sports
Michael Rand started RandBall with hopes that he could keep lies from conquering the minds of the weak. So far, he's only succeeded in using the word "redacted" a lot. He welcomes suggestions, news tips, links of pure genius, and pictures of pets in Halloween costumes here, though he already knows he will regret that last part.
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Posts about Twins fans
TFD: Could 2013 actually be a good sports year in Minnesota?
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 31, 2012 - 5:23 PM
Gophers hockey ... Gophers men's hoops ... Vikings ... Timberwolves ... Lynx ... Wild (if/when) ... Gophers football ... even Twins intrigue. And more. We figure 2013 has the potential to be fairly decent around here. Your question as we depart for the year: Which team are you most looking forward to watching in 2013?
Also: Which RandBall commenter is most likely to get arrested tonight?
TFD: Denard Span .gif makes Deadspin's top 25 of the year
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 28, 2012 - 5:03 PMOK, so this probably didn't make Deadspin's top 25 gifs of the year because of Denard Span. But you can have a look at it anyway -- in addition to the other 24 here.
Check out the Twins' new batting practice caps
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 27, 2012 - 2:33 PMFresh from the Uni Watch blog run by Paul Lukas, here is a look at the new batting practice caps the Twins will wear this season -- as well as those from all the rest of the teams in MLB:
home
road
Here is what Lukas had to say about the Twins' caps: The white front panel makes sense for the Twins, because they've worn that style before as a batting helmet. They're also adding a road design, which seems like a bit much. Like, the Twins, of all teams, really need separate home and road BP caps? Grades: A (home) and B- (road)
TFD: Here's a video of new Twins pitcher Mike Pelfrey falling off the mound
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 17, 2012 - 4:44 PMAs tweeted by #cheapeningit-in-training master David Brauer, here is a video of new Twins pitcher Mike Pelfrey tumbling off the mound while trying to deliver a pitch (complete with 2011 stock market joke. Timely!)
Note: Pelfrey doesn't always fall off the mound. From 2008-2010 he averaged nearly 200 IP while winning an average of 13 games with a decent ERA. If you are a Twins fan, you are hoping that's the Pelfrey you are getting:
Weekend Links with Jon Marthaler: Ponder thoughts and Morneau to Texas?
Posted by: Michael Rand Updated: December 15, 2012 - 6:26 PM
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The desperate thrashings of Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder have made this year's edition of the Vikings one of the strangest I can recall. I've seen great Vikings teams and awful Vikings teams, the overachieving and the underachieving, the frustrating, and that one year with Jim McMahon that still confuses me to this day, but I've never had quite the same reaction as a fan as I've had to this year's team. For the first time that I can recall, I don't feel bad when the Vikings lose.
By all reckonings, this is an immensely frustrating season. Minnesota's blessed with Adrian Peterson, one of the great rushers in NFL history, and has cobbled together an average-to-decent defense. Out of the ashes of an awful 2011 have come what is potentially a pretty good playoff team, except for the team's pre-war-esque inability to use the forward pass. Even a mediocre passing offense might have the Vikings at 8-5 or 9-4, with a chance of winning the division, but Ponder's sketchy quarterbacking has doomed the team to the outside fringes of the playoff picture.
This came to a head two weeks ago, in Green Bay, when Minnesota might well have won the game if only Ponder had spiked the ball into the ground every time he dropped back instead of attempting to throw the ball to a receiver. Like many of you, I'm cursed with a Packer fan in my office; in my case, it's much worse, given that my office's resident Packer fan is a Minnetonka native who gave up on the Vikings years ago. Normally, when the Vikings lose to the Packers, I dread going into the office. I dread having to talk about the game. I dread the horrible feelings of personal responsibility that I've never been able to avoid after a Purple loss.
This year, though, I had a reaction I've never had before. My overarching thought, as the Vikings went down, was simple: I am not going to feel bad just because Christian Ponder can't throw the ball straight. I believe he's terrible. And for the first time ever, I'm not going to feel responsible for that; I'm not going to feel bad just because nobody wants to tell the emperor that he has no clothes and that throwing off his back foot is a terrible idea.
I'm still desperate for the Vikings to win, of course. I'll still be shouting at the television come noon tomorrow. But for once, no taunts can hurt me. I'm not responsible for this one. This one's all them.
On with the links:
*Parker Hageman thinks that Justin Morneau could well be Texas-bound before this off-season is over.
*As the NHL lockout stretches into its 47th year (note: approximate), Charles Pierce reminds us that, despite what the NHL wants you to think, this is not Don Fehr's fault.
*TVFury interviews Will Leitch, who's one of my favorite writers, and still seems like a nice guy from the Midwest even though he's been in New York for years.
*Only The Economist can use the phrase "the peculiar economic logic of top-tier American college football" in an article about the annual offseason college coaching carousel.
*And finally: Winona and Red Wing have decided to introduce a trophy to their high school hockey matchup (which they're calling the River City Showdown), and after much thought, apparently the trophy is, um, a rope. It does double duty: it symbolizes barge ropes on the river, and the winning team gets to use it to pull each other out of the ditch all winter!
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recent posts
- TFD: New vow, everyone -- no more talk of Percy Harvin until after the season
- RandBall: The Vikings' four-game path to franchise purification
- Friday (The Wolves need Kevin Love) edition: Wha' Happened?
- TFD: RandBall Q&A excerpt with Dr. James Andrews, who operated on Adrian Peterson
- Want to watch the best 10 NBA bloopers from 2012? Sure you do
- The Packers' Increasingly Lost Season, Volume 12: Failing to heed lessons of the past
- RandBall: Tell us what's wrong with the Wolves
- RandBall: Vegas got pounded in 2012 NFL season because all the favorites won
- Because you asked: Here is the Randy Moss fake moon TD video
- RandBall: Latrell Sprewell feeds family with loud music, gets arrested
- Wednesday (First Vikings playoff roster vs. Packers revisited) edition: Wha' Happened?
- TFD: Could 2013 actually be a good sports year in Minnesota?
- It's safe to say Adrian Peterson got the "nasty" yards on Sunday ... and all season long
- Mid-day talker: What's your take on the evolving Royce White situation?
- Monday (That doesn't happen with the Vikings) edition: Wha' Happened?
- TFD: Denard Span .gif makes Deadspin's top 25 of the year
- Vegas gives Adrian Peterson an 18 percent chance of breaking Eric Dickerson's record
- RandBall: Exactly how did the Vikings get here?
- Friday (MarQueis Gray vs. Philip Nelson) edition: Wha' Happened?
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