MN Sports Update

Hey gang, it's the Mr. here with updates regarding your favorite sports teams.

Operation: Re-load So what are we to think about the Vikings heading into 2012?  The stadium debate continues to go on and on (and on and on and on).  This beast has become more political than I ever could have imagined.  It seems the politicians (both left and right) continue to play games and refuse to commit to progress.  Just when we think the Linden Ave site will be the place, Dayton buckles under the pressure and says only the Metrodome site will work.  Then, just when the Vikings start warming up to the Metrodome site, Minneapolis throws in curveball and proposes another site kiddy-corner from the Dome.  Throw in the fact that the NFL opposes the Vikings playing at TCF Stadium for 3 years, and this is a huge mess that has gone on long enough. 

Free agency and the draft are just around the corner and it's exciting to think about the potential talent the Vikings could bring in.  This team is still a long ways off from being a NFC Contender, but in the past three years we have gone from one of the oldest teams, to one of the youngest teams heading into the pre-season.  (mostly because we had two 80 year old QB's who refused to throw in the towel...thank you Favre and McNabb).  It will be interesting to see how newly promoted GM Rick Spielman will conduct this year's draft.  For the most part, I loved his picks in the previous years, but he absolutely needs to nail this draft in my opinion.  Otherwise, we could be seeing a new coach and a new GM next year.  I think they will focus on the O-line in the first round (I want either Matt Kalil, Riley Reiff, or Jonathan Martin), then pick up some D-Backs, WR's and a Linebacker or DT.  Leslie Frazier and his staff coached the North Team for the Senior Bowl this past weekend so that should be an advantage heading into the draft as well.  It was a good chance to interview some players one-on-one and gain a first hand observation of the talent.

Welcome Solomon Elimimian.  That's right, the Vikings signed another Canadian Football League player who's name you can barely pronounce (remember Emmanuel Arceneaux?).  I really hope this guy pans out for us.  He's a LB who played college at Hawaii, was signed by the BC Lions and was the CFL Rookie of the Year last year.  He was also voted as the CFL's hardest hitter.  I looked on YouTube for videos of this kid, and boy oh boy can he hit.  He also seems like the kind of character player we want in MN.  Good luck young man!

Operation: Relevance
Well the Timberwolves are somewhat relevant again.  I'll be honest, I'm a fair-weather Wolves fan, but even I can appreciate the buzz this team is creating.  Rookies Derek Williams and Ricky Rubio seem like they could be stars in this league, and we just re-signed Kevin Love to a 3-year deal.  Could things be looking up?  By the way, did you know the Lakers have beat us 15 straight times?  That's even worse than the Twins vs Yankees!  Ouch.

Operation:  Playoffs? You kidding me! Playoffs? After an unbelievable start, the Wild lost several games in a row to find themselves on the bottom edge of the 8-team playoff race.  I honestly can't explain what happened during what seems like an overnight 8-place drop in the standings.  Could it be due to injury, maybe.  But I think we're seeing what we should have expected this year, which is a team that will have to fight to make the playoffs.  It doesn't help that three of our top scorers were out for a significant chunk of time.  But now Koivu and Latendresse seem to be on track to return shortly.  It's a tragedy to see what's happening to Pierre-Marc Bouchard.  His concussion symptoms continue to be an issue, so I think his days in a Wild jersey could be over.  I hope I'm wrong. 

Twins: well I'm not even going there yet!  All I can say is good luck Terry Ryan! 

 

And there you have it! My thoughts on the state of our state's teams.  Let me know what you think!