3 Minnesota teams in action this Sunday, so let's get to it (probably more if you count hockey, but really, is anybody ready for hockey in September? Of course not)

CHICAGO WHITE SOX @ MINNESOTA TWINS, Friday 7:10, Saturday 11:10am!!!!!(that's not a typo), Sunday 1:05pm. (FSN and channel 29)
Final regular season weekend for your hometown 9, when we'll find out if they'll be hosting Oakland or more likely, traveling to the Bronx early next week. Twins and Tiggers are all square, but the Stripes have the tie-breaker, so the Twinks basically need to sweep this weekend in order to win the division. And even that may not be enough as Detwah has taken 13 of 14 from Kansas City so far this year. Minnesota's record against baseball's worst team? Just 10-6. Look no further than that stat as a reason they probably won't win the division.

However, my roommate Kris made a great point last night on why that might not be a bad thing: everybody's scared of the big, bad Yankees, and rightfully so. They are clearly the best team in baseball and clearly the best bet to win the World Series. However, if the Twins win the division and defeat Oakland, they'd likely play the Yankees in a 7 game series. But if the lose the division, they'd play the Yankees in a best-of-5. I figure the road through to the World Series goes through the Bronx Bombers, so as Kris would, I'd rather play them in a 5 game series instead of 7, with Santana throwing twice, including the opener. Once we find out who the Twins are playing, we'll break it all down for you as always, but for now, don't be heartbroken if the Twins don't win the pennant this weekend.

Remember this: 3 of the last 4 World Series champs (Boston, Florida and Anaheim) were all wildcards- and all of them had to go through the Yanks.

#6 Michigan Wolverines (4-0) at Minnesota Gophers (2-2), Saturday, 7:00pm (ESPN)
Big 10 football Saturday night under the lights- er dome. That outdoor stadium can't get here fast enough. Then again neither can a defense, a new coach, and a new athletic director. The GOphs have played Michigan tough the last few years, but it's hard to see this one being anything but a Maize and Blue parade of touchdowns. In those past couple of years, the Gophs had a great rushing offense and a decent defense. This year, the ground game as been better, but certainly not great, and the defense has been worse than usual, which is saying something for a Glen Mason team.

Making the uphill battle even steeper is that Michigan has been absolutely possessed this year, coming off their first 5 loss season in forever. Their D has allowed, are you ready for this- 74 yards rushing. Not on average. TOTAL. They held an always-powerful Wisconsin rushing attack to under 20 yards last week. That's not a good sign. And after last year's upset, I don't think there's any chance of a trap game for the Wolverines. There's just no way they overlook Minnesota this year. This a revenge hungry team, and the Gophs will be on the menu Saturday night.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (2-1) at BUFFALO BILLS (1-2), Sunday, noon (Fox)
I'm trying not to be Mr. Negative this weekend, but I think the Bills win this one. They've played three pretty good games, and could just as easily be 3-0 as 1-2. The D has been stout and they've got a good back in Willis McGahee (just ask him, he'll tell you). JP Losman actually completed some passes last weekend, throwing for over 300 yds for the first time in his young career. It'd be nice to see the Vikings score, what do you call those- OH YEAH an offensive touchdown, but I doubt it in a low-scoring slugfest, and you know Ralph Wilson stadium will be rocking because, honestly, what else is there to do in Buffalo? These two are evenly matched, but I see the Vikes sitting at .500 after this weekend. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Come back for more chipper and cheerful analysis next week! Have a good weekend everybody.

* I took a great trip to Milwaukee and Chicago over the weekend with my buddies Kris, Luke, and Kyle. We went to the Brewers/Giants game Friday night, got the sweetest deal from a scalper named Rick (or was it Ron? Rob? Ralph?), and enjoyed a 13-12 Brewers win in a real ballpark. What was even sweeter, of course, was the fact all 4 of us had mustaches. Yup, each of us grew beards for the 2 weeks leading up to this trip, and then shaved Friday morning before we left, just leaving our glorious staches that would make Adam Morrison or Jake Plummer proud. Let me just say we fit right in in Milwaukee!!

I do have to say I've been too hard on Milwaukee. It's a great time, and has a really nice downtown. I had no idea. And they did a great job with Miller Park. Twins fans have to be excited to get a new park, although I've come to realize that the people who were whining about how the new place won't have a roof weren't whining at all-- they were right. How can you build a baseball stadium in the upper midwest without a retractable roof? Having been to Safeco and Miller Park, you can build a beautiful retro park and still not lose the ambience of the place when the roof is on. It didn't rain for the game Friday night (yet the roof was unfortunately closed. We blamed Barry Bonds because apparently he won't play if there's a chance of rain. More on him in a minute), but it poured at the Sox game Saturday, and anybody who's spent anytime in the Midwest knows how cold and unpredictable the weather can be in April and September, and how stormy it is the rest of the summer. Don't get me wrong, ANYTHING"s better than that gawd-awful Metrodome, but they dropped the ball not getting a roof on the new place.

* Speaking of Barry Bonds, baseball fans better get used to the fact he's going to break Hank Aaron's all-time home run record next season. Whether it's with the Yankees or Tigers or whoever, the man will play one more year as a DH and break the record before this time next season. In Friday night's game, Bonds had 2 doubles, a home run, and 6 RBI's. He's not the hitter he once was, but if he DH's a full season and doesn't have to run around in the outfield, he's still plenty good enough to hit 30 HR's next year. And frankly, baseball deserves to have him, and not the classy Hank Aaron, holding its most important record. Bonds used roids because baseball didn't test for it, and this is what they get. I'm not a Bonds fan, but he takes the brunt of everybody's steroid grief, but as we're finding out, he definitely wasn't the only one. Baseball wanted to win back fans with home runs and high scores, and to have Bonds, McGwire and Sosa holding some big accomplishments while they were "allegedly" on the juice is what you get for not testing. Also, if you're Barry and everybody already hates you, why wouldn't you try and get the record nobody wants you to have? It's not like people will hate the guy less if he doesn't hit 756. Ok, ok enough about Barry. I'm as sick of him as you are.

* Brewers SS Bill Hall is the most underrated player in baseball. What a hitter.

* The Sports Guy mentioned this a couple of weeks ago after his trip to Milwaukee, but it bears repeating: the old school ball & glove Brewers logo is as good as it gets in sports. The number of people wearing that logo and the old color scheme were at least 3-to-1 at the game. They need to go old school ASAP. And of course i bought a t-shirt.

* It's interesting that there was a time in human history when the mustache was a sign of manhood and class. Now? 4 dudes in their mid-late 20's with mustaches just looks weird. When you're wearing one, you will occassionally forget you have it. After the Brewers game, we went in search of an Irish pub. We found one and went in, but discovered almost immediately they were cranking techno music, so we walked right back out. But not before Kris and Kyle had this exchange:
Kris: "That place was terrible, but at least I made the cute waitress do a double take."
Kyle: "Um, that's because you have a mustache."
Kris: "$%^&&#*!!"

* We left the staches in Wisconsin and went to the White Sox/Mariners game. One thing you should know: we all generally hate the Sox. I wore Mariners stuff, Luke wore Twins stuff, and Kris took it to a whole nother level: a red Twins hat and a bright red Twins Johan Santana T-shirt. I can just tell you that apparently Sox fans really don't think Santana or the Twins are that good. And that's putting it kindly. I'm sure they're just bitter because their team won't be going to the playoffs this year.

* And really I'm surprised by that. They've got 2 guys with 40+ HR's, and 5 overall with at least 20. How in the hell do you not make the playoffs with that lineup? How? Their pitching, both starters and relievers, have to be terrible to allow that to happen. They'll be back with a vengeance next year.

* Finally, we watched the 2nd half of the Notre Dame/Michigan State game at the ESPN Zone with a very pro-Notre Dame crowd. Did I miss something? Was State coach John L. Smith working for Notre Dame? He certainly won't be working in East Lansing next year, I can tell you that. It's beyond me how you blow a 31-14 halftime lead when you're running the ball down ND's throat.

* Finally, I just have to say that I LOVE Chicago. I might want to hold hands with it. If you haven't been in awhile, it's well worth your time. And if you want to wear a stache while there, well, it certainly won't hurt your experience. Hell it may even help it.

MORE TWINS!!!

That's right, this die-hard Seattle Mariners fan has Twins Fever and I can't help it anymore. I would never break my allegiances with the M's, but I finally broke down and bought a piece of Twins paraphenalia last night to wear to the Twins/Tiggers tilt tonight when I got with TheBigSam (it's his last night in Minnesota. SAD BIGSAM! SAD!) and my roomy Kris. I'm hoping this won't be my last Twinkies game this year, and I probably need to stop wearing Mariners stuff to the Dome- especially when Minnesota isn't even playing them. So I picked up the Justin Morneau jersey/tshirt, justifying that as supporting a hometown guy (we're both from different suburbs of Vancouver, BC) while maybe kinda sorta admitting I'm getting caught up in this incredible Twins run. You've heard the numbers by now: 34-8 and now right smack dab in the middle of the wildcard race. And if they can take 2 of 3 from Detwah this weekend (a very good possibility) they'd be welcomed back into the division race too.

I just love being in a town with a team in a pennant race. After their awful April and parts of May, the Twinkies have been baseball's best team the past two months, and don't think the fine citizens of the Land o' 10000 Lakes haven't noticed. Usually walk-up tickets are easy to come by at the Dome, especially on a summer Friday night, but with all the hype (and with The Cisco Kid on the mound) for this series, we had Sammy go pick up tickets yesterday to make sure we got them. It's like playoff baseball in July, and I'm absolutely loving it.

What makes this even better for Twins fans is that the Little Engine That Could is scaring the bejeezus out of the rest of the league right now. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, wants to face this team in the playoffs. Nobody wants to see Santana and Liriano 4 times in a 7 game series, because if that happens your chances of beating those guys 4 times (which just also happens to be the number of games you need to win a playoff series) are slim to none. Add a lights out bullpen and a rejuvenated Brad Radke to the pitching mix, and the Twins should be the favorites in baseball to win it all- IF they can just get in.

I've been a proponent of having the LETC (Little Engine That Could) spend some serious money on a cleanup hitter, which will probably not happen for the umpteenth trade deadline in a row. However, this time around I actually agree with it. There's only one guy the Twins could get that would be worth giving up P Matt Garza and some other top prospects for. It's not Alfonso Soriano, who's price tag according to most sources is 2 or 3 top-level prospects, or the Carlos Lee, who was just dealt today to the Texas Rangers (also dealing a major blow to any playoff chances my M's had in the AL West). Both of those guys are the corner-outfield thumpers the Twins needs. But considering their both free agents at year's end, and would be unlikely to get a big contract offer in the offseason, it's just not worth it give up some top prospects for a two-month rental.

The only guy who COULD be on the market that would be worth it for me is Baltimore Orioles SS Miguel Tejada. The Orioles are going nowhere again this year, and Peter Angelos might finally be ready to trade away his most prized trade chip to blow it up and start over. It would cost the Twins Garza and at least one other top guy, but I think it'd be worth it. He not only solves the cleanup-hitter conudrum, but he could slide over to comfortably play third. I know, I know, I know Twins fans...what about Nick Punto? Punto's been hitting .385 in July, but there's a reason he's a .261/.331/.349 career hitter. He won't keep this up all year, and when the playoff chase comes, would you rather have Punto or Tejada up in a big situation? I thought so.

I don't expect Terry Ryan to make this deal, but if there's one out there to make a splash, that's the one. Although the backend of the Twins rotation has struggled, it doesn't make any sense to try and add another starter because there's so few guys available and none of them (not counting Barry Zito) are any better than the guys the Twins already have. If Silva can keep the ball down and the sinker sinking, he'll be fine as the #4 guy, and they can mix and match (possibly Garza) for the 5th rotation spot.

I'm expecting Ryan to let this team play out and not make any moves, but I DO think there's one deal that makes a lotta sense for the Twins. It would give them a big bat without compromising their, um, fiscally responsible (read cheap skate) mentallity, and also wouldn't cost them any prospects. The Twins should deal righty Kyle Lohse to the Red Sox for outfieled Wily Mo Pena. Lohse and his $3.9 million salary won't be returning to the Twins next year, and although he's out of the rotation in Minnesota, he's better than the guys the Sox have been trying to put in their 4th and 5th starter slots.

Like Loshe, Pena has fallen out of favor with the Red Sox. He's not a good defender, but at 24 with ridiculous power, he'd be worth the gamble to add the power bat the Twins crave (remember, despite their torrid pace, the Twinks are still 2nd to last in HR's in the league). And he's only making $1.25 million. Even if the Twins had to throw in a marginal prospect along with Pena, it would definitely be worth the risk.

Whether Ryan makes a move or not, the Twins have to be the frontrunners for the Wild Card and will challenge the Tiggers the rest of the year, and that means Twins Fever should continue to sweep the upper Midwest the rest of the summer. Remember, the Twins put their pants on one leg at a time just like you. Except they make gold records- wait no they win lots and lots of baseball games.

The quality of today's Musings will be worse than usual because I am entirely unmotivated today. Bloody hot weather with like 124% humidity will do that to you. So will the complete lack of decent sporting events on TV over the weekend. I actually watched parts of the celebrity golf event in Lake Tahoe yesterday. However it DID provide me with an opportunity to laugh out loud. When Ravens QB Kyle Boller strolled up to the tee, commentator Dan Hicks mentioned that Boller had a new backup in Steve McNair. Really? Um Dan? I think that's the other way around. Boller should keep working on the golf game, because he won't be seeing much football action this year.

* Speaking of unmotivated AND football (how's that for a transition) I managed to preview 2 NFL divisions before realizing I'm not going to finish the preview this year either. Hey I tried, but summer classes keep getting in the way. Who do I hate more: the person who invented the idea of classes in the summer, or me for taking them? You're right, it's me. I'm an idiot.

* So to finish off the preview, here's my predicted order of finish for the other 6 divisions...and I'll throw in the NFC West and South again just for %^&* and giggles. (* denotes wild card)

NFC
West
St Louis
Seattle*
Arizona
San Fran

South
Carolina
Atlanta
Tampa
New Orleans

North
Chicago
Minnesota
Detroit
Green Bay

East
NY Giants (Eli makes The Leap this year)
Dallas*
Washington
Philly

AFC
West
Kansas City (LJ cracks 2000 yds this year)
Denver*
San Diego
Oakland

South
Indy
Jacksonville
Houston
Tennessee

North
Pittsburgh
Baltimore*
Cincinnati
Cleveland

East
Miami
New England
J-E-T-S JETS! JETS! JETS!
Buffalo

* I need help deciding on my 3rd keeper in a fantasy football league. My first 2 are no brainers: wideouts Steve Smith and Terrell Owens. My 3rd is either Willis McGahee or Eli Manning, who I'm convinced makes the Carson Palmeresque leap here in his 3rd season into elite status (well at least until the playoffs when he melts down just like his brother). I have to keep at least one running back, right? RIGHT?

* College football is right around the corner. Remember kids, for the sake of the student-athletes we can't have a playoff system because it would take too much time away from studies. But we CAN add a mandatory 12th game (13 if you play Hawaii), and start games in almost mid-August. No contradiction there. Glad to know they've got the players well-being, and BILLIONS of dollars, in mind here.

* Despite that I"m positively giddy at the thought of college football. Sure my UDub Huskies and the local Minnesota Golden Gophers will be lucky to combine for the 6 wins to be eligible for one of like 98 bowl games, but I'm still positively excited. With Vince Young graduating and like half of USC under investigation, things are as wide-open as ever this year. All the top teams have a ton of talent and plenty of question marks. You have to like West Virginia's chances of running the table, and I think Auburn has a good chance to do the same in an impossibly tough SEC. Still, if USC doesn't lose Dwayne Jarrett for more than a game or two, I think USC returns to the national title game. Remember what happened last time they had to replace a Heisman winning quarterback.

* Is there even a question that Texas will lose to Oklahoma this year? Stoops has beaten UT every year when the talent levels have been close, and now that VY is gone, so are the Horns chances of beating the Sooners. Sure Jamaal Charles and their usual good D will be tough, but there's no overcoming having to start a freshman QB- or having Mack Brown have to outcoach Stoops.

* We're about 2 weeks away from the baseball trade deadline, and there are a grand total of 7 teams that can be considered out of the running (Tampa, Baltimore, KC, Cleveland, Washington, Pittsburgh and the Cubbies). A few more may drop out (i.e. Seattle as long as Hargrove continues to manage and insists on using Carl Everett as his DH. You or I could hit as poorly as C-Rex right now) but there's going to be a lot of teams buying and very few selling. Why can't the trade deadline be pushed back to mid-August?

* Don't look now, but after getting destroyed by the Yankees this weekend, the White Sox have come back to the pack. Looks like we'll have a wild card race after all!

* Finally, my other laugh-out-loud moment from the weekend: watching a preview for Talledega Nights and hearing the names of Ricky Bobby's sons. Walker, and Texas Ranger. HA! Wow I'm dying right now just thinking about that! August 4th can't come soon enough!