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Happy Saturday! With the Twins rained out last night, I got some serious cable surfing accomplished, and I have to say - it's a good time to be a channel-flipping sports fan. Playoff hockey, playoff basketball, baseball, soccer... it's hard to turn on the TV without seeing parts of four or five different games. (At least for me. Maybe the rest of you see the Cardinals and the Reds on channel 873 and don't think, "Oooh, how's THAT game going?")
Anyway, on with the links:
*We begin this week with the great Spencer Hall, who took to the park to play a bit of Aussie Rules Football in Atlanta. With no photographer available, you'll have to depend on Hall's renditions of the game, which I think are probably even better than photos would have been. Also, I understand that a Aussie Rules club also exists here in the Twin Cities, so if you live in the area and enjoy running for two hours while a muscular Aussie punches and kicks you, your next move is clear.
*You're not going to believe this (you philistines), but the NHL has just signed the most lucrative television deal in league history, a ten-year, $2 billion deal. The biggest news here is that every game of the playoffs will be nationally televised, unlike the current arrangement that shows about half of the games (at least in the first round). This means they'll need more announcers, and I can only hope, as I always do, that they'll spend the money and get Gary Thorne back where he belongs, calling playoff hockey.
*The Vikes Geek would much rather have a new Vikings left tackle than a new Vikings quarterback. Having seen Bryant McKinnie play on a regular basis, I'm inclined to agree.
*Twins links this week: Parker Hageman breaks down Jason Kubel's adjustments at the plate, while Aaron Gleeman says the 19th greatest Twin of all time is somebody I'd honestly never heard of.
