Kobow's State of the State.

Well, I know you guys put down your thoughts on the place where our pro sports teams are at, and I figure that I can throw my two cents in before my meeting coming up in a bit here.

Here are my thoughts, how they stand, and where they are going from here.

1) Vikings-They barely and I mean barely beat out the Twins for the number one spot on my list. I know the stadium sucks, I know the fan base is fickle, and I know we do not have anything near a proven quarterback. Our head coach is far, far below average, and sometimes incompetent. But here is what we do have. We have one of the most dynamic offensive players in Adrian Peterson that the game has seen in the last 15 years. We have an owner who has proven that he will spend a lot of money heading into two uncapped seasons upcoming in 2010 and 2011. If we are going to see a Super Bowl championship in our lifetime, I believe it is going to come in the next three seasons. The defense is still strong, the running game is excellent, and the passing game has no where to go but up. I truly believe this team is the closest to a world championship out of our four sports teams.

2) Twins- A very close second, a consistent winner, but does anyone actually take them seriously to make a run at a World Championship? I certainly do not. They are a nice story every summer and early fall. "Look at the Twins, in contention again, how do they do it?" Well, here is how they do it. They have one of the best 1st basemen in the league. A great catcher, speed in the outfield and all throughout the lineup, and a group of solid young starting pitching. By the way Jared, to compare the Twins starting rotation to the Braves of the early 90's is ridiculous, and I hope you were kidding. Uhhh, those Braves had three HOFers, and the Twins don't have one. So, if the Twins have all these good things going for them, why aren't they #1? Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, NYY, Boston, Anaheim, Tampa Bay. And that is just the American League. They certainly aren't better than NYY, Boston, Anaheim or Tampa Bay. And I'll make the argument that they aren't better than Chicago or Detroit, two places where owners actually spend money on their teams. But boy we sure beat the crap out of KC don't we? I despise the way this team is run at times...so unbelievably frustrating as a fan, and I certainly am not a big Twins fan at all, and it bothers me. With the move into the new stadium, we hear rumors of more big time free agents being brought in here, but I certainly won't be holding my breath.

3) Wild-Speaking of frustrating, this team is an ultimate head scratcher at times to think about how they were put together. The star player I believe wants to bludgeon his coach to death at times. He is also hurt all the time, rarely gives 100%, and disappears in big games. A truly wonderful combination. The head coach I think has completely lost this team. They don't buy into his system anymore. After hearing the same speeches and playing the same style over and over and over again for years at a time, the players eventually start tuning you out. That is what has happened with LeMaire and this Wild team. Backstrom is an excellent goalie, probably top 5-10 in the NHL, but also has to want to kill his teammates when he sees another 2-1 loss where he makes 35 saves to keep them in the game. They seem like they want to try to bring bigger name players in here, but consistently lose some of their better veteran players to FA. As mentioned, they draft inexplicably poorly, and probably are as far away from a championship right now as they have been in the past five years. Hey, that stadium looks great though.

4) Timberwolves- As I often state, I truly believe I am one of the last 8-10 T'Wolves fans in this state. But this had better be as low is it's going to go for this team for a while. They are borderline unwatchable, even with Jefferson in the lineup at times. Of course anytime, you lose a guy who was having a 23-11 season, (incredible when you think about it...top 10 in points and rebounds), you are going to have a tough time winning. As horrific as the Foye-Roy deal looked last year, it hasn't been quite the bloodbath this year, as Foye has remained healthy and seems to be playing with way more confidence. I don't think I would trade Kevin Love for Michael Beasley right now...which is a big statement. But that doesn't get them off the hook for YEARS of repulsive draft choices. McHale is a guy I still don't trust at HC. I think he is always ready to press the self-destruct button. The owner is getting old and incompetent, the stadium isn't getting any newer, and we have awful luck in the lottery. But they have made some decent moves in the last two years, and could with a little luck and good selections in the draft this year, start to change things around. A move out of the West to the Eastern Conference would help.

Thoughts?

Kobow