BCS bashing

Note: Author is an alumnus of a BCS conference school (albeit a bad one).

The BCS is a joke. Okay, not exactly stepping out on that one. But, here's what it comes down to: Money. No, I'm not talking about the lame Bowl Money (that one's been argued to death). No, I'm not talking about TV revenue money, so has that one.

I'm going to talk about the one no one wants to talk about: The Haves and the Have nots.

The Haves (BCS Schools) have so much money from TV, Guaranteed Bowl Money, and Large Stadiums/Fan Bases that there is no way they are going to just let some Have Not play them and potentially beat them and tear down the aristocracy that they have built. The Haves have so many built in advantages to keeping the money on their ledger and preventing the money from going to the Have Not Ledger. One of the more unheralded advantages is the fact that most BCS teams rarely play out of conference road games because it doesn't make their athletic department any money. They basically hire the Washington Generals to come to town for a beating, pay them $300,000 for their time and pocket the additional 4 million+ dollars for their Women's Rowing team (insert your favorite minor sport team here). This isn't competition this is the Globetrotters sans Curly Neal!

Here are 4 teams that scare the Haves: Boise State, Hawaii, TCU, and Fresno State. Why? Because IF somehow they got into the championship game AND won, the purpose of the whole BCS would be ruined. Right now a precedent has been set that these four teams and the teams in their conferences can only finish 10th in the nation at best, which will always keep them out of the Championship Game. This is LEGAL segregation, and unfortunately this is their "I had a dream" speech. So, the BCS is never going to allow the Have Nots a way into their party, because eventually its going to cost them their free ride.

George Mason went to the Final Four 2 years ago in Hoops. George Mason (and every other DI hoops team) has a chance every year to make it to the Big Dance. Its a shame that Hawaii doesn't have the same chance to play for the National Championship in football.

Hey BCS: there's a white elephant in your living room, (this year it's Hawaii) I'm pointing it out!

My solution: 6 Conference Winners (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, SEC, PAC 10, Big 12) plus 2 of the following in this order: Undefeated Cinderella or/if not then Notre Dame if they are in the Top 6 in the BCS Poll, if none/one apply take the next highest rated BCS conference team/s.

A 3 Week (9 Bowl Game) Tournament can be managed under the current BCS system, Non qualifiers still get their bowls/bowl experience. And the fear of academics would never be in play, all of these games happen during Semester break. The Basketball Tournament takes 3 weekends and effects a lot more kids and teams than this tournament would.

This Year's Seedings:

1. Ohio State (Big Ten) v. 8. Hawaii (Undefeated Cinderella)
2. LSU (SEC) v. 7. Georgia (At Large)
3. Oklahoma (B12) v. 6. West Virginia (BE)
4. USC (PAC) v. 5. Virginia Tech (ACC)

Under this format 2 current BCS teams are left out (Illinois and Kansas, neither really threatened for their conference title). Notre Dame despite a late surge with quality wins over Duke and Stanford didn't make it.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

TZ

College Hockey Unis

Got a lot of requests for my take on college hockey uniforms after my post on college football uniforms. I have 5 top ones and an assortment of "others receiving votes".

1. Wisconsin Badgers - Two Colors, never changes from year to year...they are the Penn State of hockey uniforms. Note: the only reason I can stomach giving the hated "94 Easts" this title is that their team is always so beatable, their fans are so uneducated, and their arena doubles as a basketball gym. Enough said.

2. Maine - A brilliant design of color and class. Always fun to see a Black Bears highlight.

3. CC - For years this has always been a favorite: Black and Gold done right. A uinque type treatment for CC combined with a taste of the tiger stripes

4. Michigan - Classic Jersey never changes, great helmets. The whole package, again their fans don't know the difference between a forecheck and and a body check.

5. St. Cloud State (3rd Jersey) - A great jersey could have been much higher but their Home and Away copy of the Montreal Canadiens almost bumped this jersey to the Others Receiving Votes.

Ohters Receiving Votes:

Denver/BC - I love this uniform, the little number in front is always a cool touch. Denver needs to kill the shiny material.

UND (old logo) - an entire book could be written about the logo controversy at UND. MY vote is for the old Chicago Blackhawks style Indian head (home whites were so sharp...brings back fond memories of Gino and the old Englestad).

Minnesota 75 year replicas - The Gophers donned a 75th anniversary uniform in the mid-nineties (Justin McHugh, Jeff Nielsen era) it had horizontal maroon and gold stripes with the old school shoe lace tie on the neck.

Ok guys, your turn to sound off

Rick Reilly

I'm in the airport the other day and there he was the one and only Rick Reilly. When I was a KID I wanted to be Rod Carew, Chuck Foreman, Neal Broten or John McEnroe....somedays I wanted to be Tom Chorske but thats a whole 'nother story.

When I was an ADULT (I still am by the way), I wanted to be Rick Reilly (see bio: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/writers/rick_reilly/archive/index.html). Rick Reilly is funny (still working on that part), a great writer (still working on that part), and highly respected.

Anyway, back to the airport. So I'm not the kind of person who approaches public figures (see Glen Mason Story below). The urge to meet the guy overcame me like a man from Pittsburgh who goes home every weekend to watch the Pitt Panthers play Big East Football...it was ugly. So for like 20 minutes I rehearsed (yeah like it was a huge sales call or something) what to say and go up and talk to him. Being respectful of his time I talked to him for about 10 minutes. As I figured, we had a lot in common and we hit it off. In fact, he asked me for my business card. My brush with fame has just been elevated from playing golf with Wayne Severud every year to meeting Rick Reilly.


Glen Mason: I sat right next to Glen Mason two weeks ago and pretended I didn't know who he was....talked the whole flight with him. At the end of the flight I introduced myself as Tony he introduced himself as Glen and we went on our merry way!

Great College Uniforms

My first blog since August 29. Hmmmmm, does that mean the sports world hasn't delivered anything worth posting? Not hardly, two days after the post Appalachian State gave me plenty to say. In fact, my high school's football team won several (more than 3) football games this year...that in itself is blog material, trust me we've sucked forever. Finally, Red Sox nation is now so big that I'm moving to Canada.

The real reason for the silence is in my previous blog, I predicted a fruitful season for my beloved Golden Gopher football team. For the record: I was wrong. The sad part is the Big Ten is really bad. Check that really, really, really bad. After watching Michigan this weekend, that team doesn't exactly strike the fear of anything into me.

Onto the fun. As most know, college football is my favorite past-time. Thought I'd share my favorite college uniforms. You'll see a trend, until the last one.

My Criteria: The uniform cannot have changed drastically over time. No such thing as an all one color or special jersey for special games, etc.

1. Alabama - the number on the helmet is so cool, the gray facemask...the tide has this one sewn up every year for me.
2. Michigan - most recognizable helmet in sports
3. Penn State - these guys don't need fancy uniforms....what you see is what you get
4. Texas - great logo on helmet....the burnt orange is very unique...they lose points for the "Texas" on the front of jersey.
5. LSU - probably would've ranked higher, but they've had a special jersey or two over the years. I absolutely love the stripe on the shoulder...they get points for their field (the tiger eye at midfield is by far the coolest/unique field graphic out there).

Honorable mention....Oregon. Okay, they miss out on every criteria on my list. Its just that I respect a team that is so far out there that they deserve a mention. I read somewhere that they have 300+ combinations of uniforms. Admit it everytime you see an Oregon highlight on Saturday, you get a little excited to check out their unis?

Time to sound off.

Big Ten Picks

Thank you, thank you, thank you. It is finally here. My favorite season. College football. I can't honestly name my second favorite (NCAA BB use to be until the late 90s when a kid from Monticello decided he was too good to go to class for a couple weeks so he could play out the string, instead he played video games and turned pro...no thanks).

Here goes my picks for this year's Big Ten Football season. You can bank on at least one of these to be correct by year's end.

1. Michigan, 12-0 (will eventually run into a buzz-saw vs. LSU, USC or Oklahoma)
2. Ohio State, 9-3 (all 3 losses will be to teams beginning with M)
3. Iowa, 9-3, (easy schedule...no Michigan or OSU, Drew Tate is gone, that's 5 wins right there)
4. Minnesota, 8-4 (4 easy NC games, plus 6 winnable BT games should equal 8 wins and a trip to Alamo/Outback)
5. Penn State, 8-4 (Best team in PA, that's for sure...will beat the teams they are supposed to, that's it)
6. Purdue 6-6 (Does anyone care about Purdue...really?)
7. Illinois, 5-7 (Ron Zook continues to pile up sweet recruits and sub-.500 records...something's gotta give)
8. Michigan State, 5-7 (Best looking team on paper, worst looking team come November)
9. Northwestern 3-9 (can you say water finding its proper level?)
10. Indiana, 2-10 (some say Bowl team, I say Bowel Movement)
11. Wisconsin, 0-12 (Bielema fired in November)

Never had so much fun writing #11....boy that felt good.

All kidding aside Michigan wins BT. No one else will matter come November. The BT will be a non-factor except Michigan. They will get to the BCS game and get mounted on some living room wall by some superior team like LSU, USC or Oklahoma.

There will be one surprise: Minnesota (Picked last by everyone except me)
One dissapointmet: Wisconsin (see Iowa last year...okay they won't be 0-12)

Hot Seat Coaches:: Joe Tiller & Lloyd (I'm arrogant enough to believe that we don't have to play Minnesota on a Friday night in case the Twins make the playoffs, they'll have to come to Michigan to play instead) Carr

One final prediciton: I won't do a BT Basketball preview. Maybe WCHA for all you puck-heads.

A letter to Carl

The following is a letter written to my good friend Carl Monty who has lived in Hong Kong since January. Believe it or not, Carl likes the blog.

Dear Carl,

Hope the family is doing well and you've adjusted to the Asian lifestyle. The sports landscape has definitely changed since you left the States. Here are just a few highlights:

1. NBA refs fix games. This is the same set of guys who were cashing in First Class Tickets for Coach and keeping the money. Wasn't that a sign of things to come? Another sad sign of the once proud NBA.

2. Barry Bonds The Martyr. He hits 755 in San Diego and gets standing ovation (couldn't believe it). Then he hits 756 at home, and somehow the next day everyone and their brother is Barry's buddy and Bud Selig is the Goat for not being there. I had my left foot in the Barry-is-alright Camp until I saw an interview and he was wearing a hat that had "756" embroidered on it. Are you kidding me? Do you think Cal Ripken had a hat made that said "2,131"? No. Because he wasn't a complete idiot.

3. NFL Quarterbacks kill dogs. Michael Vick will confess to owning a dog kennel that raised dogs to fight other dogs. That's right fight other dogs. Several dogs were killed if they weren't tough enough. No this isn't an April Fool's joke. He's out of the NFL for at least 2 years. So much for an improved society. My guess is he won't be suiting up for the Cleveland Browns when he comes back!

4.Playoffs ain't what they use to be. The FedEx Cup starts this week in golf and the best player in the world doesn't need to show up in order to win. Can you name another sport where you physically don't have to show up to win?

5. The Gophers have good coaches. Tubby Smith is going to lead the Gophers to their first Big Ten Title since 1997 (error, 1982) and Tim Brewster is already turning heads as the football coach. His first recruiting class is already rated #4 in the Big Ten (18th nationally) and season ticket sales are already up 30 percent from last year. Imagine 50,000 fans for a Bowling Green game. WE'RE COMING!!!!!

6. The Pittsburgh Pirates Suck. Okay, they stunk before you left but taking a shot at the Buccos is always fun. (In a Lobl tone of voice):Great Stadium, Great Uniforms, Terrible Team.

Hope to talk to you soon.

TZ

The Bad Sports Stereotype

First of all, are there any good stereotypes? Okay, the one about big hands isn't bad (that is if you have big hands).

So I've been watching televised sports for a good 30+ years. My first memory of a televised game worth value was Hank Aaron's 715 (I was 6 and a half). As a young impressionable kid you have no idea what a stereotype is, so let's throw out the first 20 years.But over the last 10 or so years, there is this one that just makes my blood boil:

Black Guys are "athletic" and white guys are "smart". Okay I said it. This pisses me off for a ton of reasons:

1. I know a ton of really athletic white guys (and no Steensland, you're not one of them), but because they can't do a Dominique Tomahawk Jam (DTJ), they aren't athletic.

2. Conversely, I know a ton of really athletic black guys who can do the DTJ, but I wouldn't call dumb.

3. Finally, the stereotype diminishes great white performers as non-athletic (i.e. John Stockton). How many times did you hear an announcer say this about Stockton: "Stockton is so crafty". Last time I checked crafty is an important skill for all Point Guards (white or black). It also does not allow great black athletes (i.e. Ladanian Tomlinson) to be something other than an athlete and not something more...which is sad.

Here are a few smart black guys that made good on being smart rather than athletic:

1. Robert Parrish (my favorite Celtic): this guy would be lucky to be drafted today based on flash. Had Duncan-like numbers and 3 rings. Never allowed a DTJ on him, much less performed one.
2. Travarus Bennet (my favorite Gopher BB player). Was Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year twice, rarely missed a free throw, and made open shots consistently. 0 DTJs.
3. Aaron Gibson (Offensive Tackle, Buffalo Bills). This guy is 6-6 390 pounds of non-athlete. But for some reason, he was drafted in the first round and has been in the NFL for 8 years. Currently has 0 DTJs.

Here are a few dumb white guys that have/had a ton of athletic ability:

1. Jason Williams: big ranch, no cattle
2. Ryan Leaf: could only read headlines, not blitzes
3. Phil Mickelson: did you watch the 2006 US Open?
4. John Greenagel

Please add to the list.

TZ

Some Good Asterisks

So I'm watching Sports Center the other day on the treadmill and they show two Red Sox fans with homemade t-shirts with an asterisk on it. Cut to the visual with Barry Bonds stepping to the plate and I immediately chuckle. Who would have thought that the asterisk would be such a crushing blow in the sports world? Here are a few asterisks that should be both added and taken away:

* Houston Rockets (1994 & 1995) - these guys won titles when Jordan was playing baseball and wearing number 45. There are so many things wrong with those two titles. First of all, if Jordan's playing, NBC doesn't cut away to watch OJ drive down the 405...right? Second of all, who did they beat in '95? If you can't remember then they deserve an asterisk (just looked it up...Orlando...remember Little Penny)? This instance reminds me of that Eddie Murphy stand up bit, when Eddie said of Brooke Shields, "I don't know why they bother having the Miss America Pageant. Everybody knows Brooke Shields is the winner every year!" Same went for basketball without Jordan those two years.

* Cincinnati Reds 1981 - this team had the best record in baseball, but finished 2nd in both halves of the strike seasons and consequently missed the playoffs. This slip up ranks right up there with the tie in the All Star game...nice! Or worse, Mark McGwire and Rafeal Palmiero in front of a Congressional hearing. All black eyes, but just one asterisk for the Big Red Machine.

*Roger Maris - the guy hits 61 home runs, breaks Babe Ruth's long-standing record and MLB gives it an asterisk because he did it in more games. I never knew the Maris family up in Fargo also made the MLB schedule. That is one that I would vote to remove. The point is now obviously moot.

*The Trent Tucker Rule - I loved college basketball before the 35 second clock, when it had the perpetual 1 and 1 free-throws on non-shooting fouls (you get 2 shots now after 10 team fouls), and no three point arc. I remember as a kid just going crazy during any UNC game where UNC would get a 4+ point lead late in the game and the TV producer would scream "cut to Dean, cut to Dean" because you knew he would be holding up 4 fingers sending his team into the famed Dean Smith 4 corners. I hated UNC (still do), and that made me hate them even more when they did that. Anyway, back to asterisks. Guys like Trent Tucker, Lancaster Gordon at Louisville, Andrew Toney at SW Louisiana aka "the Boston Strangler", and Pete Maravich at LSU would have had so many more points it wouldn't have been funny. I mean Maravich averaged 44 a night for LSU without a stripe...are you telling me none of them came behind 19'9"? This would qualify as an asterisk needed.

* Boise State 2006 - Didn't they go undefeated last year? Please add asterisk to Florida National Championship. Florida won the National Championship for the big boys with all the money, but there are a few out there (and they don't live in, nor have they ever visited the state of Idaho) who think they were the best team in the entire NCAA last year. BSU was robbed...add asterisk please. In 1994 (pre BCS days), Penn State won the NY Times National Championship after finishing the season 12-0, but finishing #2 in virtually every poll. As of today, Boise State is the 2006 MW Sports Guy dot com presented by Multiply National Champs!

There's 5, please add to the list or tear apart mine.

Softball and other low moments in my sports history

Okay, I did it. I broke down and participated in a competitive sport that requires a semblance of coordination, moments of sprinting, and my favorite: a lot of worthless chatter. Yep, I played softball last night.

Here's the rub. Our office use to neighbor next to another agency. Needless to say, over the years, minor animosity arose (just imagine the worst bathroom ettiquettes..both male and female and you know where this is going). Enter Brendan Loughery to our company. In his spare time he writes TV, web, brochures, etc. but his main job is organizing softball teams.

So needless to say our company now has a team and yes, last night we played the former neighbors....and yes we put a beating on them. Don't remember the score, but the highlight came when one of their guys struck out and no one on their team laughed (note: it is a long standing softball tradition to laugh a guy out of the park for whiffing)...they just sighed in quiet disgust.

Yes, admitting I played co-ed softball and actually stretched a single into a double because the girl in the outfield bobbled the ball is #5 on low moments in my sports history.

4. Is making an 8 on the first hole of a playoff in front 20 other guys. I didn't think it was possible to make that many bad shots in a row.

3. Getting knocked out cold in an Edina/SW hockey game my Junior year. So many girls, so little sympathy.

2. Playing for the hand picked "A" squad Kappa Sig (Big Red Machine) and losing to the B squad (Greens/JV) in a league game. The heckling still hasn't stopped. It was like watching the Titanic, after the first scene (inning), you knew the ship was going to be a wreck. That game set the word brotherhood back 10 years.

1. Being physically removed by my Dad from a baseball game at age 10 (body, hat, glove, bike, the whole 9 yards in the back of the VW van, followed by his signature 5 finger salute). Picture this: umpire and I have a "disagreement" about balls and strikes and one thing leads to another. Roberto Alomar would have fit in well on my Little League team.

Some (or actually most) have some history with me. Add your own list or for that matter add one to mine.

Top 5 Tickets in Minnesota

The following is a list of the top 5 franchise/entities in the Twin Cities. The criteria is fairly simple. If you were offered tickets to watch this team, would you turn them down (not necessarily attend yourself, but take and give to someone knowing it would be a good giveaway)? Note: Over time, the list evolves (early '90s the Gopher Hoops team would have been a 2 or a 3, meanwhile the Twins in 97 or 98 would have been a 4 or a 5).

1. Wild - The novelty has not worn off, yet. I had partial season tickets and never once struggled to give even exhibition game tickets away. The atmosphere is great, the team competes, etc.

2. Twins - Very similar to #1, but no atmosphere. Mauer, Morneau, Hunter and Santana sell tickets.

3 (tie). Gopher Hockey - National Championships, great arena, excting team equals ticket demand. Still the only team in its sport to broadcast 90 percent of its games.

3. Vikings - The reigning #1 for 40+ years...their product has gotten so bad and the people that attend are this (fingers 1 inch apart) close to WWE. Their 40 TV rating (highest in MN every week) every Sunday is the only thing that saves them from a #4 ranking.

5. T'Wolves - They squeak past Gopher Football. The product is so bad. Besides KG, name another guy on the team?

Others receiving votes: Gopher Football (up and comer, new coach & new stadium..watch out Wolves) and Gopher Basketball (couldn't give away 6 games last year).

Triple Crown Mania

Like the Swallows returning to Capistrano (whatever that means), every Spring we get our taste of a potential Triple Crown Winner. I remember my first Triple Crown, 1977, Seattle Slew...he made it look so easy. Then the next year, one of the best rivalries in sports unfolded in front of my eyes (how I didn't know)...Affirmed v. Alydar. In Horse Racing Circles this is Red Sox/Yankees. And ever since its been nearly 30 years of close calls (sort of like being a Viking fan). No matter, it's still exciting stuff.

I don't know why, but these three races just get my blood going. Is it the fact that no horse can win the Triple Crown? Is it those cheesy special interest stories leading up to the race? Or is it because its the most low maintainence sport of them all (no regional bias, no research, no year-round banter, 1 hour of special interest story and 90 seconds of racing..that's it)? Or, is early May a dead time for Sports? The pageantry? Whatever?! Come Saturday my whole family will be peeled to the set.

Here are some fun lists to prime your pump:

Great Horses:

1. Smarty Jones (2004) - Almost cried when Birdstone blew by him at the Belmont...this horse was it.
2. Charismatic (1999) - Broke his leg in the Belmont still finished third to Lemon Drop Kid...that's Phil Richard toughness.
3. Easy Goer (1989) - beat Sunday Silence to snatch TC...one of the best finishes in any sport ever.
4. Alydar (1978) - lost three times to Affirmed. Alydar is like Barry Bonds: lots of stats and great blood lines, but not much hardware.
5. Afleet Alex (2005) - A starting gate slip cost this Colt immortality...two easy wins in Preakness and Belmont.

Great Horses I cheered against:

1. Point Given*
2. War Emblem*
3. Silver Charm*
4. Real Quite*
*denotes Bob Baffert trained horse

Favorite Triple Crown Anthem:

Maryland, My Maryland (Preakness)

Best Drink:

1. Black Eyed Susan (Preakness)
2. Mint Julip (Derby)
3. Belmont Breeze (Gross)

Favorite Saying:

And down the stretch the come! (Dave Johnson Style)

Here's his call from the 1999 Derby:

Charismatic is coming on strongly... DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME! Cat Thief digging in at the rail. Worldly Manner with Jerry Bailey. Charismatic, trained by Lukas, on the outside, now Lukas running 1-2. Charismatic on the outside takes command! Cat Thief... in the middle of the track, Menifee is flying, BUT IT'S CHARISMATIC HOLDING ON TO WIN IT BY A HEAD!

Are you pumped yet for Saturday? If not, you're probably not reading this far anyway.

Here's my pick for Saturday:

Curlin (won the Wood Memorial...winner of this prep race has won the most Derbies)

5 Teams I Cheer For that most don't

Do any of you guys have friends that have favorite teams from other cities and its like North Carolina Basketball or the LA Dodgers? I'm not naming names (Jay Ettinger), but these guys always have an answer for every sporting situation. Go Yankees! What? Yeah, my Mom's from New York. Or go USC! What? Yeah, my cousin went there. But my all-time favorite are the Duke basketball and Notre Dame football guys...they're the worst. Next time you run into one ask them how their other team's are doing like say Lacrosse or Football at Duke...and when they back peddle (oh, I just like their such and such team), that's when you got 'em. A real sports fan should choose his teams with a little more salt.

Below is my list of teams no one cheers for (literally).

Criteria: Must have very little following, must perform better than perceived.

1. Florida Marlins. Have you ever seen more than 10,000 fans at one of their home games? Have you ever not seen them compete? Have you ever seen Dontrell Willis (a pitcher) leg out a triple? This is the Red Headed Step Child marries the Little Engine That Could of all sports teams. There are plenty of Red Headed Step Children teams (see Devil Rays, Arizona Cardinals) and plenty of Little Engines (see Packers, Twins, or Edmonton Oilers). But no team combines them both as well as the Marlins.

2. Golden Gopher Football. With Glen Mason at the helm, he gave everyone in the state the green light to hate them and more or less root against them. The stadium should be cause for removal from the Big 10. They are a very close second. Despite having terrible recruiting and no fan support the Gophs always found a way to compete. New coach, new stadium will probably eliminate the fan support part of the equation. Based on the criteria, they probably will slip down this chart, since its my alma mater, I'm okay with that.

3. Wake Forest Anything. Fan following outside of its 300 alums (and a few nappie headed groupies) is brutal...so they have that part down. The outperforming is unbelievable. In hoops they are like the 6th choice for recruits behind UNC, Duke, NCST, UNC Charlotte and Elon but they still find their way into the tournament almost every year. But more amazing has to be football. Last year they won the ACC...yes the ACC, the future football super power (see future blogs on the ACC) that has Miami, Florida State, Clemson, BC, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech (all perennial T25s) in its conference plus Virginia, NCST, and Maryland (no cup of Tea). Go Deacs.

4. NY Jets. Decent following by NFL standards but by all means the second team in NYC. This team gets no respect...ever. They consistently outperform better teams no matter the coach, QB, lack of skill positions. Plus J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets has gotta be one of the best chants in pro sports.

5. San Antonio Spurs. Okay they have a huge fan following in San Antonio (bad choice). But nationwide no one cares if they win...period. This team is a Tony Parker/Eva Longoria breakup away from moving up a notch. They're boring, they win NBA titles, and they don't get in trouble. Maybe the other teams should consider their formula. That is if winning mattered at all in this league (sorry Mune for the bad NBA karma).

Minnesota's Top 20

The following is a list of my top 20 golf courses in the fair state of MN. Courses are selected on three criteria (beauty, difficulty, and tradition):

1. Interlachen (No Brainer)
2. Hazeltine (No Brainer)
3. Minneapolis (No Nonsense, has it all...except a Driving Range)
4. Spring Hill (Has everything except Tradition...Bobby Jones never played there)
5. White Bear Yacht (Nothing missing except I hate side hill lies)
6. Northland (Can you tell I like Donald Ross?)
7. Minikahda (Home Course bias...would rank higher if not for the recent remodel)
8. Wilderness (Never played it, a very good source ranks it #1 overall)
9. Woodhill (steeped in tradition and beauty, played there several times, never get over how cool this place is)
10. The Classic (#11 is the hardest green in the state to hit)
11. Windsong Farm (everything but tradition, very fair, very cool)
12. Deacon's Lodge (bulldoze #10 and this thing moves into the top 10)
13. Somerby (Never played it, a good source says top 10)
14. Somerset (Has all 3, lacks difficulty)
15. Rochester CC (Can you say hallways?)
16. Dacotah Ridge (Never played it, good source says top 20)
17. Olympic Hills (top 3 difficulty, only 3 vacation holes)
18. The Legends (Beautiful, tough, great golf experience)
19. Oak Ridge (Its been a long time...I'd run through hell in a gasoline jacket to play there...that's a Pete Rose line)
20. Wayzata (#9 and #18 are the two toughest finishing holes I've ever seen)

Others receiving votes:
TPC, Edinborough USA, Willingers, Golden Valley, & Giant's Ridge