Last night I watched (and caught the important moments of) the following: BC vs. VT, Scrubs, Gophers vs OSU, The Office, World Series, Wild vs Oilers and Always sunny in Philly. The conclusion that I came to is that Lou Holtz (say it don't spray it little creepy man), Tim McCarver (a tad slow, but his mom says he's special) and Doug Woog (has apparently never watched hockey before) are the worst announcers in sports now, and that's saying alot in a world that includes Madden, Packer and Walton. The Minnesota Wild, on the other hand, have the best TV guys in the biz.
I'm heading to Madison this weekend for Halloween (big deal). I'll probably hit up the UW vs Indiana game on Saturday and try and take some pictures of Mad-Town on gameday while talking smack to the local drunken Sconnies.
The message board is bare, I would really appreciate it if you guys could put some posts up and get this thing started. Thanks. http://tylerbpeterson.proboards91.com/
Tell me your thoughts by emailing me at TheMinnesotaSportsGuy@gmail.com
Friday, October 26, 2007
Skoal Vikings!
The Vikes are home this weekend and Chilly is facing his old team. Philly has been struggling this season, but are the type of team that could cause the Vikings fits. They run alot of screens and short passing plays. We all know that the Vikes can stop the run dead, stopping the pass is another story. On offense it's looking like Kelly Holcomb will be the starter, let's see if he looks any more comfortable now that he's had a couple of weeks to get the offense. Will Chilly unleash All Day and let's him get 20-30 carries? Who knows. This is a pivotal game for the Purple and Gold, a loss on Sunday could mean a completely lost season. Skoal Vikings!!!
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Tell me your thoughts by emailing me at TheMinnesotaSportsGuy@gmail.com
Sound off on the message board at http://tylerbpeterson.proboards91.com/
Torii still waiting, Nathan "One more year!"
Torii Hunter is saying that the Twins still haven't made him an offer. It's looking less and less like he's going to come back. The team gave Joe Nathan a one year extension, basically postponing what is sure to be another tricky contract situation. Torii wants a 5Yr/$75Mil contract and the Twins have to worry about Santana's contract coming up at the end of next year. I just hope we end up keeping one of them and don't end up empty handed. Unlike the T-Wolves, I trust Twins management to make the right decision, even with Terry Ryan gone.
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Tell me your thoughts by emailing me at TheMinnesotaSportsGuy@gmail.com
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Canadian Whoopin' Sticks
The Wild dropped another tough one last night in Edmonton. After battling back in the second period to draw even at 3-3 the Oilers took the lead in the third. The Wild responded and tied it up, forcing the game into overtime. I was a madman with the remote control last night, and I caught almost the entire third and OT. Roloson was standing on this head in OT, multiple point blank chances were blown by the Wild at the end of the game. Harding got the start in net and looked uncomfortable, especially in the shootout.
The Wild travel to Denver for yet another division game on Sunday before coming home to the Ex for a match up Tuesday night against Sid the Kid and the Pens.
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The Wild travel to Denver for yet another division game on Sunday before coming home to the Ex for a match up Tuesday night against Sid the Kid and the Pens.
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T-Wolves: Who's going to make the team?
Edwards got cut from the team yesterday without ever playing a regular season game (and very little preseason). That means 2 guys still have to go before opening day. Howard is basically gone, I believe some sort of 2-1 or 3-2 deal will go down this weekend. What do you guys think is going to happen? What do you think the best lineup (now) would be?
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BCS/BC/Gophers Quick Notes
The number 2 seed has been cursed. Boston College went into Virginia Tech last night trying to be the only 2 seed this October to hold on to their ranking for longer than a week. To tell you the truth, there haven't been any teams that have really impressed me in college football this year and BC still doesn't. The game was a puntfest for the most part. BC has a great run D (probably the best in the nation), and all VT does is run (which didn't work). Crappy weather and receivers slowed down the Eagles to a halt for the entire game, except for the last three minutes. Matt Ryan billing as the star of the show finally became a reality at the end. Leading BC down the field and into the end-zone with a minute left, the Eagles successfully executed an onside kick (or VT did a horrendous job executing) and Ryan took care of the rest, completing a 30 yard pass to win. Lucky? Maybe. Good leadership skill? Definitely. NFL potential? Hard to tell, BC has a great O line (he has days and days to toss), but their receivers suck, it's sometimes tough to tell how good he really is. For now they stay at 2 and are my pick to go to the national championship and lose to the Buckeyes.
The Gophers travel to the Big House in Ann Arbor, and Brewster is starting a Freshman-heavy secondary for the first time. Might as well look to the future. I can see Henne and Manningham tearing them apart and eradicating the last shreds of manhood these guys have left, all in front of 100,000...Go Gophers (sigh)
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The Gophers travel to the Big House in Ann Arbor, and Brewster is starting a Freshman-heavy secondary for the first time. Might as well look to the future. I can see Henne and Manningham tearing them apart and eradicating the last shreds of manhood these guys have left, all in front of 100,000...Go Gophers (sigh)
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WCHA Weekend Preview
I'll start with the Gophers game last night. Top to bottom the CCHA isn't nearly as good as the WCHA. The Gophers looked good in the first two periods, dominating the neutral zone, dominating possession and peppering the OSU goalie. All of the forwards can fly and have good noses for the puck. Ohio State was outmatched by the U in every facet of the game, the game was never really in question. An alarming tendency (at least to Gophers fans) is that as the games go on, the often physically outmatched (in size that is, OSU looked alot bigger) Gophers tend to be on their heels for the third period. The key to beating them is to weather the initial storm and grind it out, this is why I think a team like Duluth could cause them fits. Enough about the Gophers...
The Bulldogs travel to Denver, a gut check series early in the season. Can Alex Stalock withstand the offensive effort that the Pioneers are sure to give in their home opener? Will they be able to score enough goals to keep up? One thing is for sure, they want to avoid a fast paced, up-and-down game. If Stalock can live up to the hype he had when he came to the school from South St. Paul (which he didn't last year, eventually getting benched for then-senior Johnson) then the Bulldogs can move up into the "Upper-Class" of the league.
St. Cloud State takes on Bemidji State at home. This should prove as a good opportunity for the Huskies to lick their wounds after the beating Duluth gave the last weekend.
The game of the weekend is North Dakota and Michigan Tech. Tech finished strong last year, goaltender Teslak had alot to do with that. Teslak is the type of goalie that can keep an overmatched (everyone in college hockey is overmatched when playing NoDak) Tech team in games. Look for low scoring games decided in overtime or the third period. The Huskies home crowd should be rowdy, considering that this is the biggest series played there in years.
Quick note: In last night's Bruins/Blackhawks game Phil Kessell (that's a swear word in Madison) scored two goals to tally the win over Jonathan Towes' (NoDak stud, scored Chicago's only goal) Blackhawks. Two WCHA kids turning around struggling original 6 teams.
Should be a fun weekend, go Huskies (the red and black ones)!!!
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The Bulldogs travel to Denver, a gut check series early in the season. Can Alex Stalock withstand the offensive effort that the Pioneers are sure to give in their home opener? Will they be able to score enough goals to keep up? One thing is for sure, they want to avoid a fast paced, up-and-down game. If Stalock can live up to the hype he had when he came to the school from South St. Paul (which he didn't last year, eventually getting benched for then-senior Johnson) then the Bulldogs can move up into the "Upper-Class" of the league.
St. Cloud State takes on Bemidji State at home. This should prove as a good opportunity for the Huskies to lick their wounds after the beating Duluth gave the last weekend.
The game of the weekend is North Dakota and Michigan Tech. Tech finished strong last year, goaltender Teslak had alot to do with that. Teslak is the type of goalie that can keep an overmatched (everyone in college hockey is overmatched when playing NoDak) Tech team in games. Look for low scoring games decided in overtime or the third period. The Huskies home crowd should be rowdy, considering that this is the biggest series played there in years.
Quick note: In last night's Bruins/Blackhawks game Phil Kessell (that's a swear word in Madison) scored two goals to tally the win over Jonathan Towes' (NoDak stud, scored Chicago's only goal) Blackhawks. Two WCHA kids turning around struggling original 6 teams.
Should be a fun weekend, go Huskies (the red and black ones)!!!
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Thursday, October 25, 2007
Oh yeah, I almost forgot...
Wade from Minnesota Lake brought something to my attention that I feel I have to toutch on quick. What the hell happened to Visanthe Shiancoe? Dude got a 5 year 18 Mil. contract with 7 Mil. gauronteed. How is this justified? I know he tweaked his groin last week, but before that he hadn't had the ball thrown to him for two weeks. You have to be kidding me with the decisions this orginization makes from the top to the bottom.
Quick Note: Things are going good this first day, keep the ideas and bitching coming. The message board is real bare right now, the idea is for you guys to form that the way you want. Take a quick minute and register (it's free) and you can create your own posts. I put up a few general topics to start discussion over there.
Quick Note: Things are going good this first day, keep the ideas and bitching coming. The message board is real bare right now, the idea is for you guys to form that the way you want. Take a quick minute and register (it's free) and you can create your own posts. I put up a few general topics to start discussion over there.
Welcome to Paradise
Finally there is a place for sports fans in the great state of Minnesota to bitch and moan together! The idea behind this board is to have a central place where Minnesota sports fans can read articles about their favorite teams and then argue and complain with each other. Sounds simple enough, eh?
I'm a die hard sports fan who sticks to his alliances (sometimes to a fault) to the home teams. I know that I am not the only one who is sick and tired of the local sports media and their closed minded pessimism. If I have to read one more depressing Sid Hartman article I'm going to "accidentally" knock my radio into the tub while listening to KFAN. I'm doing this because I love our state's teams, not because I'm getting a paycheck (that sports writers show on FSN is the definition of mailing it in, four corpses and Mike Max jacked up on red bull). With that being said, I hope you enjoy the site.
If you have something to say or ask my opinion about email me at theminnesotasportsguy@gmail.com I hope to do weekly mail bags addressing these issues.
Here is a forum I have set up for people to discuss anything that's on their mind: http://tylerbpeterson.proboards91.com/ please visit this, bookmark it, and tell your friends about it. The more people we get coming here, the more fun this will be.
I'm a die hard sports fan who sticks to his alliances (sometimes to a fault) to the home teams. I know that I am not the only one who is sick and tired of the local sports media and their closed minded pessimism. If I have to read one more depressing Sid Hartman article I'm going to "accidentally" knock my radio into the tub while listening to KFAN. I'm doing this because I love our state's teams, not because I'm getting a paycheck (that sports writers show on FSN is the definition of mailing it in, four corpses and Mike Max jacked up on red bull). With that being said, I hope you enjoy the site.
If you have something to say or ask my opinion about email me at theminnesotasportsguy@gmail.com I hope to do weekly mail bags addressing these issues.
Here is a forum I have set up for people to discuss anything that's on their mind: http://tylerbpeterson.proboards91.com/ please visit this, bookmark it, and tell your friends about it. The more people we get coming here, the more fun this will be.
Wild
Right now the Wild are the toast of the town. 7-1-1 out of the gates and lookin' good. With the Vikings hampered by a horseshit QB and Coach, the T-Wolves facing life post-KG, and the Twins just waiting for the next free agent to drop, at least we have the Wild.
Like alot of people, the Wild took some warming up to. I obviously grew up with hockey and some of my favorite childhood memories are of going to the Met to watch the Stars take on the hated Blackhawks. I was ten when they were ripped away from me, I can still remember the "Norm Green Sucks" chants echoing through the rafters. I was happy when we got a new team, but it took a while to adopt them as my own. Slowly but surly, Jaques Lemmaire has built a likable, hard working team that are easy to love (although can be boring to watch at times because of the focus on defense).
I think it's safe to say that they made the right decision in keeping Backstrom, he's solid night in and night out. After years of sometimes brilliant, and sometimes abysmal goaltending from Roloson and Fernendez, it's nice to have some consistency between the pipes. With almost all of the players returning, we are getting the type of play we expect; grind-it-out, tough D, great penalty kill, timely scoring. The biggest difference in my mind between this last year's team and this year's is that they've had another year to develop and gel as a team (I hate that term, but it fits here). Youngsters like Bouchard, Burns, and Koivu are vastly improved and all three lines are clicking. They've been able to squeak out tough games and hold off comebacks for the most part (Last night in Calgary has been the only exception). The key to winning this year lies in staying healthy (Gaborik) and finding a way to improve the powerplay. Once again we find ourselves at the bottom of PP productivity and at the top of the penalty kill. I have a feeling that this team will surprise alot of people this year and emerge as a legitimate Cup Contender. Imagine the parade down 7th St. in St. Paul, it gives me goosebumps just mentioning it. Go Wild!
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Like alot of people, the Wild took some warming up to. I obviously grew up with hockey and some of my favorite childhood memories are of going to the Met to watch the Stars take on the hated Blackhawks. I was ten when they were ripped away from me, I can still remember the "Norm Green Sucks" chants echoing through the rafters. I was happy when we got a new team, but it took a while to adopt them as my own. Slowly but surly, Jaques Lemmaire has built a likable, hard working team that are easy to love (although can be boring to watch at times because of the focus on defense).
I think it's safe to say that they made the right decision in keeping Backstrom, he's solid night in and night out. After years of sometimes brilliant, and sometimes abysmal goaltending from Roloson and Fernendez, it's nice to have some consistency between the pipes. With almost all of the players returning, we are getting the type of play we expect; grind-it-out, tough D, great penalty kill, timely scoring. The biggest difference in my mind between this last year's team and this year's is that they've had another year to develop and gel as a team (I hate that term, but it fits here). Youngsters like Bouchard, Burns, and Koivu are vastly improved and all three lines are clicking. They've been able to squeak out tough games and hold off comebacks for the most part (Last night in Calgary has been the only exception). The key to winning this year lies in staying healthy (Gaborik) and finding a way to improve the powerplay. Once again we find ourselves at the bottom of PP productivity and at the top of the penalty kill. I have a feeling that this team will surprise alot of people this year and emerge as a legitimate Cup Contender. Imagine the parade down 7th St. in St. Paul, it gives me goosebumps just mentioning it. Go Wild!
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Vikes
Brad Childress needs to go. He's apparently the only person on the planet that doesn't think AP should get the ball more. His reasoning is laughable.
We want to keep him healthy, don't give him too much of a workload.
Then why is he returning kickoffs (probably the most dangerous task in the game of football)?
He doesn't pass block well.
This is the guy who directed Philly's offense for years, um, have him release and throw to him in the flat, kinda like Brian Westbrook does ALL THE TIME.
Two running backs are better than one.
This might be true, unless one of them is 17 times better than the other.
I'll stop there because I'm starting to go light headed. Watching this team is the most frustrating and boring thing I've ever had to endure in my entire sports fan life. Childress sticks to his "West Coast Offense" even though he doesn't have to players to run it. Instead of adapting to the horses he has been given, he's hard-headedly going down with the ship. I am convinced that this team could be successful if it goes with a heavy dose of AP on offense, with Jackson getting out of the pocket, while playing both (crazy idea right) backs at the SAME TIME. Our only hope at this point is that they go 2-10 and Childress gets fired before the end of the year. We can only dream.
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We want to keep him healthy, don't give him too much of a workload.
Then why is he returning kickoffs (probably the most dangerous task in the game of football)?
He doesn't pass block well.
This is the guy who directed Philly's offense for years, um, have him release and throw to him in the flat, kinda like Brian Westbrook does ALL THE TIME.
Two running backs are better than one.
This might be true, unless one of them is 17 times better than the other.
I'll stop there because I'm starting to go light headed. Watching this team is the most frustrating and boring thing I've ever had to endure in my entire sports fan life. Childress sticks to his "West Coast Offense" even though he doesn't have to players to run it. Instead of adapting to the horses he has been given, he's hard-headedly going down with the ship. I am convinced that this team could be successful if it goes with a heavy dose of AP on offense, with Jackson getting out of the pocket, while playing both (crazy idea right) backs at the SAME TIME. Our only hope at this point is that they go 2-10 and Childress gets fired before the end of the year. We can only dream.
Tell me your thoughts by emailing me at TheMinnesotaSportsGuy@gmail.com
Sound off on the message board at http://tylerbpeterson.proboards91.com/
WCHA
I'm going to get this out of the way right now, I am not a Gophers fan. I went to St. Cloud State and I love the Huskies. In fact, I hate the Gophers. I can't wait to hear what all you maroon and golders have to say about some of the things I write, let's just say we're going have some intense, yet healthy, discussions about the subject of college hockey. Minnesota has 4 teams in the WCHA and I am going to be covering the league, top to bottom, extensively.
The Gophers, Huskies and Mavs are reeling after a rough opening weekend while the Bulldogs are laughing it up all the way der up nord.
The Gophers were embarrassed by CC in the opening weekend. Like always (or at least since Lucia took over) they boast a high flying offense headed by Okposo, Barriball and Wheeler. Goaltending, D and toughness are the glaring weaknesses that this team must address in order to take things to the next level. The talent is there (like always), it's just a question of them coming together as a team. It should be interesting to see how they respond this weekend against non-conference Ohio State.
After a couple of years of embarrassment and bitch-slapping, the Bulldogs showed the Huskies who Minnesota's top dogs are. The Bulldogs were solid, while the Huskies struggled to find themselves without Bobby Goepfert manning the pipes. Duluth leaves the friendly confines of the DECC to travel to Colorado to take on Denver and CC the next couple of weekends, this should serve as a measuring bar (and a way to see if they are really better, or if the Huskies just suck). The Huskies on the other hand begin a cupcake home stretch which should help them figure out what their identity will be this year.
A much improved Michigan Tech team waxed the Mavericks this weekend. Looks like another long winter in Mankato.
The first weekend had some surprising results, where these teams go from here should be fun to watch.
Tell me your thoughts by emailing me at TheMinnesotaSportsGuy@gmail.com
Sound off on the message board at http://tylerbpeterson.proboards91.com/
The Gophers, Huskies and Mavs are reeling after a rough opening weekend while the Bulldogs are laughing it up all the way der up nord.
The Gophers were embarrassed by CC in the opening weekend. Like always (or at least since Lucia took over) they boast a high flying offense headed by Okposo, Barriball and Wheeler. Goaltending, D and toughness are the glaring weaknesses that this team must address in order to take things to the next level. The talent is there (like always), it's just a question of them coming together as a team. It should be interesting to see how they respond this weekend against non-conference Ohio State.
After a couple of years of embarrassment and bitch-slapping, the Bulldogs showed the Huskies who Minnesota's top dogs are. The Bulldogs were solid, while the Huskies struggled to find themselves without Bobby Goepfert manning the pipes. Duluth leaves the friendly confines of the DECC to travel to Colorado to take on Denver and CC the next couple of weekends, this should serve as a measuring bar (and a way to see if they are really better, or if the Huskies just suck). The Huskies on the other hand begin a cupcake home stretch which should help them figure out what their identity will be this year.
A much improved Michigan Tech team waxed the Mavericks this weekend. Looks like another long winter in Mankato.
The first weekend had some surprising results, where these teams go from here should be fun to watch.
Tell me your thoughts by emailing me at TheMinnesotaSportsGuy@gmail.com
Sound off on the message board at http://tylerbpeterson.proboards91.com/
Wolves
KG is gone, it's over. I think that I've come to terms with this...but I haven't. It probably won't hit me until the regular season starts, or until I go to my first game this year and don't hear "from Farragut Academy...", or until I finally get the courage to watch him play for Boston (I don't know if this will ever happen, too heartbreaking). The national media doesn't know how hard of a blow this is to the local basketball community. They say things like "People should be happy that he finally has a chance to get a ring." or "It was time for the T-Wolves to move on" or my favorite "The trade will help both teams in the long run." With all that being said, it's going to take a few years for the franchise to recover, essentially in the West. KG will be missed, I just hope that somehow the franchise survives, and eventually turns this thing around.
Now that that is out of the way, something hit me last night (after seeing that the Ricky Davis trade had gone through), look at our potential starting lineup:
PG: Randy Foye
SG: Rashad McCants
SF: Corey Brewer
PF: Al Jefferson
C: Wayne Simien
With Green and Gomes off the bench.
That's not too shabby, well, at least it won't be in a couple of years if everything else shakes out. See, who we have now isn't what scares me, it's where we're going in the future. This team is full of young talent, and in the next couple of years will be well under the cap. McHale is going to have alot of decisions to make in the near future, and that's not exactly a good thing. Hanging on to these young studs could be tough to. If progress isn't made in the next two years, these guys might start jumping ship for warmer pastures.
I'm excited for the year to start so we can at least see the hand we have been delt. Let me know what you think about this years team, the KG and Ricky Davis deals, and anything else on your mind by either sending me an email at TheMinnesotaSportsGuy@gmail.com or by sounding off on the message board:
http://tylerbpeterson.proboards91.com/
It might be a long winter down on First Ave.
Now that that is out of the way, something hit me last night (after seeing that the Ricky Davis trade had gone through), look at our potential starting lineup:
PG: Randy Foye
SG: Rashad McCants
SF: Corey Brewer
PF: Al Jefferson
C: Wayne Simien
With Green and Gomes off the bench.
That's not too shabby, well, at least it won't be in a couple of years if everything else shakes out. See, who we have now isn't what scares me, it's where we're going in the future. This team is full of young talent, and in the next couple of years will be well under the cap. McHale is going to have alot of decisions to make in the near future, and that's not exactly a good thing. Hanging on to these young studs could be tough to. If progress isn't made in the next two years, these guys might start jumping ship for warmer pastures.
I'm excited for the year to start so we can at least see the hand we have been delt. Let me know what you think about this years team, the KG and Ricky Davis deals, and anything else on your mind by either sending me an email at TheMinnesotaSportsGuy@gmail.com or by sounding off on the message board:
http://tylerbpeterson.proboards91.com/
It might be a long winter down on First Ave.
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