51 thoughts on “April 12, 2014: 51”

  1. Twins are 2nd in runs scored (2nd in OBP!), dead last in runs allowed. I would not mind too much if this trend continued, as it would probably mean 75 wins and a lot of entertainment. Especially if Gibson leads the league in winning percentage at the end of the year

    1. I agree. The Twins of the mid-80s were pretty fun to watch despite their lack of pitching.

    1. Between this and the Gophers/UND hockey game ending, I'm not sure Minnesota sports are all that firmly attached to reality anymore.

    2. Rookie Tommy Kramer coming back against San Fran is the only thing that comes to mind and I don't even think that's close

    3. There is probably a handful of Vikings players that would make a list like in the mid 90s when Scottie Graham rushed for something like 160 yards against the Chiefs

  2. Fulham are up 1-0 on Norwich at the moment. Fulham are in the first relegation spot, Norwich in the last safe place. A win* for Fulham will move them within 2 points of Norwich and safety with 4 matches to play.

    *And of course the announcer just said Fulham has the worst record in the league for allowing late goals.

    1. 90th minute, still 1-0. 3 minutes added on. I'm a wreck. This is the squeakiest of squeaky bum times.

  3. What an effort this Wolves club has made down the stretch. It has been a disappointing season, but they have turned in some pretty great games with nothing really to play for but pride and professionalism.

    You may remember Kurt Rambis' never win in April clubs.

      1. Good lord. As fun as watching the Twins win convincingly was, I wish I wouldve watched that, some of those shots are goofypants.

        Rubio's passing was solid, too, by the looks of things.

        1. The craziest part is that he actually looked completely in control of his body on almost all of those plays, which is the opposite of how he usually looks to me.

        1. He was 19-30 from the field, but only 3-11 from outside the paint, including the half courter! Sixteen field goals in the lane!

      2. Earlier this week I was invited to section 109, row 3 at Target field on Friday (last night). Thursday night I was invited to courtside (yes those seats) for the Wolves on Friday night (last night). I had to turn down the courtsides and didn't feel too bad ... Until watching those highlights.

  4. RIP Gopher hoops legend Sweet Lou Hudson.

    Why the hell isn't Lou in the HOF?

    He averaged 20+ ppg in seven different NBA seasons, and 20.2 over his 13-year career, shooting 48.9 pct from the field (before the 3-pt shot) and 79.7 pct from the line (4.4 FTA/g as a 2-guard). Add in 4.4 RPG and 2.7 APG, he was an all-around player. Six-time All-Star, his main shortcomings were (a) being the best player on a bunch of mediocre Hawks teams and (b) not a lot of black ink.

    With the Gophers, he averaged 20.4 ppg and 8.9 rpg for his career in an era when only the league champion went to the NCAA tournament. The closest they got was 1964-65 when they tied for second in the Big10 at 11-3. His senior season, he missed a bunch of games with a broken wrist or hand.

    Hudson teamed with PG Archie Clark to form the best backcourt in Gopher history. Clark went on to a successful NBA career (2-time All-Star).

  5. O’ has there every been a truer Ouvrer
    Than the plastic poof-sponge, Fluffy?

    Who hangs on a peg in the man-space
    All winter, with no heat, yet still luffy.

    Tho’ they’ve gone thru the dryer 3-atch
    The wife says the towels are still wet, natch!

    So the Pynchon I put down with a groan
    And head downstairs to the laundry Zone

    Up on to the dryer I crawl with aplomb
    And pull off the vent hose tubing (aluminum)

    Like a scene in a B-horror flick
    When the monster-pulls-out-the-esophagus trick

    So I head to the garage with care
    To not spill any lint on the stair

    I reach for Fluffy, and tie her to a string
    On the other end is a heavy metal thing

    The bolt goes into the tubing, and with a vertical lift
    Comes out the other end with thrift

    Goes the brave Poof sponge next into the tube
    Who gets pulled through the vent hose sans lube

    All manner of lintage comes falling out
    Damp lint - Damned lint, strewn about

    A second time through, then a third and yet
    The harvest yields less each time. We’re set.

    To her peg goes the Poof sponge, me back to my seat
    Our work is done here, Spring ritual complete.

    1. * - Homeowners - if you do this be also sure to reach inside your dryer where the vent hose attaches - I found a huge mass of lint-cholesterol-blockage inside the dryer.

      1. great reminder. I was out mowing the lawn last week and noticed a large hairball of lint had dropped out of the vent that leads from our dryer. Will need to clean out the other end of the line soon before the house burns down.

        1. I just did that for the first time in six years last weekend. I do feel better about myself.

      1. How about this metric: number of players on the Gophers that have been drafted by the NHL: 14. Number of players on Union drafted by the NHL: 1.

        1. The STrib did an article earlier this week talking about how the Don has gone after more "program" guys who won't be in the NHL to provide consistency and leadership and how that has helped the team be better overall.

          1. You read that the Gophers were the ones with the 14 NHL draftees, right? This includes freshmen that have already been drafted.

    1. As a member of the ECAC, Union does not give athletic scholarships. The college relies on a heavy financial aid system to offset the cost of private school tuition.

      The no-scholarship aspect has attracted a lot of attention during the Dutchmen’s 31-victory season, the best in college hockey. Coach Rick Bennett downplayed that, however.

      “I know how Union runs and being successful, being a financial aid school, it’s worked well,” Bennett said. “We have a lot of alumni that have really supported our school, and through that, I think we thrive through Union College that way.”

      1. I don't care what they call it. A kid going to college for free because he plays hockey is on athletic scholarship.

        1. Agree. We have a family friend who played football for "No Athletic Scholarships" St. John's. He got a very healthy "merit aid package." Much more than other family friends kids who also went there and had much better grades but didn't play football.

          1. My brother received an "activities" scholarship at a D3 school. His only activity was sports.

          2. that's what I was getting at. But I didn't know that St. John's pulled that crap. I guarantee that the Alma Mater didn't back in the day, and I'm reasonably confident that they don't now. (as an aside, some of the Wisconsin hyphen schools who competed in DIII were rather notorious for giving "under the table" money back in the day; WTF? You're DIII. Why are you paying ANYONE to play?)

          3. Get back to me when St. John's becomes an FBS power. College hockey is such that a team with no scholarships (at least no formal scholarships) can win a national title at the highest level.

    1. I sincerely hope Hamilton figures out how to get on base (hits, walks, HBP, I don't care how) enough to be a long-term everyday player. He brings a smile to my face like few other players have ever done.

  6. Just helped a buddy with two growlers from Sierra Nevada. Blonde bock and wit ipa. And pizza. I may or may not be entirely coherent for the rest of the evening.

  7. Trey's Mets came out on top again today to beat the Orioles 6-4. Trey started and had his worst inning in the first when he did not throw a single strike. On Saturdays, the Farm teams play on the "big" field, which is where the older kids play (up to 12 yrs), so it is a real dirt mound instead of an astroturf-covered fiberglass mound put on a softball field. However, the dirt mound had not been watered down recently and had gotten hard and Trey's shorter legs were landing on sort of a little hill and he was continually slipping. He got through the first only allowing 2 runs thanks to him catching a soft line drive and fielding a ground ball and throwing to first. Trey made an adjustment with a shorter stride to avoid sliding and managed to go 3 1/3 innings with only the 2 runs allowed. He also singled to lead off the fourth to start a three-run rally when the Mets broke open a one-run game. The O's got the tying run to the plate and he was given one coach's pitch, but the coach (the player's own dad) hit him with the pitch, which is a strikeout, to end the game.

    1. I am very impressed that, at Trey's age, he is able to make an adjustment like that.

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