With texwestern's post on the special teams matchup, I was recalling the Green Bay Packers last Super Bowl win when a special teams player, Desmond Howard, was selected as the Super Bowl MVP. It got me thinking as to who the Super Bowl MVP might be this year.

Of course I am hoping for a Packers win, so I am hoping to see a Packers player selected. However, it isn't clear who that player will be, given how this team has performed week after week with new players stepping up their performance for each game.

Aaron Rodgers is always a threat to step up and have a huge game, especially playing on a fast surface like they did in Atlanta. Tramon Williams and Sam Shields have had huge impacts in the playoffs. Clay Matthews has been downright scary, in a good way. Greg Jennings has had a couple very good games in the playoffs. B.J. Raji had the surprising pick 6 in the last game. James Starks lit a fire in the Packers running game in Philadelphia. Charles Woodson is, well, he's Charles Woodson. The man is everywhere.

So I am curious as to what everyone else's thoughts are. Who do you expect to be winning MVP honors in this game? Does anyone stand out or is it really just a toss-up?

Forgive me if this has been posted on here before, but a coworker just sent this to me and it was too good not to share.

Apparantly, Aaron Rodgers decided he was going to make his way into every team captain photo for the first three years of being with the Packers. You know, before he actually became a team captain.

It starts out casual. You could even think it was all just a coincidence. But then he starts getting a little crazier and posing for some of the shots.

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There have been several posts inspired by this song in the past couple of days, and well, there is going to be one more. The link has been posted all over the place on here, but if you haven't heard it yet, or want to listen to it again, you can check it out here.

Don't Call Them Twinkies - Craig Finn and The Baseball Project

I have been rocking out to this song all day yesterday and today, and for whatever reason, I decided to type up the lyrics to the song, since I couldn't find them online anywhere as of yet. I think I got everything right, though I had to listen close for a couple of the lines. If you see anything that isn't right, let me know and I will edit the post.

Here you go!

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In honor of the front page story today, I was curious to find out how optimistic Twins fans are about accomplishing a new goal that has shown itself as a possibility. Most Twins fans expect the Twins to take the AL Central title, but can they possibly surpass the Yankees and the Rays, taking the AL's top seed and clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs? This would be a huge advantage for the Twins, as their home record sits at 48-23, tops in the AL this year.

Let's take a look at the remaining schedules.

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Last night, I stumbled upon a last minute opportunity to go to a Twins game. A friend of mine posted a message on facebook, informing everyone that he had an extra ticket and he would rather give it away rather than just let it go to waste. Of course, I jumped at the chance to see another game live, especially with Liriano on the mound last night.

I got a hold of my friend to let him know I would gladly take the seat if he still didn't have anyone else to go. And then came the big surprise. The location of the seats...

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I was inspired by MarshalltheIrish's FanPost about the Tigers being a hated rival, so I thought it would be fun to spread the hate and see what teams Twins fans hate the most. I do expect there to be a few heads exploding by making you choose between the Yankees and White Sox. You accept the risk by reading the post.

I only included AL teams, and not all of them, because does anyone really get that fired up about the Mariners or Orioles? Or anyone in the NL? I didn't think so.

Also, feel free to share your hate in the comments section. Appropriate topics include that thing that looks like a hamster on Bobby Jenks chin, getting drunk during a playoff run (and the players who do it), players who have pictures of themselves as centaurs, annoying drum beats in Cleveland, anything about the Yankees, former Twin catchers who may or may not play for the White Sox, and anything else that causes you to curse in front of children.

Have fun!

I am getting a little bit tired of the incessant bickering about Joe Mauer's bunt attempt in Tuesday nights game, so I would like to share my opinion on why I think Joe did the right thing.

The Situation

Orlando Hudson just drove in the tying run, giving us runners at first and second with one out. Joe Mauer steps to the plate, Mr. MVP, and lays down a bunt. He moves the runners up a base, but is thrown out at first in the process. This gives us runners at second and third with two out and Jason Kubel up to bat.

My initial reaction was of shock. I couldn't believe that our MVP would sacrifice himself with one out in the inning. I was waiting for the big hit, driving one or two in and taking the lead.

But then I looked at it a bit closer.

The Reason for the Bunt

First of all, let's be very clear here, because I think there are a lot of people who are making this mistake.

Joe Mauer was bunting for a HIT. He was not just attempted to make a sacrifice bunt. That makes a big difference.

Now let's look at some numbers, since I know everyone here likes the numbers.

According to the Run Expectancy Matrix for the 1999-2002 data, the Twins were expected to score .971 runs in the inning (plus the one that already scored, obviously) at the point of Joe Mauer's at-bat, with runners on first and second with one out. The run expectancy for bases loaded with one out, which is what it would be if Mauer was successful with his bunt-hit attempt? 1.65. Clearly would have been a good result, right?

Not convinced yet?

Mauer came in to the game with 29 bunt-hit attempts in his career. He was successful in 19 of those attempts. By my math, that gives Mauer roughly a 65% chance of successfully making it to first base on the bunt. Especially because the third basemen was playing back.

On the other hand, Mauer's batting average for the 2010 season is around .295. That gives him a 29.5% chance of getting a hit. And a 36.7% (.367 OBP) chance of reaching safely.

You can see the odds of the bunt were clearly better.

Need more?

Mauer is leading the team by grounding into 17 DP's. According to FanGraphs, Mauer has grounded into a DP in 23% of all of his opportunities to do so this year. So there is a 23% chance that he ends the inning if he swings away, and then Kubel never gets an opportunity with RISP. Kubel, by the way, has only grounded into 9 DP's this year. Pretty low for our team.

Still not enough?

Kubel came into that game batting 4 for 7 off of Perez with 2 doubles. Clearly, Kubel is pretty comfortable against the guy. He had a good chance of driving in a couple runs even after Mauer was out at first.

Conclusion

I honestly believe the bunt was a smart play for the situation. If I am missing something, feel free to point it out and rip my argument apart. But the way I see it, if Mauer swings away in that situation, there are a bunch of different things that can happen. He might drive in some runs, he might strike out, he might end the inning with a double play. If he bunts, he has a 65% chance to load the bases with one out for a hitter who has had good success against the pitcher on the mound. The worst that could happen (reasonably) is what did happen. But you still are giving Kubel a shot with two runners in scoring position against a pitcher he can hit well. Neither of those are terrible outcomes. A DP or a K would have been much worse.

Also, let's not forget, Mauer said he hasn't been feeling too comfortable at the plate lately. He was trying to make something happen when he's not swinging the bat as well as he has in the past. Always looking for the heads up play. I think that is pretty admirable.

I don't know if you guys are sick of seeing photos of the new Twins ballpark, Target Field, but I had the opportunity as a season ticket holder to go check the place out with my dad yesterday.

Needless to say, the place is spectacular. Above and beyond the expectations my father and I both had. And trust me, our expectations were pretty high. Honestly, no amount of photos is going to do the place justice. You have to actually walk through the place and experience it for yourself. It feels like home. It really does.

I truly feel privileged to have such a gorgeous home for our team to play baseball in.

Anyway, being as I just recently spoiled myself with a shiny new DSLR camera, I took a lot of photos. So I thought I would share some of them. Like I said, it won't do the place justice, but I hope it can at least show you some things you might not have seen yet.

Target Field slideshow

Feel free to ask any questions you might have about the pictures, or questions about Target Field in general. I hope you all get to see the place for yourself soon!

In honor of Nick Punto Day, I am submitting my very first FanPost for Twinkie Town to post my thoughts on possibly the most hotly-debated Twin for the last few years: Nick Punto. You either love him or you love to hate him. It's tough to fall really in the middle on Little Nicky Punto. (And if you do fall in the middle, be prepared to hear it from BOTH the lovers and the haters.) But one thing is true for all; Twins fans love to talk about Nick Punto, as evidenced by the fact that we are all dedicating a whole day to talk about LNP, when we still don't even have the Joe Mauer extension done. I mean seriously, think about all of those hours you yourself have spent talking about this guy, or reading articles about him. The Punto-lovers will channel Ron Gardenhire and tell you about his scrappiness and his hustle. The Punto-haters will pound you with every stat in the book (and then some that aren't).

Let me start off by telling you a little about myself. I am 25 years old. I just graduated from college, and now I work at a desk job, building websites all day. I don't have any particular skills that are amazing or awe-inspiring, but I still show up to work each and every day, put everything I have into it, and try to do the best job that I can do for my company.

And I think this explains why I like Nick Punto.

One thing that the lovers and the haters can all agree on, I think, is that Punto is not the most amazing baseball player ever. I don't think anyone is trying to make that argument, and if you are, I don't know if we can have a conversation, because I'm pretty sure you must be living in some alternate reality (have you seen Lost?).

But the point is, I like Nick Punto because I can see a bit of myself in the way he plays. He's not massively talented. He's not the fastest guy, or the strongest guy (exception: forearms), or the most athletic guy. But he shows up to work every day and (ready for some Ron Gardenhire?) "battles his tail off." He does the best that he can do and tries to help the team win however he can.

Yes, he is inconsistent (to put it nicely) with the bat. Yes, he dives into first base (which I still see the logic on). Yes, he will strikeout or bounce into that double play and make you shake your head and yell at the TV, causing everyone else in the room to look at you strangely and wonder if you need medication (....what?).

But once in a while, he makes that amazing defensive play (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) that makes your eyeballs pop out of your head. Once in a while, that dive into first base keeps a rally going late in the game, or just takes a lot of pitches and gets on base with a walk. Once in a while, he drops down that picture perfect bunt, or at least one good enough to drive in a run. And sometimes, he even gives you the lead in the eighth inning of an ALDS game against the Yankees. But he always shows up to play. And he's almost always going to make the right play at the right time. And he doesn't make excuses when he's not on his game. 

We all know that he's not going to be winning any MVP awards. Hell, he might not even have a starting job this year. And he knows it, too. But I guarantee you one thing. Whatever role he plays this year, he's going to work his butt off, play hard, and try to make the team better. He's not going to whine if he is on the bench. He's not going to make drama in the clubhouse. He's not going to blame something or someone else if he sucks. He's just going to do the best he can in whatever role he gets placed. And there is something admirable about a guy who just shuts up and goes about his work.

Or at least I hope so, for my sake.

Now go on. Try the Kool-Aid. You'll like it.