Frustration Mounts Over Struggling Twins

As I wrote last week, it's not like the Twins are doing one thing wrong in their hideous start to the season. They can't score, can't pitch, and don't play very good defense.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

The Twins again sport baseball's worst record -- 12-23 -- after a loss to Detroit Wednesday. This five-game skid comes after a three-game winning streak that came after a six-game losing streak.

Two weeks before Memorial Day, the Twins already find themselves 11 games out of first place in the AL Central, and while you can argue Cleveland will come back to Earth at some point, the last-place Twins are hardly the team that will make them do that.

Joe Mauer isn't healthy. Justin Morneau isn't hitting like he is healthy. On Wednesday, Michael Cuddyer drove in a runner that wasn't himself for the second time this season.

If you want to know why this team is struggling so much, just look at these three guys. It's not to put all the blame on them, because it's not Mauer's fault he's hurt, and it's not Morneau's fault he got sick and lost a ton of weight he can't gain back. And it's not Cuddyer's fault that we've all probably overrated him a bit over the years.

But these are the Twins' three best and most consistent hitters. None of them are producing at a level they should be. Factor in that Delmon Young and Jim Thome are also on the shelf, and you have more than half of the team's best available non-pitchers who are either injured or so severely underperforming that you know it can't continue.

At least it doesn't seem that way.

Turning the pitching around is another story. Carl Pavano has never been consistently good, so a dropoff from a solid 2010 is not a surprise from him. Francisco Liriano is fighting every pitch in his arsenal, it seems, and all that does is make him question himself. Nick Blackburn and Brian Duensing are back-of-the-rotation guys on a good staff, and Scott Baker is the latest incarnation of Brad Radke to adorn the Twins' rotation. Nothing special, but a guy who typically throws strikes and doesn't get shelled.

Getting Joe Nathan right is a priority, too, but it starts and ends with the offense. The Twins have allowed 187 runs so far. While that's not acceptable, the offense has been much, much worse. Minnesota has all of 113 runs in 35 games, horrific when you consider the alleged talent on hand. Their minus-74 run differential is by far the worst in the majors, 31 runs more than second-worst Houston.

Think about that. The Twins are losing games by almost one run per game than the next-worst team in baseball.

You don't there because of one guy.

Getting Mauer back will help. Getting Tsuyoshi Nishioka back will help.

Getting everyone back playing at their expected level would help more. That means Cuddyer might want to get on a pace for more than 25 RBI this season.

Vikings May Finally Have Stadium Deal

It's been a long time since the Metrodome was a viable pro sports facility. Some would argue, perhaps, that it never really was meant to last.

And its days hosting major sports appear to finally be numbered, as the Minnesota Vikings announced a deal Tuesday with Ramsey County that will get them the new stadium they've been practically begging for since Red McCombs was spewing his "Purple Pride" nonsense over a decade ago.

The deal calls for a nearly $1 billion stadium to be constructed in the suburb of Arden Hills, which is approximately 175 9.8 miles from the Metrodome site. While it's not downtown Minneapolis, it's not exactly a bad thing that the Vikings have chosen this site.

It's a huge plot of land, a former munitions plant that now serves as one of the biggest chunks of undeveloped property in the metro area.

For the Vikings, it's a chance to grow a few roots in the state, and it gives them the room to allow fans to tailgate by the stadium, and finally build a Hall of Fame fitting of a great franchise. After 50 years, it's time for this organization to embrace and celebrate its great history. No, they don't have any championships, but they still have their share of great stories, great games, and great players from the past who deserve the recognition they've never really gotten.

It could be a smaller facility, too, since you wouldn't need any special place to store and display Vince Lombardi Trophies.

(Alllllways ... )

Of course, there's a catch on this fabulous news.

House Speaker Kurt Zellers, R-Maple Grove, said the money needed for road improvements in Arden Hills poses a problem. Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, the stadium plan's chief House author, said he would not move a stadium bill until road issues were resolved. To do otherwise, he said, was "asking for trouble."

Legislators have only 12 days left before they must adjourn the session, and many were voicing concerns on Tuesday that stadium negotiations have become so complex they might miss the deadline.

As reports swirled through the State Capitol early Tuesday that the Vikings and Ramsey County had reached an agreement, Dayton launched what would be a whirlwind day of stadium politics by splashing the Arden Hills project with his own dose of reality.

In a surprise morning news conference, he said the state's share was fixed at $300 million, whatever the cost of the new roads needed. State transportation officials estimated that a stadium without surrounding development would require $175 million in roadwork, while a fully developed site would need up to $240 million.

"I'll support either project up to $300 million," Dayton said of the competing Arden Hills and Minneapolis plans.

Hours before the Arden Hills deal was announced, Ted Mondale, the governor's chief stadium negotiator, issued a long-awaited cost comparison of the two sites that showed the Arden Hills stadium would cost up to $1.28 billion, compared to $895 million at the Metrodome. According to the analysis, the Arden Hills site would require $275 million to $340 million in highway, parking and other improvements. The Metrodome site would need $30 million for new parking spaces and skyway connections.

That quickly brought charges that there was back-room maneuvering taking place to try to steer the project back to Minneapolis. Rep. Michael Beard, the Republican chair of the House transportation panel, said he was concerned about growing "bias" in favor of Minneapolis.

Just don't it get you down, Vikings fans. It'll get paid for, and it'll get done.

Hell, Packer fans should be pleased, too. Your main rival won't be a flight risk anymore, and you can return to taunting Viking fans about championships and quarterbacks and left tackles, instead of using lame L.A.-themed bashes that are truly below the belt.

UMD, St. Scholastica Softball Qualify for NCAA Tournaments

The spring sports seasons for local college and high school programs have started to wind down, which means it's tournament time.

While you'd think the Northland wouldn't be known for producing competitive baseball and softball programs (given the challenges provided by our oft-crappy climate), area schools have done quite well in recent years, especially in softball.

This spring has been no exception. St. Scholastica won their 15th straight UMAC baseball title and the right to host the league postseason championship, and UMD went on a late run to nab a spot in the NSIC Tournament. Both of those events take place this weekend.

Meanwhile, college softball has moved into national tournament play. Two of the three Twin Ports college teams qualified for national tournaments.

In Division II, UMD was selected to the 64-team field as an at-large entry. The Bulldogs are part of a four-team regional that will be played in Sioux Falls and hosted by NSIC rival Augustana. UMD (31-15) will play Colorado School of Mines in their opening game Thursday afternoon. Augustana won the NSIC regular-season and playoff titles, and they will play Regis (Colorado) in the other opening-round game. The double-elimination tournament runs through the weekend, with the winner moving on to a best-of-three Super Regional series the following weekend.

The NCAA Division II World Series starts May 26 in Salem, Va.

For the first time this year, the UMAC postseason title included an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, and St. Scholastica won that crown at home over the weekend, beating Northwestern 6-4. The Saints (28-13) were placed in an eight-team regional in Eau Claire that starts Thursday and runs through either Sunday or Monday. CSS will play Luther (Iowa) in the opening round. That tournament is also double-elimination, with the winner moving into the NCAA Division III World Series that starts May 20, also in Salem.

UMD has experienced an extremely successful year in sports, with two national championships (football, men's hockey), as well as seeing the volleyball and women's hockey teams make the NCAA Tournament. It's great to see the softball program following that blueprint. Coach Jen Banford has led UMD to the NCAAs in three of her six years at the helm, marking three of the school's five NCAA appearances in history.

This is CSS' second trip to the NCAAs, having made it as an at-large entry in 2006.

Jeremy Roenick (Rightfully) Calls Out Patrick Marleau

After Sunday's ridiculous comeback by Detroit in San Jose, there's much talk about the Sharks becoming the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series after leading 3-0.

It's deserved, too, because the Sharks have taken on every part of the "Choking Dogs" image they were slapped with after numerous early playoff exits over the years.

With Patrick Marleau being summarily destroyed by Pavel Datsyuk on the play that led to the game-winning goal, former Shark Jeremy Roenick -- never one to shy away from an opinion -- jumped at the chance to show he's not afraid to criticize one-time teammates during his studio gig at Versus.

After the game, Roenick laid into Marleau's play in this series, especially in the just-completed Game 5.



I'm not here to question Roenick's qualifications, because it's not my place. The nature of his comments, though, have generated much controversy.

Roenick played with Marleau. He was on the same line at times. If anyone has any right going on national television and questioning Marleau's effort, it's a former teammate. That said, those currently involved with the Sharks are taking exception to the commentary, most notably Sharks television voice Randy Hahn.

"For Roenick to call Marleau's performance gutless (twice) and question his heart on national TV is over the line," Hahn tweeted. "It was unprofessional."

Hahn also accused Roenick of trying to advance his broadcast career.

I respect Hahn a great deal. He's one of my favorite broadcast voices in the NHL.

I also think he's dead-wrong.

Roenick had every right to say what he said. After watching the replay of Pavel Datsyuk abusing Marleau to set up the winning goal, how could any analyst worth his salt not go after Marleau? That was a dreadful, pathetic effort that confirms every negative word that has ever been said about him. While Joe Thornton has learned how to raise his game to a different level in the playoffs, Marleau continues to flatline.

Puck Daddy has more comments from the Sharks' television crew. This includes a link to this piece by CSN California's Scott Reiss, a former ESPN personality and a damn good sportscaster himself. Reiss criticizes Roenick's comments while also confirming them in a way.

I’ve covered the Sharks for three seasons now, and in that time they’ve played six playoff series.  In five of those series, Marleau has been a head-scratcher.  One of the league’s most consistent regular-season goal scorers, he not only fails on that end, he fails miserably on the other end.  Defensively speaking, he’s given them next to nothing.  And with all the talk about how Joe Thornton has resurrected his playoff reputation by busting his butt in the defensive zone, his linemate has simply not followed suit.

But none of this justifies Roenick’s reckless remarks in the wake of Game 5.  Calling Marleau “gutless” is wrong on two levels.  First, factually -- lack of a willingness to compete does not equate to lack of courage, rather lack of effort. There is a difference.  Second, philosophically -- it’s a personal shot levied against a former teammate on national television, which is over the line and flat-out unnecessary.

JR is a good hockey analyst.  I’ve worked with enough analysts over the years to know that the best ones are willing to take a stand, and call out players when they underperform.  But as Drew Remenda so aptly put it on our postgame show, “Insult the play, not the player.”  Did Marleau play poorly?  Absolutely.  Is this a disturbing trend?  Obviously.  Does that justify “gutless?”  Not so much, no.

I'm in no place to call Patrick Marleau "gutless" in a national forum. I don't know the guy one lick, and while I watch a fair amount of Sharks hockey because of my aforementioned respect for their broadcasters (Hahn, Remenda, and Reiss are as good a local crew as you'll find anywhere in the NHL, including Canada), it's not enough to make me qualified to make such a biting comment.

I will say this, however. I disagree with those criticizing the words Roenick used to make a point virtually everyone seems to agree with.

As a former teammate, Roenick knows full-well what Marleau is capable of. Anyone who has watched more than five Sharks regular season games over the years probably has a good idea what Marleau is capable of. He is a wonderfully-talented player who is frustratingly spotty with his defensive effort.

In the playoffs, you can never be "spotty" with your defensive effort. While his teammates were busting their butts to get back defensively -- as noted by Daryl Reaugh of Versus during the game, when he talked about their "layers" of defensive coverage -- Marleau slogs back into his own zone, backchecks lazily, and can't win puck battles. He's the exact opposite of the player Thornton has become since replacing Marleau as captain.

Like everyone associated with San Jose should be, Roenick is clearly frustrated by all of this. He thinks Marleau should play harder, and meaner, and be more of a factor in the defensive zone. Given his veteran status, playoff experience, and overall ability, Roenick is right.

Debate his choice of words all you want, but the playoffs are all about heart, guts, determination, and those second and third efforts to make plays, whether it's getting a puck to the net, going to the net to create traffic, digging for rebounds, puck battles, or even something simple like chipping a puck out of your zone so your team can get a change.

Marleau needs to be better in all of those phases, and anyone who argues otherwise simply isn't watching closely enough.

Lakers Dynasty Dies Quick and Painful Death

As I said on Twitter (twitter.com/bruceciskie) Sunday, there isn't much about the NBA more enjoyable than watching the Los Angeles Lakers get eliminated.

Of course, when it goes down like it did Sunday, one is left to wonder exactly how much fun it really was.

After all, when a team doesn't display much passion, pride, or general desire to extend their season beyond the first elimination game, it renders the idea of getting to throw salt in the proverbial wound as rather useless.

And let's not make any mistake. On Sunday, the Lakers showed absolutely no fire. No drive. No want. They were ready to be done.

Contrast that with the end of the Philadelphia Flyers' season on Friday night in Boston, in a game where the Flyers fought and clawed and stuck with things until late in the third, when things finally fell apart for a team that had already shown they really didn't have anything for Boston this time around. It wasn't about heart or desire to compete. The Flyers had plenty. They just didn't have anything left in the tank, and they lost to a clearly better and more effective team.

If that's not enough evidence, look at the Detroit Red Wings, who are still alive after falling behind three games to none against San Jose. Not only are the Wings still alive, but smart money at this point is probably on them winning their series.

The Lakers will not be revived as quickly. Their flawed team was mercilessly exposed by Dallas, and a listless effort did nothing to cover up the known flaws, including a general lack of athleticism and the need for an elite point guard who can run the offense and play some defense.

Was it the most emphatic elimination of a two-time (or more) champion in recent memory? The last time the Lakers won multiple titles in a row, they lost in six games to San Antonio in 2003 (after a three-peat). Discounting the Chicago Bulls, who were blown up after their 1998 title (sixth in eight years and third straight), the 1997 Houston Rockets were the last two-time defending champion to be swept out of the playoffs the following year. The 2006 Miami Heat were swept out of the 2007 playoffs by Chicago.

In other sports, the fall-off can be more dramatic. It's not uncommon for defending Stanley Cup champions to miss the playoffs the following year, as Carolina did after their 2006 title. Of course, Detroit took their title defense in 2009 all the way to Game 7 of the Finals, and Chicago wasn't eliminated by Vancouver until Game 7 this year, even though half of last year's Blackhawk roster was playing elsewhere this year.

Discounting Carolina missing the playoffs in 2007, the last defending champion to be swept out of the NHL playoffs was Detroit in 2003 (Anaheim). You have to go back to 1976 to find a multi-time defending champion (Philadelphia) who was swept out of the playoffs the following year, and Philly played Montreal that year ... for the Stanley Cup.

What's my point?

This was quite a fall from grace for Los Angeles. That they did it without class or without a fight should be no shock, because while they didn't go streetball on the Celtics in the 2008 finals, they did get blown out of Game 6 in Boston.

It was a sad way for Phil Jackson to go out -- assuming this really was his last game. Jackson is one of the all-time greats in his profession, no matter what you think of the players he got to coach during his career. Other coaches have screwed up better situations than those Jackson was presented with over the years.

We'll see if the Lakers players learned anything over the years of playing for Jackson. Based on their behavior Sunday, it's fair to say they may not have.

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Thoughts on Bruce Boudreau and Short Second-Round Series

As we get closer to the NHL conference finals, here are a few thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Bruce Boudreau should be in danger, but that doesn't mean he definitely will be fired. As I wrote Thursday, Boudreau looked overmatched in this series, and it's not like Tampa Bay is this uber-talented team that simply cannot be beaten. He just didn't have any answers, despite having superior talent on the ice.

I heard chatter in December that Boudreau was in danger, right around the time of his famous expletive-laden rant that aired on 24/7. The talk was that former Capital Dale Hunter -- now with the London Knights of the OHL -- would eventually become the head coach. Boudreau's team found a way to evade the possible change by getting hot and riding their Winter Classic win to a second-half surge in the East.

But when it came playoff time, many of the same issues cropped up for the Capitals, who were susceptible to opponents willing to out-work the Caps on both ends of the ice. They had one in the first round with the Rangers, but New York wasn't good enough to make the Capitals pay for their lapses.

The Lightning were.

James O'Brien of Pro Hockey Talk does -- in my estimation -- a good job of laying out the case for keeping Boudreau another year. This isn't like the epic Pensblog rant, where the authors are simply hoping to keep Boudreau around for comedic reasons.

While I think James lays out a good case, I'm not swayed enough to change my mind. I still think the Capitals would be wise to consider a coaching change, and perhaps go with a more veteran guy. This is, in part, because I think Boudreau's general inexperience in the NHL has hurt him and the team. Some guys just aren't cut out for anything bigger than the AHL, just like some guys just aren't cut out to coach in the pros, but they can be elite at the college or junior level.

The Capitals are still young, with a ton of rookies seeing big minutes this season. If they don't plan on getting older -- and there aren't a lot of UFAs they can bring in who have the right mix of ability and experience -- it would be shrewd to bring in a winning coach who has the experience to bring the young players along and progress in the postseason tournament.

Boudreau's teams are 2-4 in playoff series, despite having home-ice advantage in all six series. They were swept once, and they've lost an incomprehensible three Game 7s at home. They rallied from 3-1 down to win one series, and won the other in five (both against the Rangers).

Unless a significant change is coming to the team's makeup, I don't see any way they can continue with Boudreau. Yes, they're young and inexperienced. But Boudreau has already proven he can't lead a young and inexperienced team in the playoffs. No need to make him do that again. Either give him an older group, or let someone else take the reins. Either that, or you run the serious and real risk of blowing yet another year of Alex Ovechkin's prime. The way he plays the game, you can't be guaranteed he'll play at a high level deep into his 30s.

After all, if we've learned anything in sports, it's that the supposed window of opportunity for championships is never as wide-open as you may think it is.

Why the rush? After four Game 7s in the first round -- and two other series went six games -- the second round could be complete as soon as Saturday, when Nashville tries to stay alive at Vancouver.

How does this happen?

There are a couple theories I think are effective here. For starters, the long first-round series may not have shown much separation in talent, but what they did was set us up for that separation to show up in the second round. Philadelphia was limping into the playoffs, not playing well, and they were banged up with poor goaltending. Buffalo wasn't good enough to take full advantage of that, but Boston -- who shook off an awful start to their first-round series -- certainly was and is. The Flyers are likely out of gas after such a tough opening series, and they just don't have much left when you consider everything they've been fighting through all season long, but especially the last month to six weeks.

While Nashville showed they were better than Anaheim, they appear to have hit a wall, in large part because they're just not a wonderfully deep team. Vancouver, meanwhile, beat down a hated rival, one that they had little confidence playing against. The relief that they clearly felt after the Game 7 overtime win has allowed them to settle back into their game during the second round. That first-round series might have been grueling, but the Canucks got immeasurable amounts of momentum and confidence out of finally being able to win it.

The other theory that could work is that it's not like we're seeing a lot of separation in talent or level of play, outside of the Boston-Philly series. Every game but one in the Nashville-Vancouver series has been decided by a goal, and the one that wasn't was sealed with a late empty-netter. All three San Jose-Detroit games have been one-goal games, with two going overtime. Tampa Bay won twice by a goal and got an empty-netter to seal Game 1. Only Game 4 was a "comfortable" win for the Lightning. It's not that the games are non-competitive, but the better teams are finding ways to win them, and therefore the series have been non-competitive.

Either way, the playoffs are still the best theater in sports, and we're likely not done with overtimes, Game 7s, or general drama.

Boston, Tampa Bay, San Jose Continue to Impress; NHL Increasingly Frightened

The Stanley Cup Playoffs never go as planned. Everyone says this, and then everyone picks top seeds to advance, only to watch in horror as the top seeds get bounced because that's what happens virtually every year.

This year, Vancouver and Washington were heavy favorites, because they were the top seeds.

Vancouver promptly blew a 3-0 series lead and needed an overtime goal to win Game 7 against Chicago. They're in a dogfight with Nashville now.

As rough as that sounds, they're in better shape on this day than the Capitals, who can plan tee times and draft meetings now.

The Tampa Bay Lightning finished off a stunning four-game sweep of the Capitals with a 5-3 win Wednesday night in Tampa. The Lightning played four great games and certainly deserved what they got, and so did the Capitals, a team that has by now should have sole possession of the "playoff disappointment" label that San Jose used to own.

For Washington, this series loss puts them at 2-4 in playoff series under coach Bruce Boudreau, and they have had home-ice advantage in every single one of those series.

Some will blame Alex Ovechkin for this loss, but while he may not have been incredible, he sure was the Capitals' best player. He was stuck, however, trying to do it all virtually alone. Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Semin were passengers when their team needed them most, an unacceptable trait for two players with their abilities, experience, and salaries. The goaltending was subpar, but not totally to blame, because Washington lost way too many battles in front of Michael Neuvirth. Their play in their own zone, from the defensive gaps to the battle level, was never good enough to beat a good team, which is why they beat the Rangers but could do nothing with Tampa Bay, a well-coached and well-prepared team that has good leadership on and off the ice.

The Capitals can claim barely any of those things, starting with Boudreau, who looked overmatched throughout the series. Talk in December -- with the team in the midst of a long slump -- was that Boudreau was in trouble. That almost has to be the case now, with the team having completed a fourth straight playoff disappointment.

For Tampa Bay, the layoff could be a killer, but Boston is facing a similar layoff before the likely Eastern Conference finals matchup, so it shouldn't be a huge problem. The Lightning are impressive so far, but possibly not quite as much so as the Bruins, who are steamrolling a Philadelphia team that many have tabbed all season as a Cup favorite.

No, Philadelphia isn't the same team without Chris Pronger, and as I said before this series started, it's not like Buffalo really had the ability to keep up with the Flyers. But the Flyers are still an impressive group, and the fact that Boston has so decisively won the first three games makes me think that they just can't lose this series the way they lost to Philly a year ago.

The Bruins are doing virtually everything right, from goalie Tim Thomas to talented forwards like David Krejci and Nathan Horton to captain Zdeno Chara to uber-rookie Brad Marchand, who has been very good so far. They've outscored Philly 15-6 in the first three games, and two of the wins have come by four goals each. They so quickly rallied from an early 2-0 hole in Game 2 that it's easy to forget they ever trailed the game 2-0.

Why is this happening? Well, it doesn't help that Pronger is not healthy, and he didn't look particularly good when he tried to play. It doesn't help that Jeff Carter isn't healthy. But the big killer -- as I said after the Buffalo series -- is Philadelphia's near complete lack of NHL-caliber goaltending. When given a chance to shore up the position over the summer, general manager Paul Holmgren spent the rest of his cap space on skaters.

While strong defense and a puck-possession attack can limit shots, good teams -- all you see in the playoffs -- can take advantage of a great skating team that has suspect goaltending. Philadelphia has that, and they won't go anywhere until they start employing NHL goalies instead of AHL goalies.

As Jose Theodore sat around and waited for a team to pick him up, the Flyers decided Brian Boucher, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Michael Leighton would combine to be good enough.

Nope.

Theodore had a great season for the Wild, and the Flyers are pulling goalies like it's part of the game plan every night.

(In fact, the Flyers have yanked their starting goalie for performance reasons in four of their last six playoff games. Boucher briefly left Game 2 against Boston due to injury.)

As for Boston, if they can solve their power play woes, they have a very good chance of ending their long Stanley Cup drought. It's about the only thing that can trip them up at this point with how well they're playing.

In the West, San Jose now has a 3-0 lead over Detroit, and are on the verge of a second straight trip to the conference final. They're getting great contributions from longtime playoff punch line Joe Thornton, along with former captain Patrick Marleau and emerging star Devin Setoguchi, who had a hat trick in Game 3.

The Sharks are no longer a joke. They're a threat. Antti Niemi has shaken off a poor performance in the Los Angeles series and played quite well for the Sharks in this series. They're strong defensively, good on the wall, and tough in front of their net.

From the NHL's standpoint, is this a nightmare scenario? As Steve Lepore notes, it's bad enough that NBC might not air another playoff game until the Finals. The conference semis have been non-competitive in terms of the overall series, even though a lot of the games within the non-competitive series were close. NBC might not have a game this weekend, they definitely won't next weekend because of golf, and the conference finals might not last into the weekend before Memorial Day at this rate.

Not only that, but look at who could be in the conference finals. Nashville isn't drawing anything for national ratings, and Vancouver is in Canada. Either of those teams are a dead spot for NBC at this point. San Jose doesn't pull huge numbers, either, but at least they're a more familiar team that could play their way into earning more attention from the casual fans NBC needs to pull in to get good numbers.

In the East, Boston would be just fine, but Tampa Bay is another potential nightmare for NBC when it comes to ratings.

A Tampa Bay vs. Vancouver or Nashville Cup Final could be a disaster, and San Jose in that spot wouldn't be much better.

After some significant steps forward in terms of television numbers lately, the NHL should prepare themselves for a step back before the playoffs are done.

Francisco Liriano's No-Hitter Could Be Sign of Change

Just hours before the first pitch, I filed a piece talking about how the Twins had to find a way to get this wayward ship turned in the right direction quickly.

The notion that they have to play .630 ball over the rest of the season to match last year's win total wasn't daunting, because they don't necessarily have to finish with that kind of record to make the playoffs.

However, you can't keep scuffling along the way the Twins were and expect things to just start getting better.

Hopefully, Francisco Liriano started the ball rolling in the right direction Tuesday night.

Liriano threw one of the more improbable no-hitters in baseball history Tuesday in Chicago, as the Twins beat the White Sox 1-0. It's improbable for a slew of reasons:

• Only 66 of his 123 pitches went for strikes, a strikingly low number.
• He walked six batters and only struck out two, meaning his defense turned 22 balls in play into outs (three double plays).
• Liriano entered this start 1-4 with a 9.13 ERA, the second-worst ERA to start a game by a pitcher who would go on to throw a no-hitter since the earned run became an official statistic in 1913.
• He was only pitching with a one-run lead for most of the game, though there have been five 1-0 no-hitters in the last 20 years, so maybe that's not as big a deal as I think.

There is no doubt that things going on "between the ears" mean a lot for pitchers, perhaps more for pitchers than any other position in the game. For Liriano, this could be a huge development.

No, he wasn't throwing absolute filth Tuesday night. He was scattershot with his pitches, and he had trouble locating virtually everything. There will be -- unquestionably -- some fans (especially fans of the White Sox) who call this some version of an "accidental" no-hitter. It was the pairing of a guy who had decent stuff with a team capable of hitting the ball right at people.

But it's confidence for Liriano, and he needed that more than anything.

It's also a shot in the arm for a team that has seen nothing go right for 27 games. Between injuries and underperforming players, Minnesota has seen little that was worth celebrating this season. Now, they have that. They have the first no-hitter of the baseball season.

And no matter how much White Sox fans hate it, they can't ever take this one away from Liriano.

Twins Struggles are All-Around

Sometimes, when a team gets off to a slow start, you can pin the problems on one or two areas.

(This can be true in any sport. A basketball team could have solvable problems rebounding or shooting that cause a losing streak. Football teams might not block well or get enough pressure out of the front seven because of problems with execution or communication. A hockey team might just get in a lull where they don't give the necessary second and third efforts to make important plays. It's not always permanent.)

For the Minnesota Twins, their 9-18 start is equal parts hideous and alarming.

It's hideous because virtually no one is playing to what their perceived capabilities are.

It's alarming because virtually no one is playing to what their perceived capabilities are, and there's no tangible end in sight.

Between injuries and completely ineffective players, the Twins don't have enough bodies to answer all their questions.

In the Star Tribune, LaVelle E. Neal III did a great job laying out many of the issues Tuesday.

Among them:

• Alexi Casilla is hitting .190 and stinks defensively.
• Danny Valencia is hitting .211, stinks defensively, and seems to struggle with baserunning when he bothers to avoid making an out.
• Justin Morneau just hit his first home run of the season and is carrying a .225 average into Tuesday's game at Chicago.
• Joe Mauer is still out.
• Mauer wasn't hitting when he was in.
• Drew Butera is hitting .106 in Mauer's place at catcher, making Mauer's .235 average look like freaking Ted Williams. Butera is an ace defensively, but has a lower average than that of all National League pitchers combined, Neal notes.
• As a team, the Twins have 12 home runs. Alfonso Soriano has 11 by himself.
• Michael Cuddyer is hitting .226 with four RBI, putting him on pace for approximately 25 this season.
• The Twins have scored 85 runs. St. Louis' Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, and Colby Rasmus have combined for 88 by themselves.
• Minnesota's team ERA of 5.06 is the worst in baseball, and nearly double that of first-place Oakland (2.66).
• The "pitch to contact" mantra isn't working well. The Twins have just 152 strikeouts, easily the worst in baseball.

I probably missed a few here, but that's part of the point. The Twins aren't doing much right, and there aren't enough hours in the day to take care of the necessary problems via instruction or some sort of video session or whatever.

They're on their own for this one.

Getting Mauer back could be beneficial, and it won't hurt when Tsuyoshi Nishioka is healthy. In the end, though, a whole lot of guys have to start hitting, and the Twins can ill afford to see Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, and Nick Blackburn stink the joint up nearly as much as they have been as of late.

When Scott Baker is your ace, and he has one win, you have problems.

Then again, when you look at the laundry list of issues above, it's hard to argue the Twins don't have problems.

Now, they just need to find solutions before it's too late.

Osama bin Laden is Dead, and WE DID IT!

You don't root for or cheer death very often, but this is one of those rare exceptions for most people.

Terrorist mastermind and long-time most-wanted fugitive Osama bin Laden was killed by United States forces Sunday (U.S. time) in a raid in Pakistan.

Instead of spitting out all the details myself, because you've probably seen them already, here are some smart people presenting the information they've gathered.

First, here is Jake Tapper on ABC.



Now, another report I found interesting on this Monday morning. This one comes from NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It's a fascinating day in American history, no doubt about it.