Jon Marthaler bakes up a batch of delicious links just for you. Other times, you can find him here and here. Jon?
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Happy Saturday! If you're headed out to the 3M Championship this weekend, not only are you going to be steamed by our now-typical tropical weather, but also I have a question for you: Why do you enjoy live golf?
I mean it. I like watching golf, I like playing golf, but for the life of me I can't understand why anyone would actually attend a golf tournament. Your choices involve either scampering all over the course, trying to catch some action and picking up snippets of what's going on via leaderboards -- or sitting in one place all day, catching the same action over and over again, and picking up snippets of what's going on via leaderboards. Occasionally you get to be part of something really cool -- imagine being front row at the 17th in the '86 Masters -- but these moments seem like they'd be few and far between. I've gone to a lot of different sporting events in my life, but a golf tournament -- I just don't get the appeal.
On with the links (weak golf pun!):
*I don't know much about new Wolves signing Anthony Tolliver, but it's safe to say I like him already. Plus, he can spell "Minnesota," which Ricky Rubio might not be able to claim.
*Parker Hageman breaks down Danny Valencia's scouting report - and notes that pitchers are already using his weak points against him. On the bright side, certain teams - *cough*theRoyals - don't have enough pitching talent to make a difference, anyway, so that's a positive.
*Over at Twinkie Town, Jesse Lund reminds us all how August waiver season in baseball works. This post should be required reading for anybody who would like to have an opinion about post-July 31 baseball transactions. Speaking of the Royals, I wonder if I could forward this to Royals GM Dayton Moore? (NOTE: Feel free to make me eat these words in three years when every KC prospect pans out and the Royals are regularly beating up on the Twins.)
*And finally: The Strib's own Howard Sinker has a road map for your emotional state for the rest of this Twins season. He makes a good point: the Twins may not be legitimate title contenders, but we can still choose to enjoy the AL Central chase. It's up to us how enjoyable the last two months really are. And hey, since the White Sox have won 72 of their past 74 games (note: I did not verify this fact, but I think we can all agree it seems like the truth), there's definitely some chasing to be done. Maybe we should all just enjoy that.
That's it for me; enjoy the weekend. Even if you're going to watch golf. (If you are: please explain in the comments why it's so great. I'd like to hear it.)