Gopher Dip

It's March 22, and the Gophers are playing UCLA in the NCAA tournament. The last time the Gophers played UCLA on March 22, it was 1997, a trip to the Final Four was on the line, and I spent the last half hour of the game hugging a jar of salsa and a package of cream cheese.

This is what the NCAA Tournament used to do to me.

The Gophers were one of the best teams in the country in 1997, reaching a ranking as high as No. 2. This was almost without question the most talented team in Gopher history[1], led by the sensational Bobby Jackson. They played in-your-face defense, they hit clutch three-pointers whenever they needed them, and they out-muscled the toughest teams in the Big Ten. In short, they were a joy to watch, and when they entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, Gopher fans held on for what we thought would be the ride of our lives.

The first weekend was a laugher. The Gophers were so much better than Southwest Texas State and Temple that it wasn't even a contest. The Gophers entered the Sweet 16 cruising, ready for anything.

And then Clemson showed up, and they gave the Gophers all they could handle in the Sweet 16. My nails never stood a chance as the game went to double overtime before Jackson exerted his will and pushed the Gophers to the Elite 8.

And that's where UCLA was waiting. Two years previously, the Bruins had won the national title, and they had several players on their roster who had both won a national championship and experienced the humiliation of a first-round loss. They were ready to avenge the Princeton fiasco of a year ago. I was excited, settling down in my basement to hopefully witness the Gophers' first trip to the Final Four. The game tipped off, I was pumped ... and then I realized that we didn't have our dip.

It's not a very complicated dip - cream cheese, shredded cheese, and salsa, mix and let sit in the fridge for a few hours, enjoy with delicious Triscuit crackers or Ritz. Straightforward. I had eaten that dip for each of the first three games, and somewhere along the line I decided it was lucky. These things happen when you're 15. I had quickly dubbed it "Gopher Dip," and it became just as much a part of that season as Jackson's high socks. Because it was "lucky," I was apprehensive about starting the UCLA game without it - and we couldn't quick make it, because it had to sit in the fridge for a while[2].

UCLA wouldn't go away. At all. But then, neither would the Gophers. And as the end of regulation neared and the score remained close, I couldn't handle it any more. At a commercial, I ran upstairs, grabbed all the ingredients for Gopher Dip, and brought them downstairs. I then watched the rest of the game standing, hugging the ingredients, hoping.

Of course, the Gophers won, in overtime, the greatest win in Gopher history, and of course I thought that I had helped by standing there hugging cream cheese. And after the game was over, they cut down the nets, and Miles Tarver danced with Al McGuire, and it all seemed like a dream.

And in a way, it was a dream. Because according to the NCAA, those games never happened. That Gopher season, plus the three before it, have been wiped from the record books because the players on that team were spending about as much time in college classrooms as I was, and when they did go, they were turning in assignments written by somebody else[3]. The academic fraud scandal destroyed the basketball program for almost a decade.

That game against UCLA, 16 years ago today, represents the pinnacle of Gopher basketball. When they cut down the nets in San Antonio, they had climbed higher than they ever had, and it was all downhill from there - losing to Kentucky in the Final Four that year and then, the next season, struggling to overcome graduations before becoming the first team to lose to Gonzaga in the tournament. And then the scandal that wiped everything away as if it had never happened.

The NCAA says that officially nobody won the Big Ten title that year, that nobody won the Midwest Regional in the NCAA tournament. But I remember standing there watching them overcome UCLA, winning despite the fact I ate no dip that day. I don't care if the NCAA says it was fraudulent. I have my memories, and I have my recipe for Gopher dip. Nobody can take those away.
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[1] - The 1978 team that had Kevin McHale, Mychal Thompson, and Flip Saunders might disagree with that.
[2] - It's very possible that my mom simply was sick of eating the same snack for every game and made up the "sit in the fridge for a few hours" excuse so she could have something else for change. I've never asked.
[3] - My favorite story from this is the claim that Courtney James locked himself in his hotel room the night before the Final Four game and wrote the best term paper his professor had ever seen. James was later arrested for hitting his girlfriend with a phonebook. So ... yah.

What will happen in the Big Ten Tournament

I've been thinking about predicting the NCAA tournament on my blog this year, if only to give me something to write about. But then I remembered that the NCAA tournament has 68 teams, which means 67 games to pick, which is way too much to truly hold my attention. I'm lazy, after all. Plus, I usually suck at picking the NCAA tournament. Like, real bad.

Then I thought, why not pick the Big Ten tournament? People all around the country are saying the Big Ten is without question the best conference in the country this year, so the Big Ten tournament probably going to  determine the national champion anyway.[1] Plus, it has a chance to be more competitive as a whole than the NCAA tournament. So I'm gonna do that, and if I do well at picking the Big Ten tournament, maybe I'll move on to the big one.

First Round

(8) Illinois vs. (9) Minnesota

I've never cheered for a team that was more difficult to figure out than this year's Gophers. They've beaten Indiana, Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Memphis, but they've lost to Northwestern, Nebraska, and Purdue. So I don't know. It seems like the explanation is simply home vs. away, as they were a completely different team in Williams Arena than they were on the road, but I don't think it's that simple. That explanation doesn't account for their absolute no-shows during some road games, and played like crap in some home games they won. But they also played well in the neutral-site games they've played, and every game they play from here on out is technically a neutral site game. I say technically because the Big Ten tournament is in Chicago, and the last I saw, Chicago is in Illinois. There's gonna be a lot[2] of orange in the stands for this first game, so it might count as a road game. I have faith in the Gophers, though. For all of Tubby's faults - most of which can be summed up by the word "offense" - his teams always seem to show up for the conference tournament. I think they will again. At least for one round. Gophers by 5.

(5) Michigan vs. (12) Penn State

Remember a few weeks back when the Michigan players all showed up to a pointless game in the middle of Pennsylvania, (most likely) smoked a bunch of high-caliber weed, and proceeded to lose to an atrocious Penn State team, thus costing themselves a top-five national ranking and a first-round bye in the conference tournament? I bet the Wolverines remember that all too well. Their last game against Penn State has almost certainly been playing on a loop on campus all week. And don't underestimate just how terrible Penn State actually was this year. Wolverines by 34.

(6) Iowa vs. (11) Northwestern

So Iowa finished sixth in the Big Ten, huh? Do we know how this happened? That makes even less sense than Michigan not earning a first-round bye. Meanwhile, Northwestern is kinda the host team here, since they're in a suburb of Chicago, but they're so bad in almost all sports that Chicago kinda clings to Notre Dame instead, even though Notre Dame is 100 miles from Chicago. And I've read all about how Northwestern has had a bunch of injuries this year, so that's too bad. At least they won't have to worry about missing their flight home. Hawkeyes by 16.

(7) Purdue vs. (10) Nebraska

After Nebraska beat the Gophers on March 6 in the final game in the Devaney Center, the fans stormed the court. It had to be the first time anybody had ever stormed the court against the Gophers, and it had to be the most ridiculous court-storming in a season full of ridiculous ones. It was embarrassing, although not as embarrassing as the Gophers losing to Nebraska. Did you know Nebraska is ranked 332nd in the nation in scoring offense? That's especially difficult since there are only 321 teams. Boilermakers by 14.

Second Round

(1) Indiana vs. (9) Minnesota  

At the risk of sounding like an absolute homer here, I don't think Indiana wants anything to do with the Gophers in this spot. The Gophers beat Indiana in Williams Arena, and if Trevor Mbakwe had beaten Cody Zeller to a rebound on a missed free throw, the Gophers would have had the ball with a chance to tie with a minute to play in Assembly Hall. Plus, the Gophers beat Indiana in Bloomington [3] last year. Why do the Gophers do well against Indiana? Probably because Indiana likes to run. The easiest way to beat the Gophers is slow it down; they'll get lethargic and bored on offense and quickly lose interest. Indiana won't slow it down, but they'll still win. It'll be closer than a lot of people expect, but Indiana will still win. Hoosiers by 5.

(4) Wisconsin vs. (5) Michigan

I don't hate a lot of Wisconsin college sports teams. I hated Bret Beliema and his spazzy, temper-tantrum throwing face, but before that, I didn't have much of a problem with the Badgers football team. But that is not the case with the basketball team. I hate Bo Ryan, and I hate his over-coaching, momentum-choking, snooze-inducing defensive borefest of a basketball team. Honestly, how does he get any talented recruits to Madison playing that bullshit style of basketball?[4] I hope Michigan wipes the floor with them in this game. Unfortunately, when the final score of every game you play is 48-45, it's really hard to get blown out. Stupid Badgers. Wolverines by 6. 

(3) Michigan State vs. (6) Iowa

Dude, it's Tom Izzo, and it's a single-elimination tournament. Bet against the Spartans at your own risk. Spartans by 9.

(2) Ohio State vs. (7) Purdue

I wanted to find a reason to pick Purdue, because for some reason I think I shouldn't trust Ohio State here this year, but the Buckeyes have won five straight, including wins over Michigan State and at Indiana. They're cruising, and Purdue is not. And really, would this year's Big Ten Final Four look right if Purdue was involved? Buckeyes by 13.

Semifinals

(1) Indiana vs. (5) Michigan

Michigan could have created a four-way tie for the Big Ten title if they had beaten Indiana in Ann Arbor in their final game of the season. Instead, they lost by a point, dropping all the way to the five seed. I think they have something to prove. Although they lost to Indiana twice during the season, they're gonna win the game that counts - unless they meet again in the NCAA tournament. Wolverines by 1.

(2) Ohio State vs. (3) Michigan State

Can you see why so many people are excited about the Big Ten tournament this year? Just look at all the huge matchups that are possible in just the next week. Incredible. I'm waxing poetic about how good the conference is because I just don't know who to pick in this game. I just look foward to watching it. Spartans by 2.

Championship

(3) Michigan State vs. (5) Michigan

There will be two simple things to know about this game. The first is that Michigan will be playing its fourth game in four days, again thanks to its loss to Penn State. The second is that Tom Izzo coaches Michigan State. I don't really like Izzo that much - I went to a Gophers-Spartans game once, and all he did was whine and stomp his feet like my three-year-old - but he is a hell of a coach. He'll be lifting the hardware at the end of the tournament. Michigan State by 9.

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[1] This is probably not true.

[2] Or, as much as can be expected at a game starting at noon on a Thursday.

[3] Bloomington, Indiana, obviously, except that I live in Bloomington, Minnesota, so I wanted to avoid any possible confusion.

[4] This is, inadvertently the most damning statement about Tubby Smith's tenure at Minnesota that I could possibly make.

Headaches

Vikings fans know several things with absolute certainty: We know that most Packer fans are more obnoxious than Notre Dame fans, we know Drew Pearson pushed off in 1975, and we know Randy Moss was the greatest wide receiver of all time. Don't argue with us about any of those things unless you're willing to get in a fight.

That Randy Moss mention is intentional today, of course, on the day that the Vikings traded away Percy Harvin. Harvin was the closest thing the Vikings have had to Randy Moss since Moss left the first time. On the field, they looked completely different - the tall, lanky Moss looked like he glided rather than ran down field, while Harvin darts and dashes between defenders. But they both such a skill that made it impossible to turn away from the television. They were electric.

They had more in common than that. Both Moss and Harvin were the picture-perfect definition of divas, and both were lucky they were incredibly talented, as that was the only reason the Vikings put up with them for so long. Moss' problems were well documented: The traffic cop incident, walking off the field with five seconds left in a one-possession playoff game, "What's 10 grand to me?", "I play when I wanna play," and so on.[1]

Harvin's problems weren't as well documented. Sure, there was the pot problem in college, and the potentially related migraine issue later, but that seemed to be it. But some news started to trickle out this year. News about how Harvin befriended Moss during Moss' second stint with the Vikings and was furious when Moss was released. How Harvin got in to a screaming match with Leslie Frazier during a mid-week practice this year. How Harvin once got into an argument with Brad Childress that was so heated that he threw a weight at Childress [2]. And so on.

It became clear something was going on. When Harvin had a much-publicized argument with the Vikings this summer, the writing seemed to be on the wall. When his ankle injury this year somehow became a season-ender and he high-tailed it for Florida, it was obvious: he was gone. That the Vikings got three draft picks - including a first-rounder - for him is amazing, really, considering it was an open secret the Vikings had to trade him and the team trading for Harvin would then have to pay him big money. I mean, when the Vikings traded Moss, all they could get from him was a mediocre linebacker and a seventh-round draft pick. Considering that, they got a bounty for Harvin.

So Vikings fans should be happy for what they got for Harvin, but should they be happy he's gone? It was always obvious how good Harvin was. He made jaws drops around the NFL on a nearly weekly basis. Just his kick-returning ability alone was enough to make him worth the money, but then consider how good he was with the ball on offense, and the Vikings seem crazy for letting him go, no matter what the price.

But then you think about the Vikings used him, or rather, misused him. Despite having Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin on the roster at the same time the last four years, but never seemed able to figure out how to use them. I don't know how many times I screamed for the Vikings to put Harvin in motion towards Peterson in the backfield, then either give to AP up the middle or give to Harvin on the end-around [3]. I can recall maybe one instance that they did this. Instead, they seemed to put them on the field at different times, or they seemed to run plays designed only for Harvin or only for Peterson. It often got infuriating.

And then, there's the raw numbers. Only once in four seasons did Harvin play all 16 games. Despite his ability to gain yards after the catch, he never finished in the top 40 in yards per catch in the NFL. His true value lay in kickoff returns - he's had at least one kickoff return for a touchdown every year of his career and he's twice led the league in average return length. But kickoff returns are being made less relevant every year, with at least a hint of them being removed completely soon.

So what should Vikings fans think? For me, I'm annoyed it had to come to this, that the player-team relationship had soured so much that they simply couldn't go on together. But it's possible that, even with a perfect working relationship, he would have been gone anyway after this year, cashing in on a big-money contract that the Vikings just weren't willing to match. As far as trading him, the Vikings got everything they could hope for and more - I don't think anybody expected a first-round pick to change hands, much less a first plus two other picks.

In general, I'm in favor of the trade, which is difficult for me to admit since I own a Harvin jersey. However, if the Vikings don't use those two first-round picks and extra salary-cap space to get a legitimate recieveing threat - or two - then my opinion might change. AP was superhuman last year, and we can't expect a repeat of that. I hope the Vikings know what they're doing.

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[1] - No, Moss wasn't on the Love Boat. And no, the Lambeau Moon does not count as a controversial or problematic incident. That should be placed in the "awesome" category.
[2] - To be fair, there were times where I wanted to throw a weight at Brad Childress, too. And I know I wasn't alone. Harvin was just doing us a favor.
[3] - Yes, I am that specific with what I yell at the Vikings on Sundays.

February 5, 2013: Manning to Manningham

INDIANAPOLIS - It didn't quite have the shock of The Helmet Catch. Nothing really could. How can you beat a player pinning a miracle catch against his helmet, then holding on to it as a defender is desperately clawing at it? You can't. But you can come close. And when Eli Manning hit Mario Manningham down the sideline during Super Bowl XLVI, dropping the ball perfectly between two defenders who seemed to have position on Manningham, you could almost hear Patriot fans saying "it happened again?"

What happened was another Giants-Patriots Super Bowl, another fourth-quarter lead for the Patriots in such a Super Bowl, and another late-fourth quarter comeback for the Giants. After the Giants ended the Patriots perfect season in Super Bowl XLII, they met again on February 5, 2012, and played another heart-pounding game.

The Patriots took a 17-9 lead into halftime of the rematch, but the game really picked up late in the fourth quarter, after the Giants had cut that lead to 17-15. At the 4:05 mark, Tom Brady found Wes Welker for what should have been a first down on a 2nd-and-11 play, but Welker dropped the ball. Instead of facing the prospects of taking their final time out, the Giants instead got the clock stopped and, after getting another incomplete pass on the next play, forced a punt.

Taking over at their own 12 with 3:48 left, Manning found his man. As Manningham drifted down the sideline, Manning threw a perfect pass between two defenders. Manningham caught the ball with his arms outstretched, tiptoed in bounds, and held on. It was a stunning catch, a perfectly executed play all around. And it left the Patriots stunned. They challenged the play, losing one of their time outs when it was upheld, then tried to hold on.

But they didn't hold on. Instead, the Giants eventually drove to get to first and goal at the 7. After a first-down run for one yard, the Patriots used their second time out, and they were faced with a dilemma. If they still had two remaining time outs, they could try to stop the Giants, using both their time outs to stop the clock, and hopefully force a field goal with enough time left to respond. Instead, they had used a time out on the challenge, meaning the one they had left wasn't enough to stop the Giants from draining nearly all of the clock. So they did what they had to do: They let the Giants score.

That decision had a precedence in Super Bowl history, but the Giants were still caught off guard. When Ahmad Bradshaw unexpectedly saw a wide-open path to the end zone, he seemed to forget what to do. Remembering at the last moment that he was supposed to let the clock run down, Bradshaw stopped running at the 2-yard line, but his momentum carried him backwards into the end zone for what had to be the first accidental touchdown in Super Bowl history.

So the Giants might not have wanted to score on that play, but it's not like a touchdown was bad. Trailing 21-17, the Patriots now had to drive the length of the field for a touchdown in less than a minute and with only one time out. They only made it as far as midfield before being forced to try a final-play Hail Mary, one that missed connecting by less than a yard.

For the second time in four years, the Giants had upset the Patriots in the Super Bowl. This time, instead of a Helmet Catch, the catalyst was Manning to Manningham, a perfect pass and catch on the sideline.

February 4, 2012: Jeremy Spoke

NEW YORK - It was a game destined to be long forgotten, in what was already looking like a lost season. Playing their third game in as many days, the Knicks were wounded and in need of a spark. With 3:31 left in the first quarter and his team already trailing, New York coach Mike D'Antoni pointed to the bench and sent Jeremy Lin into the game.

At this point in his career, even getting into the game was an accomplishment for Lin. He had been buried in the depth chart for first his hometown Warriors and now the Knicks, spending almost as much time in the Developmental League as in the NBA. He was running out of time on February 4, 2012. His 10-day contract was almost up, and the Knicks were going to be faced with decision to release him or guarantee his contract for the rest of the year. Considering he had spent most of his stint with the Knicks sleeping on his brother's couch - and had spent the night of February 3 sleeping on teammate Landry Fields' couch - Lin probably knew which way the wind was blowing.

But things can change in an instant. After Lin entered the February 4 game against the Nets, he scored six points in the first half. Not bad, but nothing earth-shaking. He was going to need a gigantic second half to convince the Knicks to keep him around. Fortunately, the Knicks had a lot of injuries, so D'Antoni had to keep Lin in the game.

And Lin took advantage. He continually got to the rim for easy shots or pulling up for short jumpers. He moved the ball around the court, single-handedly jump-starting New York's stagnant offense. Lin scored 19 points in the second half, willing the Knicks to a victory. But it was much more than just a single victory in a long season. When Jeremy Lin entered the game in the first quarter, only the most passionate of Knick fans even knew who he was. By the end of the game, Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" was playing in the Madison Square Garden speakers and Lin was being hailed as a hero in New York.

This was only the beginning.

After his 25-point outing on February 4 - when he had scored just 32 points all season leading up to it - Lin kept scoring. He scored 28 points two days later, got 23 points with 10 assists the game after that, then 38 points against the Lakers after that. From there, the phenomenon was in full force. The Knicks had an unexpected star, and Lin had a fully guaranteed contract.

Of course, it wasn't just about the basketball. It never was. The underdog story was nice, but it was a far bigger deal that Lin was the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA. He was also intelligent and well-spoken and humble, so he quickly became a media darling. Sports networks fell all over themselves coming up with new ways to use Lin's name as a pun, with "Linsanity" becoming the most common use. Sports writers burned up keyboards trying to write the latest piece that best explained exactly what he meant to the NBA and the Asian American community.

It didn't take much to see what he meant to the NBA. The Knicks had been going nowhere before February 4, but their games quickly became events. The stands at Knicks games - both in Madison Square Garden and on the road - started becoming filled with Asian Americans, a demographic that hadn't traditionally been NBA fans. Lin was the most popular Knick in years.

The coverage of Lin was so focused and so all-encompassing that it's easy to forget that his tenure as a Knicks starter - or, at least, a player who played starter-type minutes - lasted only 26 games. By the end of March, Lin was out for the season with a knee injury, and by the time the 2012-13 season started, he was a Houston Rocket, having signed a three-year deal in Houston after the Knicks gave little effort in resigning him. Now, Lin is a perfectly average NBA player, and the huge crowds and media attention he saw as a Knick seem to have happened ages ago. But for two months, he was all anybody talked about, the man who  went from being almost out of a job on February 3 to being a nationwide phenomenon on February 4.

2012 World Series: Explaining the Rankings

The Teams
National League: San Francisco Giants (94-68) - Fifth World Series (Won in 2010)
American League: Detroit Tigers (88-74) - 11th World Series (Won in 1935, 1945, 1968 1984)

OK, so this year's World Series was pretty much a downer. Well, Giants fans probably didn't think so, but pretty much everybody else was bored by it. It was a sweep, and while the games looked close on the scoreboard, they didn't really feel close. I threw it at number 88 in the rankings, and it's not really worth dedicating many more words to it.

But I figured it'd be worth explaining how I came to rank this one as the 88th best of all time so that people wouldn't think this was just a long drawn-out excuse to reiterate how the 1991 Series was the best of all time. Believe it or not, there was a method to my madness. The method wasn't perfect, but considering it was something I came up with in about 10 minutes back in January - seriously, I spent the entire year doing this? - it seemed to hold up pretty well, especially at the top end of the rankings.

Anyway, it was pretty simple. Points were awarded for each of the following:

• One point for every game played. I figured this would be an easy way to give a seven-game series an advantage over one that ended with a sweep. 
• One point for every game that was a two- or one-run game
• One point for every game where the winning team scored the winning run in its final at bat
• One point for every game in which, at a minimum, the tying run was at the plate at the end of the game (walk-off wins are included in this category)
• One point for every extra-inning game
• Bonus points (1 through 5) awarded for legendary moments (Kirk Gibson's home run, Babe Ruth's called shot, Floyd Bevens' lost no-hitter, etc.). This was by far the most subjective measure.

And that's it. It wasn't perfect, obviously, as one or two good games tended to skew the results. For example, virtually every extra-inning game also fell into most of the other categories. And my judgement in the "bonus" category could swing a series up as many as 20 places higher than it would have normally placed. But like I said, overall I'm happy with the order established.

So how did this year's Giants-Tigers World Series make the list as number 88? Count with me:

• Four games in the series (4 points total)
• Three two- or one-run games (3 points; 7 total points)
• One game where the winning run was scored in the final at bat (just Game 4; 8 total points)
• One game where the tying run was at the plate at the end (ditto Game 4; 9 total points)
• One extra-inning game (Game 4 again; 10 total points)
• No bonus points. To be fair, this one was the hardest to judge, as who knows what will be most remembered about this series in 10, 20, or 30 years. In reality, though, most people will see "Giants sweep Tigers" and have absolutely no recollection that this series ever actually happened.

Total: 10 points, good for a tie with spots 82-88. That reminds me of another thing: I had a lot of ties with this system. A lot of ties. When that happened, I did my best to rank the tied series using nothing more than my gut feeling. And my gut feeling says that the 2012 series was the worst of the 82-88 stretch. So it gets ranking number 88.

And now my World Series countdown is done. And I don't know what to do now. I unexpectedly spent an entire year doing this without a definite plan for what comes next. We'll see. For those who followed along from start to finished (mostly composed of people named Nicci), thanks.

Scores  
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Detroit	3	0	0	3
San Francisco	8	2	2	4 (10)

The List
I'm ranked all the World Series. Here they are:

1. 1991 - Minnesota (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-3
2. 1975 - Cincinnati (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
3. 1924 - Washington (A) def. New York (N) 4-3
4. 2001 - Arizona (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
5. 2011 - St. Louis (N) def. Texas (A) 4-3
6. 1912 - Boston (A) def. New York (N) 4-3 (1 tie)
7. 1992 - Toronto (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
8. 1947 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
9. 1972 - Oakland (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-3

10. 2000 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-0
11. 1986 - New York (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
12. 1962 - New York (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-3
13. 1926 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
14. 1995 - Atlanta (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-2
15. 1960 - Pittsburgh (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
16. 1952 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
17. 1997 - Florida (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-3
18. 1993 - Toronto (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
19. 1956 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3

20. 1973 - Oakland (A) def. New York (N) 4-3
21. 2002 - Anaheim (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-3
22. 1980 - Philadelphia (N) def. Kansas City (A) 4-2
23. 1911 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
24. 1915 - Boston (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
25. 1971 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-3
26. 1918 - Boston (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
27. 1988 - Los Angeles (N) def. Oakland (A) 4-1
28. 1946 - St. Louis (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
29. 1925 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Washington (A) 4-3

30. 1957 - Milwaukee (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
31. 1985 - Kansas City (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3
32. 1969 - New York (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-1
33. 1935 - Detroit (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
34. 1934 - St. Louis (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
35. 1964 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
36. 2003 - Florida (N) def. New York (A) 4-2
37. 1977 - New York (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-2
38. 1996 - New York (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
39. 1921 - New York (N) def. New York (A) 5-3

40. 1953 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-2
41. 1941 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-2
42. 1958 - New York (A) def. Milwaukee (N) 4-3
43. 1959 - Los Angeles (N) def. Chicago (A) 4-2
44. 2008 - Philadelphia (N) def. Tampa Bay (A) 4-1
45. 1933 - New York (N) def. Washington (A) 4-1
46. 1929 - Philadelphia (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-1
47. 1982 - St. Louis (N) def. Milwaukee (A) 4-3
48. 1923 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
49. 1944 - St. Louis (N) def. St. Louis (A) 4-2

50. 1948 - Cleveland (A) def. Boston (N) 4-2
51. 1917 - Chicago (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
52. 1903 - Boston (A) def. Pittsburgh (N) 5-3
53. 1916 - Boston (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-1
54. 1949 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-1
55. 1942 - St. Louis (N) def. New York (A) 4-1
56. 1974 - Oakland (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-1
57. 1955 - Brooklyn (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
58. 1979 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-3
59. 1987 - Minnesota (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3

60. 1936 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
61. 1909 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
62. 2005 - Chicago (A) def. Houston (N) 4-0
63. 1950 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-0
64. 1906 - Chicago (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
65. 1981 - Los Angeles (N) def. New York (A) 4-2
66. 1943 - New York (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-1
67. 1954 - New York (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-0
68. 1978 - New York (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-2
69. 2006 - St. Louis (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-1

70. 1922 - New York (N) def. New York (A) 4-0, 1 tie
71. 1970 - Baltimore (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1
72. 1931 - St. Louis (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-3
73. 1967 - St. Louis (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
74. 1968 - Detroit (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-3
75. 1920 - Cleveland (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 5-2
76. 1945 - Detroit (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-3
77. 1940 - Cincinnati (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
78. 2009 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-2
79. 1984 - Detroit (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-1

80. 1983 - Baltimore (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
81. 1913 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-1
82. 1930 - Philadelphia (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-2
83. 1914 - Boston (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-0
84. 1951 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
85. 1939 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-0
86. 1910 - Philadelphia (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-1
87. 1905 - New York (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-1
88. 2012 - San Francisco (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-0
89. 1965 - Los Angeles (N) def. Minnesota (A) 4-3
90. 1961 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1

91. 1990 - Cincinnati (N) def. Oakland (A) 4-0
92. 1966 - Baltimore (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-0
93. 1927 - New York (A) def. Pittsburgh (N) 4-0
94. 2004 - Boston (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-0
95. 1932 - New York (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-0
96. 1908 - Chicago (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-1
97. 1999 - New York (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-0
98. 1963 - Los Angeles (N) def. New York (A) 4-0
99. 2010 - San Francisco (N) def. Texas (A) 4-1
100. 1937 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-1

101. 1976 - Cincinnati (N) def. New York (A) 4-0
102. 1907 - Chicago (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-0 (1 tie)
103. 2007 - Boston (A) def. Colorado (N) 4-0
104. 1938 - New York (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-0
105. 1998 - New York (A) def. San Diego (N) 4-0
106. 1989 - Oakland (A) def. San Francisco (N) 4-0
107. 1928 - New York (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-0
108. 1919 - Cincinnati (N) def. Chicago (A) 5-3

1991 World Series: Drama too Huge to be Hyperbolized

The Teams
American League: Minnesota Twins (95-67) - Second World Series (Won in 1987)
National League: Atlanta Braves (94-68) - First World Series

What Happened
There's an underlying sentiment among Twins fans that not many baseball fans outside of Minnesota are likely to know about. Hell, there are a lot of Minnesotans who might not know about it, at least not consciously. But there are many Minnesotans who will say, when asked, that the greatest Twins game ever was Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. It's a perfectly good game to pick, mind you, one of the true greats in World Series history. But it pales in comparison to Game 7, which is on almost everybody's short list of greatest games ever played. Remind those Game 6 apologists about Game 7, and they'll likely either reluctantly backtrack - "Oh, well, yah, that one was pretty good, too" - or stubbornly refuse to budge - "I don't care, I still think Game 6 was better."

Again, there's nothing wrong with picking Game 6, and there's an obvious reason that longtime Twins fans often lean toward that one: Kirby Puckett. For years, Twins fans had been defending Puckett's prowess to other baseball fans. Telling a Twins fan that Puckett was "one of" the best players in the game wasn't good enough; if you weren't willing to concede that he was the absolute best player in the game, you were making an enemy. In 1991, Puckett could do no wrong. So imagine, then, seeing the Twins facing elimination in the World Series, needing someone to come up big, and seeing Puckett step up and deliver. The hero to scores of Minnesotans delivered on the biggest stage, in a sport where the hero is so often an anonymous afterthought, a person chosen at random for their moment in history.

What Puckett did in Game 6 is legendary, revered to the point where it approaches a religious experience. After telling his teammates he would carry them to a win that night, he tripled in the first inning, leaped against the left field wall to rob an extra-base hit in the third, and hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth. And then, of course, was his game-winning home run in the bottom of the 11th. In one game, Puckett had convinced the rest of baseball what Twins fans already knew: that this guy had no peer.

So yah, it makes sense that Game 6 is the game many Twins fans point to. Their hero became a legend. It's OK.

It's OK for another reason, too. Twins fans don't need to claim Game 7, because Game 7 belongs to the ages. It was a game with drama too huge to be hyperbolized, a game too magnificent and improbable to be  described as merely a Twins game or a Braves game. It was a game that belonged to baseball alone, a game that elevated baseball.

It wasn't just that it took 10 innings for anybody to score, for there have been many 1-0 baseball games that were snoozers. It wasn't just that Minnesota native Jack Morris threw 10 shutout innings, because while he was brilliant, he was also often lucky. It was because both teams put runners on base in nearly every inning, only to have their rallies fizzle out by a great defensive play or a single clutch pitch. The drama, the nail biting, didn't let up for nine innings. Description failed those watching; Jack Buck, who called more great games than anybody really had a right to, stopped trying to contextualize Game 7 about halfway through, instead saying, repeatedly, "This has been a great game."

So what was Buck so awed by? The details. The Braves put two runners on with one out in both the third and fifth; Morris got 2-3 hitters Terry Pendleton and Ron Gant consecutively to end both innings, punctuating the fifth with an impossible-to-hit forkball that froze Gane and led to an exaggerated fist pump from Morris. John Smoltz pitched out of jams in five straight innings, including getting Puckett to strike out to end a threat in the third and getting cleanup hitter Chili Davis to ground into a 3-6-3 double play in the sixth.

And then came the 8th inning. Lonnie Smith led off Atlanta's half with a single, followed by Pendleton ripping one to left-center that even Puckett couldn't catch. But instead of scoring easily, Smith hesitated and stopped at second base - possibly fooled by a fake double play by Chuck Knoblauch and Greg Gagne - and only made it to third. After a walk and an out, Morris got Sid Bream to ground into a 3-2-3 double play, with Kent Hrbek catching the return throw while pumping his fist.

In the bottom of the 8th, it was the Twins who put two runners on with one out. After an intentional walk to Puckett - he walked three times after the sixth, Atlanta openly telling any other Twin to beat them - Hrbek came up with the bases loaded. Hrbek had famously hit a grand slam for his hometown team in the 1987 World Series, and he seemed poised to be a hero again. But his soft line drive went right to Mark Lemke at second base, and Lemke stepped on second for the double play, and the tension grew.

Games 6 and 7 weren't the only great games of the series. Games 2, 3, and 4 were one-run games, with Games 3 and 4 in Atlanta absolute classics that would be remembered among the all-time greats if it weren't for the final two games. Even Game 5, the one that ended with Atlanta winning 14-5, was tight, with the Braves only leading 5-3 entering the 7th inning. But after those first six games, and after the first seventh inning of Game 7, the drama was done. There was no more worrying about whether someone would win or lose, because there was no longer going to be a winner and a loser. These two teams had essentially tied; the winner was now going to be determined by mere chance.

It was the Twins, of course, who finally broke the tie in the 10th: Dan Gladden's broken-bat bloop double followed by Knoblauch's sacrifice and a pair of intentional walks to Puckett to Hrbek, all of which led to Gene Larkins' series-winning hit. The Twins fans who still had a pulse cheered loudly deep into the night, but not quite as loud as they had the night before after Game 6. We couldn't. We were too exhausted. And whether Game 6 or Game 7 was the greatest game in Twins history, it doesn't really matter, because they happened on back-to-back nights, capping off the greatest World Series of all time.

MVP
Jack Morris came home to Minnesota after more than a decade in Detroit to teach the young Twins pitchers how to win. He did more than was expected. He started opening day. He started the All Star Game. He started Game 1 of the ALCS. He started and won Game 1 of the World Series. And then, he took the ball for Game 7 and never gave it up.

Scores  
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Atlanta	2	2	5 (12)	3	14	3	0
Minnesota	5	3	4	2	5	4 (11)	1 (10)

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

1. 1991 - Minnesota (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-3
2. 1975 - Cincinnati (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
3. 1924 - Washington (A) def. New York (N) 4-3
4. 2001 - Arizona (N) def. New York (A) 4-3
5. 2011 - St. Louis (N) def. Texas (A) 4-3
6. 1912 - Boston (A) def. New York (N) 4-3 (1 tie)
7. 1992 - Toronto (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
8. 1947 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
9. 1972 - Oakland (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-3
Numbers 10-19
Numbers 20-29
Numbers 30-39
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

Game 7s
Simultaneously, I'll rank all the Game 7s. The ones that have appeared in my countdown so far:

1. 1991: Minnesota 1, Atlanta 0
2. 2001: Arizona 3, New York (A) 2
3. 1960: Pittsburgh 10, New York (A) 9
4. 1924: Washington 4, New York (N) 3
5. 1997: Florida 3, Cleveland 2
6. 1912: Boston (A) 3, New York (N) 2 (game 8)
7. 1946: St. Louis (N) 4, Boston (A) 3
8. 1975: Cincinnati 4, Boston (A) 3
9. 1925: Pittsburgh 9, Washington 7
10. 1926: St. Louis (N) 3, New York (A) 2
11. 1962: New York (A) 1, San Francisco 0
12. 1979: Pittsburgh 4, Baltimore 1
13. 1955: Brooklyn 2, New York (A) 0
14. 1952: New York (A) 4, Brooklyn 2
15. 1971: Pittsburgh 2, Baltimore 1
16. 1940: Cincinnati 2, Detroit 1
17. 1972: Oakland 3, Cincinnati 2
18. 1987: Minnesota 4, St. Louis 2
19. 1958: New York 6, Milwaukee 2
20. 1986: New York (N) 8, Boston 5
21. 1968: Detroit 4, St. Louis 1
22. 1931: St. Louis (N) 4, Philadelphia (A) 2
23. 1973: Oakland 5, New York (N) 2
24. 2002: Anaheim 4, San Francisco 1
25. 1982: St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3
26. 1947: New York (A) 5, Brooklyn 2
27. 2011: St. Louis 6, Texas 2
28. 1965: Los Angeles (A) 2, Minnesota 0
29. 1964: St. Louis 7, New York (A) 5
30. 1957: Milwaukee 5, New York (A) 0
31. 1967: St. Louis 7, Boston 2
32. 1945: Detroit 9, Chicago (N) 3
33. 1909: Pittsburgh 8, Detroit 0
34. 1934: St. Louis (N) 11, Detroit 0
35. 1985: Kansas City 11, St. Louis 0
36. 1956: New York (A) 9, Brooklyn 0