Wild 2011-12: Falling Off a Cliff

Alternate logo since 2003. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Minnesota Wild ended their 2011-12 hockey season right where people thought they would be:  out of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.  What nobody could have predicted was how far they would rise at the beginning of the season to the top of the NHL standings, followed by how hard they fell.

The 81 points the Wild accumulated with a 35-36-11 record in the Western Conference does not take into account the number of players shuffling in and out of the lineup (47) due to injuries, lack of scoring (166 goals, the fewest in the NHL since the 2004-05 lockout) and blowing big leads.

In a situation like this, you would normally expect a team to do some major off-season housecleaning, at least in the front office.  But Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher and first year coach Mike Yeo will both be back next season.

Instead, the Wild will be active in the free agent market this summer to go along with previous acquisitions Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi.  Most often mentioned as a potential target is Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils, a Minnesota native whose father was a former North Star.  But with the record the Wild have had the past few years, you'd think the better free agents would want to go with a team that actually has a shot at a Stanley Cup.

A more realistic prospect for the Wild is to keep drafting and developing young talent.  You've seen some of them, racking up frequent flyer miles between St. Paul and Houston (their AHL affiliate) as emergency replacements every time a regular has an upper or lower body injury.

What would really help the Wild in the long run (for themselves and their fans) is to move to a division in which they are not the only team in the Central time zone, instead of having far-flung rivalries with Vancouver and Calgary.  The NHL had realignment on the table until they backed off to make it part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the players union, rekindling fears of another lockout.  They also have to figure out where to put the Phoenix Coyotes should they move.

So what the Wild have to address next season--should there be one--is to reduce the amount of injuries, increase the goal scoring, and to stay in the game during regulation time.  If there's another season like the last one, it really will be time for a housecleaning.

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The Stanley Cup playoffs begin Wednesday where, for the first time in this country, every game will be seen on TV through four of Comcast's networks (NBC, NBC Sports Network, CNBC and NHL Network).  After two months of watching teams battle it out on your oversized flat screen or your undersized phone, the two teams that emerge in June to vie for the Cup will be:

Pittsburgh vs. Vancouver.

Kentucky and Baylor Rule College Basketball

UK Basketball logo, recreated in SVG format, used colour code from main University of Kentucky article. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two teams that have dominated college basketball this past season, Kentucky and Baylor, finished it with national championships in the men's and women's divisions, in that order.

The Kentucky Wildcats defeated Kansas 67-59 at the NCAA men's championship game in New Orleans Monday.  Sophomore Daron Lamb led with 22 points in a game that wasn't exactly close until the final minutes, when the Jayhawks got to within ten points before the Wildcats put them away for their first title since 1998.

For 38-2 Kentucky, this was Title Number 8 in their history, with the first four coming in the Adolph Rupp era.  That's second only to UCLA's 11, with most of them coming when John Wooden was coach.

This was also coach John Calipari's first national title, taking full advantage of recruiting players who are more interested in NBA glory than in getting an education.  Given his history of leaving schools behind before the NCAA posse imposes penalties for violations that take away their records, however, will this championship be a mirage in a few years?

Over on the women's side, Baylor defeated Notre Dame 80-61 to earn their national championship in Denver.  The Bears are the seventh team in women's college basketball to go undefeated, but the first of either sex to win 40 games

Junior Brittney Griner led the Bears with 26 points and 13 rebounds in a game they had led most of the way, but didn't fully put away the Irish until late in the second half.  Griner, you may have heard, is a 6'8 phenom who is one of the few women to dunk a basketball during a game.  She didn't do it here, but she didn't really need to.

Baylor has won its second national title, with the first one coming in 2005.  This represents something of a sea change in women's college basketball, after years of Coke and Pepsi (also known as Conneticut and Tennessee) dominating the sport.  As the talent gets better and better, they are less inclined to go to schools that stockpile the better athletes for future use.  Parity is getting closer all the time.  Now if they could only get more people to notice . . .

Twins 2012: Starting Over

Joe Mauer (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

The Minnesota Twins open their 2012 Major League Baseball season with a lot of ground to make up.  They lost 99 games last season due to injuries, bad fielding, weak hitting and poor pitching.

What any team would do in a situation like this is to make some major changes.  Not the Twins.  Ron Gardenhire is still their manager.  Joe Mauer is still behind the plate, after flirting with first base last season.  And Terry Ryan, who was their general manager before, is their general manager again.

Oh, there have been some changes.  Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel left via free agency for greener pastures.  Tsuyoshi Nishioka, the high-priced phenom from Japan, was sent to the minors.  New arrivals include Josh Willingham, Jamey Carroll, Ryan Doumit and Jason Marquis.  Free agent pitcher Joel Zumaya had to be cut when he threw out his arm, and now has to have Tommy John surgery.

The pitching staff is a big concern.  This could be Francisco Liriano's last season in Minnesota, depending on how well he pitches.  Scott Baker is injured, and Carl Pavano is at the center of an alleged extortion plot currently under investigation.  With Nathan's departure, that leaves Matt Capps as the team's undisputed closer, for what it's worth.

The Twins will have to rely on the bats of Mauer, Willingham, Doumit and Denard Span if they want any kind of offense this season.  Justin Morneau, who has never really been the same player since his concussion, has been hinting at retirement if things don't improve.  Until then, he's the team's designated hitter.

The Twins won't get anywhere near an American League Central Division title (that'll be Detroit), but they won't lose 99 games, either.  Nevertheless, it'll be a great summer to take in a game at Target Field, if you happen to be a fan of the other team.

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Two games have already been played this season, with Seattle and Oakland splitting a series in Japan that also served as the Mariners Ichiro Suzuki's homecoming.  Two more games will be added at the end of the season, as MLB decided to expand the number of teams to its postseason by two.

Here's what else happened between Game 7 of the World Series and Opening Day:

• Albert Pujols, fresh off a world championship in St. Louis, took his talents to southern California and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
• Manny Ramirez, once his 50-game suspension for failing a drug test is over, will be in an Athletics uniform.
• Ryan Braun, the National League MVP with Milwaukee, doesn't have to serve his suspension right now.
• The Miami Marlins have a new name, new look, new ballpark and new manager in Ozzie Guillen.  Will it mean a new result in the standings?
• The Los Angeles Dodgers are out of bankruptcy, and have new owners that include Magic Johnson.  The New York Mets are still trying to recover from being one of the many victims of Bernie Madoff.
• This is the Houston Astros' 50th and final season in the National League.  They move to the American League next year, where things won't get any easier for one of the worst teams in baseball.

With that, our projected division winners and wild card participants.  Please don't take them to the bank.

American League East  Tampa Bay Rays
                               Central  Detroit Tigers
                               West  Los Angeles Angels
                               Wild Card  Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers

National League East  Philadelphia Phillies
                             Central  Milwaukee Brewers
                             West  San Francisco Giants
                             Wild Card  Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks

NFL Declares Mutiny on Bounties

New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton after team's Super Bowl win, 7 Feb. 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)In response to evidence that New Orleans Saints players had been targeting--and deliberately trying to injure--opposing quarterbacks such as Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers for thousands of dollars, while coaches either encouraged the practice or looked the other way, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decided to show some spine (unlike other commissioners) and meted out the following punishment for the decidedly un-Saintly behavior:

• Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the 2012 season without pay.  That means he's just lost over $7 million.
• Some assistants and the Saints' general manager got partial suspensions.
• The Saints were fined $500,000, with their second-round draft picks for this year and next taken away.

What will happen to the players involved is the other shoe to be dropped soon.

Goodell wanted to send a message that the violence leading to concussions and other serious injuries on the field have been negatively impacting the game, and will no longer be tolerated.  Which is hardly a surprise because, due to the growing number of former players threatening legal action for the league's alleged indifference to their health problems caused by injuries, they've been going in another direction for some time.  For instance, quarterbacks are now being treated as protected species, to the consternation of certain defensive backs.

It would be nice to think that Goodell's actions eventually will result in a kinder, gentler NFL.  Since the league (and football itself) became America's national pastime because of the violence and action it sells, the chances of that happening are not good.  Anything less, and the NFL will be faced with empty stadiums and declining TV ratings.

As for the Saints, this has transformed them from a feel-good story in post-Katrina New Orleans into the dirtiest team in the NFL.  Besides offering cash bounties for injuring the other team's player, they were one of the league leaders in roughing-the-passer penalties.  But you can't argue with the results.  After all, the Saints did win a Super Bowl, and the NFL is not going to take that away from them.  Who says crime doesn't pay?

Hockey's Grim Fairy Tale

Benilde-St. Margaret's, a private school based in suburban Minneapolis, won the Minnesota State high School Class AA boys hockey championship Saturday night.  Grant Besse scored all five goals as the Red Knights defeated Hill-Murray 5-1.

As wonderful as Besse and his teammates' performance was, everyone who watched the tournament knew it wasn't about them.  Instead they were playing for Jack Jablonski, who's not even a member of the varsity squad.

In a junior varsity game in December 2011, sophomore Jablonski was checked into the boards from behind head first by an opposing player.  The result was a spinal cord injury, which doctors say would negate the use of his legs.  In an instant, Jablonski's life changed forever.

Since then, there have been the usual fundraisers in and out of Benilde to help offset the medical bills Jablonski's parents have been getting.  At school, kids who didn't care too much for Jablonski or for hockey joined those who did in rallying to his side.  Talk about peer pressure.

The Minnesota State High School League and other hockey organizations almost immediately issued stiffer penalties for hits like the one that took out Jablonski.  That's great, but the new rules are only effective as long as the officials don't swallow their whistles.  It also goes against a culture that runs from peewees to the pros:  If you're not knocking somebody's block off on the ice, then you're not really playing the game.

The local news stations in the Twin Cities have pretty much made Jablonski their mascot, just like they do with every subject who happens to have "special needs".   They get TV airtime because they're great for the suburban mom demographic they cater to these days.  So Jablonski was subject to the usual patronizing profile during sweeps month of a person whose "challenge" is supposed to inspire us all.  How the Jablonski family allowed this is beyond anyone's comprehension.

Thus was born the perfect storm when Benilde qualified for the iconic hockey tournament at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.  They already had a built-in audience because of Jablonski, so TV ratings figured to be high.  And so were the constant reminders of his plight during local newscasts and tournament coverage.

The unranked Red Knights didn't disappoint.  They swept through Edina, Lakeville South and Hill-Murray as if the seas had parted, making you wonder if the other teams had gotten the memo about not messing with the fairy tale by actually beating Benilde.  It made the whole tournament look like a WWE-style setup, preordained from the start.

And there was Jablonski, looking like the Grand Poobah in his wheelchair, cheering on his team from the safety of his suite at the 'X".  The celebration would have been complete if he had been allowed on the ice to be with the team as they accepted their medals, if the MSHSL hadn't deferred to their attorneys due to insurance issues.

The thing is, none of this is Jablonski's fault.  He didn't set out to become famous by getting knocked out in a hockey game and ending up paralyzed for life, but that's the way it turned out.  Who knows?  He might end up changing the game of hockey for the better.  Then again, he also might have inspired some troubled kid to do damage to his body, blame it on somebody else, and get all the attention he'll ever need from family, whatever friends he has and the media.

After the TV stations stop fawning over Jablonski and find another paralyzed individual or cute child with a fatal disease to exploit for ratings, he and his family face a tough road ahead.  Medical costs will pile up, and donations aren't nearly enough to cover the insurance, so taxpayers will end up footing the bill.  He won't be able to live independently, with caregivers watching his every move. 

After the fairy tale comes the reality.  Even Cinderella had to pick up the pieces after the clock struck midnight.

Best wishes to Jack Jablonski and his family.  They'll need it.

We Have a Stadium Deal. Now What?

Image via WikipediaBy the 2016 NFL football season, the Minnesota Vikings could be playing in a stadium large enough to swallow its current Metrodome home, and be built for less than a billion dollars.

The Vikings, the state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis came to a tentative agreement this week on a proposed $975 million stadium, to be built on the Metrodome's east parking lot.  It would have a fixed roof (though a retractable one is optional), seat 65,000 (though it could also be expanded for big events such as the Super Bowl), and have enough left over for a Vikings Hall of Fame.

Now comes the fun part.  The Minnesota Legislature, the Minneapolis City Council and the NFL have to approve the stadium.  And they have a few weeks to do it, since the Legislature is scheduled to adjourn sometime in April.

Because financing for the proposed stadium includes electronic pull tabs and diverting previously established  local taxes, both the Legislature and City Council are extremely reluctant to give their OK to this.  It boils down to familiar arguments over such things as the expansion of gambling, letting the people decide in a referendum, and the propriety of building another monument to professional athletes in tough economic times.

This is also about jobs.  According to Governor Mark Dayton, the stadium would create 13,000 construction jobs and 2000 permanent positions--all without one dime in public money.  Not to mention all the employment that comes from bars, restaurants and other types of commerce that comes with a stadium.

For the past two decades, we have heard constant nagging from the local pro sports franchises about getting new facilities to replace the ones they have, and begging local officials to give them the money so they don't have to pay for it all themselves.

• The North Stars moved to Dallas rather than play one more season at the outdated Met Sports Center in Bloomington, near where the Mall of America now stands.  So millions were spent to build a new hockey arena in St. Paul to attract the NHL expansion team that became the Wild.
• The Twins spent years getting out of the Teflon dome that was made for football, and into the sunshine--even to the point of almost moving the team to North Carolina--before finally landing at Target Field.
• The Vikings' attempts at getting out of their no-longer-adequate Metrodome, and into newer digs in the northern suburbs have always fizzled.  Until now.

Let this be the last time for awhile that a Minnesota pro sports franchise gets the palace they (and their fans) think they deserve.  There is so much more to take care of, but two decades of stadium talk has been a time suck.  This new proposal is not the best one there is for all involved, but it beats the alternative of having no pro football at all.

Legislators and City Council members, the ball is in your possession.  What are you going to do with it?

Davy Jones (1945-2012): The 'Cute Monkee'

Davy Jones of the Monkees at a press conference in Sydney, 1968 / photographed by Greg Lee for Australian Photographic Agency (Photo credit: State Library of New South Wales collection)Davy Jones, the actor and singer who became a teenage idol in the 1960s with The Monkees, died of a heart attack on Leap Year Day at age 66.  Think of him as the Justin Bieber of the era.

To anyone in our audience who isn't a Baby Boomer (or even if you are), an explanation of who The Monkees were is in order.  They were a pop group created in the mid-60s by TV and music executives to be an American counterpart with The Beatles, and other British-based rock bands of the time.

After numerous auditions involving actors and singers, four were chosen to comprise the group--Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork.  Since they were supposed to resemble the Beatles, each man had their roles.  For Jones, it was Paul McCartney, the "Cute Beatle".

"The Monkees" debuted on NBC in the fall of 1966 as a fast-paced comedy with music segments.  At the same time, the songs that were introduced on the show made their way to Top 40 radio and to record stores.  Most of the hit records ("Last Train to Clarksville", "I'm a Believer", etc.) were sung by Dolenz, but Jones contributed with "Daydream Believer", "Valleri" and "I Wanna Be Free".  Many of the tunes were written by some of the top songwriters in music at the time, including Carole King and Neil Diamond.

As the Monkees' success grew, the group started raising a stink about becoming a real band instead of being a front for session musicians, because they weren't allowed to play instruments and to write their own material.  They got their wish, and with it they produced a couple of albums on their own.

When the TV show ended after two seasons, so did The Monkees as a group.  Jones made one memorable appearance on "The Brady Bunch", but other than that he did some stage acting and continued to tour with The Monkees (with or without Nesmith, who seemed to have his own agenda), as well as on his own on the oldies circuit.

Critics may carp at how artificial The Monkees were (they were dubbed "The Prefab Four"), but they were actually a pretty good band.  They had several memorable pop hits that still resonate today, and their TV show paved the way for the music videos we saw first on MTV and later You Tube.  And Davy Jones was one reason why.