We're into the new year already, so I thought before it gets too far along in 2012, I'd reflect back on the best and worst sports thoughts I wrote in 2011. It's fun to look back and see what went on during the last calendar year in the world of sports, or at least the ones I write about.
One thing that sticks out for me is the number of blog entries I wrote, which was not on the same pace I had been keeping in the past. I got busy this year with a new full-time job, and my blog ended up getting neglected at times. Among my New Year's resolutions for 2012, one of them is to do a better job of keeping my blog updated.
Just like last year, I left the moments in chronological order. Here you go:
The best
Good news on the Minnesota sports front
The Wild were on a roll last year in January, but that didn't carry through the rest of the season. Brent Burns made the All-Star team, in what turned out to be his last season with the Wild. University of St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso was named Coach of the Year for NCAA Division III. Twins pitcher and fan favorite Bert Blyleven finally got his call to the hall.
Shutting out the Canucks
The Wild had an easy time with Vancouver last year, especially for this particular game with a 4-0 home win. Rookie goalie Anton Khudobin was sharp all night long in the net. The game was physical and included some highlight-reel goals.
Plus, whenever the Wild can keep the Sedins from notching any points, you need to count that as a successful night.
It's been awhile, but at least I have a good reason
This was the first blog update after my job started. I had a montage of updates including how I went through high school hockey tournament withdrawal, recounting the Wild's slide in the loss column, my opinion on throwback jerseys, the St. Thomas men's basketball team winning a national championship and the start of both baseball and the IndyCar seasons.
Centennial Indy 500
My family and I attended the 100th running of the greatest spectacle in racing. It was a beautiful day and a great race. The finish was one for the books, with the lead car crashing on the final turn, giving the victory to Dan Wheldon. The win takes on a whole different meaning now, as Wheldon was killed in October in the IndyCar season finale.
Sheppard, Delmon out of Minnesota sports
This was a happy moment for me: Delmon Young and James Sheppard left their Minnesota sports teams. If you're a reader of my blog, it's no secret that I was not thrilled with Young's play in the outfield for the Twins, and Sheppard's performance for the Wild was just terrible. Shep went to the Sharks to showcase his "offensive" skills, and Young went to division-rival Tigers, where he did quite well.
A classic World Series
The 2011 World Series featuring the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers was a great one that went seven games and had a couple of amazing comebacks. Extra innings, home runs and Joe Buck's "We'll see ya, tomorrow night" call are all major components of this series.
Check out The best and worst 'Thoughts' of 2011 - Part two for some of the tough, not to mention sad, sports moments of the past year.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
IndyCar 2012 schedule has arrived
The 2012 IZOD IndyCar schedule is in place. So let the planning and daydreaming about attending every race begin.
It took longer than normal to release the schedule, which came out last week, because of the investigation surrounding the crash in the 2011 series finale in Las Vegas that took the life of Indy 500 champ Dan Wheldon. Once those results were released, the series could move forward and look ahead to next year.
We only knew one thing for certain - that the Streets of St. Petersburg would be the first race of the season. It's now less than three months away, on March 25.
I would love to go see this race on the streets of this beautiful city on the gulf side of Florida. I was there a couple of years ago on vacation, the weekend before the race. So I got to see some of the stacks of tires and barriers lining the streets. Plus, who wouldn't want to get out of frozen Minnesota in March in favor of some sunny, warm Florida air?
Some of the usual suspects are on the schedule as well, like Texas, Iowa and Indianapolis. I think Iowa might be one of the tracks my dad and I hit for the first time this year. Now that I've moved to southeastern Minnesota, the drive is doable without even a need for a hotel stay.
Ovals aren't my favorite tracks, but I'm certainly not going to turn down a chance to watch IndyCars in action.
One course that has been absent, although not surprisingly, for this primary open-wheel circuit is Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., a beautiful four-mile road course that's been a favorite of drivers and fans for many years. We made Road America our annual racing trip as a family for many years during the CART and ChampCar eras.
With only 15 races on the schedule so far, I can certainly keep my fingers crossed that Road America will somehow make it on there. I know it's a favorite of Dario Franchitti's, and as one of the more veteran drivers with such winning ways on a primary team, his opinion should matter, right?
I would also love to see the cars running again in Cleveland, on the airport runways off the shore of Lake Erie. But with an airport race in Edmonton, it seems like a good replacement. Selfishly though, Cleveland would be more convenient for me to travel to than Edmonton, in case I wanted to be in the stands like I have in the past.
Returning after a few-year absence is the Streets of Belle Isle in Detroit. I'm having trouble placing this track; I can't seem to remember it. The oval in Fontana, Calif. is also back on the schedule. It's listed right now as the final race of the season, much like it was in the past.
Off the schedule is the race in Japan, but in its place you could say, is a race in Qingdao, China. It's a street race slated for Aug. 19. No Watkins Glen either. It's also no surprise that Las Vegas is absent from the lineup. Even without the tragedy that occurred there, the stands didn't looked packed either - for a race that fans could get a free ticket for.
Overall though, the schedule isn't bad. A lot of nice road and street courses are represented, which is better than having ovals every week like some series. Short ovals can be exciting for passing, but I think my preference will always be with the tracks with a little more variety.
It took longer than normal to release the schedule, which came out last week, because of the investigation surrounding the crash in the 2011 series finale in Las Vegas that took the life of Indy 500 champ Dan Wheldon. Once those results were released, the series could move forward and look ahead to next year.
We only knew one thing for certain - that the Streets of St. Petersburg would be the first race of the season. It's now less than three months away, on March 25.
I would love to go see this race on the streets of this beautiful city on the gulf side of Florida. I was there a couple of years ago on vacation, the weekend before the race. So I got to see some of the stacks of tires and barriers lining the streets. Plus, who wouldn't want to get out of frozen Minnesota in March in favor of some sunny, warm Florida air?
Some of the usual suspects are on the schedule as well, like Texas, Iowa and Indianapolis. I think Iowa might be one of the tracks my dad and I hit for the first time this year. Now that I've moved to southeastern Minnesota, the drive is doable without even a need for a hotel stay.
Ovals aren't my favorite tracks, but I'm certainly not going to turn down a chance to watch IndyCars in action.
One course that has been absent, although not surprisingly, for this primary open-wheel circuit is Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., a beautiful four-mile road course that's been a favorite of drivers and fans for many years. We made Road America our annual racing trip as a family for many years during the CART and ChampCar eras.
With only 15 races on the schedule so far, I can certainly keep my fingers crossed that Road America will somehow make it on there. I know it's a favorite of Dario Franchitti's, and as one of the more veteran drivers with such winning ways on a primary team, his opinion should matter, right?
I would also love to see the cars running again in Cleveland, on the airport runways off the shore of Lake Erie. But with an airport race in Edmonton, it seems like a good replacement. Selfishly though, Cleveland would be more convenient for me to travel to than Edmonton, in case I wanted to be in the stands like I have in the past.
Returning after a few-year absence is the Streets of Belle Isle in Detroit. I'm having trouble placing this track; I can't seem to remember it. The oval in Fontana, Calif. is also back on the schedule. It's listed right now as the final race of the season, much like it was in the past.
Off the schedule is the race in Japan, but in its place you could say, is a race in Qingdao, China. It's a street race slated for Aug. 19. No Watkins Glen either. It's also no surprise that Las Vegas is absent from the lineup. Even without the tragedy that occurred there, the stands didn't looked packed either - for a race that fans could get a free ticket for.
Overall though, the schedule isn't bad. A lot of nice road and street courses are represented, which is better than having ovals every week like some series. Short ovals can be exciting for passing, but I think my preference will always be with the tracks with a little more variety.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
A classic World Series
We're into November now, which means yet another World Series is behind us and the baseball offseason has begun. But before we move on, let's remember that the 2011 World Series has been one of the best in years.
The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers in seven games. The Cards, as a Wild Card team, had homefield advantage and were down 3-2 after the three straight games in Texas. But just like the Twins did in 1987 and 1991, St. Louis won games six and seven in dramatic fashion.
Game 6 of this series will probably be talked about and shown again as a "classic" game. I wouldn't say it's one of the best game 6 contests, but it was certainly exciting, dramatic and a constant swing of emotions. When it was all said and done, just before midnight, the Cards came away victorious with a 10-9 win in 11 innings.
Before the last couple of innings and the extras, game 6 really wasn't that great of a game. There were multiple errors by both sides, and it just wasn't that clean of a game. The hometown kid who turned out to be the man of the hour and the Series MVP couldn't catch a pop-up above his head. But he did own up to it in post-game interviews, which was nice to hear.
Then, things got interesting. Texas was one strike away from becoming the champs. Twice. But they were denied, just like last year when they were on the losing end of the World Series. The bottom of the ninth and extra innings turned into a slug fest.
David Freese hit a triple, which homerun-machine and right fielder Nelson Cruz could have caught to end the season. I think Cruz had a case of nerves. He didn't position himself to get to that fly ball like he might have been able to, and then on a later single he bobbled the ball a bit in between his legs.
After trading leads, homers and nervous-wreck emotions, Freese sent the series to a seventh game with one swing of the bat. It was a smash to center that sealed the deal for the Cards from a momentum standpoint.
Play-by-play announce Joe Buck used his father's, "We'll see ya, tomorrow night" call for the game-winning homer, 20 years and a day after his dad said it for Kirby Puckett's game 6 home run. Some people thought it was a great tribute when son Joe said it, others didn't like it. I was in the latter category; get your own line, Joe. I liked color analyst Tim McCarver's, "How did this happen?" line better, because it was fitting after the game that had just taken place.
You'll notice in my "We'll see ya, tomorrow night" quote from Joe Buck, that I did not use an exclamation point. That was most definitely on purpose because his excitement level didn't deserve one.
Game 7 wasn't as exciting, of course, a 6-2 win for the Cards. Texas was fighting an uphill battle of being on the road and being defeated mentally. It's too bad; I was pulling for them. But in the former Twins category, scrappy infield Nicky Punto has a ring, and so does pitcher Kyle Lohse. Good for them.
The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers in seven games. The Cards, as a Wild Card team, had homefield advantage and were down 3-2 after the three straight games in Texas. But just like the Twins did in 1987 and 1991, St. Louis won games six and seven in dramatic fashion.
Game 6 of this series will probably be talked about and shown again as a "classic" game. I wouldn't say it's one of the best game 6 contests, but it was certainly exciting, dramatic and a constant swing of emotions. When it was all said and done, just before midnight, the Cards came away victorious with a 10-9 win in 11 innings.
Before the last couple of innings and the extras, game 6 really wasn't that great of a game. There were multiple errors by both sides, and it just wasn't that clean of a game. The hometown kid who turned out to be the man of the hour and the Series MVP couldn't catch a pop-up above his head. But he did own up to it in post-game interviews, which was nice to hear.
Then, things got interesting. Texas was one strike away from becoming the champs. Twice. But they were denied, just like last year when they were on the losing end of the World Series. The bottom of the ninth and extra innings turned into a slug fest.
David Freese hit a triple, which homerun-machine and right fielder Nelson Cruz could have caught to end the season. I think Cruz had a case of nerves. He didn't position himself to get to that fly ball like he might have been able to, and then on a later single he bobbled the ball a bit in between his legs.
After trading leads, homers and nervous-wreck emotions, Freese sent the series to a seventh game with one swing of the bat. It was a smash to center that sealed the deal for the Cards from a momentum standpoint.
Play-by-play announce Joe Buck used his father's, "We'll see ya, tomorrow night" call for the game-winning homer, 20 years and a day after his dad said it for Kirby Puckett's game 6 home run. Some people thought it was a great tribute when son Joe said it, others didn't like it. I was in the latter category; get your own line, Joe. I liked color analyst Tim McCarver's, "How did this happen?" line better, because it was fitting after the game that had just taken place.
You'll notice in my "We'll see ya, tomorrow night" quote from Joe Buck, that I did not use an exclamation point. That was most definitely on purpose because his excitement level didn't deserve one.
Game 7 wasn't as exciting, of course, a 6-2 win for the Cards. Texas was fighting an uphill battle of being on the road and being defeated mentally. It's too bad; I was pulling for them. But in the former Twins category, scrappy infield Nicky Punto has a ring, and so does pitcher Kyle Lohse. Good for them.
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