Fans can embrace postseason excitement
The Wild scored a big victory against the Colorado Avalanche last night, and the Star Tribune's Patrick Reusse declared that it's OK for fans to now get excited about the playoffs.
Assuming the Wild can secure the division, they'll get at least a No. 3 seed and a first-round playoff series at home.
The Wild made an impressive - and albeit surprising - run through the playoffs a few years back, reaching the Western Conference finals. It would be fun to relive that excitement again this year.
Posted by: MinnesotaFan on 3/18/2008 at 9:14 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Hot spots: pitching and center field
Now that Brendan Harris seems to have locked up the starting second base job - Alexi Casilla was sent down - the two areas worth watching with the Twins are center field and the rotation.
CF options (stats entering Saturday):
Carlos Gomez .188 BA, .200 OBP, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 3 SB
Denard Span .227 BA, .393 OBP, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 SB
Jason Pridie .310 BA, .323 OBP, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 2 SB
A number of media members have pointed out that Pridie has clearly out-played Span and Gomez. And really, the numbers don't lie. It's hard to figure why he's been written off so quickly as merely a backup. It's one thing to bring a player up and let him take his lumps at the big league level, but Gomez and Span have clearly shown that neither is ready for big league pitching. Gardy hinted recently at Craig Monroe playing some CF, but I can't see him doing that everyday. He just doesn't fit the Twins mold of a center fielder.
Rotations locks (assuming Baker is healthy - he is battling an injury):
Scott Baker, Boof Bonser, Livan Hernandez
Rotation options: Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, Phil Humber, Glen Perkins
Slowey was previously believed to be a lock for the rotation, but he has pitched poorly this spring. I still think Slowey will be in there, especially considering Baker's back injury and Liriano's status. Humber has pitched really well since the embarrassing outing against Concordia-St. Paul to open spring training. Blackburn also has good numbers, but none of these guys have pitched a substantial amount yet.
Posted by: MinnesotaFan on 3/16/2008 at 9:14 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Hoffarber keeps Gophers alive
Blake Hoffarber hit quite a shot at the buzzer to win the game for the Gophers in their quarterfinal game at the Big Ten tournament against Indiana.
Here's a link to the video.
Minnesota faces Illinois at 3 p.m. today, with the winner advancing to the Big Ten championship.
The Gophers at least need to make the championship to have any hope of landing a spot in the NCAA tournament. I believe they probably have to win the whole tournament.
Illinois is just the 10th seed, but has given the Gophers trouble over the last few years. Should be an interesting game.
Posted by: MinnesotaFan on 3/15/2008 at 9:40 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Keeping NFL's reality in check
Forum columnist Mike McFeely wrote a good one in Sunday's paper about NFL free agency. Check it out here.
McFeely is right in saying that free agents in the NFL are merely stopgaps. The great teams that win consistently year after year build through the draft. Look at New England, Indianapolis, San Diego, etc.
Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson, Shawne Merriman, Bob Sanders, Joseph Addai, Dwight Freeney... all guys who were acquired via the draft.
Bernard Berrian will be a fine addition, but he's not going to spark this Vikings' passing game by himself.
Posted by: MinnesotaFan on 3/13/2008 at 9:55 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
YouTube of Santana's arrival
Someone posted a video on YouTube a couple days ago of Johan Santana arriving to New York Mets' spring training. Here's the link.
A lot of big-time investments made to pitchers (Hideki Irabu, Denny Neagle, Jeff Weaver, Javier Vazquez, Jose Contreras...) can't handle pitching in the Big Apple. But I don't think the Mets have to worry about Santana. He seems like a pretty loose guy. Plus, none of those guys mentioned played for the Mets. Doesn't seem to have the same effect in Flushing.
Posted by: MinnesotaFan on 3/12/2008 at 9:21 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
