Tim Of Nazareth

SPORTS

Yes, predicting sports is a good way to get into trouble with various law enforcement agencies and whatnot, but I'm going to do it anyway. My methods are a heavily guarded secret, protected by the cloak of chaos that is my desktop, and my attack dust mites. You may get away with my secrets, but boy will you pitch a terrible sneezing fit afterwards.

STAT-O-MATIC

Well, as you can see below, we have a lot to be happy about here in Minnesota. The Gophers won a stunner 4-3 after 17 minutes of overtime. It was certainly one of the best hockey games I've seen. Fab dabulous.

Congratulations University of Minnesota on winning the NCAA Men's College Hockey Tournament. We'll get the WCHA next year.

2002 WCHA Division I Men's Hockey

	New Hampshire
Cornell		New Hampshire
	Cornell
Quinnipiac
			Maine
Maine
	Maine
Harvard		Maine
	Boston University
				MINNESOTA!!! NCAA champion
	Minnesota
Michigan State		Minnesota
	Colorado College
Colorado College
			Minnesota
Michigan
	Michigan
St. Cloud		Michigan
	Denver

I'll try to keep it updated as final scores come in.

So, I've been thinking that perhaps I should put my money where my mouth is and pick who I think will win the whole deal. Here's my picks.

Tim Holtan's 2002 WCHA Division I Men's Hockey Picks 

It's about damn time Minnesota wins it all. This year is their year.

I didn't do too bad here. At least I got the winner right.

And here's Louie's pics.

Illya Haynes' 2002 WCHA Division I Men's Hockey Picks 

	New Hampshire
Cornell		New Hampshire
	Cornell
Quinnipiac
			New Hampshire
Maine
	Maine
Harvard		Maine
	Boston University
				New Hampshire NCAA champion
	Minnesota
Michigan State		Minnesota
	Michigan State
Colorado College
			Minnesota
Michigan
	St. Cloud
St. Cloud		Denver
	Denver

Louie went with the Minnesota curse. Fortunately, he was wrong.

There are going to be a couple of really exciting games. I figure Michigan/St. Cloud and St. Cloud/Denver are going to be really fun to watch. Natch, NH/Maine, and our predicted title game will be a blast as well. Once again, I'll keep the scores posted.

Tim Holtan's 2002 Major League Baseball Predictions

East	Central	West
New York Yankees	Minnesota Twins	Seattle Mariners
*Boston Red Sox	Chicago White Sox	Texas Rangers
Baltimore Orioles	Cleveland Indians	Oakland Athletics
Toronto Blue Jays	Detroit Tigers	Anaheim Angels
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Kansas City Royals

*=AL Wildcard

It's going to be a heart-breaking year for the Rangers. They'll have played their best baseball in a long while, just to lose out to the unstoppable Mariners. They're not going to get the Wildcard either. The Bosox have that wrapped up if they even stay close to NY. The AL East will be NY and BOS and the rest will be cannon fodder. The Central will be close fought and the closest race for the pennant by far in the American league. The Twins will likely clinch it with the last game or in the last week. The AL west will be the best division in the American League, but for all that effort, just the one team will advance. You may see all four teams above .500, and this division will have the best winning percentage of all divisions in baseball.

East	Central	West
New York Mets	St. Louis Cardinals	Arizona Diamondbacks
Atlanta Braves	*Chicago Cubs	San Francisco Giants
Montreal Expos	Cincinnati Reds	San Diego Padres
Florida Marlins	Houston Astros	Los Angeles Dodgers
Philadelphia Phillies	Pittsburgh Pirates	Colorado Rockies
	Milwaukee Brewers

*=NL Wildcard

Parity is the word in the National League. Sure, there will be .300 teams, but there may be only one. Nobody will walk away with any of the divisions this year. Look for the Braves to lose out on the Wildcard by one game very late in the season to the Cubs. Look for Bud Selig's team to suck ass as payback for Bud being a complete asshole. The Diamondbacks will run away with the West, with only SF being close at the end of the season. .500 ball will be played by the majority of the teams in this league with the only doormats being Selig's team and the Rocks. Look for Montreal making their case against being "contracted" by finishing over .500.

National Basketball Association

I predict pro basketball sucks.

National Hockey League

This may very well be my year for Pro Hockey. I'm thinking of giving the league another chance. I don't live very far away from the X and I drive by it most every day. As the season nears, watch this space.

I love the Twins. One of the most special times I had with my dad was when we went to see game 7 of the '91 World Series. This game remains, to me, the best game of ball ever played in the history of the World Series and the best game I've ever seen. It's the best, not only because my Dad and I were there to see it, but because of the pitchers' duel, the sneaky play, the close calls and the way it was won. Gene Larkin will always have a special place in my heart for knocking that last ball over the drawn-in outfielder's heads.

That said, and 9 or so years later, my Dad has passed away, and MLB has really lost sight of what they are and what they do. To me, the financial aspect of baseball is repugnant. I really don't want to know how much a player makes, nor do I want to know how contract negotiations are going. I'm all for the players getting what the market will bear, but I just don't want to be any part of it. I just don't want to know. Agents seem to think that publicising negotiations will put fan pressure on Management to come to the table and settle. I really want not to be part of this equation.

Ball player salaries are as out of control as executive salaries are here in the U.S.. I can't fathom a corporate exectuive getting millions a year when the company he works for is going down the hole. The CEO of the recently bankrupted Fruit Of The Loom company got a several million dollar bonus as well as special personal loans given to him even as he was running the company to ruin. Who loses? Just the same people who are paying the salaries of the rich executives, and ball players. You and me. Prices go up, I can't afford stuff, and the money goes up the ladder and somehow doesn't come back down.

Ralph Nader has summed up the presently "booming" economy as "A rising tide floats all yachts." What does this mean? It means the disparity between the rich and poor is growing with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. This is reflected in brilliant decisions such as providing employees every benefit under the sun but money. Give your workers a laptop computer, give them a spa at work, daycare on-site etc... just as long as you don't give them what they really need. MONEY. Yes, put every little hook into them so it becomes a complete pain in the ass to switch jobs. Make it so they can't afford to quit. Yes, that'll keep those peons in their place. That'll keep them coming back for more abuse.

But, I digress...

So, Tim of Nasereth, what does this have to do with sports? Well, I'm positing here that the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area would be better served not by the Twins, but by a couple of AAA squads like they were before the Twins came to town. Yes, the Saints are doing nicely in their Northern League digs over across the river, but I for one would like to see them as a farm club for a MLB team. I think the quality of play would go up. I also think that a newly recreated Minneapolis Millers would do a fair bit of business in a smallish outdoor park somewhere downtown or in the inner city. Don't put them on the river banks. Put them where they could do a little bit for the community. Lake and Nicollet (where their park used to be) would be a great place for a stadium. The teams could play each other, and other regional teams around the area. There would not be penniless millionaires squawking about paying a gifted player what the free market (which made that executive a millionaire in the first place) will bear. There would not be penniless millionaires pitching tantrums for a new publicly funded stadium. We would be free of this money-pit that is MLB, AND we would still get to see good baseball. Is this so bad?