Worries [Twinkie Town]

This week at Twinkie Town, I decided to list the top five things I'm worried about with the Twins so far this year. (Given Wednesday's game, maybe all five should have been the bullpen.)

In an unrelated series, Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey are the Hug Brigade - in two parts! Part 1 - Part 2

An American watches the IPL Final [Cricket]

Cricket's Indian Premier League has been called the "biggest sporting event in the world." The television rights are worth over $200 million per year - not bad, for what is effectively a six-week tournament. If you pro-rate the six-week player salaries over a year, the IPL is the second-highest-paid league in the world, behind only the NBA.

It's one of the biggest deals in cricket, then - and this year, YouTube streamed the final live online, and for free. Curious to see what the big deal was, I had to watch - and I took notes.

Pregame - The 2010 Final, the third in the league's history, pits the Chennai Super Kings against the Mumbai Indians. I'm absolutely tickled by Mumbai being called the Indians, by the way - maybe Cleveland should just start claiming their team is now named after the country of India. I think this could work.

I turn the match on just as they're interviewing Mumbai captain Sachin Tendulkar, who I gather is the best batsman in the world. They call him the "Little Master." He's short, sure, but he's built like a fireplug. He looks like he could play nose guard in football.

Both teams are wearing enough sponsorship logos on their uniforms to give sports traditionalists heart failure. They look like NASCAR drivers.

Chennai won the coin toss, and have chosen to bat first.

1-0 - I'm keeping track of updates by the scoreboard, here. That scoreline means one run scored, zero wickets lost / outs made. Just pretend it makes sense.

6-0 We get our first set of commercials, right smack in the middle of the match. They are ridiculous, including one for a candy bar containing "glucose energy." To show how much glucose energy the candy bar has, there's a computer graphic depicting sugar being poured into the bar. According to the commercial, this will give you plenty of energy to play the drums in a rock band.

It's also nice to see that MetLife still uses Snoopy for its commercials, even in India.

10-0 We get our first shot of the cheerleaders, who get up and dance at random intervals. The camera helpfully zooms wildly in and out on individual dancers, making it look like Saturday-morning professional wrestling, or possibly an episode of "Soul Train."

13-0 The first six of the match, as Matthew Hayden whacks one out of the park. "That's a DLF Maximum Six!" says the announcer, DLF being the sponsor of the tournament. He apparently is required to say this after every six. If you thought sponsorship had overrun American sports, know this: it can get worse.

25-0 Shots from the closing ceremonies, which preceded the match. There were lots of lasers, plus every Indian pop star performed, I think. It looks like the Olympic closing ceremonies, if Pink Floyd did the lighting.

39-0 I think we just had the first commercial in Hindi. Or the accent was strong. For some reason, I'd forgotten that English is one of the official languages of India; I shouldn't have been surprised that the whole broadcast was in English.

40-0 I have not mentioned the match much, for two reasons: First, Chennai are scoring runs at the speed of smell. They seem to be trying to survive for the first half of their innings, and then go berserk in the second half. Second, despite this being the fast and entertaining form of cricket - Twenty20, twenty overs per side - the match moves slower than senior golf. Every ball is followed by wandering around. The teams take longer between overs than baseball teams take between innings.

43-0 - Seven overs done. Teams milling about. This game needs Cowboy Joe West - he'd be furiously yelling at both dugouts to hurry up.

47-2 Murali Vijay hits a pop-up, Hayden hits a lazy fly ball to left field (mid-on?), and there's two outs right there.

48-2 Timeout. We get highlights of the game so far. These are helpfully captioned. "BRILLIANT!", says the replay of Hayden's six. I'm reminded of the Adam West-era Batman, so I make up my own captions. There's a nice shot; "ZOFF!" I say. "BIFF! BAM! WHAP!" I'm having such a good time, I hardly want the Maxx Mobile Strategic Timeout and Method of Sponsorship to end.

50-2 Chennai hit the 50 mark. That's the slowest team fifty in an IPL Final. It felt like it, too, and this is the first time I've seen an IPL Final.

58-2 You cannot escape the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling," even on the other side of the world.

67-3 Subranamiam Badrinath makes an out for Chennai. The Super Kings look like they'll be lucky to make 100.

91-3 I spoke too soon. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni have suddenly come alive. "They're free to express themselves," says the commentator. I had no idea freedom of speech was so important in cricket.

111-3 Mumbai has just missed two catches, one of which fell in between two fielders who stood and stared at each other, the other of which was a pop-up that was fielded like the catcher was in a hailstorm. Mumbai is wearing powder blue. I am convinced that Mumbai is channeling the Kansas City Royals.

127-3 Raina, who was responsible for the two pop-ups that were missed by the Indians, is now pounding everything he sees. He eventually gets the fastest 50 in an IPL final, having seen only 24 deliveries. Talk about expressing yourself: the crowd is doing the wave.

139-4 Dhoni makes an out; this seems to be the cue for a new set of commentators. I have no idea why we need three sets of commentators to get through a four-hour match. I also wish Gus Johnson was calling this match. I bet it'd be awesome.

157-5 Hey, this is fun - with the innings almost over, Chennai are now just trying for random runs, in the hopes that the fielders will drop the ball or fall over or have a seizure. Albie Morkel, my favorite name so far, is the one to go.

END OF THE INNINGS - Chennai 168-5

The commentators seem to think that this is a pretty good total. I'm left to wonder what might have happened, had the Super Kings not spent the first ten overs messing around. But this is apparently the way this form of cricket is played.

Maybe ten-over cricket could catch on in the USA. Especially if Joe West was the umpire. The matches could be 45 minutes long, and there'd be 15 minutes for commercials. It'd be like Home Run Derby. Preferably without the Maxx Mobile Sponsored Timeouts. Anyway, it's Mumbai's turn to bat.

1-1 - The great Tendulkar is in, but his partner - Shikhar Dhawan - is gone almost immediately, having hit what in baseball would be a foul tip to the catcher. The first ten deliveries: one run, one out. I may not know cricket, but at this pace, I suspect Chennai will win.

40-1 This is a bit of a jump forward in the match, but I assure you, nothing interesting happened.

57-1 In the ninth over, suddenly Abhishek Nayar comes alive, slapping two sixes out of the park on back-to-back balls. There you go, Mumbai - nothing a few more of those can't cure, eh?

Incidentally, I was under the impression that the IPL was sort of a worldwide All-Star game. As it turns out, only four of the eleven players in an IPL team can be foreign, so it's mostly an Indian thing. I don't know why I was surprised by this, but I'm having trouble spelling the names.

73-3 In the space of four deliveries, Nayar is run out and Harbhajan Singh is out as well. Tendulkar slams his bat to the ground in disgust.

95-3 Just when they look dead, Mumbai put together a 15-run over, courtesy of Ambati Rayudu.

99-4 Tendulkar hits a four, the home Mumbai crowd goes ballistic... and then he flies out to right-center, as we'd say in baseball. The crowd is stunned.

100-5 There's another out. I think we can wave goodbye to Mumbai now. With five overs to go, they need 68 runs, and - presumably - all their best hitters are done.

114-6 - JP Duminy comes in and gets a few lazy singles, which don't help anything- then he makes an out. Mumbai have three overs left, 18 deliveries, from which they need over 50 runs. Basically they need to hit the ball out of the park every time. Here comes Kieron Pollard, a Trinidadian who appears to be the coolest person on the planet.

136-6 Kieron Pollard is the coolest person on the planet. He cannot be stopped. He comes in, hits two sixes and two fours, and scores 22 runs in an over. The crowd is about to tear down the fences and carry him off the field. If Pollard keeps this up and wins the match, it will be one of the most exciting things I've ever seen.

141-6 Pollard hammers another four, nearly taking the bowler's head off in the process. This is awesome.

142-7 Pollard screws up and hits it right to Hayden, who puts an end to the fun. Drat. The announcers can't believe Pollard didn't bat sooner. Pollard should whack a few of his teammates on the way off the field.

145-9 It's just about over. "Mumbai need 24 to win from 1 ball," says the on-screen graphic. Tremendous, but the 24-run shot just doesn't come off.

Chennai win by 22 runs, 168-146


The final verdict: Eh.

I thought this would be truly one of the biggest sporting events in the world, on par with the World Cup Final in soccer, or the Super Bowl in football. I never got that sense. Your average college football rivalry game in America seems bigger, with a more passionate crowd and more on the line.

Cricket lovers probably loved every minute, but I'm a cricket novice. Even with this supposed to be the most fast-paced and exciting form of the game, it still moved too slowly - and with the teams being mostly Indian, it's a little hard to figure how this gets sold to those without an interest in Indian cricket.

You're welcome to correct me, of course. But I'll say this: I don't think that the 2011 IPL will be appointment TV for me.

Weekend Links [RandBall]

Even an internet outage can't stop the weekend links.

There's soccer and cricket this week, but Twins and football coverage too. Something for everyone, in other words (along with at least one thing that's possibly for nobody but me.)

David Kahn's Home Building Guide [Canis Hoopus]

Timberwolves president David Kahn has certainly been making moves during his tenure with the Wolves - but whether they will all fit into an actual plan remains to be seen. Over at Canis Hoopus, I poked some gentle fun at this apparently-scattershot method of running a team, with a post I'm calling David Kahn's Guide to Home Building.

The truth is that I appreciate Kahn's willingness to be honest and forthright about the team, something we don't usually see from front offices in town, and I can't claim that I know whether his moves will work out or not. He may be a genius; he may be a fool. I can't tell. But he does seem to be a bit all over the map with his moves so far.

An Off Day [Twinkie Town]

Yesterday was an off day for the Twins, the first of many they have on Mondays this season. Consequently, things were a bit slow around Twinkie Town, but I did put up a few posts. Here are the links:

1. A book review of We're Gonna Win Twins, by Doug Grow
2. A birthday card for Joe Mauer, who turned 27 yesterday
3. A link to another Joe Posnanski article about the Yankees and baseball revenues, which is not surprising, since I'm tempted to link to everything Posnanski writes.

Weekend Links [RandBall]

Here's the latest edition of the weekend links, containing a mini-essay about the pressure on Joe Mauer, plus links on the Twins, the Vikings stadium, NASCAR, and Gopher gymnastics. (ECLECTIC FOR THE WIN!)

A Night Out [Twinkie Town]

Today's Twinkie Town column was a look at my Saturday night. Narcissistic, to be sure, but also Twins-related.

Also, I did a quick outdoor-baseball post that's sort of outdated, already.

Weekend Links [RandBall]

This week's edition of the weekend links is talking Twins, along with a smidgen of golf and some commentary on last night's Minnesota Swarm game.

Variety, no?

A little of Target Field in Target Center? [Canis Hoopus]

This week's Canis Hoopus post got pushed back to Friday, which is fine because it's pretty un-serious anyway. With Target Field opening, and all reviewers oohing and aahing over the homey touches at the new park, I suggest a few ways the Wolves could steal some of the ideas for their very own.

Twins 2010 Season In Review [Twinkie Town]

It's become an annual tradition (and one of my favorite columns of the year to write) - my Opening Day, tongue-in-cheek, six-months-early look at the Twins season. The 2010 version is over at Twinkie Town.

I also stayed up late to watch the game, and to write a short recap - that's live as well.

Opening Day Eve [Twinkie Town]

Only 21 hours until Opening Night for the Twins, as they visit Anaheim to open the 2010 season. A self-serving reminder: I'll once again be taking care of Twinkie Town on Mondays.

Usually, this will mean some kind of commentary in the morning, followed by a game discussion thread about an hour before first pitch, and a recap following the game. I'll try to get links to these posts up on Tuesday mornings, but it'll all make more sense if you just join me over there on Mondays.

Weekend Links [RandBall]

It's another edition of the weekend links. Given that Mr. Rand was out on vacation all week, that's two RandBall posts in a row for me - a strange occurrence, to be sure. Anyhow, subjects this week: ballparks, powerlifting, ballparks - and ballparks!

Horrible NBA Overtime Ideas [Canis Hoopus]

The end of one era, the beginning of another. As of today, I'll now be writing for Canis Hoopus, rather than the T-Wolves Blog.

If you're unfamiliar with C. Hoopus, it - like Twinkie Town - is part of the SB Nation family of sports blogs. I'll be writing about once a week, perhaps a little less, for them - and always, I'll post links to my writing over here, as well.

If you're curious about what happened to cause the jump, the answer is "not much," despite the squabbling in which the two blogs are currently engaging. Originally, Wolves blogger extraordinare Sonia asked me to start contributing to the T-Wolves Blog. About two weeks ago, she decided to make the jump over to CH; TWB thus decided to take a chance to "re-launch" itself.

As part of the transition, TWB founder Derek sent out an email to several TWB occasional contributors, including me, asking whether we wanted to be part of the new site. I thought what the renewed TWB would need would be consistent strong front-page voices, not occasional contributors, so I decided to step down; this is what I told Derek in an email, and he must have agreed, because I never heard back from him.

Following TWB's relaunch, though, I heard that CH was interested in having me contribute. With several established and regular writers - including Sonia - they were in much better shape to have an occasional contributor, like me, on board... and so here I am, the newest CH writer.


Enough stories; here's my first post for Canis Hoopus: a look at some rejected NBA overtime ideas, only a few of which involve water balloons.

Praise for a ballpark leader: Shane Nackerud

I've been to Target Field twice now - once for an open house, once for the Minnesota-Louisiana Tech college game. I say this because it already seems like it belongs there to me, now; I'm already starting to forget what it was like when we didn't have Target Field.

It's funny how these things work. Last year, when TCF Bank Stadium opened, I made excuses just to go near it - to drive by, to walk by the entrance, just to imagine what Gopher games would be like. By November, the stadium seemed a bit old hat - now, it's just where we go for Gopher football. I go there now, and sometimes I forget how great it is.

I can already sense the start of this, with Target Field - which I suppose makes it even more important to remember how close we came to not having Target Field at all. And for that, we honor one of the people who was in a small way instrumental to getting the park built: Shane Nackerud, of Greet Machine fame.

I got an email a few days ago from freealonzo, a blogging compatriot of Nackerud's, suggesting that we take today to remember Shane's contribution. Many of us - myself included - spent most of our time during the ballpark debate sitting on the sidelines and complaining. Nackerud actually got involved in pushing the debate through. His site became a clearinghouse for the legislative process, including his development of a legislative scorecard that showed which political figures were for and against the ballpark bill, something that was actually used by legislators and may have helped the bill get the groundswell of support it needed to pass.

It was a wonderful example of what "citizen journalism" can be - someone who found an issue that was important to him, used the platform given to him by the internet, and made a difference to his community through hard work and effort. And - at least in some small way - Target Field is here because of him.

You, the reader, will see Target Field for the first time at some point. Your jaw may drop, as mine did - and then eventually, you'll get used to Minneapolis having a beautiful downtown ballpark. Let us take a moment to thank Shane for helping to make this possible.