Glen Mason left... and so did winning?!

           In the spring of 2007—shortly after being hired at the University of Minnesota—Tim Brewster made an appearance at the end of a Greek speaker we were forced to sit through each semester.  He was energetic, optimistic, and let’s be frank—he wasn’t Glen Mason.  Three thumbs up for the Brew Crew. 

            Well, we are in the midst of our third season under Mr. Brewster and I’m starting to wonder—what has he accomplished?  Where is that Rose Bowl I was promised as a naïve sophomore? 

            During the 2007 season, we went 1-11 winning against Miami of Ohio after three overtimes in the Metrodome.  A win by definition but really?  Nothing to write home to Mom about.  Of the eleven losses during that season, six of them were by a touchdown or less—two of the games by only a point.  Bowling Green, Florida Atlantic, Purdue, Ohio State, Indiana, Northwestern, North Dakota State (yikes!), Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin.  Ughhh.

            Last year, things started to look up after the Gophers went 4-0 against Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Montana State, and Florida Atlantic.  Unfortunately, the non-conference games ended and our season started to swirl down the toilet bowl.  I mean, we did secure wins against Indiana, Illinois, and Purdue—three teams we embarrassed ourselves against the year before.  But then we lost to Ohio State again.  And Northwestern again.  Michigan.  Wisconsin.  And finally, an excruciating 0-55 loss to Iowa at the Metrodome—the one thing any and every Iowa fan brings up when you talk Big Ten football.  We did make a bowl though.  Our 7-5 record was enough to send us to Tempe to get manhandled by the Kansas Jayhawks. 

            So before we even look at this season, who has Coach Brewster beaten?  Miami of Ohio, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Montana State, Florida Atlantic, Indiana, Illinois, and Purdue—five of those, teams we lost to in 2007.  That’s a record of 8-25 in two seasons.

            With four games left in this season, things could end badly for the Gophers.  So far, we’ve beaten Syracuse, Air Force, Northwestern, and Purdue—we’ve lost to California, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Ohio State, leaving us 4-4.  This Saturday, we have Michigan State at home, followed by Illinois and South Dakota State, our season ending on the road at Iowa.

            So again, I ask—what has Tim Brewster accomplished?  Three years in and we have yet to upset any team.  Don’t get me wrong, I want him to do well.  But I’m starting to feel like he’s a used car salesman, selling me on anything that will keep me on board.  My favorite excuse that I’ve heard is that he was brought in to recruit—okay, that’s great.  But why are we wasting time recruiting if our football team can’t win any big games?  To clutter campus with more maroon clad boys on mopeds?  I just don’t get it.

Oh yeah.... Purple Kool-Aid Intoxication

This was written last week and I never published it because I didn’t know how to end it.  Well, thankfully the Vikings ended it for me by losing on Sunday to the Steelers.  Icky game.  That’s all I’m going to say. 

            I’m drinking the purple kool-aid and I’ve got to say it tastes pretty good.  Call me a bandwagon fan if you want—but the Vikes are 6-0 and that’s all that matters.   To be honest, I’ve never been that excited by the NFL.  A bunch of whiny, overpaid football players who spend more time flexing their muscles and growling at each other than actually accomplishing anything on the field?  No, thank you.  I’d rather watch college football any day of the week.

            But this year the Vikings seem different.  They seem confident, in control on the field—and at times, even cute.  I know, bad adjective to use for a group of burly football players but they seem to be having a great time out there.  And Brett Favre is adorable to watch, something I never thought I would say.  His demeanor in purple has completely surprised me.  He seems likeable, even charming at times—a quality I never saw when he played with the Packers, although I wasn’t really looking for it.  He’s got spunk—I mean, who didn’t smile when he got so excited that he accidentally tackled Harvin post-touchdown against Cleveland?  Cutest thing ever!  Ranking-wise, he comes in third in the NFL behind Drew Brees and Peyton Manning.  Not a bad place for a guy who just turned 40. 

One of four teams still undefeated going into Week 7, Favre isn’t the only guy on the Vikings roster making noise on the field.  Adrian Peterson leads the NFL in rushing yards, pulling 7 touchdowns and 618 yards in six games.  Sidney Rice, who had an eye-opening game against the Ravens last Sunday, is #11 in the league with 409 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Jared Allen has 7.5 sacks, Kevin Williams with 4, and both Chad Greenway and Cedric Griffin have two interceptions.  And while these defensive statistics do not make up for the Vikings’ appalling fourth quarter nap they took against Baltimore last week, it does show what we are capable of.  It seems like everything is finally coming together—fingers crossed, of course.

This weekend, the Vikings take on the 4-2 Pittsburgh Steelers followed by a ‘welcome home’ party for Brett at Lambeau Field on Nov. 1^st.  Two intense games, one right after the other.  But they couldn’t come at a better time.  Purple fever has passed through Minnesota just as quickly as H1N1 and even the most uninterested fans—ahem, my best friend Mel—can’t help but cheer for the Vikes.....  

That's where it ended.  I couldn't finish it.  Maybe it was a sign that we were going to lose or maybe I jinxed the team.  Dang it.  Either way, I’m still drinking the purple kool-aid—one loss isn’t going to throw me off the bandwagon just yet.  Besides, everyone—including ESPN—has forgotten about Sunday’s game and has already moved on to the Vikings-Packers showdown this week.  If they can move on, so can I.   

This is for you, Julie.  Enjoy! :)

  

As long as it isn't the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl...

            The Gophers are two games away from being bowl eligible.  I was pretty optimistic at the beginning of the season that we would make one of the seven spots offered to the Big Ten.  Maybe it was the high I got from watching the Gophers play in our new stadium.  Maybe it was the potential we all saw in Adam Weber and super hero Eric Decker.  Maybe it was pure school spirit.  Whatever it was, it started to dwindle today when I started thinking about bowl season and where the Gophers stood.  Two games doesn’t seem like a lot, I get that.  But the rest of our schedule doesn’t leave much room for mistakes.

Our next two games—both on the road at Penn State and Ohio State—are going to define our season.  With both teams 5-1 at the midway point, I’m not going to hold my breath or pray for a miracle.  I get it, I should be more optimistic but it’s Penn State and Ohio State!  We have only played Penn State ten times—the last an overtime win for the Nittany Lions in 2006.  And we did beat the Buckeyes in 2000.  But they are consistently pretty damn good at football and seem to be considered two of the top teams in the Big Ten.  Penn State did surf smoothly through their first half of the season with wins against Akron, Temple, and Eastern Illinois--and even Coach Joe has addressed the fact that this is their first chance to really define themselves as a football team.  So maybe there is hope?! 

  Thankfully, there’s a chance we could pick up a win against Michigan State on Halloween—the Spartans are also 2-1 in the Big Ten, probably still reeling from Central Michigan’s major upset on Sept. 12^th.  It really could be anyone’s game.  So hypothetically speaking, if the Gophers can pull off a win against Michigan State, we’d have a record of 5-4 with three games left to play.  Illinois, South Dakota State and the dreaded Iowa. 

Who hates Iowa?  This girl.  Especially after the blow-out at the Dome last year (I promise that is the only time I will mention that).  One thing I’m confident about is the Gophers chances against Illinois.  (I’m not even going to address SDSU because if we don’t beat them, I think TCF Bank Stadium will be torn apart.)  And let’s be honest—if the Gophers score against the Hawkeyes in Iowa City, we will all be happy.  Therefore, I’m thinking—okay, I’m predicting—the Gophers end the season either 7-5 or 6-6, depending on what happens when Michigan State comes to town.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see the Gophers take as many wins as they can.  I’m just being practical.  After going just 1-11 in 2007, I’ve become very frugal with my optimism when it comes to Minnesota football.  So on Saturday—when the Gophs take on #14 Penn State—think of me watching the game with my hands half covering my eyes.  And if the guys decide to surprise us all, I will have no problem eating my words.   

First Gopher Game at the TCF Bank Stadium

Minnesota vs. Air Force

September 12th, 2009

20-13 W

bye, bye, baseball....

I'm not sure what to do with my time now that the Twins' season is really over.  For the past few weeks, my life has been consumed by the Twins.  Like Mel said, it was starting to feel like we lived at the Metrodome.  We were living on a prayer--and Dome dogs, of course.  It is funny to think that saying goodbye to the Metrodome and hello to Target Field means I may never eat a Dome dog again.  It is just that at 23 I have yet to experience my first Vikings game and I doubt the opportunity will present itself anytime soon--therefore putting an end to my love affair with Dome dogs.  Sad kinda!

With all this free-time, I've been forced to find odd little activities to keep my mind off the fact that I won't see another Twins game until spring training in March.  Organizing my sock drawer.  Cleaning out my closet.  Dusting even.  My mom would be in shock.  Obviously, it would be easy to fill my time by buying a Favre jersey and jumping on the Vikings bandwagon--hey, 5-0!!!--but I just miss baseball.  :( And all of this talk of trades and free agents isn't making it any easier.

I still haven't decided who I want to win the World Series--obviously, not the Yankees.  I don't want to give Joe or Justin any more reasons to want to leave, although the thought of them hanging out in the locker room with Derek and A-Rod is so laughable.  It would be like watching a bad reality tv show--baseball class vs. baseball trash, perhaps.

Regardless of who stays and who goes next season, I think every Twins fan can agree we need a major overhaul in our pitching options--and that Jose Mijares needs to find another source of income besides blowing games in the Major League.  I don't know if we should keep Nathan or not--he is one of the best closers in baseball.  But at some point, that will come to an end and it's just about figuring out if he's at that point or not.  Who knows?  There's still 180 days, 11 hours, and 56 minutes until the first pitch is thrown at the new stadium.  Hopefully we can figure it all out by then.




Of note-- I would like to apologize to a certain Wisconsin native who may be upset by my use of the V-word and the F-word in this article.  I hope we can still be friends... and hey, I did cheer for the Packers last week but to be honest it was only because Mr. Rodgers is so dang cute! :)

The best game(s) of my life

          The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the Golden Gophers were one field goal away from beating the Michigan Wolverines at the Big House.  October 8, 2005.  A day I’ll never forget.  Cliché, I know.  But unless you were there, you really can’t understand the magnitude of the game.  Going into October, the Gophers were 4-1, picking up their only loss against Joe Paterno and his Nittany Lions.  That game wasn’t a surprise—what was a surprise was the fact that the Gophers had managed to secure dominating wins against Tulsa, Colorado State, and Florida Atlantic before taking down the Boilermakers in double overtime at the Metrodome.  We were on fire.  So when a friend suggested we make the fourteen-hour trek out to Ann Arbor, I easily jumped on board.

            We got into the foggy college town at 4 a.m., the whole town asleep in preparation for the big day ahead.  Yes, it was homecoming weekend—another reason why I had agreed to road-trip with nine rowdy college guys.  Everyone thought I was crazy, but really, how often do you get the chance to see your college team play in one of the best stadiums in the country during its homecoming?  Exactly.  Not often.

Walking into the Big House was an experience in itself.  The narrow tunnels leading into the stadium opened up into a sea of maize and blue, the whole stadium a buzz minutes before the game started.  There was no Teflon blocking out the sun, no markings left on the field from a baseball diamond.  It was college football the way it was meant to be.  On-campus.  Outside.  Pretty much perfect.

The game started off slowly with Michigan putting up just three in the first.  Minnesota countered with their own field goal in the second quarter, only to be followed closely by another Michigan field goal and a touchdown.  Luckily, Bryan Cupito found Ernie Wheelwright in the end-zone for a Minnesota touchdown to end the second quarter.  Halftime came and went, Michigan only leading by three. 

Starting off the third quarter with a 26-yard field goal, Giannini tied up the game 13 to 13.  Unfortunately, our cheers were short lived.  Just minutes into the third quarter, Steve Breaston ran a 95-yard kick return for a Michigan touchdown.  Our mob of maroon and gold fell silent as the rest of the stadium erupted, a sigh of relief passing through every Wolverine fan. 

We would get our redemption a few minutes later with a Laurence Maroney touchdown to tie the game.  Both at 20, Michigan missed two opportunities to pull ahead with bad field goals attempts, one in the third and one in the fourth.  After forcing the punt, Minnesota’s Gary Russell magically ran 61 yards down the sideline to set Giannini up for a 30-yard field goal attempt.  I nearly fell of the bleachers, I was cheering so hard.

At some point during Minnesota’s last possession, the scoreboard clock stopped working.  I remember the ref announcing that there were just 36 seconds left, then just eight, then just one.  As the Gophers set up to kick the winning field goal, I could barely watch.  I covered my face, cautiously peeking through my fingers to watch the ball sail through the air towards the goal posts.  It was good. 

I held my breath during Michigan’s final kickoff return.  Michigan tried to charge the ball ahead but couldn’t do anything with it and the Gophers wasted no time, running straight across the field to capture the elusive Little Brown Jug.  One of the oldest trophies in Division I football, the Gophers were on a sixteen year losing streak, capturing it the last time in 1986--the year I was born.  Needless to say, it felt pretty good to watch the Michigan fans flood out of the stadium, choosing to forgo their 5^th quarter homecoming tradition after our big win. 

During our long trek home the next day, we found out the Gophers had cracked the top 25, landing proudly at number 22.  We didn’t stay in the top 25 long, losing a heartbreaking border battle to Wisconsin at the Metrodome the next weekend.  But it didn’t matter.  We had the jug and I had been there to see it. 

Up until this week, that was the most exciting, nerve-wracking game I had ever seen first hand.  Up until, of course, Tuesday night.  October 6, 2009.  Another day I will never forget.  Four years after the Gophers upset Michigan at the Big House, the Minnesota Twins took away the Division title from the Detroit Tigers at the Metrodome—winning their last 17 out of 21 games.  From the upper deck of the Metrodome, I watched breathlessly as Alexi Casilla drove in Carlos Gomez to win the game in the bottom of the 12^th. 

I didn’t seem real then and even now, after having watched the Twins lose Game 1 to the Yankees, it still hasn’t set in.  Obviously, I’d sell my first born to see the Twins beat the Yankees and advance to the American League Championship.  I know it won’t be easy—I’ve come to terms with that.  But I’ve seen what our boys can do and I, like every other Twins fan, will be behind them until the end.  So keep that champagne and those 40s on ice, guys—because no matter what, this is a season to celebrate!

Let’s go Twins!!!  

No one said it was easy...

No one said it was easy being a Twins fan.  One weekend it seems like they have it all together and then the next series starts and everything falls apart.  So when we decided to drive down to Kansas City for the Royals’ series in August, I tried as hard as I could to stay optimistic.  Please win, I repeated to myself during the day-long trek.  It wasn’t that I didn’t think the Twins could pull it off.  It was just that I knew how embarrassing it would be if they didn’t.  Lose another series to Kansas City—the team considered by even its own supporters to be the worst team in baseball!?  Unimaginable.  After their August 11^th meeting at the Dome, I—like every other Twins fan—couldn’t handle another manhandling by the Royals (you’ve got to remember that miserable 14 to 6 loss… and if you don’t, consider yourself lucky).  So with an optimistic mind—and my fingers crossed—I ventured down to the City of Fountains with two of my best friends.

For me, the trip was all about baseball.  My friends, on the other hand, had needed some coaxing before I finally persuaded them that the seven-hour drive was worth it.  We ended up sharing the road with fellow Twins fans the entire way down, Highway 35 a clutter of Minnesota license plates and Twins memorabilia.  We were even welcomed by a group of fans in our hotel lobby, no doubt enjoying a long happy hour before heading out to Kauffman for Friday night’s game.  It was like half of the state of Minnesota had descended upon Kansas City, the other half staying in the Cities to cheer on the Vikings and our newly acquired Brett Favre. 

Friday night in KC was a blur of football, baseball, and dirty martinis.  Unable to watch the Twins game at our hotel, we were forced to continuously check our Blackberrys to keep up-to-date on the score while watching the Vikings play in the hotel bar.  Needless to say, cheering for the Twins and Vikings in a bar full of Kansas City folk did not make us very popular but we didn’t care.  Four quarters of football and ten innings of baseball and both of our teams had come out victorious.  Time to celebrate!

For those of you who survived Friday night in KC, I applaud you.  For those of you who felt it on Saturday morning like we did, I commiserate.  One of Kansas City’s newest hot spots, the Power and Light District is like a two-story shopping center—only all of the stores are bars and restaurants.  To put it simply, it’s amazing.  As a college student who has survived her share of fraternity parties and spring breaks, I’ve got to say I was surprised at how Kansas City parties.  Or more so the degree that they party to.  Three a.m. bar close?  Yes, please!  The concept is great—who doesn’t love an extra hour at the bar?  It just becomes a problem when you wake up the next morning and realize that you weren’t actually hit by a bus, it just feels that way.

I have to confess that it took all of us until mid-afternoon to start functioning at a minimal pace.  But as we pulled into the parking lots around Kauffman Stadium, we couldn’t help but feel better.  It was as if God had answered our prayers, deciding to give us this one glimpse into baseball heaven.  Rows and rows of Minnesota plates, the entire lot filled with Twins fans, drinking and enjoying the sunny, 80-degree weather.  Situated next to Arrowhead Stadium, the K is named after the Royals’ founding owner Ewing Kauffman and recently went under a $250 million renovation, adding in a HD scoreboard, fountain view terraces, and two very sweet bars in the outfield.  Honestly, we never even made it to our seats!  Instead we saddled up to one of the new bars, our stools looking right out over center field.  You couldn’t have asked for better seats.

After so many years in the Metrodome, it was like staying in a five-star hotel after you had finally grown accustomed to the hard beds and stale air of an AmericInn.  And even though the Twins easily won the game, you couldn’t help but get into the game.  The stifling feeling that settles into the Metrodome was gone, replaced by a soft breeze and a gorgeous Missouri sunset--getting all of us excited for our own outdoor setting next year.  As you know, the Twins ended up sweeping the Royals during their third series and we happily went back to Minnesota, our only wounds a result of too many Miller Lites at the Fountain Bar.  It took me a full week to recover, my only regret not getting a chance to eat any BBQ while in KC.

What happened next surprised even the most devoted Twins fan.  Picking up major wins against Detroit and the White Sox meant we had two intense weeks of Minnesota rally baseball ahead of us—the Twins were not quite ready for their October 4^th departure from the Metrodome.  Three games back with ten games to go and we were still in it!  I was going to get my second chance at trying that famous Kansas City BBQ.  With the Gophers on the road at Northwestern, we were free to invade the K again.  So we happily packed up the Mazda and headed down 35, picking up every lucky penny we found along the way.

The trip was pretty much the same, only this time we were just as concerned with the Detroit-Chicago series as we were with our own.  Finding out that Chicago had won on Friday night was like getting to open up Christmas presents a day early.  I never thought I would be cheering on Ozzie Guillen, or for that matter Mr. Pierzynski.  But there I was, jumping up and down in my Steve Madden’s fist pumping the air.  A smooth 9 to 4 victory for the Twins and we were just two games back.
Well, you already know we didn’t take the sweep again.  Greinke was solid and with nothing happening offensively for us, we had to let Sunday’s game go.  It was a hard loss, especially after a great weekend of Twins baseball.  The drive home was made even worse after finding out the Tigers had also lost, another missed chance at taking away one more game. 

For anyone who remotely follows baseball, you know what happened next.  With a rained out Monday night game, the Twins split a Tuesday double-header with the Tigers, each team taking a game on Wednesday and Thursday as well.  Going into the last weekend of regulation, we were still two games back—and for one more weekend, I was a White Sox fan.  With the help of some powerful hitters, Ozzie took two games from the Tigers at Comerica Park leaving the Twins to battle Cy Young contender Zack Greinke at home.

If you believe in the power of prayer, you were on bended knee during Saturday’s game.  In the bottom of the eighth with the game tied at four, Michael Cuddyer hit a one-run homer to left field to pull the Twins ahead.  The Royals couldn’t come up with a rebuttle and the Twins ended the series tied for first in the AL Central division race, taking powerhouse Greinke down at the same time.

In about 12 hours my beloved Minnesota Twins take on the Detroit Tigers in a one game ‘winner-take-all’ series at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.  Game 163, a first in league history.  Everything seems to be working in our favor.  A sold-out Thunder Dome.  A beer-loving, fist throwing Cabrera.  A Twins-Tiger record of 11-7, giving us a home-field advantage of 7 to 2.  Scotty Baker.  Yup, things are looking really good.  But I won’t count my chickens before they hatch.  I remember what it felt like last year to watch our playoff dreams slip away in a 1-0 loss to the White Sox.  There were tears then and I’m sure there will be more tomorrow, win or lose.  It’s just been one of those years. 

Like I said, no one said being a Twins fan is easy.  And I don't see that changing in the near future.  But I think I'm okay with that.  These past two weeks have been the most nerve-wracking, exciting weeks of my life, all thanks to the Twins.  So let's go boys... it's New York or bust!

Hanging out Kauffman Stadium

Twins Win!