Sporting the Twin Cities:
Happy Hockey-days

-- Andrea Jackley

It’s winter in Minnesota, albeit without much snow or cold weather, or even ice for that matter. Yet, the highlight of our local sports continues to be our state’s favorite pastime.

While our football teams have managed some mediocre, rather than dismal, performances as of late—and basketball remains tumultuous at best—the state of hockey remains strong. Between the "spin-o-rama" and earning number’s one and two in the rankings, our boys and girls are making us proud.

The Vikings
It’s all we’ve been hearing about: The QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY! Brad Johnson, 15-year veteran, threw four interceptions against Chicago in a 23-13 loss. Coach Brad Childress talked about the possibility of pulling Johnson from his starting position and replacing him with much-talked about rookie Tarvaris Jackson or even injured Brooks Bollinger.

Childress also talked about the possibility of rotating the J’s but confessed, "that’s probably not where I’m at right now."

One thing was certain: Johnson no longer had the public support, or confidence, of his coach. My guess is the controversy will be as hotly contested after the season is over as it is now.

However, as expected, Johnson started against the last-place Detroit Lions the following week. And without becoming too optimistic (and perhaps not so much because of the quarterbacking decision), some good things happened that Sunday.

While Chester Taylor sat out with bruised ribs, Troy Williamson was back in the mix and caught all three passes thrown his way. And the highlight of this year’s team—the defense—produced an impressive and historic performance.

The Vikings defense held the Lions to -3 rushing yards, the lowest rushing yards given up by an NFL team in 45 years.

The defense was credited with the same bewildering number against Miami on Nov. 19 until, after their weekly review of the game tapes, the Elias Sports Bureau changed the official yardage to 4.

In addition, the Vikings defense forced six turnovers from the Lions, three fumble recoveries and three interceptions. Of the Vikings’ 30 points in the game, 23 came from turnover opportunities.

And so as you may know by now, the Vikings need to “win out” the rest of the season in order to have a chance at the playoffs. The Vikings will face the New York Jets, Green Bay Packers (in Green Bay) and Saint Louis Rams in the final three games of the season. By the time this article is in print, the playoff schedule will be written, much like Joe Woods’ new driving record.

I give the Purple about as good a shot of making the playoffs as Bobby Knight has of becoming the next Gopher men’s basketball coach (you do the math).

Gopher Sports
Speaking of Gopher men’s basketball, one of the biggest stories of the winter is the force-out of Coach Dan Monson. Not that it came as a surprise, but the timing was a little...strange.

The announcement of Monson’s “retirement” (seven games into the 2006–07 season) came after the Gopher’s 90-68 loss to Clemson University continuing a five-game losing streak—the worst in non-conference play for the Gophers in 40 years. The loss also left the Gophers with a 2-5 record–the worst in the Big Ten.

Monson was brought into the program in 1999 as an anticipated star on the rise after coaching Gonzaga University to the Elite Eight the year before. He inherited a program devastated by an academic fraud scandal under former Coach Clem Haskins that invalidated the 1997 trip to the Final Four and racked the school with recruiting and scholarship restrictions.

Seven years later, Monson leaves the Gophers with a 118-106 record and only 44-68 in the Big Ten.

Speculation has run wild as interim coach, former Assistant Coach Jim Molinari has stepped in to take the reins. Rumors of Detroit Pistons head coach (and former Gophers player and Minnesota Timberwolves head coach), Flip Saunders, taking on the position abound.

Flip has known to favor college ball, although he would have to take a bulky pay cut and expressed he wasn’t interested.

Other murmurings include former college coaches Steve Lavin and Rick Majeris (a media favorite); and, yep, you guessed it, the infamous Bobby Knight. In case of the last scenario, fans might want to consider investing in face masks (to defend against flying chairs).

The Gopher women’s basketball team continues to struggle with young players who are still learning to play with one another (although not nearly as much as their male counterparts). The Gopher girls fell to Iowa State Dec. 9 with a record of 8-3, seventh in the Big Ten, just before breaking for final exams.

The Gopher football team, whom you may remember for their dismal 4-5 record midseason, found their inner offense after defeating even more dismal Indiana at the university’s homecoming game. They went on to beat both Michigan and Iowa State, earning them a bowl spot for the fifth straight season.

That’s right folks. Our mighty Gophers will be playing Texas Tech for the first time ever at the 18th Annual Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. on Dec. 29. Unfortunate side effects? Glen Mason gets another pat on the back.

The shining light in the world of Minnesota sports comes in the form of hockey. The number one-ranked Gopher men’s hockey team defeated Michigan Tech to finish the first half of the season 15-0-3; unbeaten 9-0-3 in the WCHA. This extends their winning streak to 18—a national best.

The Gopher women’s hockey team has gone 14-3-1 and are ranked fourth overall.

The Timberwolves
With all of the buzz surrounding Allen Iverson’s requested trade, who has time to follow the Timberwolves? Oh, that’s right, they won a few games! The last four, in fact, against decent teams like Chicago, Utah and Houston nonetheless. It has even prompted a little praise from front man Kevin Garnett.

"We’re a pretty good defensive team," said Garnett after the Wolves’ 90-84 win over Houston.

Garnett has earned a reputation for solid defense after giving up an average of only 87.8 points a game.

Rookie Craig Smith has been making a name for himself as an aggressive player with an appetite for hoop-hanging. Despite a few minor charging fouls, Smith loves to impress the spectators with a few dunks.

"If I get a chance to take your head off, I’m going to try to take your head off," said the eloquent and talented Smith.

As far as Iverson is concerned, his attitude and punctuality problems are irritating to any organization, but his presence on the court outweighs any of that. While we mere Minnesotans can hardly afford to get our hopes up, it will be an interesting scenario to follow.

The Wild
Our Minnesota Wild continues to dominate the Western Northwest in their own scrappy, tooth-and-nail style. Eight of the Wild’s 14 victories thus far have come either in OT or the shoot-out.

In all of the shoot-out appearances, Head Coach Jacques Lemaire only used seven players, including heavyweights Mikko Koivu (5 for 8), Petteri Nummelin (4 for 4), Brian Rolston, Pavol Demitra and, now famous in the world of hockey for his breakout move in the Dec. 5 game against the hated Chicago Blackhawks, Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

And what a play it was. Bouchard’s patented "spin-o-rama," a lightning-fast fake to the left followed by a backspin and slide right under the goalie’s nose, had to be reviewed before it was ruled as the winning goal to ensure it was one continuous motion.

Bouchard credits the innovation to his little brother Francois, who is back home in Quebec, Canada.

Looking forward, Lemaire predicts a future full of Marion Gaborik. It is reported the long-missing star is performing very well in practice. "He looks good to me," said Lemaire.

"He skated well. His speed was normal, like he normally skates."