Earlier this week, the Star-Tribune named Lindsey Whalen the Minnesota Sportsperson of the year. This is a decision that the Stick and Ball Guy endorses enthusiastically. Yes, Our Guy was fabulous and won the Cy Young Award (and with a unanimous vote). Yes, Daunte Culpepper may have had the best season by a Vikings quarterback, [...]

Stick and Ball Guy has a lot to write about -- the Twins, the ViQueens not yet in the playoffs (could it be that they'll miss out??), Shaq-Fu (and the unstoppable Miami Heat), and the T-Wolves (hey Troy Hudson, keep it real). Also there is the big Twins bloggers (and fans) get together on [...]

Stick and Ball Guy wishes you a Merry Christmas and/or a Happy New Year.
I hope 2005 brings all of you many good experiences.

I am further refining the look of my website. You might notice that it now has 3 columns and occupies your entire screen. The center column has a dynamic width.
If you are seeing any problems, drop me a line.
When I am done, I will be able to have more content more easily visible [...]

Happy Festivus, one and all.

The Twins either signed contracts or offered arbitration to all seven players who were eligible for arbitration (but not free agency). Thus, all seven players will be back with the Twins (barring future trades). Obviously, some of these moves are good moves (for instance, the Twins decided to bring back Johan Santana). Some of them, [...]

With two weeks to go in the regular season, the Vikings are 8-6 and tied with the Green Bay Packers. If you read my column last week, you already knew what everyone is now telling you, namely, that because the Vikings beat Detroit and Green Bay lost to Jacksonville, the winner of this Friday�s game [...]

Like so many others, this offseason hasn't provided a lot of reasons to cheer. With the exception of the arbitration deadline signing of Brad Radke, not a lot of good has happened. The Twins have lost Corey Koskie, Cristian Guzman, and Henry Blanco to free agency. They have signed a back up [...]

I had pretty long day, yesterday, and I was too tired to write last night. However, I promise to put together a weekend edition, entitled "Why Should a Twins Fan be Excited for 2005." Look for it on your virtual newstand this weekend.
Blech. That's a wretching sound after the T-Wolves' loss in [...]

From ABC News:
Scientists who have been studying the effects of restoring the wolf population in areas like Yellowstone National Park have found a surprising twist in this often emotional story.
While the return of these fierce hunters has been tough on their prey, it apparently has made it possible for many other creatures to survive and [...]

Tonight, I agreed to work late to help out a fellow attorney on a rush project. It was no big deal, I didn't mind doing it. I ride the light rail train to work and it runs regularly until 1 AM, so I wasn't worried about getting home.
I got done with the project that I [...]

This is good stuff.
Shaquille O'Neal kept his word to injured teammate Dwyane Wade on Monday night.
O'Neal scored a season-high 40 points after Wade left in the first half with a sprained left ankle, helping the Heat win their season-high fifth straight, a 106-83 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Wade badly wanted to keep playing , [...]

Apparently, Corey Koskie has made his last trip to the disabled list as a member of the Minnesota Twins, signing a three year, $17 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. This news leaves me with a decidedly mixed feeling. Some people think the world is ending, but I think that this isn't that bad [...]

If you want to know the truth, today's Vikings game was the least important of the last four to the Vikings' playoff chances at least with respect to winning the NFC North. That's because the NFL uses the following records in order to break ties for divisional opponents: head-to-head, division, common opponents and conference record. [...]

Kobe Bryant claims that Karl Malone made a pass at his wife a couple of weeks ago!
It's quite a soap opera in LA. I'm sure there's more to come on this story. If what Kobe is saying is true, well... I'd have to back Kobe in the old Kobe/Karl feud. If it's [...]

SBG is changing the look of the site. If you see this site on Saturday and it looks like it is in disarray, fear not! It should be done soon.

ESPN's Sports Guy, who is a Clippers season ticket holder, gives his take on Sprewell's comments to a fan that earned him a one game suspension. Perhaps SBG's take -- that the female fan likely had it coming -- was a little off. Maybe. If you read the story carefully, you'll note that there is [...]

But Karl Malone is. Should the T-Wolves pick up the Mailman for this season? Let me know what you think.
I had to laugh when I saw KG, who is obviously in full recruit mode, call Malone the "ultimate winner". Uh, KG, I'm not sure that's exactly how I'd put it.

Here is a play-by-play rundown of the last 44 seconds of the Rockets/Spurs game last night. Tracy McGrady scored 13 points in 44 seconds to erase an 8 point lead. Note that the Spurs scored 6 more points themselves and it wasn't enough. The footage is absolutely incredible. What a display by McGrady. He had [...]

From the Star Tribune:

Forward Ndudi Ebi, on the injured list since the season began with what was classified as left knee tendinitis, managed to get hurt worse while rehabbing. He developed a stress fracture in his left foot and will be in a walking cast for four to six weeks.

If only Ndudi were available. [...]

The T-Wolves absolutely pasted the Philadelphia 76ers tonight, winning 119-84 on the back end of a back to backer. Remember last night? The Wolves suffered their 2nd double digit home loss last night, after not suffering a single double digit home loss all of last season and just three the year before. They not only [...]

As of 11 PM, here are the cumulative records of the six divisions
Atlantic: 34-58, 24 games under .500
Central: 40-47, 7 games under .500
Southeast: 42-46, 4 games under .500
Northwest: 55-35, 20 games over .500
Pacific: 54-35, 19 games over .500
Southwest: 46-50, 4 games under .500
If you take the Hornets out of the West (they were in [...]

Don't look now, but SBG is tracking KG's place on the career rebound list. Here's the relevant portion of the list at the beginning of the year.

No.
Player
Rebounds

50
Dale Davis
8040

51
Happy Hairston
8019

52
John Havlicek
8007

53
Oscar Robertson
7804

54
Caldwell Jones
7663

55
Sam Perkins
7661

56
Clyde Lee
7626

57
Wayne Embry
7544

58
Maurice Lucas
7520

59
Scottie Pippen
7494

60
Kevin Garnett
7493

61
James Donaldson
7492

62
Larry Nance
7352

63
Chet Walker
7314

64
Anthony Mason
7279

65
Truck Robinson
7267

After the Philly game it looks like this:

No.
Player
Rebounds

50
Dale Davis
8040

51
Happy Hairston
8019

52
John Havlicek
8007

53
Oscar Robertson
7804

54
Kevin Garnett
7757

55
Caldwell [...]

Check Patrick Reusse's column on Sprewell's suspenson. Reusse hit the nail on the head. This suspension was a joke. Worse, than that, it was totally unwarranted and unfair to both Sprewell and the Timberwolves. Sprewell lost $162,000 for his little verbal exchange. That's not chump change, especially when you are trying to feed [...]

The Twins have done it! They have signed Brad Radke to a two-year deal, reportedly for $18 million. I am very surprised that he took this deal. I guess he must have really wanted to stay here (actually $9 million a year is a lot more than where they were, but it's a paycut, nonetheless). [...]

It's 11:15 PM, past the arbitration deadline and no word yet if the Twins made a deal with Koskie and/or Radke or offered them arbitration.
Here's what the Pioneer Press had to say today about the situation:
"It's frustrating it's come down to the final day," said Koskie, who wouldn't say whether he's been told the Twins' [...]

1. No Latrell Sprewell. He was suspended for his vulgar comments to a heckler in LA. Why the T-Wolves didn't protest this suspension so that he could serve it against a lesser team is beyond me. Smells like David Stern. I was watching the LA game but I didn't hear the epithet. That's [...]

I have tried to find a career scoring list that extends beyond the top 100 of all time, because Garnett is not yet in the top 100. I have not been able to find such a list. Here is the tail end of the career scoring list before the season began:
93 [...]

Moss tipped me off on this nugget from CBS.
It wasn't known whether Minnesota would offer arbitration to Eric Milton, who has been talking with the New York Yankees.
That's good stuff.

Beavis will have Vince Neil to kick around. Motley Crue to Reunite. Rock on!

Not with my new computer, it's running well. Rather, with BLOGGER. I wrote lengthy post last night about Koskie and Radke. Then, I went to post it and BLOGGER crashed. Done, gone.
One sentence summary (maybe two). Today's the day that the Twins need to put up or shut up. [...]

STICK AND BALL GUY'S 2004 TWINS ANALYZER

Corey Koskie
6'3" 219 Lbs.
Age: 31
L/R 3B

AVE: .251
OBP: .342
SLG: .495
GPA: .278

G: 118
AB: 422
HR: 25
RBI: 71

Offense
No question about it. 2004 was a down year for Corey Koskie offensively. Or was it? Koskie's batting average plunged to .251, his lowest since he got a regular job in the majors. Correspondingly, his on [...]

The Washington Post has a story on the death of Pat Tillman. I suggest you read it.

The T-Wolves won again on Saturday night, defeating the L.A. Clippers 107-100 in overtime. The T-Wolves completed their first 4-0 road trip in franchise history. Think of it, this is the T-wolves 16th season and never before had they ever swept a four game road trip. And what an impressive road trip it was.
First, the [...]

At long last, I have my computer up and running and the cable modem is humming... I'm cooking with gas.
I'm hoping that this will mean that I can do more regular posts. Yahoo!

T-Wolves
I watched the Timberwolves game on Friday night and they won a hard fought game, 97-93 over the Phoenix Suns. This was a [...]

"Pitching is always the key," Jeter said. "That's what gets you the furthest, obviously, in the postseason."

Note: SBG wrote this article before the Bulls crushed the Lakers on Wednesday night. Superboy Kobe Bryant was 9-21 in the game and is shooting 132-323 for the season, a blistering 40.9%. Just for reference, when Michael Jordan was 26, he shot 52.6% for the season.
At the height of the Michael Jordan era, [...]

Brett Favre has started 200 games in a row. That's a pretty incredible streak. Drew suggested to me with a teeny tiny bit of cynicism that he couldn't have done it without Vicodin. I'm pretty sure no one in the NFL can play that many games in a row without some chemical assistance.
Some people in [...]