They'd still suck but...

I've been thinking about the Wolves lately and I feel that I've relegated them to the back of the blog for too long. I chose the old wolves logo because that is what this team reminds me of- The Pre-KG not talent all-stars. I remember going to Wolves games with my father shortly after the birth of the franchise and cheering on Felton Spencer, asking Luc Longly for an autograph (I still have it around here somewhere, Tom Gugliota's too), and most of all that long wait for the first in-person win. I swear it took a good 3-4 years of going to a handful of games a year to finally see a victory.

The thing is that I believe in this team way more than I did in those teams. I believe in Randy Foye and Craig Smith. I believe that one day Al Jefferson will make us forget about KG. I believe that all Marko Jaric needed to get his game jump started was some Brazilain supermodel NaNa. I believe that the player everyone more or less thought was a throw in to help even out money issues could be our point guard for years to come. I'm beginning to think that this team should move Foye to his natural two spot and use our lottery pick on O.J. Mayo or Derrick Rose and put them behind Sebastion Telfair for a while. I'm leaning towards Rose because I have a feeling that Mayo would do like Eli Manning or like Kobe and never step foot in Minnesota.

I don't want to stray too far from the reason I even began writing this, the fourth quarter free fall. It didn't happen tonight, though they still lost, but this team seems to keep me entertained and keep my hopes alive through the first three quarters only break my heart in the final 12 minutes. I did a little research and found that this team would be 10-16-1 if the game only lasted 36 minutes. We held the lead in all four of our actual wins against The Kings, The Hornets, The Suns and The Pacers. We had the lead against Atlanta twice, The Spurs, The Nuggets, The Heat and The Wizards in a game which included a healthy Arenas (scored 27 that night).

If we had that record our team would be better than New York, Chicago, Miami, The Clippers, Memphis, tied with Charlotte and Seattle would be below us in our own division. I'd like to know what Kind of affect "Fourth Quarter" Foye would have on this teams record or what will happen when hes back on the floor and in good health. I'd also like to see what a steady rotation would do for this team. I guess the only real difference would be seen in draft position, the difference between picking Derrick Rose or Roy Hibbert if we really turned it on in the next few months.

I guess I'd just like to see this team play an entire game instead of just watch their opponents take over. I guess I'd just like to see the team play more like the teams that this logo reminds me of.

Happy Birthday Adrian

Blasphemy!

What's it gonna be?

Guest Rant

Dan left us a nice little comment, which I felt needed a promotion from the comments section. Dan is a law student by the way. Thanks Dan.

Im sorry, Im watching this TERRIBLE coverage on ESPN and I feel I need to say something ( I sent an Email to ESPN but I doubt they are going to respond ) Could ESPN be baseball apologists Any MORE? it is goddamned ridicoulous. OF COURSE THE EVIDENCE IS HEARSAY AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL! For being a sports "news" company, one would thing ESPN would put it in a BIT of context. Sen. Mitchell did not have subpeona power to follow up allegations, nor access to or the power to order tests (of which aren't even able to detect HGH because there are no blood testing), and the strength of the union and its players not cooperating leads to only one logical conclusion - this whole thing is a sham to rehabilitate MLBs image. MLB looks like it is doing something - and keeps Congress from actually doing a substantive search and finding some real solid results.

Notice how nobody will be punished from this??? its a joke. people act like its a big deal but nothing will change. Not only does this maintain the level of cynicism that I currently have for baseball, it demolishes the last shred of credibility left for ESPN. I am sick of their made up news stories (T.O. vs Keyshawn.... OOOOOHHHHHH I DON'T FREAKING CARE AT ALL), the incredible imbalance in covering teams (notice that the Patriots have their own tagline at the bottom, along with the NHL, NBA, and NFL - ridiculous - even the Pursuit of Perfection bullshit) and now that they hype the SHIT out of this report, they come out and have the balls to say there is nothing substantive. FUCK ESPN I QUIT. This is pretty typical, I get all pissed off at how much ESPN sucks, stay away from it for two weeks, get drawn back in SPortscenter, then get all pissed off all over again. They have crossed the line from reporting the sports news to creating the sports news. Its terrible.

On another note, on FOX News this morning they had a "source" that claimed had names, and many of them turned out to be wrong - including Nomar Garciappara and Johnny Damon. But that is typical FOX news, much like when that psycho took over the Clinton office they broadcast the wrong guys name for an hour before finding out the real guys name. ITS CALLED CONFIRMING A STORY BEFORE RUNNING IT. Bush League.

Warning

At 1pm Central Standard time tomorrow shit is going to hit the proverbial fan. George Mitchell has called a presser for 2pm eastern at the Grand Hyatt, in New York city. In this press conference he will be revealing his report to Major League Baseball on steroid use. It is expected that he will be naming up to 70 players, former and present, that are associated to steroids.

To be honest, what i think you need to be warned about is what is going to come about because of this Mitchell Report; nothing. Nothing is going to change, from the way it is now. They aren't going to go take stats away from these players. They aren't going to give fans money back because they got tricked into believing lies. Nope, there will be a bunch of people who will say, "I told you so," and then we'll go right back to the way things are now.

This report will not point any fingers at the real problem in baseball, Mr. Bud Selig. He ignored the problem when he was an owner, and when he became commissioner he did the same. So this report will ignore him and his office who were and are the true enablers in this whole problem and point fingers at players.

The fun part now has been speculating who will be named in this thing. To me it's pretty obvious the twins non-tendered Jason Tyner today because they know he'll be named in this thing tomorrow, and they don't want to be associated with such a power player like him. Well, until tomorrow at 1 central take a break from all that is baseball commentary, because come 1:45 you will be unable to get any other kind of commentary for quite a while.

Lunch Break : I'm Starving and won't make it to lunch

-I wonder if this energy bar is something you can eat out on a boat. Fred Smoot's Smack!!

-I have Roddy White on my fantasy team and it ended up that I didn't need his points monday night, so I would like to give them back, because this kid is a tool. And he has free T-shirts. "I did it myself."

-Get your fun last name Cubs jerseys. As I write this I learned the Cubs just signed Kosuke Fukudome. That is a fun last name. I wish we played them this year, because it would be classic how Dick and Bert reacted to that name. No link yet, but I'm sure when I post this that if you look hard enough you will find the story, I have faith in you.


-Although this wouldn't happen for a few years, ESPN has expressed interest in broadcasting the English Premier League (EPL). I have a feeling this could be a very polarizing issue. With the history the WWL has in being a self serving bastard of a cable network, it would be interesting to see how they could fuck up the most popular sports league in the world. ESPN & the Premiership.

-You think athlete's here make lots of money, check out what this F1 driver's reported contract:

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- After an unsettled season marked by infighting and controversy, Fernando Alonso capped 2007 on a positive note.

The two-time Formula One world champion agreed to a two-year contract with Renault that puts him back behind the wheel of the French team where he achieved his greatest success.

Spanish media reported that Alonso would earn $51.3 million per season, though Renault would not confirm the figure.

That's a bit more the A-Rod.

-For all you Gopher basketball fans, I know there are tons of you out there, Tubby finally signed a contract today. $13 million/7 years. That seems either too long or too low to me, but I'm not going to do the research to confirm my theory.

-Last but not least: Snack-Attack

Shit, this bandwagon is getting full.

So before this NFL season began, I made a bet with a guy from work for the small amount of $20. I bet him that the Vikings would not make the playoffs, ho hum. Easy enough one would think, but no. Welcome to the Unpredictable Football League (as I write this I realize this may be my first post ever on NFL football, weird). The Vikings are now 7-6 and set up to get a Wild-card. Their up coming schedule even looks good. I guess it did last year too before they lost a bunch in a row. I feel I am going to be saying so-long to my $20 fairly soon, oh well.

I didn't think I would be able to say this this year, but this team is actually fun to watch at times. And it's not only purple fans who are noticing this. With NBC moving the Vikings game against the Redskins on Sunday the December 23rd from a noon start to night game, they will have two prime time games, two weeks in a row. Also, that Sunday night game is the day before Christmas Eve, so many people have the next day off, which should translate into fairly good ratings. It's been a while since the Vikings have people outside of this market wanting to watch them. I even went to one half of a game this year, the 1st half of AP's 296 yd rushing game. Too bad I only stayed for the 1st half, well it wasn't too bad, the 2nd half I ended up at the strip club getting lap dances.

It's kind of odd having a team, besides the Twins, in Minnesota that have playoff chances. This has, as they say, always been a football town, and I guess it's good to see them do well. I don't know where this post came from, and I know it blows, but maybe it will get me doing this more often. Get on this bandwagon before it gets too full.

the Post Office Rocks

I just spent the last 20 minutes or so at the local post office waiting to send off one of my graduate school applications and I had a blast. The place was packed with people who were probably getting their x-mas gifts sent off in time for the holidays. I guess they could have been sending off their Hanukkah presents as well but those aren't going to arrive until Tevet and that could be a problem. If today was any indication of what a normal day is like I'll likely be spending my time away from work just hanging around over there. I talked to an old lady about the differences between the post office in Montana and the one here, which contrary to popular belief is actually an interesting conversation, and I ran into Nubile's ex-ladyfriend.

*Me- " Whats crack-a-lackin'?"
Her- "Nutin'."
Me- "aight."
Her- "Aight, peace."

I think my favorite part of the whole escapade took place at the counter around the corner from the single-file line that everybody stood in. The man at the station was calling the next person in line up to his counter and I happened to be one of the lucky customers beckoned into the bowels of the post office. After paying my $4.60 (I had to send it priority because I waited until the last second to decide that I did, indeed, need to get me some more learnin') and not paying the bullshit 60 extra cents to track the package i was witness to one of the greatest arguments ever.

The clerk was a salty, rotund little man who obviously hated his job. I got all of this from his attempt to sell me the previously mentioned bullshit extra 60 cents and his subsequent scowl when I told him why I didn't want to. As I walked back to the desk a man came in the door and followed me. Before I even finished my transaction he forced a $20 bill in front of me and demanded a roll of stamps. The clerk told him that he was not in line and would have to wait his turn. The man told him that he was in line now and demanded his stamps. They went back and forth a bit longer with the clerk yelling at the top of his lungs about how he had cut line and the customer smirking and being a dickhead. I swear to god I thought the clerk was going to go postal (pun fully intended).

When the man asking for the stamps finally went to the back of the line around the corner the clerk looks at me and goes, " That guys crazier than you think. I know him, he sells houses. You don't even know." Those three sentences left me dumbfounded. The origin of the argument left me dumbfounded.

If someone could please explain what makes a realtor crazy (outside of that whole subprime loan business) I would be much obliged. I am vexed... this is terribly vexing.

*dialog may not match actual conversation

The Love We Lost... Part Deux

Well, It looks like another Minnesota Star is leaving our sky. (Wow, that was cheesy)

It seems as if a deal for 2 time Cy Young Award Winner, Johan Santana, is now imminent. Multiple reports have surfaced in the last week and a half saying that the Twins and new GM Bill Smith are actively shopping the best pitcher in the game. The Yankees and Red Sox are at the forefront with the Dodgers, Angels, and Mariners said to be very interested as well. The deal now seems to be more not "if", but when at this point.

Boy, that sure happened fast...

Only a few short months ago, the sheer thought of trading Santana was blasphemy to any Twins fan and even the organization. But since then, Baseball's little devil child, known as free agency, has reared its ugly head once again, and now Johan has figured, why not me? Why not give me 150 million dollars? Hell, Barry Zito is mediocre and got 126 mill. And who could blame him? In this market, he is worth that much money.. The key words being "this market." Salaries have been ballooning out of control for years now, and it has finally bit your favorite squad in the ass not once, but twice in the span of a month. Mr. Twin, Torii Hunter was the first to go and now this. I have an idea. Why don't we eliminate all the teams not named Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Mets, and Cubs, and just let them go at it. Thats basically what Major League Baseball is leaning towards. Boston got our Ortiz, the Angels got our Hunter, and now the Yankees or Red Sox will now probably get our Venezuelan Sensation. If you are a Twins fan, don't ever go out and buy a Twins Jersey of your favorite player or get attached to another player again, because chances are, they wont be here long enough for you to get your use of out it.

Now, I know that last blurb sounded very negative... And lets be honest, it was. But there also are some very nice positives to the apparent Twins overhaul this year. I think Bill Smith has figured out something that Terry Ryan just couldn't come to grasp over the years. The nature of the beast as it stands now is that before you lose these players for absolutely nothing to free agency, trade them before it gets to that point and get some young studs in return. We screwed the pooch on the Torii Hunter situation last season when we could have eased the blow by getting some great talent in return, possibly from the Angels, who signed him this offseason. This Johan deal, whether it turns out to be the Yanks or the Sawwx, will yield a great return of up and comers.

The Yanks are said to be offering a combination of prized right handed pitching prospect Phillip Hughes, Defensive Center Fielder extraordinaire Melky Cabrera, and some other minor league prospects. Hughes is going to be a stud that could anchor our rotation for years, and Cabrera is already a great fielder and has a high ceiling as a hitter. It would be nice if we could somehow finagle another right handed pitcher, Ian Kennedy from them as well, but that doesn't look like its going to happen.
The Red Sox are looking to obtain Santana as well. If they suceed, they might have assembled the best pitching staff ever, especially if they can keep Jon Lester in the process. I don't say that lightly either. I know you can't give someone the World Series in the offseason, but you add the best pitcher in the majors to the best pitching staff in the league, and they are as close to as you are going to get. The main cogs of the Red Sox offer are Jacoby Ellsbury and Lester, with the Red Sox currently only willing to include one of the two. The other bits that were offered include Coco Crisp and a bunch of supposedly good minor leaguers that no one has really heard of. Ellsbury is a stud. I don't think there is any doubt about that. He's got speed and gap power and in the MetroDome, thats a great thing. He reminds me of Grady Sizemore. Maybe even as dreamy.. Jon Lester scares me a bit. Even with as good a prospect as he might be, the whole cancer thing last year makes me wonder about possible health risks. I admit, that might seem insensitive, considering the ordeal that he went through last year, but I think that its a valid concern when you are thinking about the future of a franchise.

IF it were up to me, I go for the Yankees offer. Although Ellsbury would be nice, the Yankees are giving you the Center fielder that you need and the elite prospect that you need to get back in return for Johan.





After the Twins trade Santana, the last person to go will be Joe Nathan, and thats perfectly fine by me. That will make this process complete. For those of you that think that the cupboard is bare after this offseason, you are mistaken. Our pitching staff is somewhat in flux, but could be very good in about two years. With Fransico Liriano coming back, added to Hughes, Baker, Slowey, and hopefully a slimmed down Boof, this is a rotation I willing to run with. With Neshek moving into the Closer's role, our bullpen might be a little thin, but thats always seemed to be a strength for the Twins. We have actually upgraded the lineup to include possible Star Delmon Young, Cabrera, and Craig Monroe to go with a decent lineup already. There are some question marks with this team, but before anyone jumps off a bridge,(ok, wrong choice of words) they hopefully will take a step back and look at the big picture. These young players, along with the money saved, could help give us some hope for the future. This is something that Twins fans are desperately yearning for after a very curious offseason so far.

I think we deserve that much.