A shootout win last night against the Isles dropped the Wild's magic number to 12 with 8 games to play.
The magic numbers for the top 3 teams in the Central to finish above the Wild.
St. Louis 9 (8 games left)
Nashville 10 (8 games left)
Chicago 14 (10 games left)
Unless somebody collapses out of nowhere, it's looking like the Wild are headed for a wild card spot at best.
Games for the rest of the week
WED.
Chicago @ Philly
Dallas @ Calgary - A Flames loss is good for the Wild's magic number.
THUR.
LA @ NY Islanders - If we can't get a Flames loss, a Kings loss would do just as well.
Montreal @ Winnepeg - Or a Jets loss, what do I care?
Colorado @ Vancouver
FRI.
Calgary @ Minnesota - A Flames loss coupled with a Wild win would be very good for the Wild's magic number.
Columbus @ Chicago
Oh, St. Louis, and Nashville have played the same number of games as the Wild, so their 8 and 7 point leads on the Wild are legit.
Chicago has two fewer games played, so that 3-point lead is more like 5.6 points.
Just as I wrote yesterday, the Wild needs to run the hot hand with the goaltender until the wheels fall off.
I think KuemperDubnyk should get the start.
-UncleWalt
I really hope your worries about the wheels coming off due to overuse don't come to pass.
Also, that was a heck of an effort by the boys in the 2nd, 3rd, OT & shootout. I can't remember the last time I saw a Wild team this competitive in the late stages of games.
Yeah, this is the deepest the Wild has ever been. That third period was especially fun to watch. Hopefully, the team wins a few more games here soon and gets a chance to rest.
I can't remember the last time I saw a Wild team this competitive in the late stages of games.
This is what makes me so annoyed with that 14-game stretch that put the Wild in a wild-card position instead of in the mix for the division crown. With a good seed this team could be an absolute force.*
*If the Wild end up in the Pacific portion of the playoffs and avoid the Blues and the Hawks, I will claim that this was an advantage all along.
Hmm. A couple of them are of interest to me, but I don't think this is the first time I'll go see Lollapalooza.
Last time* I went to Lollapalooza, Metallica headlined. No Rancid, Soundgarden, Ramones, or Waylon this time though.
McCartney instead. Ugh.
Could Sturgill translate to that big a stage? Sylvan Esso?
*Also first time.
The MLS is officially back in Minnesota.
Gibson with 7 Ks in 6 IP today. He's had 7+ Ks in a real game just three times in his career (41 starts). Don't know if he's done or not.
I'm pleased that the Twins have used Kyle Gibson for six innings today. One of my complaints about the prior administration is that it did not get the starters stretched out properly during spring training.
Pretty sure the next lunch-up in Minneapolis should happen at WSK.
I just had lunch there today!
Tried the lamb rice bowl. Good but I am sticking with the squash taco or short rib rice bowl.
This reminds me, I need to try making my own kimchi soon.
oooh.
I've thought about, but not pulled the trigger on making sauerkraut at home. Anybody here done that? Also on the list is making salami.
I need it to fill out my hipsterbingo card. I've previously made pickles, and sauerbraten, and maintained my own sourdough starter for about a decade.
Working my way up to kraut. The move kind of put a halt on a lot of the jars. I can't wait for spring/summer/fall to start pickling things again. I have a few legacy recipes that I can share when I unpack my kitchen notes.
Legacy pickling recipes? Woo-hoo!
J and a couple of my friends just made kimchi because they got their Kraut Sources from Kickstarter. It seems to be pretty cool.
very cool, Zack. Thanks for that link. I'm thinking seriously about ordering one or two.
dido.
I ordered two this morning. Will report back when they arrive.
I signed up for pre-order, but never found/received any way to do so.
I ordered on the website. There was some nonsense about "pre-ordering" on the website, but the ordering process worked fine. It just said they were kinda back-ordered, and gave a delivery date for somewhere around April 5.
Oh, there it is. Well, I'm an idiot...
Started on making my own soy sauce, but wasn't sure where to get the base ingredients.
Did make Ital sausages - fresh pork, casings, broccoli rabe, and fennel seeds. Worked out great.
Wine-making buddy of mine also makes his own vinegar. Kinda hipstery.
Had a buddy who made his own vinegar. It might have been good had it not just been 25 year old bottles of Labatt's.
My grandparents often made sauerkraut.
I know it goes something like this:
Use a mandolin to slice lots of Cabbage.
Put cabbage shreds in crock, layer, by layer, with salt in between
Put a plate just small enough to fit freely within the crock atop the cabbage and salt.
Put a rock atop the plate.
Come back every (time period) and (do something).
???
Profit!
Spices?
I saw an episode of Mo Rocca's fabulous show, My Grandmother's Ravioli where some tottering ancient guy showed Mo how to make sauerkraut. He had a bucket, a wooden disk, and a big rock.
Ugh, Mo Rocca just grates on me.
really?
I find that show incredibly sweet.
I don't know if I could separate him from Ellen Degeneres's brother.
They look, act and talk like complete opposites. Really? I mean, I guess they are both Caucasian.
They were both on the Daily Show when I watched daily.
Which is which? I don't know.
Maybe I just don't know Rocca at all and just have replaced him in my head with the lesser Degeneres.
So I looked them up. I thought Mo Rocca was the Degeneres. He seems more like Ellen.
Maybe that's why I'm confused.
Well, he IS gay. So there's that.
So this oldster took my grandparents' recipe?!?!?!
I am so excited to try this at home.
I dont know how many of you follow Justified on a weekly basis
from the AP story on Yahoo: "Airlines in Europe are not required to have two people in the cockpit at all times, unlike the standard U.S. operating procedure after the 9/11 attacks changed to require a flight attendant to take the spot of a briefly departing pilot."
Trey had a double for the Diamondbacks' only hit in a 10-9 victory over the Rockies. He also was hit by a pitch and had two RBIs. He didn't fare so well on the mound, allowing 7 runs in 1+ IP against a very good hitting team. Fortunately, they're not so much with throwing strikes as the Diamondbacks had 13 walks or hbps in 15 PAs with one K. Yep, they only made one out in two innings of batting thanks to a 5-run rule. The pitcher that relieved Trey gave up just two runs in 2 IP and was given the game ball. Diamondbacks are now 5-1 and will play for first place on Saturday.
So, your son's team scored 10 runs on one hit? Man, that's baseball only a parent could love watch stomach.
Yeah, it was ugly. It was intense though because we got behind 5-0 and 8-5. We ended up only going 2 1/2 innings because we have a 90-minute time limit (can't start an inning after 90 minutes). Since we led going into the bottom of the third and it was right at 90 minutes, they called the game. What helped us reach the time limit was we refused to try to score on wild pitches because we had slow runners at third in the bottom of the second and the bases were loaded. They were giving us free bases so we weren't going to risk sending slow runners to be thrown out at home. If we had scored on wild pitches, we probably would have had time to play a fourth inning (most games are four innings anyways).
Gibson was pleased with his outing, though. He is among the Grapefruit League leaders with 17 strikeouts in 19⅔ innings. The reason? A changeup that he’s becoming comfortable with. “When I’m executing, I can go to it on 2-1, 2-2, 3-2 counts. I think that’s going to help me out a lot,” Gibson said.
Apologies to Zee German. I've stood him up two nights in a row for our cribbage match. It's been a hectic week.
Wild Playoff Watch
A shootout win last night against the Isles dropped the Wild's magic number to 12 with 8 games to play.
The magic numbers for the top 3 teams in the Central to finish above the Wild.
St. Louis 9 (8 games left)
Nashville 10 (8 games left)
Chicago 14 (10 games left)
Unless somebody collapses out of nowhere, it's looking like the Wild are headed for a wild card spot at best.
Games for the rest of the week
WED.
Chicago @ Philly
Dallas @ Calgary - A Flames loss is good for the Wild's magic number.
THUR.
LA @ NY Islanders - If we can't get a Flames loss, a Kings loss would do just as well.
Montreal @ Winnepeg - Or a Jets loss, what do I care?
Colorado @ Vancouver
FRI.
Calgary @ Minnesota - A Flames loss coupled with a Wild win would be very good for the Wild's magic number.
Columbus @ Chicago
Oh, St. Louis, and Nashville have played the same number of games as the Wild, so their 8 and 7 point leads on the Wild are legit.
Chicago has two fewer games played, so that 3-point lead is more like 5.6 points.
Just as I wrote yesterday, the Wild needs to run the hot hand with the goaltender until the wheels fall off.
I really hope your worries about the wheels coming off due to overuse don't come to pass.
Also, that was a heck of an effort by the boys in the 2nd, 3rd, OT & shootout. I can't remember the last time I saw a Wild team this competitive in the late stages of games.
Yeah, this is the deepest the Wild has ever been. That third period was especially fun to watch. Hopefully, the team wins a few more games here soon and gets a chance to rest.
I can't remember the last time I saw a Wild team this competitive in the late stages of games.
This is what makes me so annoyed with that 14-game stretch that put the Wild in a wild-card position instead of in the mix for the division crown. With a good seed this team could be an absolute force.*
*If the Wild end up in the Pacific portion of the playoffs and avoid the Blues and the Hawks, I will claim that this was an advantage all along.
The Lollapalooza lineup is... uninspiring.
Hmm. A couple of them are of interest to me, but I don't think this is the first time I'll go see Lollapalooza.
Last time* I went to Lollapalooza, Metallica headlined. No Rancid, Soundgarden, Ramones, or Waylon this time though.
McCartney instead. Ugh.
Could Sturgill translate to that big a stage? Sylvan Esso?
*Also first time.
The MLS is officially back in Minnesota.
Gibson with 7 Ks in 6 IP today. He's had 7+ Ks in a real game just three times in his career (41 starts). Don't know if he's done or not.
I'm pleased that the Twins have used Kyle Gibson for six innings today. One of my complaints about the prior administration is that it did not get the starters stretched out properly during spring training.
Important culinary announcement: WSK's yum-yum rice bowl recipe.
Pretty sure the next lunch-up in Minneapolis should happen at WSK.
I just had lunch there today!
Tried the lamb rice bowl. Good but I am sticking with the squash taco or short rib rice bowl.
This reminds me, I need to try making my own kimchi soon.
oooh.
I've thought about, but not pulled the trigger on making sauerkraut at home. Anybody here done that? Also on the list is making salami.
I need it to fill out my hipsterbingo card. I've previously made pickles, and sauerbraten, and maintained my own sourdough starter for about a decade.
Working my way up to kraut. The move kind of put a halt on a lot of the jars. I can't wait for spring/summer/fall to start pickling things again. I have a few legacy recipes that I can share when I unpack my kitchen notes.
Legacy pickling recipes? Woo-hoo!
J and a couple of my friends just made kimchi because they got their Kraut Sources from Kickstarter. It seems to be pretty cool.
very cool, Zack. Thanks for that link. I'm thinking seriously about ordering one or two.
dido.
I ordered two this morning. Will report back when they arrive.
I signed up for pre-order, but never found/received any way to do so.
I ordered on the website. There was some nonsense about "pre-ordering" on the website, but the ordering process worked fine. It just said they were kinda back-ordered, and gave a delivery date for somewhere around April 5.
Oh, there it is. Well, I'm an idiot...
Started on making my own soy sauce, but wasn't sure where to get the base ingredients.
Did make Ital sausages - fresh pork, casings, broccoli rabe, and fennel seeds. Worked out great.
Wine-making buddy of mine also makes his own vinegar. Kinda hipstery.
Had a buddy who made his own vinegar. It might have been good had it not just been 25 year old bottles of Labatt's.
My grandparents often made sauerkraut.
I know it goes something like this:
Use a mandolin to slice lots of Cabbage.
Put cabbage shreds in crock, layer, by layer, with salt in between
Put a plate just small enough to fit freely within the crock atop the cabbage and salt.
Put a rock atop the plate.
Come back every (time period) and (do something).
???
Profit!
Spices?
I saw an episode of Mo Rocca's fabulous show, My Grandmother's Ravioli where some tottering ancient guy showed Mo how to make sauerkraut. He had a bucket, a wooden disk, and a big rock.
Ugh, Mo Rocca just grates on me.
really?
I find that show incredibly sweet.
I don't know if I could separate him from Ellen Degeneres's brother.
They look, act and talk like complete opposites. Really? I mean, I guess they are both Caucasian.
They were both on the Daily Show when I watched daily.
Which is which? I don't know.
Maybe I just don't know Rocca at all and just have replaced him in my head with the lesser Degeneres.
So I looked them up. I thought Mo Rocca was the Degeneres. He seems more like Ellen.
Maybe that's why I'm confused.
Well, he IS gay. So there's that.
So this oldster took my grandparents' recipe?!?!?!
I am so excited to try this at home.
I dont know how many of you follow Justified on a weekly basis
I have not seen last night's episode. I can't wait to see the endgame for this final season. I agree with your prediction.
Strange developments in Germanwings crash.
ugh.
from the AP story on Yahoo: "Airlines in Europe are not required to have two people in the cockpit at all times, unlike the standard U.S. operating procedure after the 9/11 attacks changed to require a flight attendant to take the spot of a briefly departing pilot."
Trey had a double for the Diamondbacks' only hit in a 10-9 victory over the Rockies. He also was hit by a pitch and had two RBIs. He didn't fare so well on the mound, allowing 7 runs in 1+ IP against a very good hitting team. Fortunately, they're not so much with throwing strikes as the Diamondbacks had 13 walks or hbps in 15 PAs with one K. Yep, they only made one out in two innings of batting thanks to a 5-run rule. The pitcher that relieved Trey gave up just two runs in 2 IP and was given the game ball. Diamondbacks are now 5-1 and will play for first place on Saturday.
So, your son's team scored 10 runs on one hit? Man, that's baseball only a parent could
love watchstomach.Yeah, it was ugly. It was intense though because we got behind 5-0 and 8-5. We ended up only going 2 1/2 innings because we have a 90-minute time limit (can't start an inning after 90 minutes). Since we led going into the bottom of the third and it was right at 90 minutes, they called the game. What helped us reach the time limit was we refused to try to score on wild pitches because we had slow runners at third in the bottom of the second and the bases were loaded. They were giving us free bases so we weren't going to risk sending slow runners to be thrown out at home. If we had scored on wild pitches, we probably would have had time to play a fourth inning (most games are four innings anyways).
Apologies to Zee German. I've stood him up two nights in a row for our cribbage match. It's been a hectic week.