The Skolney Blog

Bears 16 Vikings 6 The Soldier Field hex is a real thing. Don't ever let anyone tell you different. If you told me that would be the final score today, I'd have believed it. It feels like every game in that godforsaken stadium has had a score like that for nearly 20 years. But this game went to a more upsetting place that can't be chalked up to a hex. This was a flat out disgusting effort from top to bottom. It felt like this team did not even take the field today intending to try to win. What was the plan today? Now, I get that as a matchup the Bears are a beast. The Vikings weakness is still pass protection. The Bears pass rush is as good as there is. But the gameplan was as gutless and vanilla as possible. Cook just ran up the middle almost every time. The passing game was all dumpoffs. What can possibly be gained by throwing the ball 2 yards to CJ Ham? Thielen was a complete non-factor. And also concerning is whatever the hell has happened to Stefon Diggs. If we h...

Don't Let Go It's basically Frequency with a few tweaks. Wasn't a bad thriller, but it was predictable. Brittany Runs A Marathon Who knew Jillian Bell had this in her? This was a really funny, charming comedy with more gravitas than expected. It: Chapter 2 I thought part 1 was pretty good, but a lot of that had to do with the ensemble of kids. This one is mostly those kids as adults, and despite some very good actors taking over like Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader, this is far less compelling. Flashbacks to the kids aren't scary cause we know they lived. I honestly had a hard time staying awake. This movie is not only dreadfully long(over 2 1/2 hours for NO reason) but it is paced painfully slowly. Hustlers It's not just camp. There's a story here, but it's a story that's extremely familiar. It's every rags to criminal riches story ever. The framing device with the journalist is kind of useless, although it was nice to see Julia Stiles for th...

For the first time since 2010, which feels like a lifetime ago, the Twins are division champions. Thank you to the White Sox for the assist tonight. There's a certain tasty irony to the Indians division hopes being doused by a loss to a bottom feeder team. There are still a few milestones left within reach for this Twins club. They need 2 more wins for 100. They sit at 299 homeruns, tied with the Yankees, and we have 1 more game left than they do. At last though we can truly exhale. If there is a downside to this season it's that so much of it has been spent freaking out about the blown division lead. I've just been so paranoid since about the middle of June about the Twins blowing this thing. And I'm also dreading another October drubbing by the Yankees. But whatever happens next month there's a lot of value in what the Twins did this year. This stuff doesn't happen around here often. So much awful baseball from 2011-2018. A little blip in 2015 and then a ...

Vikings 34 Raiders 14 That felt good! The week since the Green Bay game had felt dirty. Tons of hate, tons of angst, tons of stupid hot takes from everybody. This was just what we needed to wash all that away. The Vikings came out today and wiped the floor with the Oakland Raiders. It was never really a contest. Literally the first play of the game had Kirk being tripped up by his own lineman. But that was merely a tease of a darkest timeline game that never came. The Vikes went right down the field, with strong running and a long pass to Irv Smith, before a pretty TD pass from Kirk to Thielen. The Vikings sandwiched two more touchdowns around a Harrison Smith pick. It was 21-0, a score that has occurred in all 3.games this year oddly. Only late in the 2nd quarter was there even a hint of danger. The Raiders scored on a fleaflicker. Then they got on the move again, partially due to Rhodes being mugged on an uncalled hold(the refs were awful again today), but the D stuffed Oaklan...

Tomorrow worries me. Not so much the game itself. I feel like the parallels folks are insisting on making to last year's Bills game are inaccurate. The Bills appeared to be one if the absolute worst teams in football last year, whereas this Raiders team is alright. But after a week packed with vicious, ugly hate being spewed at all angles towards Kirk Cousins, I'm worried about the vibe at the purple palace tomorrow. Put it this way. I seriously would.not feel comfortable wearing my Cousins jersey there tomorrow, in case he makes big mistakes and the Vikes lose. I equate this possible powderkeg to week 3 of 2013. That season began with a lot of hope and promise. Coming off the Adrian MVP season, and with "Ponder Progression" being my most heavily used term. But then after a couple of gut punch losses to start the season, that home opener against Cleveland had a bad vibe. And I wore my Ponder shirsey to the game, cause I still believed in him. The Vikings had a ba...

Twins 4 Royals 3 Twins win 4-3, to finish 4-3 in games I attended this season. (I'm assuming no playoff games, cause thems is expensive) One of the year's uglier wins for sure. The Royals trotted out a starter tonight with an ERA over 8, a reliever with an ERA over 9, and yet another with an ERA over TWELVE. Yet the Twins lineup was alarmingly punchless. Right away Garver singled and Polanco doubled. Cruz drilled a sac fly. Then Sano got a triple of all things. It was 2-0 and you figured they were on their way to.a rout. But they only got 1 more hit til the 6th. Then they got a couple walks, and a huge 2 run double by Marwin Gonzalez. KC thankfully did even less at the plate. Randy Dobnak started and did very well again. He hit a couple batters and walked a couple others, but he got out of his couple jams quite easily. He is clearly ahead of Kyle Gibson in the postseason pecking order now. And he got his 1st career win. KC put together a rally in the 8th off of Smeltzer ...

Not sure anything can be more September Baseball than Lamonte Wade Jr singling to load the bases, leading to a walkoff hit by pitch by Ronald Torreyes, to give Ryne Harper the win. In 12 innings. What a silly game. A 5-0 lead, spurred by a Ryan Lamarre homerun, Rosario's 100th RBI and Sano's 30th bomba. Martin Perez blowing some of that lead and not even finishing 5. Trevor May giving up back to back homeruns to tie the game. Sergio Romo pitching an inning seemingly on one leg. A 9th inning starting with a Polanco error and Rogers mistake being rescued by a risky Schoop double play. A Zach Littell Houdini act in the 10th, only to be followed by Littell giving up a homerun in the 11th. Lamonte Wade pinch running in the 11th, then making one of the baserunning plays of the year to set up a Garver sac fly. Ryne Harper shitting the bed in the 12th, yet getting the win. Bottom 12. Cruz single. Rosario double. Ugly 3 pitch Sano K. 2 run single by Marwin. Arraez single. Wade single...

Packers 21 Vikings 16 So many different ways to look at this one. The Vikings came out today and were down 21-0 so fast it was a blur. And this simply something you cannot do, especially on the road, especially on the road against a decent team. The defense was slow and unresponsive. The Packers picked apart a thin Vikings secondary. They got no pressure on Rodgers. They were getting gashed on the ground. It was ugly stuff. But then they flipped a script almost completely. The Packers did not score another point for almost 3 full quarters to finish the game. Whatever Zimmer figured out, it was night and day. Rodgers was put on his cocky ass. Big stops were made on the run. We got turnovers. The comeback was on. Or, it was when the Vikings were allowed to play football. Cook had another long TD run to get us on the board, then Kirk hit Diggs for a TD right before the half to make it 21-14. *record scratch* No, instead the refs went under the hood on a review, for a play that was ...

NOBODY thought the Twins could sweep that doubleheader in Cleveland. Not with both games being started by September call ups. Not with Mike Clevinger on the hill for game 1. Not with the Twins lineup in a 2 week funk. I missed most of the 1st game due to Gopher game commitments. And I missed a chunk of game 2 as well. But I was there for the start of the rally, with Nelson Cruz's 2 run dong. And then...finally...Miguel Sano. All year this bases loaded curse has cost us so many times. So many runs. So many wins. But holy shit did this team pick the beat time to break through. When Sano blasted that grand slam into the left field seats, the 2019 AL Central race was all but ended. That was the kind of death blow that teams do not recover from. That was Jim Thome hitting that walkoff against the White Sox in 2010. The magic number sits at 9, with 14 games left. There is still work to do, but for the first time in a long time, we can exhale a little bit.

Gophers 35 Georgia Southern 32 They're making a big deal about it being the 10th anniversary of TCF Bank Stadium this year, although this is actually the 11th season of the stadium. Either way, this venue has never featured a football game as downright nutty as what I witnessed in person today. This was supposed to be the last cupcake victory before a bye week and then the start of Big Ten play. But the Gophers turned it into a slog, then a disaster, then a mad dash for survival. Somehow they came out of it all with a win. The tone was set early. Tanner Morgan tried to throw a pick on his 1st pass. On his second, he succeeded, and it led to a quick GSU touchdown. But okay, every big underdog makes a few plays. The Gophers got a pair of TDs, sandwiched around a GSU FG, then added another for a 21-10 lead. So at that point you figured things would settle in for a romp. But, in one of many utterly absurd coaching decisions by the Row The Boat Guy today, the Gophers went for a 4t...

Unquestionably the Twins biggest series of the season looms in Cleveland this weekend. And the Twins look like a team that knows the roof is about to completely cave in. They finished off another bad series in another bad post-ASG homestand by watching Kyle Gibson be Kyle Gibson, and by delivering another largely lifeless offensive performance(aside from a mini rally late) in a loss to Washington. And it's no longer just the on field performances that are the problem, but also who is not even on the field in the first place. The Twins are having an injury onslaught unseen in these parts since the 2016 Vikings. Buxton was already out, but his season officially ended this week. But also Kepler is hurt. And Sano is hurt. And Marwin Gonzalez might as well be on Mars for all we've heard from him. Jake Cave is out. Adrianza got hurt tonight. Cruz missed games this homestand. The cumulative effect has been devastating. What's left of this lineup on any given night is just terr...

For the 2nd straight season the Lynx finish 18-16, then lose a first round single elimination game.This time it's at the hands of Seattle. This was always going to be a challenging season. Originally it was going to just be a more of a transition year following the Lindsay Whalen retirement. But then in the winter the atom bomb hit when Maya Moore announced she would not play this year at all. From that moment any realistic title hopes were pretty much gone. But the losses were not even over. Rebekkah Brunson never played this year, and presumably never will again, due to concussions. Seimone Augustus didn't play at all until late in the season, and even by then was a bench player. Arguably the top offseason acquisition, Karima Christmas-Kelly, got hurt early and barely played. And Jessica Shepard, a 2nd round pick who was shining, also was lost early in the season. There were other significant absences in the WNBA this year, but no team came close to what the Lynx lost. So ...

Byron Buxton's season ended today, with shoulder surgery and a trip to the 60 day DL. As of early summer this year, he was having the kind of season we all hoped for. He was hitting well. He was mashing doubles(led the AL for a while) and even got out one grand slam. And he was his usual stellar self in CF. But then, once again, the injuries came. And then they came again. And again. He's basically been out since the beginning of August, only showing up for some pinch running and defense lately. In June I would have had Buxton on the top of the list for players to give contract extensions to. Now, I think that the smartest move is to trade him this offseason. I don't think they should give him away by any means. But if you can find any kind of solid return of MLB ready pitching or good prospects, I make the move. Players who are chronically injured early in their careers like Buxton is do not just suddenly stop being injury prone as they get older. The wear and tear pi...

Vikings 28 Falcons 12 If you believe in the first play of a season setting the tone, then the Vikings could not have.done it better today. First play of the whole game, Anthony Barr bursts around the left side of the line and puts Matt Ryan on his ass. And this after Barr got the distinction of being the last player brought out in intros. And this was just the beginning of a dizzying, dazzling opening burst. After the sack, the Vikings force a 3 and out and a punt. And then they block the punt! And then Kirk hits Thielen, who sprints into the endzone for the touchdown! And then Anthony Harris picks off Ryan on the next series! And then Dalvin motors in for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead! It was an incredible quarter to start a season with. The game never got that dazzling again, but it also.never for close. The Vikings added a Kirk sneak TD in the 2nd. Then Dalvin got in the endzone again in the 3rd. 28-0. Only a couple times did Atlanta even mount a drive in anything but garba...

For the first time in Mike Zimmer's tenure here, there is talk heading into the season that his job may be on the line. There is also talk that Rick Spielman's job may be on the line, although that talk isn't quite as new. But if you listen to certain people in the media, both coach and GM could be gone if the Vikings miss the playoffs this year, or are a very quick out. I think that's madness. Barring some absolute catastrophe of a season, neither one should be in any danger of being fired. I get that talk of firing people is always going to get clicks or views. It's brash. It gets people to pay attention. But in many cases it has no logic behind it. Let's start with Zimmer, who begins his 6th season here 16 games over .500. That's 16 games over despite inheriting a rock bottom defense, despite the Adrian Peterson suspension a game into 2014, despite losing his starting QB in 3 of 5 seasons, despite the cavalcade of injuries in 2016, despite the volati...

Antonio Brown winds up a Patriot within hours of the Raiders releasing him. What a total surprise. The only question that matters here is when Brown and Belichick talked weeks ago and cooked up this whole circus. Because if you don't think this was all orchestrated then you are a fucking moron. Hell, they don't even bother to try to pretend that this is legit. They don't even wait a few days to have Brown sign. Nope. Signs within, what, maybe 2 hours? Oh but hey, maybe the NFL will "investigate" and harshly punish the Patriots for tampering, just like the Patriots suffered so much for Spygate. The NFL has favored the Patriots for almost 20 years, going all the way back to the tuck rule game. They give him every break, every call. They let them get away with everything. They think we don't know(and many deny it still). They think we don't care(sadly many don't). They don't see rigging a 32 team league for one team as anything wrong. Well, cong...

God fucking dammit! The Twins already have a rotation in shambles. Berrios can't figure it out. Gibson is on the IL. Odorizzi and Perez are sometimes okay but their ceilings are 3 or 4 runs over 6. Pineda was the one guy we could look at and figure that we could count on him to be consistently solid not just now but in October. And now? I mean, we do still have to wrap up this division, and now we have 4 or 5 games left where Pineda won't start and will have to be replaced. So yes, Cleveland is back in this. And in October, if we even get there? It's a mess. This lineup, currently slumping badly, will have to score a minimum of 10 runs every single game to have any chance against Houston or New York. Cause Berrios is never getting this thing figured out. You might as well just give some of these rookies a shot over these last few weeks. What a fucking disaster.

Twins 1st 8-2 road trip since 1991, capped by a perfect throw home by Eddie Rosario, which itself capped probably the season's most unlikely series win. If you had told me that the Twins had a 3 game series at Fenway, against a very desperate Red Sox club, and that 2 of the 3 games were a Perez start and a bullpen game, and that Berrios would get blasted in the other game, and that the Twins lineup would score only 10 runs total in the series, and hit into more double plays than anytime all year, and that they would still WIN the series? No way. Coupled with the White Sox stealing a couple in Cleveland, and we are nearing the point of no return in this race. Cleveland comes here this weekend, down 7 in the loss column. The Indians are close to needing a sweep this weekend. The Twins play markedly worse at home for some reason, so it could happen, but Cleveland is just running out of games fast.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette Richard Linklater's last 3 movies all made my top 5 of that year. Um, this will not. It's a strange movie. The Cate Blanchett character is so off-putting most of the way that it can be a hard movie to sit through. But that last third of the movie is quite good. Blinded By The Light I like Bruce Springsteen music, but I'm not a die hard or anything. But this movie uses his music to really terrific effect. The movie isn't quite a musical, but it has some of the best musical sequences of any film like this in a long time. The plot is predictable, but performed well. I enjoyed its lack of cynicism. Ready Or Not Really entertaining horror comedy. Samara Weaving is magnificent. The comedy really lands. The ending is perfect. Luce One of those movies based on a play where you can really tell. It's mostly just scenes of.people in rooms talking. However, it's very compelling stuff. Across the board strong performances. Angel Has Fal...

I haven't been less excited for a new NFL season since I started watching football. Another Hatriots title won through shady means just took it out of me. I am so sick of the AFC doing nothing to stop the Brady/Belichick era that I've vowed to not watch any AFC vs AFC games all year. Excited for the Vikings, sure. I'm not picking them to go to the super bowl, or even the NFC championship game, but I do have them winning the north. You can kind of use the same logic I did with picking the Twins for the playoffs this year. The Twins won 78 games last year despite nearly everything going wrong. Likewise the Vikings won 8 games last year despite almost everything going wrong. From the Tony Sparano death to the Everson Griffen meltdown to the OL crisis to DeFillippo being awful to Dalvin staying hurt to the defense taking a month to show up to basically just having no clean, easy wins. Plus the Bears were way better than expected. It was a tough year in which nothing felt right...

Lynx 81 Fever 73 They had me quite worried there. The Lynx came into their regular season home finale in position to possibly still get one of these single elimination playoff games at home. But to do that they for sure needed to beat lowly Indiana, along with winning probably at least one of their 2 remaining road games. So naturally they played for most of the first 3 quarters like a team destined to not see Target Center again until 2020. Indiana could not miss a fucking shot in that first half. They shot like 60% for the half, and it wasn't all the Lynx playing poorly. The Lynx shot okay, and had an edge in turnovers and rebounding which kept it close. Indiana never led by more than 7, I think. Lynx defense improved in the 3rd, but they still couldn't get over the hump. Then Sexi Lexi Brown hit a couple huge threes at the end of the 3rd to get the lead back. And that really propelled the Lynx, who pretty much put the hammer down in the 4th. They led by 10 or close to ...