Extra Points

Twins Time

I flat-out love baseball season.  I live and die with the Twins – every game, every inning, every pitch. So you might think it’s a bit odd that I’ve never been to Opening Day at the Dome.  This year, that was going to change.

My buddy Chris and I scored some great tickets – second row by the left field foul pole – and tried to get to the Dome in time to see Brad Radke throw out the opening pitch. Unfortunately, we had to deal with some incompetence at the concession stand and we were forced to watch Radke paint the inside corner on one of the TVs in the concourse. Wow is it weird to see Radke at the Dome in street clothes.  Definite culture shock.

Then we had the good fortune of going through an experience that seems to happen to me every time I go to a crowded event, be it a sporting event or a concert – someone was in our seats.  We told the two girls that they were in our seats and even showed them our ticket stubs, but they were adamant that they weren’t in the wrong section.  After they refused my repeated requests to turn around and look at the section number on the wall and my proof that I know what section I’m in because that’s the same exact place my Gopher football season tickets are, I resorted to asking every single person around them what section they were in.  That finally did the trick.  When they angrily left, the guy in front of us (wearing a classy Kent Hrbek jersey, I might add) turned around and thanked us.

“We could tell they were going to be annoying us all game,” he said.

After that – it was smooth sailing. It was a great game, and a decent performance by my best friend that I’ve never actually met, Johan Santana.  He had one bad inning (expected in April) and got beat on a good pitch by Miguel Tejada, but other than that he looked pretty sharp.

The obvious highlight was the Justin Morneau-Torii Hunter back-to-back home runs in the second inning.  I thought that was an important moment for so many reasons. First of all, there were legitimate questions about whether Morneau was going to establish himself as a premier player, or if his MVP season was an aberration. With the crowd chanting “MVP” he answered those questions with one powerful, opposite field blast.
Hunter’s homer was great too, because it’s possible that this could be his last season in Minnesota.  If that’s the case (and I desperately hope it isn’t), then he came out and made us appreciate him from the very start.

The other highlight of the game was more personal – my two air fist-pounds from Rondell White.  We were right by “The Rock” in left field, and on two separate occasions I yelled to him and he turned around and mimed a fist pound.  It was classic.  Even the people around us got a kick out of that. Rondell was the team’s best hitter in the playoffs that isn’t from Canada, and I hope the fans remember that and encourage him this year (once he gets off his early stint on the DL for “skipping”).

Early observations

After last night’s dramatic win, the club sits at 6-3 with a lot of promise. This year, our offense was supposed to carry our spotty starting pitching, but it has definitely worked the other way so far. Santana, Ramon Ortiz and Carlos Silva have been incredible thus far, Boof Bonser was great in his first start but struggled against the mighty Yankees and Sidney Ponson wasn’t very good, but all in all, I’m definitely excited by what we’ve seen from our starters.

Our lineup, on the other hand, has definitely been spotty. Joe Mauer has his share of opposite field singles, amateur magician Michael Cuddyer’s been good and Morneau has hit a few heroic homers, but other than that we haven’t seen much.  The guy that worries the most at this point is Nick Punto.  He was such a sparkplug last year, and the main catalyst behind the success of “The Pirhanas.”  He’s been solid in the field, but we need his bat at least a little, too.

I also hope Jason Bartlett finds his way.  He’s a much better player than he’s shown in the first few series, and we’re going to need the guy that played in August and September last year, not the JB from October or early April.

Stadium unveiling

Gophers Gone Wild

Welcome to Minnesota, Tim Brewster. After a few months with nothing but positive vibes surround the Gopher football team, three players are taken into custody for sexual assault on the eve of the first spring game of the Brewster era.  Yikes.

Fortunately, Alex Daniels, Keith Massey and EJ Jones were released Monday without being charged. Hopefully that means the players are innocent and they can return to business, but this does damage to their image and to the program regardless. The only redeeming thing is that the recent result of the Duke lacrosse case will most likely serve as a precedent and the player will hopefully remain innocent until proven guilty instead of the other way around.

Regardless of what happened, college athletes (and all athletes … Kobe!) need to stop putting themselves in this situation. This is the second time in recent memory a situation like this has arisen with Gopher football, and it needs to stop.  Start cracking the whip, Coach Brewster.  Even if charges are never filed, and they players are legitimately innocent, make your players understand that they can’t even be in a position to be accused of something like this, ever again.

Spring football

This was also my first Gopher spring game, and I was surprised by the attendance, but by little on the field. There were a lot of people there, so credit Brewster and his staff with getting the word out and promoting the event.

However, it was hard to get a good read on anything on the field. I thought both quarterbacks looked horrible. Tony Mortensen was slightly better than Adam Weber, but not by much. They routinely threw behind receivers and looked uncomfortable in the new spread offense. Both ran the ball exceptionally well when they had to improvise, but they’ll need to do more with their arms to win the job, win in the Big Ten, and keep Clint Brewster on the bench.  I would bet he’ll be right in the mix after watching both of our returning QBs try to run the spread.

The offense was best when (surprise, surprise) we just lined up in a pro set and smacked the defense in the mouth. Jay Thomas flashed his speed and even his leaping ability on a one-yard “press X” play. (I call it that because on “Super Tecmo Bowl” if you wanted the runner to just dive over the pile, you simply pressed “X”).  Amir Pinnix should be poised for another 1,000-yard season. He had one touchdown run in particular where he weaved past solid block after solid block until he saw daylight and burst for the goal line.  A definite thing of beauty.

I thought Eric Decker looked great too at wide receiver.  He’s going to have a big year. Ernie Wheelwright only caught one ball, but it was for a touchdown thanks to some great downfield blocking from tight end Jack Simmons.  I’m extremely disappointed they never threw to Simmons in the game.

On defense, the only player that really stood out to me was Dom Barber. He did a great job filling against the run, including one play where he fought off a pulling lineman and then dropped the back for no gain.  Jamal Harris looks improved and it appears that moving Steve Davis to outside linebacker was a good call.

On special teams, Jason Giannini drilled a 47-yard field goal, and it looked like it would have been good from 60. Hopefully the coaching change did him some good. Justin Kucek looked OK on the punts he got off (two were blocked) and Dom Jones and Thomas continue to look like threats in the return game.

It’s tough to come away with any real impressions of what kind of team we’re going to see this fall. My buddy Ted thinks the Gophers have definite potential to be an eight- or nine-win team with their favorable schedule, but I’m just not convinced thus far. The quarterback situation worries me a little too much to be overly optimistic, but Brewster has maintained that he’ll adjust his schemes to fit his personnel.  If that’s the case, the Gophers could have a nice year. Pinnix and Thomas are a great 1-2 punch in the backfield, and Decker, Wheelwright and Simmons give whoever is throwing the ball three solid options.  If the defense plays better than they did last year and the quarterback just manages the game, we could be headed for another middle-of-the-road bowl, which wouldn’t be a bad start to the Brewster era.

My favorite part of the game actually had nothing to do with football. I had a blast watching some of the recent Gopher greats interacting with each other on the sidelines. The ultimate highlight:  Laurence Maroney exchanging cell phone numbers with Matt Spaeth and Logan Payne.  I’d love to see that threesome out the bar some night.  In fact, I’ll be rooting for the Patriots to draft both players in a few weeks so I can claim that it all started right there at the Gopher spring game. That’s how Bill Bellichek operates, right?  He’ll just draft people because Maroney likes them?  I honestly hope so, although the thought makes me nervous as a Dolphins fan.  I couldn’t cheer against Maroney, Spaeth and “House of” Payne.  That would be a serious dilemma.  I’d rather not think about.

As for my plans for tonight, I got this message from my buddy Rap earlier today:

"Going to watch Santana make the young D-Rays rethink their career choice tonight?"

Tim Brewster: It is difficult to know what a player will bring to the table without seeing a whole lot of them individually at this point, but I believe that Collin will bring a great work ethic and a desire to improve and be the best that he can possibly be.

MH: Collin is a very versatile player, evidenced by earning all-state honors both at tight end and defensive end this year. Do you have an idea where you’re going to try to use him in college?

TB: I think that is what is going to make our spring practices so exciting is that we are finally going to get a chance to get out on the football field where we can evaluate our players and see at what position they can be most beneficial to us. Collin comes to our program with a background at the tight end position so that is a good place to start with him.

MH: On "Signing Day," Collin said he was excited to get a chance to learn about playing tight end from you considering your background with the position. Do you plan to utilize your expertise in that area and handle some of the hands-on coaching with the tight ends?

TB: Absolutely. I have had a tremendous opportunity of playing tight end at the Big Ten level for Illinois and coaching tight ends most recently in the National Football League the past several seasons. I really enjoyed working with a young man like Antonio Gates, who came to the NFL with a limited background of football experience, but learned what it takes to be a great player. Getting a chance to work with players at that level and helping them evolve is one of the main reasons I wanted to get back to the college game and work with kids at that stage in their development as players.

MH: In general, how do you feel about your first few weeks as the coach at Minnesota, and how do you feel about the recruiting class you signed?

TB: I feel great about what we have been able to do in a very short time here and I couldn’t be more pleased about the staff that I have been able to put together. There is a lot of passion and intensity in the coaches that I have brought in and I can’t wait for the people of the great state of Minnesota to get a chance to see that. I am excited about what we were able to do with the recruiting class as well. Coach Mason and his staff started it off and I feel as though we were able to finish it and we were also able to convey to the coaches in this state that we want to close the borders and keep the fine student-athletes of this state at the ‘U’.

First Look

Matt Higgins:  Congratulations on getting called up this week.  What was your general reaction to getting the call to the Twins?

Glen Perkins:  I got called up to Triple-A to pitch in the playoffs and I had two good starts, and I was just pitching to get there next year. I figured it’d be too late to be a September call-up this year.  I just wanted to give it my all and prove I could start next year.  It was a pretty big surprise to get called up and an unbelievable moment in my life.  I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.  Just being here and at this time of the year, it’s a great time to come up, and I’m real happy to be here.

MH:  I read you had a dream the night before you got the call about getting called up to the major leagues. What was that like?

GP:  You have dreams like that all the time, but it was more vivid and more real. It happened how I dreamed it. I wasn’t prepared to get called up.  It was really strange and almost like déja vu when it happened.

MH:  Have you always been a Twins fan?

GP:  Oh yeah, definitely. 

MH:  Do you have any fond memories of cheering for the Twins as a kid, or any favorite games or players that you can remember?

GP:  Of course, I’ve been to numerous games, and once I got drafted it was hard being a player and a fan.  I was in a different situation than most guys. I still want the team to win and I was always pulling for them no matter where I was.  My favorite player was always Kent Hrbek and I liked Frank Viola.  I was a little young when they won the World Series, but I can name the whole roster from both ’87 and ’91 and I was a huge fan.  Hrbek and Viola were lefties, so those were the guys I looked up to.

MH:  What do you remember most about growing up and playing baseball in Stillwater?

GP:  One of the first things I remember was "day ball," with coach [Ricky] Michel.  They used to have the Stillwater players coach, and the high school coaches were all there. I did that and I think it was like fifth and sixth grade.  I couldn’t wait to play for coach Michel and to play for Stillwater.  Him and Mike Parker were phenomenal coaches. I give a lot of credit to those guys for giving me the winning mentality.

MH:  This must have been kind of a whirlwind month for you. You got called up to Triple-A and pitched in the playoffs for Rochester, and then you got the call to join the Twins. What have the past few weeks been like?

GP:  About a month ago today, I was 2-11 in Double-A and looking forward to the end of the season.  My dad and brother were going to fly out to New Britain on Sept. 2 to see a few games and then drive back with me once we were done, but I had gotten called up on Aug. 31, so they came to Rochester instead, and then I got the call to the Twins.  It’s been quite a ride, and I really didn’t think I was going to be here.

MH:  Do you feel any added pressure, being called up during such an intense pennant race?

GP:  I’m willing to go in and help out whenever I can. They said they’re going to try to get me in for my first time in a less pressure situation, but they called me up because I’m ready.  I’m not worried. It’s the same game, only I haven’t pitched in front of this many fans like in Fenway Park.  But you just concentrate on the glove and that’s what I’ll do when I get out there.

MH:  How have the veterans treated you so far?

GP:  They’re both righties so I look at things a little different, but yeah, it’s good to see young guys be able to pitch and do well. You know you’re not overmatched then.  I just can’t wait to get my turn.

MH:  Now that you’ve gotten your first call up to the majors, have you set any career goals for yourself? In 20 years from now what do you hope that Glen Perkins has accomplished?

My Maddest March

College basketball, and the NCAA tournament particularly, have played a big role in my friendship with my buddy Jake, who I met in the dorms at the U of M. We always talked ball, and to both of us, “March Madness” was a religion of sorts.  This March, Jake is studying abroad in Europe for his grad school program, making it the first tournament we haven’t experience together since 2000. It’s been werid not having him here, but it has also made me reflect on our most incredible March Madness experience.

This caused for something special. We decided we need to think of some clever way to show some Wisconsin pride and vehemently root against the other two teams – Kentucky and Pittsburgh.

We decided to combine the two schools.  We made a homemade t-shirt from each school, a yellow Marquette shirt and a red Wisconsin shirt, and we cut them each in half.  Then, we mixed the two halves and stitched them together. When our craftsmanship was all said and done, we each had a half-red, half-yellow shirt. Mine read:  “Marconsin” and Jake’s said “Wisquette.”  We were so proud of ourselves.

It turned out both Badger and Golden Eagle fans were proud of us, too. We got so many compliments from fellow cheeseheads that we started to feel like the most popular guys in the Metrodome.

Unfortunately, our shirts didn’t bring the Badgers any luck against Kentucky (one of the only times you’ll catch me rooting for Bucky) in the first semifinal, but they brought us some luck early in the second game. Our seats were in the lower deck off the corner of the court, near the top of the section. Just after Marquette and Pitt tipped off, an older man was walking up the stairs in our section when our shirts caught his eye.  He laughed and held out his ticket stubs to Jake and I.

“Those shirts are great guys – you deserve better seats,” he said. “Go use these for the second game, I’m on my way out.”

We thanked him and sprinted down to the portable bleachers behind the basket – we were now in the thick of the Marquette fan section, just a few rows up behind the hoop!  We hi-fived over and over and got used to our new, more energetic surroundings.

On top of that, we were sitting right next to an older man that Jake said he recognized. After a little while, Jake turned to him and asked, “Did you used to coach at Marquette?”

Following the win, we stormed the court with the Marquette students, only to be quickly restrained by Metrodome security. The stadium started to empty, but we wanted to soak up the night a little bit more.

We walked around the outside of the court to the corner where the media was passing on their way to the press room, when suddenly we heard someone yelling at us.

“Hey, guys!  The guys with the shirts!”

It was CBS sideline reporter Lesley Visser. We gave her the “Who … us?” look and she waved and started heading in our direction.

“Guys, those shirts are great,” she said, shaking our hands. “We all noticed you during the Marquette game and we just loved them.  What a great idea.”

We started explaining to her that we were just trying to find a way to show our Wisconsin pride when she cut us off and turned and yelled to some of her co-workers.

“Bill, Verne, you have to come meet the guys with the shirts!” she yelled.

Jake and I lit up. Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery made up our all-time favorite college basketball announcing team, especially Raftery, the world’s greatest basketball color man. When you hear Raftery say, “And they come out … MANTOMAN,” you KNOW you’re watching a great college game.  We hi-fived again, for about the millionth time that night.

The two broadcasters came over and introduced themselves and we couldn’t contain our excitement.  After a few minutes of chatting about the games, Jake pulled out his Kodak Funsaver camera and asked Raftery if we could get a picture with him.  Looking back, we should’ve gotten one with the whole CBS crew, but instead we actually had Lundquist take the picture.  I hope we didn’t offend him, but part of me thinks that it probably wasn’t the first time it had happened. However, I also regret not commending Lundquist for his spectacular work in one of my favorite movies, “Happy Gilmore.”  (“Here comes the putter throw!”)

After we got our picture with Raftery, he slapped us each on the shoulder and said, “You’re a couple of good Wisconsin boys.  I just know you’re going to go celebrate the Marquette victory with a bunch of Miller Lites!”  His personality was infectious, and he was just as captivating and personable in person as he always is on TV. And he also read us like a book – of course we were celebrating with Miller.

After our rendezvous with the CBS crew ended, we realized something awful – we didn’t have tickets for Saturday’s Marquette-Kentucky game. We began frantically asking other fans on the way out of the Dome if they were looking to unload a pair, and finally we stumbled on a dejected Badger fan that was about to hightail it back to Madison.

“I’ll give this pair to you for $20 each,” he said.

We looked in our wallets. I had a 10-spot. Jake only had three dollars.

“We literally only have $13 between us,” I told him.

“Aw hell, that’s fine,” he said, taking our measly $13 and handing me the two tickets. Jackpot!

In between the two games, we realized we needed new apparel for the regional final, so we went to Savers and crafted some Marquette gear back at my college house.

Jake’s outfit was classic. He bought a yellow shirt and a blue blazer and crafted a blue and yellow tie.  He looked like a cross between a basketball fan and a business man. In that spirit, he glued a big yellow basketball to the back of the blazer that read:  “Marquette Basketball – Taking care of business.”

I stuck with the Wisconsin Pride theme. I made a yellow cutout in the shape of Wisconsin and put a blue star on Milwaukee for the front of the shirt.

We got to the final and found our seats. We were in the upper deck, but in the second row near midcourt so the seats really weren’t bad.  However, after being so spoiled on Thursday, we started looking for an upgrade.

Jake noticed that one of the ushers behind the basket wasn’t checking tickets – instead he had taken a seat and was watching the game.  We were instantly on the move, and minutes later were in our new seats – directly behind the basket, just four rows from the floor.

There we watched one of the most remarkable performances I’ve ever seen. Wade was a superhero, recording a triple-double and leading Marquette to a huge upset over the top-ranked Wildcats. He put a huge exclamation point on the win with the biggest, most powerful one-handed dunk I’ve ever seen on fast break over Kentucky’s huge center, Marquis Estil. Did I mention we were right behind the basket?

We soaked it all in. After the game we hi-fived the Marquette players and stayed to watch them cut down the nets and celebrate their berth in the Final Four.

On our walk home, we kept talking through the events of the weekend and we were in legitimate disbelief. Here we were, at the one sporting event that we look forward to the most every year, and for $6.50 apeice (and a little intuition) we got to sit right behind the hoop and watch one of our favorite teams pull off a stunning upset and win a regional title. Add in our notoriety and good fortune from Thursday, and it easily stacked up as one of the best weekends of our lives as sports fans.

Now every year when it gets to the Sweet 16, I take a look at a picture I have of an old basketball announcer posing with two college kids in red and yellow shirts and I remember that no matter how much madness comes each March, it will probably never compare to that magnificent weekend.

What a Winter

This column ran in the March 22 print editions of the Stillwater Courier and the Lake Elmo Leader.

When I was putting together our Winter Sports Preview in late November, I decided to give it the subtitle:  “Stillwater – A Winter Sports Wonderland.”

I had no idea.

Every single team that put on the Pony uniform this season accomplished something this season, whether it was a championship of some kind, a huge playoff upset or great individual performances. The Stillwater winter teams certainly made life exciting for their fans, and made life remarkably easy for this sports writer. The meets and games all spoke for themselves – I didn’t need to look for angles or twists, I just had to write what happened.

Obviously any discussion about Stillwater’s start to ’07 begins with the state champion girls hockey team. After narrowly missing out on the Suburban East Conference (SEC) title, the Ponies went on a postseason run for the ages, seemingly getting better with each win. It all culminated with a 4-1 win over North Metro to give the school its first hockey title.

However, that’s only where the discussion begins.

Jessie Diggins and Brandon Adair brought home individual state titles, while leading their teams to incredible finishes in the process. Diggins, just a freshman, dominated at the state nordic ski meet while the girls put together an amazing second race to finish second in the state. The boys’ nordic almost joined the girls at state. Their great performance at sections fell just short of qualifying.

Adair, a junior swimmer, brought home Stillwater’s first individual swimming title when he won the 100-yard butterfly. The Pony boys also swam to an improbable fourth-place finish at the state meet, with only four swimmers scoring points. To say that coach Brian Luke maximized his talent would be an understatement.

The girls’ alpine ski team won a section title, and skied their way to a fourth-place finish at state. The boys’ team didn’t make it to state, but they ran the table in the SEC to bring home the conference crown.

The Stillwater gymnastics team is another one that missed out state, but it was mostly due to luck of the draw. The Ponies set an all-time school record with their team score at the section meet, which was the second-highest score in the state, but, remarkably, it wasn’t enough to get by Roseville, whose score was the highest in state history. That didn’t stop a pair of individuals from collecting some hardware at the state meet. Caroline Hilpisch finished second in the all-around, and Kristina Krenz took third on the beam.

The Stillwater boys’ basketball and wrestling teams had eerily similar and equally exciting section performances. Both teams came as close as they possibly could to earning trips to state. Wrestling upset second-seeded Centennial and had No. 1 Mounds View on the ropes in the section finals, but they came up just short.

Basketball was almost the same thing. They played great, knocking off second-seeded Mounds View, and they led nearly the entire game against top-seeded St. Paul Johnson, but in the end the ball just didn’t bounce the Ponies way.

The boys hockey team can relate. They stacked up some undeniably impressive wins and ties during the season. They dominated Cloquet and their all-state goaltender in a 5-0 win, they tied state tournament team Woodbury and Phil Housley’s team put the only regular-season blemish on top-ranked Holy Angels’ otherwise perfect record. In their section opener at White Bear Lake (who had beaten them twice already) Stillwater controlled the play the entire game, but lost on a great pass in overtime.

The Pony dance team reached an important milestone this season as well. They had two girls named to the all-conference team for the first time.

Even the Stillwater girls’ basketball team, who went 4-22 in the regular season, pulled off an impressive upset of St. Paul Johnson in the section quarterfinals. Lightning nearly struck twice, too. The Ponies ran out to a big lead against eventual section champ Roseville and had their chances at the end. Despite the loss to the Raiders, Stillwater certainly made it exciting and played section 4AAAA’s role of “Cinderella” perfectly.

In my two years covering the Ponies, I’ve seen a lot of success and experienced more than a few exciting games and meets. However, I don’t know if anything can rival this winter. Every team in every sport either went to state, or looked like a legitimate threat to get there at some point in the season. 12 winter sports teams, 12 title contenders. It’s hard to fathom that degree of success.

After six unbelievable weeks of winter playoffs, I finally have time to catch my breath and reflect back on the season that was, and the only prevailing thought I keep having is, “Did that really happen?” Seeing isn’t always necessarily believing.

The snow is finally starting to disappear, but the memories that the Stillwater teams created in the gym, on the ice, in the pool and on the mat over the last six weeks are sure to linger for a long time for the players, coaches and fans that got to experience them.

One thing is certain – if the first three months have been any indication, 2007 definitely appears to be the year of the Ponies.

Coming up…

Every year, I’m constantly looking forward to two things – Flambeau Rama and the first weekend of the tournament. Flambeau Rama is my hometown’s four-day summer festival, with bands and a softball tournament, and somehow it’s the most fun anyone can ever have. I’ve brought numerous newcomers, and they always want to come back. But that’s a whole different story.

There’s one word that I keep coming back to when I think about the opening weekend of March Madness – contagious. There is so much energy associated with the tournament, and it’s completely infectious. You can see that everyone they show on TV – players, coaches, fans, the school bands, (especially) the player’s parents – has a certain inspired, enthusiastic look about them and it radiates from the TV and consumes even the most causal college basketball fans.

Every year during the first two rounds, they revisit great moments from past years during commercial breaks and halftime shows, and I can always remember exactly where I was and what I was doing during each buzzer beater.

I was sitting in science class in high school when Bryce Drew took a full-court pass, buried and three and then dove headfirst onto the court. I was packed into my friends’ two-person dorm room with about 25 people when Mike Miller drove the length of the floor and rolled in the game-winner for Florida. I was going crazy at my college house when Drew Nicholas hit a three as he was fading out of bounds to send Maryland to the Sweet 16.

I also can remember where I was when Gonzaga first put on the glass slipper. I was sitting in that same high school science class as the CBS cameras kept panning up and down the University of Minnesota’s bench, showing four of the Gophers’ starters in street clothes on the day the story of the academic scandal broke. The Zags knocked off the school I had just decided to attend on their way to the Elite Eight, and I had to endure with a classroom of Badger fans (Gopher haters) on top of it.

I’m also reminded of the stinging pain I felt when Chris Webber called that infamous timeout against UNC in the championship game. I was 10 years old, and cheering for the Fab Five was my maiden voyage into college hoops. I can vividly remember staring at the TV in my living room in shock for several minutes before picking up a pillow and throwing it at the wall as hard as I could. (Note:  This WASN’T my first sports-related tantrum.  I believe it was number three.  The first two resulted from both GaryGaetti and Frank Viola leaving the Twins.  The Viola trade especially stung – it happened on my eighth birthday.)

For the first time, I gave a team my heart and soul, and for the first time it was crushed in such a vicious and dramatic fashion that I have to be reminded of it every single year.

However, the Fab Five’s ride to that desolate moment is what made me first realize the greatness that is the NCAA tournament. Their unbelievable overtime wins over UCLA and Kentucky got me hooked, and I’ve done everything in my power to make sure I haven’t missed a tournament game since.

That trend continues tomorrow. The only problem I have now is figuring out how to make the next 23 hours go by as fast as possible. It will be absolute agony – one of the longest days of the year – but the second I hear Bill Raftery say, “They come out … MAN-TO-MAN,” everything will be right in the world and it will definitely be worth the wait.

Regardless of what happens, this should be an incredible tournament. Usually, it’s hard not too root for the underdogs and mid-majors, but this year there’s so much parity among the top eight to 12 teams, that I hope we see those great Elite Eight and Final Four matchups.  Last year, we saw a ton of great games in the early rounds and paid the price in the final weekend with the worst Final Four in years.  This year, expect the opposite – fewer early upsets, better late-round games.

I know I’m going to try not to miss a second.  Don’t call, write or e-mail me until Monday.  I’ll be locked in to CBS.

Before the last two tournaments, I fancied myself a pretty solid amateur Bracketologist. I had won a handful of pools and had actually turned in some pretty impressive brackets. However, these last two years have completely destroyed my confidence. I guess that’s my attempt at a disclaimer.  Use my advice at your own risk.

MIDWEST

Am I brave enough to pick against Florida in the Midwest?  No.  Every time I think they might not have the mojo to at least make it back to the Final Four, I just think of last year’s tournament when most of their games evolved into contests of who could dunk harder, Al Horford or Joakim Noah. (Horford won, if you’re scoring at home.)

I’ve got Old Dominion in the Sweet 16, and Winthrop pulling an upset of Notre Dame, mostly because I have very little respect for the Big East this year. I’ve got the Oregon Ducks knocking off the Badgers before losing to Florida in the regional final. I think it’s a little strange that everyone’s jumping off the Wisconsin bandwagon with both feet, but I think the Ducks have better guard play and I don’t think Alando Tucker can do it alone.

WEST

I love Kansas. They seem to have almost all the ingredients, and I love the way they defend. They’ve got a number of guys who can score in various ways, and tons of depth.  To be honest, I haven’t seen much of UCLA, but I can tell you that in the last two years I’ve never seen Aaron Afflalo play great in a big game. I think a UCLA-Kansas regional final is almost a certainty, but I have to go with the Jayhawks. They’re from a tougher conference and are more battle-tested.

I don’t have a lot of surprises in the West, except maybe Duke to the Sweet 16. I know Pittsburgh is a very good 27-7 team, but I’m biased here for two reasons – I like Duke and I saw Pittsburgh play horrible in a few of their losses this season. Virginia Tech is a legit Sweet 16 team.

EAST

Without a doubt, the toughest region in this year’s field, especially the top half. I think Georgetown walks into the Elite Eight without breaking a sweat, where they’ll dig down and beat either UNC or Texas. I’ve got UNC in my main bracket, and Georgetown will be a serious problem for the young Tar Heels. I think Tyler Hansbrough will have a tough time getting to the rim, and that will put a lot of pressure on the freshmen against a tournament-tested Hoya team.

However, I did pick Texas to win the whole thing in another bracket based solely on my new obsession with Kevin Durant.  (It’s not quite at Johan Santana level, but it’s really gaining steam.) They’re a tough team to back solely because I think DJ Augustin and AJ Abrams can be a little too selfish with the ball, but part of that might be because I seriously want Durant to shoot every time they’re on offense. It’s unexplainable how they’ll go through long stretches without even trying to get him the ball.  If I coached that team, he’d touch it every time, no matter what.  I don’t know if Texas can beat the Heels, but I would love to see them try.

SOUTH

Did anyone see Greg Oden against Purdue on Saturday?  18 points, 19 rebounds, four blocks and a whole heap of domination. Plus, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a quicker guard that Mike Conley.  He seems to be that rare player that can spend most of the game getting his teammates involved and making smart decisions, and then he can take over at the end and make the biggest play at the biggest time. He might be the anti-Augustin. I’ve got OSU coming out of the South, beating Texas A&M in another great regional final.

Truthfully, there’s little else to like about this region. An Aggies-Louisville game in round two would be exciting, but I just don’t see a lot of things I like in the South other than Oden, Conley and Acie Law.

FINAL FOUR

I think Kansas and Florida in the Final Four would be the de facto championship game. Though Florida has a world of experience and just as much talent, I think it’s Kansas’ year. They’re deep, talented, athletic and (here’s my new favorite term again) battle-tested, and I think they’ll remind Florida (and the country) why it’s so hard to repeat.
In the other semifinal, I’ve got Georgetown over Ohio State. Roy Hibbert will be Oden’s biggest test, and I really like the Hoyas’ consistency. The Buckeys have been on a great run, but they seem just a little too young and too dependent on the outside shot to win in the Final Four. The Hoyas win a close one.

No one can deny that the Twins made a mistake last year when they opened the season with Juan “Fidel” Castro and Tony Batista at short and third. The space between second and third was like an open net in hockey. You just had to hit it somewhere in the vicinity and you were going to score. It didn’t help that neither did much with the bat.

But that didn’t keep Batista became one of my all-time favorite Twins from a comedy standpoint. From April through early June, anytime I went to a game or watched on TV, it was guaranteed that I would get a laugh from our one-of-a-kind third baseman.

When the Twins signed Batista, all I really knew is that he could hit for a little power, and he was the star of a famous You Tube clip. He got beaned while playing in Japan and took three or four hard steps towards the tiny Japanese pitcher like he was going to charge the mound. As the little guy turned and started running away in fear, Batista slowed his pace and calmly headed for first base.  Definitely high comedy.

However, I got excited about the Batista era when I read a sports column online comparing him to one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite movies:  Pedro Cerrano in Major League.

Everyone remembers Cerrano – the voodoo-practicing Cuban slugger who couldn’t hit a curveball to save his life.  Apparently Batista was the real deal.  He has all the same traits – on and off the field. He was a mediocre fielder who looked absolutely horrendous trying to hit any pitch that had any movement on it.  Although if you threw him a fastball down the pipe, he could crush it.

On top of that, he even had a goofy personality (more like Cerrano the Buddhist in the sequel) and all sorts of quirky superstitions and spiritual routines.

He had a fantastically bizarre ritual that he would perform at third base at the start of every game. After the first pitch he would come out of his crouch, do some weird gesturing with his hands and then raise his arms to the heavens (or the roof of the Dome).

After seeing this once I made sure to get to every home game early, not so I could be there for the first pitch, but instead so I could see Batista go through his little song-and-dance.  It was like I didn’t believe he actually did it every game and had to keep verifying it with my own two eyes.  I would get mad at Fox Sports Net when they didn’t televise Batista’s ritual during road games and I’d spend the first inning or two fuming.

Then there was the first-base incident.  I didn’t see it live, but heard about it the next day from a co-worker.  Batista hit another forgettable ground ball to the left side of the infield, and of course he didn’t have the speed to leg it out.  He still hustled through the base though, and he didn’t stop there.  He kept running, and running, and running – all the way down the right-field line, all the way to the wall.  Maybe he didn’t get loose enough in warm-ups?  Maybe he just felt like going for a jog?  Most likely, it was another unexplainable tick of the player we had affectionately started calling “the Dancing Bear,” but still, the way he kept raising his own unintentional comedy bar was unbelievable.

One of my favorite moments, and I still laugh out loud everytime I think about it, came after Batista was actually named the player of the game in a win at Milwaukee. Some people remember that game because it was Francisco Liriano’s first start of the season. Not me, I remember it as the game Batista launched a grand slam (on a fastball, of course) into the Miller Park bleachers and gave a hilariously memorable post-game interview.

Dick and Bert were on the TV, announcing that Batista was their player of the game and their post-game interview subject.  When they threw it down to Tony on the field and the camera cut to him, it was pure gold. Batista seriously looked like a kid on Christmas. He was smiling and waving to the two announcers.  The only thing I can compare it to is the old Saturday Night Live fake commercial with the Manute Bol cruise ships.  They have a shot of the 7-foot-7 Bol standing on a ship, smiling, waving and saying, “I’ll be there!”  He beamed like the hero of a Wrld Series game.
 
Batista’s comments about the grand slam could’ve been a Cerrano line straight from the Major League script. “I look for fastball and I try to hit it hard.”

However, all of this pales in comparison to the last time I saw Batista in a Twins uniform.  It was early June, about a week before he got cut, and myself, Cousin Tony and my uncle John had front row seats right above the Twins dugout.  It was great, we got to experience the Batista ritual up-close and personal.  We were giddy before the game.  We even got a pair of 30-something guys who were slugging Bud Lights to jump on the Dancing Bear’s bandwagon.

Twins fans had generally had enough of Batista by this point. He wasn’t hitting and he definitely wasn’t fielding and apparently they didn’t appreciate his antics as much as we did.  People were generally giving him a hard time during the game, so Cousin Tony and I decided we should try to lift his spirits.

We started yelling “Hey Tony!” occasionally and then waving when he’d look over. (We were trying to mimic his wave from the Brewers post-game interview).  He never waved back, but he did acknowledge us a few times with a tip of the cap or a smile and a nod.  It actually seemed like he enjoyed the gesture.

The game ended in the 10th inning with Justin Morneau hitting a walk-off sacrifice fly. The team poured onto the field in celebration and as they were making their way back to the dugout, we yelled and waved to Batista one more time.  This time, his face lit up like a Christmas tree and he came sprinting over towards our seats – probably the fastest I had seen him move all night.

“Hey guys, you wait right there!” Batista shouted up to us.

“What?” I asked him, kind of dumfounded that he was going out of his way to acknowledge us.

“You stay right there. Don’t move!” he shouted and disappeared into the dugout.

Cousin Tony, John and I all looked at each other and exchanged “what the hell is going on?” glances.  A minute later Batista emerged from the dugout.  He had three baseballs in his hands and the same look on his face from the earlier interview – he literally looked like a kid on Christmas.

“Here you guys go! Thank you so much!” he yelled, tossing a ball to Cousin Tony, myself and John in that order.

“Wow, thanks a lot Tony,” I yelled back.

“Yeah, you’re the man!” added Cousin Tony.

He gave us a huge thumbs up and disappeared back into the dugout.

Batista was released a week later when the management decided they had to re-vamp the infield and infuse some youth and speed at shortstop and third base. Nick Punto took over at third and had a legitimately great season.

It was a great move by management, and helped the team turn the season around, but I was still sad to see Batista go on some level. He helped us endure those first few months of the 2006 season thanks to his Cerrano-like status, his goofy personality and his make-you-shake-your-head rituals.

-Nordstrom’s?  Most people would expect a major league pitcher who makes over $10 million a year to get a suit custom-made for the reception where he accepts the Cy Young Award.  Not Johan Santana. It was reported he bought his suit for the New York ceremony at Nordstrom’s in the Mall of America.  Just another reason why I love Johan and I love the Twins.

-Piranhas.  Johan wasn’t the only Twin at the MOA last weekend. Jason Bartlett and Nick Punto were submerged in water in their Minnesota uniforms to film a piranha’s themed commercial.  Every year I look forward to the new “This is Twins Territory” commercials, and this year is no different.  Man I love the one from last year with Torii Hunter at the little kid’s birthday party.  Classic. Also, Joe Mauer filmed an ESPN commercial with anchorman Scott Van Pelt.  Looking forward to that.

-KG or MJ?  I was talking with some friends last night about the Wolves huge win to snap the Phoenix Suns’ 17-game winning streak.  Kevin Garnett was amazing.  Every time it looked like he was about to shoot in the fourth quarter, I KNEW it was going to go in.  The last time I saw a basketball player in a zone like that?  Gopher star Vince Grier against Wisconsin in the Barn in 04-05.  Every time Vinny pulled up that game, I just raised my hands, because everyone in that building was positive his shots were going in.  Every time I saw a player in that kind of zone before that?  Michael Jordan … tons of times, and Dwyane Wade at Marquette, in the elite eight against Kentucky in the Dome.  (Unless you want to count my high school teammate Jerry Pritzl.) I think we take KG’s excellence for granted at times, but his 44 points against the Suns was a reminder that he will forever be the face of the franchise.