the NFL if you don't count the points they've given up.  Nobody is talking about the offensive line, which must be a good thing given the overhaul they've had.  And no one seems to miss Adrian Peterson, now that he's moved on to the Arizona Cardinals after his ugly departure from New Orleans.

The Vikings are division leaders for two reasons:  (A)  They played a mostly powder puff schedule against mediocre teams like the Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns.  They have lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions, which could pose a problem down the stretch, and (B) the absence of Aaron Rodgers, whose broken collarbone injury has reduced the Green Bay Packers from Super Bowl contenders to also-rans.

No matter who the quarterback is, it's going to be tough to say whether the Vikings are playoff material or what.  Maybe they'll win the division, but only if the Lions or Packers don't throw challenges.  Maybe they'll be in the wild card, but only if they win at least half of their remaining games.  They have a lot more questions this season while waiting to see if Teddy Bridgewater can still play.

Houston, You Have a Champion

Astros logo, 1965–1974 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Out of the receding flood waters of a hurricane-damaged city in Texas, a baseball team that only a few years ago were so bad that they had to change leagues has risen to become world champions.

They are the Houston Astros, born in 1962 as the Colt 45s, who won Game 7 of the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 Wednesday night at Chavez Ravine.  The Astros scored all their runs in the first two innings.  Both starters Lance McCullers Jr. of the Astros and Yu Darvish of the Dodgers were knocked out by the third inning.  Unlike the high-scoring of earlier games in the series, in which it seemed like whoever scored last would win, this one ended quietly with Houston taking home the trophy and Carlos Correa taking home the woman he had proposed to on live TV.

About the Slugfest for the Ages, which had contributed to the most home runs in World Series history (25) and the Astros' George Springer (who hit five of them, another record) winning the MVP award, a few things stand out:

• Games 2 and 5 were high scoring affairs that ended in extra innings.
• The pitching staffs of both teams were fried, not only because they couldn't get anyone out but also because of how many times they were used during the playoffs.
• Comebacks from several runs down by both teams became common.  This has led to speculation that maybe the balls were juiced, like we never left the Steroid Era.
• The pace of the games were so pokey because of replay challenges and pitching changes (allowing enough time for Fox to slip in as many six-second commercials as possible) that most viewers went to bed before the finish.

In the last few years, teams who had been forever in last place had accumulated enough talent through shrewd deals and the draft to win a World Series or two.  It's happened to the San Francisco Giants, Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs.  This year it was the Astros, which had come all the way from the outhouse of a 111-loss season to the penthouse.  Of course, prying away pitcher Justin Verlander from the Detroit Tigers in midseason helped too.

This World Series championship was for the city of Houston, which is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.  They should celebrate, then go back to work no matter how much money T-Mobile is allegedly giving them in hurricane relief.  While we're at it, maybe San Juan and Key West deserve a break too, no matter if they have a baseball team or not.

Loons 2017: A Bumpy Maiden Flight

Minnesota United FC ended its inaugural Major League Soccer season with a 3-2 loss at San Jose Sunday.  While no one expected a playoff run for the Loons right away, they did manage to make sure the Earthquakes qualified for a spot with a stoppage time goal.

For a squad that had been hastily put together, the Loons did quite well considering.  They ended up ninth in the Western Conference of MLS with 10 wins, 18 losses and six ties, totaling 36 points.  Their defense got better after a lousy start, but they still set a league record for the most goals allowed in a season with 70.

Along with some of the holdovers from United's North American Soccer League days, the team signed a few MLS-quality players for coach Adrian Heath to work with.  The results were hit and miss, from leading scorer Christian Ramirez and Francisco Calvo to expensive washout Vadim Demidov, who lasted all of three matches as United's captain.

The Loons made the transition from the National Sports Center in Blaine to the University of Minnesota's football stadium, which were filled with lower bowl sellouts and enthusiastic support.  The challenge will be how to maintain that before United moves into its new digs in St. Paul for the 2019 season.

Before the next season starts, Minnesota United FC will focus on getting better players on its roster that can score goals and not give up so many.  It would also help if they won a few more matches, and not be satisfied with ties.  But Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither are successful soccer franchises.  So the banner-waving patrons should be patient.

Pot Shots '17, Volume 3

Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This week in President Donald Trump's efforts to make athletes (and by extension the rest of us) stand to his favorite tune:

• The President wants to take away the NFL's tax-exempt status unless they order their players to stand and salute the flag during the national anthem.  Owners will soon decide whether or not to cave to Trump's demands.
• Vice President Mike Pence attended the San Francisco 49ers-Indianapolis Colts game, then departed after seeing some players kneeling during the "Star Spangled Banner".  Most wrote it off as a tacky political stunt that was dreamed up by Trump.  (By the way, wasn't Peyton Manning being honored that day?)  Remember folks, sooner or later Pence could be your next President.
• According to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, no player of his will ever disrespect the flag if they want to remain on the team.  This violation of a player's First Amendment rights comes weeks after Jones linked arms with his team before a game at Arizona in the name of 'unity', thus co-opting the real message of protesting police attacks on African Americans.  They don't call it "America's Team" for nothing.  More like 'Murica's Team.
• ESPN suspends "Sportscenter" anchor Jemele Hill for two weeks because she urged her viewers to boycott the Cowboys' sponsors in the wake of Jones' comments.  Stick to sports?  Right.
• Meanwhile Colin Kaepernick, who started this whole thing in the first place and now says he'll stand for the anthem because he's made his point, is still unemployed nearly halfway into the NFL season.

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In the era of the Super Team, we're not going to bother with previewing the Minnesota Timberwolves or the 2017-18 NBA season,  Instead, let's just say that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors will meet again next June in the NBA Finals and leave it at that.
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The U.S. Men's national soccer team's (or USMNT if you want to sound like an old Lucky Strike cigarette commercial) failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup has sent shock waves through the sport, from pundits to shoe companies to Fox, which had just spent billions for the TV rights.  This could also hurt the U.S.'s chances of co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico.  Bruce Arena, to whom many point to as one of the reasons why they didn't qualify besides lackadaisical play, has quit as coach.  All of this shouldn't have been a surprise, even in the years when they were in World Cup.  They'll have a hard time measuring up to the success of the women's team.
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After watching baseball games that took more than three or four hours to finish, here's one suggestion  to make them shorter and save pitcher's arms in the process:  Limit the number of foul balls hit after the count of three balls and two strikes.  After two or three consecutive foul balls, the umpire should call the batter out.  Isn't there a rule like this used in youth leagues?
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Austin Rogers, a bartender from New York, won $411,000 over a 12-show appearance on TV's "Jeopardy!".  Yes, his quirkiness could be as annoying to some viewers as host Alex Trebek's pomposity, or his dislike of The Eagles (a millennial thing, we suppose).  But he wasn't afraid to roll the dice and bet big on "Daily Doubles", and he's a worthy champion in spite of all that.

Lynx Are Chanpions (X4), Twins Make Playoffs

The Lynx' Dynastic Decade

The Minnesota Lynx are WNBA champions for the fourth time in seven years, having edged the Los Angeles Sparks in five games.  The Sparks were the same team that denied the Lynx a title one year ago, and would have done that again had a furious rally late in the fourth quarter not fizzled out.  In stead, the Lynx won 85-76.

Playing in their second temporary home of the season (Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota) while Target Center was being renovated, the Lynx and their coach Cheryl Reeve summoned whatever strength they had left from their core veterans--Maya Moore, Seimoine Augustus, Lindsay Whelan, Sylvia Fowles (the Finals MVP) and others--to overcome the 2-1 deficit against the league's other super team.  They had to be firing on all cylinders, and that's what they did.

Since the Lynx won their titles in odd-numbered years (2011, '13, '15, '17), it's reasonable to expect another one from them in 2019.  But as long as the current cast sticks around, they're favorites next year too.

Twins:  Worst to Wild Card

The Minnesota Twins won 85 games this past season, which is a lot better than losing 103 last season.  For that, they finished second in the American League Central division to the Cleveland Indians, which is good enough in today's baseball to win a wild card spot.  Then they lost in a playoff to the New York Yankees because it's what they do in the post-season.

The pitching and hitting did just enough to rise above their mediocre competition this season, so the challenge for 2018 is for the Twins front office to find better talent that doesn't need to go to the minor league affiliate in Rochester, New York for seasoning.  And a pitching staff that includes Bartolo Colon, who's been in baseball longer than some of these players have been alive, needs to improve.  Or does that go without saying?

It looks like manager Paul Molitor will get to keep his job, despite reports that the front office wanted their own guy.  That would not have been smart, given Molitor's accomplishment of turning a wretched team into playoff contenders.

All of which gives the patrons at Target Field something to look forward to besides sampling gourmet nachos.
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Here's our semi-bold World Series match-up:  Cleveland Indians vs. Los Angeles Dodgers.

NHL 2017-18: No Olympics, No Problem. Right?

English: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, United States during a sold-out National Hockey League ice hockey game between the Columbus Blue Jackets (home team) and the Boston Bruins (visiting team), in 2006. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The National Hockey League made its presence felt in China, with a couple of preseason games between the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings.  But that's as far in the Far East as they're going to go for now.  The league is not sending its players to the Winter Olympics, which is scheduled for South Korea in February, citing the long travel and having to shut down the regular season for three weeks.  Some players wanted to go anyway, but they've been discouraged by the league for risking their careers over this.

As it turns out, the NHL might be doing the smart thing with tensions between the United States and North Korea reaching the boiling point.  War might break out on the Korean Peninsula by the time the Opening Ceremonies are supposed to take place, and nobody wants to put athletes at risk.  At least France isn't.

Meanwhile, back in North America, there are these questions: 

• Can the Pittsburgh Penguins win their third consecutive Stanley Cup?
• Are the Nashville Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets more than one-season wonders?
• How far will Conor McDavid and Auston Murphy take their teams?
• Will the Vegas Golden Knights be a good bet for the NHL?
• What's going to become of the Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders and Calgary Flames?  Seattle, Kansas City and Quebec City are waiting.

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The Minnesota Wild are coming off their most successful regular season ever, yet they exited the playoffs after one round.  To help remedy that this season, they added Matt Cullen and Tyler Ennis.  Then they said goodbye to Marco Scandella (traded to Buffalo), Eric Haula (drafted by Vegas), Jason Pominville and Darcy Kuemper.

Coach Bruce Boudreau, in his second season, has to get more out of veterans Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Devan Dubnyk and Zach Parise if the Wild hope to successfully navigate the tough Central Division.  Yes, they're a playoff team.  The catch is that once they get there, they have to start playing like they belong there.
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Our picks as to who will be eligible to lay claim to the Stanley Cup come April are as follows:

Eastern Conference  Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers and New York Islanders.

Western Conference  Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers.

Pot Shots '17, Volume 2

English: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There's a lot of talk about how low the TV ratings are for the first two weeks of the National Football League's 2017 schedule.  People mention politics, Mother Nature and protests over the owners' continued refusal to hire quarterback Colin Kaepernick as some of the reasons why they're not watching.  They could have also mentioned over-exposure, lousy games, and competition from that smartphone you're reading this on.  But the first two Sunday night games on NBC topped the ratings, so not all is dire.  Let's see what happens when the weather turns colder.
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The NFL already has a Breast Cancer Exploitation Month (October) and a Suck Up to the Military Month (November), so why not have a month to highlight the activism of the players?  That's a great idea, except that the league might shift the focus from players protesting racist cops and the re-emergence of white nationalist groups to promoting NFL-sponsored community outreach programs.  Maybe it would be better if the league got out of the 'cause' business altogether.  Because some people just want to watch football, and not another league-sponsored plea to give to a dubious charity's disaster relief effort.
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Was it a mistake to put two NFL teams in Los Angeles, the city league owners have coveted for so long?  Neither the Rams nor the Chargers sold out their home games last Sunday.  Granted, it's not easy to fill the massive Memorial Coliseum.  But what's the Chargers' excuse, failing to sell out their tiny (by NFL standards) soccer park?  Charging $100 for parking certainly doesn't help.  The truth is that LA did just fine without professional football for two decades.  But now they're stuck with two mediocre franchises playing in temporary homes, until a new stadium is ready for them in 2020.  Or the NFL moves the Chargers back to San Diego, whichever comes first.
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ESPN, already having problems in keeping subscribers because of cord cutting, has bungled its handling of a controversy involving "Sportscenter" anchor Jemele Hill.  She sent out tweets critical of President Donald Trump, calling him a 'white supremacist', which led to Trump demanding an apology. Instead of suspending or defending the African-American Hill for her ability to comment on the world beyond sports, the Worldwide Leader chose to reprimand her for violating the network's social media policy.  Hill then issued a "sorry not sorry" apology.  If ESPN discourages the discussion of politics as it relates to sports by its commentators, then they just don't understand the world we live in now.  And neither do some of its viewers with ostrich mentalities.

NFL 2017: Prelude to Minneapolis

English: Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA behind Lake Calhoun. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before we get into another head-knocking season of the National Football League . . . Wait a minute.  You mean to tell me that some players have actually quit the game, because they want to save their brains from being scrambled into an early death?  Wow.  That's heavy, man.

Anyway, here's our NFL preview:

• The New England Patriots are the defending Super Bowl champions, and are favored to do so again this year.  But quarterback Tom Brady just turned 40, and his teammates aren't getting any younger either--which makes the Patriots more vulnerable to injuries such as the one that befell Julian Edelman.  Still, never count out a Bill Belichick-coached team whether he plays by the rules or not.
• Colin Kaepernick, best known as the quarterback who took a knee during the national anthem before a game to protest African-Americans getting harassed by police officers, still does not have a job in the NFL.   It seems teams would rather hire mediocre players off the street or those who have criminal backgrounds than offend its conservative fans and stockholders, who see Kaepernick as a traitor in Trump's America.  Even the Miami Dolphins saved Jay Cutler from life as a TV analyst to be its starting QB.  But there have also been organized efforts to boycott the NFL if nobody hires Kaepernick.  Who's going to be the team that finally does?  And does Kaepernick still want to play football?
• The Raiders are still playing in Oakland this season, even though they made a deal to move to Las Vegas.  The Chargers moved up the California coast from San Diego to Los Angeles, playing in a tiny (by NFL standards) soccer park until the stadium they're sharing with the Rams is ready.  And the Atlanta Falcons, coming off the most incredible giveaway in Super Bowl history, are moving from the Georgia Dome to Mercedes Benz Stadium.  That's where the Chick-fil-A restaurant won't be open on game days.
• Some of the new rule changes in the NFL include quicker waits for decisions based on instant replay, a ten minute overtime period during the regular season, and a relaxation of celebration penalties in the end zone.
• On TV, there's also some changes:  Tony Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, has replaced Phil Simms as Jim Nantz' partner in the CBS booth, while Simms has been demoted to the network's pregame show.  Mike Tirico will call NBC's Thursday night schedule, just to give Al Michaels a break.  Chris Berman has left the hosting of ESPN's NFL coverage to others.  Other than that, there will be fewer commercial breaks that prolong games.  And the NFL will be trading in Cialis and Viagra ads for hard liquor.  Try explaining that to your kids.

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The Minnesota Vikings' hangover from the collapse of last season lingers into the start of this one.  Adrian Peterson and Cordarelle Patterson are both gone.  Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater might return later this season from his devastating knee injury.  His replacement, Sam Bradford, is hanging in there despite an offensive line that, frankly, sucked.  And the coach, Mike Zimmer, has had eight eye surgeries in the past year.  Yes, we said eight.

For the Vikings to be anything other than 8-8 or worse this season, the new offensive line they stitched together must do a better job of protecting Bradford.  The defense is one of the best in the league, and should remain that way.  But the way the team looked in the preseason is not encouraging.

Let's just say the Vikings won't be playing in their home stadium for the Super Bowl.
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And now, if you're still paying attention, here's who we think will be on the road to Minneapolis come January.

AFC EAST      New England Patriots
         NORTH  Pittsburgh Steelers
         SOUTH   Houston Texans
         WEST     Oakland Raiders
WILD CARD  Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts

NFC EAST      Dallas Cowboys
         NORTH  Green Bay Packers
         SOUTH   Atlanta Falcons
         WEST      Seattle Seahawks
WILD CARD   Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants.
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UPDATE (9/8/17):  We should have also mentioned that Beth Mowins will become only the second woman (the other was Gayle Sierens a couple of decades ago) to call NFL games on TV.  She will cover the Chargers-Broncos game on ESPN Monday September 11, then later in the season call some regional matchups for CBS.

Twins 2017: Worst to Second Place

Bartolo Colón (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To everyone's amazement, the Minnesota Twins have gone from unwatchable last season to more tolerable this season.  They led the American League Central division for a few weeks, then settled to second place at the All Star break with a 45-43 record, which is two and a half games behind the Cleveland Indians.

What brought this on?  The Twins have mostly the same players from last year's disastrous squad, but they're hitting and fielding better.  Miguel Sano is having a breakout season with 21 homers and 62 RBIs, enough to earn him a trip to Miami for the All Star Game and an appearance in Home Run Derby as the runner-up to the New York Yankees' Derek Jeter clone Aaron Judge.  A Twin losing to a Yankee.  Sound familiar?

The pitching, outside of starter Ervin Santana and closer Brandon Kintzler (who also joined Sano as  American League All Stars), has been horrendous.  Not a day goes by without some pitcher who is with the Twins one day, then gets a one-way ticket to Class AAA Rochester or on the disabled list.  They even signed 44-year old journeyman Bartolo Colon, who is getting a minor league tryout.

Manager Paul Molitor, whose job seemed to be in jeopardy at the start of the season, appears to have turned things around enough to warrant a contract extension if he wants one.

Before we breathe the word "playoffs", the Twins have the little matter of trying to play better baseball at Target Field as well as on the road.  This has been happening ever since the park opened in 2010, when it became the launching pad for every other team but this one.  In order to advance to the post-season, they have to learn to take the advantage back.

But then again, the Twins could always go beck to being putrid.  They play the league-leading Houston Astros, Yankees, Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers coming up in July.  Byron Buxton could hurt himself making a "Sportscenter"-worthy catch.  Sano could go into a slump.  Joe Mauer could be phoning it in.  And Santana could be traded for a prospect or two.

Until then, with the Twins being a competitive team for a change, just go with it.

Warriors Still Golden

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Golden State Warriors took the rubber match of their three-year NBA Finals trilogy over the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night in Oakland, California.  The final was 129-120, clinching the Warriors' championship in five games.  Stephen Curry scored 34 points while teammate Kevin Durant contributed with 39 of his own, and was named the playoffs' most valuable player.

Like any movie superhero sequel, the Warriors-Cavs series was a big disappointment to those who had expected more from it.  Golden State's roster of superstars rolled over LeBron James and his hand-picked crew in the first three games.  The Cavs did win Game 4, but by then it was too little and too late.

The Warriors blew past everybody during the regular season in winning the top Western Conference seed with a 67-15 mark.  They then swept past the Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs (in that order) in the playoffs.  The Cavs ranked second in the Eastern Conference with a 51-31 record, then made their own sweep through the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics to get to the finals.

The anticipation for a third straight Warriors-Cavs NBA Final was so strong that it rendered the rest of the playoffs as irrelevant.  Never have there been so many blowouts and one-sided games.  Even Charles Barkley of TNT declared the games to be unwatchable, switching over to the decidedly more interesting NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

Because the Warriors and Cavaliers (and the Spurs, to a lesser extent) were so dominant this past season, there is much concern in NBA circles about certain teams in certain markets stockpiling so many talented players on its roster that it's becoming harder for anyone else to compete.  This is why Durant decided to ditch the Oklahoma City Thunder for Golden State last year as a free agent, because he knew he could get a championship ring there.  And he did.  LeBron James has dismissed the notion of so-called "superteams" and claims he doesn't play for one.  If that's true, then what are Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving doing with the Cavs?  And what about Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who took their talents along with James to the Miami Heat and won a couple of titles?

The Warriors and Cavaliers are already projected to be NBA finalists for the fourth time next season by some forward-thinking pundits and Vegas oddsmakers.  But sooner or later all those sequels, whether it's movies or basketball, become more about the box office than what you see on the big screen.  People get sick of them and want to move on.  As long as the NBA championship bounces between the Bay Area and Lake Erie with little else to challenge them, this is the way it's going to be for awhile.

The Cup Stays In Pittsburgh

The Stanley Cup. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Pittsburgh Penguins, battered and bruised for most of the season with its star Sidney Crosby sidelined at times with concussion issues, stayed healthy long enough to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup (and fifth in franchise history) Sunday night in six games over the Nashville Predators.  That hasn't happened in nearly two decades, when the Detroit Red Wings were NHL champions back-to-back in 1997 and '98.

In a series that had seen the home team win every game--a fact made obvious by the presence of the underdog Predators and their raucous fans--Game 6 was different in that it was a tightly contested, scoreless game until late in the third period when the Penguins scored twice to retain the Cup.  Of course, the Predators might have had something to say about that if the goal they thought they scored hadn't been whistled down by the referees--and couldn't be reviewed on replay.

Crosby, who has won just about everything in his hockey career including two Olympic gold medals for Canada and now his third Stanley Cup for the Penguins, also adds the Conn Smythe trophy for being the playoff MVP.  It is his second.

The Penguins, with Crosby, Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin, goaltender Marc-Anthony Fleury and others defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference to get here.

The revelation of these playoffs have been the Predators, who were one of the last teams to make the playoff field in the Western Conference.  They surprised everyone by sweeping through the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks before taking the Penguins to six games in the finals through the play of P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, captain Mike Fisher, goaltender Pekka Rinne and others. 

The city of Nashville, much better known as the capitol of country music, has suddenly become hockey territory through its support of the Predators during the playoffs.  Bridgestone Arena has been sold out, national TV ratings have been better than expected, and country music stars such as Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood (Fisher's wife) have performed the national anthem.  And, oh yes, the ceremonial flinging of catfish onto the ice.  Animal rights groups hate this new tradition.  So do those who think this is a waste of food.

The Penguins proved that not having a completely healthy roster is no deterrent to winning another championship.  Can they make it three in a row?  Is this the start of something big for the Predators, or are they just a one-season wonder?  These questions and others will be answered next season.  For now, the Stanley Cup stays in Pittsburgh.

The Lynx and Other Things

Cheryl Reeve as an assistant coach with the Detroit Shock (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Lynx defeated the Chicago Sky 70-61 Sunday to open their 2017 WNBA schedule.  It was played before a modest audience at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, their temporary digs while Target Center in Minneapolis gets a makeover.  Both teams looked a little rusty, given that some of the players went overseas to play basketball during the winter and others did not, but the Lynx made enough of their shots to win the game.

The Lynx, who came within a few seconds of winning their fourth WNBA title this decade before losing to the Los Angeles Sparks, are being picked by most basketball experts to do it again.  Most of the core players--Seimoine Augustus, Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen, Sylvia Fowles--are back, but is this finally the year age and time catches up to the Lynx?  Coach Cheryl Reeve might dismiss that talk publicly, but even she could see that one day younger WNBA stars such as Breanna Stewart and Elena Delle Donne could outhustle and out play her team.  Career-ending injuries are also a possibility.

Still, the Lynx do have the means to take another run at a championship, with their biggest threats coming from the league champion Sparks and Delle Donne's Washington Mystics.  Can Minnesota win another WNBA title before time runs out?

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The Lynx' TV package has improved greatly this season with Fox Sports North doing 17 telecasts (most of them at home), along with some national appearances on ESPN2, to bring the total number to 24 games.  That's still not as many as the deal Minnesota United, the new pro soccer team in town, is getting.  WFTC-Channel 29 is running most of their matches, with the exception of the ones shown on FS1 and ESPN.  So why are the Lynx games still heard on a small FM country music station?

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Speaking of United, they've improved in their first Major League Soccer season from a team that set a record for giving up too many goals to a tighter outfit that shut out Sporting Kansas City at home, and lost a close match on the road at Toronto.  We still don't know who most of the players are, but we do know that they're going to be competitive as the season progresses.

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In an off-season that's seen veteran NFL quarterbacks Tony Romo and Jay Cutler moving to the TV booth as game analysts, what about Colin Kaepernick?  He's been having trouble finding a job since he left the San Francisco 49ers.  Is it because the image-conscious NFL, which spends millions of dollars to prove how patriotic they are, doesn't want to hire a guy who took a knee during the "Star Spangled Banner" (which Kaepernick said he won't be doing any more because, well, he made his point)?  That might be changing because ESPN reported Monday (through its radio affiliate KIRO in Seattle) that the Seahawks might have some interest in Kaepernick, as well as Robert Griffin III (another "where are they now?" QB), as a backup to Russell Wilson.  If that doesn't work, there's always TV.

ESPN: The Game Has Changed

ESPN (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What if we told you that people who are fed up with the rising cost of cable and satellite have ditched them in favor of streaming movies and TV shows on their computers and smartphones, creating a day of reckoning for sports channels?

No, this isn't the beginning of another ESPN "30 for 30" documentary.  The Disney-owned sports network just whacked at least 100 jobs last week, most of whom are writers, production people and on-air talent.  True, there have been layoffs before, but none of this magnitude.

The ESPN brand includes several TV channels, two regional networks, a Spanish-language channel, a radio network and a magazine.  They also own their own events to televise, including the X Games and some college football bowl games.

It's not just cutting the cord that's caused Disney's stock to go down every time ESPN loses subscribers.  The rights fees and long-term contracts to the NFL, NBA, MLB and the college conferences keep accelerating, resulting in various forms of cost-cutting that might not be obvious to viewers.  It's telling that some of the layoffs involve reporters and commentators who covered such sports as hockey, auto racing and golf--events ESPN does not televise.

Another reason some people have turned off ESPN is because of what they believe is the network's coverage of sports and society from a liberal perspective, whether it comes from its commentators and contributors or not.  One recent example came during the coverage of the NFL Draft, where after it was announced that Oklahoma football star Joe Mixon had been chosen by the Cincinnati Bengals, ESPN showed footage of him beating up on a woman.  That alleged incident drove Mixon's draft value way down.  For those who complain about the network's supposed progressive stance, there's always the chance they'll mention former football star Tim Tebow at least once a day.  He's currently playing minor league baseball for the Class A Columbia Fireflies in the New York Mets organization.

ESPN has also weathered the loss of on-air personalities that used to define them:  Chris Berman, Mike Tirico, Brent Musberger, Keith Olbermann, Colin Cowherd, Jason Whitlock, Brad Nessler, Skip Bayless and others.  In their places are so many sound-alike play-by-play announcers, "Sportscenter" broadcasts that rely less on scores and highlights and more on personalities, and debate shows that aren't much different than what you'd find on CNN.

ESPN is the most expensive of all the cable channels, yet it is also the hardest to give up.  This is also true of other sports channels, whose contracts with individual teams and cable providers (some of which last decades) restrict them from going the over-the-top route like HBO, leaving sports fans with no choice but to stick with cable.  Something has to change, or else it's game over for sports on TV.

Wild 2016-17: Swooning Out of the Playoffs

Minnesota Wild (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Wild ended their NHL season in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs once again, in five games to the St. Louis Blues this time.

The Wild had their best regular season ever with 106 points, challenging the Chicago Blackhawks for the right to be best in the Western Conference and a favorite to win the Cup.  Under first-year coach Bruce Boudreau, many of the players had their career years.  Most importantly, they didn't fall victim to the usual mid-season slump that forced them to scratch and claw for a playoff spot.

Instead, the Wild's annual slump came in March, weeks before the regular season ended.  It was so bad that they ceded the conference and the Central Division to the Blackhawks, but managed to hang on to home ice advantage.  Which is why what happened next was almost predictable.

The Wild did not score much or win a home game against the Blues, who were the ones struggling to get into the playoffs this year.  It was a combination of Jake Allen's star turn in goal and the game plans of coach Mike Yeo, who knew the Wild all too well as Boudreau's predecessor in Minnesota.

(If it's any consolation to the Wild, the Blackhawks were swept out of the first round by the Nashville Predators.)

So what happens now?  General Manager Chuck Fletcher doesn't have many options.  He just hired Boudreau a year ago, whose teams in Anaheim and Washington also flamed out in the playoffs, so at least he now knows what kind of coach he's got.  Too many of his players are under long-term, big money contracts.  Though he did get Eric Staal on the free agent market and traded for Martin Hazal at the deadline, Fletcher had to give away most of his draft picks in the process.  And there's not a Conor McDavid or an Auston Matthews to be found at the Wild's minor league affiliates.  Or maybe it's time to blow everything up and start over?

Because if teams like the Minnesota Wild want to get within a sniff of Lord Stanley's cup, you have to have a lineup that's built for the playoffs.  Sure, winning a division title is nice, but there's more than one way to get where you're going.  The Wild aren't there yet.

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Our Stanley Cup finals pick:  Anaheim Ducks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins.

NBA: The Rest of the Story

English: LeBron James playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers Español: LeBron James con los Cavaliers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They say regular seasons in professional sports are too long.  The NFL spreads sixteen games per team over seventeen weeks.  Major League Baseball teams play 162 games over a five month period.  The NHL plays 81 games per team over six months.  All this to eliminate a few teams from the playoffs, which usually last a month or two longer.

The NBA has an 82-game regular season schedule over six months.  In response to this, some teams--which happen to be marquee names like the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors--have taken to giving star players like LeBron James and Stephen Curry the night off so they could rest their weary bones.  It doesn't matter if the game is on national television, or if fans paid good money to see the best players in the league, only to see him on the bench in a suit and tie.

Usually when a player sits out a game, it's either because he's injured, in foul trouble, or has a disagreement with his coach.  You could limit the number of minutes your typical millionaire superstar athlete plays during a game, but that doesn't mean he's not going to turn an ankle or worse on the court.

It's not exactly a glamorous life on the road.  There are the plane flights, hotel accommodations, practices, meet-and-greets and all that other stuff before they get to the arena.  When the game is over, it's rinse-lather-repeat.  Now multiply that times forty.

The NBA has tried to remedy the player fatigue by scheduling fewer back-to-back games during the season, and mandating a week off during the All Star break.  But that hasn't worked.  It seems the more likely your team is going to make the playoffs, the more likely it is that the best players are going to sit as the season winds down, whether they need to or not.

Come playoff time, however, your team had better be up for it because it only takes four games to determine whether you move on or move out.  Unless, of course, it's the first or second round and your team has a commanding lead in the series.  So you rest your stars for the next series.

The NBA is in kind of a bind here.  They could reduce the schedule, force stars to play in national TV games, or restrict nights off to home games only.  But that would run afoul of the players association, certain franchise owners and the league's numerous business partners.

Don't be shocked if this trend of resting athletes hits other sports.  Concerns over injuries, concussions and other issues of players' safety have become paramount in recent years.  Or it should be, as long as the leagues make sensible decisions regarding when, where and how long their players should play.  That, and a good refund policy for fans who want their money back when they don't want to see no scrubs.

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The Minnesota Timberwolves ended their 2016-17 season with a 31-51 record.  That's slightly better than last year, but still not good enough to make the playoffs for the 13th consecutive time.  Now coach Tom Thibodeau will put on his front office hat, and decide what to do with yet another lottery pick in the NBA Draft to go along with his phenoms Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Wiggins.  But hey, the Wolves have a cool new logo and a refurbished Target Center to look forward to, if nothing else.

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Finally, here's our off-the-wall NBA Finals pick:  Cleveland vs. Golden State. 

Pot Shots '17: Volume 1

English: University of North Carolina Tarheels Interlocking NC logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tar Heels The Final One

North Carolina won the NCAA men's basketball title Monday night with a 71-65 victory over Gonzaga at Glendale, AZ.  This is the Tar Heels' sixth championship and third for coach Roy Williams, with the last one coming in 2009.  Gonzaga, who finally made it to the Final Four after being tournament regulars for decades, got to prove they could play with the big boys.  The game was no classic, what with ragged play and the officials making every call they could possibly make.  But it was still close before UNC put things away in the final seconds.  Now it's time to see whether Carolina's success holds up in the face of alleged academic fraud.

South Carolina Wins UConn's Title

South Carolina defeated Mississippi State 67-55 to win the NCAA women's basketball title at Dallas Sunday, giving coach Dawn Staley the championship she never had as a player.  But all anyone will remember from this Women's Final Four is how MSU ended the University of Connecticut's 111-game winning streak, when Morgan William's overtime buzzer-beater struck down the Huskies 66-64.  It was, by most accounts, the greatest women's basketball game ever played.  had this not happened, coach Geno Auriemma's team would have gone for a fifth straight national championship, and Staley would not have had the chance to cut down the net.

NHL Says No More Olympic Rings

After months of hemming and hawing, the National Hockey League has decided not to send its players to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea.  The owners and commissioner Gary Bettman, it seems, no longer want to suspend the league's schedule for a couple of weeks in February every four years,  just so its players could go halfway around the world to help promote the game.  They also don't care much for the chintzy manner in which the International Olympic Committee is treating them.  Instead, the NHL would rather promote its World Cup of Hockey, which got off to a rip-roaring start in Toronto last fall.  The players are not happy about this, and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has said he'd go anyway to play for his Russian countrymen.  NBC isn't happy either, because its telecasts of Olympic hockey draws better numbers than most NHL games outside of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  So thanks to this short-sighted decision, we are about to turn the clock back to 1994, which was the last time Olympic hockey teams consisted of college kids and alleged amateurs.  Any chance of a "Miracle On Ice" here?

The Boycott That Wasn't

The U.S. women's hockey team is currently playing in the world championships in Michigan.  But they almost didn't go due to a pay dispute with USA Hockey, the sport's governing body.  See, the players were being paid next to nothing outside of the Olympics, so they threatened a boycott.  This would have given the world championships more publicity than they normally would get, and for the wrong reasons.  Both sides did come to an agreement with the players getting most of what they asked for.  That's a big victory for women's hockey in America, but the struggle for acceptance goes on.  The University of North Dakota recently announced that it is dropping its women's hockey program.
 

Twins 2017: Reality Bites

English: Target Field (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's Opening Day at Target Field, when the Minnesota Twins are hosting the Kansas City Royals in their season opener.  The weather is acceptable by local standards for early April.  Dessa, the locally-famous hip hop artist, is performing the national anthem with the Minnesota Orchestra.  If you're not in the mood for overpriced beer and brats, there are much healthier options (relatively speaking) waiting for you in the concession areas, including chef Andrew Zimmern's ballpark eatery.

(You know who Zimmern is, right?  He hosts a show on the Travel Channel called "Bizarre Foods", where he goes around the world sampling the local cuisine.  And by "local cuisine", we're talking delicacies like pig testicles, for which after eating it and pronouncing it yummy he lives to tell the tale.  But we digress . . .)

Then the game begins.  The team you see on the field is mostly the same one that lost 103 games last season, the worst since the franchise came to Minnesota from Washington in 1961.  And chances are real good that they'll lose at least 90 games again this season.

The most significant moves the Twins made all winter were to hire Derek Falvey away from the American League champion Cleveland Indians to be its new chief baseball officer, who in turn hired Thad Levine to be his general manager.  The only other move they made was in acquiring catcher Jason Castro, who previously played for the Houston Astros.

• Brian Dozier, the team's best player, is still a Twin because Falvey was unable to unload him while he still had some trade value.
• Joe Mauer is nearing the end of his long-term contract, which the Twins and their fans have come to regard as an albatross.  He can't catch any more, so they stick him at first base, keeping them from slotting a young player who needs experience.  But Mauer can still hit the ball on occasion.
• There was a huge reaction to ByungHo Park being demoted to the minors after a successful spring training.  If we've learned anything from watching mutual fund commercials on TV, it's that past performance doesn't always mirror future results.
• Outside of starting pitchers Ervin Santana, Kyle Gibson, Phil Hughes and Hector Santiago, the rest of the Twins staff is a disaster waiting to happen.  Losing Trevor May and Glen Perkins to injury doesn't help.
• The Twins' designated future stars, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, are still trying to prove they're worthy of the hype they've been given by just about everybody.  Is this finally the year?
• This is Paul Molitor's third season as Twins manager, and it might be his last.  Which is too bad because one wonders how much more successful he'd be with better players.

After several losing season, Twins fans are faced with a stark choice:  Keep watching this team and hope things will get better.  Or your time would be better spent binge watching reruns of "Bizarre Foods".  You could do worse.

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The Twins' flagship radio station is still at 96.3 FM, but the call letters have changed from KTWN to KQGO.  The Pohlad family, who own both the team and the station, did that to make it fit with its Go brand of media properties:  Go 95.3 (hip hop) and Go News (the former Bring Me The News).  A station built on adult alternative rock and baseball is still a hard sell, and the signal isn't all that great.  But the Pohlads don't care, because as long as the Twins are terrible, they're not going anywhere.
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Our projected division and wild card picks in Major League Baseball.  Ignore them at your peril.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Central:  Cleveland Indians
East:       Boston Red Sox
West:      Houston Astros
Wild Card:  New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Central:  Chicago Cubs
East:        New York Mets
West:       Los Angeles Dodgers
Wild Card:  Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals

UPDATE (4/3/17):  The Twins won on Opening Day 7-1 over the Royals.  Dessa did not perform the national anthem, claiming illness.

Raiders Take a Chance on Las Vegas

Oakland Raiders logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By 2020, the NFL Raiders will be trading in their hardscrabble existence in Oakland for the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas.  This isn't the first time they did that, having spent 12 seasons in the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles (1982-94) before moving back to the Bay Area in 1995.

Once the Raiders touch down in Vegas, they will have a new domed stadium waiting for them, paid for by local taxpayers and the Bank of America.  The only reason they're staying in Oakland for the next couple of years is that Raiders owner Mark Davis doesn't want his team to play outdoors in the desert heat at a small college stadium.

This is the third franchise shift for the NFL in the past year.  The Rams returned to LA after two decades in St. Louis, and the Chargers bolted out of San Diego to join them.  Which left the Raiders, who still have a significant fan base in southern California, looking east.

The NFL (and most professional sports) used to avoid Las Vegas because of its reputation as a gambling haven.  But now it seems hypocritical in an era where sports betting and fantasy football are big business.  The league's owners were almost unanimous in approving the Raiders' move.

Oakland now joins St. Louis and San Diego as cities abandoned by the NFL for bigger bucks elsewhere, and might never see them again.  The Coliseum, which had been the Raiders' off and on home base for over 50 years, is now a concrete dump that's badly in need of repair.  Even Major League Baseball's Athletics couldn't wait to get out of there.  And the NBA Golden State Warriors, who are currently playing at Oracle Arena next door, will be moving to San Francisco in a couple of years.

The Raiders began as an original member of the American Football League in 1960.  After struggling for a few years, the team began to dominate the league (and later the NFL after the merger) by living the "just win, baby" philosophy of managing general partner Al Davis.  They've played in five Super Bowls, winning twice in Oakland (1977 and 1980) and once in Los Angeles (1984).  They last appeared in 2003, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

So many memorable players have donned the Silver and Black over the years.  Here's some of them:  Daryl Lamonica, Jim Otto, George Blanda, Ben Davidson, Jim Plunkett, Bo Jackson, coach John Madden, Ray Guy, Ken Stabler, Marcus Allen, Fred Biletnikoff and Howie Long.

In the 2016 season, the Raiders finished second in the AFC West division with a 12-4 record.  They lost to the Houston Texans in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs.

Playing in Oakland for the next two seasons (no word on what will happen in 2019) is going to be awkward for the Raiders and their fans, the most rabid in the NFL.  What if they win a Super Bowl, as Davis suggested they might?  Forget handing another Vince Lombardi Trophy to the New England Patriots.  Awarding one to a lame duck franchise could result in another embarrassing moment for commissioner Roger Goodell.

And Las Vegas?  There will be plenty of questions about the viability of an NFL franchise in a growing city with a transient population, and how the league will handle the gambling situation.  With every team getting the stadium deals they wanted and no more worlds to conquer (unless it's London), how long will it be before the NFL discovers all that glitters isn't really gold?

United They Kick

Soccerball with USA flag (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Minnesota United FC (aka the Loons) are the latest pro sports franchise to come into the Twin Cities.  Their first season in Major League Soccer, after years in the minors, began Friday with a match at Portland against the Timbers.

The Loons are owned by Bill McGuire, who was once the CEO of United Health Care.  He bought the team from the North American Soccer League in 2012, just before they were about to fold it.  Manny Lagos, a longtime figure in Minnesota soccer, is the team's sporting director (read:  general manager).  Adrian Heath is the coach.

The team will play its home games for the next two seasons at the University of Minnesota's football stadium.  Then, probably in the 2019 season, the Loons will move into their new soccer-specific digs in St. Paul, having successfully wrangled money out of a skeptical state legislature that had already seen too many stadium deals.

As an expansion team, United's roster is stocked with the usual castoffs from other squads, young players and the holdovers from their previous incarnation in the NASL.  Heath, who previously led another MLS startup in Orlando, will be tasked with bringing his new team together and making them competitive against the more established competition.

MLS has 22 teams this season (Atlanta United is the other new franchise), and is looking for more.  Soccer's popularity in this country is rising as more Americans are taking the game seriously, thanks to TV coverage of the World Cup and the English Premiere League, as well as attention paid to the U.S. men's and women's national squads.  And they have national television deals with Fox, FS1 and ESPN.

As a league, MLS is kind of a wannabe on the international soccer stage.  Their biggest stars (who are invariably placed in New York and Los Angeles) tend to be veterans with one foot in retirement.  They don't seem to have an identity of their own, having chosen to co-opt the European leagues.  They have teams named Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City.  Their schedules read "Los Angeles Galaxy vs. New York Red Bulls", forcing fans to figure out which one is the home team.  Their season runs from March to December, which is longer than that of the NHL and NBA.  And their plan to expand to at least 28 teams is a reminder of how the original NASL folded back in the 1980s.  Too many teams with too little interest equal a league collapsing of its own weight.

Minnesota United, being a first-year team, is not expected to do much this season.  Most of the players are unknown to the average fan in and out of Minnesota, and will certainly have some adjusting to do.  But this has been a good market for pro soccer, with the Kicks and Strikers of the original NASL selling out the old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington back in the 1970s and 80s.  Can the Loons be just as successful with a new generation of soccer fans?  We'll soon find out.

Wolves 2016-17: Not Ready for Prime Time

The current Minnesota Timberwolves logo (2008-present) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Promises, promises.  We hear enough of them from political candidates who'd get elected on them, but somehow never quite deliver.  The same can be said for the Minnesota Timberwolves, who keep building their their roster through the NBA draft hoping for a better result (isn't that the definition of insanity?), only to spend the next season looking at ping pong balls again.

As Wolves fans have been told time and again, the team's young combo platter of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Wiggins, Zach LaVine and others along with new coach Tom Thibodeau would be helping put Minnesota on the NBA map for seasons to come.  And help make a refurbished Target Center in Minneapolis the place to be.

So how come the Wolves are 22-35 at the All Star break?  Is it Thibodeau having problems meshing his coaching style with his players?  Or is it because the Wolves gave up too may big leads, lose close games and sometimes don't show up for them?

Lately, the Wolves have been playing better basketball.  Towns and Wiggins have been improving their game to the point of becoming highlight material.  So has Ricky Rubio, in spite of reports that he's on the trading block.  And LaVine had been playing up to his potential until a knee injury forced him to prematurely end his season.

For all the talk about how there's only two NBA teams who matter this season--the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, there's a surprising number of teams within striking distance of the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.  The Wolves happen to be one of those teams willing to be the sacrificial lambs in the first round against the Bay Area All Stars, as they are currently three games back of the Denver Nuggets.  It sounds like a mirage for a team for a team that hasn't been to the playoffs for more than a decade.

The Wolves might not be ready for prime time, but the NBA's TV partners TNT and ESPN seem to think that, despite their record, they really are contenders.  And guys like Charles Barkley can't help singing their praises on TV.

Minnesota fans have heard all these hosannas from Barkley and Co., and after seeing this team play, they have a right to be skeptical.  The Timberwolves don't need more kudos.  They need victories.  And winning, not more promises, is what's going to make the Wolves a must-watch for the next few years.

Wild 2016-17: What Could Go Wrong?

Alternate logo since 2003. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Wild, coming out of the NHL's All Star break, has been playing better than anyone anticipated this season given their history.  They have 69 points, leading not only the Central Division but also the Western Conference.  There has not been a major slump nor a debilitating injury to a key player as of the end of January.

The reasons are these:  New coach Bruce Boudreau has so far been making the right moves on the ice, so he hasn't had a chance to wear out his welcome with players and fans just yet. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk is having a great year.  So are Ryan Suter, Zach Parise, free agent pickup Eric Staal and others.

Warning signs?  You mean besides the lack of a slump, or some player who's had an upper/lower body injury?  Boudreau coached the Central Division team in the NHL's All Star Three-On-Three tournament in Los Angeles, and lost the preliminary round to the host Pacific Division 10-3.  Dubnyk let in as many goals as the previous Central goalie before the mini-game mercifully ended.

With two months left to go in the season, the usual factors of keeping things together--staying healthy, avoiding a tailspin, and securing home-ice advantage in the playoffs--will come into play.

But with the Wild's success this season, hockey pundits like NBC's Pierre McGuire are projecting them as a Stanley Cup finalist.  That's kind of optimistic considering that the last time they made a serious run at the Cup was in 2003, losing in the Western Conference finals to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.  Since then, it's been mostly one series and out.

Regular season success doesn't always translate to a championship.  Just ask the Washington Capitals, who as it happens lead the league with 72 points.  They also had a great season a couple of years ago before bowing out in the early rounds of the playoffs.  That could also happen to the Wild because the conference they're in is so competitive.

We've also heard Super Bowl talk surrounding the Minnesota Vikings when they started this past season at 5-0, before injuries and dissension put them out of the playoffs.

So before the Minnesota Wild celebrate their Stanley Cup victory with a parade down the streets of St. Paul in mid-June, they have to get through the regular season first.  Minnesota sports fans have had plenty of experience with teams that don't finish what they've started.  Maybe this time things will be different?

The Los Angeles Chargers 2.0

Chargers' AFL logo 1966–1969 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One year after the Rams returned to Los Angeles from St. Louis, they're getting new neighbors.

The Chargers, who have called San Diego home for more than 50 years, is moving up the freeway to the City of Angels.  Just like LA lost two NFL teams (Rams and Raiders) two decades earlier, they get two back at almost the same rate.

The reason the Chargers are bolting San Diego (you knew this was coming, didn't you?  Might as well get it out of the way.) isn't just because Alex Spanos, the owner of the franchise, couldn't get the city and its residents to replace aging Qualcomm Stadium--a tax levy vote failed to pass in November, but also that LA is such a ripe market that he couldn't afford not to move.

Both the Rams and Chargers will be playing out of a new stadium in Inglewood come 2019.  Until then, the Rams' temporary home is the Memorial Coliseum, a historical venue which seats around 100,000.  The Chargers will have to make do with the StubHub Center in nearby Carson.  The home of soccer's LA Galaxy would upgrade its seating capacity to around 27,000, which is well below the NFL standard.

The Chargers began in Los Angeles as a charter member of the American Football League in 1960, then moved the following season to San Diego.  They dominated the AFL's West Division in the early 60s, winning the league championship in 1963 (51-10 over the Boston Patriots).  Following the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, the Chargers won ten West Division titles in the American Football Conference, the last in 2009.  Their only Super Bowl appearance was in 1995, when they lost to the San Francisco 49ers 49-26 at Miami.  In the 2016 season, the Chargers were at the bottom of the AFC West with a 5-11 record.

The Chargers had their share of stars during their years in San Diego, including John Hadl, Lance Alworth, Speedy Duncan. LaDainian Tomlinson, Dan Fouts, Phillip Rivers and many more.    Sid Gillman, Norv Turner and Don Coryell made their names as coaches here.

Now that LA's dance card has been filled, what other city will NFL owners use as bait to force their constituencies to pony up big bucks for a new stadium where they already are?  The Oakland Raiders are close to announcing their own move to Las Vegas, so that's out.  San Antonio?  London?  Toronto?  Heck, why not San Diego with its great weather and rabid fan base?  Once they decide to build a new stadium, they'd have a much better shot at getting a team back than, let's say, St. Louis.

But that won't be any time soon.  San Diego is the latest example of a city that's a little less "major league" because some owner thinks his franchise would make more money somewhere else, and the locals won't pay for a new playground.  So while the Los Angeles Chargers play before small crowds in a soccer stadium, the good folks of San Diego can boast about their beautiful weather.  And the Padres.