Squirrel attacks Padres’ Bullpen.

Kahn defends ‘jokes’.

Charles Barkley: I had gay teammates.

A Harmon Killebrew Story.

Assorted commentary after the jump.
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Alex:
This category is so far out of my wheelhouse that I considered just nominating Mama’s Family and ceding the floor. However, I do have a serious nomination: The Simpsons. Granted, I haven’t watched a new episode in at least five years, but Homer Simpson deserves to be in the conversation for ‘funniest character ever’, and I’ll put seasons 3 through 10 up against all comers. And it’s still on the air, so it fits the criteria. Now I’ll cede the floor to two people who actually watch television.

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wadE:
Officially? No. It’s only early May… er, mid-May, and the Twins are only 6.5 back of Detroit; and the Indians can’t keep this up all year… right? (I’ve already written off the Royals).

But in actuality the season is over. The Twins can point to injuries as the reason they are struggling, but there are 6 regulars who have not missed significant time. Only two of them have an OPS+ over 100. The pitching staff has been as bad as anyone could have possibly guessed. Joe Nathan is D-U-N done. The Twins pitching staff, who has led the league in fewest walks more often than not in the past decade, is now second to last. The Twins “Wins Above Replacement” value is 0.4. Meaning that a team of replacement players would have about the same record. Is there time for a turnaround? Sure. But every hope for the 2012 season would have to come to fruition, and fast.

Such as: Mauer stays healthy and hits with some power, Morneau plays like an MVP contender, Valencia follows up his rookie year with another solid year, Delmon continues to build, Casilla isn’t awful, starting pitching all steps up a notch, and Nishioka (while not the second coming of Ichiro) is better than Cuddyer at second.

In closing… don’t hold your breath.

We’re gonna try a new Gambit format, starting today. Every Tuesday/Thursday, Alex is gonna throw out a topic, and we’re all gonna sound off. Topics will cover a very wide range, you can be assured of that. So without further ado, here’s some armchair punditry about the 2011 Minnesota Vikings draft:

wadE:
Time has tempered my initial thoughts on the Vikings draft. I’ve seen draft grades range from B to D on their picks, and I can see arguments for any grade in that range.

Why it’s a D: picking Ponder at twelve overall is just ridiculously early. The only defense for the pick is if the Vikings could not trade back before their time was up (maybe the Bears screwed them too?). I think Ponder is a solid pick, just not at 12.

Why it’s a B: although the first pick of any draft will overshadow the rest, picking up the best TE in the draft in round 2 (also a stretch, but not that bad) should pay off for years to come. It’s a position that is only going to decline with the current batch. Additionally the rest of the picks consisted of players who were expected to go much earlier than they were picked, which makes up for a stretch in round 1.

Overall, grading a draft right away is a bit of a farce. It would be best to grade a draft in November. See how many of those picks are still with a team, and how many are contributing during that first season. Then perhaps grade them 5 years later and see how it shaped the team.

For example, looking back at the 2006 draft for the Vikings: Chad Greenway, Cedric Griffin, Ryan Cook, T-Jack, Ray Edwards, Greg Blue, Tyrone Culver. That draft is obviously a C. Keeping it from being an F is Greenway and Edwards who have contibuted a lot in the last 5 years; Griffin has also contibuted when he isn’t tearing a knee. Keeping it from being a B is T-Jack. A pick that was considered a massive stretch at the time and has put the franchise behind the 8-ball at QB for 5 years. Let’s hope that Ponder isn’t the new T-Jack.

Well, that only took a decade, and a war in a country that he was never in, with the resultant loss of so many of our brave soldiers (absolutely no sarcasm whatsoever there – our service men and women *are* heroes), and the loss of a bunch of personal freedoms, and a debt that our great-grandchildren will still be paying off. But hey, we got him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we did, and I’m glad that the world is perhaps that much safer now, but at some point we should ask ourselves if the cost of doing things this way was really worth it.