I assume you all are feeling a little better these days, as the best time of year is finally here: Spring. That’s right, I said it. Spring, the months where everything literally smells like shit, is the best time of year. Why could such a foul smelling time of year be awesome? Well, the answer to that is two-fold.
Firstly, the abominable, god-awful temperatures of winter are finally transitioning into much more manageable, warmer temperatures that hold the promise of golf season and lake life being in the not too distant future. The second reason is even better; it’s playoff season! Seriously, as long as you can avoid the tree jizz giving you the sniffles, Spring is an absolutely elite time of year.March marks the beginning of the best stretch of sports out there starting with Minnesota State Boys High School Hockey Tournament. This year’s Tourney was as electric as ever, serving as a great lead-in to March Madness with both the NCAA basketball and NCAA hockey tournaments going on. If that’s not enough, you have the stretch runs of the NHL and NBA regular seasons leading into the playoffs of both leagues.
In addition, Spring include the best golf tournament of all: The Masters and the return of baseball, which is actually happening again this year. I didn’t say anything about the NFL, but if you’re a diehard NFL fan this time of year isn’t so bad for you either as the NFL offseason is in full swing with free agency starting now and the draft just around the corner.The bottom line is there just isn’t a better time of year on the sports calendar, and when you add the changing weather to the equation, there probably isn’t a better time of year.
New Guy
If that isn’t enough for you to be happy, well then, you should probably see someone about that.Anyways, we like to help people here at 10K, so here’s something to cheer you up. You’ve all been blessed with the presence of a new blogger at 10K: Big O. You will now be able to look forward to reading my wonderful and coherent thoughts about life and sports in Minnesota each week. You’re welcome.
Who is Big O?
I’m a small-town kid who dared to have a dream. My dream was so large that Leonardo DiCaprio wanted to make a movie about it, but my parents said no, so he made Inception instead. What was that dream, you ask? It was to one day write for such a prized and elite institution like 10K Takes. Through years of hard work and dedication, my dream has came true.
In all seriousness, that’s a lie. I know that hard work and dedication doesn’t pay off. I’m just a kid who grew up in Northern Minnesota and moved down to the Twin Cities to attend the University of Minnesota and do some writing. I’ve been a diehard Minnesota Sports fan for every last second of my 24 years on this Earth, which turns out is more than enough time to have your heart ripped out of your chest, torn up, and stuffed back in numerous times.
One thing I’ve learned is dreaming, goal-setting, or whatever you want to call it, just isn’t worth it. If you dream big, there’s a pretty high chance your dream won’t come true, which leads to disappointment. That means happiness is the result of the absence of dreaming.The Secret to Happiness is Low Expectations
Expect the worst, hope for the best and you will never be disappointed.
As you should now know, I never dreamed of being a blogger for 10K, but apparently I’ve stumbled into being one. I’ll give it my best shot, while expecting to burn out in flames. Considering most people who know me would describe me as an idiot, I would advise that you (The 10K Faithful) should apply the aforementioned “expect the worst, hope for the best” motto when you’re reading literally any content on the internet my blogs. That way reading them will be more appetizing and less of a death sentence.
Love It or List It
Each week, I’m going to give it my absolute all to entertain you and who knows, maybe I’ll even teach you something. I’m naming this bit after a once great television program on HGTV, called Love It or List It, where people’s homes were renovated and the owners had to decide whether they “Loved it” and were going to keep it or if they were going to “list it” because they didn’t like it and wanted a different house.
In the “Love It” section, I’m going to identify a list of people/things/events/general happenings and occurrences that I love and want to keep around. In the “List It” section I’m going to identify a list of people/things/events/general happenings and occurrences that I hate and want send them to a far away land.
With that said, let us get to it!
LOVE IT
Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament
This is always a great tournament, but this year’s was especially great. The X was packed, the hair was gorgeous, and the games were awesome. The AA championship game was one of the best I’ve seen. You can’t ask for much more than double overtime in a championship game and that’s what we got. Making things better, the private schools and Edina lost. Congratulations to Andover! It was a great tournament for bot single A and double A. I can only think of one thing that didn’t go well, but I’ll get to that later.
Matt Boldy
This dude is legit. The Wild have another young stud in Matt Boldy and I can’t wait to watch him develop in the coming years. He has great chemistry with Kevin Fiala and seems to be piling on the points nightly. I love this kid.
The New Wolves
Fuck you, Jimmy Butler. You suck. Who needs ya? The Timberwolves don’t. I’m not the biggest expert on basketball, but it’s nice to not have dumpster fire of an NBA team anymore. The Wolves are 8-2 in their last 10 and look like they’re going to make the playoffs this year. They might even snag the 6 seed and avoid the play-in tournament.
Mikko Koivu
This guy got a lot of hate here, but I’ll always love number 9. He was a much better player than many give him credit for. Never forget the captain’s exploding shoulder! Love you Mikko!
LIST IT
Hermantown
Fuck Hermantown. They suck. The only bummer about this year’s tourney was Hermantown sandbagging again and winning the single A tournament. They continuously decide to stay in single A, so they can make it to state every year by beating up on teams like Virginia and Greenway. Pathetic. Unrelated, but Hermantown’s ice rink is a top 5 worst rink in the state.
Knees
Minnesota doesn’t have the best luck when it comes to knees. From Daunte Culpepper to Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford, with Ricky Rubio somewhere in between, it’s apparent that knees in Minnesota aren’t always a safe bet to hold up. We had quite the scare this week when it was reported that our budding superstar Anthony Edwards is dealing with some knee problems…
Please sports gods, leave our knees alone! Take out Aaron Rodgers knee instead.
Minnesota Wild Goaltending
Cam Talbot continues to struggle. The Wild can be a real good team if they get some decent goaltending. Billy G needs to make a move to shore up the position. I’d take just about anyone at this point.
This Guy
I’d take just about anyone to improve the Wild’s goaltending, but this guy is not it.
That is a tough look pal, hope you weren’t expecting much there.
Sorry this got long, but you won’t have to read my mind numbing introduction next week, so I guess that’s something to look forward to.
Have an average week everyone! Talk soon!
XOXO – Big O