As we continue to starve for sports leagues to return, the way NASCAR is going, there may be no one to return the way the drivers are behaving. My last sports blog post was about NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace and him losing a major sponsor because of getting mad during an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race and quitting the race after he was spun out by fellow NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer. This week's talker from the iRacing NASCAR Series is because of the choices made by NASCAR driver Kyle Larson.
Kyle Larson has been one of NASCAR's most popular drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Series for a handful of years and was continuing to improve as the years went on. Kyle Larson came on to NASCAR's main stage for a handful of races in the 2013 season and ended up being named the 2014 Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year. This is Kyle Larson's eighth season in NASCAR's top series and has raced a total of 223 races. Out of those 223 races, Larson has won six races, has 101 top ten finishes, and has won the pole position for a race eight times. Kyle Larson was one of NASCAR's rising stars and was also set to be the top free agent after the 2020 season. That is, until the choice he made.
On Sunday, April 12th, Kyle Larson made the choice to drop the n-word during the simulated race that he was participating in. Apparently, Larson claimed he thought that he was only being heard by his team of fellow drivers, but everyone heard it. That is when the chips began to fall and fall fast. After the incident, three of Kyle Larson's major sponsors decided to end their sponsorship deals with his team. Those sponsors were Capital One Bank, McDonald's and Clover. Target was once a major sponsor of Chip Ganassi Racing and Kyle Larson, but ended that relationship as Target decided to reallocate sponsor dollars to the sport of soccer. One day after those three current major sponsors ended their relationship with Kyle Larson, so did Chip Ganassi Racing. Kyle Larson took to Twitter on Tuesday to apologize for his choices, and I am one that watched that apology. While Kyle Larson said the right things in his apology, to me, it felt very scripted. It had a feel of his agent saying that he needed to get out there and do some damage control. I also feel like the apology was made because he was caught for the choice he made instead of actually feeling like he was in the wrong. That is just my opinion, others may see it differently.
In the end, as time heals things, Kyle Larson may be fine and may end up back in the sport again. Usually in these cases, a team that is desperate enough, will roll the dice and take a chance. Unfortunately, an athlete recovering from a disaster will bring a team more press coverage than they would otherwise get and that is too bad. I do think that Kyle being a free agent now will cost him millions of dollars instead of doing the right thing and becoming a free agent at the end of the 2020 season. However, I don't feel bad for the guy. Before this choice was made, I liked what Kyle Larson was bringing to the race track. I felt like he was the real deal and he did continue to get better year after year. It was refreshing to see a guy like Kyle Larson start winning races instead of the typical four or five guys that were always in the winners circle. It was good for the sport and now that has changed to a scar for the sport. I am glad to see his sponsors and his team owner hold him accountable for his choices. I am a big believer in accountability. I think accountability is healthy. He has made one public apology for an inexcusable choice. The n-word is an inexcusable choice and something that shouldn't be tolerated period. Now he has said the right thing, once, after his choice, now it is time for him to show it through actions to have a chance to even consider the possibility of forgiveness not only from Kyle Larson racing fans, but also just racing and sports fans in general. I don't wish ill will on the guy, but I don't think he deserves a second chance in the future for his inexcusable choice.
Be Kind To Everyone.
Monday, April 20, 2020
Friday, April 10, 2020
Bubba Wallace Loses Even While NASCAR Season Is Suspended
NASCAR is a sport in the United States that is clearly more popular in some parts of the country than others. NASCAR hit a peak in popularity after Dale Earnhardt's unfortunate death after the 2001 Daytona 500. The stock car racing series continued to be popular due to the likes of drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick. As those drivers are now heading into retirement, with the exception of Kevin Harvick, NASCAR is struggling to get fans in the stands and get new fans into the sport. The upper midwest is an area where NASCAR may be the toughest area to draw new fans as the closest Monster Energy NASCAR Series tracks are located in Chicago and Indianapolis. However, the fact of the matter still remains that NASCAR is still one of the major pro sports leagues in the country.
With COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus, taking control of the world and cancelling all sports leagues currently, there was a way that NASCAR fans were still getting a taste of new competition. While the NASCAR season was postponed, they decided to have an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series that had actual NASCAR drivers in competition on NASCAR simulators. Last weekend's race, which was actually aired on a national television sports channel, took place at a virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. Bubba Wallace was involved in an on track incident with fellow racer Clint Bowyer. Bowyer pushed Wallace into the wall sending his car to the pits. Immediately after the incident, Bubba Wallace quit the race and told viewers to "have a good one" and this is why he "doesn't take this shit seriously".
Then the situation moved over to social media on Twitter. It is also where the situation got out of hand. Bubba Wallace posted on Twitter... "Bahaha I'm dying at my mentions right now... I ruined so many peoples day by quitting... a video game. Damn quarantine life is rough". He followed that quote up with three laughing with tears emojis. One of Bubba Wallace's major sponsors Blu-Emu replied to Bubba Wallace's tweet and said, "GTK (Good To Know) where you stand. Bye bye Bubba. We're interested in drivers, not quitters." Bubba Wallace apparently didn't take the response seriously because he posted again on Twitter showing his original post and added, "I mean #RAGEQUIT". Wallace again followed this quote up with two more laughing with tears emojis and again Blu-Emu replied. This time Blu-Emu replied with a gif of Donald Trump saying You're Fired. The joke was apparently over.
This was legit. Blu-Emu pulled their sponsorship from Bubba Wallace and his race team. I think it is an appropriate decision as Bubba Wallace was not being a good role model. What made this a big deal is that the simulator views were on national television, the driver view inside the car showed a Blu-Emu sponsor banner on the screen. Now, I am surprised that a sponsor pulled their support because of a video simulated race, because there have been many real NASCAR incidents that have had poor choices made by drivers, and their sponsorships may have been in danger, but not pulled. Those situations were also more severe than this incident with Bubba Wallace. However, it is the company's decision what to do their money, and really it was nice to see Blu-Emu have standards and stick to them.
I tried to do quick research on how much Blu Emu's sponsorship was worth and that information was not public. What I do know is that Blu-Emu was on the hood of Bubba Wallace's race car for several races, and that means the sponsorship was potentially worth millions of dollars. Blu-Emu was also a major sponsor for the spring Martinsville race. So, this spur of the moment decision by Bubba Wallace, a decision fueled by rage and anger and poor sportsmanship, could cost him a racing career when the NASCAR season resumes if his other sponsors aren't able to fill the gap financially, or if his other sponsors joins Blu-Emu with their decision. Time will tell. Be kind to everyone.
With COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus, taking control of the world and cancelling all sports leagues currently, there was a way that NASCAR fans were still getting a taste of new competition. While the NASCAR season was postponed, they decided to have an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series that had actual NASCAR drivers in competition on NASCAR simulators. Last weekend's race, which was actually aired on a national television sports channel, took place at a virtual Bristol Motor Speedway. Bubba Wallace was involved in an on track incident with fellow racer Clint Bowyer. Bowyer pushed Wallace into the wall sending his car to the pits. Immediately after the incident, Bubba Wallace quit the race and told viewers to "have a good one" and this is why he "doesn't take this shit seriously".
Then the situation moved over to social media on Twitter. It is also where the situation got out of hand. Bubba Wallace posted on Twitter... "Bahaha I'm dying at my mentions right now... I ruined so many peoples day by quitting... a video game. Damn quarantine life is rough". He followed that quote up with three laughing with tears emojis. One of Bubba Wallace's major sponsors Blu-Emu replied to Bubba Wallace's tweet and said, "GTK (Good To Know) where you stand. Bye bye Bubba. We're interested in drivers, not quitters." Bubba Wallace apparently didn't take the response seriously because he posted again on Twitter showing his original post and added, "I mean #RAGEQUIT". Wallace again followed this quote up with two more laughing with tears emojis and again Blu-Emu replied. This time Blu-Emu replied with a gif of Donald Trump saying You're Fired. The joke was apparently over.
This was legit. Blu-Emu pulled their sponsorship from Bubba Wallace and his race team. I think it is an appropriate decision as Bubba Wallace was not being a good role model. What made this a big deal is that the simulator views were on national television, the driver view inside the car showed a Blu-Emu sponsor banner on the screen. Now, I am surprised that a sponsor pulled their support because of a video simulated race, because there have been many real NASCAR incidents that have had poor choices made by drivers, and their sponsorships may have been in danger, but not pulled. Those situations were also more severe than this incident with Bubba Wallace. However, it is the company's decision what to do their money, and really it was nice to see Blu-Emu have standards and stick to them.
I tried to do quick research on how much Blu Emu's sponsorship was worth and that information was not public. What I do know is that Blu-Emu was on the hood of Bubba Wallace's race car for several races, and that means the sponsorship was potentially worth millions of dollars. Blu-Emu was also a major sponsor for the spring Martinsville race. So, this spur of the moment decision by Bubba Wallace, a decision fueled by rage and anger and poor sportsmanship, could cost him a racing career when the NASCAR season resumes if his other sponsors aren't able to fill the gap financially, or if his other sponsors joins Blu-Emu with their decision. Time will tell. Be kind to everyone.
Monday, April 6, 2020
Diggs Drama, Vikings End It With Trade
Ever since the 2019 NFL Season was in full swing, Stefon Diggs kept playing mind games with the front office of the Minnesota Vikings, his teammates, and most importantly the fans. Stefon Diggs accomplished this mind game playing by posting encrypted tweets on Twitter. Always hinting at something, and keeping the public guessing, he thought he had the upper hand in the situation, which is just foolish.
After Stefon Diggs was the 146th pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, he signed a four year contract for 2.5 million dollars along with a guaranteed signing bonus of $227,000. In that moment, he was probably feeling proud and grateful that he had made it. Just because Stefon Diggs made the big dance, didn't mean it was a guarantee that he was going to stay there. 81.1% of the players drafted in the fifth round makes their NFL team in year one. Fast forward four years later to year five in the league and only 16.2% of the players are still in the NFL. So for Stefon Diggs, he had the talent and he became a star. In fact, on July 31st, 2018, Stefon Diggs signed a five year contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings for 72 million dollars. That is a life altering amount of money. Just a year after signing that big contract, it seemed like that grateful feeling that Stefon Diggs once maybe showed, certainly was gone.
Stefon Diggs became extremely upset when the 2019 season was a slow start for him. Adam Thielen was exploding as a superstar in his own regard, and that resulted in less targets for Diggs in the passing department early in the season. Stefon Diggs ended up being a non injured player on the injury report in the first half of the 2019 season and also missed some mandatory practices. Stefon Diggs was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars and was also deactivated for one game due to his poor choice, and that is what it was. Anybody can sugarcoat anything, but Stefon Diggs was acting like a spoiled brat that was making a lot of money and someone who also was a member of a winning football team.
A few weeks ago, the Minnesota Vikings grew tired of the drama. After the fiasco of missing practices, yelling at his starting quarterback, and playing mind games on social media, the Vikings were given that final push to pull the plug on the situation and they traded Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills. Now, the situation with a player not being happy on their professional sports team is nothing new and something that most, if not all, teams in pro sports has experienced at one time or another. A lot of times when these types of situations occur, the team that the player is currently on usually has to cut their loses and just move on. What makes this situation with Stefon Diggs and the Minnesota Vikings different is that the Minnesota Vikings most definitely won with this trade.
On March 20, 2020, the Minnesota Vikings traded Stefon Diggs and a 2020 seventh round draft pick for four draft picks. The Vikings received a first round, a fifth round, and sixth round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and also a fourth round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Now these players that the Vikings are receiving in the draft are not guaranteed NFL players, but to get potentially four players for a guy who was a fifth round draft pick just five years ago, is a win in my book. This trade also helped the Minnesota Vikings free up some room with their salary cap situation. The Minnesota Vikings were cash strapped by being so close to the cap, they were not able to be very active in this spring's free agency period. This trade helps that. The other thing to remember here is that Rick Spielman, the Minnesota Vikings General Manager, is pretty crafty and creative on draft day. Spielman could be collecting draft picks to maybe do some draft day trading to either move up or down in the NFL Draft to maximize the opportunities that NFL Draft can bring to a team. This trade, whether it gives the Vikings some more money or more players in the draft, should help them address the much needed attention that the offensive line needs bring to the table.
So Stefon Diggs is gone and is a Buffalo Bill. I wish no ill will on Stefon Diggs. He has the talent to be a megastar in the NFL. His stock rose greatly with walk-off Minneapolis Miracle catch against the New Orleans Saints as time expired in the 2017 NFL Playoffs. From a fan of the game, Stefon Diggs let his ego grow to an unmanageable level and needed a change of scenery. The Buffalo Bills by the way, have the craziest fans in the league in my opinion. They go out and buy out all of the six foot tables in town and go WWE in their tailgating and pregame, check it out on You Tube. Back to Diggs, it will be interesting to see how Stefon Diggs responds if the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen, either doesn't get Diggs the ball or keeps missing him when he targets him. Does the change of scenery mean that Diggs is going to reevaluate himself? I hope he does. He could be a Hall of Famer some day if he can figure it out. I just wish Stefon Diggs would take a few moments and realize that he is rich and he financially probably doesn't have to worry for the rest of his life because of playing a game for a living. The dream that most have and don't actually get to experience. For him, it came true. It would be refreshing if he would just admit that he let himself get out of control, and that he now has grounded himself and has refocused on being a great player and an even better role model. Right now, with COVID-19 costing millions of people their jobs and their livelihood, he is lucky to be in the position he is in.
After Stefon Diggs was the 146th pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, he signed a four year contract for 2.5 million dollars along with a guaranteed signing bonus of $227,000. In that moment, he was probably feeling proud and grateful that he had made it. Just because Stefon Diggs made the big dance, didn't mean it was a guarantee that he was going to stay there. 81.1% of the players drafted in the fifth round makes their NFL team in year one. Fast forward four years later to year five in the league and only 16.2% of the players are still in the NFL. So for Stefon Diggs, he had the talent and he became a star. In fact, on July 31st, 2018, Stefon Diggs signed a five year contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings for 72 million dollars. That is a life altering amount of money. Just a year after signing that big contract, it seemed like that grateful feeling that Stefon Diggs once maybe showed, certainly was gone.
Stefon Diggs became extremely upset when the 2019 season was a slow start for him. Adam Thielen was exploding as a superstar in his own regard, and that resulted in less targets for Diggs in the passing department early in the season. Stefon Diggs ended up being a non injured player on the injury report in the first half of the 2019 season and also missed some mandatory practices. Stefon Diggs was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars and was also deactivated for one game due to his poor choice, and that is what it was. Anybody can sugarcoat anything, but Stefon Diggs was acting like a spoiled brat that was making a lot of money and someone who also was a member of a winning football team.
A few weeks ago, the Minnesota Vikings grew tired of the drama. After the fiasco of missing practices, yelling at his starting quarterback, and playing mind games on social media, the Vikings were given that final push to pull the plug on the situation and they traded Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills. Now, the situation with a player not being happy on their professional sports team is nothing new and something that most, if not all, teams in pro sports has experienced at one time or another. A lot of times when these types of situations occur, the team that the player is currently on usually has to cut their loses and just move on. What makes this situation with Stefon Diggs and the Minnesota Vikings different is that the Minnesota Vikings most definitely won with this trade.
On March 20, 2020, the Minnesota Vikings traded Stefon Diggs and a 2020 seventh round draft pick for four draft picks. The Vikings received a first round, a fifth round, and sixth round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and also a fourth round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Now these players that the Vikings are receiving in the draft are not guaranteed NFL players, but to get potentially four players for a guy who was a fifth round draft pick just five years ago, is a win in my book. This trade also helped the Minnesota Vikings free up some room with their salary cap situation. The Minnesota Vikings were cash strapped by being so close to the cap, they were not able to be very active in this spring's free agency period. This trade helps that. The other thing to remember here is that Rick Spielman, the Minnesota Vikings General Manager, is pretty crafty and creative on draft day. Spielman could be collecting draft picks to maybe do some draft day trading to either move up or down in the NFL Draft to maximize the opportunities that NFL Draft can bring to a team. This trade, whether it gives the Vikings some more money or more players in the draft, should help them address the much needed attention that the offensive line needs bring to the table.
So Stefon Diggs is gone and is a Buffalo Bill. I wish no ill will on Stefon Diggs. He has the talent to be a megastar in the NFL. His stock rose greatly with walk-off Minneapolis Miracle catch against the New Orleans Saints as time expired in the 2017 NFL Playoffs. From a fan of the game, Stefon Diggs let his ego grow to an unmanageable level and needed a change of scenery. The Buffalo Bills by the way, have the craziest fans in the league in my opinion. They go out and buy out all of the six foot tables in town and go WWE in their tailgating and pregame, check it out on You Tube. Back to Diggs, it will be interesting to see how Stefon Diggs responds if the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, Josh Allen, either doesn't get Diggs the ball or keeps missing him when he targets him. Does the change of scenery mean that Diggs is going to reevaluate himself? I hope he does. He could be a Hall of Famer some day if he can figure it out. I just wish Stefon Diggs would take a few moments and realize that he is rich and he financially probably doesn't have to worry for the rest of his life because of playing a game for a living. The dream that most have and don't actually get to experience. For him, it came true. It would be refreshing if he would just admit that he let himself get out of control, and that he now has grounded himself and has refocused on being a great player and an even better role model. Right now, with COVID-19 costing millions of people their jobs and their livelihood, he is lucky to be in the position he is in.
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Sports... Gone... Missed... Come Back Soon!
October 1st, 2016 is when I lasted posted a blog from my sports department of blogging, called Minnesota Sports Scene. In these times of COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus, sports has been suddenly ripped away from all of our homes. The reason is a logical one, as people can't be near each other due to the aggressive nature of this virus. It is shutting down the world. It makes sense, but us sports fans were simply not mentally prepared for this to happen. Just over three weeks ago when the NBA season was suspended, which felt like three months ago, we didn't know what can of worms had just been opened. In fact, many felt like it was an overreaction or jumping too many steps at once. After the NBA had made that decision, the next 24 hours were even more dramatic, and the dominos began to fall quickly.
For me, sports was one of my escapes. I have had periods of a life that has had some dramatic moments, and I work a job that can be stressful and intense, and that is why I needed sports. I have always gone back and forth as to what my favorite sport is, but in the end, it has always been baseball. It's kind of funny that baseball and the Minnesota Twins are my favorite, because they may be the most dramatic sports team we have in Minnesota as they have been a rollercoaster ride over the past few decades.
So right now, without any sports happening, we have to depend on those sports memories. I remember when I was 10 years old, and in the fifth grade in 1987, when the Minnesota Twins won their first World Series and became World Champions. What a strange but fun feeling it was. Being in fifth grade, I had a bedtime probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 8:00 p.m. In my bedroom, I had a 13 inch black and white television set that you had to manually turn the knob to the one of 13 clicks for options of channels. The options for television coming off the old TV antenna was channel 2 (PBS), Channel 4 (WCCO), Channel 5 (KSTP), Channel 9 (KMSP - not FOX at the time), and Channel 11 (KARE). That was it. Thank god network television was the only option and thank god they carried the World Series on network television. Kids today will never have any idea what it was like. Due to the fact that it was the World Series, and on national television, the games started late, usually between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Of course the advertising was still just as important back then, and the games were usually a minimum of four hours instead of the traditional three hours or less. However, as a 10 year old kid, it was great! I was allowed to watch the games, and wow was I hooked! Staying up until midnight with every emotion throughout every inning hitting me, watching the likes of Kirby Puckett, Dan Gladden, Tom Brunansky, Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Greg Gagne, Tim Laudner, and more. The 1987 World Series, of course, went seven games with the final game having the Minnesota Twins winning the World Series and becoming World Champions at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. I remember it like it was yesterday. As a side note, my mom had her name drawn at work for one ticket to Game 6, a game that she saw Kent Hrbek hit a Grand Slam. That homer blew the room off the Metrodome, and it just gave me chills writing about it right now. Frankie "Sweet Music" Viola was the Game Seven Winning Pitcher and also the Series MVP. Jeff Reardon closed out the seventh game with a save. I will never forget it. I also was lucky enough to experience the championship parade that took place in downtown Minneapolis. What a celebration! I will never forget the 1987 World Series and the pride I had in being a Minnesota Twins fan.
Over the past couple of decades, the Minnesota Twins have tugged at every heart of Twins fans. While they went on to win their second World Series just four years later in 1991, there have also been some really low points where it was a hard to be a Twins fan. However, a lesson that I learned when I was young is that you never give up on your team. As hard as it sometimes can be, and for as fun as it can make my summer, the Minnesota Twins will always be my team.
I am going to start posting on my Minnesota Sports Scene blog more often once again as I have more time on my hands with the current state of our society and our Stay In Place Executive Order in Minnesota. I need to talk sports, I love sports and I really don't want the baseball season to be canceled. Tonight, I watched WWE's newest installment of WrestleMania. I have always been a pro wrestling fan as well, and that has been another one of my escapes like I had mentioned earlier. I will get more into that in another blog post in the near future. For now... stay safe, stay healthy, and hopefully life will get back to normal sooner than later and we can once again support our favorite teams.
For me, sports was one of my escapes. I have had periods of a life that has had some dramatic moments, and I work a job that can be stressful and intense, and that is why I needed sports. I have always gone back and forth as to what my favorite sport is, but in the end, it has always been baseball. It's kind of funny that baseball and the Minnesota Twins are my favorite, because they may be the most dramatic sports team we have in Minnesota as they have been a rollercoaster ride over the past few decades.
So right now, without any sports happening, we have to depend on those sports memories. I remember when I was 10 years old, and in the fifth grade in 1987, when the Minnesota Twins won their first World Series and became World Champions. What a strange but fun feeling it was. Being in fifth grade, I had a bedtime probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 8:00 p.m. In my bedroom, I had a 13 inch black and white television set that you had to manually turn the knob to the one of 13 clicks for options of channels. The options for television coming off the old TV antenna was channel 2 (PBS), Channel 4 (WCCO), Channel 5 (KSTP), Channel 9 (KMSP - not FOX at the time), and Channel 11 (KARE). That was it. Thank god network television was the only option and thank god they carried the World Series on network television. Kids today will never have any idea what it was like. Due to the fact that it was the World Series, and on national television, the games started late, usually between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Of course the advertising was still just as important back then, and the games were usually a minimum of four hours instead of the traditional three hours or less. However, as a 10 year old kid, it was great! I was allowed to watch the games, and wow was I hooked! Staying up until midnight with every emotion throughout every inning hitting me, watching the likes of Kirby Puckett, Dan Gladden, Tom Brunansky, Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Greg Gagne, Tim Laudner, and more. The 1987 World Series, of course, went seven games with the final game having the Minnesota Twins winning the World Series and becoming World Champions at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. I remember it like it was yesterday. As a side note, my mom had her name drawn at work for one ticket to Game 6, a game that she saw Kent Hrbek hit a Grand Slam. That homer blew the room off the Metrodome, and it just gave me chills writing about it right now. Frankie "Sweet Music" Viola was the Game Seven Winning Pitcher and also the Series MVP. Jeff Reardon closed out the seventh game with a save. I will never forget it. I also was lucky enough to experience the championship parade that took place in downtown Minneapolis. What a celebration! I will never forget the 1987 World Series and the pride I had in being a Minnesota Twins fan.
Over the past couple of decades, the Minnesota Twins have tugged at every heart of Twins fans. While they went on to win their second World Series just four years later in 1991, there have also been some really low points where it was a hard to be a Twins fan. However, a lesson that I learned when I was young is that you never give up on your team. As hard as it sometimes can be, and for as fun as it can make my summer, the Minnesota Twins will always be my team.
I am going to start posting on my Minnesota Sports Scene blog more often once again as I have more time on my hands with the current state of our society and our Stay In Place Executive Order in Minnesota. I need to talk sports, I love sports and I really don't want the baseball season to be canceled. Tonight, I watched WWE's newest installment of WrestleMania. I have always been a pro wrestling fan as well, and that has been another one of my escapes like I had mentioned earlier. I will get more into that in another blog post in the near future. For now... stay safe, stay healthy, and hopefully life will get back to normal sooner than later and we can once again support our favorite teams.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
The Sad, Sad Minnesota Twins
As a kid growing up, my grandpa taught me how to be a sports fan, especially of the Minnesota Twins. I was lucky that when I was a kid, my team was the best in baseball by winning the World Series in 1987, and again in 1991. I grew up knowing that my team was competitive.
My team had one of the best executives in baseball in Andy McPhail, and legend-in-the-making manager in Tom Kelly. The team took risks with young players that turned out to be stars. Players like Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Tom Brunansky, and Kirby Puckett. Those teams were special. The fact that a small market baseball team won it all twice in four years, it was great for the state of Minnesota, and great for the sport of baseball.
The unfortunate part for me, is that my team is always a rollercoaster. That small market label has always haunted the Minnesota Twins and their fans alike. Sometimes, it hurt because it wasn't a major market with the fullest exposure, but what hurt the most was the fact that sometimes it was used as an excuse.
To go with exciting times of the Minnesota Twins, like the 15 game winning streak during that magical 1991 season, there have been many, and I mean many times, where being a fan not only hurt, but it stung. The mid-1990s teams were painfully awful and it was hard to watch. Year after year, it as the same story. The only positive was that you could go to a game for dirt cheap. And by that, I mean like $1.00 per ticket cheap. Unfortunately you had to watch the game on indoor/outdoor green carpet that was on top of concrete.
In 2001, Tom Kelly decided to step down as manager and Ron Gardenhire took the helm. In the few years after, the magic appeared to be back as another crop of young talent appeared to be ready for a run. Players like Torii Hunter, Corey Koskie, and Doug Mientkiewicz were taking the Minnesota Twins to the spotlight once again.
The team with these players took the Twins to multiple division titles, but unfortunately no championships. To the fans of Minnesota, this was acceptable because our team was competitive again, and they had a chance.
The last four years of Ron Gardenhire's tenure as manager resulted in four straight seasons of 90+ losses and it indicated a time for change. Ron Gardenhire was fired after the 2014 season, and Paul Molitor took the helm as the new leader. In Paul Molitor's first season as manager in 2015, there was a spark that caused many fans to think that maybe there was a chance to be competitive once again. The team was chasing a wild card playoff spot all the way until the final week of the regular season. Unfortunately, they came up just short in their attempt to make the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Coming into the 2016 season, the hope was high. The Twins had young talent that could once again bring the Twins to the top. Players like Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, and Eduardo Nunez. The Twins had a good Spring Training in 2016, which continued to cause fans and sportscasters alike predicting a possible division title run for the Twins. Then the regular season started.
The start of the season was bad. It was real bad. The pitching was weak, the offense was invisible, and the defense was playing like a junior high C squad team just learning the game. It wasn't a slow start that would be overcome either. Starting pitchers like Kyle Gibson and Ervin Santana were not pitching that bad, it is just that they not only didn't have run support, but they struggled to get even any hit support. This season is just a couple of games from being completed and the Twins are at 103 losses. They are just three games away from tying their worst season in franchise history. How the Twins can go from competing for a wild card spot a year ago to complete disaster is beyond me. What the Twins do once the season is over is anyone's guess. With perhaps the most beautiful ballpark in all of Major League Baseball, they have to find a solution quick! This team can not afford to rebuild AGAIN, because we have been rebuilding for six years already. The fans are disappearing by the hundreds.
I love my team. I will be a Minnesota Twins fan for life. I just want this fixed now. Us fans deserve some spending to fix this quick.
My team had one of the best executives in baseball in Andy McPhail, and legend-in-the-making manager in Tom Kelly. The team took risks with young players that turned out to be stars. Players like Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Tom Brunansky, and Kirby Puckett. Those teams were special. The fact that a small market baseball team won it all twice in four years, it was great for the state of Minnesota, and great for the sport of baseball.
The unfortunate part for me, is that my team is always a rollercoaster. That small market label has always haunted the Minnesota Twins and their fans alike. Sometimes, it hurt because it wasn't a major market with the fullest exposure, but what hurt the most was the fact that sometimes it was used as an excuse.
To go with exciting times of the Minnesota Twins, like the 15 game winning streak during that magical 1991 season, there have been many, and I mean many times, where being a fan not only hurt, but it stung. The mid-1990s teams were painfully awful and it was hard to watch. Year after year, it as the same story. The only positive was that you could go to a game for dirt cheap. And by that, I mean like $1.00 per ticket cheap. Unfortunately you had to watch the game on indoor/outdoor green carpet that was on top of concrete.
In 2001, Tom Kelly decided to step down as manager and Ron Gardenhire took the helm. In the few years after, the magic appeared to be back as another crop of young talent appeared to be ready for a run. Players like Torii Hunter, Corey Koskie, and Doug Mientkiewicz were taking the Minnesota Twins to the spotlight once again.
The team with these players took the Twins to multiple division titles, but unfortunately no championships. To the fans of Minnesota, this was acceptable because our team was competitive again, and they had a chance.
The last four years of Ron Gardenhire's tenure as manager resulted in four straight seasons of 90+ losses and it indicated a time for change. Ron Gardenhire was fired after the 2014 season, and Paul Molitor took the helm as the new leader. In Paul Molitor's first season as manager in 2015, there was a spark that caused many fans to think that maybe there was a chance to be competitive once again. The team was chasing a wild card playoff spot all the way until the final week of the regular season. Unfortunately, they came up just short in their attempt to make the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Coming into the 2016 season, the hope was high. The Twins had young talent that could once again bring the Twins to the top. Players like Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, and Eduardo Nunez. The Twins had a good Spring Training in 2016, which continued to cause fans and sportscasters alike predicting a possible division title run for the Twins. Then the regular season started.
The start of the season was bad. It was real bad. The pitching was weak, the offense was invisible, and the defense was playing like a junior high C squad team just learning the game. It wasn't a slow start that would be overcome either. Starting pitchers like Kyle Gibson and Ervin Santana were not pitching that bad, it is just that they not only didn't have run support, but they struggled to get even any hit support. This season is just a couple of games from being completed and the Twins are at 103 losses. They are just three games away from tying their worst season in franchise history. How the Twins can go from competing for a wild card spot a year ago to complete disaster is beyond me. What the Twins do once the season is over is anyone's guess. With perhaps the most beautiful ballpark in all of Major League Baseball, they have to find a solution quick! This team can not afford to rebuild AGAIN, because we have been rebuilding for six years already. The fans are disappearing by the hundreds.
I love my team. I will be a Minnesota Twins fan for life. I just want this fixed now. Us fans deserve some spending to fix this quick.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
For One Night...Everyone Should've Been A Kobe Bryant Fan
Kobe Bryant has been in the NBA for the past 20 years, all with the Los Angeles Lakers. I have never been a Los Angeles Lakers fan, probably because I played the homer card on the deal and was in denial that the Lakers were once a Minneapolis team, even though I wasn't alive when that all went down. So, that didn't make much sense. Then, once Kobe Bryant came into the league and started to shine, I felt he was so entitled that he wasn't seeing the world around him and appreciating the situation he was given. When he came into the league, I was 18 years old. I was immature and quick to judge, and I didn't like how he carried himself. I had labeled a fellow young man as "cocky". And then there was the Colorado incident that probably tested him the greatest during his 20 year car. Being accused of rape is a serious deal, and for most, it would be a career killer. You usually get the endorsements stripped and then the pressure usually puts the career away. That did not happen to Kobe Bryant and for years I was angry that he survived that situation professionally. After all, the timing of the events of how that Colorado situation played out, it had appeared that a professional athlete, with a lot of money, was able to buy himself out of a jam. At that time, being the young man that I was, I believed that. I wasn't alone, that feeling existed nationwide in a lot of people, and by many who were much older than I was. So after those alleged rape accusations were dropped and his wife benefited with a brand new four million dollar ring, I was officially not a Kobe Bryant fan and swore that I never would be.
Fast forward to Wednesday night, April 13th. On this night was the final night of the regular season in the NBA, it was the final game of Kobe Bryant's 20th season, and most importantly...the final game of Kobe Bryant's career. You basically had to be living in a box to not know that Kobe's final game was coming this week. I will be honest, I didn't know it was tonight. It was not one of those events that I put on my calendar as a must watch, because earlier tonight, I still was not a Kobe Bryant fan. I didn't like how the Shaq-Kobe relationship panned out after that dynasty had ended. Despite that falling out between two competitive mega stars of the NBA really being about publicity and two passionate players having passion for the game, I still wasn't giving Kobe any slack. So, I noticed on Twitter tonight that Kobe's point total for his final game was climbing quickly. It caught my attention.
I turned on the Lakers game for the fourth quarter. I wanted to see the people sitting court side who were paying $27,000 for a court side seat, and then I realized that half of Hollywood was occupying those seats and it made sense and I should've known. Despite that, I heard a stat right after turning on the game that no player had scored 35 plus points in their final career game. That intrigued me. So I tuned in. At the point I turned on the game, the Lakers were losing by something like 12 points. It kind seemed like it was a shoot around in a meaningless game. I really have to give Kobe Bryant's teammates a lot of credit. There are a lot of young guys on that team and the were totally on board with making Kobe's final game memorable. They knew on every offensive possession of the fourth quarter, they had to get the ball to Kobe. They did exactly that and Kobe didn't disappoint.
When the game sounded the final buzzer, Kobe Bryant had finished the night with 60 points. That's crazy. Kobe Bryant has always made amazing and unbelievable shots, which before tonight, always pissed me off and also jealous since 2004 (the last time the Minnesota Timberwolves made the playoffs). To go along with the fact that Kobe Bryant just scored 60 points in the final game of his career where no other player even scored 35 points in their final game, Kobe's 60 also was the most points scored by any NBA player in the league this year, and it came from a guy who is retiring.
So after 20 years, and for tonight, I was a big Kobe Bryant fan. What he did in his final game is amazing and I am glad that I tuned in for the final quarter of that game. To come out on the final game of your career, with thousands in attendance and millions watching on television and the thousands that some paid to watch, the performance that Kobe put out on the floor was a fitting ending to a wonderful career. It also should've been an event appreciated by the true sports fan no matter what your personal feelings of Kobe Bryant are. I am glad the game was about his contributions to the game and that they left the personal stuff aside. Kobe Bryant made the Lakers organization and the NBA proud tonight. The performance was unbelievable and I am totally glad I tuned into the fourth quarter and watched.
#mambaday
Fast forward to Wednesday night, April 13th. On this night was the final night of the regular season in the NBA, it was the final game of Kobe Bryant's 20th season, and most importantly...the final game of Kobe Bryant's career. You basically had to be living in a box to not know that Kobe's final game was coming this week. I will be honest, I didn't know it was tonight. It was not one of those events that I put on my calendar as a must watch, because earlier tonight, I still was not a Kobe Bryant fan. I didn't like how the Shaq-Kobe relationship panned out after that dynasty had ended. Despite that falling out between two competitive mega stars of the NBA really being about publicity and two passionate players having passion for the game, I still wasn't giving Kobe any slack. So, I noticed on Twitter tonight that Kobe's point total for his final game was climbing quickly. It caught my attention.
I turned on the Lakers game for the fourth quarter. I wanted to see the people sitting court side who were paying $27,000 for a court side seat, and then I realized that half of Hollywood was occupying those seats and it made sense and I should've known. Despite that, I heard a stat right after turning on the game that no player had scored 35 plus points in their final career game. That intrigued me. So I tuned in. At the point I turned on the game, the Lakers were losing by something like 12 points. It kind seemed like it was a shoot around in a meaningless game. I really have to give Kobe Bryant's teammates a lot of credit. There are a lot of young guys on that team and the were totally on board with making Kobe's final game memorable. They knew on every offensive possession of the fourth quarter, they had to get the ball to Kobe. They did exactly that and Kobe didn't disappoint.
When the game sounded the final buzzer, Kobe Bryant had finished the night with 60 points. That's crazy. Kobe Bryant has always made amazing and unbelievable shots, which before tonight, always pissed me off and also jealous since 2004 (the last time the Minnesota Timberwolves made the playoffs). To go along with the fact that Kobe Bryant just scored 60 points in the final game of his career where no other player even scored 35 points in their final game, Kobe's 60 also was the most points scored by any NBA player in the league this year, and it came from a guy who is retiring.
So after 20 years, and for tonight, I was a big Kobe Bryant fan. What he did in his final game is amazing and I am glad that I tuned in for the final quarter of that game. To come out on the final game of your career, with thousands in attendance and millions watching on television and the thousands that some paid to watch, the performance that Kobe put out on the floor was a fitting ending to a wonderful career. It also should've been an event appreciated by the true sports fan no matter what your personal feelings of Kobe Bryant are. I am glad the game was about his contributions to the game and that they left the personal stuff aside. Kobe Bryant made the Lakers organization and the NBA proud tonight. The performance was unbelievable and I am totally glad I tuned into the fourth quarter and watched.
#mambaday
Thursday, March 24, 2016
The Minnesota Wild Love The Pressure...Apparently
The Minnesota Wild are in a familiar position again this year as they are fighting for the final wild card spot in the NHL Playoffs. Most teams, cities, and fans would be more than happy with the fact that their team is competing every year in a professional sports league. However, the scene is a little different in Minnesota. You see, ever since the Minnesota Wild opened their checkbooks and signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter each to 13 year contracts worth nearly $100 million dollars each, everyone was bought in. Even ESPN, said after the signings, that the Wild were instant contenders and favorites for the NHL Finals for the Stanley Cup Championship Trophy. The Minnesota Wild went out and continued to build the team by bringing pieces like Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek, and Goalie Devin Dubnyk. Everything was looking right.
For sports fans in Minnesota, the actions being taken by the Minnesota Wild were refreshing. There finally was an owner who wanted to compete, and he wanted to compete now. The refreshing part is that the owner was willing to open the checkbook and spend. As much as I like to find a great deal and be thrifty, there is no place to be thrifty in professional sports. Especially when the majority of professional sports team owners are each worth billions. So here we go, or so we thought.
While the Minnesota Wild have made the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, it is usually as a wild card team, which is not what the fans, the team, and the owner had in mind. The major problem with this is that when you come into the playoffs as a low seed, then your first round is massively challenging by having to face a number one or two seed, which is usually a division champ or the best team in the conference. Now the one team that the Minnesota Wild is tired of facing in the playoffs is the rival Chicago Blackhawks. The past two seasons have ended with the Chicago Blackhawks knocking the Minnesota Wild out of the playoffs. Two years ago, it was in the first round. Last year, it was in the second round, which hurt worse. And then there is this year...
The 2016 version of the Minnesota Wild has looked similar to the 2014 and 2015 versions of the team, which is loaded with talent, appears to have good chemistry, but there is something definitely wrong. First of all, just after the first of the year of 2016, the Minnesota Wild went into a massive slump. They were losing many games consecutively, and not even really being competitive. There have been massive losing slumps that plagued the previous two seasons, which contributed to the poor seeding for the playoffs. It happened again this year, and the owner had enough. This year's losing streak was long, the power play was almost nonexistent, and it was time for a change. Mike Yeo, the Wild's Head Coach for the past several seasons, was let go. The inability to score a goal on a team that was so loaded with talent was unacceptable, as it should've been. So, a new coach was brought in. After new Head Coach John Torchetti was brought in, the Minnesota Wild had scored 5 goals or more in their first three games with Torchetti at the helm. Not only was the scoring up, but so was the scoring on the power play. The coaching change came at a time where it was do or die as far as the season goes, because the Wild had just dropped out of a playoff spot.
So here we are today, Thursday, March 24th and the Minnesota Wild just won a game tonight against the Calgary Flames at home at the XCEL Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota by a score of 6-2. This kept the Minnesota Wild in the eighth spot in the playoff race, which is the second and final wild card spot. It is unfortunate that the Wild are going to either have to settle for the eighth playoff spot, or go home as they only have seven games remaining in the regular season. The positive to this situation is that usually a team can get hot in the playoffs and make a run for the championship. This, however, in hockey is very difficult.
There will be many questions to probably answer when the offseason rolls around. What do we do with the new interim Head Coach that was brought in? What happens to all the assistant coaches that have been around for years? Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville have had very disappointing seasons, what do we do with them? How much longer do we go with the Parise and Suter leadership as they get older and we pay them more and more each season? My hope... is that we just run the table and bring the Stanley Cup to Minnesota so all of these questions will be very simple to answer. Buckle up, the next two weeks of the remainder of the regular season promise to be intense, but also exciting.
#gowild
For sports fans in Minnesota, the actions being taken by the Minnesota Wild were refreshing. There finally was an owner who wanted to compete, and he wanted to compete now. The refreshing part is that the owner was willing to open the checkbook and spend. As much as I like to find a great deal and be thrifty, there is no place to be thrifty in professional sports. Especially when the majority of professional sports team owners are each worth billions. So here we go, or so we thought.
While the Minnesota Wild have made the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, it is usually as a wild card team, which is not what the fans, the team, and the owner had in mind. The major problem with this is that when you come into the playoffs as a low seed, then your first round is massively challenging by having to face a number one or two seed, which is usually a division champ or the best team in the conference. Now the one team that the Minnesota Wild is tired of facing in the playoffs is the rival Chicago Blackhawks. The past two seasons have ended with the Chicago Blackhawks knocking the Minnesota Wild out of the playoffs. Two years ago, it was in the first round. Last year, it was in the second round, which hurt worse. And then there is this year...
The 2016 version of the Minnesota Wild has looked similar to the 2014 and 2015 versions of the team, which is loaded with talent, appears to have good chemistry, but there is something definitely wrong. First of all, just after the first of the year of 2016, the Minnesota Wild went into a massive slump. They were losing many games consecutively, and not even really being competitive. There have been massive losing slumps that plagued the previous two seasons, which contributed to the poor seeding for the playoffs. It happened again this year, and the owner had enough. This year's losing streak was long, the power play was almost nonexistent, and it was time for a change. Mike Yeo, the Wild's Head Coach for the past several seasons, was let go. The inability to score a goal on a team that was so loaded with talent was unacceptable, as it should've been. So, a new coach was brought in. After new Head Coach John Torchetti was brought in, the Minnesota Wild had scored 5 goals or more in their first three games with Torchetti at the helm. Not only was the scoring up, but so was the scoring on the power play. The coaching change came at a time where it was do or die as far as the season goes, because the Wild had just dropped out of a playoff spot.
So here we are today, Thursday, March 24th and the Minnesota Wild just won a game tonight against the Calgary Flames at home at the XCEL Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota by a score of 6-2. This kept the Minnesota Wild in the eighth spot in the playoff race, which is the second and final wild card spot. It is unfortunate that the Wild are going to either have to settle for the eighth playoff spot, or go home as they only have seven games remaining in the regular season. The positive to this situation is that usually a team can get hot in the playoffs and make a run for the championship. This, however, in hockey is very difficult.
There will be many questions to probably answer when the offseason rolls around. What do we do with the new interim Head Coach that was brought in? What happens to all the assistant coaches that have been around for years? Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville have had very disappointing seasons, what do we do with them? How much longer do we go with the Parise and Suter leadership as they get older and we pay them more and more each season? My hope... is that we just run the table and bring the Stanley Cup to Minnesota so all of these questions will be very simple to answer. Buckle up, the next two weeks of the remainder of the regular season promise to be intense, but also exciting.
#gowild
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)