It was another mildly successful Breeder’s Cup for your’s truely this weekend, and there was some good racing despite the slop and rain at Monmouth Park.
There were several impressive performances, starting with the opening races of the event featuring the good 2-year old crop. Indian Blessing scored an impressive win in the filly race, winning by over three lengths after opening up a huge lead coming out of the final turn. In the boys’ race, War Pass was just as impressive among a very talented group. He scored his win by almost five lengths after opening up a huge lead in the stretch run.
My day would have been a little more profitable, but I was forced to skip the final two races due to the DC football game. In those races, I was going to key the winners in all of my betting. Oh well. English Channel, who finished third in the BC Turf in 2006, won his second G1 race in a row as he crushed the 8-horse field by seven lengths. In the BC Classic, I was going to be all over Curlin, and he earned the victory by just over fourth lengths over Hard Spun and Awesome Gem. That was probably the most impressive score of the day, considering how strong this year’s group (including those 3-year olds) was. Curlin is now 6-for-9 in his lifetime. The betting favorite, Street Sense, finished fourth.
That race capped off an exciting and soggy day, but it did end it on a sour note. George Washington, a 4-year old European shipper, broke down at the end of the race. Other than that unfortunate situation, it was another good Breeder’s Cup.
Let’s quickly break down the 7-1 season that Montevideo had.
It is tough to judge exactly how good Montevideo is from afar because they have no common opponents with DC, and actually have only faced one Class 3A team this season. That came in the first week of the season when they took on St. Cloud Cathedral and won 20-14.
The Thuder Hawks tied for the West Central Conf.– South championship with a 6-1 record against all Class 2A teams. They lost in the last game of the regular season to BOLD, and that dropped them into a tie with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City for the conference title.
Montevideo is the fifth-ranked team in Class 3A. Their average margin of win was 13 points. On average, they score 26 points and allow 12. Besides playing almost an entire schedule of Class 2A teams, the strength of those teams wasn’t that great. Their opponents’ season record was a combined 28-36. Meanwhile, DC’s was 37-27.
See you Saturday.
Ok, so here is some basic info about the Cardinals. They come out of the Southwest Conference, where they finished sixth out of seven teams with a 1-5 record. They were 3-5 overall and played a much softer schedule than DC.
Five of the eight games were against Class 2A teams, although their last game was against 9th-ranked Luverne. Redwood Valley lost that game 26-12. The Cardinals played two Class 3A teams, winning their game against St. Peter 40-19. They played Class 4A Marshall and lost 35-20.
They average 20 points a game, and give up 21. By comparison, the Chargers on average score and give up about 24 points.
I talked to coach Weinandt last week after he watched a lot of film on them. He said they had a pretty balanced offense and like to both run and pass, and do both effectively. He also said their offense does have some athletes.
If the Charger defense, which has been stellar lately, can prevent the big play like have done for the most part lately, they should be able to hold the Cardinals down.
It is time to start the speculation, okay it has been going on for a while already, but it is time for me to start.
The Minnesota Twins enter what might just be their most improtant offseason in the team’s history in just a few weeks.
A few of the questions that will be answered include – Will they keep Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva? Are they going to trade or sign Johan Santana to a long-term contract extention? And will they finally go out and find some offense to help a weak line-up?
While this is not what I want to happen, I do believe this is how everything will play out for the Twins this offseason.
First, they won’t sign either Silver or Hunter, as both get better offers from other teams.
Then, they won’t sign Santana to a long-term contract extension or trade him, leaving the 2008 season as a lame duck one.
And lastly, they will go out and a sign a middle of the road free agent third baseman, that won’t even make up for the loss of Hunter in the line-up.
Yep, I see 2008 being a pretty bad year for us Twins’ fans.
Here are the Section 3AAA football standings with two games remaining.
Team Pts. Remaining schedule
GSL 46 vs. Annandale (1-5), vs. Watertown-Mayer (2-4)
Montevideo 37 at Paynesville (3-3), at BOLD (3-3)
Litchfield 27 at Watertown-Mayer (2-4), vs. DC (3-3)
DC 26 vs. Waconia (5-1), at Litchfield (3-3)
Watertown-Mayer 21 vs. Litchfield (3-3), at GSL (6-0)
Redwood Valley 21 vs. Worthington (1-5), at Luverne (5-1)
Annandale 15 at GSL (6-0), vs. Orono (4-2)
Sibley East 3 vs. Mayer Lutheran (2-4), at Jordan (2-4)
If the season ended today, the Chargers would host a first-round game against Watertown-Mayer or Redwood Valley. DC crushed W-M 40-15 just a couple of weeks ago. The other matchups would be GSL vs. Sibley East, Montevideo vs. Annandale, and Litchfield vs. Watertown-Mayer or Redwood Valley.
If no upsets occur, the standings should be the same after the next two games. One place where some change could happen is with DC and Litchfield. If the Chargers can beat the Dragons in the eighth and final game, they would move ahead of them in the standings up to the third spot. Other than that, there does not appear to be any likely changes.
I didn’t have a whole lot of time to take in the myriad sporting events that were on television, but had enough time to take in some interesting things.
Saturday night brought one of the best college football games so far this season. Ninth-ranked Florida took on top-ranked LSU, and what a game it was. Florida was in control for much of the game, but LSU converted several fourth downs and their head coach Les Miles took a bunch of chances and it paid off. with them winning 28-24. With that win they are clearly the best team in the nation and who will be able to matchup with them? I have little faith that second-ranked Cal or third-ranked Ohio State can come even close to them. The Buckeyes’ win over Purdue was also impressive Saturday, but they and the rest of the nation are a cut below LSU.
Speaking of impressive, how about that move Jeff Gordon made on the final lap at Talledega Sunday afternoon. If you weren’t paying attention, it was easy to think that Gordon was not even in the race. He just sat back for most of the day and then moved up quietly towards the end. With just a couple of laps to go he was in second place and there was this feeling that he might do something spectacular. Gordon’s quick move to switch lines ahead of Tony Stewart was great and it earned him his sixth win at that track. Is there any doubt he is the best driver on the circuit?
It appears the Wild are the only organization in this state that have a clue. It’s only been two games, but the newly acquired Eric Belanger appears to a great catch. He has fit in very nicely with his linemates and is one of the main reasons why the Wild have won their first two games. He already has one goal and two assists and is a plus-4.
It has never cross my mind in the past, but is the NFL rigged? Sunday night’s game between Chicago and Green Bay was strange. The Pack (who were one of the worst 4-0 teams in recent NFL history in my opinion) looked amazing in the first half. In the second, they got away from everything that worked and did everything that didn’t. And then referees began calling some very strange penalties, including one where the defensive lineman was called for lining up over the long snapper. I didn’t know there was such a penalty, but that is really a mute point since the lineman wasn’t lined up over him anyway. It was just a strange game and it certainly looked like the GB was going to win with no problems. But I have to say, it surely didn’t disappoint me that the Pack lost.
Straight out of the “anything can happen in baseball” category, two unlikely teams surged their way into the playoffs. After an epic collapse by the New York Mets, the Phillies clinched the East of the last day of the playoffs. By winning 14 of their last 15 games and then beating the Padres in an exciting one-game playoff, the Rockies grabbed the Wild Card after not being taken seriously even with just a week to go.
Those two teams getting into the playoffs certainly won’t boost any ratings, but it is good for baseball. The Rockies were always a cute little club that could hit the ball, but nobody really took them seriously as a postseason threat. I think it is good to see the Rockies and their $54 million payroll rather than the Mets and their $116 million payroll. By the way, Philidelphia’s is around $89 million (which ranks in the middle of MLB teams).
The Phillies and the Rockies should make a good series. Both teams have a ton of hitting and play in ballparks prone to a lot of offense. While a lot less people will be watching, it is nice to see fresh blood in the postseason. And if the National League does not provide any drama, we are almost certain to get some from the Yankees, Red Sox, Indians, and Angels in the powerful American League.
Glencoe-Silver Lake High School 2007 graduate Caty Delwiche, one of the top female cross country runners in school history, was struck by a vehicle in Mankato Tuesday, Oct. 2 while practicing. Delwiche, a member of the Minnesota State-Mankato cross country team, was killed in the accident. Go to the link included for the Mankato Free Press story. Our prayers go out to Caty’s family and friends. http://www.mankato-freepress.com/local/local_story_275200926.html
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