As I work my way through a Jameson and Coke (hush you whiskey purists- tell me if you drink Windsor and water. Ya I thought so.), I wonder if the greater Twin Cities area will embrace the two teams that do our state proud; The Wild and the Twins. (no disrespect to the various collegiate sports teams; Hockey, Wrestling, Baseball, and the others that don't get their due props.)
Its no shock that this has long been considered a Vikings town. You see it in the media, the buzz begins; wait, let me correct myself. The buzz never disappears during the year, especially in the media, on the local and national level. KFAN still receives calls from the most diehard of fans (they do play to the team and its loyal purple following, but still man, its freaking March) about possible, or lack of, off-season moves, the draft, etc. ESPN, since the second the Super Bowl ended, has followed the NFL offseason, even when there was little action, to such a myopic degree it has become, well, kinda frightening. Team by team breakdowns, including grades from such prolific players-now-talking heads like Sean Salisbury, features on the trials (literal and figurative) and troubles of Adam "Pacman" Jones, and all sorts of just football-related fluff.
Hey ESPN, we don't give a shit about Pacman Jones, or if Eli Manning can be a Pro Bowl Quarterback. It is March. Nothing of notice really happens until the Draft, but still all the talk of rising and falling stock and rampant speculation just keeps rolling along.
But, on the local level, let's get down to brass tacks. The Vikings sucked something serious this year, and frankly, I am not convinced in the "genius" of Brad Childress. I think the misuse and subsequent release of Jermaine Wiggins was a huge mistake, Troy Williamson couldn't catch a cold, the right side of our line was garbage, so it left us watching an anemic offense that would be the recipient of a great defensive play or stand, granted that we didn't get picked apart through the air. And on top of that Mike Tomlin is gone.
Get your purple crash helmets on kids, gonna be another long long season ahead. I want Tarvaris Jackson to succeed as much as the next guy, but not every young quarterback steps in and take his team to the Super Bowl. It just doesn't happen. I wonder if Tarvaris is aware that he has somehow become the "great purple hope", like the second coming of...Fran Tarken...Wade Wils....Randall Cunning....Daunte Culpe....Brad Johnson?
(all propers go to Brad Johnson, who somehow got himself, a 40-some year old veteran, a really nice deal to backup Tony Romo. Good job buddy.)
But enough about our precious Vikings, with our new uniforms and lack of pass rush, and about what we should all be hopping on the bandwagon for; two organizations that for the most part, use what they can get to be one of the top teams in the league; a mixture of bargain bin deals and fantastic developmental situations. The Twins, playing in one of the most un-natural wonders of the Modern World, the Metrodome yet winning 4 of the last 5 division titles, and the Wild, formerly a notoriously boring and prudent organization, who are now probably the best product in town to watch, especially in the "nicest arena in North America". (According to ESPN)
The Twins, who get absolutely no attention from the media outlets nationwide (New York is still bitter about Morneausy rightfully winning the MVP), despite fielding a team with the best pitcher in baseball, the best bullpen in baseball, some Gold Glovers, the reigning MVP, and the history-making batting champion, who probably will get another battle title or 6 before he retires. The Twins, barring the starting rotation (the biggest question of them all...but really, all they got to do is get to the 6th inning and let the bullpen takeover), essentially field and return the same squad from last year's fantastic run with the exception of a few minor pieces. Yet, still no mention. Hey, Detroit got Gary Sheffield...Travis Hafner is healthy in Cleveland...The White Sox suck...the Royals got Gil Meche! But what about the Twins?
Its that sort of media cockblock that gives the Twins a certain mystique, that sort of David vs. Goliath-esque notion that we don't win games and division titles by throwing wads of cash at players who had career seasons in contract years (*cough* steinbrenner *cough* How's Carl Pavano working out? That stubbed toe gonna keep him on the 15 or 60 day DL?) Terry Ryan is a fantastic GM, alot like Doug Risebrough over in St. Paul. Gardenhire, which all of his umpire-cussing glory, has done a great job in taking over from Tom Kelly (Did you know that kelly's wad of chaw is in the Baseball Hall of Fame?), however there are moments where we want more- Obviously the goal is a World Series, but sometimes its like fundamental baseball is lost. Its called a bunt! Move the runners over!
All bitching aside, we are poised (despite being in the best division in baseball; props to Ken Rosenthal of SI for recognizing that) to make another run at the title, and after last year's almost magical run the hope, optimism, and bandwagoners should be at an all time high. I cannot wait for the season to start.
Over in St. Paul, and after a long awaited opening of the pocketbook, the Wild stand in position to not only but make the playoffs, but to raise its first divisional title banner into its rafters. (closed circuit to the Wild organization; if you retired the #1 jersey in honor of the fans, you shouldn't be charging me $55 a seat. Just a thought) Again though, its kinda like the media is slow to catch on to this. To me, its like they have to get to the playoffs before "wildmania" begins, much like the 2003 run. I guess I don't understand, maybe I'm jaded because I'm a hardcore fan, but shouldn't we, as a hockey-rich tradition having state, be crazy about the squad and where it stands right now? We just took 6 out of a possible 6 points on a Western Canada roadtrip! We won a game in Calgary (but if it wasn't on tv, did it even really happen?)!, We're a point behind Vancouver for the division lead, and the final 8 of 9 are at home! Where is the hoopla?
Its no question that our coaching staff is coaching immortality, and that Minnesota is probably one of the better run organizations in the NHL, yet we still fly under the radar, in our own market.
Is it because we're cheering that the Wolves are losing, signaling a tailspin that would result in us being able to keep one of the first round picks we traded away? Or that we picked up Bobby Wade and two other special teamers?
Or that old love just dies hard?
