Category: Sports

by Dave Mindeman

Time for a sports update and another rant.

The University of Minnesota is going to pay Tubby Smith $2.5 million to NOT coach....and now the rumors are that the U is about to hire Flip Saunders to be the real coach....at, I suspect, a substantial salary in a similar range.

When those tuition increases happen, does anybody think about that?

Nobody pays the big bucks to the U of M women's hockey coach but that team made an astounding run this year. Undefeated and National Champions. Can't do better than that. Amen.

Twins home opener will be played in freezing weather. Can't think of a worse feeling than a cold baseball thrown inside and jams the hitter on the handle. Ouch. Ah, but we have outdoor baseball, right Bremer and Blyleven? You guys sit in the heated booth while we all freeze our asses off. Advantage Justin Verlander.

The Wild is finally looking good. Playoff implications are in order. Guess hockey really is saved for St. Paul. But even with the improvement, the lockout still probably cost local businesses too much to break even for the year.

Timberwolves season is almost over. Thank God.

And then there is the Vikings. We send Percy Harvin...probably the best all around football player in the conference to the soon to be Super Bowl bound Seahawks....and then we sign another washed up Packer retread in Greg Jennings. Well, at least this guy can actually catch the ball.

And we have an actual quarterback - no, not Ponder. Matt Cassell.

When do the Lynx start playing again?

Category: Sports

by Dave Mindeman

The Topps Trading Card Company has a new and rather unusual policy this year. They do not reference Pete Rose as the all time hit leader. On the backs of baseball cards, there are brief looks at stats and references to Hall of Fame credentials and comparisons....and even references to the all time hit number. But starting this year, no comparison can use the name of Pete Rose.

In the baseball age of steroids and the lack of real consequences, that is absurd.

Pete Rose is 71 years old and is still absorbing a life time ban from baseball. He doesn't get invited to offical functions. His name is not allowed on the Hall of Fame ballot.

Major Leage baseball has gotten petty about this.

Oh sure, what Rose did to get this lifetime ban was serious. Baseball has been sensitive about gambling issues for decades after the 1919 Black Sox scandal shook professional baseball down to its core. But although Rose has a personal gambling problem, it was not any kind of threat to the game. He worshipped the game. If he bet on his own team, it was to win...never to lose. He has a personal flaw - but he kept it personal.

The hypocrisy is clearly evident in MLB. Steroids abound and players are given chance after chance to come back. Major league stars are never banned from their sport for this kind of cheating....but Pete Rose still is an athlete shunned by the sport he excelled so well at.

4,256....it is not just a number. There is a person behind that number. The man who collected each and ever hit in that list.

To just float that number out there and ignore the athlete who made it happen is...again....absurd.

Major league baseball needs to do a serious internal self-examination. Baseball has problems but it is time to acknowledge that Pete Rose is at best a minor one.

Put him in the hall - and do it soon, so that Rose can be there to receive his proper due.

Category: Sports

by Dave Mindeman

A little late on the sports Friday post, but let's go for it anyway.

The Twins are reporting for spring training with very low expectations. Justin Morneau is in the last year of his contract and there has been no attempt to resign him up to now....which probably means that unless the Twins are overachievers, Morneau will be gone by July.

Ryan invested a lot in this revamped pitching staff. I don't think the team has ever gone into a season without the semblance of at least 2 or 3 established starters. This year is a crap shoot. Several have major league cred but lots of questionable injury recoveries to deal with.

The Vikings have a disgruntled Percy Harvin right now...and that has to be resolved. This guy is a legitimate major star and with the Vikings so bereft of receiver talent, they MUST get him back in the fold. The guy makes a defense adjust to him which opens up the offense without much effort. Give him what he wants, Zygi. With your new stadium, you doubled your net worth - invest a few bucks!

The Minnesota Wild are a real puzzle. The problem is not a lack of talent, so do they have the wrong coach? There doesn't seem to be cohesiveness and the longer the struggle, the more things will break down. Still a mystery.

The T-Wolves are still floundering. Hard to even tell what they are missing. It would be nice to see this team fully healthy and really see what they can do. Might have to wait for next year to find out.

Gopher men's basketball needs to put together a few upsets. After a promising start they find themselves on the NCAA tournament bubble again. Getting to be a depressing pattern.

Till next week.....