...and we'll see you tommorrow night!

It’s the middle of September and the MLB regular season is coming to a close. As of today, the only division race that is semi-close is the AL Central with my Minnesota Twins trailing the Tigers by 4 games. There is still a very outside chance for the Rangers in the AL West as they have 7 games left with the division leading Angels and are 6 games back. The Rangers would have to pull off an impressive sweep in those 7 games, but I’ve seen crazier things happen. The NL wildcard is coming down the wire with the Rockies holding on to a 3.5 and 4.5 game lead on the Giants and Marlins. Neither the Giants nor Marlins have any games left with the Rockies so that makes it more difficult to catch them.

Let's talk about the AL Central, the worst division in baseball for yet another season. The race may be already over in some peoples minds, but I am a Twins fan, so I’m allowed to have hope. The Twins do have 7 games left with the AL Central leading Tigers. If the Twins can go 5-2 or better in those games, they may just win the division. It’s not like the Twins and Tigers weren’t in this same situation in 2006. The Twins won the last game of the season and watched on the big screens with a packed H.H.H. Metrodome crowd as the Tigers lost to the Royals, giving the Twins sole possession of 1st place for the first time during the ENTIRE SEASON on the last day of the season. That was fun. I liked that. I’d like to see it happen again. Let’s try and forget what happened in the ALDS versus Oakland. I’m still trying to.

I’m not sure how the Twins are still competing (other than that they play in the AL Central) but they are hanging on. It will be tough going forward after losing 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau to a back injury. Despite only playing in 135 games, Morneau reached the 30 HR, 100 RBI mark and the Twins are going to miss his presence on the field and in the batters box.

That hurts me more than it hurts you, Justin.

The way things look, IF the Twins managed to win the division, they would play the Yankees in what I have dubbed “Home Run Hall”. Wait…that is stupid. How about “Yank Me Over the Fence Stadium”, or “Bomb Hitting Ballpark” or “We Employ a Bunch of Overpaid Bums So Let’s Put the Fences at 300 Feet So We Can Win By Hitting Long Pop Ups”. I think I like the last one the best.

The Twins have 3-23 record at Yankee Stadium (old and new) under Ron Gardenhire. I’m not even mad. That’s amazing. That record includes the 7 losses (including 3 consecutive walk-offs) against the Yankees this season. I’d say the Twins have a pretty good chance to go to the ALCS. Yeah, that’s right; I said the Twins are going to the ALCS. They just have to win the division first. Some may think I’m crazy. I’d like to call it thinking outside the box. Here are my reasons:

1. The Yankees have to choke sometime. It’s probably going to be in the ALDS (I guarantee A-Roid is going to).


2. The Twins have Joe Mauer.


3. It’s really tough for one team to beat another team 9 times in one season.


4. The Dome, in its last season, is going to be ROCKING for games 3 and 4 (if necessary).


5. The Dome turns on fans in the bottom of the ninth to help the Twins hit late homers.


6. I got a feeling (woooo hoooo), that this season’s gonna be a good World Series win, that this season’s gonna be a good World Series win, that this season’s gonna be a good, good World Series win. Mazel Tov.

That's some sound logic if you ask me. In all seriousness, I think the Cardinals are extremely tough right now and with Carpenter and Wainright as a 1, 2 punch in the NLDS, it would be nearly impossible not to see them playing LA or Philly in the NLCS. So I guess that settles it, Twins will be World Champions. No one can win any games at the Dome in the Series. It will be like ’87 all over again. Down go the Cards.

Let’s take a look inside the NFL, shall we? Obviously the Vikings are heavily favored to win the Super Bowl. I mean, Favre teamed up with AP AD and the returning top run defense in the NFL? Why don’t they just give us the trophy? Ok, I may be a little bias. You can’t deny that AP is a beast. If you don’t believe me, watch this about 20 times and get back to me. I also happen to love the Favre move. I don't care if he missed training camp. I don't care if he retired (twice). I don't care if some people think he dragged it out for attention. I do know that he is the Vikings best option at QB. The right handed Mike Vick can go walk into oncoming traffic for all I care. Not only is it a good move for the team to be competitive and sell tickets, it's a biiiiig middle finger to all those die hard Fudgepacker fans out there. I do have a jersey, it is purple, and it has a #4 on it. I have and am still seriously considering going to Lambeau on Nov 1. It would be absolute insanity to walk in there with a Favre jersey that isn't green and yellow. I dig it. I do think the Vikes will win the division and like every year since Gary Anderson became the Ray Finkle of the Vikings, they will probably lose in the first round. That’s just how they get down.

You are home Brett, you really are. Now throw Bernard Berrian the ball so I can win week 2 Fantasy Football.

It’s too early to tell who the non-obvious good teams are going to be and NFL injuries can kill any great team anyway so it's tough to make a good prediction. That being said I’ll pick the Vikings and the Pats/Steelers/Colts/Chargers. Does anyone care? I’m not sure I even care right now, especially about the AFC. Here's a poll question: Who are your World Series and Super Bowl teams as of the moment you read this post? Go.