Welcome, loyal SBG readers! SBG is back, ready for another week of sports talk! Here's what's on tap for this week, so far. SBG will pull out his 2004 Twins Analyzer again, looking at a certain outfielder who has been discussed on this page just a little bit in the Off Season. That's right! Everybody's favorite arbitration eligible outfielder will get prodded and poked. And old SBG'll let you know what he REALLY thinks! Look for that on Tuesday or Wednesday. Interestingly, last week's entry, on Shannon Stewart, generated zero comments, the only article of the week to fail to elicit reader response! Could it be that readers just aren't ready to talk Twins?

Also, set your reminders for Friday, when SBG will unveil yet another edition of Pepper! Wow! Last week's edition got a little spicy! SBG thinks that this week will not disappoint! He has a special guest star lined up to answer 10 questions and give his take alongside of SBG's! It will be fun!

Look forward to more Wolves talk! The T-Dogs have back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday, so SBG will report on what he sees! Plus, there's a game on Friday night.

Also, SBG hears that there's going to be a football game on Sunday. Look for SBG's prediction! Remember, SBG is not responsible for any wagering results!

On Friday night, SBG had an opportunity to take in a T-Wolves game in person. SBG sat in a luxury box -- that was fun -- and chatted with a few people that he knew, while taking in the game. One of the people in attendance was none other than the Vikes Geek! SBG and Vikes Geek chatted about the T-Wolves and Vikings, and blogging in general. Vikes Geek has tackled the subject of trading Randy Moss. It was great fun to chat about this column with the author. SBG endorses Vikes Geek's analysis of the Moss situation, and his website. Go check it out!

Meanwhile, the T-Dogs were playing right in front of us. As is the case in these types of situations, SBG didn't get to see all of the game. What he did see made him ill. The Wolves struggled to beat a sub-mediocre team in the Jazz. Basically, the Jazz gave the game away by not protecting the ball in the fourth quarter. KG again had a very solid night, and he scored nine points in the fourth quarter (even though he was 2-7 from the field) and filled up the stat sheet once again, with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. He also had a couple of key steals down the stretch. KG took 17 shots. SBG has a new rule. If KG takes less than 20 shots in a game in which he plays at least 35 minutes, the Wolves offense has failed. Failure. The Wolves had just 36 points at halftime, and KG was just 6-10 through three quarters. What about this is so hard to understand? Get the ball to your best player.

Cassell played well -- that is -- he scored. Sprewell was practically non-existent. SBG noticed that Sprewell was not on the floor at crunch time in a game that the Wolves won by two points. Spree, your family is going to go hungry.

Flash forward to Sunday afternoon. The Wolves lose at home to Sacramento. Without Webber and Stojakovic. By ten. It was the same old thing. No center -- Brad Miller went absolutely crazy, scoring 27 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. No perimeter defense. Guys getting open shots. Guards getting beat off the dribble. Hey Clueless (Hudson), if you are going to play five feet off of a guy, you can't let him drive around you. The Wolves held a 45-39 halftime lead, but gave up 55 second half points, while scoring 39, and got beat by 10.

On the one hand, the Wolves had won five straight games. On the other hand, this is the type of game that elite teams win, and win handily. The other team is short handed (missing their two best players) and the Wolves were at full strength. At home. And they get beat handily. Sacramento grabbed the game by the throat, converting time after time, following countless offensive rebounds while the Wolves took poor shots with no hope of getting offensive rebounds. And Sprewell was absolutely absent once again. KG? 21 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists. 15 shots. 15 SHOTS! 15 FREAKING SHOTS! SBG got more shots in high school games. KG should be leading the league in shots. He should be taking a MINIMUM of 20 shots a game. MINIMUM.

SBG was thinking tonight -- this season is going to affect KG's legacy. After seven years of frustration -- KG finally got beyond the first round last year. SBG is still not sure that the Wolves will make the playoffs. Fortunately, the Lakers have been sliding and Superboy will be out for quite a while yet. But, the Wolves are looking like an eight seed and a first round loser. With Sprewell all but gone after this year and the Wolves still over the cap, it looks more like the Wolves will regress next year. And, sad to say, KG is not getting any younger. He'll be 29 in May, still in his prime, but the Wolves are wasting his talents. And he's in danger of never breaking out of the reputation of being someone who can't win. This is clearly the most frustrating season to be a T-Wolves fan since they drafted KG.

SBG has been giving Marc Stein of ESPN.COM the business lately about his coverage of the NBA, most notably his "Let's give Kobe a break" and "Dirk over KG for the all-star game" articles. Imagine his surprise, then, when he sees that Stein has named KG defensive player of the year for the first half of the season. SBG has watched Stein's columns for a couple of years and he finds this development astounding. It also begs the question, so he's defensive player of the year, he's filling the stat sheet up as usual and you still think Dirk deserves a starting spot in the all-star game over KG? Hmmm.

SBG loves Jayson Stark's useless information columns. SBG doesn't particularly care for Stark's baseball analysis, but the tidbits in useless information are great. So, SBG always reads that. And what does he see this week, but a plug for Aaron Gleeman's (and others) The Hardball Times Baseball Annual! Congratulations, Aaron for the plug!

Also, check out Rob Neyer's column (if you have INSIDER) on pickoff moves. Neyer describes how fantastic the Old Man's (Terry Mulholland) move is and says it is the best of all time. Basically, people have given up running on Terry. Consider this:

In 1992, Mulholland pitched 229 innings. Seven runners tried to steal a base. Two of them were successful. Five were tagged out. And here's the thing: Mulholland picked off 16 more baserunners. Two bases, 21 outs.

From 1992 through 2004, 48 runners have tried to steal a base with Mulholland on the mound, and 35 were tagged out. That's right � in 13 seasons (and 1,885 innings), only 13 steals.

That's pretty incredible.

The Twins signed Armando Rios to a minor league contract. Rios is a 33 year old outfielder who has played parts of six seasons in the majors (but not in 2004). He is a career .269/.341/.445/.786 hitter, which seems reasonable, but he hit just .212/.245/.298/.543 in 49 games for the White Sox in 2003 and just .264/.319/.332/.651 for Pittsburgh in 2002. SBG sees Rios as a prime candidate to play for the Rochester Royals in 2005, especially considering all of the outfield talent that the Twins have in front of him.

That's all Folks! Stop on by this week for more exciting (or not) discussion at the STICK AND BALL GUY website!