Who was the better Carl P?

Carl Pavano is the Minnesota Twins team ace right now, and a notable player that helped their run to the AL Central last year. Is he the best Carl P the Twins have had in the organization?

Pros: Late 2009, 2010 seasons. Mustache

Cons: This season. Any time when celan shaven.

Carl Pohlad was the long time owner of the Twins, buying the team from Clark Griffith in the 80s. Is HE the best Carl P the Twins have had in the organization?

Pros: 2 World Series championships in his ownership, Target Field began construction, Tom Kelly

Cons: The 90s, tried to contract the team, Ron Gardenhire

What do you think? Which Carl P do you prefer?

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?

If you were the GM

Now that the Twins season is over, it's time to think about the offseason. Over the next month or so, I'll be running a few opinions on what Bill Smith should do this offseason (or Kenny Williams, if Steve is so inclined). Who will I be getting these opinions from? Well, I've asked some of the more preeminent Twins bloggers if they would chip in, and hopefully Beth will add her two cents (I certainly will opine on the subject... constantly), but really, I want to hear from you, the reader as well. Up in the top corner is an e-mail address that you should drop me a line at, let me know what you think, and I'll include as many of your opinions on the matter as possible. If you need any help on the matter, check out the Twins Geek cheat sheet or MLB Trade Rumors offseason outlook. Look forward to hearing from you!

Audience Participation: Best sports day ever?

The best sports days of the year, for me, are always the first day of the NCAA tournament, baseball's opening day and the NFL draft. There's so much to take in, so much spectacle. It's fantastic. Days like today, though, stand to be the "best sports day ever". The Twins are winning on national television (and Matt Vasgergian just called Joe Mauer "the Chairman"), and this afternoon, the Wild have a shot at evening their series against Colorado. End to end, a pretty good day. I mean, surely that's not going to be a enough to win the all time best day prize. Unfortunately, the candidates are few and far between. But what about you? What's your best sports day?

Audience Participation: What surprises await in Spring?

My goodness, we haven't had an AP in some time, have we? Well, let's honor the change in season for a bit, moving from Winter to Spring. Spring is the season of surprises in the sports world. For the most part, there are fewer in the winter or summer for numerous reasons. In the winter, the only playoffs in town are the football playoffs, and rarely are those games surprising, thanks to the overall talent that a team needs to have, and its less requent that there are upsets. Additionally, two sports, hockey and basketball are in the doldrums of the heart of their season. In the summer, there is one game in town, and it is in the middle of it's dog days.
But ah the Spring. There are ALWAYS surprises in the Spring. Will some small east coast school make a run in the tournament this year? Will we see a couple of teams make a run in the NHL playoffs and end up with a Bruins-Sharks matchup, or something equally as nuts? Will the Pirates start off the season 14-3? Who knows?! Well, I'm sure you have an opinion on the matter, right?
Personally, my anticipated surprise of the Spring will be Craig Monroe. I think all he has to do is learn a little more plate patience, and I think he'll end up being a good contributor for the Twins. What's your surprise?

Audience Participation: Do you think Clemens did it?

Usually in circumstances such as the one Roger Clemens finds himself in, I tend to believe most of the accusations against athletes, because I know how competitive they tend to be. They are pissed off if they fail, whether that failure be on the field or in some sort of social setting. Do I believe that an athlete could use steroids? Yes, and I figure that more use than any of us want to believe. Do I think athletes get into fights, commit sexual assaults or are involved any any number of lewd or lascivious acts? Yes. I'm sure there are a fair number of people looking to earn a quick buck off of athletes, but there is probably an element of truth to what is said about them as well.
That being said, the whole Roger Clemens situation seems very strange. Clemens is at the end of his career at this point with nothing left to gain. So why is he denying his steroid use so vehemently? The fact that frankly, it doesn't matter whether or not he did steroids at this point (he had a HOF career before his alleged use began), combined with the seediness of the whole situation gives me pause. There is an inkling in the back of my mind that says, you know what, I think it's possible that Roger Clemens is telling the truth. You?
By the way, Barry Bonds totally did 'roids.

Audience Participation: What was your last heartbreak?

The Johan Santana thing has people around here a little blue. It's not so much that he was traded away, which is something Minnesotans have dealt with in the past. Think Matt Lawton, who was a huge component to the Twins success when they began to turn it around. Then there was the whole deadline on getting traded, the insistence that he be dealt that soured people a bit on the whole situation, but we've seen people demand a trade, like Chuck Knoblauch. But Knobby was kind of a bastard, so it doesn't compare. Santana had an outgoing and likable personality, so to see him twist the arm like he did with the Twins definitely hurts. The situation dragged on so long, however, that most of us are glad that it's over than sad that he's gone. If I cared about the NBA in the least, the Kevin Garnett deal would likely sting a lot more.
But that really isn't my most recent, painful heartbreak. No, my heartbreak goes back to this play:
I don't want to talk about that play ever again. What was your most recent heartbreak? Spill some tears in the comments.

Audience Participation: Worst trip ever?

Not saying that Monroe or Montgomery are necessarily going to be bad trips, but surely, they wouldn't be trips a normal person would want to take. Everyone has taken a bad trip. My bad trips always involve Wisconsin. Whether its a blown tire or a dropped muffler or a failing engine, something always goes wrong. Not only car trouble, but I've driven through ice storms, blizzards and even a stray tornado warning. Nothing ever goes right in Wisconsin.
And hey, if you want to make this sports related, the Giants are in for a pretty crappy weekend in Wisconsin as well. Screw you Wisconsin.

Anyways, what was your worst trip ever? What was the worst trip you think a sports team has made? Let me know in the comments.

Audience Participation: Who is your favorite analyst?

This past week, a tornado rumbled through ESPN NFL analyst Chris Mortenson, I got to thinking about analysts, both studio and booth. A sentimental favorite of mine is Bert Blyleven, given his being the color guy for my favorite team, the Twins. In all honesty though? Darren Pang. It's gotta be the Panger, becasue he does such a good job pandering to both knowledgeable fans and those new to the game. Naturally, he's a hockey analyst so not enough people have heard of him and his brilliance. I think he's great. What about you kids?

Audience Participation: What's your favorite condiment?

The other day, I was enjoying some chop suey and it occurred to me that soy sauce might be one of my favorite condiments, and how come nobody ever brings it up in condiment related discussions (they happen more than you think)? Well, the question bugged me all week, to the point that I wanted to pose it to the world, even in the midst of the NFL playoffs. What, America, is your favorite condiment?
For the record, shortly after thinking about why soy sauce is so often misrepresented in the world of condiment debate, I remembered another condiment that I absolutely love. Ranch dressing. I put that on anything. Sandwiches, pizza crusts, potato wedges, and it will probably end up on my autopsy (cause of death? delicious, delicious Hidden Valley Ranch). That's probably why soy sauce doesn't get noticed as much. It's really a one trick pony. It goes on rice based dishes almost exclusively (although have you tried it on boiled carrots? To die for.) whereas others, like my ranch, are more versatile. For what it's worth, though I wouldn't put ranch on rice.
Actually....

Audience Participation: What's your favorite blog?

In honor of Busted Coverage's blog tournament (Go MLB Trade Rumors!), I figure we had better do our best to give some other blogs accolades. What blogs do you read? Which is your absolute favorite? I have several daily reads, most of which are on the side bar there. I'm not going to wimp out and say that the Times is my favorite blog, and it's OK if I lose some friends by picking one of the excellent blogs out there that I read every day over the other ones. No. Instead, I'm going say that it's..... Um... Look! Kirk Cameron!

What about you? What's your legitimate favorite blog out there? Feel free to link in the comments.

Audience Participation: Did you see that?

Ever since the Wild's Marian Gaborik scored 5 goals against the New York Rangers, I've been a stunned, blathering idiot, which is different because I'm usually not stunned. I can't stop talking about the game to anyone who will listen. And you know what? It wasn't even the 5 goals that have me talking. It's Brent Burns destroying both Peter Prucha and Fedor Tyutin of the Rangers.


So what about you? What's the last thing you saw in a sporting event that had you talking to anyone who would listen?

Audience Participation: Who's going to jail?

This worked so smashingly the last time, we're going to keep doing it. This weeks question surrounds all the controversy swirling around sports and the particularly choice characters funneled into the Twin Cities area lately, from Sebastian Telfair to Delmon Young. Vikings safety Dwight Smith was arrested last night with some pot on him. Four gophers football players are in the midst of a rape case. Additionally, 5 former Twins were named in baseball's Mitchell Report (and yes, this is the only mention I'll have of said report. Frankly, I have nothing to add to the hubbub) Clearly, things aren't the crime free utopia we've come to know and love here in Minneapolis, and it's just a matter of time before someone does something so egregious that it will require jail time. The question is, which Minnesota related athlete will it be (those Gophers, Dominic Jones, Alex Daniels, E.J. Jones and Keith Massey do not count).
You've got Sebastian Telfair, who has a lengthy criminal record and was linked to the shooting of rapper Faboulous. Then there is the famous bat chucker Delmon Young, who clearly has some issues with his temper. Don't forget that the Wild have on their roster one of 2 players ever suspended for steroid use in Sean Hill. All good candidates, but my money is on Bryant McKinnie. He never seems to be in the right place and has seen trouble on a couple of different occasions already, including the boat fiasco of a couple years ago. Something about a young man suddenly coming into wealth while being surrounded by 54 people in the same situation just breeds trouble.

So who do you say? Who's going to the slammer? Anyonw? Sorry this is such a downer, but with the Vick thing, the Mitchell Report and now Dwight Smith, I figure this is the least depressing way to look at things. Oh well. Happy weekend!

Audience Participation: what team have you always hated?

I think I'm going to start up a new little feature here on Saturdays, particularly for those days when I have nothing else to particularly talk about. Here's how it will work. You'll click over to the Times and see that "Audience Participation" is the first two words of the title of the post. It's convenient, because that's what I'm calling this little feature. So, you'll see the "Audience Participation" and then you'll see a question after it. This is where you come in. You go to the comments and you answer it! I'll start in the body of the post, and then you take over from there. Sound cool? I hope so, because I've got nothing better to write about today.
So, what team do I hate, and have I always hated (thats the key, the always hated. Nobody hated the Patriots until recently)? I've always hated the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team. I've been pretty indifferent to their football team, but even before I went to Purdue, I just couldn't stand the basketball team. I didn't like the coach, Bobby Knight, I didn't like them because they played the Gophers and seemingly always beat them (I miss Jim Shikenjanski), and I didn't like their logo, which I thought looked like a pitchfork, and being a good Catholic Boy, I did not approve. What about you? What team (in any sport) have you always, always hated?