Monday October 6, 2003

PLAYOFF QUESTIONS

VIKINGS THOUGHTS

MORE NFL THOUGHTS

NFL “EXPERTS” PICKS

QUESTIONS, SO MANY QUESTIONS

With apologies to REM, it is the end of the Twins season, and I know it, but I’ll be fine! The ball landed securely into the glove of Bernie Williams, and it became official; the Twins 2003 baseball season is done! For all intents and purposes, the game was over about the time Nick Johnson singled up the middle on an 0-2 pitch from Johan Santana, scoring two runs, and making the score 4-0 Yankees. Juan Rincon allowed two more runs to come in (credited to Santana) on a bloop single to Alfonso Soriano. Michael Cuddyer did get a bloop single to score the Twins lone run of the game, but that was all. David Wells was spectacular, as were all of the Yankees starting pitchers, and well, relievers, for that matter.

To be completely honest, I’m not exactly sure what angle to take for today’s posting. I could go a number of different ways. Here are some:

1.)     I could discuss how disappointing the Twins hitters (with the exceptions of Shannon Stewart and Torii Hunter) were the whole series. They didn’t get very many hits. They certainly didn’t bunch any hits together. There was no team concept of situational hitting.  Here are the numbers from the series.

2.)     Or, do I discuss just how successful the Yankees starting pitchers were, as well as Mariano Rivera? The four Yankees starters combined to go 3-1 with an ERA of 1.88. In 28.2 innings, they walked just 7 and struck out 27 Twins batters. Mariano Rivera got two 2-inning saves. In his 4 innings, he struck out four and walked none. The other Yankees relievers… 3.1 innings, 0 runs. Maybe they deserve a little credit.

3.)     Do I discuss Ron Gardenhire’s apparent loyalty (or stubbornness) to certain players? The fact that despite their inability to hit lefties, Gardy continued to throw the likes of Luis Rivas, Jacque Jones and Corey Koskie into the lineup. Gardy’s got a thing for “his guys”, and that’s commendable in its own way. Many of the players are the ones that got them there. But, don’t you owe it to the rest of the team and those players to give the team their best chance to win, especially in the playoffs.  Isn’t that the job of the manager? (In other words, I’m not as disappointed with the performances of Rivas, Jones and Koskie, as I am with Gardenhire for continuing to put them out there.)

4.)     Do I look back and just say, “Hey, the Twins had a great second half. They overcame a lot, to win their division. They got to the playoffs. Be happy!” In other words, as the Twins Geek so eloquently writes today, the playoffs are just Borrowed Time. I want to do this, and I will do this in the coming weeks, just not now. The playoffs aren’t guaranteed to anyone. They are a bonus. I think a lot of Twins fans, myself included, expected the Twins to win the division, as if they would have no problems themselves, as if other teams in the division wouldn’t try just as hard to win the division. Winning the division is special, an accomplishment, and should be considered that way. I hope we, as Twins fans, never get to the point where we become complacent with this experience. We don’t want to be like Braves fans, who are disappointed with just a playoff experience without a World Series Championship (Did you notice how much cheering was going on in Atlanta, as Joe Borowski was mowing down the Braves in the Bottom of the 9^th?). Some Twins fans may have expected the Twins to get to the ALCS again, because they did last year. That’s not always how it works either.  Good teams make the playoffs, every year. Nothing is promised.

5.)     That brings me to my next point that I could write about. When the Yankees win, there wasn’t a prolonged celebration on the field. There wasn’t a mob pile where someone could get hurt. They expect to win. Then, ESPN cameras showed Eddie Guardado sitting on the Twins bench, just watching.  I couldn’t help but think, “Eddie, I know you’d be a perfect fit and the Yankees will probably offer you a lot of money. But stay in Minnesota, play somewhere that, if you would happen to win a World Series, it would be exciting, not expected!” 

6.)     So, do I discuss and speculate just how much change will happen over this offseason? Will Corey Koskie’s $4.5 million option be picked up for next season? Will the Twins try to re-sign Shannon Stewart, Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins and/or Kenny Rogers? Will they offer arbitration to Doug Mientkiewicz and/or Luis Rivas? Will they make any trades? And, with all of those decisions, what will it mean for prospects like Michael Cuddyer, Michael Restovich, Michael Ryan, Justin Morneau, Lew Ford, Joe Mauer, JD Durbin, Jesse Crain and others?  Now isn’t the time to speculate on these things, not yet. I definitely will do that in the near future though, because I think speculation is a fun part of major league baseball. Be sure to check back throughout the offseason. As there is news in the Twins system, I will attempt to cover it all and offer my opinions! (Also, because I will discuss the rest of the playoffs, other baseball issues, the NBA, maybe some hockey, TV and movies, and much more.)

7.)     Do we discuss Ron Gardenhire’s future as the Twins manager? Of course, we assume he will be back. But what about his other coaches? Will Scott Ullger be back?  Where does Paul Molitor fit into that equation?

After yesterday’s game, I don’t know what angle to write on for today. I really don’t feel like typing anything about the Twins, so I’m not going to… or, maybe I just did.

What did you think of the series?  How would you answer some of the above questions?  Send me an e-mail. Let’s discuss this. As the offseason continues, many of these may become Discussion Questions of the Week.

PLAYOFF QUESTIONS

So, now What? Yesterday, David Ortiz doubled off A’s closer Keith Foulke to score two runs for the Red Sox, giving them a 5-4 win. The hit forces a Game 5 tonight matching Pedro Martinez against Barry Zito. The winner of that series will have to travel to New York to meet the Yankees. So, that brings up another set of questions for Twins fans. The main one… who do we cheer for now???? Well, here are our options, with some reasons we should, then some reasons we shouldn’t cheer for them:

1.)     New York Yankees

·         Should Cheer For…  Hey, they beat the Twins. They were the better team. If they win the World Series, the Twins look better, right? They won 101 games in the regular season. Joe Torre can retire on a good note if they win. Same with Roger Clemens. Maybe David Wells. They’re fun to cheer against, right?

·         Shouldn’t Cheer For… It’s frustrating to watch how the TV people all focus so much on the Yankees. No Yankee player can do anything wrong, especially Derek Jeter… I know that the ratings are great when the Yankees are playing, but that’s just because New York is huge. The truth is, outside of New York, not many care about the Yankees… Their payroll… Their obvious arrogance… Roger Clemens…

2.)     Boston Red Sox

·         Should Cheer For… It would be kind of cool to see a Red Sox/Cubs World Series. I want David Ortiz to do well, even if it’s not as a Twins player any more!  I love his charisma! I want to hear Yankees fans whine if the Red Sox play longer than them. SABRmetricians would love to see Theo Epstein, Bill James and Voros McCracken’s philosophies continuing to win. Nomar Garciparra. It’d be interesting to see what kind of excuses the Sox (and Pedro) have for not pitching Martinez enough. I’m sick of the whole “Curse of the Bambino” thing!

·         Shouldn’t Cheer For… Todd Walker! Jason Varitek! How much chaos would there be in Boston if they won the World Series? It will probably cost the city a lot of money to clean up that mess! Manny Ramirez.

3.)     Oakland A’s

·         Should Cheer For… The Barry Zito curveball. The end of the “they haven’t been out of the ALDS yet” thing. Eric Chavez’ swing! Jose Guillen playing with the broken hamate bone in his hand (an injury that requires surgery and takes months to come back from). East Coasters complaining about games starting so late.

·         Shouldn’t Cheer For… Billy Beane is too cocky! That’s all I’ve got!

4.)     Chicago Cubs

·         Should Cheer For… Cubs/Sox series. Getting to see Mark Prior and Kerry Wood pitch more! Even getting to see the antics of Carlos Zambrano. Sammy Sosa. Those that don’t like my site may enjoy my struggle when I type out G-R-U-D-Z-I-E-L-A-N-E-K more.

·         Shouldn’t Cheer For… Andy McPhail was able to go out and get whatever he wanted at any cost.

5.)     Florida Marlins

·         Should Cheer For… Pudge’s Arm. Dontrelle’s leg kick and charisma. The whole ‘underdog’ thing! Monster Miguel Cabrera! The speed of Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo. Josh Beckett.

·         Shouldn’t Cheer For… Their “fans”, could there be more ‘fair-weather’ fans?  Mark Redman. (This next one is for the Cubs too) The Alex Gonzalez factor - With two shortstops with the same name playing against each other in the NLCS, it’ll be nice to have just one in the World Series.

E-mail me, let me know who you’d like to see in the World Series and eventually win it.

VIKINGS THOUGHTS

·         In the first half, it was like watching a different team than we’d seen the first four weeks of the season. For some reason, they didn’t run the same way they had previously. The Vikings were behind and almost panicked, thinking they needed to hurry. When they came out for the second half, that all changed. It was a combination of Moe Williams, Onterrio Smith and Doug Chapman, basically 100% right up the middle, and with success. At that point, it opened up the passing game as well, and the Vikings dominated!

·         What was that whole Onterrio Smith, 100 yard prediction by Mike Tice all about? What was its purpose? Smith got 13 carries. For him to get 100 yards, he would have had to average almost 8 yards per carry. I don’t know if Tice was just being cocky about the Vikings running game, and then came out passing in the first half in an attempt to decoy the Falcons. I just don’t get it.

·         Moe Williams had 11 carries for 71 yards and 2 TDs. He works so hard out there, runs through defenders and always seems to get an extra yard.

·         Doug Chapman just doesn’t look good at all to me. I can’t explain it. I just think he looks slow and doesn’t have any shiftiness! 10 carries, 22 yards.

·         Gus Frerotte was good again, at least in the second half. 14-24, 238 yards and a couple TDs. Not bad at all. But, again, his performance showed that he is a very solid backup QB, something every NFL team needs during a season. After next week’s bye week, Daunte Culpepper should definitely be the next starter.

·         Randy Moss is incredible, especially when you see how many offensive pass interference calls he gets called against him. He can’t get away with anything out there, where a lot of other receivers do. Also, we haven’t seen a lot of pass interference going the other way when he is around.

·         Nate Burleson is great! He catches everything, has decent speed, and actually isn’t afraid to put his shoulder down and knock down the defensive players. Kelly Campbell may be little, but he makes plays!

·         The offensive line is getting a lot of credit, but probably deserves even more.

·         Brian Russell is awesome! He just seems to have a knack for the ball. He’s got the team leading 4 interceptions now, but he is in on a lot of tackles as well.

·         The defensive backs are reaping the rewards of the defensive line’s hard work. Mixon, Johnstone, Williams, and yes, even Chris Hovan are all putting pressure on the opponent’s quarterback.

·         The bye week will be good for the Vikings. They come back in Week 7 with a home game against Clinton Portis and the Denver Broncos.

What did you think about the Vikings? Are they really for real? Have they just played a really bad schedule? Any predictions for them for the rest of the season? E-mail me!

MORE NFL THOUGHTS

·         “He Hate Me”, Rod Smart scored on a 100 yard kickoff return for the Carolina Panthers yesterday. Say what you want about the XFL, but I really liked it. Sure, it was dumb of them to market it as competition against the NFL. That had no chance. Sure, it shouldn’t have gone to Saturday night and Sunday afternoon games on NBC. It should have stuck with TNN, or now Spike TV, because there is a market for it, I believe. Had the XFL simply been a fun, independent minor league, it could have been great. Just look at the number of former XFL players that are now in the NFL and have been since being seen playing there. Smart. XFL’s one MVP, Tommy Maddox. Vikings RB and return man John Avery. And more. If that had been it’s goal, it could have been successful. Also, even the NFL looked at some of the things that the XFL did and have made some changes to the NFL.

·         With Michael Vick injured and out, is Donte Hall the most dangerous player in the NFL? What he does is absolutely amazing! He had the one TD return, but he had another long return too. It’s becoming routine.

·         Along those lines, are the Chiefs the best team in the NFL? Or, are the Vikings? Are the Panthers for real?

·         Bill Parcels has led the Cowboys to a 3-1 record.  His wins… 1.) against a team he had previously coached, the NY Giants. 2.) against a team he had previously coached, the NY Jets, and 3.) against the Arizona Cardinals, the team former Cowboy Emmitt Smith plays for.  So, does Parcels need a storyline to get his team to win?

“EXPERT” NFL PICKS

OK, those of you that have paid any attention to my predictions for the baseball playoff games have probably noticed that I have been wrong most of the time (except, unfortunately, about the Twins/Yankees games). Well, that has been my pattern a lot, it seems, of late! With my picks for football, they have just progressively been worse and worse! This week was no different! 7-6, barely above .500! But, no one in our group had less than 4 wrong, so I shouldn’t feel too bad. Going into tonight’s Indianapolis/Tampa Bay game, four panelists have 4 wrong. So, if the Colts win, Ben Jacobs will be this week’s winner. If the Buccaneers win, Michael Labuda, Vic Quick and Mike Brasel will tie for the lead!  So, here are this week’s standings, along with our overall records. Be sure to check out our FB Picks webpage for more information.

That’s it for today!  Be sure to check Saturday and Sunday’s bonus postings for thoughts on the Twins and the rest of the playoffs.

Have a great week!

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