The Minnesota Twins have played thirteen or so games this season and have probably exceeded expectations at this point.  They’ve hung tough against some pretty good teams and some inclement North Land weather.  They’ve yet to play any division rivals except for the Royals so again, it’s early!  Two themes so far—they’ve got to get the staff to miss more bats, and there are some impact bats down on the farm. At 6-7 and a minus 10 in run differential many teams would be ambivalent but the 2012 Twins were a disaster with injuries taking a major toll.  So far, there have been a lot more positives then negatives thirteen games in.  Even though the Twins pitching is the major concern (4.38 ERA-- 23rd in MLB, tied for last with four quality starts) they’ve been able to avoid homeruns and limiting runs in general.  They can’t expect to win many games...

The National Lacrosse League’s (NLL) Minnesota Swarm (7-8) won their second road game of the season last Saturday at the Colorado Mammoth (6-9). While beating a division rival in their house is always a good feeling, this game was very meaningful for the Swarm since the win clinched the franchise’s fourth-straight playoff berth. The playoff-clinching road win was achieved through the Swarm’s aggressive defense. “Everybody says we’re young and athletic and we are,” head coach Joe Sullivan said. “That shows in us being able to track balls down, get hungry, and do the dirty work in a very important game.” The Swarm certainly tracked down balls, recording 67 loose balls to Colorado’s 36 Saturday night.  One of the big reasons for that was Jordan MacIntosh. The Oakville, Ontario native scooped up a game-high 12 loose balls and is second in the league with 173 on the season. MacIntosh also won 70%...

You know what they say, one week good.  The next, uh, not so. And so goes it for the Timberwolves. The chase to secure Coach Rick Adelman’s 1000th career coaching win was exciting and took essentially two games to get it done. Kudos to the team.  A season ago, that might have stretched into the new season. This week, the Wolves find themselves on the left coast against playoff teams with much for which to play and a shooting slump. It’s drawn the ire of GameON! TV watchers who regularly pound my in-box with thoughts, suggestions, stats and their “expert” opinion. I love it.  Here’s a handful as the snow flies outside my office, making it feel like a warm & fuzzy December in mid-April-when-it-should-be-spring-and-I-should-be-cleaning-off-my-clubs. That said, now, to the SimonsSays e-mail box. This from Eddie in Hutchinson: Hey Rod! Love your show but give me some more Wolves and less...

The Minnesota Swarm (6-8) opened up their doubleheader weekend with an emphatic 21-7 victory over the Buffalo Bandits (5-9) Saturday night on Treasure Island Field at Xcel Energy Center. Five of the franchise-record 21 goals came from Jordan MacIntosh, who scored a career-high of eight points. MacIntosh also scooped up a team-high 11 loose balls in the game. The win was Minnesota’s third in a row and the team’s 14-goal advantage is the Swarm’s largest margin of victory in team history. The franchise is 5-2 at home this season and recorded a stretch of 11 unanswered goals from the end of the second quarter to the start of the fourth. In all, 11 different players scored for Minnesota. Just hours removed from the monumental victory, the Swarm hopped on an early-morning flight to Philadelphia, where the team fell short in an afternoon matchup with the Wings (6-8) 15-13. Despite the loss,...

Very quietly, this has been a VERY good week for the Timberwolves. Yes, it’s been lost in the shuffle.  The pomp and pageantry of Major League Baseball’s Opening Day for the Twins at Target Field.  Both Gopher Hockey teams with their seasons winding down.  The Wild continue to be one of the NHL’s stronger teams and big trades to the league deadline. The Gopher basketball team finding its new bench boss. But for the first time since the Christmas buying season was in full force, the Wolves have won back-to-back games. Hard to believe but it’s true.  And it puts an exclamation mark on a heck of a week. The Wolves have been impressive and it helps to restock the cupboard and get healthy players back on the team. I’m impressed with a gutsy win in Beer town against the Bucks 107-98 and that after beating the Celtics on April fool’s...