Voices from a stranger...

Today we’re introducing a new feature. The established writers at TKOT hope this goes well. Every week we’ll be posting someone else’s opinion on this site. A guest writer will get a spot on this prestigious site once a week. If all goes well this could blow up to a guest writer day. Instead of using the over used guest writer, you’ll be hearing from “strangers.” We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves so it will be just one post a week…for now! If you feel you’d like to do this just email the tkontoast@gmail.com address and let us know. You can email that address to see if we already have one in line for that week or email your post for us to review. Also, if it’s not good it’s not going up. We are honest SOB’s that will say…hell no!

Without further ado this week’s entry comes from a knowledgeable sports fan from Minnesota currently living in Wisconsin that is an overrated fantasy football manager.


The Bag's ramblings

2008 NFL Draft. For those that know me, know that this is a big day for me. I love the draft. Almost better than Christmas. I love it for the Vikes and I love it for fantasy. So as I have been reading a fair amount the prospects and who's coming out, I think at this juncture the Vikes have to go QB. Unless of course T-jack turns his entire season around, wins us some games and shows some promise, I think we would be dumb to pass up on the QB talent in this draft. I believe Matt Ryan, Andre Woodson and Brian Brohm are top shelf QB prospects and we could get one of them.












If you look at the Vikes 4-6 record, it says two things: It hasn't been a great year in Minni; and we're getting a top 10-pick baby! I checked out other teams with similar records and turns out not a lot of those teams need QB's. So if the vikes keep the course their on (with Peterson out for the foreseeable future, I don't see them righting the ship), they could end up with a legit top 10 QB to build around. Sign McNabb for 2-3 years and let this new guy sit and be mentored, I don't care. But just don't pass up a legit franchise QB. I'm in the "T-jack is not the answer camp" and we need to do something about it.

Here is my 2008 mock top 10 draft. I have included the QB situation for each team.

1. Miami- Jake Long OT Michigan. They're real high on John Beck and I don't see them going QB. Long gives them something to build around and a good place to start is LT.

2. St. Louis- Glenn Dorsey DT LSU. Just gave Bulger a pile of money...take that for what it's worth, but I doubt you see QB here. The Rams need help all over on D and I can't see them passing up Dorsey, who many see as the best player in college FB.

3. N.Y. Jets- Darren McFadden RB Arkansas. My guess is they could go QB, but they are high on Clemens, and I'm hoping he shows them something the next few weeks. I think after seeing what Peterson did for us, they might take McFadden, who's going to be a stud. Otherwise I would say Matt Ryan gets a lot of consideration here.













4. New England (from San Fran) - Chris Long DE Virginia. Yep, that's right, New England forfeits their pick, but gets San Fran's. As if they even need it. If Ryan is on the board I could see them trading down and stocking up later round picks. They're notorious for doing that. Otherwise I see them going DE and why not go Howie's little boy. Oh by the way, I don't think they go QB here.

5. Oakland- Calais Campbell DE Miami. They just gave a pile of money to their #1 pick, Mr. Russell. No QB here. Running back makes sense here but if McFadden is gone you're reaching for anyone else. Campbell gives them a speed rusher who could make an immediate impact.

6. Cincinnati- James Laurinaitis LB Ohio State. I don't think Carson is going anywhere soon. No way they go QB. So why not take the animal Jr. from Minni. I think this kid is legit. Some question his speed, but you wait, he's coming out this year and he's going high. I think along with John Carlson TE from Notre Dame, Minnesota could have two 1st round picks from their state. And Mason didn't get either one...bastard. Think of these two guys at the U now. Can you say, big men on campus?

7. Atlanta- Brian Brohm QB Louisville. I think they need a QB? Everybody loves Brohm back to Petrino. I would love to see Brohm in purple, though.


















8. Vikings- Matt Ryan QB Boston College. I would love to see them go QB, With Brohm to Atlanta they could still end up with Matt Ryan or Andre Woodson. Or at least one of the three. This would give us more hope and combined with Peterson we could have a great offense that is built to last...well maybe.

9. Arizona Cardinals- Sedrick Ellis DT USC. I think they like Leinert, and aren't going QB either. Ellis is a monster and Arizona needs help in a lot of places. Everywhere but receiver. I could see them going OL here as well.

10. New Orleans Saints - Kenny Phillips S Miami. Obviously they love Brees and aren't going QB. Then again I don't think they're picking this high come April. Phillips is a stud though and everyone wants that legit S with what Bob Sanders, Polamolu, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, and Roy Williams are doing. I think if Vikes don't go QB they might even go with Phillips.

That's my first mock draft. Obviously very early. We still have no idea draft order as the season is barely over half over. But I want Brohm, Ryan or Woodson, and yes in that order.

A-Rod's re-signing














Could care less where he ends up, but I think if we're going to trade Santana we go after them hard right now. Go for the throat. Ask for Hughes, Joba and Melky. See what happens. They brought back A-Rod, they brought back Posada. They're going to bring back Rivera. They’re going to take a run and George is sick of not winning. He'll bet his future to win now. I am in the "let's sign Santana. But if we can't get rid of him ASAP and let's start re-building" camp.

What if we got Hughes and Melky? Losing Santana and Hunter if we have Melky and Hughes will soften the blow. We'll have a pile of money to go after free agents. Bring in Lowell, bring in Piazza. I don't care but I think if you trade Santana, the Yanks are prime suspects right now. They're going for it this year, and Jo-Hizzy gives them a legit chance.

I'm Out,
The Bag

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AP Who?

The loss of the league leading rusher (AP for those who are only reasonable intelligent) proved to be less of a blow than people thought with the 202 total yard output by Chester Taylor in today’s win vs. the Oakland Raiders. Maybe the notion that this is a two-back league is true. Chester was a 1200-yard rusher last year but has been all but forgotten with the arrival of a dynamic rookie.

It should be noted that the Oakland defense is very bad, especially the rushing defense. I was led to believe that Oakland had the worst run defense in the league...I was wrong. I have no idea where I heard this but it’s probably from an uninformed roommate or an ignorant talk radio host. Either way, they are actually the fourth worst run defense in the NFL. They give up a 144 rushing yards a game and Chester’s 164-yard day is not going to help.

Chester’s monster re-coming out party was another nice individual performance to watch in a lost season. The Vikings are 4-6, exactly where they were last year. Nothing has really changed. A few new faces but the same old inconsistency. The last four weeks have been confusing. A horrible loss against a winnable Philly team at home, a better win in the last five years against San Diego, one of the worse losses in franchise history against Green Bay and now a convincing win against a poor Oakland team. Convincing is probably the wrong word but did you ever think we were going to lose that game? Even though the Raiders had the ball for a chance to tie the game in the final minutes I never thought we’d lose. That’s saying a lot since I think we could blow almost every game we play. It’s the Minnesota football in me. The Vikings and Gophers have burned us way too much. But, for some reason this win seemed like ours from the first drive.

Speaking of...

Can we just move Sidney Rice to our #1A quarterback position? Meaning we should give him anywhere from 5-10 reps at the QB slot. I don’t think I’m kidding. After almost two years we finally saw a glimpse of Brad Childress’s kick ass offense. A double reverse receiver pass from Sidney Rice for 79 yards to Visanthe Shiancoe on the very first play. For a minute I thought I was playing Madden football on my Playstation. I was waiting for Shiancoe to do a humanly impossible left juke with Pat Summerall slurring the play-by-play. I seriously have no idea where this came from. Wherever it came from I don’t care because it was kick ass.


It always makes for a nice little Sunday when the Vikings win. We’ve only had four of them this year so we cherish these little moments. But, a realist should know that this doesn’t mean anything. I’m a realist (at least I think I am). If they come out flat against the Giants next week nothing has changed. The system will still seem flawed. I fully expect us to lose at the Meadowlands next week...big. They are in dogfight for a division title and we’re secretly rooting for losses for a higher draft pick. Sorry, it’s the way the season has gone. The Vikings have six games left that are all winnable games I might add. If they can somehow get to eight wins this season it won’t be a complete wash. Eight wins with a revolving door of poop at the quarterback position is motivation for next year.

I can only imagine where we’d be with a guy like Jeff Garcia. I know-I know, I’ve already brought this up numerous times but I’m not letting this organization off the hook for a piss poor back-up plan if T-Jack happened to suck. A proven free agent quarterback that was extremely available this off-season like Garcia couldn’t hurt. We’ve lost a few games simply because our quarterback. And we’ve won none simply because of our quarterback. T-Jack looked all right today and needs to play every single game until the end of the year to finally prove to the coaches that he stinks. Once he does, we can finally move on. Us educated fans already knew this coming into the season but the professional coaches need some more time. Naturally.


So we’ll enjoy this win this week only to get our doors blown out next week. That’s what we do. Maryland might do crab cakes and football but Minnesota does walleye and shaky play football. I think we got them beat. Anyways, T-Jack can’t look all right two games in a row can he? Well...maybe...nah...nevermind. Enjoy this week Viking faithful because that kick ass offense just used up every ounce it had today...

Out,
Fuzz

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Here We Go...

If you were to ask most people their favorite time of the year, the answers would likely vary quite a bit. Some might say “the holidays”, presumably meaning any time from Halloween to Valentines Day. Others might say spring time. They enjoy the warmer weather and flowers and the birds and… (sorry I just threw up a little in my mouth). Still others would tell you they like the fall what with the leaves turning colors and football season beginning. But not here in the House that Toast Built. In our little corner of the world, there is no better time than right now—college basketball season. The preseason tournaments have just begun and there will be an NCAA hoops game on the main television in La Casa de Eagan every night of the week from now until late March.

That said, it’s a great time to release our college basketball preview. Dogg and I will be giving you the low down on the key players and teams that you need to know about for the 2007-08 hoops season. Note: we purposefully didn’t include Fuzz because we already made you read his garbage Duke propaganda last week and you, our loyal readers, shouldn’t have to see that trash again. You’ll also be getting the first official TKOT Fantastic 15 Power Rankings, which will be updated every other week. It’s a highly scientific process that we used to come up with the rankings—each guy picked his 15 and we averaged the three sets out for one overall ranking. So, without further ado…



North Carolina
This wouldn't be a very good preview if we didn’t start with the number one team in the land, the Tarheels of North Carolina. Their biggest asset by far is the fact that they have three star players, whereas most top programs have only one or two. Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Tyler Hansbrough are all at or near the top of their positions (point guard, wing, and post, respectively). And that is precisely what makes them so tough. It’s one thing to have three stars, it’s another to have them at each of the key spots on the court. But it doesn’t end there because they have major x-factors in their uber-athletic wings Marcus Ginyard and Danny Green. You can also add Bobby Frasor off the bench as the guy who’s always in the right place, makes no mistakes, and buries 3’s if you leave him open. These kids aren’t spring chickens either. This is virtually the exact same team that went to the Elite 8 last year. In an era where more players are one-and-done than stay until they are seniors, experience is a huge plus. Oh, and they’re playing in a very down year for the ACC. That’s a lot of good on their side. That doesn’t mean they aren’t without their questions though. With the wide variety of options, what kind of style do the Heels go with? Do they slow it down and feed Hansbrough in an inside-out type of game, or fly up and down the court with Lawson, Ellington, Ginyard, and Green? Can they play consistent enough to make a long run in March? Do they have the shooting to punish teams that try to zone them? Only time will answer these questions, but it’s pretty safe to say they’ll be at or near the top all year. (Rankings: Dogg 4, Fuzz 2, Q 1)



Memphis
That brings us to the most athletic team in the country, the Memphis Tigers. Up and down their lineup, all you see are athletic freaks: Chris Douglas-Roberts, Joey Dorsey, Antonio Anderson, and Derrick Rose. That’s a lot of talent there, and with the frenetic, up-and-down style that John Calipari has these kids playing, there will be more than enough shots to keep everyone happy. Speaking of which, if you want to see a bunch of smiling faces, just take a look at any Tigers fan after they get a chance to see the super-frosh, Rose. It’s not too often that you get a 6’4” point guard that can both get his own shot and create for others. I hope they enjoy their one year in the sun with him. The best part about this team is the chip that they play with. Despite winning 30 games and being a 2-seed in the Tourney last year, they still have that Rodney Dangerfield mentality: they get no respect. The reason for this (perceived) disrespect? They play in Conference USA, easily the worst of the major conferences. The Classic Lake Conference of the late ‘90’s had twice as much talent as the current group in C-USA, hence the semi-inflated number of wins. But it won’t be the lack of formidable opponents that will be the downfall of this team. If anything can stop them, it’s a simple 2-3 zone. Other than Anderson (and maybe Rose), there aren’t any consistent shooters on this Memphis team. Lucky for them, not many teams can play a zone effectively enough to take advantage of this weakness and the Tigers will stroll into the Tourney as a 1 or 2 seed. (Rankings: Dogg 1, Fuzz 3, Q 2)



UCLA
In the Year of the Freshman, few have received as much press as the Bruins’ new kid, Kevin Love. He’s one of the most versatile big men to come around the game in some time. He’s big enough to be an absolute scoring and rebounding force inside, will alter shots (or at least a guard’s notion of entering the lane), makes the outlet pass like no other human in history (please note the sarcasm and if you don’t get it, watch one UCLA game on TV and you will tire of it quickly), and is a vocal and emotional leader on the court. That’s a HUGE addition to a team that went to the Final Four last year. While it is true that they lost their best player, Aaron Afflalo, to the NBA, they still are one of the deepest teams in the country. Darren Collison (once he returns from injury) and Josh Shipp give them two outstanding guards, and Love, Mbah a Moute, Alfred Aboya, and Lorenzo Mata-Real give them the best frontcourt in the land. You will not out rebound this team and you will not out-coach Ben Howland. The guy is one of the better basketball minds currently coaching and always seems to make great in-game adjustments that keep his team rolling. The only thing that will derail yet another Final Four run would be injuries. Currently, Collison is out and Shipp has been plagued by the injury bug for his entire career out in LA. If those two stay healthy, this could be the best of them all. If not, they’ll just be in the top 15. (Rankings: Dogg 2, Fuzz 1, Q 3)



Kansas
It will be tough to gage this year’s Jayhawk team for the first part of the season. They will be without the services of one of their top guards in Sherron Collins. Plus, all-everything guard Brandon Rush is coming off of ACL surgery, so you never know how he’ll react. That will obviously hurt, but will by no means destroy Kansas. They still have Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson to handle the ball and Sasha Kaun and Darrell Arthur to bang down low. And if you’re looking for a breakout candidate, look no further than Arthur. He showed signs of being a very talented post player while waiting in Julius Wright’s shadow last year. Now all 6’9” of him has emerged and is ready to show the fans in Lawrence that there will be no drop off—at least in the regular season. That brings us to one of their weaknesses. This team always seems to struggle under the big lights of the Dance and ends up losing to teams like Bucknell. Part of that blame went to Roy Williams in year’s past. But now that he’s won a title in Chapel Hill, that burden falls on Bill Self. The bottom line is this: the Jayhawks will have a very successful regular season. They will run through a somewhat depleted Big 12 Conference. They’ll have a very high seed and a lot of expectations heading into March. And then they’ll lose at least a round or two earlier than everyone picked in their office pool brackets. (Rankings: Dogg 3, Fuzz 7, Q 4)



Tennessee
The team that no one knows about and is surprised to see near the top of the rankings is Tennessee. Of course we know all about them and can give you some insight to help you sound smart in front of your buddies. They have first team All-American and Player of the Year candidate Chris Lofton. But everyone who claims to follow college hoops should know that. The kid’s a stud, plain and simple. The reason they have top 5 potential, however, lies in the hands of the Smith Trio. Ramar Smith is a very talented guard who will split time at the point with Lofton and play the 2. Jajuan Smith is a freakishly athletic wing who knows how fill it. Tyler Smith, a transfer from Iowa, will bring some size to a small lineup, some emotion (he’s dedicating his season to his recently deceased father), and a badly needed inside presence. The maturation of those three will determine whether this team can take advantage of a down year in the SEC and roll into the Tourney as a top seed, or be one of those teams who “were also there”. The bet here is that they flourish because of a man by the name of Bruce Pearl. The highly entertaining and excitable coach of the Volunteers will make sure that a lack of height will not deter his team from making a run to San Antonio. (Rankings: Dogg 5, Fuzz 10, Q 10)



Georgetown
We couldn’t dislike a team more than the Hoyas this year. They are getting a ton of media love, presumably because of the return of their seven foot monster, Roy Hibbert. There are a couple of problems though. First is Roy’s supporting cast. He doesn’t have that playmaker that can keep the double and triple teams off of him (like he had in Jeff Green last year). His best options are the erratic Jesse Sapp at point, or tiny, score first guard Jonathan Wallace. Not the best of options. Second, Mr. Hibbert isn’t exactly the scoring machine that one would expect from a guy who’s 7’2”. He only averaged 13 points per game last year; awfully pedestrian for a man of his size. Georgetown is also a very thin team this year. One injury and everything could go awry for them. One reason that might not happen is that this squad is coached by John Thompson III. He’s a very classy and smart coach who should find ways for this team to take advantage of Hibbert’s height and Wallace’s scoring. (Rankings: Dogg 10, Fuzz 4, Q 8)



Indiana
We are very divided on this year’s Hoosier squad here at TKOT. Dogg absolutely loves the combination of DJ White and yet another stud freshman, Eric Gordon. I on the other hand, think they’ll struggle to play together when everyone is trying to get their own. Dogg will tell you that they have a very talented 6th man in AJ Ratliff and a lot of potential in juco transfer Jamarcus Ellis. I will remind you that it’s two more guys who are going to be looking for their stats. Can they get these ego’s to mesh? Who knows? What we do know is that the Big Ten is very top heavy this year with Indiana, Michigan State, and Ohio State, followed by a lot of average-at-best teams. This means that they should enter March with a pretty high seed. We can assume that they are going to score a lot, which will make them regulars on SportsCenter all season. Will all of this equal a deep Tourney run? Again, Dogg says yes, and I say no. (Rankings: Dogg 6, Fuzz 8, Q 5)



Washington State
DE-FENSE, clap clap, DE-FENSE clap clap. If Eric Gordon and Indiana are ESPN staples, Washington State is a highlight producer’s worst nightmare. They don’t have the big name star, they don’t have a lot of flash, and they aren’t going to score a ton of points. While the casual fan knows nothing about this team, Dogg and I will be wearing our Cougar paraphernalia to the bar this weekend. We couldn’t be higher on this team. Coach Tony Bennett has his squad playing lockdown D like you won’t see anywhere else in the country. Last year they led the nation in opponent’s ppg (as they have for the past 3 years). But it’s not all D in the upper northwest, thanks to Wash State’s talented guard duo of Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver. They play with a tenacious style on both end of the court and will surely lead this team into the national spotlight. There are two issues, though. The first is that the Pac 10 should be the deepest and best conference in the country this year (UCLA, Arizona, USC, and Oregon). Makes for a difficult road leading to the Tourney, but should also toughen and enlighten them for it as well. The second problem? That outside of Low and Weaver, the Cougars don’t really have another big time player that could step up if either of those two has a bad night. Regardless, they’ll be a very “loosey-goosey” type team this spring, so learn about them now before they destroy your bracket. (Rankings: Dogg 8, Fuzz 14, Q 9)



Louisville
I’ll let Dogg tell you about the Cardinals since he has such a strong opinion about them. “This is my least favorite team in the country by far. Their team is trash and so is their coach. Why does Rick Pitino get so much love? He hasn’t done anything in years and recruits sketchy, borderline players. What’s to like about Louisville? I’m supposed to think they’re good because they return a ton of guys? Those guys are still named [Edgar] Sosa, [Juan] Palacios, [David] Padgett, and [Derrick] Caracter, aren’t they? This is a streaky team at best who’ll have a couple of big wins as well as a couple of terrible losses. If you’re a betting man, never bet on this team. They rely almost entirely on jump shots and there’s no telling what night they’ll be hitting and what night they won’t. Louisville sucks.” Well then. (Rankings: Dogg NR, Fuzz 5, Q 7)



Marquette
Ok, so I’ll keep this fairly short. We here at TK on Toast are huge bandwagon Marquette fans. As you probably figured out from the DFTFC article, we have an “in” with the program and are therefore ridiculously biased. So the most fair, rational analysis I can give you is that this team is very deep, very talented at the guard position, and has some size and rebounding issues. That’s all I got for ya. Don’t worry, there will be a minimum of 15 Marquette related posts throughout the season, so if you want to know more about the Golden Eagles, stay tuned. (Rankings: Dogg 9, Fuzz 9, Q 6)



Michigan State
There isn’t a lot say about this Spartans team. They are somewhat of an enigma entering this season. There wasn’t much expected of them last year and they made it to the Dance as a 9 seed, bounced a far superior Marquette team, and then hung tough with UNC for a while. This year they return one of the toughest players in the nation in Drew Neitzel, who can absolutely shoot the lights out and has enough heart to carry this team to a wide variety of levels. They also have a phenomenal coach in Tom Izzo. But if you want one call from us for this season it’s this: 6’7” combo guard Raymar Morgan is going to have one of the biggest breakout seasons in recent memory. He is going to light up the Big Ten and will be on everyone’s short list for POY by the end of the year. (Rankings: Dogg 11, Fuzz 12, Q 13)



Duke
If you care even slightly about the Blue Devils, then click 'Back', scroll down, and rub one out to Fuzz’s A-Z lovefest that almost caused the end of this website. For everyone else, I leave you with everyone’s two favorite words: Fuck Duke. (Rankings: Dogg NR, Fuzz 6, Q NR)





Oregon
Sort-of sleeper watch alert. I guess you can’t really call a team currently ranked 11th in the country a sleeper. But this team has the talent and the potential to make a push for an Elite 8 type of run. They run a very talented 3 guard combo unmatched by anyone in the country. Tajuan Porter, Bryce Taylor, and Malik Hariston are three of the best guards in the country and will cause serious matchup problems for most of their opponents. They even balance that outside game with a very serviceable big man in Maarty Leunen. The loss of Aaron Brooks will undoubtedly hurt, but Ernie Kent will make sure that this team doesn’t skip a beat and makes a run through the NCAA Tournament. (Rankings: Dogg 7, Fuzz 11, Q 12)



Sleeper—Davidson
We’re not the first team to sing the praises of this Davidson team, nor will we be the last. We are very much aware that many fans know about them. We also don’t care. This is a team that will need to be reckoned with as this season plays out. Dell’s kid, Stephen Curry, is one of the best players in the country, bar none. He can create, move well without the ball, and most importantly, shoot the freaking lights out. In other words, he’s the man. They are also doing the smart thing in playing a very tough non-conference schedule (UNC, Duke, and NC State) to let their players see the level that they’ll need to play at come Tourney time. Be ready for them as a 6 or 7 seed after they walk through their conference schedule and Mr. Curry is one of the leading scorers in the nation. Don’t say you weren’t warned…



Hometown Love—Northern Iowa
The University of Minnesota South has to get a quick shout out from TKOT. They’ll be led this season by soon to be All-Missouri Valley Conference guard Travis Brown, who will take over as the team’s leading scorer during his junior season. They also have two other Minny kids, Kwadso Ahelegbe and Eric Coleman, which will give the Panthers an outside chance to shock the world and make it to the Dance. Be sure to check for them during ESPN’s “Bracket Buster Saturday” as well as live in action during the MVC tournament at the end of the year. They’re comin…

The Highly Scientific TKOT Fantastic 15 BCS-Style Poll Thing
*Note: These rankings are based on the average position of the teams from each of the three TKOT writer’s personal rankings. First place votes in parenthesis.

1. Memphis (1)
1. UCLA (1)
3. North Carolina (1)
4. Kansas
5. Indiana
6. Georgetown
7. Marquette
8. Tennessee
9. Louisville
10. Oregon
11. Washington State
12. Kansas State
12. Michigan State
14. Duke
15. Texas
Also Receiving Votes: Syracuse, Texas A&M, Minnesota, Arizona, Ohio State

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Friday Ramblings

We here at TKOT want to thank Aaron Gleeman for the shout-out on his blog. You guys really need to check his site out. We linked it to our site in the top right. He’s pretty much the official fan blog for the Minnesota Twins. He knows his stuff. Anyways, he gave us a shout-out today in his “Link-o-Rama.” Thanks again AG!

More updates and banter after the jump...

Also, Dogg & Q will be coming out with a college basketball preview sometime in the next 24-48 hours. It’s going to be long and fantastic. They are both Duke haters so I have a bad feeling my Dukies aren’t going to get any love. I'll let the polls at the end of the year do the talking. Either way, check back to our site every minute from now on in case it gets posted. I’m serious. You want to be the first to read it right? Then fucking refresh constantly.

In the meantime, check out our Friday Ramblings. A bunch of random topics to get you through this Friday. It’s nothing big. Just a short email string between the four of us. The original questions/comments were brought to us by a coyote we call... Schmick Schmarx.

Schmick Schmarx: How about Koy Detmer getting $90,000 for playing catch for 3 days?

Fuzz: They can pay Koy $90,000 like that but get their panties in a bunch if someone leaves for a funeral. Whatever.

Q: Good call on the funeral thing Fuzz. Did you guys know that we changed our minds on that Williamson thing? I read it in SI but never saw anything locally on it.

Dogg: Who cares.

Schmick Schmarx: What do you guys think about Rashad McCants? I still kind of feel like we're better off if he plays really well(like he has been) and then we are able to move him for a nice package.


Fuzz: I like McCants and I see no reason to move him. Why do you want to move him? He's a mid-teen draft pick that's panning out this year. I hate the notion this state has that we have to move everyone. Why can't we keep guys? I like him for the future of the Wolves.

Dogg: McCants is the deal when he tries and being it’s his third year, which is a contract year he’ll play well all year.

Q: I like McCants and I don't know why we would want to move him. 08-09 Puppies: Foye, McCants, Brewer, Beasley, Jefferson.

Fuzz: Q, I see you stole my starting five for next year from my KG piece. I’m fine with it. The more people on the Beasley bandwagon the better.

Schmick Schmarx: You guys watch "Sunny" last night? It was hilarious.

Fuzz: No idea what the hell Sunny is.

Dogg: “Sunny” “Sunny” “Sunny”, What the F is “Sunny”?

Q: He's talking about "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"--a show on FX. I've never seen it but hear it's awesome.

Schmick Schmarx: If both teams win out, I think we're all set up for a Oklahoma-Kansas Big 12 title game with the winner going to the national championship game. That would be an awesome game.


Q: If Kansas loses to Missouri tomorrow, does the winner of the Big 12 title game still go to the BCS title game?

Dogg: I hope Kansas is in the title game no matter what.

Fuzz: I don't care about college football. Who ever makes the championship game is not going to beat the USC/Texas we had a couple of years ago. I'm not a college football fan at all but that game was insane. I don't know if we'll see another college like that in the next 20 years.

Schmick Schmarx: Stop playing Antoine Walker. He is nothing more than a role player now and the Timbies should not care about wins. Give those minutes to Corey Brewer. The same goes for Marko Jaric. Give the minutes to Telfair and find out if he's a starting PG in the NBA.(HINT "He's not.")


Fuzz: The minutes Walker is getting bothers me a little bit but not too much. Personally, I think they are showcasing him. Hopefully someone bites and we get a trade offer. I also don't think losing every single game helps you either. I think we need a balance. The young guys need to play, which they are, but playing Walker if he's playing well to smell victory is not a bad thing in my mind. The main thing is that I think they are showcasing him...

Q: I like the showcasing idea, but fear that it's not true. I hate Shimmy.

Dogg: I agree about Walker. Cut him now. I like Telfair a lot. Give him some minutes. He’s like a rookie so lets see what we got with him


Schmick Schmarx: I don't think we need to move everyone. I've just never been super impressed with McCants game. He is a legitimate NBA player, though. In the future, I would like to see in our starting lineup:

Foye, Brewer, mystery player, Jefferson, mystery player

That’s why I don't like getting some of these wins using Walker and Jaric. If the players of the future win… great. Otherwise, I would like to pick very high next year in the draft. We did this years ago with Musselman when we were terrible. We won something like 8 out of our last 10 games, dropped in the draft, and ended up with Felton Spencer.( or Luc Longley. I forget which year.) That’s my only point on using Walker and Jaric.

Fuzz: Why not one of the mystery players be McCants? He’s a good player that can fill it and is role model to children. Seriously, where else can you find a guy that compares college basketball to being in prison?

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I miss him...kind of...

Look, it was the right move. I don’t think I could have gone through another mundane season with the T-wolves. I would have lost interest around mid-January and since last years roster consisted of about two potential guys I liked I would have been in serious hate mode. So the Big Ticket had to go. It would have felt like a merry-go-round again this year where we couldn’t get off the damn thing. We’ve been locked inside this merry-go-around for years now. The last three years has been the low point for this franchise, even worse then we first started. At least we could blame being a new franchise. Still…I miss KG. We’re less than 10 games into the season but every time I see highlights of KG fading away, swapping dead balls away from the hoop and screaming effenheimers at opponents, a part of me misses the guy.



If you’ve seen any Celtic games this year the Ticket looks extra happy. This is way overused with sports but KG has a much different attitude. He still plays as hard like he always has but he has that swagger back we saw in his MVP year. Why wouldn’t he though? He’s playing for a team that’s the talk of the town. He’s playing for the hot homecoming queen. Obviously he loves this. The T-Wolves have been fighting for the 8th spot in a stacked Western Conference while his Celtics have a legitimate shot at the #1 spot in the weaker Eastern conference. To date they’ve matched all this hype staying unbeaten with a win last night. Christ, ESPN.com has a story right now comparing them to the best team ever, the ’96 Bulls. The Bulls won 72 games that year! Also, instead of looking at clowns like Rick Davis and Marko Jaric everyday he’s playing with two other All-stars.



The point being is that I’m happy for the guy. He gets another shot to play with some real talent and make a run at the ‘ship. Marbury screwed him by leaving and the Spree/Cassell experiment got him close but didn’t work out. I miss the guy...pretty hard not too though. If you want to root for a genuine superstar that works his tail off night in and night out, KG is the model. When you thought of the Minnesota sports landscape he was the guy. Something us fans could hang our hat on. Now, I’m afraid if things go really well in Boston he might retire a Celtic. I don’t know if I could handle that.



In the end the trade had to happen. I knew this sick to my stomach sinking feeling was coming but it still hurts. I do understand the notion that the Wolves needed to bottom out first to start building up again. With KG’s salary and the inadequate way the franchise has been run, it was the only way. I will say watching these young guys are A LOT more entertaining. We are 1-5 but I’ve actually sat through a full T-wolves game without trying to stick a sharpie in my eyes. It’s been amusing. And it should only get better. One of the delights in the KG trade is getting back our #1 pick next year from Boston. A stupid move to get rid of it but at least we got the puppy back. With a draft class that is going to include Hibbert, Gordon, Rose, Mayo and Beasley, this is going to be another great year to have a lottery pick. I haven’t been so happy about being terrible in my life. My eyes are on the Beasley gentleman from Kansas State. Rated #1 in his draft class by Rivals.com and in his first college game he went 32 & 24. Not too shabby. He’s listed at 6’10/240. He’s a flipping beast and I want him on our team next year.



I miss you Mr. Garnett but I can root for hope in your absence. The hope went down the toilet with you here and it was depressing. However, a Foye, McCants, Brewer, Beasley and Jefferson starting five for next year is intriguing. So KG you go be the top story on ESPN and win your title(s). You deserve it. But in a few years us loyal T-wolves fans will (hopefully) get what we deserve too...

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Under Review: Week 10

Week 10 questions by your personal NFL experts...

I know we’ve taken shots at the Packers but it’s time to be real for a second. Is this team a Superbowl contender?


Dogg- I think they are definitely a Super Bowl contender. The thing is they play in a weak division and if they get home field advantage it will even be difficult for Dallas to go there and win when it's 30 below zero. I don't if any of you sports fans have heard before but Brett Favre is 198-1 at Lambeau Field when the temperature is -86 or below. It also helps that they found a running game with a guy named Ryan Grant. You know it's bad when the guy attended Notre Dame where every game is televised and I have still never heard of him but he's fresh and running hard. Their defense is also underrated. Charles Woodson is back to being Charles Woodson and Al Harris isn't scared to mix it up with anybody. They are a top 5 team in the NFL right now.

Fuzz- It kills me to say this but yes they are. 8-1 is no fluke. They give up the third least points in the league. Their defense is very underrated. They also have a relatively easy schedule down the stretch. Detroit twice and Dallas. Besides those three games it’s cupcake city. A 13-14 win season is not out of the question and I physically hurt. Like, I’m sick to my stomach. Packer fans are the worst. They are great game fans with the whole Lambeau experience but absolutely suck as a water cooler fan. They won’t shut-up about how good they are and how the Vikings have never won a Superbowl. It’s like diarrhea of the mouth with these people. This resurgence is simply horrible.

Q- No. I know I'm a little bit bitter after the undressing they gave the Vikes on Sunday, but I still just don't see them as a team that can be taken seriously deep into the playoffs. In the NFC, it's a bit of a different story because, outside of Dallas, no one is very good. But in a head to head matchup, I'd say any one of the following teams has a shot against them: Dallas (of course), the Giants, New Orleans, Seattle, and Detroit.

Back in week four, we did are early MVP votes. It’s been six weeks so we need to update. Has your vote changed? Dogg said Jeff Garcia, Q said Tony Romo and Fuzz said Brett Favre.

Dogg: OK I know that Jeff Garcia won't get a single vote in the MVP column but I'm being honest when I say he should. He is making something out of Joey Galloway again and all of the sudden Ike Hilliard is catching balls again. Earnest Graham is their RB and he shared time on his own college team. Their defense is back to where it once was and you know what he does the best...his job and that is not turn the ball over. It's a ball-controlled offense with the occasional up top pass to Galloway, which usually works. Imagine if the Ravens had a QB who didn't turn the ball over and completed 66% of his passes. Just ask Ray Lewis....My answer has changed though to the infamous Brett Favre. He leads the league in passing yards on an 8-1 team.

Q- I'm sticking with my guy (Romo). His team has the best record in the NFC, their only loss is to the soon to be undefeated Patriots, and his numbers are outstanding. What more could you ask for in an MVP? Add to that the fact that he seems to be very comfortable and quotable in the media, and you have your run away winner. If it's a close race for an award like this, media members will go with the guy that seems more likeable and gave them more quotes and useful writing material. Tony Romo is that guy and he will be your MVP.


Fuzz- I’m sticking with Brett Favre on the fact that I want my early MVP vote to pan out. Early season calls usually never pan out but Packer Wacker Favre has a legitimate shot. He’s playing out of his mind for a guy his age. The last 3-4 years he’s literally buried the Packers with his poor decisions and multiple chinstrap takeoffs. All of sudden he has his mojo back while playing smart at the same time and still gets away with the chinstrap takeoffs after every possession. He couldn’t do it all the last few years but now he’s found a balance. Oh yeah, also because he has so much fun playing the game of football. Did you guys know that?

Blog note: It should be noted that all three of us think Tom Brady will win the MVP. Not too surprising. These picks are who we think deserves it. It’s not that GQ doesn’t, but we feel these players deserve it more but we don’t vote.

Did you ever think you’d see the day Peyton Manning would throw six picks? And are the Colts not as good as we thought? Meaning, are they not the second best team anymore?


Q- I think the shock of the Patriots game lingered a little bit and caused the Colts to press a little bit. They wanted to show everyone that they were still dominant and send a message that the New England game was an aberration. Unfortunately, the Chargers didn't get the message, and after they returned the opening kick to the house, Indy was in trouble. I'm still of the belief that they are clearly the second best team. They flat out got beat by the Patriots, which is fine because everyone has this year. Then they had this San Diego game. Most teams have a game like this where they come out flat. As long as that game isn't in the playoffs, everything is fine. The Colts will still be playing at Gillette Stadium in the Real Super Bowl, aka, the AFC title game.

Fuzz- I thought I’d see the week Peyton Manning threw six picks the same week I saw James Thrash catch a ball. I thought Peyton would NEVER throw that many INT’s and I thought Thrash was stuck in a cage like Sawyer was in LOST because he stole checks from the NFL.

I was wrong on both accounts because it happened on the same f-ing day. The probability of this is astounding. I still think the Colts are the second best team. They’ve stumbled a bit but I’d still take them over Dallas, Green Bay and Pittsburgh. If kicker immortality Adam Vinatieri hits that late game FG we could be looking at a one loss Colts team. But he missed it and now people have doubts. I don’t. They’ll be in the AFC championship game at the minimum.

Do you guys make anything of the wins that Denver, Philadelphia and Arizona had?

Q- The Eagles had a nice little fourth quarter comeback. Any time you can put up a 20 spot in the final 15 minutes to pull out a victory, it will get the fans off your back. It also gives us one more week without the speculation about Andy Reid being fired/Donovan McNabb playing elsewhere.

The Broncos and Cardinals won? Really? Shows how much those games mattered to me. Though it does prove that the Lions are on VERY shaky ground for a playoff spot.

Fuzz- Denver and Philly’s wins don’t mean anything because they are average teams. I’m still drinking the Arizona Kool-Aid. A big red line above my lip hasn’t gone away yet all because of that offense. If Boldin can get back healthy they are going to win the NFC West.


Dogg: None of those teams have a chance to do anything in the playoffs and that's if any of them make the playoffs.

A really bad but even division is the NFC South. Records are 5-4(TB), 4-5(Car.), 4-5(NO) and 3-6(ATL). Carolina and Atlanta have been thrown to the waste side but are right in this race. Who wins this division and are all teams in your mind still in it? Or is one going to run away with it?

Fuzz- It’s tempting to pick the Saints because of their high-powered offense. Players like Bush, Brees & Colston can score plenty of points. However, they just lost to the Sisters of the Poor (Rams), which raises major questions about their defense. Therefore I’m picking those very boring Tampa Bay Bucs. I don’t like them at all but I have faith in Jeff Garcia leading them to the playoffs. If you’re married to a Playmate of the Year like Garcia is, things just work out for you. Bucs take the South.


Q- Despite and ugly setback yesterday, I think the Saints are going to win this division. They started off the season with a terrible 0-4 mark, but then rattled off 4 straight wins. Yes, they lost to the Rams, but come on, some one had to give them their first win. The still have more talent than the other three teams in the division and for that reason alone, I they'll win the South. After all, am I really supposed to trust or put any confidence in guys like Jeff Garcia, Vinny Testeverde/David Carr, and John Joseph Harrington to win a division title? I don't think so.

Dogg: Well, look at New Orleans and Tampa Bay's schedules for the rest of the season. Both are cupcake central and when I say cupcake central I mean it. It's going to come down to week 13 when Tampa Bay travels to New Orleans. This game is a coin flip for me at this time after New Orleans loses at home to St. Louis but I'll take the more consistent team in Tampa Bay and they squeak out the division. If both play football like they can it won't matter too much because both will be in the postseason anyways.

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Sorry

We here at TKOT forgot to give you are insights on the Vikings game vs. the Packers last weekend. Our bad. We've been busy with basketball trips and fantasy football. Anyways, our thoughts are after the jump.



Are we the Elephant? Or the Toilet? Take a wild guess...

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