Jim Souhan: Tiger's back, but weekend is a hodgepodge

I saved the company travel budget by watching one of the busiest sports weekends of the year on TV, spending 20 hours on sports so you didn't have to while gathering questions, observations and couch sores:

• Do you think the Notre Dame hockey players consoled themselves following their loss to Bemidji State by saying, "At least we didn't lose to Holy Cross?"

• Not that we'd ever pick on the Minnesota hockey team for getting upset by Holy Cross, or for failing to even make the NCAA tournament this year. It would be rude to even mention it.

• CBS employs a lot of high-quality broadcasters during March Madness, which makes Bill Raftery's growling and grunting sound even more forced.

You can tell he listened to Dick Vitale and decided he needed a shtick. But why, on the palette of announcing styles, which includes "joyful," "analytical" and "knowledgeable" did he choose "constipated?"

• So the Timberwolves bring Sam Mitchell back to honor him during their 20th "anniversary" season, and hand out ersatz Mitchell jerseys spelled "Woves." Yes, the franchise has used up all of its "L"s.

• So you're Michigan State. You play your home games in East Lansing, you travel to Minneapolis for two games, then Indianapolis for two more, and your reward is a berth in the Final Four in ... Detroit? What, Toledo was unavailable? Who's the team travel agent, Will Steger?

• So Kentucky fires basketball coach Billy Gillispie. What the 'Cats need in a coach is someone classy, someone capable of winning a national championship, someone who will take the team to the NCAA tournament every year. Oh, wait -- that's what they had in Tubby Smith.

• Golf on TV used to mean bad fashion, clichéd announcing and cameras trying to track the ball in the air, and failing to do so.

Today, golf on TV is mesmerizing. Sunday afternoon, we got to watch Tiger Woods chasing down Sean O'Hair in HD, with multiple cameras tracking every shot, and a tracking device demonstrating the exact line of every shot. And Johnny Miller, who combines expertise, fearlessness and humor, might be the best sports announcer working today.

• Now we know Woods' surgically reconstructed knee can withstand a celebration on the 18th green.

• Hopkins is the best high school basketball team in the history of Minnesota only if you can't remember back to when Khalid El-Amin played for Minneapolis North.

• My two favorite current college basketball coaches: Missouri's Mike Anderson and Villanova's Jay Wright. It's like they spend more time coaching mental toughness than the pick-and-roll.

• When Woods hits a bad shot, it's like he took public cussing lessons from Kevin Garnett.

• Twins catcher Mike Redmond, who will be quite busy early in the season with Joe Mauer convalescing, is known for breaking up the clubhouse with his patented "Naked Walks." Shortstop Nick Punto says Redmond's personality changes when he has to play a lot. "It really cuts down on the naked walks," Punto said. "He becomes much more serious. He's a lot more fun when he's not playing."

• So there's March Madness on CBS, the Wolves on FSN, golf on NBC, and what is ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, carrying Sunday afternoon? Bowling.

• Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Sunday that despite the perception that defensive-minded catcher Drew Butera is likely to make the team, Jose Morales has the current edge. Gardenhire said Morales' Class AAA experience and bat give him an advantage, and that he's begun to play better behind the plate.