Twins Big Win! Oh, and 2011-2012 NCAA Early Pre-Season Rankings.

Well, it’s about time. The Twins pulled out a thrilling come from behind victory last night. They won 5-4 in 10 innings against the “Evil Empire” that is the Yankees. It didn’t come easy though. The Yankees again crushed some homeruns on the softball field they call “The New Yankee Stadium”. That place is a joke. Either that; or our pitching is a joke. Heck, maybe both are worth laughing at.

The Twins were down 4-0 going into the 8^th inning and facing Soriano. The same Soriano that made us look silly the night before. Not tonight my friends, we weren’t going to lye down for anyone. Well, except for C.C. Sabathia who threw 7 shutout innings, while retiring the final 17 batters he faced. But, Soriano couldn’t hold the lead. He walked 3 in the eighth, the last of which brought in Mauers first RBI of the year. That was it for Soriano; it was now Robertson’s turn. He came into face the ninja turtle himself, Delmon Young. It wasn’t DiGiorno, because Delmon delivered a bloop 3 run double down the right field line to tie the game and bring it into extras.

In the extra inning, Denard Span drew a lead-off walk and Tsuyoshi Nishioka lined a single to right that got Denard to 3^rd. Mauer than brought in the winning run with a single of his own. It was the winning run because Joe Nathan came in and did what we are so used to seeing him do, close a game.

This was a huge win for a lot of reasons. One, we are just flat out not good against the Yankees. It was nice to see our boys not give up. I know they play hard every game, but sometimes you can just tell they seem defeated. They came back and won a game they needed to have. They couldn’t afford to start the season 1-4 and still have 2 more games against the Bronx Bombers. Hopefully this win is a springboard for the rest of the season. I mean, if anyone has played mind games with us, it’s the Yankees. Now that we see we can beat them in this fashion, we should be able to beat anyone.

S.T.O.B’s (insanely super early with assumptions made about who will be on each team) 2011-2012 Top 10 –

Well, as a lot of you might know, Mr. Duke and I have started a blog together. There has been a great following so far, but I just figured I would put our last post from that blog, onto this one. I’m doing this in hopes that you will check out all 3 blogs. I mean, what else are you going to do during your lunch break? Check it out, hope you like what you see. Thanks.

Ben’s Picks –

So my prediction was wrong.  UConn is the champ, in one of the uglier games you will ever see.  I don’t think it was ugly because either team was bad, just because both teams were obviously a bit nervous and bad shooting can be contagious…very, very contagious.  So instantly, since I am neither a fan of UConn nor Butler, I wonder…who are the contenders to win it all next year?

1. North Carolina –

It seems 50/50 that Barnes will come back.  If I had to guess I’d say he does come back along with Zeller and Henson.  Add a great recruiting class and UNC will start the year at #1.

2. Ohio State –

Jared Sullinger, Aaron Craft, William Buford and Deshaun Thomas will be coming back it looks like.  Add to that a top 5 recruiting class to make up for the departures of Deibler and Lighty and the Buckeyes aren’t going anywhere.

3. Duke -

Duke comes in 3^rd with the assumption that Kyrie Irving is gone.  If he returns and Duke also lands top 5 SF recruit DeAndre Daniels, Duke could definitely be in contention with UNC for the top spot preseason.  Without either, Duke will still be top 5 and I’ll say 3^rd with a top high school player Austin Rivers, Michael Gbinije, Marshall Plumlee and Quinn Cook.  Returning impact players, outside of the on the fence Irving, Seth Curry, Andre Dawkins, Miles/Mason Plumlee, Tyler Thornton and Josh Hairston.

4. Texas

Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton and Cory Joseph will be back.  If Rick Barnes can get out of their way they’ll be very tough…until March.

5. Kentucky

Teflon John (Calipari) has yet again locked up (legally or illegally) another great recruiting class.  The top class in fact.  If Knight and Jones make their expected exodus to the NBA it will be another year of great freshman getting Kentucky into the tourney only to come up short of finishing the job again.

The other 5:

6. Syracuse

7. Memphis

8. Louisville

9. Michigan

10. Cincinnati

Final Four predictions in New Orleans 2011-2012 – Duke, Louisville, UNC and Michigan

Champion 2011-2012 – UNC

Kenny’s Picks –

Well, unlike Ben, my prediction was right. Uconn is the champ and Butler is left crying at mid-court once again. Don’t get me wrong, I, like Ben am not a huge fan of either team, I just like being right. So, that is why you should bet on this being the pre-season top 10 for 2011-2012 Men’s College Basketball season.

1. Ohio State-

They were the team that held done the #1 spot for the longest last year. They aren’t really losing anyone except for Lighty and Deibler. They are bringing in the #4 recruiting class and will be in the water downed big 10.

2. Duke-

I hate to put Duke here, but they will be good. I don’t see Kyrie leaving (sorry T-pups fans), and they are bringing in the #3 recruiting class. This team could go undefeated the whole year. I know Mr. Duke is shocked reading this from a known Gopher fan, MNsportssidefx.

3. North Carolina-

Barnes, Zeller, Henson and the #6 recruiting class. That is really all that needs to be said here.

4. Kentucky-

I think they lose a lot, but they will also gain a lot with the #1 recruiting class. I have heard rumors of Coach Cal thinking about going back to the NBA. If that happens, they drop.

5. Michigan-

This team is the Phoenix Suns of college basketball. Every single kid that hits the floor will shoot a 3. They love to run and gun. They grew a lot this year and the off-season will only bring them closer.

The other 5:

6. Purdue

7. Louisville

8. Butler

9. Syracuse

10. Kansas

For the gopher fans wondering why I didn’t go “homer” and put them in the top 10, I am putting them 22^nd.

Final Four Predictions in New Orleans 2011-2012- Duke, Ohio State, Florida, Minnesota.

Champion 2011-2012 = Duke (Yuck)

The "Hot Girl of The Day"