1. Friday night, Lucy and I went out for dinner, and fueled by a little wine and an R.E.M. song on the radio I decide to pull out my copy of hindu love gods and give it a listen. Now, that I'm a blogger both here and at the Hoarse, I decide to write [...]

From ESPN:
Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Tice confirmed Monday that his star quarterback has a torn ACL, MCL and PCL in his right knee.
Ugh. Here's something else you don't want to hear, from the Strib:
Tice added, �He has a long rehab ahead of him, but we don�t expect this to be career-ending. We expect this to [...]

From the Pioneer Press:
It's by no means personal, but Torii Hunter said he isn't thrilled with the Twins' selection of a new hitting coach.
As reported in the Pioneer Press on Thursday, the Twins promoted minor-league field coordinator Joe Vavra as hitting coach, replacing Scott Ullger, who will move to third-base coach.
Hunter wanted more experience from [...]

Which Team has been Most Disappointing

Twins

Timberwolves

Vikings

Free polls from Pollhost.com

Over at the Hoarse, I spend some time talking about what R.E.M. would have been like, if they had been lead by a Werewolf (in London).

Nothing today.
Except this from Fark.Com:
Chicago beats Houston 4 times in one week. Record still held by Bobby Brown.

Thank you, you've been great. I'll not be here all weekend.
SBG

Thought I'd do a little data dump tonight on a variety of different topics.
1. I was reading the Twins Junkie the other day and he was talking about the field goal that Paul Edinger kicked to win the Packer game on Sunday. He started talking about the college record being 67 yards, a record held [...]

Welcome, SBG fans, to the first game of Pepper! in a while. Today�s guest is the inimitable Seth Stohs from Seth Speaks. Seth is a great blogger and someone I converse with on a regular basis. We have exchanged literally hundreds of e-mails. I�m sure you all read Seth every day. This is [...]

Hello SBG fans, and welcome to the first installment of SBG Reader Profiles. I hope to have this be a regular feature in the off-season. A number of you have volunteered and I hope to have one a week or so, as long as people volunteer to participate.
The first participant in the SBG Reader Profile [...]

Who's the best player in the NBA right now?

Your favorite spice is on its way!!!!!!!
Stay tuned, Pepper! will arrive soon at your home for all things good, SBG The Mag.

First of all, congratulations to Mike Tice on a big win in the annual "most important game of the season." That one has really got to sting.
The governor has apparently been talking to people, trying to get a deal done on the Twins. As Shane reports, the governor has been talking to Bud [...]

Down two in the 7th with two on, Jermaine Dye is awarded first base on a 3-2 pitch that hit the barrel of his bat. Paul Konerko hits the next pitch out of the park. I'm just about ready to put my money down on the 2006 Cubs.
Update: I went to bed and missed [...]

On Saturday, I wrote a column about a Reusse column. I thought that Doug Mientkiewicz said something particularly stupid, and I decided to analyze it. In the process, I twice used a phrase made popular by the Vice President of the United States (it was profane).
I've decided to edit out that phrase. I apologize if [...]

You probably wonder why in the hell I go on and on about the media's treatment of Jeter and A-Rod. It's not so much the particulars of the situation, although they gall me, but it is part of a larger picture, namely, the stupidity that shows up all too often in the mainstream media. Here's [...]

Chisox or 'Stros?
I don't know who will win (I'm leaning toward the Astros because of their three big pitchers) and I don't know who to cheer for. I think it's good that we've got two newcomers in there.
Put a gun to my head and I say I'd like to see Bags and Biggio get [...]

Last night, I had no connection to the Internet. My Comcast service was down. Again. Has anyone else had a problem with Comcast service?
This Morning, I had srvice and then Lucy turned on the television and my screen flickered and poof! out went the Internet.
I suppose there might be a problem with [...]

Over at the Hoarse, I have discussed why I gladly pay my taxes.

If Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were still pitching for the Yankees, we'd be hearing alot about how Derek Jeter is the ultimate winner.

I realize the car we bought didn't have as much gas as I thought.
Zygi, you should have checked the fuel gauge.
As I said before, the current disrepair of the Vikings should be pinned on Red McCombs. Zygi, it's time to fix what's broken.

I have started work on the post mortem for the Twins 2005. I want to take a look at the main players on this team and try to break down what happened. I started tonight by working on my Justin Morneau report. I'll be honest. This is my guy on this [...]

Marney Gellar, on the lead in to FSN Live, said the following: "Mike Tice wants the Vikings to have more fun."

I was sitting next to my lovely wife Lucy last evening and she said SBG can we please watch the end of the baseball game? Houston has never gone to the World Series and they are just one inning away from the promised land. Pahleeeeeeze???? Being the uncaring ogre that I [...]

I have a lot of plans for the off-season. I'm going to bring back Pepper! I'm going to start interviewing my readers. I'm going to follow the T-Wolves.
Friends, I'm tired.
I'm tired after a long and frustrating season. My spirit wants to charge forward and work hard on my blog. I [...]

Moss called me on Sunday night. I had tried to call him Friday afternoon - he wasn't at work on Friday - and his wife told me he'd be back on Sunday night. So last night he called and I was complaining about some little thing about work. It was one of [...]

I ramble on about my love of the Rolling Stones over at the Four Hoarsemen. Check out our new blog for writings on various topics.

I heard on the radio that the Viking players who went on the "Sex Cruise" hired high priced call girls who cater to professional athletes and flew them in from Florida and Atlanta.
I'm not naive. People talk a lot about character and so forth. I really de-emphasize the character or more accurately, the [...]

There's yet another blog out there for you to consider.
Cheer or Die, Cheesehead Craig, Shane from Greet Machine, and I have teamed up to create the Four Hoarse Men blog. COD wrote earlier this week about athletes as role models (what timing!). It is our intention to write about once a week on [...]

Thank God the Vikes got rid of Randy Moss. We only want upstanding citizens, right Top Jimmy? Get rid of that bad apple and all will be well. Refreshing, I believe, was Jimmy's word.
Update: Top Jimmy weighed in. Here's a snippet.
Last week, we missed only Randy Moss' talent. Today, we miss him as [...]

Alex Rodriguez, the $252 million man once again finds himself carrying the weight of failed expectations.
I know I'm in the minority, but I find A-Rod somewhat of a sympathetic figure. I realize that he basically snubbed his nose at the Seattle area, not even bothering to negotiate with his team seriously before bolting to Texas [...]

There's really few things as satisfying as watching the Yankees being eliminated from the postseason.
Unlike other teams, who aren't as self important, the Yankees' elimination is (almost) always the bigger story than the team who beat them.
This Angel team doesn't have the offense that the Yankees have. But, the Bombers don't have the pitching. [...]

The Twins have started theie off-season moves, most notably parting ways with Matty LeCroy (watch him go to Boston and hit 50 home runs - juuuuuuuust kidding.)
Apparently, the Twins didn't want to pay LeCroy an amount less than what they gave Rivas last year. I find the move curious. LeCroy was a one [...]

I guess when I am blogging from the train, I shouldn't take controversial stands. I have about fifteen minutes to type my post using only my thumbs on a keyboard that's 3/4" by 2". I got an anonymous comment to my post on Newman that makes some good points, but seemingly doesn't get what I [...]

Al Newman is leaving the Twins organization to become an advamced scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks. For someone who has managerial aspirations, this seems like a demotion and, in reality, Mr. Newman was probably not asked back.
Speculation is that the Twins might move Ullger to coach third base and bring in a new hitting [...]

Had lunch today with one of my favorite people from Law School. It's funny how you go through that experience and then lose touch with those who experienced it with you. Anyway, it was nice to get together.
Part of our conversations revolved around one of our professors. This professor was one of [...]

I had intended to write last night, but blogger took a vacation.
I saw a minute or ten of the Wild hockey game last night. Six goals a home opener win. The locals should be happy.
I don't sense the outrage with hockey that people felt with baseball after the 1994 strike. Personally, neither [...]

I was just thinking about something I wrote here last week in one of my more pensive moods.
What's more important: a "civilized process" for judicial confirmation or getting the right person? I mean, it's a lifetime appointment. I'd say a lot of people go through more to get a $15 an hour job.
I'm not sure, [...]

From ESPN.COM:
Shaq says he's been working out twice a day in the offseason and currently weighs 340 pounds, about 15 pounds more than his playing weight of a year ago. And all that new weight is muscle.

Good thing. I was tired of watching him get pushed around all the time.

I chose the title of this post because it's the same title as the post over at AaronGleeman.com today. He's talking about the Twins finally cutting bait on Luis Rivas. Since Aaron is the guy who inspired me to actually write this Online Magazine, I thought I'd steal his title when I gave tribute to [...]

Here at The Mag, we (I) love to hear from the readers. My comment policy is as follows: please do not use profanity. Feel free to rip the author of this site with impugnity. I absolutely do not care what you say about me, even ad hominem attacks. I encourage disagreement, discussion and the like. [...]

I was going to make some predictions about the playoffs, but I decided to spend spme time with Lucy watching her old shows.
Lucy loves Bewitched, which is on channel 45 every night. Then, it's Hogan's Heroes and Green Acres. What fun. Lucy's never seen Hogan's Heroes before!!!!I wonder how that's possible. [...]

As you know, I love contests, but I'm just a little too busy to run a post season contest. Therefore, I want to encourage you to go on over to Seth's site and join his contest. Hurry, you need to get your entries in by Tuesday at noon!
SBG

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
The Twins' Season ended today. Finally. Our Guy, Johan Santana ended the season with another fantastic effort, just missing the ERA title. He wasn't quite as spectacular this year, but he was "effective enough" [...]

Minnesota -280, Detroit +240
The standings are unchanged at the top. Bet accordingly.

It looked a while back like the Yanks would miss the playoffs. But no, they won the East. Meanwhile the feel good Indians are on the verge of missing the playoffs.

Detroit +115, Minnesota -135.
Here's where we were after Sept. 25

FRW
AAC
BEM
TWJ
TEB
CHC
SBG
RED
GEB
APH
DEP
ANM
AMR

983
956
767
647
215
165
51
6
0
-205
-235
-503
-856

Here's where we are now, with two games to play.

AAC
FRW
BEM
TWJ
TEB
SBG
CHC
GEB
RED
APH
DEP
ANM
AMR

1196
903
767
517
375
151
15
0
-24
-205
-235
-503
-916