Faceoff

Weekend stew

FELDY: First off, a belated Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there. I spent a chilly Mother's Day indoors with Mrs. Feldy and Toddler Feldy. I think Toddler Feldy got her eating habits from me, as we both had about the same amount of spaghetti smeared on our faces and clothes. Mrs. Feldy happily received a vase full of tulips. She enjoys flowers and I've learned over the past two years that I'm better off paying a little more for the flowers that will last more than, say, 12 hours.

Now, on to the weekend that was in the sports world ...

GOLF: YOU KNOW SERGIO!?! LET'S GO SEE SERGIO!! ... Naaaaahhh. (Bonus points for any Faceoff rubes who remember that beer commercial from a few years ago. If you don't remember it, here it is, courtesy of YouTube.). On the subject of another Sergio, Garcia finally broke through with a big-time win. So The Players Championship might not officially be a "major" but it's about time to add it to the list, whoever it is that actually keeps that official list. I'd still like to see Sergio stare down Tiger on a Sunday at a major before I'll put him in the class of elite golfers such as Tiger and Phil.

BASEBALL: As I've said before, give me another month or so to decide how I feel about our Twins. I definitely like seeing them do well, but they're just a little better than average right now, which just happens to be good enough for first place in the A.L. Central. This lineup isn't loaded enough to hold up to the long haul if it has to produce 5-6 runs every night out. That might be the case if Scott Baker takes a whlle to heal and they can't find someone to fill the valuable role that Pat Neshek filled. It's sure looking like I was wrong on the Carlos Gomez front, though. I didn't think he'd be a valued contributor this season, but he's already become a threat at the top of the lineup. And I don't know that Twins fans have ever said "Wow, that was a really good walk" as much as they did after Gomez walked in the bottom of the ninth on Friday, eventually scoring the game-winning run.

NHL: How come everyone I listen to or read on the subject of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs has basically awarded the Cup to Detroit already? Have they seen Pittsburgh play? It's no knock on Detroit, but when these teams meet in the Finals, I'll take Sir Sidney and the Pens in six games.

FOOTBALL: ESPN.com has the Vikings ranked 12th in their first power poll of 2008, two spots behind the Packers. You have to believe if the Vikes had a real QB they'd be a top-8 team, maybe top-5. As Phersy put it to me this morning, though, the Vikes are in a win-win situation this season. If they get to the playoffs, the fans will be happy to be in the postseason again. If they don't, Chili gets fired. I'd much rather it be the former than the latter, but the latter isn't such a bad alternative.

Another WCHA defector: Wheeler leaving the Gophers

FELDY: With much credit to one of mine and Phersy's favorite college hockey reporters, the Star Tribune's Roman Augustoviz (if you don't know Roman, look for the guy in the press box walking around with jeans, a dress shirt and a used-car-salesman-short tie on. He's one of the nicest guys you'll meet and a good reporter), Blake Wheeler has decided to leave the University of Minnesota hockey program to pursue a professional contract.

Here's the part of the story that intrigues me the most: "Wheeler is a 2004 draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes have 30 days to sign him. After that he becomes a free agent."

Maybe I'm reading too much into this and the Coyotes have a deal waiting for him, but if that's not the case, why does Wheeler leave now with a year of college eligibility left? Is that an indictment of the Gophers coaching staff? Is it because Gophers fans were so far off the Blake Wheeler bandwagon this past season that he just can't stomach playing another minute for the team? Or does he want to play pro hockey so badly that he is willing to give up a spot in one of college hockey's most storied programs?

I heard Gophers rubes say a lot of bad things about Wheeler this past season. Far be it from me to staunchly defend anything about Gophers hockey, but in all honesty, I would have loved to have put Wheeler in a green-and-black Sioux jersey this past season to see how much he would helped my favorite squad.

He's a big dude (6-4, over 200 pounds) who can skate well. He needs to finish his chances around the net better, but anytime you have a forward with his size who can move as well as he does, he should be appreciated.

And while we're on the subject, cosider this: Wheeler is the ninth player since the end of the 2005-06 season to leave the Gophers program early. Throwing aside my Sioux-fan bias, I look at that two ways: 1) the Gophers have had some extremely high-end talent, and 2) it seems to me that the top-end talent that comes to Minnesota doesn't improve a great deal.

Speer headed to WEC

PHERSY: Well, in case you missed it, Elgin mixed martial artist Tommy Speer has been cut by the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

If you didn't already think MMA was a brutal sport, how's this ... Tommy loses two fights in a row, and he's basically kicked to the curb. But that's kind of where we're at right now with the sport. There are so many great athletes, the UFC has to represent the best of the best. Tommy was kind of thrust into the spotlight because of his performance on The Ultimate Fighter. He still needs to work on his game, but I have no doubt this kid can get back in the UFC. Tommy's such a hard worker ... something about those SE Minnesota farm kids!

Speer plans to sign soon with World Extreme Cagefighting. Here's a link to my article in today's Post-Bulletin.

In my mind, this is a great move for Tommy. He was 1-0 in the WEC before he made the cast of The Ultimate Fighter. He knocked out his opponent, Sydney Silva, so hopefully it will be more of the same for the Farm Boy. Look for him to be on an upcoming live WEC event on Versus ... I'll keep you all posted when Tommy has something finalized. The only frustrating part about all of this is that a few of the guys who Tommy beat on the reality show are still in the UFC. Jon Koppenhaver is fighting in the UFC soon, and so is George (is last name is too long and tough to spell). Tommy beat both of them on the show, yet both are still in the UFC. But Tommy was given tougher opponents, in my mind ... and these guys have been allowed to fight lower-level guys. Like I said, it's a tough sport right now. Tommy will go to the WEC and take care of business, and hopefully we'll see him in the UFC again soon.

Also, a little birdie told me that Logan Clark and Travis Wiuff both could be fighting in Japan next month. Again, when things are finalized, I'll let you know on Wiuff and Clark. Actually, it sounds like an upcoming event in Japan will have tons of Minnesota flavor on it ... I'll give you all the details, possibly next week.

And don't forget the UFC will be coming to Minnesota in August (Aug. 9 to be exact). Tickets will be super expensive, and they'll sell out very fast. As soon as I find out when tickets go on sale, I'll post it here.

The Twins are who we thought they were!!!

PHERSY: I think this week's series against the Chicago White Sox revealed exactly what the Twins are ... an inconsistent bunch with a decent amount of talent.

The inconsistency shouldn't come as a surprise, though, because this is a very young group.

On Tuesday, the Twins were lifeless. They almost were no-hit by White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd; but Mauer broke up the no-no in the ninth. (Mauer is killing the ball right now ... which is fun to see).

On Wednesday, the Twins went off, scoring 13 runs in a blowout win. Young Carlos Gomez hit for the cycle, and Twins fans were buzzing.

On Thursday, the Twins crashed back to earth, and the White Sox earned a 6-2 win. The bats were silent again for the Twins, with the exception of Mauer.

Thursday's loss dropped the Twins to 17-16. Is that a good record? Nope, it's average. But I think for this group, they're doing just fine. With the rest of the division struggling, Twins fans will probably be a little more excited about their team's chances for much of the season.

What are your thoughts Feldy? I know you're down on the club because of the offseason moves, but are you starting to come around or no?

* * *

FELDY: I'm down on the club in the sense that they didn't make themselves better in the offseason, and you can't use the argument that they're trying to build a team for the opening of the new stadium because the GM said they added players to try to win this year.

As for how they're playing right now, they're exceeding my expectations right now. I figured they'd be about five games below .500 at this point, but they've received contributions in spurts from their starting pitchers, relief pitchers and their lineup. Carlos Gomez has been a pleasant surprise so far and, as Phersy said, Mauer is raking right now.

Still, I'm holding off judgement until at least early June. If they're still hovering around first place in a month, I might start to believe. As of now, though, this division still looks to strong for the Twins reach the playoffs.

My stimulus check gets painted away

FELDY: Thank you, U.S. gub'ment for the economic stimulus check. Thank you city of Rochester for taking it. The sidewalk in front of Casa de Feldy was painted a bright shade of pink today, so the good news is we'll have a new sidewalk paid for by the end of the summer.

In all honesty, that's fine with me. We're having the driveway re-paved and we were going to fix some of the sidewalk anyway. The only part that bugs me is the timing. Some people can't afford to fill their car with gas right now, yet the City is demanding sidewalks be fixed at the cost of hundreds of dollars for some people.

Tell me, Phersy, am I just being a crusty old bugger about this or is their some validity to my argument?

•••

PHERSY: Crusty old bugger.

I really thought about ending the post there, but ... I got the same treatment Feldy. The City came by and painted my sidewalks last summer. I was lazy, so I sent the form back telling them to go ahead and fix it. But they never did. So my sidewalk is still orange.

Anyway, I got a double hit ... my garbage disposal went out this week, too, so I had to have a plumber come put a new one in. Bye, bye stimulus check!

Oh well. I guess that's how things go. It's sort of like Seinfeld said ... everything seems to even itself out for me.

AHL Playoffs: Stuart, Wolves in a battle

FELDY: Last we checked in on Rochester's Colin Stuart and his Chicago Wolves in the AHL West Division Finals series, the Wolves were up 2-0 in the series against Rockford. How quickly the series has flipped. When the series shifted to Rockford's home ice, it won two in a row to tie the series 2-2.

Game 5 is Friday in Chicago, with Game 6 back in Rockford on Sunday. If a Game 7 is needed, it's set for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Chicago. Stuart didn't have a point in either game as the Wolves lost 3-1 in Game 3 and 3-0 in Game 4.

Check out the AHL playoffs Web site here for more information.

IN THE ECHL, the season is over for Rochester native Jeff Jakaitis, Red Wing native Reid Cashman and the Columbia (SC) Inferno, who fought back from a 2-0 series deficit against the South Carolina Stingrays to tie the series 2-2, but the Stingrays won the deciding fifth game to end the series and advance to the ECHL's Kelly Cup Finals.

Cashman, by the way, finished tied for 12th in playoff scoring in the ECHL with 3-9--12. And just for Phersy, former MSU, Mankato standout Travis Morin is second in ECHL playoff scoring with 10-5--15. Morin plays for the Stingrays and he'll get a chance to add to his points total in the Kelly Cup Finals.

Wednesday news and notes

PHERSY: There's plenty going on out there. Here are a few short notes ...

Here's an interesting note from the Strib's Michael Rand, who writes a blog called Randball (Rand also happens to be Tbone's boss ... just thought I'd point that out). Rand put together a team of players who are currently participating in the NBA playoffs ... and all of the players are former Timberwolves. Here's his list:

Center: Theo Ratliff, Detroit. It was a great run here. The knees feel better during wins.

Power forward: Kevin Garnett, Boston. He’s pretty good.

Small forward: Wally Szczerbiak, Cleveland: A candidate to be punched in the face at any point by KG — though that doesn’t necessarily differentiate things from their days as teammates.

Shooting guard: Maurice Evans, Orlando: Lest you forget, Maurice spent 10 games with the Wolves in 2001-02 after being signed as an undrafted free agent. We didn’t need him; Orlando sure doesn’t mind having him as a starting guard.

Point guard: Chauncey Billups, Detroit: In Minnesota, the greatest debate we ever had was whether his nickname should be Chancy or Launchy. With the Pistons, he’s Mr. Clutch and one of the best point guards in the league.

Bench: Sam Cassell, Boston; Joe Smith, Cleveland. Scoring and hustle, small and big, off the pine. A perfect combo. Quick, sign them to an illegal deal they will squawk about.

Coach: Flip Saunders, Detroit.

Put five scrubs around these guys to fill out the bench and you have a 50-win team.

Amazing.

•••

In the world of the Purple, the Vikings have signed former Miami QB Kyle Wright to a free-agent contract. It's highly unlikely Wright will make the team, because that would mean the Vikings likely would have to cut both Brooks Bollinger and John David Booty. Plus, Wright isn't very good. He was at the very best average during his time at Miami. It's just a note, but I suppose competition is a good thing among the Vikings QB corps.

•••

The Twins bandwagon hit a bump in the road last night, falling to the White Sox 7-1. The Twins were almost no-hit by Sox younster Gavin Floyd, but Mauer broke up the no-no in the ninth. I found it funny the other day when everyone and their brother was getting excited about the Twins, because they were in first place. Dude, the Twins were in first place at 16-14. Yeah, two games above .500, and people were going nuts ... there was no stopping them! Now, think about this ... if the Twins were 16-14 and were five games behind Detroit or Cleveland, would people have been so excited? Nope. We wouldn't even be talking about it. But that first place thing got people going. I must admit, the Twins are doing better than I expected. The starting pitching has been great, while the bullpen (other than Nathan) has struggled. Before the season started, I said this is a .500 team. I'm sticking with that.

•••

Hmmm, what else is going on? NBA and NHL playoffs. KG's squad looked OK last night. They shut down LeBron, so that was huge. But somehow the Cavs were in that game, despite LeBron's 10 turnovers. I'm not a big NBA guy, but I will turn into one if the Wolves can win the lottery in two weeks. Or second in the lottery would be just fine, too. As for the NHL playoffs, nice time for a nearly weeklong break, right in the middle of the playoffs! Lord Stanley is rolling over in his grave. It's no wonder people are still playing hockey in June! The playoff break ends on Thursday, and I'm ready for it! I love playoff puck!

 

Stupid criminals: Only a Sconnie would be this stupid

FELDY: Two stupid Sconnies, A bb gun, a $1 bill, a case of beer and an 8-year-old girl. This can't be going i a good direction, right?

A brilliant 28-year-old Sheboygan woman is facing up to three years in prison on felony child abuse charges after shooting her 8-year-old daughter in the leg with a bb gun to win a $1 bet with her boyfriend. Not surprisingly, they were close to polishing off a case of beer when the bet was made. And, as any proud Sconnie would, the woman didn't want to be embarrassed, so she fired the bb gun into her daughter's leg, then told her daughter not to say anything because it was a "family thing."

Well, hopefully she can tell her daughter that sitting in prison is a "family thing," too.

The incident was discovered when a guidance counselor or teacher saw a bruise on the girl's leg and reported it to police. As if the story wasn't bizarre enough, the mother told police that her daughter was lying to get her in trouble. That lie should get her another year in the lockup if there's any justice.

But, it's Sconnie, so the lady will probably just get a slap on the wrist and a 12-pack for the drive home.

Kangas named Gophers' MVP

FELDY: How's this for a nice story: Back in October, Alex Kangas wasn't even sure he'd see action against the top teams in the WCHA as a freshman goalie for the University of Minnesota. But when junior Jeff Frazee floundered, Kangas stepped in and made it impossible for coach Don Lucia to take him out of the lineup.

For that, Kangas received the team MVP award at the men's hockey postseason banquet over the weekend.

He is just the third freshman in the storied history of Gophers hockey to win the award. The others: Murray McLachlan (1967-68) and Thomas Vanek (2002-03).

Kangas was also named the Gophers' playoff MVP and rookie of the year.

Recruiting verbally-committed players

FELDY: Here is an interesting article from today's Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, which is about college hockey coaches contiuing to recruit players who have already verbally committed.

Gophers coach Don Lucia is one who has pushed heavily for this to be allowed to happen. As of now, college hockey coaches have a "gentlemen's agreement" in place, that they will not go after players who have already verballed (weird that that's become a commonly-used non-word, eh?). So, it's well within the NCAA's rules that Lucia -- or any other college coach -- could right now make phone calls and send letters to someone like, say, former St. Thomas Academy goalie Aaron Crandall, who has verbally committed to Wisconsin (Crandall is playing with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL).

What do you think, Faceoff rubes? Phersy, how about your thoughts?

My initial reaction to this is that it's kind of cheap for coaches to target players who have already verbally committed to other schools.

But, on the same hand, perhaps a rule like this would curb the number of 14, 15- and 16-year-olds who are committing to Division I programs a full three or four years before they're ready to play at that level. Think of how often you changed your minds about things when you were a teenager. These young kids who commit should have a right to change their minds up until they actually sign a letter of intent.

If getting rid of this "gentlemen's agreement" would help stop or limit the verbals coming from 14-year-olds, I'm all for it.