Some random thoughts across the sports land:

BASEBALL

As promised (for all 3 of you who read this regularly), I shall speak (briefly) in regard to our trip to Milwaukee to take in the Twins interleague matchup with the Brew Crew a few weeks back.

First of all, I love Miller Park. What a nice place to see a baseball game. Mind you, I have not been to the more hallowed grounds in MLB – pilgrimages to Fenway, Wrigley, Yankee Stadium, are on my short list of things I want to do before I die. I have been to exactly 3 stadiums for major league ballgames; two of which were outdated domes (Toronto and Minneapolis) and now Miller Park. Needless to say, Miller Park wins the beauty contest hands down, like if you were comparing Sam Cassell with, say, Jennifer Connelly.

Is there a bad seat in that place? Please, Milwaukee fans, help me out. I looked around and I couldn’t see a seat where I would say, “Man, I really wouldn’t want to be sitting there.” It was great to see birds flying around above the stadium, see the SUN through the OPEN ROOF, see the outside world beyond the fence. Well. The view in there is nice. Spectacular? No, but very nice, and a welcome change from all the cement and Teflon nonsense in the Metrodome. It was so nice to be outside breathing fresh air while watching a baseball game, it softened the blow of watching the only loss the Twins had in that series.

However, the duo of douchebags sitting in the row in front of us could have ruined the day, were they not so bizarrely innocently stupid. These two doofuses were part of a much larger party, clearly a rare family outing of some sort, judging from the way they spoiled their children rotten. One kid, I swear, was two-fisting an ice cream cone and a lemonade slushee when he was asked if there were ANYTHING ELSE HE WANTED.

Perhaps some towels and a tranquilizer? Thanks.

 In particular, one #### seemed to have a rather high opinion of himself, as evidenced by his need to wear a button-up shirt wide open with nothing underneath, exposing his less than impressive chest and…”abs”.

This gentleman made various idiotic cracks throughout the game, but the two cherries on top were thus:

1.      1. As a handicapped relative accidentally lost control of her crutch, which went over the railing above us and landed on a chair close to him, he turns back and says, “Hey, careful there, we don’t want to be crippled, too!”

2.       As I was gone to procure more beer for the Wife and I, he asks, to no one in particular, “What the #### is a Mariner?” To which, my wife proceeds to explain that it is, essentially, a sailor. To which he replies, “Then why doesn’t their symbol have anything to do with the sea?”

Yes, because nobody uses a compass on the ocean.

I weep for the future.

We actually had a damn fine time in Milwaukee, and will make the pilgrimage again in the future, maybe even next year, schedule permitting. There was a fantastic bar in the downtown area I hope survives its first year of operation.  They had a pair of superb brews from the Lakefront Brewery exclusive to their joint. Really excellent stuff. If I happen to remember what the name of it was, I’ll include it in a future post.

FREE JOE NATHAN!!!
Last night’s loss to the Red Sox was rather frustrating. Just as I think perhaps the Twins will tie this series and make everyone forget the pain of losing a 1-0 game to open the series, the bullpen (Matt Guerrier) implodes. Again. Good thing we didn’t use Joe Nathan, eh? He’ll certainly be good and rested for the next save opportunity Gardy reserves him for that doesn’t come….

Perhaps, much like the Free Jason Kubel campaign Twins fans got behind in the last couple of years, a new campaign should start to Free Joe Nathan...

BASKETBALL

Glad to see the Mario Chalmers trade went to good use. All that financial flexibility the Timberwolves got in return for trading their gift PG to the Miami Heat went to Philly in order to acquire Rodney Stuckey, Calvin Booth and a future first rounder. That first round pick isn’t all that shiny once you realize that the pick actually comes from Utah and is believed to be top-15 protected in 2009.

So, to recap: the Wolves trade away the point guard who hit the game winning shot in the national championship game just a few months back to the Miami Heat for, basically, cash. This same point guard then proceeds to show a fair amount of savvy in owning Bulls #1 draft pick Derrick Rose in his debut in the summer league down in Orlando. 

They then take this financial flexibility and turn it into yet another swingman, yet another backup center, and a future first rounder that might be in the high twenties. Meanwhile, the Wolves have helped yet another Eastern Conference team become a contender. The 76ers now look poised to challenge Detroit, Cleveland and Boston for the top spots in the East.

And I guarantee you when the Wolves make that selection some mid-summer day in the near future, they will not get a point guard as good as Mario Chalmers.

I realize a lot of people actually like this deal, but I am not one of them, especially when I look back at the reasons for the trade in the first place.

Yes, this trade exception actually comes from the deal the Wolves made with the Heat last year to rid themselves of Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. But The Wolves used this exception not to address their currently most glaring weakness (backup PG) and instead use it to acquire more of the same parts they already have a glut of.

This is likely a a move made to set up other moves to address this weakness, as Jerry Zgoda points out in the StarTribune. But I keep thinking, "You know what? All this extra movement would not have been necessary had they kept Chalmers in the first place." Plus, stockpiling draft picks would not be such a priority had the Wolves not given up a pick to acquire (the now departed) Marko Jaric from the Clippers a couple seasons ago. I get that the Wolves seem to be trying to address their past mistakes, but that doesn't mean we should excuse them. It really means we have to keep an even closer eye on the proceedings as these moves continue to be made, if only to gauge whether or not it might be worth following this team over the next couple of years as McHale continues the rebuilding process.

Oh, and what must it be like to be Baron Davis? Assuming he cares about wins and losses after agreeing to a deal that makes him worth as much as the GNP of several small countries, it can’t be a good sign to Mr. Davis that just days after he agrees to said deal, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette are headed elsewhere. Might be a long, lonely but very rich few years in L.A….

FOOTBALL

When his career’s finally over, be it 2008 or 2028, can we make the inevitable movie of the Brett Favre Story the next installment of the Friday the 13th series? Seriously. The guy just won’t go away.

I bet Ted Thompson’s not getting text messages just from Favre. I would bet Aaron Rodgers’ agent’s been blowing up Thompson’s cell in the last 24 hours, as well. If he hasn’t, it’s time for Rodgers to get a new agent.

That’s all for now. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a Twins WIN to talk about. Perhaps Joe Nathan will actually pitch? We shall see...