1. The Curse of the Billy Goat. Again. For the second straight year, the Cubs win their division and are then swept in the first round of the playoffs. It's because they are cursed. See, there are certain truths in the sports world, such as the Vikings will never win the Super Bowl and the Cubs will never win the World Series because of The Curse. It took me until the age 39 to realize this, but now that I have accepted this as simple fact I am much better off. The Cubs suffer from The Curse of the Billy Goat. Just as I believe in The Sasquatch (and who doesn't), I believe in The Curse. Hey - can you prove that I'm wrong?
2. Speaking of Cursed. I am going to agree with tony8489's assessment that the Vikings will continue to suck and Brad Childress will be fired soon. (By the way, as I write this, the Vikings are losing 10-7 to New Orleans). I am going to predict that they lose to the Saints, barely manage to beat the lowly Lions next week (sorry Dools) and then get destroyed at Chicago. (Editors note - Vikes win 30-27. All of this is already wrong). This would put them at 2-5 going into the bye week. I predict Chilly gets fired after the Chicago game and replaced on a temporary basis by Defensive Coordinator Leslie Davis. Zygi Wilf will do this to stop himself from killing Brad Childress and going to prison for life.
3. Target Center concert: Oasis and Ryan Adams. It has been announced that Ryan Adams and Oasis will tour together and play a double bill at Target Center on December 10th. A "name" for the tour has not been announced, but I am going to go with "The Ass Hole Tour." Seriously, this is the only concert in which security will be guarding the crowd from the bands.
4. Marian Gaborik playing hardball with contract. From today's Star Tribune:
Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough told the Star Tribune on Friday that he does not expect to sign Gaborik, who is one season from unrestricted free agency, to a contract extension by the start of the season.
"Not making any headway," said Risebrough, who last month said it would be prudent to sign Gaborik, the team's all-time leading scorer, to an extension by next Saturday's season opener. "I was trying to do something before the season. It's not happening. ... It's not going to happen by the start of the season."
Gaborik has been quoted as saying he would like to stay in Minnesota, but his nose might have grown a bit when uttering those words. It has been speculated that he would much rather play in the offensively wide-open Eastern Conference.
Apparently, Gaborik has been asking for a contract in the $9-million-a-year range, which is typically reserved for the Sydney Crosby/Alex Ovechkin superstar-type player. Personally, I'm not sure if Gaborik belongs in this class.
The Wild is (are?)in a bad spot here. There is no question that Gaborik is a star, and shows flashes of brilliance. He also has questionable leadership skills, is often injured and tends to disappear for long periods of time. Like the playoffs. The team has to make a decision to retain Gaborik for (probably) way more than he is actually worth, or risk losing him for absolutely nothing at the end of the year. They can trade him to another team, but unless he signs a contract with that new team, the Wild will not receive his value in return. They also risk losing fans if he is traded for less recognizable players. This, of course, rings a bell. Kevin Garnett, Torii Hunter, Johan Santana, Randy Moss and on and on and on and on. But this does not matter because.......
5. The Wild have a new mascot - "Nordy!" Yep, here "it" is:
What the hell is Nordy? Well, it's the same creature that is on the Wild jersey. What the hell is that? Nobody knows. While I am a fan of the Twins mascot, "TC Bear," and the Timberwolves mascot "Crunch" (the best part of most Wolves games), I am not sold on a hockey mascot. This strikes me as something that Nashville or Atlanta would create to attract fans that have not otherwise heard of hockey. But in Minnesota? Not needed.Unless, of course, Marian Gaborik is not resigned.
That's all for now.
Jeff
6 comments:
The Vikings Defensive Coordinator is Leslie Frazier, not Leslie Davis.
(Do you want a monthly invoice or to be billed on a per item basis for fact checking What Jeff Thinks?)
Thanks, Free. I was just going to address that.
Jeff, you're right on the Wild Mascot. It's just plain stupid. The State of Hockey is going to sell without having some quirky "it" to us.
As far as the Vikes though... I continue to watch (albeit it with less intensity than in past years) and it occurs to me that our main problem on offense - now hear me out on this - is with the line!
They have a helluva time blocking a straight 4 man front and when pressure comes,the pocket seems to collapse faster than a Cub's pennant chase.
I'll go one step further and tell you that our vaunted D-Line isn't much better lately. We get NO pressure with a straight rush and when we bring pressure (or should I say when Antoine Winfield brings pressure) it's been met with limited success. Winfield has half as many sacks as the entire defensive line... combined!
And who the hell let Gary Zauner back in the barn? Our kick coverage units are about as stiff as a honeymoon hard-on... on it's 50th anniversary!
But I digress. It was fun to watch the wheel of misfortune turn against someone other than us.
Seriously though, Chilly's gotta get the goate and hat program back. He doesn't look like a football coach, he looks more like George Nash in teh Cretal Jr High School Gym out there. Oh and one last thing... we GOTTA start wearing the purple pants, every time!
Sorry, that was "the Central" Jr High School Gym
Free - I'm going to have to go with a monthly invoice. If you charge me "per inaccuracy," I will go bankrupt. By the way, wasn't Leslie Davis that anti-stadium wing-nut that kept crashing meetings? I know I've heard that name somewhere.
Gilby - George Nash of Central - that is good stuff. I saw him nearly choke Jeff Hintzmann to death right after Reagan was shot. Hintzmann made some stupid off-hand remark about "the old geezer" and Nash nearly killed him. Held him in the air like Darth Vader did to that guy in Star Wars.
Gaborik will never get $9 mil a year anywhere, even New York.
For that, the Wild can get two 50 point a year guys and get themselves some roster flexibility.
Yes, Leslie Davis is the wingnut.
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