Wild 2013-14: Not Ready for Prime Time

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Doesn't Kill a Football Coach . . .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Can Tom Barnard Save "The Ticket"?

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

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

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

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

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

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

In other Cumulus news:

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

Vikings 2013: Any Questions?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enough questions.  Here's our projected division winners.

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

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

Miley Cyrus: "Twerking" The Line

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

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

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

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

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

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

Red Flags Thrown on Vikings Stadium.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Always read the fine print.

A-Rod, the Damned Yankee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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