RIP Randy Savage

Sad to hear the loss of "The Macho Man" Randy Savage today. One of the great talkers in wrestling history, Randy came out of a wrestling family to become an icon of the sport (as well as one of the industries first cross-over stars with his endorsement deals.)

Randy will be remembered for his great, sometimes crazy promos, uncanny charisama and intensity in the ring. A childhood hero, his relationship with his valet, later wife, Miss Elizabeth was as close to a royal couple as wrestling had. Elizabeth has also passed and I like to think that Randy is having one hell of a match with his old valet by his side against another legend "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig.

Here's some of his finest work.



WIDELY considered one of the great wrestling matches of all time. Savage and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat put on a show at Wrestlemania III in Detroit in front of a record crowd of over 93,000.



Savage won his first WWF title at Wrestlemania IV in Atlantic City against "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase.



Savage won his second, and final, WWF title at Wrestlemania VIII against "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair. These two tore down the house in front of 60,000 plus in Indianapolis and is a favorite storyline of mine which basically was Flair bragging that he slept with Elizabeth before she went out with Savage. He even had pictures! Youtube search it, classic.



And how can we not include a youtube classic with Savage and the legendary "Mean" Gene Okerlund.

Five Stages Of Grief Apply To Twins

Another fabulous weekend by our Twins. After getting swept by the Jays, look on the bright side, we no longer play them this season after they've completely trounced us. We also got traveling to Boston out of the way after losing three of four at Fenway last week.


All this means is that we no longer have to go on the road to play the competitive American League East teams, and after a West coast trip we can start playing our inter-division games more frequently.


Alas, it will be a long Summer. I predicted a downturn in production from this team, but not a historical downturn! The offense is the worst in baseball. take a look:


Total runs: 119, next closest San Francisco with 135
Home Runs: 18
Total Bases: 413, next closest Seattle with 424
On-Base Percentage: .296
Slugging Percentage: .322


The .231 batting average coupled with the OBP and SLG lines are so horrific consider Nick Punto's (my all-time least favorite Twin, I can't even imagine a player I'd dislike more) career batting line is .247/.322/.324


So in essence a line-up full of Nick Punto's would be seen as an improvement.


It's true Twins territory has put too much belief and hope and faith into this team. And how could we not? I don't think I need to remind any of us of the last Vikings, Wild, Wolves and Gophers anything seasons coupled with a Wisconsin Rose Bowl appearance and Packer Super Bowl victory to give us all a sense that the Twins HAD to be good again this year. Even the Vixens lingerie football team has struggled out of the gate. *Sigh.


But they aren't. I expect some players to get traded (Jason Kubel? Delmon Young? Francisco Liriano?) and the organization can go with a one step back to take two steps forward approach that has traditionally had mixed results in the past.


But I just can't fight it anymore. I'm finally at the last stage. Acceptance.


According to Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' 1969 theory, during times of death, and really any other sort of traumatizing event, we go through five stages. The last one being acceptance.


I'm not trying to compare the first awful Twins season since 1999 to a personal tragedy, but the reactions and emotions from the fans fit in the cycle like a glove.


Stage 1: Denial

• "Well it's just one game."
• "The bullpen is still trying to settle themselves."
• "Joe just needs to get more at-bats."
• "Justin just needs to get his timing down."
• "The middle infield needs to mesh a little."
• "Nathan did okay in Spring Training."
• "Just wait until it gets warm outside."

Stage 2: Anger

• "How dare Nick Swisher take out Nishioka!"
• "Whose idea was it to have Casilla start?!"
• "Where did they find this stiff?!" (could apply to many people.)
• "Call up Luke Hughes!"
• "Put Slowey in the rotation."

Stage 3: Bargaining

• "Just get us to May 1st in okay shape and we'll be healthy."
• "Can we just get one last crack against the Yankees in October."
• "If we trade for so and so and call up whats his name..."
• "If Jim Thome can get to 600 home runs. I'll be happy."

Stage 4: Depression

• "Why is it still 40 degrees out?"
• "Gas is $4.00/gallon."
• "The Vikings drafted Christian Ponder."
• "When does Gophers spring ball start?"

Stage 5: Acceptance

• "We've been passed by the Royals."
• "Twins run differential is -90."
• "There are no sure fire, ace-in-the-hole, hitters in the upper minors."
• "The Vikings may have a new stadium deal in the next two weeks. Go Vikes!"
• "Target Field is still awesome, the on-field product isn't as important."
• "Bert Blyleven is going to Cooperstown, that's nice."
• "Liriano threw the no-hitter. Maybe the can help his trade value."
• "Danny Valencia is handsome."
• "Joe Mauer is worth the price of admission."

I'm keeping faith that the twins can be at least competitive, that one awful season every 12 years is pretty damn good and Target Field is amazing to experience.

But the cracks in the foundation were there and the levee has burst so far this season. Here's hoping the team can at least be competitive and not continue to embarrass themselves. 

Everything You Ever Needed To Know About The NCAA

If I'm an Ohio State athlete or Buckeye Head Coach Jim Tressel this would tick me off big time...

Sage Advice From Kevin McHale

From Charlie Walters, St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Ex-Timberwolves VP Kevin McHale, a TNT analyst: "If you're 7 feet tall, stand in front of the rim, something good usually happens."

This was the exact rationale behind signing Michael Olowakandi