New Stadium. Same Result.

I give Gophers head coach Tim Brewster credit for his recruiting, and his willingness to schedule legitimate opponents in their non-conference schedule. Whether or not he can coach, however, is a question that remains to be answered. It certainly would be nice if his team could beat somebody in the Big Ten who is not Northwestern or Indiana. The most telling moment in today's broadcast was the shot of all of the empty shelves in the Gopher trophy case.

It's hard to get to the Rose Bowl, coach, when your team can't even win Paul Bunyan's axe or Floyd of Rosedale.

An Ode To The Dome. Sort Of.

I will be in attendance at the last baseball game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome on Sunday. I almost feel that I have to be there. I figure that I've seen well over 100 games in the place since 1982. I remember watching the first official game against Seattle on TV as a 9th-grader, thinking that the Dome was the absolute coolest place I had ever seen. It took about two years of watching balls get lost in the roof and bounce around like ping pong balls on fake turf to realize that the Dome may NOT be the coolest place I had ever seen.

The game of baseball never seemed quite real in the Dome. I remember a game against Chicago in 1984 in which the Twins won because a ball bounced OVER Harold Baines' head for inside the park 3-run home run. Dave Kingman, of course, hit a ball through one of the holes in the roof that never came down - ground rule double. David Ortiz hit what would have been a 500-foot home run but it hit a speaker and bounced down for a single. Just last week, Jase and I attended a Twins-Tigers game at the Dome and the Twins won only because a Detroit outfielder lost a ball in the roof in the 8th inning. I was conflicted over that. I actually lived in fear in 1987 and 1991 that a World Series game, or the Series itself, would be decided by a ball getting lost in the Dome roof. Thankfully, it never happened.

And then there is the baggy. The right field fence actually looks like a huge lawn or leaf bag. I hate that. I guess they couldn't put up a real fence because of the vampire-seats that needed to be pulled down for football every so often. When a ball hit off of that wall, it didn't seem real. Near that fake baggy was a sort of tunnel that was used to house crap. Batting cage nets, four wheelers that TC the Bear rides on the field, etc. They used to have a giant blow-up Land O' Lakes milk bottle in there. I hated that. But nothing was as bad as the sign they used to post that proclaimed - "The Metrodome. We Like It Here."

No we don't.

That would be like me putting a sign on top of my old '79 Chevy Chevette that read - "My Chevette - I like this shitty car."


With that said, I had some fun times in that place. After all, the Twins won two World Championships in the Dome. I never attended any of those games, but I will cherish the experience of those championship runs in 1987 and 1991 my whole life. I will never forget the spontaneous gathering at the Dome when the Twins returned to town after beating Detroit to win the American League crown in 1987. The Twins were brought into the Dome and were expecting about 10,000 fans to show up. Instead, 50,000 people showed up to cheer the Twins. Gary Gaetti and his wife cried (see picture - nice hair). My roommates and I watched this unfold on TV at our house in Eau Claire because we were attending the University of Leinenkugels at the time. I think I may have shed a tear on that night (beer-influenced, no doubt).

All three of my kids attended their first MLB baseball game at the Metrodome. I saw Cal Ripkin's 3000th hit with my oldest son (then 5 years old) at the Dome. I attended Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett's retirement shin-digs at the Dome. And, sadly, I attended Kirby Puckett's public funeral at the Dome. I must say that have had some great times with countless friends and my family in that place. I attended a game once in the 80's with Pedo, Jim and Cubby at the Dome and almost got interviewed on WCCO radio while sitting in the crowd. Unfortunately, the reporter spent too much time with Cubby while he explained that he was attending the game while in town from "Anchorage, Alaska."

That is why I feel I need to be there on Sunday. With my kids. Even though the Metrodome was a big, puffy piece of crap, what took place in there was a big part of my life. Fortunately, it is time to open up a new chapter of my baseball viewing life next year at Target Field - an actual "ballpark." It will be the third "home" stadium in which I've been lucky enough to attend Twins games (The Met, Dome and Target Field). I have to admit that I'll kind of miss the Metrodome, though.

Kind of like I sort of miss that old piece of shit Chevy Chevette.

Jeff

A Highlight From The Parallel Universe

Just over a minute left. No timeouts. Eighty yards to go. Down by four points.

For nearly 20 years, I've been watching Favre do this to other teams. Teams like the Vikings. Now, he does it FOR the Vikings.

Crazy.

Sort of Conflicted

I have to admit that I am sort of conflicted about this late Twins run. As of today, they are 2 1/2 games out of first place behind the Detroit Tigers. Normally, the Twins in a pennant-chase is a wonderful thing. Why, this year, am I conflicted? Here is why:

1. The division is horrible, and whoever wins the thing will get to play the (hated) New York Yankees, which has the makings of a first-round sweep. The Twins went 0-7 against the Yankees this year, although they played them pretty tough. I just don't think the Twins pitching can hold up against the Yankees store-bought superstars.

2. The Twins just aren't a real good team. I officially wrote them off on August 13th. It would be one thing if they were sitting with 90 wins and competing in a good division, but they are 78-73 and basically feasting on bad teams. But they can't beat anyone from the AL East to save their lives.

3. Winning the division would send GM Bill Smith into the delusional state of thinking that their talent level is "good enough," and that he doesn't need to add more talent next year - their first at Target Field. That would be devastating for the long-term health of this team.

4. Some of their best players are out for the rest of the year with injuries. Jason Morneau, Kevin Slowey and Joe Crede are all out. Can they really beat the Yankees with Matt Tolbert, Jeff Manship and Brian Duensing?

5. Lastly, I have tickets to the "last game ever at the Metrodome." Hey - if they make the playoffs, that won't be the "last game ever at the Metrodome." I kind of wanted to experience that with my kids.

It's not like I am cheering against the Twins, mind you. That is not in my blood. I can't help but root them on against the (hated) White Sox. And, hey, anything can happen once a team makes the playoffs - remember 1987?

S0, what the hell - Go Twins! You never know what might just happen.....

The Usual Bad Vibes

I get negative vibes before virtually every Viking game, but there is something about playing the Lions that makes me extra paranoid. Maybe it's because the Lions virtually never win and went 0-16 last year, so a loss to them would be international news. It would be very "Vikingesque" to lose to the Lions in a year in which the Vikes are considered Super Bowl contenders. Hey, the Vikes beat the Lions twice last year, but had to rely on T-Jack leading a 4th Quarter comeback at Detroit (that just sounds weird) and a horrible call to win at the Metrodome.

Once again this year, the Lions can pull out all of the stops - fake punts, statue of liberty plays, quadruple reverses. What the hell?? The Vikes tend to freeze up and play very conservatively in these types of games. They've been doing that for about, oh, forty years.

So we'll see what happens. The bad vibes are there again. Hopefully the Vikings will not make international news this weekend.

Jeff

Frightening

With all the talk of Brett Favre joining the Vikings, Adrian Peterson sometimes tends to get a little lost in the shuffle. But this run against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday reminds us that Peterson, not Favre, is the heart and soul of this team. And if he remains healthy, I believe Adrian Peterson has a chance to be the top running back of all-time.

Personally, the most talented running back that I have witnessed in my lifetime was Walter Payton, followed closely by Barry Sanders. Admittedly, I never got a chance to see Gale Sayers or Jim Brown play in the 1960's. Many true football historians consider either Brown or Sayers to be the best in history. If Peterson keeps playing at the level he has since joining the Vikings from Oklahoma, he has a chance to be mentioned in the same breath as these Hall of Famers.

It should be fun to watch.

Guest Blogger Tony8489's Take On "You Lie"

Our local conservative contributor, tony8489, has asked me to post his views on the recent "You Lie!" controversy. As you may have heard, South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson screamed "You Lie" during President Obama's speech on health care. That statement has set off a firestorm of criticism and, also, support. Here is tony 8489's take, and he wanted me to let you all know that he offers equal time for other reader's rebuttles:

It all began when S.C. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson unexpectedly shouted"You lie!" during President Barack Obama's Wednesday night address to Congress. The outburst was prompted when Mr. Obama asserted during his speech that illegal immigrants would not be covered under the president's health plan. The moment the speech ended, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmunuel charged over to the Republicans-Reps. Ryan, Roy Blunt of Missouri, and Kevin McCarthy of California-demanding in a profanity-laced tirade that they force Mr.Wilson to apologize. The Congressman called the White House, andasked Mr. Emmanuel to convey his apology to the president. OnThursday, Mr. Obama accepted it.

The amount of hate, anger, and angst over this comment in the mainstreet media and the loony left has been nothing short of astonishing. Each party is in charge of policing its fringe elements. Let's compare the Huffington Post, arguably the Internet mouthpiece for the left, and littlegreenfootballs.com, the Internet mouthpiece for the right. Spend a little time on both, and you will quickly discover little or no policing exists on either the Huffington Post, or Moveon.org. The postings that were on HuffPo and Moveon about Dick Cheny's health problems were so shameful and disgusting they cannot be repeated here. When Ted Kennedy died, the postings on lgf.com were respectful. The ones that were not were removed by the moderator, Charles Johnson. Why is this? Why is a certain level of hate tolerated, or even encouraged in the MSM, and the political left, towards people who embrace conservatism as their expression of political belief?

*Anderson Cooper, the greatly respected CNN anchorman, called the "tea party" participants "tea baggers". He was alluding to an exotic sexual practice. Just the other day, Democratic Congresswomen, Carol Shea-Porter referred to Anti-Obama Care protesters as "tea baggers." Pretty funny, right? We are reading a lot lately about "right wing rage." Funny how you never hear about "left wing rage." Could be that"left wing rage" is not alliterative as "right wing rage" is. Or it could be that dominant commentators think of left wing rage as mere righteous indignation.

*We are also hearing about "the angry white male"-the return of the angry white males". Funny how people get all race-and gender minded on you. There are many non-whites and non-males among the conservative protesters. And what about that terrible word"males"? Have the anti-conservatives ever heard of "men"? *They say "hate" is rearing it's head, and that President Obama and the Democrats are the victims of it.

Let's make a couple of predictions: I predict that the chairman of the Republican National Committee will never say, "I hate the Democrats and everything they stand for. This is a struggle of good and evil. And we are the "good". Howard Dean said that about the GOP. "I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for....." I predict that an editor of a conservative magazine will never write a piece called "The Case for Obama Hatred," beginning, "I hate President Obama". A New Republic editor did this, about Bush. And there is increasing worry about assassination - that someone will take a shot, not just at the president, but at the first black president, which would be extra-catastrophic for the country. A few protesters have carried signs urging violence against Obama, or smacking of violence.

Let me make some more predictions: *I predict that a network talk-show will not show a video of President Obama giving a speech and put the following words on the screen: "SNIPERS WANTED." Craig Kilborn did that to George W. Bush. *I predict that US senators will not joke about killing Obama. In 2006 Bill Maher had a conversation with John Kerry. He asked Kerry what he'd gotten his wife for her birthday. Kerry said that he had treated her to a vacation in Vermont. Maher said, "You could have went to New Hampshire and killed two birds with one stone." Kerry replied, "Or I could have gone to 1600 Pennsylvania and killed the real bird with one stone." This is the same Kerry who, in 1988, said, "Somebody told me the other day that the Secret Service has orders that if George Bush is shot, they're to shoot Quayle". Then he said, "There isn't any press here, is there?

*I predict that a New York official will not tell a graduating class about assassinating President Obama. In 2006 comptroller Alan Hevesisaid to students at Queens College that Sen. Charles Schumer, his fellow Democrat, would"put a bullet between the presidents eyes if he could get away with it". *I predict that no columnist for a leading European newspaper, and leading world newspaper, will write,"John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr-where are you now that we need you?" Charlie Brooker of the Guardian did that to George W. Bush.

*I predict that no major write will write a novel debating the morality of killing President Obama. Nicholson Baker did that to Bush, with "Checkpoint". *I predict that no filmmaker will make a "fictional documentary" that fantasizes-and I'm afraid that is the word-about murdering President Obama. Some Brits did that with "Death of a President" I have made very, very, safe predictions. If a CBS talk-show host pictured President Obama and said, SNIPERS WANTED, he would lose his job, of course. He would never work in the media again. I wonder what else would happen to him. I could go on, but hopefully you have heard enough. Here is my point. The type of thinking I have presented to you is in the mainstream of democratic thinking. All the way from the head of the DNC down. We all know that each side has its share of kooks. But in this case, the inmates are running the asylum.

As a Republican, I am ashamed sometimes at the political sniping and remarks that are made to the opposition. Have a little class, and show some humility. But the examples I have offered are so outrageous, all they do is make me sad. There is a website called "zombietime". and it's materials make for pretty rough, discomforting viewing. Here, the site had gathered many pictures taken at anti-Bush and anti-war rallies-and Obama rallies. They show signs and such screaming for the murder of Bush. They show pictures of Bush with a bullet through his head. They show depictions of Bush being guillotined. They show Bush being burned in effigy.Etc. etc.

"You lie", indeed.