MNsportssidefx

2011 NFL Mock Draft and a Walk off win. What could be better?

2011-04-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

First off, if you are here to see the mock draft, please go to Sports Tears In Our Beers. This is a site that myself and Mr. Duke are running. He did a great job of predicting the draft and I think you will really enjoy it.

Danny boy, oh Danny boy! You were the hero last night my friend. Well, maybe it was the bullpen, but you will get the glory for your walk off base hit. It came in the bottom of the 10^th when you had 2 strikes on you. I know you are cocky, but man, did you have to do it with 2 strikes? Either way, it was great and the team really needed it. They got a win over the 2^nd team in my weekly power rankings, with one more to go today.

Just a heads up, I will be posting more on STOB now. So, if you like what you were reading here and if you like what Mr. Duke brings to the table, please start going to that site. There will be a ton of post, some combined, some solo and also weekly podcast. The podcast will be up on either Friday night or Saturday morning. So, please read and listen, you just might find out it’s a good time.

Jim Thome Crushes 590 almost 590 ft.

2011-04-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well, the Twins did it again. They lost. I know I wasn't pressing the panic button earlier, but I think it might be time to start. The focus early and often was on pitching, but it has shifted to hitting for me. I mean, we have been in a number of one run games already this year and it kills me. I admit, I'm a huge Twins Homer, so I was pimping this team all winter. But, it's even getting hard for me to find the bright spots in this line-up. I was expecting us to just bash the ball all over the field and that just hasn't been the case. We have only hit 3 home runs, which yes, is our win total. Does that make you sick? I know it makes me want to puke. The will have to turn things around here pretty dang soon before the media goes on attack.

Last year, they could have been horrible, but still sold out every game due to the brand new Target Field. But this year, you can already hear the boo birds. There is just no reason that we should have lost 2 out of 3 to the A's. I believe I have them winning their division, but I also have/had the Twins winning it all. So, I guess all we can do is wait and see at this moment. But, if they don't start hitting, this is going to be one long summer. I'm still trying to keep the faith, because I think this team has everything we need to win it. So, lets just sit back, drink some beers and keep our fingers crossed.

Also, if you are like me and like to listen to people talk about sports, you should check out the podcast posted on STOB. The crew put up the first podcast and it's gold Jerry, gold!

The "Hot Chick of the Day"

Tsuyoshi Nishioka's Big Break

2011-04-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

The Twins are hoping that Yoshi can somehow come across a mushroom and get his strength back up. Tsuyoshi Nishioka broke his leg attempting to turn a double play while Nick Swisher was trying to break it up. I know we all hate the Yankees, but this play was as clean as could be. The early predictions are that he will be out anywhere from 4-8 weeks. This is a big blow, but I guess its better it happened now and not later in the year.

The Twins will call up Luke Hughes to take Yoshi’s place. This might not be a bad thing. See, the offense now is stagnant and Luke Hughes led the team in homeruns (6) during spring training. The speed game is out the window, but I’ll take homeruns over speed at this time. I do feel bad for Yoshi because he had his family flying in to MN for Opening Day today, but hey, if he was homesick, he will at least have them here to visit.

I think this injury isn’t a bad thing for Yoshi. This will give him a little more time to just get more comfortable with being in the States. He can just relax, focus on his rehab and I’m sure his teammates will be there to comfort him through the whole thing. It was obvious he was nervous out there to start the year; maybe he will come back and be the player we thought we were getting. So, get better Yoshi and come back even better.

The Twins ended up losing the game 4-3. Yep, another 1 run game against the Yankees. I would give a recap of the game, but we have all seen this movie before. Bad pitching, no clutch hitting and just a fear of the big bad Yankees. The Twins are now sitting at 2-4 (one game called due to rain), I predicted a 5-2 start, but that didn’t happen obviously. We are now back at Target Field where we played really well last year. But, if you are looking for the long ball to make a come back, remember, the Twins didn’t hit very many out of the park. Still, I see a sweep in the cards. I don’t know why, I just do. It’s time to turn the switch on.

S.T.O.B is starting the Podcast Tonight.

That's right, we are launching the podcasting part of the blog. So, make sure to check out SPORTSTEARSINOURBEERS later tonight or tommorrow.

The "Hot Girl of The Day"

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

2011-04-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

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"

The Yankees Win! Theeeeeeeee Yankees Win! Oh, and Kemba Walker goes to the NBA as a champion and might stay at The Hotel Minneapolis sometime.

2011-04-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well, another game against the Yankees, another game the Twins lose. I’m still not pressing the panic button, but man, the Twins are now 6-31 at Yankee Stadium in the regular season under Ron Gardenhire. That is just a mind blowing statistic. I mean, you would think, by luck, the Twins would have a better record than that. It’s not like the Twins teams Gardy has had have been garbage every year. I know, it’s only the first game against them this year and it’s only the 4^th game of the 2011 season, but it is still frustrating. Heck, maybe I am pressing the panic button. Oh by the way, Mauer, you there?

There were some good things that I saw last night, so it wasn’t all bad. Yoshi went 2-4 and also look a lot more comfortable in the field than he did against the Blue Jays. Justin went 2-4, he did have an error that could have been an ending double play, but, the 2-4 is better than the 1-10 last series. Scott Baker pitched a strong 6 innings, if you take away the first 2. The bullpen didn’t give up any runs in the 7^th, 8^th or 9^th inning. So, things seem to maybe be on the up and up.

Tonight is going to be a tough match-up for us. The Yankees are throwing out C.C. Sabathia and the Twins are throwing out Brian Duensing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Duensing fan, the kid went 10-3 last year in 13 starts and had an ERA of 2.62. There was a stretch when he might have been the best pitcher we had. So, I’m actually going to go out on a limb and say the Twins pull out a 6-2 victory. I mean, the bats have to come to life at some point right?

Kemba Walks to the NBA a champ.

Well, my score prediction was wrong, (87-74), but my pick was right. Uconn defeated Butler in a pretty ugly championship game last night, 53-41. Kemba Walker led all scorers with 16, on an ugly 5-19 shooting night. But, Butler didn’t do themselves any favors by shooting a tournament worst 18% from the field. The horrible shooting in the game made it hard to watch, but since the Twins were losing and WWE sucked, I stuck with it. The pace of the game was nice and fast like I thought it would be, but both teams seemed so tight and tired, that shots just weren’t falling. I feel bad for Butler and the schools fans, two years in a row; that has to be tough. On the other hand, I have a lot of respect for what Uconn did in tournaments this year. They went undefeated in everyone they played in (Maui Invitational, Big East Tournament and of course The Big Dance). So, congrats Uconn, but don’t think about repeating, because the Gophers are coming!!!

Hotel Review: The Hotel Minneapolis.

Those of you that know me, know I love to travel and stay in hotels. Heck, even when I go downtown for a night of drinking, I like to get a room on either Priceline.com or Hotwire.com. They always have great deals on rooms.

This weekend, I stayed at “The Hotel Minneapolis”. I found this room on Hotwire.com for about 50% off. I had never stayed at this hotel, or even heard of it for that matter. But, I have to tell you, I’m glad I now know of it. This hotel compares very well to the very nice, but overpriced “Graves 601”. When you walk into this hotel, the lobby is brand new. There are dark reds and browns everywhere and the furniture and light fixtures are all very modern. As my buddy Mark said, “This is nicer than any place we will ever live”. He may be right. The check-in took no more than 2 minutes. I handed them my card and ID, they gave me my room keys and off I was to the 7^th floor. When I walked in, the room was huge. The ceilings seemed to never end, the bathroom was a mile long, and the beds, the beds were amazingly comfortable. I’m glad I got to the room before the drinking started, because I was able to take a nice long nap and enjoy the 47 inch HDTV that the Twins were playing on.

So, overall, I give this hotel an A. The reason it didn’t get an A+, is because parking at the hotel was $29 for valet. Don’t worry; I didn’t pay $29 to park. I parked across the street for $20 less.

"The Hot Girl of The Day"

Twins are leaving Toronto with the blues, while the Jays are flying high.

2011-04-04T06:22:00.000-07:00

Well, opening weekend for the Twins didn’t go as well as most of us thought it would. As predicted in an earlier post, I said it would be nice to have the Twins coming home with a 5-2 record. Well, it is looking like they have a better chance of coming home with a 2-5 record. The Twins got knocked around pretty good this weekend. We know the Jays like to hit homeruns, so that wasn’t a surprise. No, the surprise was that we didn’t do any damage at all. Sure, Valencia and Span each had a homerun….yeah, I know, they aren’t really the power on our team. But, the rest of the line-up didn’t show much pop at all. Since the Jays don’t really have the best pitching, I was sure that we would knock them around a little bit. I was wrong. You would expect a team that has the M&M boys, Cuddy, Delmon and Thome, to knock some balls out of the park. Just wasn’t the case this weekend.

Going, Going, Gone. It almost felt like Brad Radke was back on the team this weekend. It seemed like almost every picture we threw out there, gave up a tape measure shot. With all the talk about how we have so much talent, we have to move a starter into the bullpen, I expected a better showing. I didn’t think Blackburn would be the one to get us a win, but he was. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s only the first 3 games out of 162, but when you play in as many “play-in” games as this team has over the past couple of years, you want to win every game you can. So, I’m not pressing the panic button by any means, just hope the nerves are gone and we go into New York and at least take 3 out 4. Wishful thinking, I know, but it can be done.

The Final Four has come down to the Final Two.

Well, it’s been a long year, but the Men’s College Basketball season wraps up tonight. Coming back for the second year in a row, you have the Butler Bulldogs facing the hottest team in the game, Uconn. Uconn came into the tournament winning 5 games in a row to win the Big East tourney. If you throw in the Maui Invitational, they are undefeated. Butler came into the tourney as an 8^th seed, but has been playing a lot better than that. They have grinded out games and have just found ways to win. They were in this same spot last year and almost beat Duke on a last second, half-court heave that almost brought Mr. Duke to his knees. This is going to be a great game, showcasing two very good teams, with two different playing styles.

Prediction: The picture kind of gives it away. Speed outduels Muscle. Uconn wins 87-74.

The "Hot Girl of The Day"

You might say Morneau, I say MorYES!

2011-04-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Today is Opening Day for the Twins. More importantly, Justin is starting at first base and returning to the scene of “The great concussion of 2010”. This is a huge game for Justin and his confidence. The guy was a hockey player, so I don’t think he will be scared out there at all this year, but, as noted in an earlier post, it would be good to see him do the same play that got him hurt “breaking up a double play at second”; and come away fine. I don’t expect him to have a huge game, or series for that matter. As we all know, he gets a little too pumped up when in Toronto; and being the first game back, could be even more jacked. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see him start where he left off last year. The guy was a monster at the plate. I believe he had 18 homeruns by June. Crazy. All in all, I’m just looking forward to this year and, as posted on http://sportstearsinourbeers.blogspot.com/ I expect them to win the whole thing. Call me crazy, but this is a good team and this state is in need of a ticker tape parade down first ave.

Bust out the popcorn, because we are reviewing movies!

127 hours

So, my girlfriend picked up this movie last night, because she has been dyeing to see it. I’m not a big James Franco guy, seems like a douche, but I watched it anyway. I gotta tell ya, I’m not sure how this move was nominated for best picture. I know it was a true story and everything, but this didn’t come close to “Social Network”, “Black Swan” or even “Toy Story 3”. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but not great. Maybe I would have felt more of a connection if the guy had his arm stuck in a bleacher of the student section at the Barn, because for some reason, I didn’t feel bad for him. I mean, who goes running around on rocks and going into caves without bringing someone or at least tell someone where you are going. If you ask me, he is an idiot. You might think that this is a short review, but really, that sums it up. Guy goes off alone, falls in a canyon, rock lands on his arm, he cuts it off to get out. Don’t worry; I didn’t spoil the movie, just look at a picture of the real guy.

This movie gets a C+

"The Hot Girl of the Day"

So, looks like Matt won’t be Painting the town red at Mizzou.

2011-03-31T07:26:00.000-07:00

If you are a B1G Ten basketball fan, you are aware of what has been going on at Purdue this past week. Matt Painter took a meeting and at one point, was rumored to have signed on the dotted line with Mizzou. This was pretty bitter sweet for me. Reason being, on one hand, it would be good to have Purdue maybe take a step back and make room for the Gophers. On the other hand, I want the B1G Ten to be as strong as possible and Matt Painter helps out with that.

I do have to give Painter some props here. Yes, the reason he was going to leave was due to money, but it was money that he wanted his other coaches to get. Mizzou was going to pay Painter a nice 7 year-14 million dollar contract. Painter was making 1.3 million last year (not chump change by any means) which was the 8^th highest salary in the B1G Ten. So, I could see why he would have left, but he didn’t.

It looks like Purdue realized there was a real chance they were about to lose one of the best coaches in the B1G Ten, if not the country. So, they did what they should have, an gave him an 8 year contract. The dollar amount of said contract hasn’t be disclosed as of yet, but it must have been enough to make Painter happy. Overall, this is a good move and just means Purdue is here to stay for awhile….Ugh.

You down with D.E.A.C? Yeah you know me!

Well, the first game is in the books. Things looked to be starting off on the wrong foot when 3 out of the 6 guys playing last night, weren’t sure if they were going to make it on time. Luckily, with about 2 minutes to spare, our 5^th and 6^th men showed up. I know I said 3, but the 3^rd guy showed up for shoot around, so it worked out. This was the first game in a league that is playing its first annual 5 on 5 men’s league. The rules are pretty simple. You play two 20 min halves, you do scoring by 1’s and 2’s instead of 2’s and 3’s, which is no big deal, because we only keep score by how many points the other team is up. The 20 min halves, however, is a different story. There is no clock running, the lady keeps time on her I-Phone and comes in and tells us when to start and than comes back when there are 5 mins left in the half. This got really confusing towards the end of the game. We were up by 2 with (under 5 mins because that is the last time we heard anything) so Jordan went in for a lay-up, missed, the other team came down hit a 2 and the lady said, “GAME”. Well, we were tied and now had to play overtime. We ended up winning by 3 in OT, but it never should have gotten there. Oh well, it’s the first week and I’m sure some things will be tweaked.

How did everyone play? For the most part, I think everyone played pretty well and knew their role on the team. We only had 6 of our 8 guys as noted above, but we still managed to run and gun. Our starting line-up was:

Jordan

Joe

Kenny

Ben

Jake

Jordan is a very fast paced player. Every rebound that we got on the other end, he was looking to push. This is a pretty good style for us though because Ben, Joe and I all like to run out to the wing and pop an open 3 in transition. If we miss, no worries, we have Jake down there to get the rebounds. Or 6^th man was Derrick. He was nice 6^th man to have because he, like Jordan, likes to push the pace at the PG spot and gets to the rack pretty easily. He is always a sneaky defender, he likes to lie in the weeds than sneak up and poke the ball away. I think it will be interesting to see how the other 2 guys gel in. Overall, I give our team the following grades:

3 point shooting: B

Rebounding: C-

Screen Setting: B+

Passing to the open man: B+

Defense: B

Transition layups: B+

Overall, I think we played a B game and still won. So, hopefully that is just a sign of things to come.

“Hot Girl of the Day”

Lebron James has won the war, but the Cavs won the battle….at least last night.

2011-03-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

Lebron must have thought he still played for the Cavs last night. He showed up to the arena in his own car and brought his entourage with him as well. He even went as far as to wear a “Long Live the King” T-shirt. As Sludge said this morning on K-Fan, “If he wants to be called King, put douche bag at the end of it.” Where the story gets funny, is when he tried to pull into the arenas garage. Now, this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I guess the NBA doesn’t allow non-home team players to park in the arena without advanced permission. Lebron was turned at first, but than was eventually let in. His entourage however, was shot down and had to pay the same $10 event parking fee as everyone else.

It’s now time for the starting line-up. “Starting at SF for the visiting heat, #5, Lebron James” Sounds normal right? Well, the thing is, he wasn’t there. Apparently he had to take a quick bathroom break. That, or he just didn’t want to hear the boo’s rain down on him. I’m going to go with the latter.

The game itself was good for the fans in Cleveland. They are having a horrible year, but this win for them is like the Twins beating the Yankees in the playoffs, no one saw it coming. I wonder if this humbled Lebron at all. I’m guessing it didn’t, but it really should have. I mean, he thought he could just come in there like he used to and got shot down. This isn’t the first time he has been back, so I don’t know if something changed. The tweet from Dan Gilbert kind of summed it up “Not in our Garage!!” Uhh, hey Dan, he did end up parking there, so please, stop trying to be Mark Cuban. You will never be him and Charlie Sheen doesn’t want to be your friend. Speaking of Charlie, that brings me to my next topic.

D.E.A.C. By now, we should all know what that stands for. If you don’t, it is Droopy Eyed Armless Children/AKA the name of our 5 on 5 basketball team. Yeah, I know, it is also one of the many things Charlie Sheen has said the last month or so. Well, we start tonight and our line-up is as follows:

Kenny

Ben

Joe

Jake

Cory

Derrick

Reed

Jordan

All that sounds like to me is, UNDEFEATED. Well, maybe not, but we should have a pretty good team. I will let you know tomorrow how we did.

Don’t think I forgot about “the hot girl of the day”

Target Field: New Year, New Scoreboard and most important, NEW FOOD!

2011-03-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

As a lot of you found out last year, Target Field had some really good/great food compared to the day/week old hot dogs offered at “The Dome”. This year, there is a whole new crop of food coming in. I have listed them in order of the things I am most excited for. Man, this is almost as exciting as opening day itself. No, not really, but it is still pretty cool.

Turkey

to Go: A favorite at the Minnesota State Fair since 1959, the Giant Juicy Turkey Sandwich -- marinated overnight, served hot and fresh, and pulled from the bone -- makes its Minnesota sports debut in a portable stand behind home plate on the main concourse. Turkey to Go also has a food truck at Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. The sandwich is served with Ken Davis BBQ Sauce, created in Minneapolis in 1972.

This has been my favorite thing to get at the state fair. If you like turkey, you have to try this thing. It will blow your mind.

Lift Bridge Brewery: Added to the local beer offerings this year is Farm Girl Saison from Lift Bridge Brewery based in Stillwater, Minn.

· This is a great brewery. I have tried a few of their selections. You might even see an appearance from them on STOB.

Hebrew National Hot Dog: For Twins fans seeking a Kosher selection, the Hebrew National Hot Dog comes to Target Field this season. The preparation of the main attraction at Target Field’s first kosher hot dog portable cart will be supervised Sunday through Thursday by a Rabbi or one of his representatives. The cart will remain open Friday and Saturday, but in observation of the Sabbath, it will not be supervised. All food items – including bread, condiments and specially packaged soft drinks – fall within kosher standards.

· I remember the first time I tried one of these hotdogs…..it was awesome. These might be the best hotdogs money can buy. I like that there are now about 4 hotdog choices at Target Field. Everyone knows, no matter how nice the food is at a ballpark, you can’t leave without trying a hotdog.

Kramarczuk’s Sausage: Twins fans can enjoy two Food Network takes on the highly-popular Kramarczuk’s sausage in addition to the bratwurst, Polish and Hungarian sausages already served at Target Field. The new Food Network specialties are a smoked bratwurst with horseradish cream and a wild rice bratwurst with pickled red cabbage and beer mustard. The sausages will be made fresh daily just one mile away from Target Field at Kramarczuk's and will be served at a Food Network cart at section 114.

· I can’t lie; I have never tried the sausage from this place. This is way it is 4th on the list. People rave about them, so they must be good.

Walk A Taco (El Burrito Mercado): A tortilla-based cone, stuffed with authentic taco ingredients. Owned by the Silva family, El Burrito Mercado has featured its Walk A Taco at festivals like TwinsFest 2011, Taste of Minnesota, Cinco de Mayo and Grand Ol’ Day.

· This sounds like a walking taco (Doritos and taco fillings all in one small Doritos bag), but better. Depending on price, could be worth a try.

Minneapple Pie: Apples inside a deep-fried, flaky crust and topped with cinnamon and sugar. For an additional cost, the pie can be topped Blue Bunny Ice Cream. Armed with a century-old family recipe, the Atsidakos family developed this individual apple pie in the 1960s at Peter’s Grill in Minneapolis and now serves it in the family-run Cottage Grill in Rogers, Minn. It’s featured at the State Fair and will now be at the State Fair Classics stand at Target Field.

* Another product I have never tried. It is last on my list because I just don’t see pie as being something you eat at a game. I know the saying, “As American as Apple Pie and Baseball”, but I’d rather have a beer and a turkey sandwich.

It’s Thursday! Ok, more like Tuesday, but Thursday sounds better than Wednesday.

2011-03-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I ripped off the “Common Man” from K-Fan there, but that is ok, he is used to people stealing his material by now. So, what does everyone have going on this week? I see that there has been an increase in readers of the blog, love it. What I’m hoping will happen now is you guys giving me some feedback. I’m always ready to hear whatever it is you guys have to say. Be it good, or bad. I want to make my site and my combined site with Mr. Duke http://sportstearsinourbeers.blogspot.com/ as user friendly as possible. So, for this blog, you can email ksmi136@yahoo.com and if you want to contact the S.T.O.B crew, you can email sportstearsinourbeers@yahoo.com This is a good way for you and us, to interact and have a good time. If you have any topics you would like us to write/podcast about, let us know. If you have a beer that you think is the best and we should try it while podcasting, let us know. Don’t worry, we won’t steal your ideas, you will get full credit for any topic we use and you can even send in a picture of yourself that we will post next to the topic. So please, visit one, two or all 3 of the blogs and share with us, while we share with you. Also, if anyone has any good band recommendations, please share those with us as well. Just remember, it can be about anything, doesn’t have to be just about sports. Mr. Duke and I hope to hear from you guys soon and have a great day. Also, shout out to all the people in India that seem to be reading the blog. Thanks, that is really cool of you guys…or girls out there.

On a side note, I have come up with a prescription for any day of the week. It is the new, “hot girl of the day”. Here is today’s picture.

Sidefx of a Monday = Boredom and trying to figure out how to get through the workday.

2011-03-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Prescription = New Yellowcard CD "When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes"

I just purchased this cd on Friday before a road trip to Omaha and I gotta tell ya, it made the trip go by pretty quick. Yellowcard took off right from where they left things. The come out and punch you in the mouth with the first song “The sound of you and me”. It is about 4 mins long and is everything you would expect a Yellowcard song to be. It is fast, slow, soft, hard, powerful and amazing. They continue on with the first single “For you and your denial”. This was the first song I heard off the cd and I loved it. However, this might be the song I listen to the least, even though it may very well be the best, as I have had it for a few months and it was the only new Yellowcard out there. There are 8 other tracks, for a total of 10 that will make you feel like Yellowcard never took a break. If you just want a few samples of the songs, check out this link http://www.amazon.com/Youre-Through-Thinking-Digital-Booklet/dp/B004R98LSI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301329512&sr=8-1. I think that you will be happy you did. Not to mention, you can get it for $10 at Target, so instead of getting you and your girl a classy dinner of two $5 footlongs, pick up a cd that you can enjoy forever.

Another day, another Gopher thinks the grass is greener on the other side and the Twins are hoping to play on some of that grass.

2011-03-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

This time, it is Jr. Colton Iverson. He would have been a senior this coming year, but I kind of think he saw the writing on the wall. He didn’t get much playing time last year (which was a mistake I believe) and he probably would not have gotten very much this coming year. It is still strange that he would leave going into his Sr. year. I think he will probably transfer to a D-II school so he won’t have to sit out a year. I hate to see Colt leave, but we do have enough size to where it won’t hurt the Gophers. The have Trevor, Ralph, Mo and Elliott (who Tubby is ga-ga over). This is a good move by Colt, just comes at a bad time as it seems like Tubby is losing someone every month.

Well, on a brighter note, the Twins get started with real games this Friday. They are playing in Toronto against the Blue-Jays. I think this will be a huge coupld of games for Justin. I for one want to see him break up a double play in the first inning and have nothing happen. That will get whatever scare that is left of getting hurt, out of his mind. I have big expectations for this team this year. I would like to see us run away with the central by winning 100 games and hopefully getting out of the first round. I don’t think I can take another first round exit. But hey, that is a long ways off. For the time being, we can just hope they get off to a fast start and starting thinking of that first game at Target Field on the 8^th. Hopefully by then I won’t be ordering chili to stay warm, but just because it is so good. I just looked at the forecast on accuweather.com and it is showing 68 on the 8^th. That would be amazing. We know the place will be packed either way, but it would be great if the temps were warm and the twins were coming in at no worse than 5-2. That will be tough with the first 7 on the road (3 @Bluejays & 4@the devils…or Yankees.) But, we should be ready to go and our line-up will be in full swing. Now all we need to do is get through this work week and than we will be good to go with sports for the summer. Have a good day and we will see ya later.

Side note: Mr. Duke and I are starting a blog/podcast together. It is http://sportstearsinourbeers.blogspot.com/ it is under construction, but check it out soon, it will be amazing.

I was really feeling the sidefx of a crap MN sports winter, but I'm back baby!

2011-03-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

In the words of the great Slim Shady...."Guess who's back".

It was nice taking a little break away from all the crap that we called sports. I mean, my favorite team, the Gophers' Men's Basketball team really went in the dumps. I'm not even going to get into the Favrings, I mean Vikings. That team was more of a train wreck than Charlie Sheen. That's OK though, we have the Twins starting and a few months for Tubby to right the ship for our Gophers next year. So, today, that is what we will be talking about. Let's take a look at next years Gopher team shall we.

Roster:

Andre Hollins
Austin Hollins
Rodney Williams
Mo Walker
Trevor Mbwake (maybe)
Ralph Sampson
Colt 45
Joe Coleman
Julian Welch
Mavrick
Chip Armelin
Oto
And some others that probably won't see the court.

So, who would you put in your starting line-up? I would have my starting 5 be Julian, Andre, Coleman, Trevor and Mo. I know that gives a young back court, but Andre and Coleman are no joke, they can flat out play. It also gives us a lot of size inside. If Mo can cut down his weight, he could be our Draymond Green. Trevor will be Trevor. It also gives us some great bench players with experience. We all know Tubby likes to play two 5 man squads, so this could be a good idea. I mean, here would be the 2nd five. Chip, Austin, Rodney, Ralph and Colt. Not to mention, the 11th and 12th players would be Mav and Oto....not bad. I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited about this team. Granted, I say that every year and it never really works out. However, I think the 2011-2012 team can really be different. Finger's crossed I guess.

On a side note, is winter ever going to end? This is just getting crazy. Granted, we did see an amazing day on St. Patricks day (Best outdoor drinking day ever), so that was nice. Come on winter, we are all yelling uncle...can you not hear us? I can't even get myself pumped to write about the Twins. If the Dome was fixed, would they have moved games there if snow was still in the air?? Meh, probably not.

On another side note, I want to give a shout out to my buddies blog http://mrdukesthoughts.blogspot.com/ He has some good basketball stuff up there.

Well, that is it for today. See ya soon. Don't forget to vote on the poll.

I know it's a little late, but I wanted to say Welcome to Twins Territory to Tsuyoshi Nishioka. I think this is a great move by the twins and will really set us up in the middle for some years to come.

Welcome (Kangei)

Twinks and Vikes

2010-09-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty busy at work today, so this post will be short.

Tigers win again this afternoon giving us a nice 6 game lead. That is the biggiest lead we have had all year. Thank you Tigers.

Vikes start off the year tonight and I don't think it will be pretty.

Vikes 14
Saints 31

Sorry for such a short post. I will have a recap of the vikes game tomorrow and a preview of the Twins and Indians as well.

Thanks and go Vikes!

Sidefx of Playing softball...

2010-09-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

Yep, good ol' tennis elbow. After playing through pain this past couple of weeks, I finally went into the Dr. They say I have some ligament damage....great. That is why the blog post have been lacking lately. My elbow is feeling a little better so I will do my best to get back on here and update all of you on the happenings in the sports world.

Gopher Basketball Eh

As you probably now, the Gophers played 3 games in Canada this weekend. They came out 3-0 and played pretty well for it being Sept. I'm most impressed with Devoe and Mo Walker. Walker is huge and will cause a lot of problems for teams that like to drive into the lane. With Mo, Trev, Colt and Ralph....watch out. Devoe looks like he started right where he finished...on fire. Everyone says he is better at the 2 spot, but I like him at the 1. It allows Blake to play more and will also allow Rodney to get some starts. Nolen is fine, but I think he should start taking the role of a 3rd-4th qtr defensive specialist. He can kind of be our "closer". I know we drop off a little on D when he is not in, but letting Devoe run the show and do is own thing seems to be the way to go.

The Twins are on Fire.

That's really all that needs to be said here. If we can get into the playoffs by winning the division (don't count us out of the wild card if chi-town passes us) than we have all but sealed up home field against the wild card team. I say don't count us out of the wild card race because we are only 2.5 behind Tampa for that spot. So, I would say our chances of getting into the playoffs with 23 games to go sits at about 90%. I think we have a great shot of winning the first round, no matter who we play. We have the 3rd best record in the league right now, so if there are any doubters...just leave. Yeah, we know you like the field, but if you don't like the team....WE DON'T NEED YA!

Vikes start Thursday

I will have more on this either tomorrow or Thursday.

Leeving Texas with a Win!

2010-08-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

LEE - "DAMN YOU THOME & DELMON" REAL QUOTE..maybe

Well, the Twins players must be reading my blog. They did take my prescription. Franky was on his game. He didn't have that I don't care look in his eyes. The bats showed up. Thome....how huge has he been since Mr. $1 any size softdrink went down? When he does come back, I don't see them taking Thome out, so they will probably move Danny V to the bench (that's what happens when you are a rookie) and move Cuddy back to 3rd. Anyway, back to the game. Cliff was hanging by a thread all game and we busted him. He had his shortest outing this year. He also walked guys, which is rare for him (only 11 total before last nights game). I think the twins knew this was a big game and they showed it. By winning this game, they stay 1 game ahead of the Rangers in the head to head battle. It now sits at 4-3 in favor of us. They didn't want to go into Seattle feeling down. They would get there, it would be raining, people would still be crying about Kurt Cobain...just not good. It was nice to see Capps come in and not crap himself. I know he isn't Nathan...or anything close, but we trade away a nice player for a guy that I think Crain is better than. Last night though, he did what he was supposed to do. So, I'll give him a pat on the back.

Now we start a 3 game series with the Mariners. They are gonna throw Jason Vargas at us. He beat us the last time he faced us going 7 innings and gave up just 6 hits and 1 run. He did walk 3 though, so hopefully we can be patient. We will give them Big Spot Scott. He got the win against the Mariners last time he faced them. He went 5 innings, gave up 3 runs and walked 4. Hey, it's the 2nd half of the season, Baker is always better the second half....must be those bars he hits during innings and after he gets pulled.

I see us winning tonight 5-2. And I see the Sox losing against the Yanks. We are sitting on a 3.5 game lead. If the cards fall they way they should, we should be heading home to face the Tigers with a nice 5.5 game lead.

My prescription for a win tonight: Bake needs to no shake tonight. When he gets hit around a bit he starts to doubt himself. He walks around the mound, rubs his face and just looks lost. It's amazing because when he is on, he has some really nasty stuff, but once a team picks on him a little bit, he looks like he wants to run and hide. I have faith we will see Big Spot Scott tonight and Not Big Shot Scott.

M I N N E S O T A....MINNESOTA...MINNESOTA..GOOOOOOO GOPHERS!

2010-08-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

The schedule has been released and here is how it looks. My predictions will be bold. That's how confident I am. I left off the 2 exhibition games as those don't really matter.

Fri., November 12 Wofford College: This will be a WIN

Mon., November 15 Siena College: This will be a WIN

Puerto Rico Challenge

Thurs., November 18 Western Kentucky: This will be a WIN

Fri., November 19 Puerto Rico Tip-Off = Hopefully UNC-This will be LOSS

Sun., November 21 Puerto Rico Tip-Off Puerto Rico- Not sure who they would be playing

Wed., November 24 North Dakota State Williams Arena

Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Mon., November 29 Virginia: This will be a WIN

Sat., December 4 Cornell: This will be a WIN

Wed., December 8 @ St Joseph's: This will be a WIN

Sat., December 11 Eastern Kentucky: This will be a WIN

Wed., December 15 Akron: This will be a WIN

Wed., December 23 South Dakota State: This will be a WIN

Tues., December 29 @ Wisconsin: This will be a WIN

Fri., December 31 @ Michigan State: This will be a LOSS

Tues., January 4 Indiana: This will be a WIN

Sun., January 9 @ Ohio State: This will be a WIN

Thurs., January 13 Purdue: This will be a WIN

Sun., January 16 Iowa: This will be a WIN

Sat., January 22 @ Michigan: This will be a WIN

Wed., January 26 Northwestern: This will be a WIN

Sat., January 29 @ Purdue: This will be a LOSS

Wed., February 2 @ Indiana: This will be a WIN

Sun., February 6 Ohio State: This will be a LOSS

Thurs., February 10 Illinois: This will be a LOSS

Sun., February 13 @ Iowa: This will be a WIN

Thurs., February 17 @ Penn State: This will be a WIN

Tues., February 22 Michigan State: This will be a WIN

Sat., February 26 Michigan: This will be a WIN

March 2 or 3 @ Northwestern: This will be a LOSS

Sun., March 6 Penn State: This will be a WIN

So that leaves us with a record of 21-6 (not adding the 3rd game of the Challenge) overall and 13-5 in the big ten. I think we will get a bye in the big ten tourny and fight our way into the championship game again. Hopefully with better results this time. I will preview and predict every game on a week by week basis as well. Until then, go gophers and lets make Canada pay.

And the results are in......

2010-08-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

So here is my draft break down by round. It's a 10 person league with 16 rounds. I started out with the 5th pick. I have posted some comments next to the players. Feel free to let me know what you think.

1. (5) Ray Rice: I think he will continue to dominate like he did last year. Didn't think I would get him, but the 3rd pick took Aaron Rodgers...

2. (16) Reggie Wayne: Stud....enough said

3. (25) Greg Jennings: If Aaron Rodgers is going to blow up this year, let Jennings be a part of that.

4. (36) Brett Favre: This might seem a little early, but all the other QB's were gone.

5. (45) Ronnie Brown: That ankle is fine, and he is ready to play.

6. (56) Visanthe Shiancoe: No Rice, Harvin might die....Shank dog will benefit.

7. (65) Marion Barber: Nice value here with the 65 pick. He will be the starter at some point

8. (76) Santana Moss: McNabb is the best QB he has had. Had almost 1,000 yards last year. Nice pick

9. (85) Donovan McNabb: Still there with the 85th pick....wish I wouldn't have taken Favre so early.

10. (96) New Orleans: Lets hope they keep the pick 6 going.

11. (105) Jerome Harrison: Nice back up against the right team. He carried me in the playoffs last year.

12. (116) Vincent Jackson: Find a team and play. This would be the steal of the draft if you do that buddy.

13. (125) Mohamed Massaquoi: Who???

14. (136) Jerricho Cotchery: Meh, he will be a trade piece I'm sure.

15. (145) Heath Miller: Nice back up TE, probably won't stick around very long.

16. (156) Lawrence Tynes: Wooooo what a steal. Cough

Well, there you have it. That is the roster that will win the league. It might not look like much now, but with trades and everything else that comes along in the season, this is a winning team.

My prescription for a win in week 1 is:

Favre

Rice

Brown

Jennings

Wayne

Moss

Shiancoe

New Orleans D

Tynes

Well, thanks for reading and good luck in your draft. Be happy you aren't playing me. You might actually have a shot at winning.

If you are wondering why there is a picture of captain caveman....that's my team name

The Texas 3 step.

2010-08-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

Well, looks the Rangers weren't very happy about us sweeping them at our place. They are going to try and one up us tonight by finishing off a 4 game sweep. I have to be honest, I didn't see this coming. Sure, C.J. Wilson has been pitching very well this year (13-5 with a nice era of 3.02) but I still thought we would win. We were playing good baseball up until this last 3 games. We need to win this 4th game in order to get back on our feet. This will show that we can at least take a punch in the mouth, fall down and stagger our way back to our feet. Sure, it would only be 1-4 against a team we are more than likely going to be fighting for home field advantage with, but a win is a win. We got lucky last night thanks the O's beating the Sox. Seems like they kind of have their number. If there was one bright spot in last nights game, it was Danny V. He went 3-4 and is just a stud at 3rd. I can see why they are calling him the 3rd baseman of the future. It was nice, but it wasn't enough. We are having problems winning right now, but lets hope Franky can put his game face on and get us this win tonight. I know we will still probably win the division, just don't want to win it because another team lost it. I'm not hitting the panic button yet, but if we fail to beat these guys when they come here again on Labor Day weekend....consider the button pushed.

My prescription for a win tonight: Franky can't look like he doesn't care. I hate when he has that face on. We need Mauer to get some big hits. Double plays just aren't doing it in this series. I say we win 7-2. The bats will wake up a little bit.

Fantasy draft results shortly.

Fantasy Football draft tonight. Are you ready for some foo.....(Punch) Shut up Hank!

2010-08-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

This guy was only 22 when this picture was taken. He had a rough Fantasy Football season. Some say that fantasy football is a fun way to enjoy the football season. I say, screw that. You pay X amount of $'s to have a stress filled weekend. Not only that, but you have your buddies trash talking and sending you stupid trade proposals. Sure, it can be fun when you win, but what are the chances of that? Sure, you might start out hot. You get the number one pick! Awesome! Next thing you know, he is out for the season. Just a few years ago, I took Tom Brady in the first round. Not first pick, so take it easy. What happens; he gets hurt and is out for the season. The bastard didn't even play one quarter. I digress. See, that is another thing I hate about fantasy football. Bitching. I hate to say it, but it's worse than poker stories. The good thing is that it only last for a few months. Do people really care how you would have won the week if your top running back wasn't part of a platoon? Or how if they didn't pull Brady or Moss (me bitching again.....it's my blog) in the 4th because the Pats are killing whoever it was they played, you would have won? I have the quick answer for you. NO! No one cares. I think I'm just going to start telling my boss I would have been to work in time, if only the guy in front of me would have ran the yellow light. I'm sure she would understand and give me a monster raise.

I have my draft tonight and we don't know what pick we will have until about 30 mins before the draft starts. Stress is already setting in. If I get the first pick, do I take AP or Johnson? Do I think outside the box and take Brees? Sound dumb? Well, there are a lot more running backs that can get you points than QB's. Do I try to make a deal with the first pick and take a good ransom off of someone who just really loves AP. We are in the state of Homers after all. I don't know what I will do or who I will pick. I do know this, I will fall into the game and talk about how I should have won. I will make trades and rob people when they really want someone that I have. I will blog about it here and hope that someone reads it besides me.....doubtful. Except for Ben. Hi Ben. Anyway. It should be a fun season and I'm looking forward to making you feel my pain (or glory) along the way with me.

Prescription to not stress out during Fantasy: Don't play it. It's kind of like asking, "How can I stop smoking?". You just do. Hell, fantasy might make you start.

Sidefx of the Vikings getting Greg Camarillo

2010-08-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

Greg will steal your mom

Stop the press!!! Blockbuster trade!!! No, not really, but this should help. Benny Sapp has been shipped to Miami in exchange for 4th year wide out Greg Camarillo. With Chris Cook and Asher Allen playing well this pre-season and with Winfield healthy, Sapp was expendable. Camarillo stats don't jump out at you (50 catches for 552 yards and no touchdowns), but he is a warm body, that doesn't have a never ending headache, or a bad hip. Who knows, maybe he can be the Greg Lewis of this year. Hey, that one catch made him famous and got him the popular "best play of the year" ESPY.

My prescription for people who aren't happy with the move:

It was Sapp, take 2 Advil (ones that haven't been recalled), watch Cook grow and call me at the Bye Week.

My prescription for people who are happy/indifferent with the move:

Have a beer...on me. You get it.

Sidefx of the twins losing the frist 2 games againt the rangers...

2010-08-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well, so far, so bad. The Twins have lost the first two games of the series with the Rangers. They did so in bad fashion. They didn't move runners over, they only got a single hit in the first game. This is a big series for a lot of reasons:

1. Who ever has the better record between us and Texas, will more than likely get home field advantage in the playoffs in the first round. If we tie with them, we need to own a better head to head record.

2. We need to show we can step it up against the top teams in the AL. Sure, we can pound on the Royals, Tigers, Indians and Sox, but we need to show we can step out of our division, or we will just be a one and done again.

Those are the two biggest reasons. I know I said a lot, but it's more quality than quantity.

Hopefully we can go out and get them in these next two games just like we did against the Rays a few weeks back.

That is all the time I have for now (lunch break is over at work) but I will be on here at least 3-4 times a week.

Feel free to email me with any comments our things you would like me to talk about.