Finally Streak Ends, Wolves Win

Sink into spring gloom

April losses piled up

Wolves outlast Pistons

(A Haggy Haiku)

The Wolves at long-last ended their month of April woes, downing Detroit 91-80 Thursday night. The victory was Minnesota's 26th on the season and ends a run of 27 consecutive losses during the month of April, which dates back to 2009. 

It also snaps a season-worst 11-game losing streak. 

Nikola Pekovic led the way with 23 points. 

Justin Morneau Crushes in New York

Justin Morneau absolutely loves the new Yankee Stadium. 

It's a left-handed hitters cure-all. 

After blasting three homers in as many games this week, Morneau now has equaled his 2011 total in one-sixth the amount of games. 

As uncomfortable as he looked at the plate during the first week of the season, Morneau has turned it on of late to look every bit the guy who won an MVP award in 2006 and finished second in 2008. 

In 13 career games at the modern-day House That Ruth Built, Morneau is batting .458 with seven dingers and a 1.535 OPS. 

Let's see how he handles a new venue. 

"Warrior": A Movie Review

Sports and their subsequent storylines are less formulaic than movies would have you believe.

First there was “The Wrestler,” then “The Fighter,” and now “Warrior.”

Hollywood dabbled in an up-close look at the life of a washed up professional wrestler, followed by the life of a middling welterweight boxer and now two mixed martial artists.

Encompassing all three flicks is a noticeable existence bereft of some degree of a healthy familial relationship. At least “The Fighter” was biographical.

The movie “Warrior” follows the lives of two brothers related by blood, who couldn’t be further apart.

Afflicted by a dysfunctional upbringing and an alcoholic father (played by Nick Nolte), Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) and Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton) each separately struggle through their lives.

To begin the movie, Tommy returns to his father’s house after serving with the Marine Corps in Iraq, though he shows no sign of forgiving the parent who altered his life path and led to his mother’s early death.

Brendan is shown to be a family man and physics teacher who has fallen on tough economic times.  

He doesn’t let his father, who sobered up, into his life and has not corresponded with Tommy since they were teenagers.  

As the movie develops, both begin training for admittance to an international MMA tournament, primarily drawn by the $5 million pot.

While Tommy uses physicality to pulverize opponents, Brendan relies on Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Of course, both brothers reach the tournament, and despite being nobodies on an international stage, you can imagine what happens from there. Typical Hollywood.

Tommy’s success is believable enough, but Brendan’s seems to be a journey through a Disney kid’s movie. He found little success in his first UFC go-round years back. At 1,000-to-1 odds, his Brett Favre-like comebacks from being “done” are more predictable than death and taxes.
Compounding the issue, why is it that in film hard-earned lessons are practically always learned when the most is at stake? 

Thankfully, the acting is terrific, especially by Hardy, who spent months training with professional fighters to make the action sequences look realistic. He succeeded. So did Edgerton. The camerawork was superb, capturing the emotions of spectators, commentators, managers and fighters alike with a poignant flair.

The movie also rightfully pays tribute to MMA, a sport which is gaining wild popularity with the continued success of UFC.

Despite director Gavin O’Connor running out of fresh ideas and sticking to Hollywood’s inside-the-box thinking, the movie will leave you believing that even the worst grudges and differences are worth forgiving.  

Stupid Is On the Way to the NBA

Photo Courtesy of USA TODAY

If life gives you tests that you cannot pass, hey, just stop taking them and attempt to cash in your chips.
That's the route Fab Melo is taking.
Last week the 7-foot sophomore from Syracuse declared for the 2012 NBA Draft. Just as he so frequently skipped out on doing schoolwork this past season, Melo will avoid playing the final two years of his eligibility at Syracuse.
Melo missed three games in late January and the entire NCAA Tournament because of academic troubles.
When he played, the Brazilian averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks for the Orange.
Now the center will try to get an NBA team to ignore his character and work ethic issues to draft him for a healthy chunk of change.
According to ESPN, Melo is projected to be a late first round pick.
Even if he finds success on the court, his past decisions to shirk his responsibility as a student-athlete doesn't bode well in a league that sees so many of its players wind up broke just a few years after their playing days end.
Katherine Mansfield once said, "make it a rule of life never to regret anything and never to look back."
Perhaps down the road a more mature Melo will feel differently.

Minnesota Twins: Where's the Consistency?

To find success in the Big Leagues, a level of consistency must be achieved.
The Minnesota Twins won six division titles over a nine year span beginning in 2002 by piecing together teams built around throwing strikes, fielding well and playing small ball.
Then came the 2011 season. A rash of injuries, an equally inexperienced and lousy bullpen and a general regression by just about every player on the active roster led to a 99-loss season.
More of the same is taking shape this year.
And in Sunday's loss, capping a three-game sweep by the Texas Rangers, the amicable Ron Gardenhire did a dastardly job managing.
It may have only been one foible, but it was the difference in the game.
Stubbornly stricken by the lefty-lefty matchup, and trusting his recently reliable reliever, Gardy elected to keep Glen Perkins in the game to face Josh Hamilton with the tying run on third -- this despite the fact the former MVP was 5-for-11 with a homer and three RBI in his career against Minnesota's setup-man.
One pitch and a mighty cut later, the Rangers took the lead for good.
It makes little sense to go with traditionally favorable generic matchups in the later innings if the specific individuals involved have a significant history. In this instance, Hamilton consistently crushes Perkins like Grave Digger a clunker.
The fact Gardenhire kept the ball in the former Gophers' left-hand is baffling. It also makes what Gardenhire verbalized Monday surprising.
The Twins manager looked at the the specifics of the Yankees series and determined that he would not be playing Justin Morneau Tuesday because the slugger "stinks" when facing C.C. Sabathia, the named starter.
Before celebrating Gardenhire's improved scouting, remember he is also the manager who insisted on batting Carlos Gomez first. The guy's reasoning: Gomez caused mayhem on the base paths. That's all fine and good if Gomez could ever reach base to showcase his abilities. But he didn't hit for average and refused to walk.
While irksome, the managing mistake with Hamilton resulted in just one loss. In a 162-game schedule, only if the pitching staff actually consistently gets hitters out and the team competes, will the err possibly be relevant.