The best and worst 'Thoughts' of 2012 - Part two

I didn't have as many RIP entries as last year, which is a good thing. Here are some of the not-so-great moments I wrote about from 2012, in chronological order. Among them, the Minnesota Twins didn't have a very good year and the NHL had a lockout.

Also, check out part one for some of the better moments.

The worst

Post-Bulletin loses a great journalist, mentor
Long-time Post-Bulletin journalist Greg Sellnow died unexpectedly last March while driving home from the state high school hockey tournament. It was a bit of a shock, to say the least.

On a selfish note, Greg had just started mentoring me before his death. He looked over my writing and gave me tips on how to make it better. I miss having that working relationship with him. He was such a nice guy to take the time and do that with me.

Twins are not doing well
The Twins did not have a very good year in 2011. And 2012 wasn't that much better. This was just one of those times that I wrote about the non-productive team, its absent clutch hitting and poor pitching performances.

Let's hope the Twins can at least improve slightly in 2013.

Andy Roddick announces his retirement
American men's tennis isn't what it used to be a couple decades ago. But Andy Roddick had given us something to cheer about for awhile. However, he retired after the U.S. Open in September, the final Grand Slam of the year.

It was tough to see him walk away at age 30, but success didn't exactly follow him around either. He played in the same era as Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer, two of the greats in the sport. Roddick was also known to choke in early rounds of slams from time to time.

I'm excited to see which players will be the new Roddicks.

Baseball ends, no hockey to turn to
With the end of baseball season, that usually means I shift my focus to the NHL and the Wild. Unfortunately, this year's lockout didn't make that possible. I guess I went through a bit of a hockey depression. Then I started following the Austin Bruins and that gave me my hockey fix.

The best and worst 'Thoughts' of 2011 - Part two

Part one of The Best 'Thoughts' are a lot more fun to look back on, especially when you consider all of the tragedy in sports in 2011. Like the last time though, I was able to compile fewer Worst moments than Best, so there's that.

Here are the not-so-great moments, left in chronological order:

The Worst...

Wild end 2010 on a low note
This was my first entry of the year, and I wasn't all that happy to write about a Wild game that I attended on New Year's Eve which was a 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators. The Wild dug themselves an early hole they couldn't get out of and did not give their best effort to ring in the new year.

It has to get better, right?
2011 was a year to forget for the Twins, but at the end of April, I assumed the direction for the team could only go up after the first few weeks. From the terrible opening series in Toronto though, the season really didn't turn around much. But for 2012, it has to get better, right?

RIP Boogey
One of the more tragic moments of the year came with the sudden death of former Wild player Derek Boogaard. I first saw the news on Twitter, and it was really a huge shock. He was a fan favorite in Minnesota and was known in the sport as being an enforcer on the ice, but also a very caring individual off the ice.

RIP Dan Wheldon
This was another tragic moment for the year and for the entire IndyCar and racing community. In what was supposed to be an exciting, battle-for-the-championship season finale in Las Vegas, it turned into a tragic day in racing.

Thirty-three-year-old Dan Wheldon, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, died 12 laps into the race in a terrible multi-car crash. I was glued to my TV and Twitter throughout the afternoon to follow the coverage and await word on Wheldon. He will be greatly missed in the IndyCar series.

The best and worst 'Thoughts' of 2010 - Part two

Part one of The Best 'Thoughts' are certainly more fun than looking at The Worst 'Thoughts.' But sports aren't always about what goes right; a lot can go wrong over the course of a season for teams. On the bright side, I did find fewer Worst moments than Best, so that should make you happy.

I left the moments in chronological order because that seemed easier than trying to rank in order of the biggest/worst moments.

The worst...

Free Petr! Veteran Sykora sits out
When the Wild and coach Todd Richards sat veteran player Petr Sykora while others like James Sheppard played, it was not one of the finer moments for the organization. Sykora was not given a fair shake. Plus, my negative feelings for Shep kept going strong.

The most dreaded words for a pitcher: Tommy John
Twins' closer Joe Nathan went down before the season started. Some discomfort in a spring training outing led to one of the biggest injury setbacks a pitcher can have: Tommy John surgery. He was out for all of 2010. Time will tell if he can return to the same form at some point in 2011.

Twins get swept, time to reflect
Sigh. Another great season and division title, and it all comes crashing down (again) with an early exit from the postseason. This was the year I (and everyone else) was really pulling for the guys to go further, or perhaps all the way. This is certainly one of the most difficult 2010 moments to swallow. (Also see: Pondering the Twins)

Tommies end season with a snow-filled loss to Bethel
It was really too bad St. Thomas had to have its magical season come to an end. Without two of their star players, they fell to MIAC rival Bethel 12-7 at home. The snow also dampened things, from my perspective anyway.