Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Song of the Day:
Me and my old lady sittin’ in the shade
Talkin’ about the money that I ain’t made
Singin’ o boy dontcha line the
Track a lack a
O boy dontcha line the track
O boy dontcha line the track a lack a
O boy dontcha line the track
This Day in History:
In 1918, Baron Manfred von Richthofen --possibly the greatest pilot ever and also known as the "Red Baron"-- was killed in action during World War II.
IN 1960, Brazil moved it's capital to Brasilia from Rio de Janeiro. Now, what signifigance you might find for that in your life, I don't know. What I DO know is that it gives me a flimsy excuse to find a Brazilian Born woman to show for your delight.
Topics of the day:
Don't have enough time for them all, so we'll have ot pick just one. I could talk about Dru Sjodin, or take Your daughter to Work Day, or any # of topics, but I had written something up regarding the Timberwolves from this past Sunday. I think I'll go with a Sports bit today:
By the time many of you read this, the Timberwolves will have played the Denver Nuggets in the 1st round of the 2004 playoffs. The wolves (being vastly superior in starters, bench, coaching, annoying mascots, cute girls in the stands and foam finger sales) are expected by many to win this series within 5 games. Such is the virtue of earning the #1 seed in the playoffs.
The Denver Nuggets themselves have a decent collection of talent, but in the end should be dismissed as the fringe playof team that they are. Therein lies the trap.
After seven consecutive years of making the playoffs only to be eliminated in the 1st round, the Wolves have placed themselves in the ideal scenario to advance to the 2nd round. However, BECAUSE they won the #1 seed throughout the playoffs, they have also raised the expectations of the club. It's not enough to simply move onto the 2nd round anymore. It's not enough to defeat a team in the first that you are clearly better than. Let's put it succinctly: Forthe wolves to progress on last year, they need to make the 3rd round of the playoffs, the conference finals. Anything less will be a failure.
Which is also why the Denver Nuggets must be disposed of, and quickly. They must win this series in no more than 5 games, and send a message to the other teams in the playoffs that they can be dominant against weaker teams, and imposing on like-talented squads. A Denver upset and series win should signal a complete teardown and rebuild of this team from the Team President on down. Advancing past this team should be childs play for this team.
Once past the Nuggets, The Wolves face the prospect of facing off against the Kings or the Mavericks. Either team will provide a much more suitable test as an opponent for the timberwolves. The Wolves need to prove that the can match up and beat a quality opponent, and either provide enough match up problems that it will be hard to get past them. But to prove that they belong amongst the elite,and have earned their place as the #1 seed, they need to not only match the other teams' intensity...they must prove to have more hunger, and ultimately beat them and advance. Simply beating the Nuggets is not enough to prove that they have evolved past their previous failings.
It's said that to be the best, you have to beat the best. Well, we'll find out soon enough. As long as they don't trip over a Nugget in the road.
Football
In case my good friend Sonny is checking in, I have to comment on the news that Kurt Warner is going to be cut on June 1st.
Kurt Warner WAS a great QB. WAS. Does he still have something left? Sure. So did Steve Young, and Troy Aikman, and Joe Montana and JOhn Elway. All of the greats had something left. BUt let's face it. He's an injury liability. He can't stay healthy,a nd an injured QB who's throwing picks left and right because he can barely stand up straight after a concussion isn't going to help any team.
I don't doubt that he'll end up with another team. I don't even doubt that he'll end up starting another game or two. (There's even rumors that he'd end up as a Bear, as unlikely as that is.) He's simply too far removed from his glory days and too fragile to trust him in anything more than a back-up Qb role. His physical abilities are far and above those of some other starting QB's in the league, but he's no good to any team when he's on a stretcher counting stars in the sky, or holes in a teflon roof.
Me and my old lady sittin’ in the shade
Talkin’ about the money that I ain’t made
Singin’ o boy dontcha line the
Track a lack a
O boy dontcha line the track
O boy dontcha line the track a lack a
O boy dontcha line the track
This Day in History:
In 1918, Baron Manfred von Richthofen --possibly the greatest pilot ever and also known as the "Red Baron"-- was killed in action during World War II.
IN 1960, Brazil moved it's capital to Brasilia from Rio de Janeiro. Now, what signifigance you might find for that in your life, I don't know. What I DO know is that it gives me a flimsy excuse to find a Brazilian Born woman to show for your delight.
Topics of the day:
Don't have enough time for them all, so we'll have ot pick just one. I could talk about Dru Sjodin, or take Your daughter to Work Day, or any # of topics, but I had written something up regarding the Timberwolves from this past Sunday. I think I'll go with a Sports bit today:
By the time many of you read this, the Timberwolves will have played the Denver Nuggets in the 1st round of the 2004 playoffs. The wolves (being vastly superior in starters, bench, coaching, annoying mascots, cute girls in the stands and foam finger sales) are expected by many to win this series within 5 games. Such is the virtue of earning the #1 seed in the playoffs.
The Denver Nuggets themselves have a decent collection of talent, but in the end should be dismissed as the fringe playof team that they are. Therein lies the trap.
After seven consecutive years of making the playoffs only to be eliminated in the 1st round, the Wolves have placed themselves in the ideal scenario to advance to the 2nd round. However, BECAUSE they won the #1 seed throughout the playoffs, they have also raised the expectations of the club. It's not enough to simply move onto the 2nd round anymore. It's not enough to defeat a team in the first that you are clearly better than. Let's put it succinctly: Forthe wolves to progress on last year, they need to make the 3rd round of the playoffs, the conference finals. Anything less will be a failure.
Which is also why the Denver Nuggets must be disposed of, and quickly. They must win this series in no more than 5 games, and send a message to the other teams in the playoffs that they can be dominant against weaker teams, and imposing on like-talented squads. A Denver upset and series win should signal a complete teardown and rebuild of this team from the Team President on down. Advancing past this team should be childs play for this team.
Once past the Nuggets, The Wolves face the prospect of facing off against the Kings or the Mavericks. Either team will provide a much more suitable test as an opponent for the timberwolves. The Wolves need to prove that the can match up and beat a quality opponent, and either provide enough match up problems that it will be hard to get past them. But to prove that they belong amongst the elite,and have earned their place as the #1 seed, they need to not only match the other teams' intensity...they must prove to have more hunger, and ultimately beat them and advance. Simply beating the Nuggets is not enough to prove that they have evolved past their previous failings.
It's said that to be the best, you have to beat the best. Well, we'll find out soon enough. As long as they don't trip over a Nugget in the road.
Football
In case my good friend Sonny is checking in, I have to comment on the news that Kurt Warner is going to be cut on June 1st.
Kurt Warner WAS a great QB. WAS. Does he still have something left? Sure. So did Steve Young, and Troy Aikman, and Joe Montana and JOhn Elway. All of the greats had something left. BUt let's face it. He's an injury liability. He can't stay healthy,a nd an injured QB who's throwing picks left and right because he can barely stand up straight after a concussion isn't going to help any team.
I don't doubt that he'll end up with another team. I don't even doubt that he'll end up starting another game or two. (There's even rumors that he'd end up as a Bear, as unlikely as that is.) He's simply too far removed from his glory days and too fragile to trust him in anything more than a back-up Qb role. His physical abilities are far and above those of some other starting QB's in the league, but he's no good to any team when he's on a stretcher counting stars in the sky, or holes in a teflon roof.
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