One of many virus-related opt-outs included a key member MN's new-look defense. For his own and his families health Michael Pierce chose to bypass this season of play. Every team will have to adjust on the fly due to similar decisions but this was as tough a pill to swallow as it was understandable since it leaves a literal & figurative big hole in the middle of the defensive line.
If the league is able to push through to a championship game it will be yet another one with a * but maybe that's what it will take for MN to celebrate after the last game!
The other bit of big news that the Purple got early in the week could make up for the absences of a few players. Call it the Wins In Place of Absentees or WIPA. The news of course is that Dalvin Cook reported to the facility. Plenty more steps that he & the org will need to take before Green Bay but every piece of good news needs to be savored!
Which brings us to within the last hour. Multiple sources have reported an extension for Rick Spielman. Maintaining continuity when things are going well is a great idea but if the GM/coach combo doesn't succeed to a higher level than they have to date it'll turn out to be another waste.
Just ahead of pro 🏀 resuming it was announced that Tyson Ward had signed a contract to play in the top league in Germany. Coach Richman mentioned during an interview that Ward had also been in contact with multiple NBA & D-League teams so a year or two from now he may be back in the States.
Ward's former league confirmed this week that all fall sports will be delayed until September 23 though training & practices were left to the "discretion of each institution." It's tough to see how the situation will be different in a month & a half but can't fault the leaders for trying to buy as much time as possible before throwing in another set of towels.
One more drop in the non-conference Women's 🏀 schedule came out this week in the form of a December 9th visit to Wyoming. Hopefully all the games are able to happen but this one in particular because it would be fun getting another win in front of coach Bohl!
Postponement also hit Minnesota as the MIAC decided to push 🏈 , ⚽️ , 🏐 , & Cross Country to the Spring. It's possible that the pandemic will have tailed-off by then but that would still leave some major questions regarding the 2021 season & recruiting for all those sports. In time there will be answers but I'm skeptical about those solutions, even without knowing what they are.
While the work toward an ownership change continued behind-the-scenes this week, the Howl got a much-needed win from Brooklyn in the quest to get their first-round pick.
I'll grant to you that Culver wasn't anything special this season but if they can turn 15 or 16 into another Okogie type player then rooting for another horrendous team will have been worth it!
The current-look Twins got their first lesson against a top-flight pitcher this season on Thursday when Shane Bieber shut their bats down, HARD. I couldn't even get mad about it because it was just so impressive!
Berrios was good two, far better than in the season-opener but the 2-0 might as well have been 15-0 cuz Bieber as on fire.
The next three games of the early-season playoff series weren't much more high scoring but the Showmen got started early in all three and got enough from the pitchers to take the series 3-1. In a real playoff series there would have been more time between games, so the ace would have gone again on short rest so it may well have required a fifth go to claim it. But in the third series of the season this was invaluable experience for everybody involved.
Not to mention that the home teams bull pen showed that it can be every bit as strong as the teams offense. Which is not something I expected to be able to say already, or ever. You want proof? Over the last 6 games the bull pen covered 28 innings, striking out 32 while only giving up three runs.
Indeed!
After a couple weeks of speculation, the WDA made it official that there would be no E/W showdowns this Fall. The move allowed both organizations to restructure the calendars with more off weeks so as cool as it would be to see Andrew Leingang up close before he jets off to Stanford or wherever, the decision is in the best interest of the students right now.
The birds bounced back from a brutal stretch against Winnipeg to take two of three against St. Paul at mid-week. After that, they took a trip to Milwaukee but a Sunday onslaught tipped the scales against them. With the losses they slipped even further down in the standings but aside from the Canadien squad, none of the other teams are really distinguishing themselves so Chris Coste's bunch may be able to get out of the cellar before it's too late!