Huge Day For Minnesota Sports Almost Perfect

This entire month of February has either been feast or famine for Minnesota sports and yesterday was definitely a day of feasting. With the Gophers going up against number one Indiana, the Wild playing division rival Calgary, and the Timberwolves on the road in the Valley of the Sun, it was a huge day in Minnesota sports. The day almost panned out perfect, as well.

I want to start off with the Gophers 77-73 victory over the number one team in the land. This was a huge and possibly even season defining game for this ball club. They were playing awful basketball over their past ten games and didn't even look like a team that should be taking up a spot in the field of 68. Well led by Trevor Mbakwe and Elliott Eliason they definitely showed up last night. It seemed as though every time the Hoosiers made a run, the Gophers would have an answer. Whether it be dropping it down low for Mbakwe to go to work or letting Andre Hollins create his own shot up top, scoring was not hard to come by for the Gophers yesterday. I just want to point out the extremely hard work and determination of Eliason last night, though. Going up against one of the top three big men in the country last night and with Mbakwe in foul trouble, Eliason more than stepped in adequately last night and really kept the Gophers in the game. An unbelievable atmosphere in The Barn surely helped the home team down the stretch and led to their first victory over a number one ranked team since 1989. When the student section started to storm the court following the victory I loved the reaction of either Mike Tirico or Dan Dakich. They exclaimed that they saw 75-year old men rushing on to the court as well as the students of the University. This was a day for not only current student but alumni as well to rejoice and bask in the glory of victory.

In a night where most Minnesota sports fans were tuned into the Gophers, the Wild had a huge come from behind victory over a division foe. The Calgary Flames had just defeated the Wild on their home ice a few nights previously and the Wild were pissed and hungry. They couldn't put the puck in the net for the first 55 minutes and change but that isn't the point. Jason Zucker came up with a huge goal late in the third period and then Zach Parise finished off the Flames with a quick backhand wrist flick just over 30 seconds into the overtime session. It was a huge win for the Wild for multiple reasons. One reason is that they were playing very poor hockey in the games prior to this one and they had to get off the schneid. Another reason is that hopefully they will gain some confidence from the late scoring barrage and it will carry on to future games. This team clearly needs to score more and hopefully that will occur after this little noticed but still very important division victory.

Phoenix, Arizona is an awesome place to vacation and in fact I was there just last weekend, but it certainly doesn't house a solid NBA team and if you cannot beat the Phoenix Suns then you know your team is in trouble. That is exactly where the Timberwolves find themselves after losing last night 84-83 in overtime to the dreadful Suns. I don't have much to say about the Timberwolves other than to say that someone in the locker room better step up and soon and tell the team that we are too talented to keep on losing. We need someone who can step up down the stretch and carry the team to victory. That is all.

On a side note, the Hopkins High School Royals were defeated by the Minnetonka High School Skippers last night, 62-58. This eliminates the Royals from any conference title hopes that they so desperately clung on to. It will be interesting how their section plays out with a hot St. Louis Park team also joining the fray.

Minnesota Golden Gophers Come Up Short Once Again

It seems as though every time the Minnesota Golden Gophers look as though they will break through and became a top tier team in the Big Ten, they fail to take advantage of the opportunity. The Illinois Fighting Illini, on the other hand, have clearly taken advantage of their opportunities they have been afforded.

They Illini and the 18th ranked Gophers faced off tonight at the Barn in Minneapolis and the game was not short on drama. D.J. Richardson, the Illini's sharpshooter, buried a three pointer right before the buzzer sounded to end the first half and give the Illini a 31-30 lead. It seemed as though both Richardson and Tyler Griffey couldn't miss throughout the entire game. Griffey was in a slump going into the Indiana game earlier this week and after his buzzer beater to take that game from the Hoosier's grasp, it seems as though he has completed shifted from being in a slump to being red hot. The Illini would just outplay the Gophers in the second half and although the Gophers hung around, they never could get over the hump and put the game away. The Illini wound up winning 57-53.

Before I start blaming anyone for the Gopher's loss or their overall demise so far in the past few weeks, I want to point out a few bright spots in this game. First, the play of Elliott Eliason was very solid. He had to step in for an injured Rodney Williams and he played his best game of the year so far. He finished with 4 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. His hustle was also very apparent throughout the game. Another bright spot was the overall defense of the Gophers. Only giving up 57 points in a conference game to a high scoring opponent is very impressive. Our problem was our perimeter defense during stretches of time where the Illini couldn't miss. As much as this loss hurts, it is important to recognize what the Gophers did well and who played well.

The thing that stuck out to me the most was that we had no go to scorer when the time arose. It didn't look as though anyone wanted to have the ball during crunch time. That made me so angry to see. Eliason buried a huge jumper with around a minute to play, but other than that nobody wanted to take the shot that could have put us back in the game. Compare that to the Illini who had three players they could look to when they needed a large shot. Whether it be Richardson, Griffey, or Brandon Paul, they were always in very composed hands.

Hopefully the Gophers can work hard in practice this week, Rodney Williams can get healthy, and rebound stronger than we have been this entire season in the upcoming weeks. We are getting close to tournament time and the Gophers cannot afford to keep losing these winnable games. Someone needs to step up and take control of this team. Someone needs to do this soon.

Minnesota Sports, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

It is almost February and the winter sports teams that participate in Minnesota cannot seem to grab hold of momentum and carry it into the depths of their respective seasons. The Minnesota Timberwolves have been completely ravaged by injuries and cannot seem to find a win, no matter how hard they look. The Minnesota Wild started off hot but then lost two in a row and now find themselves at a very respectable 4-2-1 record. Finally, the Minnesota Golden Gophers dropped four straight but then came back to the Barn for a huge 19-point victory over the outmatched Nebraska Cornhuskers on Tuesday. The up and down nature of these sports teams has been very hard for Minnesota sports fans to watch and that has resulted in the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

Minnesota Wild: The Wild just beat the Columbus Blue Jackets and the undefeated Chicago Blackhawks on back to back days at the Xcel Energy Center. These were much needed victories and really rejuvenated a fan base that had started to become skeptical about the new look team. Aside from the top line, the Wild looked as though they had no depth, but against the Chicago Blackhawks last night that depth finally showed. Matt Cullen got his first goal and so did Cal Clutterbuck.

Minnesota Golden Gophers: The Gophers endured a tough 4-game losing streak over the past week and a half, but they recovered upon their return to the Barn for a huge victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Ray Gallegos of Nebraska went off in the game with 30 points, but that wasn't nearly enough to lead his team to victory. The Gophers take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Super Bowl Sunday and hopefully can come out with a victory to start a good stretch for the team.

The Bad

Minnesota Wild Defense and Goaltending: The Wild's defense and goaltending really played dreadful in their two regulation losses. The defense had really no depth behind Ryan Suter on the first line as well. Thankfully, Tom Gilbert has stepped up and it looks as though Niklas Backstrom is ready to turn it around in net.

Minnesota Timberwolves: The play of the Timberwolves has been dreadful ever since coach Rick Adelman took a leave of absence to be with his wife who was in the hospital. They were 2-9 without Adelman and just lost his first game back last night against the Los Angeles Clippers, 96-90. The Wolves play has been just awful and they cannot seem to find a go to scorer in the final moments. Hopefully the Wolves can turn it around and soon.

The Ugly

Minnesota Timberwolves Injuries and Losing To The Charlotte Bobcats and Washington Wizards: The injuries to the Wolves lineup obviously have been very ugly, but injuries are always a possibility and you have to be able to play through them. The back to back losses to the two worst teams in the NBA were extremely ugly. These teams flat out sucked and the Wolves couldn't beat them. Not pleasant at all.

Gophers Come Up Short Once Again Against Top 5 Team

I was lucky enough to attend last night's Minnesota Golden Gopher basketball game in court-side seats. It was an unbelievable experience and may have been the most fun sporting event I have ever been to, aside from the fact the Gophers lost. This was a matchup of top ten teams with Minnesota at #9 and the Michigan Wolverines at #5. Michigan played a very composed game despite their lack of experience. Michigan has six seniors on its roster, but only one, Jordan Morgan, got extended playing time during this game.

From the outset, the Barn (Williams Arena) was rocking. People were piled in all the way up the the rafters and Dick Vitale was being his usual self. The Gophers played alright in the first half and found themselves down 36-30 at halftime. That is not the worst position to be in against the number 5 team in the country, but too many opportunities had already been lost. The first part of the second half was a disaster with the Gophers committing too many turnovers and before you knew it the Wolverines had a 19 point lead with 12:33 remaining. As in the game against Indiana on Saturday, the Gophers fought back into this one but it seemed that every time the Gophers scores Trey Burke or Tim Hardaway Jr. had an answer. The Gophers would end up falling 83-75 and probably would like to have this one back because it would have been a huge win if they would have been able to come out victorious.

A few things that I got from this game were:

1. Trey Burke might be the quickest guard I have ever seen play a game of college basketball. It seemed that he could steal the ball from the Minnesota guards at will and then on offense he would make one move and be at the rim. He also is very poised and knocks down clutch jumpers when they are needed. 
2. The missed free throws for Minnesota never allowed them to get back into the game. Joe Coleman was 3/8 from the charity stripe, Julian Welch was 0/2, and as a team the Gophers only shot 17/27 from the line which is equivalent to 63.0%. If the Gophers would have made every free throw, they would have won the game and defeated the #5 team in the country.
3. I want to point out a few top performers from the game tonight. Austin Hollins was definitely the top player all game for the Gophers. He played 38 out of the 40 minutes and finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Trevor Mbakwe also played well for the Gophers. He finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 5 blocks. For Michigan, it was Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke leading the way. Hardaway Jr. finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. He also played 37 minutes. Burke ended with 18 points, 1 rebound, and 9 assists.

Here are two photos from the game that I took:

 This is Jordan Morgan of Michigan and Trevor Mbakwe of Minnesota going up for the opening tip.

These were Dickie V's (Dick Vitale) notes from the game.

In other Minnesota sports news, the Timberwolves fell short to the Los Angeles Clippers 90-77 at home and also suffered two more injuries, Alexey Shved and Nikola Pekovic. The Timberwolves also signed Mickael Gelabale to add much needed depth for the team. The Timberwolves have fallen 4 games under .500 and now need to start winning if they want to get back in the playoff chase.

Led By Strong Defensive Effort, Stanford Rose Bowl Champions

I waited the entire beginning and middle of the bowl season to finally take in the New Year's Day spectacle known as the Rose Bowl. This game is known as "the Granddaddy of Them All" and exceeded my expectations in excitement and competitiveness. The Stanford Cardinal were facing off against the Wisconsin Badgers in this year's edition of the game and it was supposed to be a battle of the defenses. That it certainly was.

In the first quarter it looked like the game would end up being an offensive slugfest or at least a complete Stanford massacre. Coach David Shaw drew up a trick play for the opening drive of the game and it resulted in a pass from wide receiver Drew Terrell to fellow wide receiver Jamal-Rashad Patterson for a 34-yard gain. The drive resulted in a 16-yard Kelsey Young scoring run with 11:24 left in the opening quarter. The Stanford offense, led by freshman quarterback Kevin Hogan, knew that if they played well in this game there would be no way they could lose because their defense was just that good. The next time the offense touched the ball, they put it in the end zone again. Star running back Stepfan Taylor culminated the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. At this point the Badgers decided that they would need to start playing well and now.

With 9:05 remaining in the second quarter, Montee Ball finished off a strong Badger drive with an 11-yard touchdown run. Stanford's next drive resulted in a 47-yard field goal for Jordan Williamson with 6:19 left in the half, but Wisconsin would respond before the halftime whistle. Senior quarterback Curt Phillips hit Jordan Frederick for a 4-yard touchdown and Frederick's first of his career. This came with 0:19 remaining in the first half and was huge for the feeling in the game. It now felt as though the Badgers would have a legitimate chance of playing a good second chance and bringing home the Rose Bowl trophy. Unfortunately for Badger sympathizers this did not occur.

Both defenses really stepped it up in the second half and the only scoring would prove to be a 22-yard field goal by Jordan Williamson with 4:23 left in the game. Led by Chase Thomas and Shayne Skov, the Stanford defense played incredibly in the second half and overall for the entire game. This was a red hot Wisconsin Badger offense they were facing off against. They had to manage the all time touchdowns leader in college football in Montee Ball and watch out for one of the best wide receivers in the Big Ten, Jared Abbrederis. Montee Ball was held to 100 yards on 24 carries and a single touchdown. Abbrederis was held to 44 yards on 3 receptions. On the offensive side for the Cardinal, Stepfan Taylor finished with 88 yards and a touchdown while Kevin Hogan passed for 123 and ran for 54 more. This Hogan kid could be very special some day. Many people around the Stanford program have been comparing him to a less experienced Andrew Luck all season. He sure looked poised in the pocket all game and he knew when to hold the ball and run. There was one pass that he missed which could have put the game away, it went right over the fingertips of Levine Toilolo, a very tall tight end.

A few more observations that I had were that the Stanford defensive line knocked down Phillips' passes time and again. Whether it be Josh Mauro, Henry Anderson, David Parry, or Ben Gardner, the defensive line played very well and Phillips' low release point proved to be problematic. This led me to wonder why interim coach/athletic director/Wisconsin legend Barry Alvarez didn't use Joel Stave more. Stave got in for 1 pass attempt and it was a good one. He threw it right into the hands of Jared Abbrederis in the end zone, but the Badgers most reliable receiver dropped it. Stave should definitely have played more at the very least to give him playing experience going forward into next year. He also is much more of a downfield passing threat than Curt Phillips. This could have stretched the field more for Montee Ball, James White, and Melvin Gordon.

Aside from all this, the Rose Bowl this year was definitely a memorable one and I will be thinking about it for a long time.

Minnesota Vikings Are Playoff Bound

Ever since the beginning of this 2012-2013 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings have been told time and again that they were in rebuilding mode. That they had no chance at all to compete for a playoff spot and should prepare to compete in three years time. Even entering Week 17, the analysts and so called gurus counted the Vikings out. Since the beginning of the season I have been stating that this Vikings squad would win 9 or 10 games. I have been saying that with better receivers, Christian Ponder will be more comfortable on the field and will start to play better. As of late, Jarius Wright and Jerome Simpson have really stepped up their games and it has shown. Well what more can I say for a team led by the incredibly resilient Adrian Peterson and an amazingly stout defense. I cannot say enough about Adrian Peterson. He ended up 9 yards short of the all-time rushing mark, but when he was told this in a post game interview he didn't seem the least bit angry. In fact, he only could heap praise on the team and the accomplishment they had just achieved. Amazing team player. This Minnesota Vikings team might be one of the most surprising playoff teams in NFL history, but trust me when I tell you that they will not go down without a fight next week at Lambeau Field.

Before the game earlier today my friend Sam Bloomfield and I were very nervous about how this afternoon game would pan out. After all, the Vikings were on a roll, but the Green Bay Packers were coming off of a 55-7 throttling of the Tennessee Titans the week before at Lambeau. The offense was hot and so was the defense for this game Packers squad. Early in the game, the Vikings showed that they were not gonna go down without a fight. At the end of the first quarter, the Vikings found themselves with a 10-0 lead over the hated Packers and were led by a 7 yard touchdown run by running back Adrian Peterson. From this point on, an emotional roller coaster ensued.

One second I thought we had the game won and then Aaron Rodgers would throw a bomb to Jordy Nelson, or I thought we were down in the dumps and then Christian Ponder would hit Jarius Wright for a 63 yard gain. Adrian Peterson's brilliance and Blair Walsh's clutch kicking were also essential to the Vikings victory. Looking back on the notes that I took for this very blog post, I see a roller coaster of emotions that cannot sufficiently be expressed in this word space. Me rambling on about the plays and statistics from this game will not do the Vikings justice on the achievement they just made. This team deserves to experience and compete in the playoffs this year, they are one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now and as we have seen in previous years, hot teams always succeed come playoff time.

All I can say to the Packers is that they better be prepared for a battle next Saturday night when the Vikings invade Green Bay. Let the journey continue, Green Bay here we come!

Gophers Fall Short In Meineke Car Car Bowl of Houston

If there is one thing that I have learned growing up as a Gopher college football fan, it has been that you never want to put money on them in the postseason. The Minnesota Golden Gophers were beat by the Texas Tech Red Raiders last night in Houston, 34-31. The Gophers had the game all but won when with a touchdown lead with only 1:15 remaining. That quickly fell apart though with a 35-yard pass from Seth Doege to Eric Ward. A quick stop by the Red Raider defense led to a 28 yard field goal for the inconsistent Ryan Bustin. He knuckleballed the kick through the uprights and brought the team from Lubbock to victory.

There were a few reasons why I thought the Gophers were definitely going to win this ball game. One is that the Red Raiders were called for 13 penalties and a grand total of 135 yards. This all culminated with the ejection of Jace Amaro, a quite large tight end out of San Antonio, Texas. He completely pummeled a Gopher cornerback and then threw a punch at him which was a one way ticket back to the locker room. Another reason why I thought the Gophers has this game won was because their secondary played well all day with Michael Carter coming up with 2 interceptions and Martezz Shabazz playing very well. Seth Doege struggled all day, but came up big when it counted and the Red Raiders came out victorious. No statistics really stood out in the game and I am happy with the effort of the Gopher football team and they sure look like a school on the rise in the Big Ten, but you need to learn to finish games. Lets just hope that the Timberwolves and Vikings find themselves in better shape over the next 24 hours.