Friday, June 27, 2008

FUCK YOU KEVIN MCHALE

I'm done. that's it. It's over. Tomorrow I'm going to the store and I'm buying a Portland Trailblazers Cap. Then I'm going to pour liter fluid on my Timberwolves cap that I've worn on a daily basis for 3 years and burn it. McHale, first you do something genius. You draft O.J. Mayo, then you draft Mario Chalmers in the second round, who is a significant upgrade over Sebastian Telfair. Then you trade Chalmers for future second round picks. uhh what? Then you trade Mayo for an undersized, unathletic Kevin Love. You also traded Buckner and Walkers EXPIRING CONTRACTS, for fat, old, bald Brian Cardinal, who sucks and completely fucks up our cap room again.

FUCK YOU. Die of gonorrhea, fuck this team. The Boycott has officially started.

Go Blazers!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

New Timberwolves Logo

The Minnesota Timberwolves will be announcing their new and (arguably) improved logos at today's draft. They revamped their standard logo (below, left) with the drastically changed new logo (below, right). They changed the font of Timberwolves to make it a little less pointy, did the same with the trees and made them a little shorter. Not too much noticeable change to the actual wolf except the new addition of white to it's face. Also, the blue only appears on the shadow of the wolf and on the outline of "Timberwolves."


It doesn't really affect me too much as all my T-Wolves gear is still from the original logo. It's kind of nice that they didn't change it to much though as to not piss off all the people with brand new Garnett jerseys. (They are really cheap right now, not sure why)

The bigger news is the newer alternate logo. It used to be either just the wolf from the main logo, or an "MT" in the now defunct Timberwolves font. The newer logo (below, right) pays homage to the original, and in my opinion, best T-Wolves design (below, left).

The newer logo has the timber wolf howling at the basketball moon, while the older one just has a confused wolf, who looks to be panting, probably from playing basketball. I don't mind the new alternate logo, but I don't feel like the two wolves (from the new main logo and the new alternate logo) look like the same wolf. I realize one is looking angry, head on and the other is a howling profile but they just don't seem like the same wolf.

So does this mean a drastic change to the actual uniform, the new alternate doesn't have any green on it and the new main logo has very little blue. There is a lot of gray in both logos, might that be the new look? What do you guys think?

Personally, I am hoping for something a little more authentic, like this:

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

McHale: For the Love of God

Draft O.J. Mayo on Thursday evening. He is awesome, he's a sure-fire future star, and please go against rumors I've been hearing about you wanting to trade down. It completely backfired when you traded Brandon Roy for Randy Foye, as it backfired even worse when you traded Ray Allen for Marbury. Please, moron, learn your lesson already and keep the 3rd pick, and make sure you use that pick on Mayo.


Mr. McHale, if you f**k this up, I will boycott the Timberwolves until you are no longer with the organization.
Todays Star Tribune most read stories...look at number one - priceless headline.

Monday, June 23, 2008

You Play Twins GM

By TwinsWin83


It would seem that my angry rant stating the Twins organization should reward their fan base by making a move to compete this year is a bit more legit today then it was five days ago.

Since the last post the Twins have rattled off four more wins in a row and now sit four games above .500 for the first time this year and a mere 1.5 games behind the slumping White Sox for first place in the AL Central. Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan has taken notice as well and worked up an article for today’s paper that suggests the same point I was trying to (and probably failed to) get across last week. Check it out.

The fact that this team made up of too-young-to compete newbies and over-the-hill free agent busts are only 1.5 games out of first place on June 23 is nothing short of miraculous. So why not embrace this thing and run with it, instead of waiting for the assumed contenders to make their move? I’m tired of hearing this team has no chance in the long run; they’re here right now aren’t they?

All that being said, there are (as always) limited options and assets the Twins have to work with to ultimately improve their lineup, starting rotation or bullpen, not the least of which is their tiny payroll and their blah blah blah blah….
We all know that already, so why don’t you guys out there play Twins GM and share a few moves the team could make that you think would best impact this surprising squad.

The Twins are sitting in this position despite all of the shortcomings of the current ensemble, and that's the beauty of it, imagine if some of those holes were filled and other players started to live up to their potential. Think of where they might be come September.

So lets have it. What moves do you think the Twins could realistically make over the next month to make a serious run at their fifth AL Central title this decade?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Ump Hit By Pitch Controversy

Like many of you, I saw a clip on youtube about the Georgia high school Class AAA championship game. In the clip Stephens County was losing to Cartersville 9-1 early and the pitcher, Cody Martin threw what looks like a high fastball. Problem is the catcher, Matt Hill didn't catch it. In fact, by the looks of it he ducked completely out of the way and it hit the Ump square in the face.

If you haven't seen the clip check it out here. When I first saw it I thought for sure it was a plot against the Ump, and after looking into it more I found out the pitcher's team had 9 of their batters strike out... in a row. This looks even more damning against the pitcher and catcher.

But after I looked at the video over and over again, it looks like the path of the pitch changes, either his fastball dips right over the plate or it grazed the batters helmet. That might explain the catcher ducking if he thought the ball was going to hit off the batter helmet. I put might in italics because even so, a decent catcher should still try and catch it or at least watch wear it caroms.

One thing that doesn't add up with that theory is that the batter doesn't even motion towards first. You would think he would know right away if it hit him, especially in the head.

The worst part about the clip is that it's been by over 500k people and it's already had bad repercussions for the players involved. The catcher, Hill was told by his would be baseball coach next year at Gordon College, to not bother joining the team. To be honest, I feel bad for the kid, I have done stuff on par with this in high school games, but luckily my skill level prevented me from actually accomplishing what I would have liked. Also, good thing no one taped our games and youtube wasn't around.

Not that an Ump would ever deserve to get beaned (he has hired a lawyer and will most likely sue for damages) but I am interested in what is the likelihood a team strikes out 9 in a row. I haven't been able to find out if they were mostly swinging or looking, or if this pitcher was a high draft pick or is looking to be one, but the whole deal seems shady.

In all honesty, I kinda hope that while the Georgian High School League does their investigation they find out the other team paid off the Ump.

My inspiration for this little post comes from Rick Reilly's ESPN column found here. He stands on his soap box and is quick to judge these high school kids and potentially have a big impact on their lives by writing this for millions of people.

Are We Done?

This is the confessions of desperate Twins fan. Here we are in the midst of a lukewarm June month and I feel the need to speak my troubles to the rest of the Twins fans world.
The Twins have survived in a division that has feed off of mediocrity for nearly a decade now but now is the time for them to take full advantage of that.

Not only have the Twins survived this long on youngsters and over-the-hill vets but there has been no attempt to adjust those means despite the fact that they are still hanging around. We are three months into the season and the less-then-loaded Twins remain 4.5 games out of first place behind the White Sox.
So what are we to think of our boys in white and blue pin-stripes? Apparently not enough to believe they can contend.

There isn’t going to be a team to make a major move on the division title over the next two months so it would be in this team’s best interest to make a trade to acquire a decent pitcher that could fill the hole in the starting rotation. Or a bat? (that has been a need on the block for how many years now?)

Call me bat shit crazy but I think the Twins could make a move at this time. The time is now in a division that is as weak as the AL Central. The Tigers are underachieving as well as the Indians and if the Twins are to make that move they better do so quickly because the window is quickly closing. Everyone seems to want to conseed and say the Twins can not compete for a few years but this division is ripe for the taking and a team as inexperienced and unsure as the Twins might be perfect for that gig if the bats come around and the bullpen realizes its place on the team.

Opinions?

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

An e-card for your fellow Twins fan

As I am sure many of you are aware there are these things called "eee cards" they are like regular cards, but they don't cost money and consequently really don't mean anything. They are a great way to show a person that you only care enough to take 4 minutes to find a free ecard website. Some of you also might know of a website called someecards. This site embraces the fact that ecards will never be able to replace over priced cards with chimps and presidents on them, so they make very specific and often hilarious ecards instead.

Here is one that I found to be specifically poignant for Twins fans. Click here to "forward it like it's hot."

Monday, June 16, 2008

Northfield Knights. Team to beat?

The club that calls Sechler park home has started out the summer with some new faces and others that can't seem to get away. The biggest new face acquired would be that of our incoming manager, Clark Johnson. Johnson, a long time veteran of the Cannon Valley League (CVL) has been brought on to give our former player/manager (Scott Paulson 3B) the opportunity to become a more focused player. Johnson has been determined to turn this squad into one that mixes solid fundamentals with the focus on the detail that should combine for a desirable outcome. Other acquisitions to this this year's team have been: Eric Dunivent, a much needed catcher who has been great defensively and hit many hard shots that have found almost as many gloves. Trevor Hill, another catcher who has shown off outstanding receiving skills that have given our pitchers an immeasurable advantage. Randall Kruse, a middle infielder that has found some playing time at second base, has had some timely hits, including a game winning RBI in Owatonna. Aaron Troyansky, a pitcher, has made his time count - a Carleton student from California only had as long as his school year kept him around, but provided sound defense at a variety of positions, and soaked up some good innings on the mound. Youngsters Blake Faust and Jake Pumper, who have the freshest contracts, have yet to show what they can do for the Knights, but they will add some needed depth all over the field.

After a series of booted balls and misplaced line drives, the Northfield Knights amateur baseball team stumbled to a 2-6 start of the 2008 season. Since then, they have won three of four, with some notable highlights. Jeremy Kruse P/OF; fresh off a season pitching at DCTC this past spring, has improved on his velocity, control, and mound presence. He has given some dominating performances on the mound, and complimented them with some spurts of offense as well. His most recent trip to the mound was a stellar complete game, three hit shutout of nemesis, Red Wing. He also had three hits in the game. Kruse uses a mid-eighties fastball that tails and sinks, a change-up, slider, and curve ball that can all be thrown for strikes at will. He will play a key role in the success of the Knights' summer.


Jeremy Kruse

Golden Gopher Luke Rassmussen has also had some dominating moments from the mound. He has lost some close games due to a lack of offense and defense. When Rassmussen is on point he is pert near un-hittable, showing off a high eighties fastball, change-up, and curve ball that keeps batters wishing.

Luke Rassmussen

The pitching has definitely been the strong point for this year's Knights team. The bats have just started to hit, and are going to have to keep putting runs together to help out our aces.

After a month of baseball the Knights have found a little groove and should be exciting to watch for the rest of the summer. So I suggest you make a trip down to old Sechler park, and take in some classic town ball.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Worst. Product. Ever.

In honor of the MLB All Star Game being at Yankee Stadium this year. MLB is offering these "Statues on Parade" Statues of Liberty.

Actually the Twins one looks the best, certainly better than the pirates one.

If you want to get one of these 9" beauties, it'll set you back 24.95 plus S&H of course.