Thursday Ranting

I don't know whether it is due to the blizzard while it should be spring or not but I'm in the mood for a good ol' rant so here we go:

• Now this may be because I was laid off from the Minnesota Daily over the summer and they have also been jerking around my buddy in the sports department but the paper is delving into an absolutely sub-par student paper. It is poorly written and the students are just there to be paid and put it on their resume. They proved my point today with an article about how the reason for the Gophers energy on Sunday was the return of one Kevin Payton. Without the Daily I would not have known that the reason for the stingy defense and effort was due to the guy who came in the final minute and has yet to score this year. The title is even worse. Gophers feeling energized as Payton returns to the floor. He is never on the floor unless they have a 20 point lead or it is warm-ups. The argument the article makes is that he talks and is a vocal leader. Anyone can talk. Maybe the Gophers should get Chris Tucker to practice with them. He is probably just as good at basketball and he does a lot of talking. I guess if we are playing in March we all have Kevin Payton to thank.

• On the Star Tribune the Twins beat writer posted the lineups for the Twins opening spring game against Boston. Here is a sampling of some of the comments:
  
• I don't like Cuddy batting 4th not high enough average
• Why is LNP (Nick Punto) batting 2nd and why is Cuddy in RF?
• You still want a leadoff-type hitter to lead off and a cleanup-type hitter to hit cleanup. So why bat Morneau third? ST is to make guys comfortable. Why screw with his routine?
• The idiot (Gardenhire) just couldn't resist but to bat Punto 2nd

• I do not get the Twins fans who seem to only be fans to complain. I'm not saying I love everything the Twins did but why search for reasons to complain. Punto and Morneau were batting higher to get more at bats before they leave for the WBC. One poster was adamant we were screwing with Morneau by batting him 3rd instead of clean-up. First off he won MVP hitting 5th so I think he can hit anywhere in the lineup. He also didn't complain about Nathan pitching in the 4th. Spring Training wins and losses mean actually nothing and to complain about the lineup means you need either a girlfriend, a job, or a hobby. The complaints about Gardenhire I also don't get. The Twins have won 4 division titles in his 7 years as coach. 2007 is the only year they finished below .500 at 79-83. If you respond but we expect more than you are an idiot. We have had the most consistent success this decade by a team not in New York or Boston. He is coming off a season in which he took a team predicted to finish 4th or 5th in the division, losing Santana and Hunter. He finished with 88 wins for a team that finished last in the AL in home runs and had Scott Baker as the elder statesman on the starting pitching staff. The Twins consistently do better than projections or pre-season picks except for maybe the 2007 season. This team is young, fast, and has probably the best line-up they have had under Gardenhire. So please say the bitterness and armchair managing until at least June.

That helped for awhile I'm sure after the Gophers come out flat against Illinois I will be in the mood for more ranting. We shall see.