That's right. The Minnesota State High School League wrapped up the winter season of sports this past Saturday with the conclusion of the boy's basketball tournament. The girls competed the weekend before, and the boy's hockey teams the week before that.
Now, we have baseball in the Twins' new home of Target Field just around the corner, a new season of the IZOD IndyCar series has two races under its belt and the Wild, well, let's just look forward to the start of next season. It's another great time to be a sports fan. But then, when is it not?
It's IndyCar - not IRL
First off, I want to make something clear: The IRL (Indy Racing League) no longer exists, at least not with that name. With the merger of Champ Car and the IRL a couple of years ago, the correct term for some of the greatest open-wheel racing out there is the IZOD IndyCar series (or IndyCar series).
Now that the journalistic part of me has cleared that up, let's talk racing. The series opened its season in Sao Paulo, Brazil back on March 14. After yet another first-lap, first-turn incident, this time involving several cars, the race turned out to be a pretty good one. Will Power from the dominant Team Penske got the win.
Round two was scheduled for this past Sunday on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. I took a day-trip to St. Pete last spring during my vacation. It was a week prior to the race, so I made sure to snap a few photos of the concrete barriers and tires waiting to be put into place.
Anyway, the race was postponed until Monday morning due to heavy rains and thunderstorms. The footage of standing water around parts of the track was pretty amazing. Even with rain tires, it would have been hard to run the race.
Pole-sitter Power went on to win this race, becoming the first driver to start the season two-for-two since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2001. For Power, that's a great way to come back after an injury last season.
Marco Andretti Examiner
Not only do I get to watch IndyCar races as a racing fan, but I am also now the Marco Andretti Examiner for the Web site Examiner.com. I write three to four short articles per week relating to Marco, and usually the IndyCar series. It's fun to be able to write about a topic I enjoy. Be sure to stop by my Examiner page and read an article or two.
Stick a fork in 'em
I mentioned earlier that it might be good to look toward next season as far as the Wild are concerned. Although they aren't mathematically out of the playoffs yet, they are darn close. A slew of injuries, continued inconsistent play and road struggles, and basically not winning enough games have all been factors.
After the Olympic break until maybe a couple weeks ago, playoff hopes were still semi-alive. But when it became apparent that the Wild were not going to go on an amazing March run, those hopes slowly evaporated.
Work has coincided with the heavy schedule of Wild games lately, so I haven't been able to watch a lot of their games. Some nights, I'm not missing much.
Here's one "highlight" for you though, James Sheppard tallied his first point since December last week. That's right. An offensive player went point-less for months. Yet Richards and the Wild organization continue to put him on the ice. I still don't understand how he has flown under the radar so much when his play is so abysmal. But that's a rant for another time.
Play ball... outdoors
The regular season for Major League Baseball is right around the corner. But baseball as we known it in the Twin Cities is a whole different ball game. To me, it's still almost surreal to think that if I want to go to a Twins game, I'll be going to Target Field rather than the Metrodome. Outdoor baseball will certainly be something to get used to.
I haven't been to Target Field yet, but I have enjoyed looking through my friend's photos on Facebook when they were able to visit during open houses the past couple weekends. I've heard and read great things about the park and the great food. The only problem is that tickets are selling like hotcakes. I'll have to get my hands on some.
So enjoy the weather, the baseball and a fresh start to a new season.
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