Minnesota Update: Gophers volleyball avoids catastrophe
Oct 12, 2023
Before I write about Gophers volleyball beating Michigan on Wednesday night, please go read Jeff Day’s column/analysis of the current state of the program, for the Star Tribune. I don’t know of any journalist who covers the Gophers as well as Day, and he sums it up very well, I think.
That was written before the Gophers took on Michigan on Wednesday. I think, for the most part, Big Ten fans assume that Michigan is going to be good at everything, but that doesn’t currently extend to volleyball; the Wolverines are 1-6 in the conference, their only victory a home win against Northwestern, and 3-13 overall.
The quirks of the schedule meant that this was the second time in 13 days that the Gophers took on Michigan, and just like the first time around, Minnesota absolutely hammered the Wolverines. The first time, the sets were 25-9, 25-17, and 25-18; this time, it was 26-24, 25-11, and 25-16. So I guess Michigan improved by seven points, this time around.
Mckenna Wucherer led the Gophers by hitting .500 for the match, with 10 kills, and she threw in a couple of blocks as well for good measure.
Minnesota plays Northwestern at home on Sunday, in another can’t-afford-to-lose match. The Gophers’ next three matches are all at home, all against unranked opponents, before they have to travel to Purdue and Wisconsin. I’d say they need to tune up to be ready for that road trip, but the way this season is going, the first thing they need to do is not lose.
A brief Wild season preview
The Wild open their season tonight, conveniently the night after the Twins were eliminated from the playoffs. There are season previews available everywhere, but it’s basically the same team as 2022-23, minus Matt Dumba on the blue line; Bill Guerin is making a strong bet that the team he has is the team he wants, and that injuries down the stretch were what prevented his team from making a run last season, and not the general talent level.
The headline is the total lack of defenseman for Minnesota, which is missing Jared Spurgeon indefinitely after the team captain was injured in the preseason. The defensive lineup for opening night has a real third-pairing kind of feel to it; Jonas Brodin and Brock Faber are a pretty good duo, though the latter is a rookie, but I think most people would have trouble picking out which of Jake Middleton / Alex Goligoski and Calen Addison/Jon Merrill is the second pairing, and which is the third.
Up front, as ever, the Wild will be defined by whether anyone besides Kirill Kaprizov can score goals. Matt Boldy has to prove that his final few weeks of last season weren’t a fluke, especially after he went missing against Dallas in the playoffs. Marco Rossi is getting another chance to stick, though he’s between Marcus Foligno and Freddy Gaudreau, who both have their own things to prove (Foligno, that last season was a fluke, and not the previous two; Gaudreau, that anyone except Dean Evason believes that he belongs in the top nine.)
In goal, Filip Gustavsson had an out-of-nowhere great season in goal, and got a contract as a result. And of course, there are no examples of streaky play from an NHL goaltender, so I’m sure everything will be fine there. Especially since his backup is Marc-Andre Fleury, who’s a future Hall of Famer, and also 62 years old, and the only player left in the NHL who was once teammates with Gump Worsley.
TODAY’S SLATE
WILD vs Florida, season opener, 7pm, BSN
ON DECK
Friday-Saturday
GOPHERS MEN’S HOCKEY vs. St. Thomas, 7:30pm/6pm, both games on FOX9+
GOPHERS WOMEN’S HOCKEY at St. Thomas, 4pm/4pm, Friday on FOX9+
(note: Friday doubleheader at Xcel Energy Center)
Saturday
WILD at Toronto, 6pm Saturday, BSN (and on Hockey Night in Canada)
TIMBERWOLVES at New York, preseason, 6:30 Saturday, NBATV
Sunday
VIKINGS at Chicago, noon Sunday, FOX
GOPHERS VOLLEYBALL vs Northwestern, 12:30pm
The Future
GOPHERS FOOTBALL at Iowa, October 21
LOONS at Sporting KC, October 21
TIMBERWOLVES at Toronto, season opener, October 25
Twins Game 4 recap: It had to end this way
Oct 11, 2023
It couldn’t have ended any other way. Of course it ended with a Twin striking out. Of course it ended with three Twins striking out. Of course it ended with Max Kepler resting the bat on his shoulder, watching a strike sail by.
After coming back to Minneapolis with all the momentum after their Game 2 victory, the Twins offense - so frustrating for most of the year - went back into the same routine that frustrated fans for most of the year. They struck out 14 times in Game 3, and 14 more in Game 4, and that includes seven - SEVEN! - of the final nine outs.
Edouard Julien’s one-out solo home run in the sixth inning made it 3-2. The Twins failed to get a single hit the rest of the way; only three of the final 12 batters even managed to hit the ball in fair territory. Kepler managed to strike out looking twice along the way.
Julien had two hits and a walk, Royce Lewis walked and hit a solo home run of his own, and the rest of the Twins lineup had 23 plate appearances and went 0-for-23.
Twins recap: Unhappy days are here again
Oct 11, 2023
Well, that was… familiar. And a total vibe-killer.
The Twins lost 9-1 to Houston on Tuesday, in Game 3 of their playoff series, and all you can say is that it took about eight minutes for Minnesota to completely ruin all of the good vibes from Sunday’s win in Game 2.
Monday in Minnesota: Who had the worst weekend?
Oct 9, 2023
It’s Monday in Minnesota, and it was another whirlwind weekend in Minnesota sports - certainly a weekend full of emotional roller coasters, for sports fans in the upper Midwest.
With this in mind, let’s rank who had the worst weekend in Minnesota sports, from “no this was actually a really good weekend” to “total garbage, let’s never speak of this again.”
Minnesota Update: Heath Out
Oct 6, 2023
I recognize that what I’m about to write is about the most clichéd Jon Marthaler thing that I could possibly write about Minnesota United’s decision to fire Adrian Heath on Friday morning, but here goes anyway.
This reminds me a lot of when the Gophers fired Glen Mason.
Minnesota Update: Winning in the playoffs is easy
Oct 5, 2023
I don’t know what the big deal was; winning playoff baseball games is simple.
The Twins clinched a spot in the American League Divisional Series on Wednesday, beating the Blue Jays 2-0. It was, as many have pointed out, the first time since 1991 the Twins have won a playoff series at home, and just the second time since then that they’ve won a playoff series of any kind.
Sonny Gray threw five scoreless innings, and somehow the Twins bullpen shut down Toronto for another day, but Carlos Correa was at the center of everything again for Minnesota. He drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded single, and he was right there for the two biggest defensive plays of the day.
The Twins end the streak
Oct 4, 2023
It feels like the Twins won a trophy.
Monday in Minnesota: Mike Zimmer's dream game
Oct 2, 2023
Say what you will about the Vikings’ 21-13 win against Carolina on Sunday, but you do have to say that if Mike Zimmer could program his dreams, Sunday’s game would be about what he would dial up. To wit:
1) The Vikings allowed only 232 yards to the Panthers, sacked the quarterback five times, and returned a fumble for a score. 2) The offense ran only 42 plays, and 23 of them were running plays - and they averaged 5.9 yards per carry. 3) Kirk Cousins threw two interceptions, showing that quarterbacks are untrustworthy and flighty, and confirming everything Zimmer believes about offense.
Minnesota Update: The Gray reality
Sep 29, 2023
The Twins lost 2-1 on Thursday afternoon, proving that even the gravity well of shame that houses the Oakland Athletics is not enough to overcome the team’s firm commitment to not scoring any runs when Sonny Gray is on the mound.
Gray ends the year with 184 innings pitched, 183 strikeouts, and a 2.79 ERA. Except for throwing many fewer innings, these numbers are fairly comparable to Johan Santana, when he was winning Cy Youngs; for example, here’s Santana’s Cy Young season in 2006, compared to Gray’s 2023:
Santana ‘06: 233.2 IP, 9.4 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 2.77 ERA, 3.08 FIP
Gray ‘23: 184 IP, 9.0 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 2.79 ERA, 2.82 FIP
The kicker here is that Santana was 16-9 that year, and Gray was - I can hardly believe this - 8-8 this season.
Minnesota Update: Baseball's Generals
Sep 28, 2023
The Twins beat the Athletics 6-4 on Wednesday night, with Oakland convincingly playing the role of the Washington Generals. Consider that Oakland led this game 4-2, having managed to touch up Pablo López for three runs, the last two of which were inherited by Caleb Thielbar, who let them both score plus one of his own for good measure.
Consider that the Twins tied the game based on a single from Max Kepler, who was once the subject of dastardly plots from the entire state of Minnesota, and a home run from Ryan Jeffers, who was stuck for much of the season behind a catcher who had an OPS that could be confused for a slugging percentage.
Consider that at one point, Dallas Keuchel replaced Jhoan Duran on the mound, an event that usually would signal something outlandish happening, like a four-hour rain delay, or possibly a zombie uprising. And then add that Keuchel got the win, because Trevor Larnach hit a pinch-hit RBI double in the eighth inning.