The Big 10 announced earlier this week that it will explore ideas for expansion.  It is pretty widely known that the Big 10 has always had a crush on Notre Dame, and for good reason.  However, we also know that Notre Dame hasn't exactly been reciprocating in the courtship.  It is still possible, however (contrary to popular belief, Notre Dame would benefit financially from the move).

Missouri has been mentioned a lot, but I don't see how that benefits the Big 10 in any way--not a ton of tradition, nor rabid fan base, nor academics, nor or huge TV market.  Personally, Rutgers makes more sense than Missouri (also, another myth is that a new school must border on the existing Big 10 footprint--which is also untrue).

But another interesting school that has surfaced is Texas.  Because why would the Big 10 not aim high if it can't get Notre Dame?  In fact, the argument can be made that Texas may be more beneficial than Notre Dame given its stellar athletics program, fan following and Houston/Dallas/San Antonio/Austin markets.  Texas fits in with the Big 10 in terms of tradition, size, market, AND academics.  As a disclaimer, I am a Big 10 guy (Minnesota undergrad) currently in Texas' MBA program here in Austin.  (As an aside I will DEFINITELY be cheering for Minnesota in the big volleyball match tomorrow night!)  So, I am all in favor of Texas moving to the Big 10.  It would probably benefit Texas financially (The Big Ten Network alone adds $6M per year and would probably grow with the addition of Texas) as well as give it more of a presence in recruiting the Midwest.  It would also be a step up in terms of academic resources (every Big 10 university is part of the prestigious American Association of Universities, as is Texas, only half of the Big XII has such designation).  

What I'm looking for is some input from Texas fans.  I do see some drawbacks such as losing some rivalry games with Oklahoma and A&M.  It certainly wouldn't be hard to keep those as non-conference games, but would only make the schedule more difficult (can you imagine playing Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M all in one year?).  Plus, I think Texas would be at a huge disadvantage playing in Minnesota, Penn State, Wisconsin and other cold weather locales where there may be several inches of snow in late season games.

But that is just football.  Texas would be a good add for Big 10 volleyball (Minnesota and Penn State are both in the Final Four this weekend), basketball (joining Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota as powerhouses), and baseball (Minnesota and Ohio State are the big guns here, but Texas would probably dominate).

So what do Texas fans think?  Surely, there are some positives and negatives to which I am not privy.

If you were out celebrating Thanksgiving and/or the Gophers triumph over Butler, you probably assumed our next opponent would be UCLA.  That assumption was vanquished by the Portland Pilots in exclamatory fashion.  74-47 was the final score as the Pilots ran UCLA out of the gym.

Introducing the Portland Pilots

So who are these guys?  First of all, they play in the West Coast Conference (WCC) and are picked to finish second in the conference to Gonzaga (who won the Maui classic, by the way).  Last year, some wondered if Pat Mills and St Mary's might make a legitimate case for an at large bid out of the WCC.  That wasn't in the cards, but Portland could make a case this year with wins already over UCLA and Oregon.  They also play at #14 Washington next month.

The Players

The Pilots return nine (!) upperclassmen, so this clearly seems to be their year to prove something.  They are led by 6'4" senior guard Nik Raivio who averaged 16 points a game and 6.5 boards last year and is on a similar pace so far this year.

Raivio's supporting cast includes fellow senior guard TJ Campbell.  Campbell averaged 11 points last year and 17 a contest so far this year.  The Pilots three guard attack also includes Jared Stohl who also averaged 11 points a game last year and contributed 15 against UCLA on 5-5 shooting from downtown.

Portland's game seems to focus on guard play and outside shooting.  They were 11-19 from behind the arc against the Bruins which is no surprise since the Pilots were second in the nation in three-point shooting last year, converting at nearly a 42% clip from three.  Other key players are 6'6" forward Ethan Niedermeyer, who also can shoot the long ball (41% last year).  On the inside, 6'10" senior Robin Smeulders averaged nearly 11 points a game to go along with 6 boards.

What to Expect

Portland was able to beat UCLA because they out shot them from inside the arc, outside the arc, and the free throw line.  But the biggest factor was probably Portland's ability to win the battle of rebounds.  Interior play is not the Pilots strength, so any time they can win that battle they will probably win the game because of their strong guard play.  The Pilots have the recipe for mid major success:  senior leadership and strong guard play, so they should not be taken too lightly.  We better not be looking past them to the championship game, or we'll never get there.

This should be an interesting matchup for the Gophers.  The Pilots will stretch the floor in the half court to get their jump shots.  Rebounding will be a key.  We must limit the number of second chances for their guards.  Perimeter defense will need to be strong.  I am wondering if we might see a press to test Portland's ball handling.

Sampson and Iverson give us an advantage over this team.  Perimeter defense is imperative from Nolen, Westbrook, and DJ.  If we let them shoot the long ball, they are capable of making a lot of them.  We also have more depth than the Pilots, so when their best players are off the floor, we need to outscore them.

I think most of us would like to add Notre Dame if the conference was going to expand to 12, but we all know that Notre Dame will never join a conference as long as they have their own TV contract.  We have also heard other teams thrown around such as Pitt and Missouri.  I really don't know why either of those schools would leave their current conference for the Big 10.  Pitt would be helped for football, but would probably be taking steps backwards in basketball, not to mention that they would lose some exposure to big markets such as Philly, New York, Boston, and D.C. by exiting the Big East.  As for Missouri, I have no idea why they would want to move away from tradition, history, and rivalries of the Big XII.

Why not look west for other schools?  When the conference took Penn State, that seemed pretty far east to me but it works today.  So why not look to expand the footprint of the conference even more?  Here are some smaller schools that I think could be deserving of a promotion:

Boise State:  They have proved they belong with the big boys year after year.  They would certainly add a different element (think hybrid Pac10/Big 10 with a lot of creativity).  They would probably become less gimmicky with a promotion to the Big 10 as they get better recruits.  I personally would love to see a game on the smurf turf some time.  Their basketball team has been okay, but would definitely benefit from an upgrade in recruiting if admitted to the Big 10.  Their wrestling team could also give Minnesota and Iowa some competition as well since BSU currently competes in the Pac10 for that sport.

TCU:  The Horned Frogs actually have an outside chance at the national championship game this year if they win out (Alabama loses the Iron Bowl and then beats Florida in the SEC Championship game, or if Texas loses a game).  Plus, this would be a strategic move for the Big 10 to establish a bigger presence in Texas for recruiting.  TCU has finished in the top 25 three of the past four years and this could very well be the third time in five years that they have finished in the top 11.  The problem is that their basketball team blows, although a promotion to the Big 10 would help them some.

Utah:  The Utes have built a strong football program over the last 5 years.  They arguably were a national championship contender last year and have only a loss to Oregon as a blemish on their record this year.  They travel to Fort Worth to take on TCU next weekend which should decide the Mountain West champion.  The Utes reached the NCAA basketball tournament last year after being absent in recent years.  They do have a history of having good teams and could compete with the rest of the Big 10 right now in either sport.

Air Force:  The Falcons always seem to have a respectable football team.  I personally don't understand the hatred for the triple option since I think it is fun to watch the deception, but some people seem to have a problem with it.  Their team always plays hard, is never outhustled, and is always in the game.  A switch to the Big 10 probably wouldn't have much, if any, change on their recruiting (but it could positively affect the quality of their coaching staff) given that it is a service academy.  Air Force usually fields a decent basketball team, as well, although they were terrible last year.

These selections are based on athletics alone.  I don't know enough about each institution's academic record to speak intelligibly about that consideration.  Facilities would also be a factor, but I would think that any of these schools, with the exception of Air Force, would be willing to expand given the growth of revenue sources from the Big 10 conference.

This is what it comes to during a bye week.  

I have long thought that the Vikings should use this as their theme song (not to displace the Skol Vikings fight song, as this is most definitely not a fight song and Skol is awesome); sort of like how the Red Sox use Sweet Caroline as their de facto theme song.  (By the way, lyrics ARE safe for work.)

This song is by the great  band of Gogol Bordello (the lead singer is from Ukraine, and hence some of the lyrics are not in English, plus he is also nutty), and it fits perfectly for the Vikings, as you can tell by the title.  The song would be a festive, quasi-drinking song to warm our spirits during the game.

I hope someone from the Vikings organization reads this and implements my idea.  A great way to get the crowd going rather than the cliche music they normally play at games (let it be noted that I have not attended a game in a year or two, but I imagine it has not changed much, if any).

Probably like many others out there, I am cheering for something ridiculous to happen so that the BCS is drawn up differently.

Here is what I think would cause the most chaos:

• Texas wins out and gets to be in the championship game.
• Iowa loses to Minnesota (okay, that one is just personal).
• Cincinnati wins out and finishes undefeated.
• TCU wins out and has some impressive wins en route to an undefeated season.
• Boise State wins out and finishes undefeated.
• Oregon wins out and finishes 11-1.
• LSU wins out (beats Alabama and then Florida in the SEC title game).

Oregon and LSU would both be 11-1 and Alabama and maybe Florida would fall behind them in the rankings.  Does anyone else think that the voters would vault LSU straight to #2 after beating both 'Bama and Florida (LSU is currently #9 in the BCS)?  I think they would, I'm not sure what the computers would say.  LSU would also have to jump over Oregon (who is currently ranked 8th in the BCS).  Oregon only plays teams .500 and above from here on out, so their schedule wouldn't hurt them too much.

So here would be the mess:  LSU would jump over a team it is currently behind, plus undefeated teams from Boise State (who beat Oregon), TCU (wins over BYU, Utah, Clemson, Virginia), and Cincinnati.  Furthermore, BSU (probably) would get left out of the BCS all together and miss out on BCS money.

Any other good scenarios that could lead to too much controversy?

Here is a good story on our former basketball coach.  I don't think he gets enough credit for what he did for the program.  He came into virtually a no-win situation and made us a competitive team after the fiasco Clem Haskins left behind.  The fact that he even got us back to the Big Dance in 2005 was a feat in itself.

Obviously, we are in a better situation now with Tubby, but Monson got the program back on its feet after its darkest time (I do concede that we were horrible the year he was fired resigned).  He at least put it in position to be good enough for Tubby to take over.  In any event, I hope he does well with Long Beach State, and too bad we don't get to play them in the first round of the 76 Classic--although a possible matchup in the NCAA Tournament wouldn't be that far fetched.

Is this, or is this not the week where we open up the Big 10 at home...against Wisconsin, no less?  I ask because the participation has been more lackluster than any other time this season.  Why are we lacking excitement for this game?  I'm just wondering if anyone realizes we are playing Wisconsin this week.  We usually play them as the last home game of the season, but we changed it this year to open up TCF Bank Stadium for the Big 10 season.

As an aside, I'm watching the Hawai'i and Louisiana Tech game on ESPN right now as I type this.  The commentators are debating a possible helmet to helmet hit.  Lou Holtz just said in regards to the helmet to helmet rule, "It is just like the Supreme Court ruled about pornography.  You can't necessarily define it, you just know it when you see it."  At this particular time, the camera happened to be on the announcers in the booth, Mark May, Lou Holtz, and the play by play guy.  Everyone got VERY uncomfortable when Lou said this.  It was unbelievably funny in that awkward way.  Everyone looked to change the subject very quickly.

</most random post ever>

My picks are always the best.  I will not argue about any of these places.  There are other good places, but I think these are the best of the lot that are close enough to the U and downtown.

I assume you are staying downtown. If so: If you get in early enough on Friday, go to Brit's Pub. There is a rooftop patio with lawn bowling. The drinks are overpriced and so are the women, but nothing beats a September evening in Minnesota outdoors. From there, you can find plenty of other local favorites on Nicollet Ave (The Local, The Newsroom, to mention a few). Don't forget to find the Mary Tyler Moore statue!

Before the game, go to Stub & Herb's (Washington and Oak). Great beer selection, but it be will packed to the brim. The game day atmosphere will make up for it. I recommend a porter since it will be early in the morning. A porter is a perfect game day beer for an 11:00 AM kickoff. It tastes like coffee. If they have a coffee porter, get that. My favorite is the Summit Great Northern Porter.

After the game, head over to NE Minneapolis, which is just east of Hwy 35W on University. Go eat at Brasa (Central and Hennepin) and order the rotisserie pork, beef, corn bread, creamed spinach, with rice and beans (unless it is only two of you, then pare it down accordingly). They also serve wine and beer there. I suggest a Surly Furious.

From there, head to Mac's Industrial Sports Bar (Central and 4th) and get yourself some more good beer along with other college football games on TV. The Bulldog is also nice and has a shuffleboard table, which is free to play.

If you are anything like me, you get more hungry the more you drink. And you guys will be drinking a lot after losing to the REAL Golden team. :) So for a late dinner/snack you absolutely MUST go to The Butcher Block (East Hennepin and 4th, but no TV's there--just delicious food). They have 29 different varieties of wings. Did you hear me? 29!! And these are no BW3 boring wings. These are grilled to order and have very distinct flavors. Even if you don't like wings, you will like these. I recommend the green curry coconut variety. Seriously. Trust me. I also recommend ordering a Widmer beer there--it is a West Coast beer that won my heart, so you should feel at home if you are from Cal (although it is from Portland). The Butcher Block is also open until 2:00 AM or later on the weekends--so you can get good late night wings there.

If you end up back downtown, be sure to drown your little brown bear sorrows at Mackenzie's (8th and Hennepin or thereabouts). This is THE best bar in the Twin Cities that no one has ever heard of (okay, almost no one). And it is even downtown, so I don't get why people don't know about it.

If it isn't too late, feel free to enjoy the other splendors that are downtown evening entertainment venues in Minneapolis.

By the way, I'm 30 years old, so I stay away from places that are loud, crowded, and/or have cover charges.  But these places give you some of the best food for the dollar and some great beer.  If you are younger than 25, you probably just want to hang out on Nicollet Ave and 1st Ave N downtown and 4th St SE over by the U.  Any number of these places will do since all they are to me is loud and crowded and charge cover--so they aren't really distinctive.

Enjoy!

First, if this post was already done by someone, I apologize.  I've been rather AWOL lately due to some life changes (all good ones) and haven't had much time to read or post things.

Secondly, I realize this is rather gimmicky but figure it is worth talking about.

So here are my selections for all Metrodome team:

1st Base:  Kent Hrbek

Hrbie beats out Morneau based on the fact that he is a Bloomington native and played large parts in bringing us two world championships.  Morneau will probably end up with better statistics and more hardware, but not sure that hardware will include two World Series rings.  Besides that, Hrbek played in the Dome for 13 seasons to Morneau's 7.

2nd Base:  Chuck Knoblauch

I don't really get some fans animosity towards Knoblauch.  He was a pretty good player and integral part of the 1991 championship team.  He has never said anything bad (that I'm aware of) about the Twins organization.  I don't really blame him for requesting a trade at the time he did; not to mention no one seemed to really care until the Twins were good again four years later.  Even if you don't agree with me on that count, the trade to the Yankees is still paying dividends.  Among others, we got Eric Milton and Christian Guzman out of the deal.  We then traded Milton for Silva and Punto.  While none of these turned out to be great players (Milton did throw a no-hitter though) they have still been useful players.  Steve Lombardozzi gets honorable mention on the name alone.

3rd Base:  Gary Gaetti

Do I really need to argue his case against Corey Koskie, Scott Leius, Mike Pagliarulo, and Nick Punto?  Actually, one could perhaps make a case for Koskie.  He had a better OPS than The Rat, but the G-Man was also a better defensive player.

Shortstop:  Greg Gagne

Nope, not the AWA wrestler (BTW...am I the only one that watches the replays on ESPN Classic?).  Gagne wins more by default here.  First, we really haven't had a standout SS in the Metrodome.  Secondly, the ones we have had didn't have the tenure of Gagne.  Gagne was the quintessential defense first shortstop for his era.

Catcher:  Joe Mauer

A two time AL batting champion who has lived up to his #1 overall draft spot and homegrown Saint Paulite.  Harper, Laudner, nor Pierzynski stood a chance.  BTW...I have the same questions for the Pierzynski haters out there that I did with Knoblauch.  Sure, he may be a protagonist, but so what?  He did well while he was here and we got great trade value for him.

Outfield:  Kirby Puckett, Torii Hunter, and Dan Gladden

Puckett and Hunter need no explanation.  Gladden was a tough one for me.  Matt Lawton, Shane Mack, Jason Kubel, and Jacque Jones all had their moments, but that was about it.  Kubel could turn out to be the best of the bunch, but not quite yet.  Plus, he should have been in the DH category.  I was very tempted to go with Brunansky here, because I always liked him when I was kid.  Marty Cordova never lived up to his rookie year (plus one of my girlfriends cheated on me with him--true story, so there is a personal bias there, although it was truly a big favor he did for me).  Cuddyer had one good year.  Randy Bush was always a 4th outfielder.  He had some great moments and was a good pinch hitter.  I went with Gladden and his mullet mainly because when I think of the Dome, I think of the two World Series that we won while he was on the team.

Designated Hitter:  David Ortiz

Somehow, the steroid era (meaning the gaudy offensive numbers, not the positive tests) missed the entire organization.  We haven't had much power since Puckett and Hrbek retired.  Ortiz probably wins more on his reputation as a whole.  I really liked Chili Davis, but he was only here two years.  Molitor and Winfield were really only here for a cup of coffee, really.  Even though they did get to huge career milestones while here.  Roy Smalley could be an intriguing argument here, but i'm going with Ortiz.

Starting Pitcher:  Johan Santana, Frank Viola, Kevin Tapani

Santana will surely get no arguments, and Viola little.  Tapani will probably be the most controversial.  This one was a true toss-up for me.  I very easily could have gone with Radke.  Their stats are very similar and Radke probably should be rewarded for his loyalty.  But I'm giving my vote to Tapani.  In any event, you can vote 25 times for the all Metrodome team so I can almost split their votes down the middle.

Relief Pitcher:  Rick Aguilera and Joe Nathan

Aguilera was very good and even came back after we traded him away to Boston for their postseason run in 1995.  Nathan has been nothing short of dominant from day one with the Twins.  I'm too lazy to check right now, but does anyone have more saves than Nathan since 2004?  Off the top of my head, maybe Rivera, Hoffman, K-Rod, or Wagner?  Those are just guesses.  Someone should fact check me on that one.  Guardado get honorable mention, but really he was never in the same class as Aguilera and Nathan.  Reardon was only around for three years, and Berenguer was most known for the Berenguer Boogie.

Manager:  Tom Kelly

Gardenhire certainly has the better managerial record, but still not even a World Series appearance.  TK got us there twice and won them both.  Not only that, but he handed off the team to Gardenhire in a position to win after finishing 85-77 and in 2nd place in 2001--the same record as his first full year managing the club in 1987 and first World Series.

What do you guys think?  Any vehement objections?

I need to get a sweater like #57.  This was your 1956 National Champion Gophers squad.  This really isn't relevant, but I like the picture.

After a successful weekend in Fort Worth, winning two of three from a nationally ranked team, the Gophers (10-4) have found themselves among the top 25 teams in the country according to Baseball America.  We are the only team above the Mason-Dixon line in this top 25.  I mention this because southern schools dominate college baseball largely because they can play year round, and thus have better facilities.  The Gophers do have the advantage of having the Metrodome (at least there is one baseball team that likes having it around!), which allows them to play home games in February.  The three game set against TCU marked the beginning of an eleven game road trip, including eight in Texas, culminating with the opening of the Big 10 season in Bloomington, Indiana, over the weekend without any off days.

The Golden Gophers were actually quite fortunate to come out on top in the first game on Saturday.  They hung on to win 6-4 behind a three-run eighth inning despite giving the Horned Frogs every chance to win the game.  After jumping out to an early three run lead, the Gophers got sloppy in the field.  A passed ball in the third inning later allowed a run to score from third on a sacrifice fly to trim the lead to 3-1.  In the fourth inning, TCU was able to tie up the game thanks to two Gophers errors.  Yet another error in the fifth led to TCU's first lead, putting them up 4-3.  All things considered, the Gophers actually did well to only be down one with runners getting on base with regularity.  A Kyle Knudson double scored two in the top of the 8^th and Knudson later scored as well on a Nick O'Shea single.  The Gophers then found themselves in trouble again in the bottom of the ninth when Cullen Sexton walked the bases loaded while only retiring one; Cullen had previously pitched two scoreless innings while striking out four.  Scott Matyas came in to get the final two outs and record his first save of the season.

Game two on Sunday was practically over before it began.  The Gophers scored seven runs in the first inning.  TCU starting pitcher Sean Hoelscher was the benefactor of two of walks, three hits, a wild pitch, a hit batter, and a botched pickoff attempt--all in one-third of an inning.  If there was a golden sombrero for pitching, that might be it.  After Hoelscher was relieved, Gophers shortstop and number nine hitter AJ Petterson broke it open with a two-run triple.  Petterson later scored and the Gophers never looked back en route to a 7-2 victory.  Starting pitcher Tom Buske went 6.1 strong innings yielding four hits, two walks, while fanning seven, and allowing just one earned run.  Scott Fern pitched the final 2.2 innings while striking out 3 giving the Gophers ten k's on the day.

Monday night's final game of the series looked to be the beginning of a sweep in the early going.  TCU starting freshman pitcher Kyle Winkler started off the game by hitting DH Matt Nohelty who soon stole second.  However, the freshman hurler caught Nohelty too far off second and picked him off.  The Gophers then followed with a walk and single to put runners on first and second with one out.  Right fielder Michael Kvasnicka delivered another single, but 3B Kyle Geason was thrown out at the plate-the second runner making an out on the bases in the inning.  After the Gophers failed to score in the first, 1B Nick O'Shea belted a solo homerun in the second to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead.  The Horned Frogs responded in the third with a pair of runs and gained a lead they would never relinquish.  The game stayed tight with TCU adding two-out runs in both the 7^th and 8^th innings.    The story of the game had to be the freshman on the mound for TCU.  After a rough first two innings Winkler settled down and allowed just one run on six hits and three walks over eight innings while striking out ten.  Other than homer by O'Shea, Derek McCallum was the lone bright spot offensively for the Gophers going 3-3 with a walk.

Up next for the Gophers is two games with Texas-Arlington and three against Dallas Baptist before a three game set in Bloomington.