Friday, April 27, 2012

NFL Draft 2012: The Late Round Additions Edition


It was certainly an eventful first day for the Vikings. They moved down one spot and still got their guy, Matt Kalil, OT, Southern California. Then, they drafted Harrison Smith, S, Notre Dame, the exact guy that I would have been writing about in this article had we not traded back into the first round to go get him. They’ve got a whole slew of picks left in the later rounds, so let’s take a look at some of the players Spielman and Co. will be targeting.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

NFL Draft 2012 Preview: Mr. Positivity



It’s draft time, and for those who bleed purple, tonight should make for a very interesting evening. With the third pick, there are two and a half prospects targeted by the Vikings, led by Matt Kalil and Morris Claiborne. The third guy, Justin Blackmon, is a long shot for the Vikings this high in the draft. Kalil and Claiborne have been discussed by Spencer and Silky, so let’s focus on the TRUE optimism regarding the first round of the 2012 NFL draft for your Vikings. And no, it’s not Blackmon...

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

NFL Draft 2012 Preview: Kal-eels Like the Very First Time


As the great baseball Hall of Famer and football enthusiast (?) Yogi Berra once said, "It's deja vu all over again."

On Draft Day 2009, I howled for the Vikings to take Ole Miss LT Michael Oher when he slid down the board to us at the 22nd pick. Dreams of an immovable bookend duo that could relocate more flurries than Mr. Plow danced in my head for about 12 minutes...until the Triangle of Authority pegged skill position guy Percy Harvin as the pick.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

NFL Draft 2012 Preview: Please, sir, I want some Mo’




If that line weren’t enough to make you want the Vikings to draft Morris ‘Mo’ Claiborne, I’ve got a few more reasons here that will help you change your mind.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Just How Right Are the Prices: The Week in Review




Much like the yodeler from Cliff Hangers who makes his way up the mountain, hoping not to crash at the apex of his ascent, it's been a week of high hopes and dramatic tumbles for your local squads.


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Headache in Aitkin: Stumbling Upon the Minnesota Concussion Memorial (MelAnChoLy in Minnesota: Part II)



The journey home from Virginia was a somber one. Recent Ligament Induction Panel meetings have been long and taxing, and this one was no different. The weary cynicism was written on our faces as we stared out the rain-soaked car windows in silence. We were passing through Aitkin, one of the many beautiful small towns on the road up to the Iron Range, when a cacophony of bells broke our silence.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Mr. Positivity: Wolves Optimism on "Playoff Elimination Day" *UPDATED 4/23*




Feeling down about the Timberwolves recent elimination from playoff contention? Maybe 2-4 isn’t the start you were hoping for from the Twins? Perhaps a 3-13 Vikings season is still adversely affecting your mood. Look no further than MNSportsEmporium.com, as I plan to bring bi-weekly optimism to Minnesota sports fans.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

MelAnChoLy in Minnesota: A Stroll Through the Ligament Graveyard

O I say these are not the parts and poems of the body only, but of the soul,
O I say now these are the soul!

--Walt Whitman, "I Sing the Body Electric"



The drive to Virginia, Minnesota, takes about three and a half hours from my home in the southwest suburbs of Minneapolis. Tony, Silky, and I made the trip Wednesday afternoon with solemn business on our minds. We are three of the youngest members of the Ligament Induction Panel, and the news had just come through the wire that Twins pitcher Scott Baker would miss the 2012 season to fix and rehab the flexor pronator tendon in his pitching elbow.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Monday, April 9, 2012

A Premature Postseason Roster Review: The Michael Beasley Dilemma



Aptly referred to as “The Illustrated Man” by MSE website creator, Spencer Broughten, Michael Beasley has a colorful personality, a sculptor’s touch with the basketball, and enough tattoos to presumably warrant “random” screenings from the TSA before team flights. He is known as an underperforming high draft pick who can score in bunches, but doesn’t have the mind for greatness. He is also known for incurring several drug charges, including a possession of marijuana ticket he received in Minnetonka last summer. Beasley is set to be a restricted free agent following this season and would be due $8.3 million should the team choose to offer him one more year. Herein lies the dilemma: Based on his statistics, he is not worth $8.3 million to the Timberwolves. However, there is a side to Beas that many people are not familiar with, and it is one of several reasons the Timberwolves should resign him this offseason.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

I Don't Know Golf, But I Take Requests: SilkyJ's Saturday Masters 'Preview'


Disclaimer: I don’t golf. I never have. If I ever do, I will require a 200 handicap. I am very bad. The extent of my golf experience? Putt-putt at Valleyfair. I was bored and no one wanted to hang out with me during our 10th grade field trip, so I went and played 3 rounds of Valleyfair putt-putt by myself. Very, very poor scores. Double bogey golf, as an aficionado might say. Damn windmill.

Unlike the Gopher hockey article, which started with a similar disclaimer, I have watched golf before. I am familiar with the practice and rote memorization (and luck) necessary for a successful round of golf. I’ve never done it myself, but having witnessed practice rounds at Hazeltine in person, I see the pressure inherent in preparing for such a tournament.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Your 2012 Minnesota Twins Season Preview: A Rational Roundtable Discussion




Tony Davis: 75/1.
“Moneyball,” the recent Academy Award nominee for “Best Picture,” taught viewers one golden rule regarding baseball: Statistics matter. It is possible for teams to base projections off of numbers and mathematical equations. Batting average, OBP, ERA, WHIP, and hundreds of other statistical categories define the game of baseball in the modern era. For the sake of this season preview, let’s focus on one ratio. 75/1. These are the current odds for the Minnesota Twins to win the World Series in 2012. 

Return to Normalcy: A Gopher Hockey Analysis & Frozen Four Preview




Freshman Kyle Rau (18 goals, 25 assists) and sophomore Nick Bjugstad (25 G, 17 A) are two of the top reasons the Gophers have re-emerged this season from a brief spell of mediocrity.
Disclaimer: I know very little about hockey. I know even less about Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey. The highest level hockey game I have ever attended was the MIAC championships at Gustavus Adolphus. My only connection to Gopher hockey comes from that one time I hung out with former center Patrick White at college. So keep this in mind as we delve, together, into some relatively new (for me) territory of Minnesota fandom.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Do This, Not That: Bracket Crafting Tips from This Year's NCAA Tourney



March Madness has been the best 19 days of the year each of the past 21 years. It will continue to hold this distinction until a Minnesota team either A) wins a thrilling, historic championship in Game 7 of a taut back-and-forth series, or B) the Vikings win a Super Bowl and every bar and restaurant in the state celebrates with the first ever Free Beer February in American history. To properly celebrate this event, I spend the time between Selection Sunday and the first Thursday tip-off compiling and crunching dozens of stats for each team in the field--except the 16-seeds, a strategy that almost backfired this year. SYRACUSE.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Game of the Week Breakdown: A Timbas-Celtics ‘Recap’

Bruff, TWick and I watched the first half of the Timbas-Celtics game last night,hoping to see our beloved Pups come out with some fire and energy after KG’s absurd comments about the Timberwolves franchise. We were hoping to see a youngteam on the rise (everybody’s talking about them, including…Pegasus?) takedown the aging superpower, a shell of its former championship-caliber squad.
We didn’t see any of that.