It's Lucy's birthday on Sunday.
Tonight, we'll be heading to Winona for the weekend to celebrate my bride's birthday with Mr. and Mrs. Van Pelt.
Luckily, Mr. Van Pelt has a computer in the basement with high speed access.
Come back tomorrow for more fun from Winona, here at SBG!

I think he gets this right:
When the dust settles, when baseball's belated investigation into steroid use ends, I bet Bud Selig is going to wish he had taken a different course of action.
He'll wish he had simply said, of the rise of steroids: We blew it. I blew it. The institution of baseball blew it. [...]

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060331&content_id=1376030&vkey=pr_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min
Although the announcement tomorrow is not related to roster status, this move is directly related to the announcement.

Liriano charged with DWI.  Good gravy.
http://www.startribune.com/509/story/342823.html

Tonight, I met the author of the Oracle of Cheese, Cheesehead Craig, for a burrito at Chipotle.  We chatted about all things Minnesota and Wisconsin.  I did remind him that NDSU beat Wisconsin in basketball this year.  He graciously commiserated with me about the plight of KG.  It was good to see Ol' Craig.  Next [...]

There have been a lot of rumors about player movement lately.  I do not know anything about any player movement.  Sorry, as far as I know, it'll be TB (and that doesn't stand for tuberculosis, in case you were wondering) at 3rd base.  Nor do I know anything about stadia.  That information is supplied nearly [...]

I apologize if you have having problems commenting on the site.  I got an e-mail today from a longtime reader that he was unable to comment.  I'm working on fixing the problems.  I'll let you know when things are better.
SBG

From MLB.COM: 
The likelihood is still that the guy for the job, once he is healthy, will be Bartlett. Gardenhire said that unless he can earn the everyday role, Bartlett would be sent back down to Triple-A Rochester. The reasoning behind Gardenhire's decision is Bartlett only plays the shortstop position. Both of the other players in [...]

I haven't been writing much, if at all, about the Twins this spring.  That's not surprising, I think, to longtime readers.  I wasn't really writing a whole lot about the Twins during spring training.  Instead, I was was patiently waiting for the season to start.  Based on some of the information that I have been [...]

Kent Youngblood takes us through the frustrations of the last two seasons with quotes from KG.  My favorite:
RE: COACH MCHALE
• The situation: On the day of the Wolves' nationally televised game with Washington on Nov. 17, TNT ran a taped interview with Garnett, in which he didn't break a lot of new ground, but took [...]

My wife Lucy volunteers at the children's hospitals on Monday night, so I met up with two of my favorite people from law school tonight.  While Lucy was interacting with sick and seriously injured children, I was drinking scotch with a couple of lawyers.  I hope that my wife prays for me.  I think she [...]

From Grandpa:
[Billy] Packer is one of many who believes the ability of the good young college players to turn pro after their freshmen or sophomore year has destroyed the game.
"It has destroyed the fabric of basketball, and the history of how basketball is played," he said. "I hope that a semblance of order can [...]

From the NY Post regarding a trade of Marbury to Minnesota.
If the Knicks traded Marbury to Minnesota, they'd need point guard Marko Jaric and perhaps defender Trenton Hassell in a package. To make the deal work, the Knicks would have to take back $17M in salary. The Knicks inquired about Jaric at the trade deadline.
Yeah, [...]

Today, I downloaded Word Press v. 2.0.2.  You probably don't notice much difference, but I do. 
For one thing, I've been able to upload my entire archive from the old site.  Everything that you want to look at there is now here, including the comments.  I think that's pretty darned cool.  The bulletin board is down [...]

Grandpa Sports, who has been blogging for about 60 years, provides this beauty for mass consumption.
This is a year that the Timberwolves will likely have a lottery pick in the NBA draft, but unfortunately, the quality of the players available, like always, will depend on how many underclassmen come out.
However, Jim Stack, general manager of [...]

I never drank a cup of coffee in my life until I had worked at Bobcat for eight months.
Someone gave me a coffee cup for Christmas and I thought what the heck, I'll have a cup of coffee. So, I poured my cup of java in the lunch room at work and thought hey, [...]

Top Jimmy:
Tonight, four Eastern teams we don't know intimately or follow passionately will play here -- four teams who, if they were matched in January, would draw lower television ratings in Minnesota than a Jesse Ventura cable talk show -- and yet there is an air of anticipation surrounding these games that befits the greatest [...]

From the Strib:
Last year, he played 141 games. [Justin Morneau] had an April stint on the disabled list after getting beaned in the head, and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire eventually began to occasionally sit him against some lefthanded pitchers.
The reason? He hit .201 against lefties with one home run in 154 at-bats.

I've been a little slack with my posting lately.
With the new job, I've been keeping different hours than normal. I've been getting up early and getting to work by 6:30 or so. I want to get my work in and get home before my wife, Lucy. I usually do and get dinner [...]

From the Strib:
The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is apologizing to University of North Dakota hockey fans over a Final Five tournament poster.
The poster wrongfully identified the Fighting Sioux as being from North Dakota State University.

Friend of SBG, the Online Mag, Banjo Brother, set up a discussion on Top Jimmy's latest column. Let me provide an excerpt here on the main page of the SBG Publishing Empire.
� Twins manager Ron Gardenhire's probable lineup is: Shannon Stewart, Luis Castillo, Joe Mauer, Rondell White, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau, Tony Batista, right [...]

If Alfonso Soriano doesn't go out into left field today, things could get ugly. At the SBG discussion board, we have a little Al-Sor conversation going. You don't even have to register to comment. Go here and check it out.
Update: Soriano relented and played left field today. I don't think [...]

Hi, loyal readers, this is SBG checking in and letting you all know that I'm still alive. I've just about exhausted everything I can possibly say about the Timberwolves this season. Since they are not going to make the playoffs, there are about three things to look for. One, appreciate the continuing [...]

With five seconds to play today in the 66th game of an incredibly disappointing season, Kevin Garnett jumped up and grabbed a rebound. It was his tenth rebound of the game. With that rebound, KG got his 23rd consecutive double-double, extending his personal best and (obviously) his team record. It's also the [...]

It's been a miserable season for Timberwolves fans, to be sure.
What's made it more miserable to me has been the crap I've been subjected to listening to Dan Barreiro lately. The other night, I was running an errand and he was spouting about Garnett again. His position -- Garnett isn't a top ten [...]

Got a call from my old buddy Leo today. He was asking about the new job and we chatted for awhile. Then he asked me how I could stand the NBA. Leo lives in a big college town and is a big college BB guy.
We chatted about b-ball for awhile before he [...]

I mean no disrespect.
I watched some of the Puckett memorial on television. Since Monday was the first day of my new job, I didn't want to stay out late, so I didn't go. I missed McPhail's speech, which I heard was very good. I heard some of the others speak and [...]

On Monday, I started a new job at a different law firm in town. I'm pretty excited about the opportunity.
My old firm is a great firm, but the work that I was getting was just not what I wanted to do. Life is short, and I figure that if I'm not happy with what I [...]

I can't blame the Vikings for making the deal. Considering the circumstances, a 2nd round pick is about as good as they could expect.
It's too bad that things had to end up this way, though.

I wrote the previous post before I read the Strib account of the post game tirade by KG.
Bursting from the glass-enclosed training room immediately next to the dressing area in the visitors' locker room, Garnett blistered several Wolves teammates for taking the loss, in his view, too lightly. About a half-dozen players were packing up [...]

KG passed 17,000 points on Friday night and 32,000 minutes on Saturday night. He now has more career steals than Calvin "Daddy" Murphy.
Even though his not a truely great scorer, he now has the 10th longest streak of consecutive games with at least 10 points in NBA history.
I don't know what else to say [...]

Link:
There is a tendency to look at what's gone on for the last two months and say that Culpepper has screwed up every step of the way: asking for more millions, refusing to meet with Childress, staying in Orlando to rehab.
He's either the blockhead the anti-Daunte crowd has claimed, or he wanted out all along [...]

From Shooter:
Former Twins shortstop Cristian Guzman underwent laser eye surgery during the offseason. Guzman, who has lost 20 pounds, is beginning the second season of a $16.8 million, four-year deal with the Washington Nationals.

Too hits for our soon to be all-star third baseman today. That makes him 3-16 on the spring.
Boof Bonser goes three innings for the victory. He gave up five hits and one run.

Reusse writes that Gardy's unsure about the left side of his infield.
"[Terry] Crow[ley] said that [Tony] Batista starts like this in the spring but that he always wound up hitting for him," Gardenhire said. "He did say he thought range would be a problem, which we already knew. Crow also said he hadn't seen [...]

Zygi Wilf is denying that a trade is imminent. I'll post information on Daunte's trade situation on the bulletin board. Don't be afraid to set up an account (it's free) and chat about Daunte over there.

Man, does ESPN.COM's new "scouting report" feature suck. I say "new" because it's now behind their subscription wall. Yes, I'm a sucker and I have a subscription. If you remember what they used to have, they provided narrative on each player's hitting, running, and defense. Free.
When I was working on my [...]

KFAN is reporting that the NFL Network is reporting that Daunte Culpepper will be traded to an unspecified team by tomorrow (Friday). SBG, your source for third hand gossip.

The Minnesota Wild have traded Mitchell to Dallas. From TSN:
The Minnesota Wild have traded defenceman Willie Mitchell and a second-round pick to the Dallas Stars for defencemen Shawn Belle and Martin Skoula.
Mitchell, 28, will be a free agent at the end of the season. He's earning $1-million this season.
The steady defensive defenceman [...]

If you come around here and find the site in disarray, that's because I'm playing with it and it may go crazy. I am trying to find the right look for the site. I thought that I had found something, but what I found was a "skin" that was full of errors and [...]

You may be wondering why I have moved this site. You will notice that I have my own domain name and not a blogspot name. I really enjoyed posting over at blogspot, but with my own domain, the underlying web tools, and with WordPress, I can do a lot of things. I [...]

My new site is here. I am posting over there now.

When I heard about Puck's death, I was really upset because it had seemed to me that for all the joy Kirby had brought people, he seemingly had spent his last days as a bitter man. Top Jimmy tells us that Puck was enjoying life. Honestly, this makes it easier for me to [...]

Once again, Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper has sent out an e-mail missive. From the Strib report Daunte has this to say:
Now that I have confirmed that the Vikings have been seeking to trade me, I have asked for permission to speak to the interested teams. The Vikings have denied my request. If a [...]

Sorry that my original post got screwed up.
I have added a bulletin board here where you are free to talk Twins. Check it out and sign up to chat away (it's free).

Follow this link to the Future Home of SBG. Leave a comment and say hi!

Stop by and leave a comment.

Twins Geek is back at his keyboard.

I was talking with Lucy last night about the death of Kirby Puckett and she asked me if I felt bad about it. I said that I did feel bad. I started to reflect on why it is that I felt bad about it.
I don't have a lot in common with Kirby Puckett. He was [...]

Kirby has passed away. May God rest his soul.

When I was in college, I remember one night a bunch of us were hanging around and the Twins were coming on TV. They were playing in Detroit. Back then, Kirby was a leadoff hitter. He hit the first pitch of the game over the fence. Well, [...]

Mark Rosen is reporting that Kirby Puckett will be taken off life support.

The news is not good.

How is it possible that a movie with Sandra Bullock in it wins the Oscar for Best Picture?

In case you didn't know, the Twins will have their first spring training game on FSN tonight starting at 6:05. Will you be watching?
Don't forget to vote in the Twins Poll on the right. You can vote up to once a day through the end of spring training.

It's been a tough two seasons for people like me who are really invested in the T-Wolves.
Last year, I was certain that the Wolves would challenge for the NBA title. Instead, the Wolves folded like a house of cards and Flip Saunders was the fall guy. As someone who endured the Jimmy Rodgers [...]

There is some speculation out there that Isiah Thomas may be on the way out in New York. Chris Sheridan is saying that Isiah probably won't be canned during the season. But, consider this. The Knicks have a total salary expenditure for this season of $124,082,763. The team with the next highest salary expenditure in [...]

I've been reading Aaron Gleeman almost since the beginning of his blog. Before that, I was a Twins Geek regular (don't know how I found it, but I know that he linked to Gleeman). Like most everyone else, I was hooked early. Why? Because Aaron writes stuff that you don't get in the paper. I [...]