I read Reusse this morning talking about Justin Morneau's weightlifting routine. Apparently, he got a tip from Torii Hunter at some point after the start of last season -- keep lifting hard through spring training and don't go into maintenance until the season starts. I read that and wondered, "You mean to tell [...]
I was listening to Reusse on his Sunday morning show yesterday. When the topic of the Vikings came up, Patrick indicated that because of the national interest in running back Adrian Peterson, NBC was contemplating moving at least one (and possibly more) Viking games to the Sunday night time slot.
Mr. Reusse did not want [...]
LENIII:
[W]hen a team repeatedly says it's too inconsistent, it translates to just not being good enough.
Remember that for future reference, in case you didn't know it already.
If you remember in the spring, Joe Mauer caused some hearts in Twinsville to flutter when he said that he had a "stress reaction" in his leg. I'll admit that I'd never heard of a stress reaction, but I'm no medical expert. Joe's had some injuries this season, but it does not appear [...]
The latest Arbitron ratings indicate that the Twins ratings on radio are up substantially over last year, despite their move from WCCO to KSTP, but that KSTP's ratings are otherwise flat. Very interesting.
First of all, WCCO's claims during negotiations that the Twins needed them -- and Grandpa's prediction that the Twins would really regret [...]
Joe Christenson writes that beat reporters "walk a fine line when stating our opinions."
I'll bet that is only the case when his opinion differs from that of the Twins organization.
Beat writers report facts basically, and I don't have much of a problem with that. In order to get access to those facts, [...]
In this episode, Dick hints at a couple of startling admissions about the dark side of Bunto-Ball, and Bert makes a puzzling statement, begging the question which his partner leaves unasked.
Scene: Metrodome, Monday afternoon, bottom of the 6th inning, 1 out, runners on 2nd & 3rd; White Sox 4, Twins 3. Nick Punto hits [...]
Not too much today. I just wanted to comment on a couple of Reusse’s latest columns.
A while back, in a deliberately sophomoric swipe at Ol’ Patrick, I showed everyone that I used his column on bloggers as a wrap for spent kitty litter. Of course, that was aimed as a rebuttal [...]
I just got home a few minutes ago and I went onto the deck, grabbed a bottle of beer, popped it into my bottle couzie and sat down at the computer. So, yes, I’ll admit that I was having a brewski while writing this post. However, since I started writing this before I [...]
On Sunday, TJ was talking about access to athletes and I missed it. Link:
Long after he spoke on the field and said nothing and spoke in a news conference and said nothing, Peyton Manning stood in front of his locker, well after the Super Bowl ended, and held court, and suddenly he was likeable.
He [...]
Top Jimmy:
McHale's willingness to fire coaches when players mutiny and Garnett's unwillingness to publicly reprimand recalcitrant teammates leave Wittman on globally warmed ice.
This article is about Mr. Ricky Davis, the under-achieving headache that is just one of a myriad of problems at 600 First Avenue North. Davis has been a problem everywhere he's been. [...]
Top Jimmy strikes again. At the end of a pretty good column about the SuperDuperBowl he ends with this line:
Plus, a Colts victory could be dangerous -- the celebration might force Indianapolis to shut down its street.
Try the veal. Tip your wait staff. I'm here all week.
Top Jimmy:
In fact, [Kevin McHale]'s no longer even first in line for taking blame. That honor now belongs to Taylor, the genial but obtuse owner.
Taylor has allowed McHale, perhaps one of the three worst sports executives in the nation, to fire two coaches in three seasons. McHale has done so during seasons hamstrung by players [...]
Sid:
This is a tough blow for Childress, who thought so much of Tomlin that he gave him complete control of the defense. The players had so much respect for Tomlin because he was so smart and so knowledgeable and was super at handling people.
But I have complete confidence that Childress will find a good replacement [...]
Link:
McGwire, he of the 583 career home runs, was named on 25.3 percent of ballots cast in this year's election.
That isn't a rebuke or a reprimand, a warning or a suspension.
That -- 25.3 percent of the votes for the seventh-most prolific home-run hitter in baseball history -- is a conviction to a life sentence, without [...]
A while back, Reusse wrote a column making fun of the other newspaper in town for their speculation that the Wolves might trade for Allen Iverson.
One minor ingredient was missing from this dramatic presentation.
Reporting.
Reading in between the lines, I've decided old Glen (and it's one "N", I've been spelling it wrong) is a dink.
Yeah, he comes off as a dink, but sometimes a person's public persona isn't actually the way they really are. Grandpa is telling me that he really is a dink, though.
He writes a column [...]
It's John, Herb, and the Dazzle Man in 2006. Dazzle got a four year deal, Gordon got a two year deal and Carneal got a one year deal. Herb will be calling 36 games in his 46th season behind the mike for the Twins.
A lot of people don't like John Gordon, but I've [...]
Top Jimmy, expert on all matters, offers this advice on the Vikings quarterback sitch-iashun:
Now Childress must fix his no-offense huddle, and he faces a coach's toughest decision -- whether to change quarterbacks when the playoffs are a mathematical possibility.
His options: Johnson, who's playing like a victim of identity theft; Bollinger, who's hurt; and Jackson, who [...]
If only the Vikings had given Brad Johnson a raise like our buddies Top Jimmy and Bump were advocating things would have been so much better.
NBCSports.Com has a video of Aaron Gleeman reviewing the big off-season deals in baseball. Go check out our favorite big-timer.
Since the NBA began keeping track of steals and blocked shots in 1973, a player has reached 100 steals and blocks in the same season 51 times. KG has done it 8 times, third behind Hakeem Olajuwon and Julis Erving, with 12 each. KG's not a premier shot blocker and I think that's [...]
Katherine Kersten, a writer that I spend very little time reading (because I pretty much disagree with her), writes a column in defense of the Fighting Sioux nickname for the University of North Dakota. I'm not going to get into the politics of that issue, but I wanted to give you her hilarious opening [...]
Top Jimmy with a new record 5,437 corny references in his latest column on the Vikings "performance" on Sunday.
What was missing, though, was his impassioned argument about how Brad Johnson deserves a pay raise. Probably hit the cutting room floor to make way for his legion of witticisms.
I'm afraid that our good buddy Top Jimmy will soon be fired from his position at the Strib. From his latest column:
NFL locker rooms are rarely happy places, at least in my experience of covering the league since 1989.
They're filled with large, sweaty men, some of whom appear to be in the throes [...]
On the half-baked crap front that is.
In Sunday's print version
5 consecutive winning seasons for ScruFi, the first manager to do so in club history and first in the majors since Cito Gaston of Toronto (1989-93).
Yeah, if you ignore Joe Torre and Bobby Cox, to name two off the top of my head.
On the half-baked crap front that is.
In Sunday's print version
5 consecutive winning seasons for ScruFi, the first manager to do so in club history and first in the majors since Cito Gaston of Toronto (1989-93).
Yeah, if you ignore Joe Torre and Bobby Cox, to name two off the top of my head.
Strib:
Twins television analyst Bert Blyleven won't lose his job over his accidental use of on-air profanity Sunday but he has been suspended an additional three games.
Blyleven, who was told he would not work Tuesday and Wednesday's telecasts at Tampa Bay immediately after the incident, also will sit out Saturday, as well as telecasts Sept. 10 [...]
After Friday's game, the great Top Jimmy proclaimed that the Twins were in crisis. With three wins in the next four games, the Twins are now sitting 1 1/2 games clear of the White Sox in the Wild Card race and have a 72.65% chance to make the post season.
Powers:
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was so incensed after Thursday's ballgame that he cut short his postgame news conference and stormed out of his own office.
For the talkative Gardenhire, that's the equivalent of Paris Hilton covering her face in front of the cameras and announcing, "No publicity, please!"
He was upset at the, uh, publicity his ballclub [...]
I usually listen to KFAN in the morning to get a little sports news. I’ve never particularly cared for Mike Morris, but I want to hear what’s going on in the morning. This morning, however, Morris has crossed the line, and I won’t be listening anymore.
Morris is a former Minnesota Viking longsnapper. [...]
On the heels of three straight losses, Ol' Patrick takes a swipe at the local nine.
Smell 'Em has taken on a whole meaning for the Twins hitters.
Fish don't give off an appealing odor when they have been belly-up for four days and that's what has become of the Piranhas.
Our heroes should have spent less energy [...]
Reusse takes on Bert Blyleven:
When Carlos Silva gave up five home runs last week in Baltimore, it tied Bert Blyleven's Twins record set on Sept. 13, 1986, against Texas. Blyleven was working the TV booth, and his recollection was that he had a complete-game victory that night.
As a now-experienced TV journalist, Bert surely has an [...]
I swear I have to check my aggregator every single day for Top Jimmy's latest yarns. I skipped a day or two and this gem got by me:
"Today was a big game," Redmond said. "I felt like I needed to try something different, and I think we responded to it, and I'm sure I [...]
Well, hell, who can? The Twins are playing lights out with who? Reusse is getting a headache. Inside Reusse's very well written piece is this nugget:
And Bartlett is finally playing relaxed and showing people (including Gardenhire) more ability at shortstop than they imagined.
Bartlett is finally playing relaxed. It's amazing what has [...]
TJ takes a big swipe at KG in today's column. Apparently, TJ doesn't love KG as much as he loves Torii Hunter.
The other day, Mike Morris had Aaron Schatz from Pro Football Prospectus on the radio. Mr. Schatz was telling The Superstar that the Vikings don't look very good on paper and that the Vikings got lucky last year and that Brad Johnson wasn't all that good and furthermore, he tends to get hurt and [...]
Top Jimmy, talking about Brad Johnson:
If [Brad Johnson] gets hurt, though -- and most NFL quarterbacks, regardless of age, get hurt, unless they avoid injury by throwing 29 interceptions and running away from contact, not that we're thinking of anyone in particular -- the Vikings will have to turn to the second-most important position on [...]
One of the things that is really important here at SBG is to identify the Face of the Franchise, no matter what franchise it might be. Thanks to Top Jimmy, we've got:
That's a no doubt, first ballot FOTF. Right?
Hmmm. That's the FFOAFIF (familiar face of a franchise in flux). And the [...]
He never disappoints.
To wit, Brad Johnson, Face of the Franchise. Because every franchise needs one.
And a little nugget for at least one of my readers:
That's one difference between Johnson and Packers star Brett Favre. Johnson insists on throwing the ball away; Favre increasingly throws it to the other team.
During his career, Favre has completed [...]
Last night, in the pregame show, Anthony LaPanta, Ron "WASE" Coomer, and Top James reviewed the first half. Top James picked as his biggest surprise Michael Cuddyer, saying that he was about ready to give up on Cuddy. I laughed at this of course. As one of those guys who has always [...]
Top Jimmy can't bear the thought of trading Torii Hunter. But, he's now calling for the trade of Kevin Garnett.
The only way that I can be behind a trade for KG is to release him from this situation. But, if the Wolves trade KG, just board up 600 1st Avenue North.
When a player [...]
Says Mick Anselmo of the FAN:
I think the FAN got too big for them. They're looking for a low-cost provider. I wish them the best. They've been a good partner. I'm still a huge fan of that organization.
That's right, the pissant sports radio station is too big for an NBA franchise. I mean when [...]
With an off-day, Joe Christenson offers us a story on a Twins player making an impact, Justin Morneau. How much better does it feel to see that instead of that stupid article on Tony Batista's stance a while back?
Anyway, there are some interesting things in this article.
Hunter's still the media darling and there's a [...]
Top Jimmy:
So what you saw at the Dome this week -- kids such as Jason Kubel and Jason Bartlett sweeping the Boston Red Sox -- isn't an aberration to Ryan.
It's the plan.
It wasn't the plan on April 1, though, like a lot of us thought it should be.
I agree with the idea expressed in [...]
I love Patrick, but he's got a blind spot here, I think. The Twins have screwed this up, not Bartlett. He should have been here.
I did notice that Bartlett stayed back on a ball last night and he fumbled a ball they he eventually turned into a double play. However, let's cut [...]
Sid on his radio show Sunday morning: I agree with Billy Beane. The Twins should have taken college kids.
Sid said it twice.
A little coaching at the AAA level refined our young lefty. BTW, it's Liriano v. F-Her again tonight.
Very nice piece by Reusse. Ol' Patrick, you are still the best writer in town.
Update: More Reusse doing the beat writing.
The Twins acquired three veterans to shore up the offense during the offseason: [...]
While interviewing "American Idol" finalist Ace Young, Bert asked Ace if he "got lucky" with Paula Abdul.
From the Strib:
Earlier, the Twins gave away the tying run in the eighth inning when Morneau failed to scoop a throw and then second baseman Luis Castillo failed to catch a line drive. Both of these routine plays went as hits, leaving Juan Rincon with both a blown save and an earned run.
Someone really ought [...]
Bump writes a post on his blog that agrees with my point on Kelvin Sampson. I don't know how I feel about this.
Top Jimmy writes about how the Twins aren't using Joe Nathan because of the dearth of save opportunities. He never, however, suggests that with a shaky bullpen it might be time to think about bringing him in to a game in other situations.
It's time for another guessing game. Who said it? If you know because you read it, please don't spoil it for others.
Nobody will ever convince me that the Metrodome, closer to the West Bank and the Coffman Memorial Union than the site of the new stadium, wouldn't have been a great addition for [...]
Ah, Herm Edwards must be proud. Fresh off of his riveting article on Tony Batista, Joe Christensen gives us this beauty.
Santana squandered a four-run lead against the Cleveland Indians, forcing the Twins to use Nathan in another non-save situation.
Nathan dominated for two innings, setting the stage for Justin Morneau's game-winning sacrifice fly in the 10th [...]
You have to read the article today on Tony Batista by Joe Christenson in the Strib entitled "Whatever Works" detailing Batista's unorthodox batting stance. Apparently, a couple of dingers in Milwaukee have quelled the "is Batista about to be cut" rumors. The money quotes:
"Everybody doesn't like the way I hit," said Batista, a .251 career hitter [...]
Here is the actual title from Shooter's Friday column: A.J. trade among Twins' best. Really. Hey, did you hear about the Lindbergh baby?
Now, if I had picked up a copy of the PiP on Friday and read that, I would have thought, there's 25 cents I'll never get back.
A little harsh, but brought a chuckle nonetheless. And no, it wasn't TJ.
Manager Ron Gardenhire announced that rookie Francisco Liriano would be moving into the rotation to replace the Unsinkable Carlos Silva. With that, Silva was added to Matt Guerrier, Willie Eyre and Jesse Crain as lost-cause possibilities for the Twins.
Talk about impressive depth: This [...]
I know I said we're going to get this thing rolling again, but I had a sick kid keep me up quite a bit of Saturday, so Sunday afternoon was spent sleeping (plus a last raking effort before winter comes). So, the great rev up will have to wait at least another day.
Respond: 4 LTEs
Loading ... Loading ...There have been
visitors to the WGOM since August 23, 2004