Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 11.04.24
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Twins 1B Carlos Santana wins his first Gold Glove. It’s the first Gold Glove for a Twin since 2017.
Vikings Survive Colts to Move to 6-2
For all the talk about Brian Flores’ defensive scheme, it was a couple old fashioned hits by Harrison Smith, aka the Hitman, that secured the Vikings’ shaky 21-13 win over the Colts on Sunday Night football last night. The 6-2 Vikings survived three turnovers by Sam Darnold and two missed field goals from Will Reichert. Minnesota faces Jacksonville and Tennessee the next two weeks on the road.
Smith actually defended three straight passes at the end of the Colts’ critical drive midway through the fourth quarter, but he whacked Ashton Dulin on fourth down as the ball came into his arms.
Darnold threw just six incompletions - but two of them were interceptions to the Colts. He also lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. That shouldn’t have counted, as the defender basically punched him in the face. You can’t do that. At least this week’s non penalty for hitting Darnold up high didn’t cost the Vikings the game.
Minnesota had 29 first downs to Indianapolis’ 13. Yards were 415-227 in favor of the Vikings. This should have been a 41-0 thumping.
The Vikings trailed 7-0 after the first half despite outgaining the Colts by 102 yards and having 20:01 in time of possession. But Darnold, who made the big throws when they counted, connected on two touchdowns to Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor in the third quarter.
Justin Jefferson caught seven passes for 137 yards, helping to offset a run game that really never got untracked.
Boldy’s OT Goal Gives Wild Third Straight Win
Matt Boldy took a pass at the offensive blueline from a backpedaling Jared Spurgeon and scored with 2:46 left in overtime as the Wild won again, 2-1, over the Toronto Maple Leafs at The X last night.
Ryan Hartman scored a first-period goal that was upheld by video review as the Wild won its third straight to move to 8-1-2 on the season. Minnesota has the third-best record in the NHL but can’t even claim first in their own division thanks to Winnipeg’s 11-1-0 start.
The Wild hosts L.A. on Tuesday before a three-game road trip to San Jose, Anaheim and then…Chicago? Before I give the NBA schedulemakers a bad name, I’ll mention the NHL is sending the Wild to California for two games - a team should never play Anaheim and NOT Los Angeles. Also I’m never a fan of flying over your own house to finish a road trip with a single game.
NBA Puts Wolves in Tough Spot in Loss in San Antonio
As they say it’s not who you play, it’s when you play them. Such was the case Saturday, when the Wolves lost 113-103 in San Antonio in a game they were never going to win. They got to their San Antonio hotel at 4:30 a.m. because they hosted Denver the night before with an 8:40 p.m. tip time.
Every team gets a few of these throughout the year. Can you rise above? Certainly. When I worked for the Wild we used to joke that the NHL thought every Western Conference city was a bus or train trip away, like going from Philly to New York. There’s no reason to make a team get to bed after 5 a.m. and play a game the next day. You just hope it’s a game against a really good team, so you don’t waste one of these tired losses on San Antonio.
And then right back home with one off day to face Charlotte tonight. The Wolves are 3-3, and could be without Rudy Gobert who has a sprained ankle.
Loons Advance to Western Conference Semifinals
After a second straight penalty kick win to eliminate Real Salt Lake, the Loons have to…checks calendar…wait three weeks to play their Western Conference Semifinal series against the second-seeded LA Galaxy.
The first week is because MLS has a best-of-three format in this first round, and other series are still going on. The next week is for an International play break, and then another week as players get back to their hometowns to practice.
The one-game conference semifinal with L.A. will be either No. 23 or Nov. 24. There WILL be a 30-minute overtime before PK’s in games moving forward. It’s silly they don’t play 30-minute OT in the first round as well.
Gophers’ Fourth Straight Win Not Enough to Crack Top 25
Only two Big 10 teams - No. 1 Oregon and eighth-ranked Indiana - have more conference wins than the Gophers after Saturday’s come-from-behind, 25-17 win at No. 24 Illinois. The Gophers are still somehow not yet receiving votes in the AP poll, while they’re the eighth team “receiving votes” in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Max Brosmer capped off a 75-yard drive with a one-yard TD pass to Jameson Geers to put the Gophers on top for good with 5:14 remaining. Darius Taylor ran 22 times for 131 yards and a score, while also catching nine passes.
The Gophers are at Rutgers Saturday at 11.
Gopher Hockey
The No. 4 Gopher men ran their winning streak to six games by sweeping Penn State in their Big 10 opener. Saturday, it was a 1-0, 28-save shutout by Liam Souliere in his first game against the Nittany Lions since transferring from Penn State to the Gophers. The 7-1 Gophers are at 2-6 Wisconsin in a Border Battle this weekend.
The Gopher women, ranked third, swept Bemidji State but it wasn’t all that easy by scores of 2-1 and 4-1. The Gophers are 8-3-1 overall and 4-3-1 in WCHA play heading into a road series at No. 4 UMD this weekend. The Bulldogs beat No. 2 Ohio State in the season’s first month.
Gopher Hoops
The Gopher women open up year two of the Dawn Plitzuweit era by hosting Central Connecticut State tonight. The men begin the regular season Wednesday against Oral Robers at home.
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