The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Chad Courrier

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August 9, 2007

Even time can’t help clean up Minnesota sports’ mess

Been away for nearly a week, hoisting big fish from Canadian waters, not even thinking about Minnesota Vikings’ training camp. But the inevitable return to work is always accompanied by a quick check on what’s happened.

Looks like the Vikings had their annual fight with the Kansas City Chiefs, enough of a scrum to cause the coaches to stop the scrimmage 45 minutes early.

Troy Williamson caught a few passes, dropped some deep ones. Still looks like a dismal season ahead for the Purple quarterbacks, who seemingly complete as many passes to defensive players as receivers.

In other words, not much has changed.

The Minnesota Twins get shut out one game, score 11 in the next. Win a couple of games in a row, drop two straight.

Core players get mired in slumps, then all break out together in the same game. Young pitchers continue to gain experience, some good, some bad. Johan Santana is not the best pitcher in baseball this season, but he’s still somewhere in the top 10.

In other words, not much has changed.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, probably still trying to figure out the roster mess created by the Kevin Garnett trade, remain eager to convince fans that hitting rock bottom is the quickest way to get to the top. Not bad logic, given the direction this organization has been headed the last couple of years, but there are flaws in the plan.

As long as Ricky Davis is on the roster, there will be problems.

Hard to believe that the same guy who spent time playing with kids at the YMCA last summer is the one who pouts when he’s replaced on the court, but given the number of young players on this roster, Davis should not be allowed back in the locker room. Problem is, they have him, and nobody wants him.

Another flaw in the plan is that when some of these bad contracts start expiring, no valuable free agent is going to want to play here. When the top-level free agents start saying “no thanks,” that’s when you start taking gambles on marginal players, such as Mike James, and end up with more bad contracts.

The final problem is that Kevin McHale should not be in charge of this overhaul; he’s the one who got the Wolves into this mess. It could be a time when the fan base, knowing that the next couple of seasons will get ugly, looks to the future, hoping that Al Jefferson, Randy Foye, Rashad McCants, Craig Smith, Corey Brewer and Chris Richard, combined with future top draft choices, make this team relevant again.

But nobody, other than owner Glen Taylor, trusts McHale.

In other words, not much has changed.



Chad Courrier is a Free Press staff writer. To contact him, call 507-344-6353 or e-mail at ccourrier@mankatofreepress.com.

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Chad Courrier