Through the rabbit hole.

Yesterday, I was talking to someone about the smoking Indonesian baby. He frankly looks cooler than any adult I know (don't smoke, kids). Anyways, we had to look up the video...



There is also this one...


I thought smoking made you thin?

Anyways, we all wondered what was funnier/sadder... a smoking toddler or a smoking monkey. Keep in mind, the toddler could simply learn the technique by watching people. Someone pretty much has to force the smoking on the ape.


If I do say so, he looks a little like Abe Vigoda. Anyways, to go along with that, here is an orangutan smoking with purpose. The only way out of his cage is through emphysema.


If we can learn nothing else from watching videos of primates smoking, and the questionable morality involved, I can say with certainty that getting a monkey high is definitely wrong.

Links of the Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day, everyone, I hope you are all appreciative of the men and women in uniform. And I hope your appreciation involves some time outside and potato salad.

Dario Franchitti wins yesterdays Indy 500. As expected, cars went VROOM.

It was noisy in Chicago for Game 1.

Yep, this is ironic.

The Indy 500 is today!

Now is the season of highly traditional, regionally important competitions that, frankly, I don't understand. I like the pageantry, and respect the importance of the event to the city in question, like the Kentucky Derby in Louisville or today's Indy 500 in Indianapolis. I like watching them, the pride is fierce, and the competition is thrilling. That said, I have no insight as to who is good, who is doing what well or who will win.
I like when the cars go VROOOOOOOM

Links of the Day 5/30/10

Roy Halladay... perfect.

Kendry Morales was on my fantasy team.

Zach Randolph, Indianapolis crime lord.

New York is fine

The NFL decided a few days ago to put the 2014 Super Bowl in New York (well, New Jersey) and many are griping about the potential for inclement weather. Who cares? This is the game to decide the champion of the football world, not some sort of reward. The only way we can truly call this a neutral field game is if we keep moving it around without bias towards any team or region. Really, the only reason we can call it a neutral field up to this point is because New Orleans, Tampa and San Diego have only been to the Super Bowl once each.
So I say keep moving the game, keep putting it in cities where the weather might turn sour, just so long as there are hotels to put the people that want to see the game. I say Super Seattle in 2015. Who's with me?!

Links of the Day 5/29/10

Happy Memorial weekend, everyone. I hope you are all off for the weekend and not reading this until Tuesday.

David Ortiz' leisurely stroll around the bases. It was record breaking.

Circumventing ESPN Insider, here is a look at lucky and unlucky pitchers.

Jared Allen cut his hair. BUT WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH BRETT FAVRE.

*sigh*

I haven't been sleeping well lately, waking up way earlier than I want to. I usually need the radio to sleep, and I have it on KQRS, the classic rock station here in the Cities for those that don't know. Mountain helps me sleep. When I wake up in the middle of the night, it's the same thing. Turn on the radio, blissfully fall back asleep to the dulcet sounds of Bad Company.
Well, this morning I woke up at 7, which caused me to turn it on in the middle of the Morning Show, which is hosted by loud mouthed imbeciles. Usually, I have a problem with they overwhelmingly angry cynicism, racism and misogyny, but I have been blessed with a job that allows me to wake up after the show is over on most days. Today, I woke up not knowing what time it was and have a new reason to complain about the KQ Morning Show.
Their stupid is getting into my baseball.
Host Tom Barnard and PiPress sports guy Bob Sansevere were talking about the Twins and how disappointed they have been with Joe Mauer performance so far this season.
Jigga wha?!
Joe Mauer, the one who his hitting .338 with an OBP of .408 with an OPS+ of 140?! You are disappointed?! Why? Barnard (paraphrasing) said that "I know he is the home town kid and everything, but he's got to get it going" after Sansevere noted that Mauer has 22 RBI, putting him on pace for a paltry 76 on the season.
Ugh. If you are still using RBI as a gauge of the quality of a players performance, I simply don't have time for your stupidity. Again, most RBI, even from the greatest sluggers, come when a player drives someone else in. Therefore, Mauer's total has more to do with the fact that Denard Span got off to a slow start than anything. Mauer's still scoring plenty, because he is on base all the time (the only thing he really has power over).
As for the home run total, I'm not worried there either. Note that before last season, he less than 9 homers a season, on average, and only had the one huge power streak last season. If it makes you feel better, Joe is on pace for a career high in doubles, and that's pretty good too.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you are in any way disappointed in Mauer, you are a moron.

Links of the Day 5/28/10

I don't know what's more incredible, that the Rangers went into bankruptcy or that they still owe Mickey Tettleton money.

Ah the USFL, the only actually cool former competition for the NFL.

The Flyers' Mike Richards is not superstitious. Not even a little stitious.

The legend of the Knoblauch

Back in 1991, the Twins had a young rookie 2nd baseman that looked a little like Joe Pantoliano from The Fugitive (though the movie would come out a couple years later). He eventually won the Rookie of the Year award while helping guide the Twins to the World Series in 1991. That youngster, of course, was Chuck Knoblauch.
Eventually, he became discontented in Minnesota and was traded in the offseason before the 1998 season to the New York Yankees. To this day, the trade is impacting his former team, no matter what angry battery throwers may want to think. Let's follow the family tree from the Knobby trade.
DANIEL MOTA - Eh, nothing.
CRISTIAN GUZMAN - He was eventually a decent top of the order spark of energy that helped the Twins with their early 2000s turnaround. Eventually went to Washington via free agency.
ERIC MILTON - Milton threw a no no for the Twins and was eventually traded to the Phillies for pitchers Carlos Silva, Bobby Korecky and infielder Nick Punto. Silva was a decent enough #2 in the rotation for a while, as Milton had been, and Bobby Korecky even had a few good appearances as a reliever before being selected by the Diamondbacks on waivers. Punto, for better or worse, is still on the team as the starting 3b.
BRIAN BUCHANAN - This is perhaps the most curious inclusion. He wasn't terribly effective with the Twins, and was eventually traded to give more PT to Michael Cuddyer and Dustan Mohr. They acquired a young shortstop from the Padres named Jason Bartlett. After beginning to emerge with the Twins, Bartlett was eventually packaged with Matt Garza and Eduardo Morlan and sent to the Rays for Jason Pridie (now with the Mets), Brendan Harris, still doing yeoman's work as a utility infielder and Delmon Young, a former number one pick and one of the better right handed bats the Twins have.
So, the remaining legacy of Chuck Knoblauch is Nick Punto, Brendan Harris and Delmon Young. Not bad 12 years later. (By the way, Delmon Young was 5 years old when Knobby made his debut)

Links of the Day 5/27/10

Soccer players are such prima Maradonas.

I think the Rams are turning it around this year....

Who is the most overrated hitter in baseball? Interesting debate.

Some European teams to get behind

I have done, I think, an excellent job of getting into European soccer, mostly because I can't passively follow it since it isn't covered explicitly on ESPN, the Star Trib or any American media outlet. I have to really check it out and find out what 's going on. Fun stuff, to be sure. Anyways, without providing any real insight or evangelizing you to the ways of soccer, I have compiled this list of a few European teams that you should probably root for, mostly because I like their names.

First, I should let you know that I pull for Rosenborg in the Norwegian league, because they are the best team in Trondheim, where my grandmother's family is from. Of the smaller leagues, they are the only real affiliation I have. Now, some fun teams.

Zestafoni - How can you feel bad cheering for a team called Zestafoni?

Tom Tomsk - Not unlike a GPS device.

Sheriff - Sounds pretty badass, right?

Honka - Perhaps this Finnish team is Fozzy Bear's favorite.

Also, Minnesotans I ask you why you would cheer for Viking when you could pull for Vikingur. I think it's Odd.

Dutch names are just funny, like Feyenoord or Heerenveen.

FC Kobenhavn in Denmark is always fun, because abbreviated, it's always FCK.

Videoton - Blockbuster's greatest rival.

I'm sure I'll come up with plenty more, but this is definitely a good start

Links of the Day 5/26/10

You may think this injury unusual, but know this.... the squirrel that attacked Brendan Harris last night was a twin!

One of the things I like about Pacifist Viking is that he doesn't let his love of the Vikings cloud the fact that the team is doing some bad things in order to get what they want, like misrepresenting the truth to blackmail their way into a new stadium. But good on him that he can separate the team from it's owners and still be a fan. It's something I couldn't do.

Well done, MLB.com. Well done.

Who to blame for the rain delay

The game today was ended in the 6th inning, much to the chagrin of people at the stadium and the confusion of people who were watching it. I am perhaps more confused than anyone else. You see, but the time the game was called, the rain was practically at an end and any good meteorologist would have been able to see that.
That said, it's not the decision of the team or meteorologists to say whether or not a game will continue after it has been started. Sure, before the game begins, it is on the team to decide whether or not their stadium is playable and can call game before hand wih the purpose of scheduling it for a new date.
No no, after the game has begun, it is on the umps. Umpires have sole discretion on whether or not a game should be called after it has been started. A quick look at a radar, or a talk with a meteorologist would have suggested, perhaps, that the game could have been resumed at about 9. But no, it was not to be. For whatever reason, the men in blue decided they wanted to hose tonight's fans and suspend play.
The only thing I can think is that the issue was that damn squirrel. It scared the hell out of Brandon Harris.

Links of the Day 5/25/10

What's wrong with the White Sox this season? They can't figure it out, but the ensuing arguments have led to fights.

Two Deadspin links in a row... but this is freaky.

And this is why you want to act like a grown up on the field.

Cooking with Ryan: Chicken and shells

This recipe was going to be perfect. It was easy and I already had all the ingredients, except the noodles, and picked those up after work. It took some tomato, salsa, dill weed and cilantro. I looked in the fridge yesterday morning and saw that the fresh cilantro that had been there was looking... unwell. The moisture was leaking out of it and it was wilting and all becoming very clear that I needed more cilantro.
Here is the problem with cilantro (which looks like this, by the way), if you want it fresh, you have to buy it in bunches. I have now had two recipes that asked for a few stalks of cilantro. The first was last week's salmon (2) and this weeks chicken and shells (8). That picture I linked to is fairly accurate in terms of how much cilantro you get when you buy a bunch. Who uses that much cilantro? I can't complain a whole lot, because that enormous bunch is only about $1.50, but that price raises even more questions. If that much cilantro is that inexpensive, that must mean the supply is huge, right? If so, where are the majestic fields, teeming with cilantro plants?
Anyways, the dish didn't really have a sauce, it just infused the noodles with cilantro and dill weed flavor. The salsa added some kick, and I used fajita chicken, so there was a spicy, earthy flavor to it. Not bad. Does anyone need any cilantro?

Links of the Day 5/24/10

That was a fun appearance from Loser Domi yesterday, huh? I'm just as confused as you are.

Here is a dinosaur throwing out a first pitch. Everyone knows they love baseball.

Let's figure out where Lebron is going, OK?

People seem to really enjoy this commercial.

Who would you most like to win The Cup this year? The Habs? Dany Heatley, who they say is an absolute killer behind the steering wheel? Patrick Kane, who they say is likely to try and kill the guy who is behind the steering wheel? Or Dan Carcillo?

Let's take a look at the other teams I wanted to win in this payoff series:
Phoenix Coyotes
Los Angles Kings
Washington capitals
Pittsburgh Penguins
San Jose Sharks

Each and every one got eliminated. Now I'm down to Habs, Flyers, and the Hawks. There is no "good" option anymore, just 'least painful"

Ask me anything

It's Getting More Complicated

Last month, I wrote about how now that I live in a city that has a hockey team, I've taken a greater interest in watching hockey for the first time in about 9 years, but I was very confused on who exactly my favorite team should be. Well, if you happened to be watching NBC this afternoon, you can see how my internal conflict escalated even more.

I wrote the last post half jokingly, because at the end of the day, I'm still not that big of a hockey fan, not like I am with Baseball and Football, where the White Sox and 49ers are clearly my favorite teams. My hockey fandom was at its highest from about 1994-1999, and it was mostly because the NHL video games for the Super Nintendo and Playstation were just so awesome. I played those games so much that I learned pretty much every player in the league while playing either as the Blackhawks or Coyotes against the rest of the league. The spectacular bloody rivalry between the Avalanche and Red Wings also was going on around that time, so if anything, I was more of a fan of the sport itself than being completely invested in any team.

I was actually on a plane today flying into Phoenix and was lucky enough to have a newer 737 that had DirecTV installed on it so I watched the beginning of the game. Watching the rabid United Center crowd and the amazing singing of the national anthem gave me chills about the Blackhawks that I haven't felt in a while, and it brought back a lot of memories for me growing up and going to games with that same rabid crowd, who at that time were supporting a losing team (most of the NHL games I have attended in my life were from about 1997-2002...not a good time in Chicago).

So I'm happy for the Blackhawks, and excited for their chances in the Stanley Cup Finals. They will have my full support and I'll probably watch every game. Since the D-Backs, Cardinals, and Suns have no chance of ever becoming my favorite team in a sport, and I plan on living here for a while, the Coyotes can still be my favorite hockey team, but like I said in my last post, I'm going to root for the Blackhawks against everyone but Phoenix.

I don't talk about it much here, but I actually have a similar situation in the NFL where my clear-cut 2nd favorite team is the Raiders, because they have been my dad's favorite team every since the Cardinals (ironic, huh?) moved from Chicago in 1960 and the AFL started. I am well educated in Raiders, Blackhawks, and White Sox lore thanks to my dad, but only the White Sox stuck as my favorite team of those 3, while other factors led me to choose the 49ers and Coyotes as my favorite teams instead. My dad isn't that big of a hockey fan anymore either, but the stories I heard about Bobby Hull and the rest of the guys from his childhood as a kid showed me where his loyalties existed, and I know he's been watching this year...

So go Hawks, especially for my dad. I might have to head over to his house to watch the Stanley Cup clincher with him, and maybe even shell out $30 for a championship t-shirt....

Links of the Day 5/23/10

It's a rather warm day outside. I enjoy it mightily, and you are getting these links as I sit outside.

Former Major League all star Jose Lima has passed away.

NHL tough guy Georges Laraque is going to do a little UFC fighting.

Inter Milan won the Champions League title yesterday, then the manager quit immediately following.

Let's open this one up to the readers

Ever since what can only be described as the Guerrier Incident, my fellow coworkers at Real Job Inc. and I have been in the throes of a voracious debate. Well, I've mostly stayed out of it, but I have been included in the e-mail back and forth, and I am mostly intrigued by the arguments posed by either side. I'll discuss my stance on the issue at a later date (though I'm sure you all know what it is), but I thought I would put the question to the readers.
Who is (or was) the better manager, Tom Kelly or Ron Gardenhire?
Kelly, obviously, won the World Series twice in his tenure, though it could be said that he was handed his team in '87 and carried it into '91. Overall, he had a losing record for his career, including 11 losing seasons.
Gardenhire has had all but 1 of his seasons end with winning records, though it could be said that he was handed his team in 2002. His teams also have a greater payroll and arguably has had a better team top to bottom than Kelly ever had. Gardenhire is 1-5 in playoff series for his career.
So what do you think?

Links of the Day 5/22/10

Dallas Braden's life is going very well right now, thank you.

Kyle Turley is now a musician (sort of)

Dick 'N' Bert have never made mention of "goat ropin's" to my knowledge.

In case you didn't know, TMZ does sports too

I do a lot of writing on the internet. I write here, at Victoria-Weather, at Barry Melrose Rocks, and at the 7th Inning Stache. I'm all over the place, and people have many ways to contact me. With my name out there, many people want me to promote their stuff as well, or they simply send me things that I might like, and I link to them so everyone can enjoy them.
Major media outlets are now taking note of the smaller blogs (like me!) and passing along stories and article. Remember Cam Martin from ESPN?  I have received a few e-mails from him (or his well paid intern) at this point, and they were much appreciated. Now I received one from TMZ.
You know, TMZ. The one that's on whatever channel isn't worth watching after 9pm. The one about gossip and whatever Lindsay Logan is doing. They are covering sports now. Well, not covering sports. They have moved on to destroying the lives of athletes and coaches. They call it TMZ sports. Anyways, they offered me the chance to use one of their stories (with proper link and credit!)  via e-mail today. Yee. Haw.
I can tell you this much, gentle readers. This site isn't exclusively sports, it's mostly what is on the mind of myself, Steve and Beth. It just so happens that that is mostly sports. And when we talk about sports, I prefer to talk about what is going on on the field and things that directly influence that. Failing that, I like to keep things whimsical and tangentially related to those matters on the field. Hypotheticals are fun too. I'm not too big on athlete gossip, however. I think it's base and uninteresting. Besides, we're not really into "breaking news" around here. We're more like the opinion page at the back of the newspaper that you really only read if you want to get your dander up.
If you are into gossip and things related, go ahead and go to TMZ. Just know that you won't find it here.

Links of the Day 5/21/10

What new programming can we expect on the Big Ten Network?

Here I was thinking that the mascots for the London Olympics wouldn't be terrifying. I was mistaken.

The Timberwolves will probably wheel, deal for this years 2nd pick.

Ugh, seriously?

Now you have to play coy, while leaving your decisions up to a college baseball team? You worthless old f**. We all know you are coming back, even if Southern Miss doesn't. The worst part? You are making people who actually believe your sh*t either root for or against Southern Miss. And who in their right mind would make other people root against a team of college athletes they would otherwise have nothing against. You're a scumbag Favre. I hope you DO come back, then get benched for being f'ing terrible

Links of the Day 5/20/10

Manute Bol was trying to make the world a better place, and became very ill because of it.

I can't tell if this is Philadelphia or Istanbul.

Here is a full run down on the projected picks for the Timberwolves in various mocks around the league.

Why isn't anyone making fun of this?

This is the Sports Illustrated cover from the May 3rd issue that was hanging out in the break room at Real Job Inc. I mean, isn't the site of 4 Yankees groping each other like Notre Dame quarterbacks funny to someone? How come I haven't seen any commentary on the topic, and the issue has been out for 16 days? I have three theories on this.
1 ) It would have received attention if A-Rod was involved, because he seems to be more hated than the rest of the team.
2 ) Yankees as pansies is a played out joke
3 ) Nobody reads Sports Illustrated

Links of the Day 5/19/10

In former Minnesota athlete news, Daunte Culpepper is going to the UFL.

Tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of Malik Sealy's death.

David Arquette was involved in a courtside rumble at the Lakers game the other night.

The Timberwolves luck continues

 

The Timberwolves once again moved down in the draft lottery to the 4th overall spot. Before the lottery, Wolves GM David Kahn said that, in fact, he thought that this was a three player draft, contrary to popular belief. Too bad they are, as I said, now picking 4th. Good luck with talentless locker room cancer and 15th power forward DeMarcus Cousins, guys.

Say, 4th place? Isn't that what you guys are in the hearts of Minnesota sports fans?

Links of the Day 5/18/10

The NBA Draft Lottery is to night. It will be the last chance the Timberwolves have to win something until 2011.

A Simmons is involved with a lawsuit involving ESPN. The Simmons is not Bill.

The NFL has a drug problem, no doubt, but I wasn't expecting THESE drugs.

I miss Fire Joe Morgan

For those that don't know, Fire Joe Morgan was a baseball themed website that would find things that were said by the talking heads of the Universe, or written by sports writers, and would take them down if it was deserved because of their ignorance. It was written by actual TV writers in disguise (like Mose Schrute) and was funny, whether or not you agreed with their angle.
As you can guess, their favorite target was Joe Morgan, renowned for his belief that statistics are some kind of meaningless voodoo magic. He was at it again Sunday night during Sunday Night Baseball. The topic was the Tampa Bay Rays, and how well they are playing. Orel Hershiser and Jon Miller discussed the Rays averaging 2 more runs a game than their opponents, which is amazing. Well, not to Joe, who said the most amazing thing I have ever heard, "You know me, I don't really believe in run differential".
I shared this immediately with my friend, and he said "I... don't even know how to come at that." Nor I. First there is the philosophical, spiritual aspect, but if there truly is a God, I am comfortable saying that He is not run differential. I'm with Joe there.
I think, though, that Morgan  was talking about believing in run differential being a telling stat, to which I say what the hell, dude? Let's strip down baseball to its core. In order to win, you need to score more runs than the other team. It's that simple. Runs scored, those are the runs you put across the plate. Runs against are the ones your opponent scores. Run differential is the difference between those two numbers. With that boiled down definition of baseball, scoring more runs than the other team, we have Joe Morgan saying that the valuation of that, run differential, is something he doesn't believe in. How does he determine who how think a wins, if it's not by the run differential? Dirt on the uniform? Smiles (Carlos Gomez, at last check, is still leading the league in smiles)? In Joe's world, The difference in runs scored versus runs against does not tell you anything about your ability to score runs versus the ability to prevent runs. No siree!
The Phillies won the game in question. Or the Brewers. It's hard to tell since it's so subjective.

Links of the Day 5/17/10

Just so you know, this isn't true.

Is Doug Mientkiewicz done? I hope he is one of those guys that signs a one day contract so he can retire a Twin.

I love the Dugout, and I like Sporcle, so I guess I have to link to this.

Links of the Day 5/16/10

Some late night links to take you into the beginning of next week

Is Minneapolis a livable sports city? Liveable, yes. Also unbearable.

Jay-Z plus Eminem plus a baseball booth equals painfully awkward.

I know a bunch of you have been asking for a lengthy thread based on photoshopped pictures of Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan.

Position in the Spotlight: Toronto

With the baseball playoffs, NFL season, NCAA tournament, and early baseball season predictions out of the way, it might finally be time to bring Position in the Spotlight back after a 7 month hiatus. In case you are a newer reader to the site, Ryan and I started writing alternating posts last summer about which position is the most meaningful to a city, and in-turn has the most pressure for someone assuming that role to succeed at. Some examples in the past include Baltimore Orioles shortstop, Oakland Raiders head coach, and Pittsburgh Steelers Linebacker. Click on the Position in the Spotlight link on the bottom of this post to see them all in their entirety (It only shows the last 20 out of 24 posts so far, so it begins in the April 2009 archives). I'm the one to blame for this long delay between posts for 3 reasons: 1. I got tied up doing NFL power ranks and NFL related posts for a long time. 2. I had to do Toronto next, which means I need to write about hockey. 3. I was disgusted by Ryan's dead-wrong pick for San Francisco.

So let's get into talking about Toronto. Toronto is the only Canadian city which we chose to cover for this series, because they have a team in 3 of the 4 major American sports leagues, including Canada's only baseball and basketball teams thanks to recent moves by the Grizzlies and Expos. The Toronto franchises, especially the most important one to any red-blooded Canadian, the Maple Leafs, have enjoyed a lot of success over the years, but the past 15 years or so have been rough. This 15 year span encompasses the entire history of the Raptors, but hey, Vince Carter made some nice dunks for a while. The Blue Jays started playing in 1977 and within 10 years had become a competitive team in the American League, ultimately leading to a few division titles and capping off their run of successful teams with back to back World Series Championships in 1992 and 1993. The Maple Leafs are one of the original 6 NHL teams, and have won the Stanley Cup 11 times, but are currently suffering through a 43-year drought of winning the championship with no end to it in sight any time soon. However, Toronto citizens sure love hockey, and the obvious pick for Position in the Spotlight is Toronto Maple Leafs Center.

The Maple Leafs have a long and storied history that is almost a century old, so I'm going to limit my discussion to centers on their Stanley Cup Championship teams and since 1967 to keep this shorter. The Leafs won their first Stanley Cup in 1932, and their star center was Hall of Famer Joe Primeau, who led the NHL in assists 3 times and later coached the Leafs to a Stanley Cup. Primeau was replaced by the legendary Hall of Famer Syl Apps, who played for the Leafs from 1936-1948 and led the Leafs to 3 more Stanley Cups (he was off fighting in WWII during the 1944-45 cup winning season).

While Apps was away at war, another great center rose to the occasion by the name of Ted Kennedy. No, not the enormous-headed Senator (the Leafs hate the Senators!) but the NHL Hall of Famer. Ironically, the hockey player passed away last year, 11 days before the Senator with the same name. Kennedy was part of 5 of the Maple Leafs "dynasty" championships between 1945 and 1951. Max Bentley (yet another hall of famer), who was acquired from the Blackhawks to replace the retiring Syl Apps, was another center that contributed a lot to the final 2 cups in that run.

Those players eventually aged and the Leafs spent most of the 50s rebuilding. They developed Frank Mahovlich and Bob Pulford during this time, but were missing a center to round out their offense. They got their center in Hall of Famer (notice a trend?) Dave Keon. Keon spent 16 years with the Leafs, winning 4 more Stanley Cups from 1962-1967.

Then, the Maple Leafs sunk into their drought, but they had no shortage of great centers. Darryl Sittler is another Hall of Famer that was a top scorer for the Leafs in the 70s. In a changing league where no one stays on one team forever, the Leafs found centers in the form of Ed Olczyk, Vincent Damphousse, and Doug Gilmour in the 80's and early 90's, who were just passing through town.

The Leafs acquired Mats Sundin from the Nordiques in 1994 and he starred as the center on their team all the way until 2008. With 564 career goals, he is almost surely a hall of famer as well, continuing that Maple Leaf tradition. Sundin is now retired, and the Leafs are rebuilding once again. Can center and '09-'10 leading scorer Phil Kessel be the first piece of the puzzle that leads the Maple Leafs back to the Stanley Cup? In hockey-crazy Toronto, and with all of those hall of famers, those are some big shoes to fill...

Honorable Mention
Toronto Maple Leafs Goalie - Turk Broda was the goalie for 5 Stanley Cups, and then Johnny Bower won 4 more. Combined, they pretty much dominated the goalie position for about 35 years. More recently, they had a nice few years with Felix Potvin and Curtis Joseph.
Toronto Blue Jays 1st Base or Right Field - At 1st, they had John Olerud and then Carlos Delgado. Current 1B Lyle Overbay is nothing to write home about. In RF, they had the legendary Joe Carter and a few good years from Alex Rios. In reality, the Blue Jays need to find a way to get out of the AL East so that they can be competitive again.

Cooking with Ryan: Smothered Salmon

Don't worry, this isn't going to be a recipe thing. I am teaching myself how to cook, and I think I'm just incompetent enough that it should be fun for everyone. Every time I have a break, I take the time to look up a recipe, buy necessary ingredients, then cook it on the last day of the break, which is great if it's one of those casserole type dishes, because I can take the leftovers to work. It's great.
Anyways, like I said, I figured I would tell you about it when I try a new dish. Not so much how t make it, but the story behind the cooking of it. Nobody should ever take my advice when it comes to cooking.
This week, when I went about selecting my dish for the week, I came up with something called black and white bean smothered salmon. It had a lot of fancy ingredients, like red wine vinegar and cilantro, and of course, salmon.I have never actually had salmon before, and I've never been inclined to try it, simply because I think fish is bland, and I'm not a fan of the texture (happy fishing opener!). Salmon, in particular, has been a sticky issue, because of a food poisoning incident involving my parents. Naturally, I was terrified.
I spent a lot of time this past week online looking up broiling, techniques on  broiling, how to know when your salmon is done. Seriously, whenever I had a free moment, I was online, looking up salmon. It's consumed my life, almost as much as the Twins.
The smothering was pretty much a pico de gallo, with tomatoes, green peppers, beans, onions, garlic and some oil and vinegar. I'm pretty ambivalent to tomatoes and green peppers, though the rest of it sounded pretty good. My knife skills suck, so all the veggies were cut pretty big, which continues to be a problem. Also, I learned exactly what cilantro is!
Anyways, it came down to the salmon. The recipe didn't call for a marinade or rub, but I applied salt anyways. Still worried about it having problems, I made sure to broil that fish longer than I probably needed to. I had never cooked fish before, of course. I also had no idea what broiling was until now. After the fish was done, I had the pico de gallo (that's what I'm calling it) all ready to go, threw some grapes along with it. This is how it looked:

Well, it's a few hours later, and the fish hasn't killed me. So far. I was glad the salt was added (woo hoo, personal liberties) because I found the salmon to be rather bland. I also thought my knife skills got in the way, because there was too much green pepper and giant chunks of onion. It wasn't bad, certainly, and I think I could improve it next time, but it really wasn't that great. The grapes were good though.

Links of the Day 5/15/10

So, how about those NHL playoffs, huh? Philadelphia!

Large man helping ducklings. Awwwww.

South Africa is bigger than I thought. I love geography humor.

Oh Gardy, I was so close

I was so, so, so very close to writing something good about you, and the way you manage this season, especially the way you have handled what really has been the only sticky spot in your day to day affairs, the whole Kubel-Young-Thome issue. It's becoming clear that the only people upset with Delmon now are media and fans who want him to smile and be Kirby Puckett.
But today, Gardy, you proved once again that you all to often don't think your decisions through. First you had Brian Duensing walk Mark Teixeira load the bases. And you know what? Given the circumstances, I will even say that was a good decision. Then you decided to bring in Matt Guerrier, because that's what you do. Put a righty against the right handed hitter, Alex Rodriguez. Here's the rub. Alex Rodriguez is one of the best hitters in the history of the game. That said, if slugging percentage is your favorite metric, he is better against literally no one than he is against Matt Guerrier (among pitchers he has faced at least 5 times) He has 4 home runs now in 7 plate appearances. Guerrier, in 7 plate appearances against A-Rod, has retired him once. Once. The Grand Slam was a foregone conclusion
So Gardy, you have taken two steps forward and one grand step back.

Links of the Day 5/14/10

Steve's wife sent me this, because she "immediately thought of my love for the Bieber." Thanks?

Seriously, does Montreal have nothing to do but riot all the time?


Pretty soon, Apple is going to get a superiority complex.

A brief history of Cleveland

And now, of course, the next chapter. Seriously, shouldn't something good happen to Cleveland based on statistics alone?

Links of the Day 5/13/10

Steven Strasburg certainly appears to be baseball's next big thing.

And from the opposite end of the pitching spectrum, here is Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson proving her athletic prowess does not translate to other sports.

And oh yeah, HOLY CRAP MONTREAL

Happy Delmon Young Day!

I know, I'm writing a day early (or three weeks late--sorry, all!), but it's Delmon Young Day! The Victoria Times Minnesota writers may not agree on everything, but it seems Ryan and I have agreed on Delmon Young.

I don't know that I can write more than I have, or more than Ryan has. I think it comes down to this: people expected immediate results in Delmon Young, placed Joe Mauer expectations on him, and well, he wasn't. I think the big thing is that he was a major league player before he came to the Twins, therefore, the expectation was of a polished, professional player. Carlos Gomez came to the Twins, and his childlike exuberance endeared him to the fans. When he messed up, or wasn't hitting well, he was still a child. Should we mention here that Gomez is only three months younger than Young? When Young was in his first spring training with the Twins, a writer saw him sitting with some of the Twins minor league players--A and AA players, actually. The writer mentioned to Young how nice it was to hang out with the minor league players. Young looked surprised and matter-of-factly said that these guys were more his age. And the writer realized it was true. Most guys Young's age were in the middle minor league years. (In fact, it's quite possible in the draft in June of that year, the Twins drafted rookies younger than Young. I need to get ready for a ballgame, or I'd look it up.)

And, as I've likely stated before, Young gets the short end of the deal. He's young. But we've heard so much about him, we expect him to play like an older player. He's advanced for his age, yes. But he's not a once-in-a-lifetime player like Mauer or Pujols (which really, doesn't make them literally once in a lifetime, does it?). Delmon Young will be 24 for most of this year. Do you know what Justin Morneau's batting average was the year he turned 24? It was .239, in his first full season with the Twins. Many of us were disappointed in him, but we thought he needed more time in the minors, not a complete bust. Michael Cuddyer hit .245, and still hadn't had more than 120 at-bats in any year he'd played with the Twins (the next year he'd get 386).

So, let's give Delmon a little time to grow. It's a bit premature to call him a bust. He likely won't ever be a patient hitter. His on-base-percentage won't greatly exceed his batting average. But if his batting average does well, and his slugging percentage does well, he will be a good outfielder.

Incidentally, he's not great defensively. He's getting better, but may never be great. But remember, he's really a right fielder, and the Twins have Cuddyer and his deaf left ear in right field. (The deafness is important--it would likely be harder for Cuddy to play left field, as he'd have more trouble hearing the center fielder to his left for plays in the gap.)

So, celebrate Delmon Young Day. Do it by giving the guy a little slack--not in sloppy play, but in holding him to standards of a 24-year-old--an age a guy is often getting his first full year in the majors.

Links of the Day 5/12/10

The Big Ten commissioner says no expansion offers made. Yet everyone is still talking about it.

Just a matter of time, until there is a Joe Mauer dress, I suppose.

I still claim this about everyone on my high school team, which is why I never made the team.

Alas, here is that April weather

So everyone was all worried about the weather in April and it's potential effect on outdoor baseball in Minnesota. Well, we showed them, with several warm days in the 60s and 70s, a lot of sun and only a little bit rain. It was perfect baseball weather almost all through April.
Now in May, when everyone wanted the team to start playing home games, the weather is miserable. The high was 45 today, and it's been raining almost all week. We even had a little snow earlier this week. So take that, baseball establishment. Our weather can suck in May too!
Ugh. Have fun at the game, anyone going.

Links of the Day 5/11/10

I guess if Rex can lose the weight...

Some people only watch hockey for the fights.

Nicely done, Germany. THIS is what I call fan dedication.

The latest Big Ten expansion rumors

Naturally, the best rumors on the Big Ten come from Kansas City radio stations. Better still, these rumors are best when only sort of refuted by someone who should know what's going on but clearly doesn't. This is what we had today, when said Kansas City radio station reported that the Big Ten had extended offers to 4 schools, which, of course, makes almost no sense. Joel Maturi, AD at Minnesota verbally shrugged his shoulders, confused.
Here are the 4 teams that Kansas City thinks have the offer:
Nebraska - They have already denied receiving an offer
Missouri - Probably one of the "locks" to join the conference if and when they expand. Not really reaching.
Rutgers - Finally! Someone for Northwestern to compete with! I bet Nebraska and Rutgers would be fast rivals.
Notre Dame - Pretty sure we've been down this road before.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, even if Joel Maturi is being coy (or stupid) I'm onto you, Kansas City. I see through your web of lies.

Links of the Day 5/10/10 Part the Deuce

I don't often link to boxing here at the Times, but this was just too bizarre.

I'm so very happy someone mentioned this. Alex Rodriguez was not involved in yesterday's perfect game.

In case you were wondering, here is next year's contract situation for the Twins.

Fun with computer algorithms

I was appalled today to see Nick Punto in the 2 hole with Orlando Hudson on the bench. Sure, the Twins scored 6 runs, so my point doesn't carry as much weight, but generally speaking, you want one of the best hitters on the team in that spot, to either advance the lead off man, or set the table for the big bats behind him. Nick Punto is not a good hitter, despite the two hits he had today.
Baseballmusings has an algorithm that takes the OBP and SLG of a player and compiles the most effective lineup, based on that lineup over the course of a season. I went with the longer statistical model (the other had Justin Morneau leading off). Here is the lineup it came up with, based on the post game stats:
Span
Morneau
Young
Mauer
Cuddyer
Punto (?!)\
Harris
Ramos
Casilla.

The interesting thing is, for the most part, that players are about where they should be. The two most notable changes are Delmon Young moving up and Nick Punto moving down. Perhaps this is what Ron G should have considered? But wow... Punto 6th?

Links of the Day 5/10/10

Happy Mother's day, all you blog reading mom's out there! And no, my own mother does not read this blog. Yet. More on that later, maybe.

The baseball play everyone is talking about... The Target Field Kestrel devours a moth. A delicious moth.

Oops.

And of course, Dallas Braden threw a perfect game today.

A story from Wednesday's game

So, as I mentioned, I went to the Twins game on Wednesday, and I had an amazing time, as always. After the game, I took the bus back to the Mall of America, the express route, which is an awesome secret that I'm glad not many people know about, because the lines are short and it takes just about as long to get back to the park and rides.
Anyways, just before I got on the bus, a driving rain picked up, and the sky was bleak. By the time I got to the buses, they were pretty much at the end of their day (we took a while getting out of the stadium) so not only did I get to sit, I got a window seat and was in a row to myself. I listened to music (old school Wu Tang, if you must know) and stared at the desolate urban landscape. I felt like I was in a Spike Lee movie.
Eventually, the skies cleared and we were approaching the 28th Street Station, and an intoxicated Iowan (he said he was from Iowa, I'm not just being prejudiced) started heckling the bus driver. It was a pretty quiet bus ride, and he was the only one making any noise. I could hear him over the music (which had rolled over to U2) and, annoyed, I muttered under my breath, "Shut up!"
Drunk Iowan whirls around from his spot about 4 rows up, "Did I just hear someone someone tell me to shut up?"
Oh God....
Thankfully, I wasn't the only one with that opinion, and a man of about 60 had also expressed the same  sentiment. Drunk Iowan then expressed his drunk Iowan opinion about how said 60 year old was an a-hole, and 60 Year Old said "I just think that sometimes loud mouths should.... just be quiet." Well said, 60 Year Old.
It went on for the rest of the trip. Every time there was a lull, Drunk Iowan would again express his opinion on the man being an A-hole. I really thought it was going to spill out to the bus stop. I made sure to walk slowly enough after I got off the bus to make sure things didn't escalate. I'm not a fighter, if you can believe that, but I am over 6'2 and if you don't know me, I'm sure I could be intimidating if I wanted to be. At least distracting enough that a frail 60 Year Old might have time to get away to avoid a beating for saying the same thing I was thinking.
Fortunately for me, 60 Year Old was light on his feet and got the hell out there as soon as he got off the bus, and my intended heroism was not to be. Probably for the best. I would have got my ass kicked.

Links of the Day 5/8/10

I don't care if April and March were warmer than average, snow in May is wrong. Anyone who says otherwise is an example of what is wrong with Minnesota.


South Africa is hoping the US doesn't make it to the 2nd round, for what I have to say is a pretty OK reason.

NCAA basketball team to keep an eye on for the next 5 years or so? How about Wagner, if only for their coaching staff?

And of course yesterday's rain out means a double header today, for the first time in the new stadium.

Links of the Day 5/7/10

Eric Byrnes, now playing beer league softball.

Kevin Millar signed with the Saints, and it barely makes a blip on the Minnesota news scene. This is good news.

Jamarcus Russell is out of a job.

Let's Have an Awkward MMA Discussion

In honor of ESPN debuting "MMA Live" on ESPN 2 (moving it from the internet) today (at least I think it was today), let's have an awkward mixed martial arts (MMA) discussion of our own...

For a little bit of background, in over 2000 posts in 5 1/2 years, I think this is the first MMA related post on the site. Ryan, I believe, wants nothing to do with it, but now that I live in a state (I won't say which one, because everyone hates it right now) loaded with guys that can't get enough of the UFC, I took an interest and starting following the UFC last August. I'm starting to enjoy watching it more and more, and actually feel confident enough to discuss it now here on this site. Here is what I find interesting about it:

1. It's very easy to follow, since there are probably less than 25 events a year if you add up the PPVs and live SpikeTV matches
2. There are only 5 weight classes in the UFC and 1 title for each class, unlike boxing, which has 17 weight classes and 5 titles for each (That's 85 championship belts floating around!!)
3. The actual fighting is much more exciting than boxing. The small gloves make it easier to knock someone out and the martial arts aspect adds all kinds of variety to the fights. You can watch 1 PPV and see 5 totally different style fights. The small gloves also lead to a lot of clean knockouts and a decent amount of blood spillage, which is always fun.
4. As mentioned above, the sport is still new enough that most guys have very different backgrounds. Some are martial artists of many different disciplines, while others have a strong boxing or wrestling background. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has kind of become the standard, but everyone uses it in their own way.
5. Even though it follows the pro wrestling business model rather than the boxing business model, the sport is way less shady. With Dana White, you have 1 promoter running the show making matches between a bunch of guys under contract. It just works better than trying to get 2 promoters representing a few guys to make a deal.
6. The four lower weight classes span from 146-205 lbs, which is the weight range of most average sized men. I think this helps to better relate to the fighters because they are mostly just averaged sized and in extremely good shape. I'm kind of a borderline welterweight/middleweight myself.
7. Most of the fighters seem like decent guys that respect the sport and aren't cutting pro-wrestling style interviews left and right. The ones that do are pretty much hated (Like former pro-wrestler and UFC Heavyweight Champ Brock Lesnar), but they also make it more fun because it adds some personality.

I watched the MMA Live show on ESPN 2 and to me it just felt very awkward. Maybe its strange hearing ESPN people talking about the sport because since its not as popular out east and they pay a lot of people money to analyze the dying sport of boxing, they pretty much refuse to acknowledge how popular it has become over the past few years. Sure, they talked UFC 113 some, but the show had plenty of bizarre moments. They had a TMZ-style update saying that Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson have made up after fighting last week. They interviewed the guy that runs Strikeforce (UFC's temporary rival) about how UFC is stealing his guys and how they suck at making contracts. They interviewed a guy that is currently on The Ultimate Fighter reality show that is on SpikeTV. And.....GASP....They were forced to acknowledge that a channel called Versus exists, since an upcoming UFC event is called "UFC on Versus"

So it will be interesting to see if ESPN gives in and starts to cover mixed martial arts more (or even try to show some on their station?) or if it truly is a fad like the ESPN boxing weirdos like to say, it could fade away before ESPN is forced to cover it more. Personally, I think its here to stay and will replace boxing completely within 5-10 years. Here are my predictions for the big 3 UFC 113 matches:

Matt Mitrione over Kimbo Slice - This will be a stand-up fight between 2 very inexperienced heavy hitters. Kimbo is the bigger name but the Heavyweight division in the UFC has basically turned into the "whoever is bigger and can punch harder will win" division. The former Purdue football player Mitrione is bigger and we'll see if he can punch harder. If he wins, that might end the Kimbo Slice phenomenon before it even really started, but at least he'll always be extremely scary looking.

Paul Daley over Josh Koscheck - Daley is pretty new to UFC while Koscheck is the seasoned veteran. It would be easy to tip this one in favor of experience, but to me, Koscheck seems to be pretty stationary in his spot as one of the better welterweights, while Daley is the unknown. This will be Daley's toughest fight yet, but I think he has the momentum to win this one and get a shot at GSP for the welterweight title

Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida over Mauricio Rua - This is a rematch of their epic title fight at UFC 104, which saw the undefeated Machida barely hang on to his title in a controversial decision. This time around, I think Machida will be better prepared and finish this fight before the 5 rounds are up.

So that does it. If UFC is something you would like to see us discuss more (or less) often, let us know in the comments.

I can't believe I missed this!

Paul Walsh of the Star Tribune is presenting us with the news that Craig Kilborn is coming back to the air. 5 years ago, he was pretty funny, but since then, John Stewart and Craig Ferguson who took over his previous jobs, have made those shows better and far more entertaining. The shine has come off, frankly, and now anyone (if there is anyone) who reflects on him remembers him more as arrogant and standoffish, rather than as a brilliant comedian.
But that's not the real story. No no. The real story is this:

In October, the longtime Wolves fan and family friend of head coach Kurt Rambis attended a game at Target Center.

 Wow! Thanks Mr. Walsh! That is important to know!

Links of the Day 5/6/10

I enjoyed this more than you might expect.

Here is a look at the next NFL season as it relates to opposing defenses.

In case you wanted to buy a new jersey, here is a list to help you fit in.

Target Field continues to be delightful

The experience at the Metrodome was always the same for me. Go inside, get yourself a Papa Johns mini pizza because the hot dogs were terrifying and the hamburgers induced gastrointestinal discomfort, to put it in more tasteful terms. I would get Sprite if I wasn't drinking beer, because Sprite survives as a soda by being the least offensive choice when Coke and Diet Coke are the only other available choices. The seats were hard plastic and the temperature was always cool and things were lit florescently. Every time, this is what I got.

I have now been to 2 games at the new ballpark, Target Field. In game one, I had a Tony O's Cuban Sandwich (delicious!) and a Pepsi (also delicious!). Game two, I had a bratwurst (delicious!) and another Pepsi (still delicious!). The seats in my section are cushioned with wooden backs. There are also plastic seats in some areas, and fully cushioned seats if you want to fork over that much money. The first game I went to was cool, but the sun was out, so it eventually felt warm and I got a sun burn. Today, it was down right chilly, it was cloudy and there were a few drips of rain, with some driving rain as I waited for the bus home. The fans when it was sunny were boisterous and really into it. Almost obnoxious. Today was much more mellow in terms of fanhood.

What am I trying to say? I'm trying to say that from game to game, going to the stadium is an entirely different experience at Target Field, whereas the trips to the Metrodome were staid, especially when you had been there several times. From game to game, you are going to have fun, and every game it's going to be for a different reason.

Links of the Day 5/5/10

Cinco de Mayo!




This sort of flies in the face of yesterday's post. Sort of not, though, I guess. I don't know. It's related somehow.

This is just an odd, sad story.

Wow, I didn't realize that there is still closed airspace because of the volcano. The more you know.

In which I use the word "proxy"

First and foremost, I try to keep the blog apolitical unless it directly involves with sports or the city of Victoria, Minnesota, like, say, a stadium bill or something. I feel like we're sort of getting into that territory with what is going on with the Arizona Diamondbacks. For those that don't know, there was a new immigration related law put on the books in Arizona that has rankled some people. Without getting into details or discussing either side of it, I'll jump to the point of this post. People across the nation, outside of Arizona, have decided to express their displeasure with the law by protesting at Diamondback games.
Some of the players have complained about this, and some writers have declared this to be lunacy. I disagree. We name our teams after the location in which they play, and when they go on the road, we expect them to be representative of us. This is why so many people want decent human beings on their teams, so they reflect better on the city they are playing for. This means they have to stand in, sometimes, and receive boos that are meant for the home state. It's what Team USA (in everything) does, and really, is there a difference? I assure you, Landon Donovan had as much to do with American foreign policy as Stephen Drew does with Arizona's immigration reform.
In a way, sports teams are ambassadors for the areas that they play. This must mean that they will become a proxy to the region they represent, whether you want to or not. Most people in say, Chicago, will not be going to Arizona any time soon (for this example), and they don't have a say in their politics anyways. If you feel strongly against this policy, why not protest in the face of the most notable emissary to Chicago from Arizona? It's not going to be terribly effective (protesting of any kind rarely is), but it registers your displeasure in an easily documented, public way.
As for the players who are upset by this, it all goes back to my original point. You are, whether you like it or not, a proxy for the citizens of your team's home. You know that whole thing about being about the "name on the front of the jersey" rather than the one on the back? This is one of those situations. There isn't anything to do about it, just quietly keep playing baseball.

Links of the Day 5/4/10

Hello and good evening. I was reclining on the patio all day, and am now late with the links. Let's catch up.

Tigers broadcasting great Ernie Harwell passed away today.

zzzzzzap.

And now here is something to occupy the remainder of your evening.

Relegation would be awesome

One of the worst things for a fan of a team like, say, the Lions or the Nets is having to watch your insufferable team throw games at the end of the season in order to get a top draft choice. The NBA has tried to incorporate a lottery, but it doesn't mean that New Jersey or Minnesota aren't trying to lose games at the very end of the year to increase their chances at getting the top overall pick. I remember a few seasons ago when the 49ers and Texans in the NFL had a late season game, with the loser having a better chance at the top overall pick.
This is terrible. How awesome would it be if a team actually had the chance to be kicked out of it's league if they were terrible? It would make those late season games meaningful, and our top college athletes wouldn't necessarily go to the dregs of the league. Better still, if we had leagues to relegate to, imagine how much more popular that would make, say, minor league baseball, who could get promoted to the majors after a particularly excellent season.
Alas, this is just a pipe dream. There is simply way too much money in pro sports for any self respecting owner to allow a system that could see his team relegated to a minor league. But just think if you are a Detroit front office employer. Winning promotion back to the NFL after being relegated would be the closest you would ever get to the Super Bowl!
I think this is probably the best thing about soccer. Every team has something to play for, right down to the end of the season.

Links of the Day 5/3/10

Joe Mauer is hurt, so it's a good thing we have Wilson Ramos.

Calvin Borel is good at riding horses in Kentucky.

Robinson Cano and Damaso Marte had minty fresh breath when meeting the president.

It's Sunday, it's late and I'm tired

So please enjoy this old but hilarious video of an Australian guy that looks like Alan Alda

Links of the Day 5/2/10

Carlos Zambrano, now on clearance.

This kid is better than I am at baseball.

I should have noted this eons ago. Jacques Lemaire has officially retired for good.

Possible alternative headlines the Twins might have used

"After great April, things going to hell"

"We used to be good, now we will suck"

"After things were going so well, everything goes awry"

"We think Manship is horrible, will start him anyways"

"Twins luck changing, now starting bad pitchers"

(Not that I think Manship is a bad pitcher, just that this is a poorly phrased headline)

Links of the Day 5/1/10

MAY DAY!

Transistor Radios? I am calling iPhones transistor radios from here on.

Here's some fun facts about Mr. Irrelevant, Tim Toone. He looks nothing like I imagined.

For the record, I am sure that Tim Tebow is not a Nazi.