Lost Forest After Dark

Bush beats Gore. Saruman The White aligns with Mordor. Kurt Cobain gives in to his demons. Germany invades Poland. These were dark days when blackness engulfed light, when hope was all but lost and man feared for his suddenly trembling soul. Last night it happened once again as the black clad Chicago White Sox defeated those men in white, those plucky nine-ballers from the north, the lovable, the handsome, the wet-behind-the-ears Minnesota Twins.

Oh it was close, it always is when evil toys with good. Evil can never just roll over good. The outcome must always be in doubt, it must tease, give a smattering of hope. Then, at the most opportune moment, crush. This time it was a single shot, a mammoth shot that first lifted into the black Chicago sky and then fell gently back to earth into the black Chicago stands. It was as if Dr. Henry Holmes had risen from his dark South-side parlor to administer the lethal blow himself.

So evil stands again. But only to face another purveyor of good, another Ray of light. See that’s the problem that the forces of dark must face: it can’t sustain itself. There’s always another day, the sun comes back up again. And even for the Minnesota Twins there’s next year, a year that promises to be brighter than this year. With a pitching staff that is young and strong and wise. A line-up that is swift and strong and manly. And a team that represents the light, the good, and all that is worth living on God’s good earth.

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

''It seems like they can't do anything wrong here,'' Buehrle said of the Twins, after admitting that the Sox do flinch a bit coming to the dome. ''Manager Ozzie Guillen calls them 'piranhas,' but I call them 'shitheads.' I would tell you what I really call them, but I know you couldn't print it. They get on base, bunt, steal, bloop singles -- it's fucking annoying.''

It’s a confirmed fact that the Twins have gotten in the White Sox heads over the past 6-8 years as it seems like when these two teams are neck and neck, the tighty whitey’s fold like a rolling cot in a flea bag motel. The last two nights were no different. After winning a laugher on Tuesday night, the Twins used bloop singles, situational hitting, and lousy Chicago defense to move runners into scoring position and then get them in. Couple that with a bullpen that seems to have showered off the gasoline and you have the White Sox reeling once again.

Tonight’s the big game because if the Twins lose, Chicago is back in the driver’s seat and the Twins must sweep the nothing-to-lose Royals. Let’s keep the tighty-whitey’s hands around their throats and wrap up this series tonight!

Posted by Freealonzo at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

As mentioned Friday, here’s a link to the Twins new ballpark where one can see the different pricing levels and by clicking on a seat, see the view from that seat. It is a very cool interactive site and anyone interested in this stuff should check it out. Twins Ballpark 2010 has a nice little analysis (as usual) and talks about how the seating may create “neighborhoods” within the ballpark.

The site also gives the average fan a look at the new ticket prices that they will be paying at Target Field. Surprise, surprise, tickets will be more expensive at the new ballpark, however not as bad as expected. First the Twins have been keeping up with the Jonses in raising ticket prices at the dome. The Home Run Porch are $20.00, it was only a few years ago that those tickets were $7.00. The dome upper deck outfield are only $7.00 but those truly are not the greatest seats based on distance from home plate. The worst thing about the Dome is that there are lots of seats that are lousy but expensive. These are the seats along the first and 3rd base line that look directly into the outfield but still cost $30.00

The nice thing about Target Field is that the prices seem to match the quality of the seat. There are 27 different price levels, including premium for front row seats. Sure there aren’t as many $10 seats as you can find at the dome, but there are a lot more quality $20 seats. Plus the way the seats hang, I think if you are in the first couple of rows in the upper deck, your seat will be about the same quality as those sitting below you, even though they will be paying a lot more for the privilege. The picture above is from a $20 seat along the first base line.

Unfortunately gone are the days when you could walk up to a ballpark and drop $5-10 for an outfield bleacher seat. But compared to other sporting events, baseball is still a bargain. The Twins seem to have realized that and are pricing their seats to match. Only 18 months to this thing opens and I hear that by this time next year, we will have turf on the ground. This place is going to be great and I am counting the days until I get to watch baseball outside.

Posted by Freealonzo at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Packer Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had so much time in the pocket against the Vikings pass rush, he found it difficult not to take a little snooze during the game.

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Minnesota Golden Gophers come into the 2008 college football season after one of it’s worst seasons ever. A record of 1-11, including loses to teams that were considered cream puffs, a defense that ranked last in the nation, and basically a team that was blown out week after week. The team did improve as the season went on but no one can find a whole lot of positives out of the reeking mass of crap that was last season’s football team.

I was one who thought that former coach Glen Mason left the shelves pretty bare for newcomer Tim Brewster, but not 1-11 and bare. At least Mason knew what shortcoming he had on defense and that is why he ran a time-consuming, run-heavy offense. Brewster didn't seem to realize what he did and did not have. Everyone knew going into last season that Brewster could recruit but could he coach? Well after one year we still know he can recruit but we don’t know if he can coach. I hear other things about Brewster that worry me, but let’s see how the season plays out.

Things should be better this year for the Gophers. A decent recruiting class and a year of experience for both Brewster, and QB Weber should help. This team isn’t competing for the Rose Bowl or the Music City Bowl but is should win more games. I think a successful season would be around 5 wins with a sweep of the non-conference season and two Big 10 wins. Not getting blown out when the team loses would help immensely as well.

This team and Coach Brewster is at a crossroads. Brewster has to demonstrate that he has the composure and smarts to coach a big-league team. These high-faluting recruits need to demonstrate their ability on the field and keep their nose clean off. This is the last year in the dome and everyone will be excited for next year anyway. It would be nice to have a team that creates some excitement as well.

How do you think the Gophers will do this fall?

Posted by Freealonzo at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

When the Twins season started nearly 5 months ago fans were nervous. The team had an awful off-season, losing Torii Hunter to the Angels, trading Johan Santana to the Mets for a bunch of minor leaguers, signing aging, washed-up veterans Craig Monroe and Livan Hernandez, trading two promising youngsters to Tampa , and signing half of the Astros infield, both of whom didn’t offer a whole lot of promise. Most felt that this Twins team was slated for about 72-78 wins.

Most of our concerns have come true: Monroe and Hernandez added very little and have been released; after some early success, the only player in the Santana trade to be in the majors has struggled of late; former Astros Mike Lamb and Adam Everett have been non-factors too. Mike Lamb barely even plays anymore. Garza and Bartlett have helped propel the Rays to the top of the American League East while the players we got in return have been serviceable but not great. Oh and Michael Cuddyer has been hurt most of the year. As predicted, the Twins are at 72 wins. The thing is, there are still 36 games left to the season and the Twins are only a game out of first.

How did that happen? Well first and foremost the Twins starting pitching has been much better than expected. Five starters under the age of 26 and all have done very well. No one thought that these pitchers would do so well. Morneau, Mauer, and Jason Kubel have been stellar at the plate and Casilla and Span have surprised. The bullpen has been good, especially early, although causing concern now.

Now due to the Republican National Convention, the Twins are going on a 14 game, 15 day road trip to Anaheim, Oakland, Seattle, and Toronto. The next 24 of 30 games are on the road. In the next two weeks besides knowing who the Vice Presidential candidates are, we will know if the Twins have a shot at the playoffs. These next 14 games are crucial. Thankfully 7 games are against the stinky Athletics and Mariners, while the Angels have put it on autopilot and haven’t been playing as well. Toronto, well, they’re Toronto.

Twins need to win 8 or 9 games on this road trip to keep pace with the White Sox. Plain and simple. This road trip makes or breaks this season. They’ve surprised all summer, (or as Paul Allen says: “The Summer of Stun�?) can they surprise one more time?

Posted by Freealonzo at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Stick and Ball Guy brought up the issue of who is/was the greatest Olympian: Michael Phelps or Carl Lewis. It’s a pretty good question, one ripe for discussion. SBG falls firmly in the Carl Lewis camp citing evidence that Lewis got his 9 gold medals over a longer time period, track and field is a more “prestigious�? (my word, not his) sport, and that his performance in 1984 winning gold medals in the four most glamorous events (the 100, 200, 4X100, and the long jump). SBG also feels that the fact that swimming world records keep falling precipitously means that the sport isn’t as mature as track and field and clearly swimmers haven’t reached the full human potential for that sport. Compelling arguments I have to agree.

In Michael Phelps corner is the fact that he will have more Gold medals, is breaking world records by leaps and bound, as opposed the 1/10th of a second typically found in track records, and is doing his feat in a number of different events (Four of Lewis’ Golds were in the Long Jump). Also one has to wonder if Lewis would have done so well in 1984 if the Soviet Bloc countries had participated. Then again, would Lewis have won any medals in 1980 if the USA hadn’t boycotted those Olympics?

SBG makes a pretty good case for Lewis and right now I have to think he’s right. If Phelps comes back in 2012 and wins another 2-4 Gold Medals then I think it would be difficult not to label Michael Phelps the greatest Olympic Athlete ever.

What do you think?

Posted by Freealonzo at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

K.G. gets his Ring and can finally put to rest the critics like Peter Vescey and Patrick Reusse who have questioned his ability to be a Champion. Even though his antics after the game verged on the obnoxious -- with K.G. performing a free a commercial for Adidas screaming Everything’s Possible!! over and over again -- I am man enough to admit I teared up at the end of Tuesday’s game. One because I think K.G. is one of the greatest players ever, respects the game and himself, and gave his all to crappy Timberwolves teams for 12 years – he earned his ring. But second, because it just showed how screwed up the T-Wolves had been for those 12 years. If the T-wolves brain(?) trust had just managed to surround K.G. with players, there would be championship banners hanging in Target Center, not San Antonio, Detroit, Miami, and Los Angeles these past few years.

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well it's been two years since the financing for a new Twins Ballpark has been approved and one year since construction started. So where are we at?

First the ballpark is going up like spades and is on schedule and on budget. Rick over at Twins Ballpark 2010 has literally hundreds of photos of the progress and I urge you to check them out if at all interested. It's pretty amazing and you can start to see the outlines of a ballpark.

Steve Berg over at Minnpost.com got a tour last week and has only good things to say. I especially liked this quote:

"That's what makes this urban-style ballpark the most urban of its generation. There is no pause, no spatial gap between it and its surroundings."

The main reason I supported a new Twins Ballpark wasn't so much that I was worried the Twins would leave, but more that baseball is suppose to be played outside and that there was literally a renaissance going on all around the country in the construction of urban, human-scaled ballparks. It looked like the Twins and Minnesota were missing out. Now, I am thankful it took so long to agree on a ballpark. Because of that delay we missed out on the post-modern, faux-urbanity that mars places like Comerica Park and construction costs went up so much that we couldn't afford a retractable roof that makes places like Miller Park feel more like an upside-down fez than a ballpark.

Sure, the place isn't done yet and I am sure once it is, we will find something to complain about, (like ticket and food prices I am sure). But right now, it's looking like we will have a special, unique, urban place to watch professional baseball.

Posted by Freealonzo at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well the Timberwolves season came to a merciful end last night with a fun overtime win over the just as lousy Milwaukee Bucks. No one had a lot of hope for this season, only that it was setting a foundation for future glory. So what did we learn:

• Al Jefferson can be an elite player. He obviously knows how to score, now let’s improve that defense. Also the team needs to play him at power forward not center.

• Ryan Gomes can be a dependable NBA player, Randy Foye has some shimmy to him as well. Sebestain Telfair is a decent back-up point guard. Hopefully the Wolves can keep all three with decent contracts (I’m looking at you Sebestain Telfair).

• Corey Brewer has good defense but needs to bulk up. I am not convinced those skinny legs can support a bigger body. While the consensus best player at the number 7 pick, Brewer was a disappointment this year. Hopefully with some bulk and experience he can improve.

• How Marco Jaric ever was able to get that huge contract, I’ll never know. He has no touch around the basket and takes away much more than he adds to the court. No sure if Doleac can play defense. Mad Dog while lots of heart has no game. McCants is a head case that sometimes can play, Craig Smith is a center in a small forward’s body. Goodbye Greg Buckner, Chris Richard and especially Antawn Walker.

The biggest problem facing the Wolves (well beside the fact that McHale is still running the team) is that they play in the Western Conference where it takes 50 wins just to be a 8 seed. Even if they double their wins next year, they might miss the playoffs. Hopefully they get Derek Rose in the draft (not Beasely he overlaps with Jefferson too much). But more importantly they get another player who can contribute, is not a head case, and fills a need – of which the Wolves have in abundance. Oh and if the Wolves draft Ray Hibbard I’m going to shoot myself in the head.

What do you think about the Wolves season/future?

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Given that we’re currently amidst the “Winter the Wouldn’t Leave�? and that the Twins had such a lousy off-season, it only makes sense that it is snowing on the opening day of the 2008 baseball season. Not only is it snowing, but we are expected to get 6-8 inches of snow! Today it’s just hard to get all misty-eyed about the beginning of baseball season representing rebirth when you can’t see 20 feet out your window because of the snow so I will spare you the sentiment.

Here are my thoughts on the Twins and baseball as we begin another season:

I think the Twins are on a 75-78 win season. About a month ago I wrote the following haiku regarding the 2008 Twins:

Michael Cuddyer.
Justin Morneau. Joe Mauer.
Delmon Young. Then what?

Those four batters should have a great season but there is no one else, maybe Go Go surprises in Centerfield but other than that a lot of questions at the plate and in the field. Couple with a pitching staff that will be mediocre at best, and we are looking at a sub-.500 season. Future may look bright, but not this year.

I don’t believe in the Tigers, the Cabera and Willis additions nonetheless. I think the Indians take the Central walking away. Red Sox and Angels also will crush in the East and West. Cubs and Brewers should battle in the NL Central, Mets in East, can Rockies catch fire again in the West?

Also I think Torii Hunter will have a monster season. Much like David Ortiz when he went to Boston, Hunter will see a lot of juicy pitches now that he is surrounded by a number of good bats (I’m looking at you Vlad). The Angels may hate that contract they gave Torii in years 4 and 5, but they are going to love what Hunter brings in these first couple of years.

Finally I can’t leave with out mentioning that the ballpark skeptics will be using today’s snow to say the Twins were foolish for not insisting and/or paying for a retractable roof but my mind remains unchanged on the need for a roof. First a roof would cost $125 million not including inevitable cost overruns. Second a roof would never have fit on the current ballpark site. 3rd in the future, Twins can start season on road if need be. Finally I would always be concerned that the Twins would get Miller Park disease and insist on closing the roof at any hint of weather below 60 degrees. Also Indians lost a few games to snow last year, didn't seem to hurt them on the field or at the gate. It's a non-issue for 95 percent of the games the Twins will play and $125-$150 million is not worth dealing with that other 5 percent.

What are your thoughts on the 2008 baseball season?

Posted by Freealonzo at 09:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

There's a reason grown (and not so grown) men shed a tear when they hear the opening notes to One Shining Moment. It's because 3 glorious weekends of college basketball have just come to another conclusion. But no need for tears here. Those three weekends are about to begin. Got your picks in?

Like last year it looks like the top seeds should rule your brackets. Sure there are some cutesy teams like Louisville or Pitt, but if you don't have the big dogs in your final four you will be out of the money. Here is my sweet 16:

North Carolina
Notre Dame
Louisville
Tennessee

Kansas
Vanderbilt
Wisconsin
Georgetown

Memphis
Pitt
Standford
Texas

UCLA
UConn
Xavier
Duke

I have UCLA beating Texas and N. Carolina beating Georgetown in the finals. UCLA as champs.

Who do you like?

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The Gopher men’s hockey team extended its disappointing season at least another weekend with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over Mankato on Sunday. The undisputed star of the weekend has to be Alex Kangas who played all three games, only allowed 4 goals in something like 260 minutes and made some truly insane saves in overtime when a goal meant the end of the Gophers season.

The weekend series also demonstrated once again how punchless the Gophers’ scoring threat is. The Gophers went 0-12 in the powerplay and time and time again they would be in odd man rushes and weren’t able to even get a shot off, or someone was out of position, or if they got a shot, would miss the net. I’m not enough of a Gopher hockey rube to know if they have some scorers coming in next year, but I sure hope so. With Kangas, the Gophers may finally have that elite goalie they’ve been looking for, add some fire power and we may see a frozen four team once again.

Oh btw, can anyone now agree that the Wisconsin Badgers’ national championship of a couple of years ago was a complete fluke? They were lousy for years before 2006, they’ve been lousy since. It was a classic case of riding a super hot goalie to collect some hardware. Gotta wonder how many disappointing seasons Mike Eaves can squeeze out of his squad before he’s in hot water.

Gophers’ basketball had an amazing win on Friday and disappointing and winnable game on Saturday. No doubt that this team is NIT-quality only. It’s even amazing that Tubby was able to coax 20 wins out of a team that had only 9 wins a year ago. Although that may land more on Dan Monson that Tubby Smith. The Gophers offense was maddenly pedestrian at times this year and that really showed during the Illinois game. Late in the 2nd half when the Gophers needed a basket, all we saw was a bunch of dribbling while four other guys stood around. I hope that more reflects talent than coaching, I guess we’ll see next year when the talent level should greatly improve.

This week, Gopher wrestler’s defend their national championship, NIT starts, WCHA frozen five, and March Madness. Hopefully I’ll have my Sweet 16 up by the end of the week.

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"Boo hoo hoo. The Packers didn’t sign Randy Moss, the Packers didn’t tell me they liked me enough. I 'm staying home and hunt me some possum."

Posted by Freealonzo at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Over at Minnpost.com David Brauer has an enlightening slideshow demonstrating some of the features of the new Twins ballpark. What is really interesting is a comparison of the seats in the Metrodome v. seats in the new ballpark. Here's the link.

Of course there are features we all know about and have seen in newer ballparks such as open concourses, more restrooms, seats that actually face the field, and a gigantic color scoreboard. What’s more, from these slides you can see that the lower bowl seats will be much lower than the lower deck of the Metrodome. However, because of the club seats and suites, the last rows of the upper deck will actually be slightly higher. (Which plays right into the concerns Spycake brought up last week with this post). Less rows, however, so easier to get to the rest rooms or the concourses. Interesting note: The “tiara�? of lights that will surround the ballpark is actually higher than the roof of the dome!

Anyway, I am excited and can’t believe that in two years from now we will be literally weeks away from the first outdoor Twins game in a generation. The ballpark looks like it will be gorgeous. Also, even thought it was frustrating waiting so long, I think the wait has ensured that we are getting a ballpark that is baseball focused. In the early part of this decade there were a number of new ballparks that opened that didn’t put baseball first. Instead the teams felt like they had to add other features or artificial quirks to their ballparks. I’m thinking of the amusement park in Detroit and the “hill�? in Houston. Fortunately the pendulum has swung the other way for the Twins. No forced and artificial “retro�? look. No quirky features meant to evoke the Green Monster or Ivy-strewn fences, no artificial or retractable roofs hulking over the site. Just a clean, simple design, with modern features; place to soak in the sun, sit back, and watch a baseball game.

What do you think of the design?

Posted by Freealonzo at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Jay Weiner at Minnpost.com has an article up on the suites in the new Twins ballpark. Now Jay has been following the saga of stadium building in the Twin Cities for a long time but I thougt the slant of his article was a little too hysterical.

Basically it looks like the suites are going to be beautiful (see picture above). Nice cabinetry, plenty of flatscreen tvs, leather chairs, good sitelines, granite countertops, etc. The article has an attitude that this is a bad thing, maybe a sniff of ati-elitism going on. My take is who cares? I don't have enough $$$ for a suite but if others do and the Twins can sell them, that means they won't be looking to take as much out of my pocket when I go to the game.

It looks like the Twins have committments on 44 of the 55 planned suites. At $90,000 to $200,000 a year, that's not too bad. That's 44x$90,000 to $200,000 that I won't have to cough up. Who knows, maybe the Twins will be able to afford Delmon Young's next $150 million contract!

Bottom line is I want this ballpark to be top notch. I want it to be a beautiful place to watch Major League Baseball outdoors. If some corporate suits want to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilige, all the power to 'em. Just get me a ballpark I can be proud of.

Posted by Freealonzo at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

This was going to be the week. The weather was going to be cold but we would warm up the stadium. Our team had been playing surprising well all season, much better than any one expected. Now this week we were home against a high profile team from the east. Win this week and we would be in the national spotlight, with a chance to play for a national championship. But alas we lost, our senior leadership let us down and although we played gutty, in the end we lost by only a few points to an opponent that was just a little bit better than we were.

I’m talking about the Packers right? Uh no. I’m talking about your Minnesota Golden Gopher basketball team and their gut-wrenching home loses to #8 Indiana and #10 Michigan State. Going into this week everyone thought that here was a perfect time to make a statement. Gopher basketball was back. Win these games and we would be a ranked team with a good chance to be invited to the big dance. We played well, kept the games close but ultimately lost and exposed this team for what it really is: An up and coming team that is probably best suited for the NIT this year.

Let’s face it Dan Coleman and Spence Tollackson just aren’t that good. Tollackson especially had brutal games. If you are then left to rely on Freshman, well you’re going to lose tough ones in the end. That’s what happened this week.

And just like those besotted Packer fans who are just now clearing the cobwebs from their pickled brains, we have hope for next year. Tubby is actually coaching some decent basketball and help is coming from a top 20 recruiting class. The Gopher fan base is actually excited about the basketball being played at Williams arena. Instead of this weekend being the beginning of good times for Gopher hoops we need to look at this weekend as the end of the dark times.

And if that doesn’t give you hope just think of this: Brett Favre’s rancid play kept the Packers from the Superbowl. If that doesn’t put a smile on your face, you’re not a Minnesotan

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Remember when I said this?

Just forget that I said that o.k.?

Posted by Freealonzo at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

There is an article at MinnPost about further issues swirling around development rights and the new Twins ballpark. Now it’s obvious from the article (link) that the reporter didn’t speak to anyone representing the Twins and the reporter, G.R. Anderson, while generally pretty good, will favor one side over another in his stories. Given that, the article does not bode well for having the new Twins ballpark surrounded by new development.

Essentially the article states that the Twins don’t want any building obscuring the view of the Ford Center (owned by the Pohlads) or have any building allowing views into the new ballpark. If true, I think the Twins are being shortsighted. Besides being a lousy place to watch a baseball game, the Metrodome was a big disappointment in creating development around it. Part of that was driven by the Sports Facility Commission in not wanting any competition for its high price beer and hotdogs.

What will really make the new Twins ballpark a special place is if new development happens in and around the ballpark. This includes bar and restaurants, shops, transportation and housing. Give people a reason to come early and stay late, even if they don’t have a Twins ticket. Right now all we know is that the ballpark will be a multi-modal transportation hub.

The Twins should be encouraging development around it’s ballpark, not trying to minimize it. If a building, especially residential, offers views of the ballpark, who cares. It adds to the excitement, the liveliness, the overall vibrancy of the ballpark. Wrigleyville in Chicago is always given as a great example. Of course Wrigleyville has developed over 80 plus years. The LoDo area around the Rockies ballpark is a better example. The Rockies ballpark revitalized a tired warehouse area in Denver. There’s no reason why the Twins ballpark can’t do the same. Now if we can just convince the Pohlads…

Posted by Freealonzo at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There’s something stirring and I’m not sure what it is. It’s like when you were younger and you come across an old girlfriend and you see her in a different light: she’s cuter somehow; nicer; sexier. You start to question yourself: why did I break up with her again? She wasn’t that bad was she? You remember fondly the good times, rationalizing away the bad times. You ask, should I try again? Do I risk the disappointments, the stupid decisions, the lack of performance?

That’s how I feel about the Vikings right now. Being a life long Minnesotan in my early to mid-40’s I’ve experienced just about every emotion with the Vikes, (except, of course, ultimate victory), but mainly I’ve experienced disappointment. It’s gotten to the point that over the past few years, I haven’t really cared. Sure I’ll watch the games if nothing else is going on but when they lose or play way under expectations, it’s something to laugh about, not get upset about.

Miraculously, the Vikes are playing well, heck, they’re even fun to watch. So do I get involved emotionally again? Do I start to care, rekindle an old love affair with the risk of having my heart crushed? Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect a “Superbowl homeboy.�? But right now a playoff appearance and a good (but losing) effort against a good team is all I want and I’ll be hooked, cementing a solid relationship for next year.

So maybe I’ll try to kick it off with this new/old girlfriend once again. Hopefully smarter, more wary when those old habits start to crop up, but in full steam once again. Unfortunately we all know how it’s going to end.

What’s your opinion of the Vikings this season?

Posted by Freealonzo at 09:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Another Gopher football season in the books and for the first time in years we aren’t looking forward to a minor bowl game in El Paso or Nashville. I have mixed feelings about the Gophers season and Tim Brewster. Although at times the Gophers play was embarrassingly inept, atrocious even, with poor coaching, poor execution, slow and overmatched athletes (especially on the defensive side of the ball) there were some glimmers of hope: We finished the season better than we started and played Iowa and Wisconsin tough, Weber appears to be a legitimate spread quarterback, and the word on the street is that Brewster is putting together a nice recruiting class for next year.

I hope this season was a humbling experience for Coach Brewster. The guy can talk but he needs action to back up those words or he’ll eventually be ignored. The book is still out whether or not he can coach a football team. At times his game plan was woefully inadequate, bad game time decisions were made and, even though there were a lot of true freshman playing, at times the Gophers didn’t seem ready to play (e.g the Illinois game which was homecoming!). Brewster will need to ask more of himself if he’s going to also ask more from his players.

One final word on the Big Ten Network. Thankfully a lot of people were not able to watch the Gophers season due to the fact that many games were on the Big Ten Network and not available to Comcast, Time Warner and Charter cable customers. However, I would have happily sat down in front of the TV to watch the Gophers-BADgers game if it were on TV, regardless of the Gophers' record or their chances.

I understand the reasoning behind the Big Ten Network: Much like Victory Sports of a few years back for the Twins, the successful establishment of these networks would help the team's bottom line. And I would love to watch the Big Ten Network among my regular basic cable choices. However Comcast has recently reduced the number of channels I get while increasing their monthly fee. So it seems quite unlikely that they are going to add an admittedly niche channel to their offerings. So while the Big Ten Network, in theory, adds $$$ to the University’s coffers and visibility to all the Big Ten teams, it is built on a seriously flawed business plan.

The same goes for the NFL network which you will be hearing about a lot in the next few weeks as the Dallas-Green Bay game will be only seen by a few handful of households that can get the NFL network at home. With the college basketball season heating up now, we are going to miss a lot of Gopher games on TV. Unfortunately there are more cable TV watchers who don’t care about sports or get their sports via satellite dish to cause an outcry. I see no change in this situation until the folks at the Big Ten Network and NFL network read the handwriting on the wall and go the way of Victory Sports.

Posted by Freealonzo at 09:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

O.k. so I had my excellent cheeseburger and 2 strong, spicy Bloody Marys and I've settled into my seat at the Dome on a beautiful October day in October. First time all year to see in my own eyes Brewster's Gophers. Three plays later Gophers up by 7 and my thoughts about this game -- Gophers have too much speed and firepower on offense for the Bison -- are coming true.

Fast forward 3 plus hours and I'm dejected, sad, mostly embarassed because the Gophers lost 21-27 to the North Dakota State University Bison. The Gophers were overrun, outcoached and just plain and simple outplayed. It was disgusting. It was demoralizing, it was ...embarassing.

The Bison just over ran the Gophers defense. What is worse is that they pretty much ran the same 4 plays. Bison running backs were hardly ever touched at the line of scrimmage, Gophers couldn't or wouldn't cover their backs coming out of the backfield, and the Bison QB had no trouble finding wide open receivers. On Offense the Gophers were boring, couldn't execute when they had a good play called and seemed to be going through the motions.

Brewster apologists have said that Mason left the cupboard bare and I agree to a point. Also Brewster is playing a lot of Freshmen but plain and simple the effort and coaching just isn't there. We gotta give Brewster a couple of years to see where this is going but it's going to take a lot of success to wash the bad taste out of Gopher Nation's mouth.

Embarassing.

Posted by Freealonzo at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So Twins out of it in disappointing manner, Golden Gophers cough up a lung against Bowling Green, and Vikes look to another boring sub .500 team. Throw in a probably lousy Gophers b-ballers, mid-tier Minnesota Wild squad and a KG-less T-wolves, we truly are in the Sports Abyss right now. Here are some thoughts on the two currently disappointing teams.

Minnesota Twins. What’s so sad is that this team has a nice core and with a couple of real major leaguers at 3rd and DH, they might have been able to make some noise oh well. For the last few weeks of the season this is what I’d like to see:

No Punto or Tyner except as a late inning defensive replacement
Shut down Neshek.
Play Kubel every day and see if he is a productive Left Fielder or not
Play Casilla everyday and see of he is a productive 2nd basemen or not
Go with a 6 man staff (Santana, Boof, Baker, Garza, Silva, Slowey) to see if the young guns have what it takes
As much as it pains me rely heavily on Cali and Depaulo, see if they have what it takes to be a major leaguer.

Off Season:

Sign Hunter to 5 year $13-14M/year contract
Sign Silva to 2 year $3M/year contract
Sign Cuddyer and Morneau to long term deals
Get a real 3rd baseman and DH

Golden Gopher Footballers. Face it, Saturday’s game was a disaster. All of a sudden the kool-aid Brewster was serving us was the sugar-less kind. We know this team is going to be bad – Mason left the cupboard pretty bare. I don’t mind a 3-9 or 4-8 season but only if the team improves as the season goes on. If the defense toughens up, Weber improves and the Gophers lose hard played games, there’s hope for the future, if the Gophers look lost with no noticeable improvement into November, Gopher Nation will be awfully restless with Brewster’s smoke and mirrors.

T-Wolves. I’m actually intrigued. Beside KG, McFail got rid of T-Hud and Mike James, now if Ricky Davis and Jaric can go away, this might be a fun exciting team.

Oh yeah, the Vikings. I'm from Missouri on this team. Show Me and maybe I'll show some interest.

Posted by Freealonzo at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

It's no secret that I'm a huge supporter of the new Twins Ballpark and the new Gophers football stadium. In fact I participate/lurk on blogs dedicated to the subject including this this one and this one. However, recent evidence has been unearthed demonstrating that I'm not a newcomer to this outdoor stadium issue, no not me. Below is a letter I sent to the MN Daily that was published in October 1988!!

So Greet Machine, take that! while you were zoned out listening to Led Zeppelin on your parents hifi I was fighting the good fight. Click on the image below to see a larger, more readable version.

So there! In my 20's I was suggesting open revolt over the Gophers moving to the Dome! The thing is, although no one ever protested the dome, one can make a pretty good argument that Gopher fans followed my first line of attack. It only took 19 years but we're finally there.

Hope to see you at the Twins new ballpark groundbreaking on Thursday, I'll be the one protesting! :o)

Posted by Freealonzo at 09:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

First, if you're not getting your Twins fix from the blog Stick and Ball Guy, you need to get there. Good analysis of Twins, plus other fun stuff. If that's not enough to check it out, how about a feature on yours truly? Click here for the link.

If you are reading this after July 24th, you may have to click on the "know a citizen" link to see my feature.

Also look for my upcoming review of Bernard Malamud's book The Natural on SBG sometime in early August.

Posted by Freealonzo at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I went to Milwaukee this past weekend with Shane and Cheesehead Craig to check out the Twins-Brewers series. I’ve gone to Milwaukee 5 of the past 6 years and it’s always a great time. This year was different as the Twins were the team that was struggling and the Brewers were making some noise in the win column.

We toured Milwaukee a bit and even went on a Miller Brewery tour. Saturday was a gorgeous day, 85 degrees a little muggy, very sunny. However as game time approached at about 6:00 a few clouds were rolling in. Imagine our surprise when we get inside the stadium and the roof is 2/3 closed! The Brewers were afraid of a little rain. By the 3rd inning the roof was entirely closed. After the game it appeared that maybe it sprinkled but only lightly and it was still easily in the 70’s. Oh yea, Scott Baker shut down the Brewers, Torii goes yard and the Twins had a nice win and take the first 2 games of the series.

Miller Park 2/3 closed, then closed!

Sunday was a much brisker day – windy and cold. It was probably around 50 degrees when the game started. Again the roof closed. Not my favorite but a little understandable. However by the middle of the game it was sunny and probably about 60 degrees. Did the Brewers open the roof? No. We had awesome seats, the Twins got out to a nice lead then Ortiz remembered who he was and gave up the lead. Twins lost.

Check out these seats!

Now it was bad enough to have the roof closed when it should have been open at least for all of Saturday and most of Sunday’s game but what was worse was the Brewers fans defending the closing of the roof! “It might rain on the field, it was chilly, fans expect to be comfortable…sniff�? Remember these are people who would pack Camp Randall or Lambeau on a chilly November afternoon and think nothing of it. Clearly the roof at Miller Park is making Wisconsinites a bunch of weather wimps. Don’t be surprised if the Packers start looking into putting a dome over Lambeau, it’s only a matter of time.

Funny, you never see this side of Miller Park in promo pictures

The over use of the roof at Miller Park is one of the main reasons why I’m glad the Twins aren’t building a ballpark with a retractable roof. It’s too tempting to always use it, even at the slightest provocation of bad weather. In Milwaukee the roof closed pretty quickly and quietly. They have obviously fixed its problems. There is no reason why on Saturday night they could have quickly closed the roof if by chance it rained harder than expected. Baseball is meant to be played outdoors in the elements and the roof should be used only as a last resort. If my kid’s little league team can play in a drizzle or in 95 degree heat, surely the pros can too?

Anyone else go to Milwaukee this weekend? How was it?

Posted by Freealonzo at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (3)

It's here!! The day we've been waiting for a long, long time. The Twins finally were able to unveil the designs of their new ballpark. Here are some first impressions:

Great: Finally outdoor baseball iwth no roof. 3rd base line will have nice view of the skyline. Car, LRT, Commuter rail, bike, pedestrian all terminate at the site. Real grass! Concourses that are open to the playing field on all three levels. 6th Street terminates right at the right field outfield, nice place for a public plaza (pictured above).

Good: Modern ballpark, not a quirky "retro" bandbox. Twins' Hall of Famers numbers will signify the gates. Left field bleachers look like they will be awesome seats. Heated field. The field dimensions are a little smaller than the Metrodome but still within the range of fairness.

Bad. 7th and 5th Streets look like they will be pretty bleak for pedestrians. Minnesota limestone has been overdone lately. Too much glass for my taste. Not a whole lot of foul territory in outfield. Most home runs will land in the bullpen, not in the hands of the fans.

Special shout out goes to Rick over at Twins Ballpark 2010 for suggesting that the old flag pole from the Met (currently residing at a Richfield VFW) be included as part of the design. Looks like the Twins are going to take him up on his suggestion. Way to go Rick!!

Wanna see my reaction to the designs on channel 4? Click here. The video is on the right hand side of the page. I'm toward the end of the piece, again, talking about that 6th Street plaza.

I for one will be counting the days when I can spend a glorious summer day outdoors watching a game. Go Twins!!

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Baseball season has arrived and brings with it all our hopes and dreams for rebirth and renewal. Not only is our favorite team tied for first, but memories of warm sunny days, grilling hamburgers, and the sweet, sticky smell of suntan lotion and bug spray once again enter our senses. With the umpire’s first “Play Ball!�? we put away our mittens and scarves, the sleds are replaced by bikes, and sickly pale skin peeks out from beyond shirt sleeves and cutoffs.

I think the Twins are going to do pretty well this year. Their bats are going to be nearly unstoppable and if Gardy and Terry Ryan are willing to ditch the Carlos Silva experiment by mid-May, the pitching rotation should be a solid surprise. For that reason, Twins repeat as Central Division Champs. The order:

Twins (95-67)
Tigers (91-71)
Sox (89-73)
Indians (88-74)
Royals (75-87)

What's your prediction, how's your favorite team going to do?

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This weekend, the inevitable happened as the Minnesota Gophers wrestled its way to the NCAA Wrestling Championship. After a rough second day, the Gophers came back strong on Saturday punctuated by Heavyweight Cole Conrad's pin in the last match to secure his second straight individual title. Coach J. Robinson said "I think the true character of a team is when you get yourself in a hole and you have to dig yourself out, they responded when they had to and that's what champions do. This was a team win. All nine guys contributed to this and that's the beauty of this victory." Even in an individual sport like wrestling, it was a lot of fun to see the Gophers work as a team and have their team goal fulfilled.

In Hockey, the Gophers won WCHA final 5 in a fantastic game against North Dakota. The Gophers outplayed the Fighting Sioux whenever it was 5-on-5 and won on an incredible goal by Blake Wheeler (See Below). Now it's off to the NCAA's where the Gophers are by far in the toughest Regional and very well may have to beat North Dakota again to get to the frozen four. My prediction is that they tough it out and will be well positioned to win it's 6th National Championship. Go Gophers!

Contrast Goldy's weekend to that of Bucky who couldn't get past the 2nd round in roundball and who's men's hockey team couldn't even make the NCAA's to defend their fluke championship of last year.

Posted by Freealonzo at 09:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

O.k. the NCAA basketball tourney starts on Thursday. That time of year when your wife asks are you watching basketball again? That's all you did yesterday! Anyway I won't bore you with my entire bracket but here are my final eight:

Florida
North Carolina
Wisc
Georgetown
So. Illinois
Ohio State
UCLA
Texas A&M

I have Florida beating Georgetown in the final. What are your picks? Got any inside information?

UPDATE: I chickened out and put Kansas in the final 8 instead of So. Illinois.

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I think everyone feels the same way this guy does because it is becoming increasingly clear that Hennepin County and the entity that owns some of the land slated for the new ballpark are coming to loggerheads over the acquisition of the last parcels of land for the new ballpark. The City Pages had a good article on this subject this week and my good buddy Shane at Greet Machine has been lamenting over the land acquisition for weeks now. To further muddy the waters, a couple of Hennepin County Commissioners said over the weekend that they are pursuing alternative ballpark locations within the County! Which if true would surely need state legislative approval and would definitely delay the ballpark opening at least one year if not two.

But is it true? Are the County/Twins really serious about a different ballpark location? Is the land acquisition process really in danger of slowing down or stopping the development of a Twins Ballpark at the Rapid Park site? I argue no it’s not.

First if you need some background on this subject, please go over to Greet Machine. Shane’s site is the only place where you are going to get all the inside information on the ballpark. Plus it’s well established that all the parties involved (County, Land Owners, Twins Officials, Sid Hartman, Politicians, etc.) read the site and from time-to-time and slip nuggets of information to Shane.

The fact is that the County/Twins are moving full steam ahead on the Rapid Park site. Just today there is an article in the Strib that indicates that the ballpark designers have come up with a solution to the bike trail that intersects the ballpark site. In addition, the Twins are still planning to reveal ballpark renderings on February 15th. But more importantly, the County IS quietly taking steps to acquire the Rapid Park site.

The fact is that the County will be able to gain control of the land through the Quick Take process. In fact I think LPII (Land Owners) has even agreed to this. That's the key. The County/Twins can go forward with design, move dirt around, put out bids for construction, etc. During all this somewhere in the bowels of the court system the eminent domain process is going through the meat grinder. Twelve months from now we will have a ballpark design, perhaps a ballpark name, City/County approvals are in place, permits issued, infrastructure being built, contracts being let, sales tax revenues being collected, and the eminent domain hearing will end. Either the County has enough $$$ or it doesn't. If it doesn't THEN there is consternation. Either we have to hit up the Twins for more land acquisition costs or go back to the legislature. It will be tough at the legislature but with the fact that the ballpark is a real deal now (designs, permits, contracts, etc) even the son of Phil Krinkie would be hard pressed to say no to authorizing the County to pay a little more than $90 M for land/infrastructure (I'm sure there would be no need for additional sales tax revenue).

Right now I think all we are seeing is some public posturing by the County and LPII so that they look like the heroes and the other guy looks like a goat when these bumps occur. It's something that happens every day in complicated real estate deals however with a high profile project like the Twins ballpark, it's just getting a little more sunshine. That’s all. Until I hear otherwise, I look forward to seeing the new renderings next week.

Posted by Freealonzo at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (2)

The University of Minnesota unveiled it’s new football stadium designs to mostly positive reviews on Wednesday. The biggest surprise from previous drawings was the turning of the field 90 degrees to a mostly east-west direction. This accomplishes two things: Gives folks in the stands a fantastic view of the Minneapolis Downtown skyline and it allows the open section of the stadium to become a plaza. Other key features of the stadium:

Evokes old Memorial stadium as it will be built mostly of brick and will include “arched entries�? around the entire perimeter of the stadium.

Field will be eight feet below grade, allowing views of the field from the west end plaza.

Expansion-ready as more stands can be added along the top tied of the stadium.

Concourses double the size of the Metrodome and seats large enough to accommodate our ever increasing girths.

Of course, as with any stadium project (ahem Twins ballpark), costs have gone up. Some costs can be attributed to improvements made to the project (the wider concourses) while others are typical project increases such as soil corrections and inflation.

All in all a good start for a much needed stadium. I for one will be looking forward to opening day on September 12, 2009.

Posted by Freealonzo at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're Gopher fan there's nothing better than beating Iowa in Football and Wisconsin in Hockey. Doing both in one weekend...priceless. The Gopher Footballers put the smackdown on resident Iowa brat Drew Tate in a nice 34-24 victory. What's more, it looks like the Gophers will have a legitimate big time running back again in Jay Thomas. With a couple of decent defensive players and a good quaterback, this team might show some promise in the next couple of years.

Every weekend we get more evidence that Wisconsin's National Championship last year was a fluke and on Saturday and Sunday the Gopher's icemen put it to Bucky in both games. Wisconsin seems to think that all you need is a goalie to play hockey but not even Brian Elliot can save Bucky from having a sub-par season this year. Meanwhile the Gophers have the most exciting freshmen class in college hockey. Looks like we'll be watching the Gophers in April once again.

Posted by Freealonzo at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Freealonzo at 02:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ron Gardenhire addressing his team after the Twins clinched a playoff spot:

"From where we started out to where we are now, it doesn't get much better, boys. It's all because you got behind each other, you pulled for each other, you cared for each other. Congratulations! It's a wonderful feeling watching you guys play the way you have. Continued success. We're not done, boys. We're not even close to done, boys. Let's go!".... The room exploded.

What else can you say?

If you like those musical montages that TV stations put together to celebrate a team’s success, this one doesn’t get any better.

Posted by Freealonzo at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

It’s over! At last we can rest easy as the Hennepin County Board adopted the 0.0015 sales tax to pay for the Twins outdoor ballpark. As of about 24 hours after the vote, there still have been no reports of the constitution being ripped into shreds or Governor Pawlenty declaring martial law. Although given the testimony of the anti-ballpark folks, I'm sure it’s just a matter of time. So batten down the hatches, armageddon is a-comin!!

I have a feeling most people who check this blog are ballpark supporters as well, but I still want to go over a few simple facts. One the tax is merely 15/100ths of 1 percent. It doesn’t apply to clothing, it doesn’t apply to groceries, it doesn’t apply to automotive sales, it doesn’t apply to gasoline, and it doesn’t apply to most services. If you are in a family of 4 and have a household income of around $75,000 and you buy a new washer and dryer, you will probably pay at most $30 a year, all in little 3-12 cent drips and drabs (and remember, you won’t be a family of 4 over the entire 22-30 years this tax will be in place). Also approximately ¼ of the sales tax is paid by people living outside of Hennepin County.

Second, ballpark opponents have consistently said that they want to vote for the sales tax in a referendum. When confronted with the question of why pass this issue on to the voters when we don’t for any other issue, one Commissioner said that “capital�? projects are brought in front of the voters. Oh really? When did we vote on constructing a new Hennepin County Jail? When did we vote on Light Rail Transit? When do we vote on the expansion of 35W? Surely these are all capital projects. The fact is that ballpark opponents want to pick and choose when they can vote for a project and when they don’t. I guess if you’re against a project, we should vote on it so that it can be demagogued to death.

Finally we are hearing a lot of talk about ballpark-supporting elected officials being booted out office. Funny, no one is running against the Minneapolis state legislators who voted for the ballpark. They’re obviously safe. Three of the Commissioners who supported the ballpark are up for election this fall and do have primary challenges. However all their challengers are poorly funded, one-issue candidates who stand very little chance of being elected. Right now there is no evidence that Commissioners Opat, Stenglein, or McLaughlin have any re-election worries.

So enjoy the rest of the summer, take in the very entertaining Twins season, and bask in the thought that in a few short years we’ll be spending glorious 75-degree August evenings outdoors watching baseball, not under a Teflon-covered dome.

Posted by Freealonzo at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well I've stayed away from the Hennepin County public hearings on the new ballpark sales tax. I have, however, watched them on TV.

As can be expected, the opponents have not come up with anything new. They still claim that the County is acting illegally by not having a referendum, ignoring the fact that the state law had a provision to waive the need for a referendum. Furthermore, it's a state law and the state legislature can change the law as they see fit. Don't like it? Vote them out in November.

Besides the usual sky is falling rhetoric from the ballpark opponents, there is always the one person who owns a small business and says why don't you give me some sales tax $$$, I bring