Light Rain / 55° F
2nd blog back and feeling fine
Published 1:41pm Sunday, April 29, 2012Hello again everybody! (Hi, Dr. Nick). Two blogs in less than four days. I am also impressing myself.
Well lets get back to chronicling my return from the deep south (past Marshall, MN). I left back in October as my wife got a teaching job. I basically took some time off down there to rest from football and the daily journal. A week after my arrival I was offered to coach wrestling at the school, but was quickly thrust into the head jr. high basketball coach job.
Being a football coach, it was difficult not to yell at the players like I did my boys at the CC but it worked out really well. After playing a grueling non-stop schedule (jk), we ended up getting the number 2 seed in the 8th grade conference tournament. This was out of 12 teams, so I have to say that I was impressed with my boys and myself. It didn’t go the way I had planned as we were bounced from the playoffs in the first game by a team we played for the fourth time (yep, fourth time) and we settled for a fifth place finish and a consolation championship.
During the season, I had started to go to Graduate School at Southwest Minnesota State University in pursuit of a Coaching and Teaching degree. Classes were fun, but the 40 minute drive to campus three days a week was not great.
I took a job at a BP gas station and was done within the month due to my current job here at the journal. Great people there, but a lot of drama for such a small town.
Anyway, lets get to the sports because I know you guys are dying to talk about those.
In the NFL draft, Rick Spielman didn’t screw up the draft. Congrats. I think that even though most people (ESPN) gave us a B rating for our draft class, I would have to give it an A. First, because we got the player we needed in Matt Kalil and secondly because we got help in the secondary and at wide receiver. The draft day trades with Cleveland and Baltimore worked out amazingly and I couldn’t be happier.
Rick Spielman also made me chuckle about stating that the Vikings have reached their quota on Notre Dame football players after drafting safety Harrison Smith and cornerback Robert Blanton. I don’t mind this as I am an Irish fan but after seeing the draft it looks like our new General Manager did a good job.
I am quickly going to highlight the fact that neither the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Wild are in the playoffs so they will be looked over in this blog.
The Minnesota Twins have shown no signs of life this year, not because of their bats, but their pitching is atrocious. Losing games to Kansas City is not what we expect after being able to beat the Yankees twice in four games. I hope that the Twins’ hard, early season schedule is the reason we are not doing well and not just the fact that we are that bad of a team. I know we aren’t predicted to do anything this year, but I don’t think many thought we would be the bottom of the Central.
I have been secretly gloating about how Josh Willingham is doing in place of Michael Cuddyer. Never liked Cuddyer and my friends can attest to that. I have wanted to trade him for the last 4 years and am happy to not see him swing at another head high fast ball with the bases loaded and strike out. For a guy to have as much protection as he did over the years, I guess I expected him to hit more bombs.
Now on to another guy I used to get made fun of for not likely, Delmon Young. Another I told you so moment in my life. Young was recently arrested for being drunk in public and slurring anti-Semitic slurs in New York City. I think Mel Gibson found a new drinking buddy. What Young did in my opinion does not speak highly on the character, who at one time whipped a bat at an umpire in a minor league game.
The NBA playoffs have started and I am concerned. I can be plastered as a Lebron-hater and I know that this season maybe the year he gets his ring. This became more apparent after Derrick Rose hit the floor and tore his ACL. Dwight Howard was also already out of the playoffs and it seems like a perfect storm for the Heat to finally give “King” James his ring. I think that the only thing that could stop him is if Tim Tebow joined one of the playoff teams and he went into lockdown mode on Lebron.
I want to give a well deserved farewell to the best women’s basketball coach in history, Pat Summit. I watched an argument on ESPN’s first take about whether or not she should have made the jump to coach men. I say yes, because she might have been the only one allowed to do it at the college level and she might have been the only one to have success. Jemele Hill disagrees with that idea, because of the “what if” factor. Like “what if it didn’t work” and “what if she failed”. I have to say that nothing great came out of not doing anything. The “what if” factor did not stop Jackie Robinson from playing major league baseball. Imagine if that would have happened. How many great baseball players we would have never seen if Robinson would have said “no thanks, I’m fine here in the Negro leagues.” I have deep respect for Summit and believe that she could have coached the Tennessee Men’s basketball team better than the jabronies that were doing it during her tenure there.
Yes, I used the word jabronies. Though its not a sport, I love the fact the Rock and Brock Lesnar have gone back to their roots and are doing “professional” wrestling again. Lesnar was an animal in the UFC and was beaten by a man that is now fighting a positive steroid test and the Rock has always had a competitive nature going back to his days as a DT of the Miami Hurricanes. So maybe, I will have to start watching wrestling again.
Nike released their new line of NFL jerseys this past month. Love them. Don’t understand why their are teams that will not move with the new design (I’m talking about you Green Bay). Didn’t change the jersey look, just the fabric. I understand the need to keep your traditional look, but to walk on the field in the ugly blue and yellow jerseys and not want to wear something that looks slightly more modern is beyond me.
Well I think I am going to call it quits on this blog. For those of you that stuck around till the end, I have a bit of a favor to ask you. If you have any questions regarding national sports or want me to comment on them, feel free to comment at the bottom of the blog. Remember to be appropriate and only comment on national sports. I love the area sports questions, but I am not going to answer who’s the best in the area or anything because of the kids involved. I think everyone should go out for a sport or activity and there shouldn’t be some jockey at a desk criticizing them for doing something they love (kind of ironic as I do this to national figures, but they are professionals).
Shoutouts this week go to Tom Hintgen, Everett Jacobson and Bill Richards.
- Zach
