Mark Twain is credited with the saying, "If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes."
Playoff status: The very good (Wild), the OK (Wolves) and the ugly (Vikings)
Let's take stock of where things stand at this point in three interesting seasons.
December 8, 2021 at 1:27PM
That probably applies to Minnesota weather as well — and certainly applies to Minnesota sports teams.
A little over a week ago, I was urged to write about all the Minnesota teams who were surging toward strong playoff position. This was in the midst of a hot Wild stretch, a Timberwolves winning stretch and as the Viking sat at 5-5 ready to face the easier part of their schedule.
And now? Well, at least one of those three is still winning most of the time. As for the Wolves and Vikings? Five combined losses in a row. It's left a pretty clear pecking order in town as we start to think about playoffs for all three teams:
The Wild: Hockey Reference gave the Wild a 94.1% chance of making the postseason entering Tuesday's game in Edmonton. Minnesota surged to its commanding lead in the Central Division thanks to a long winning streak fueled largely by its offense.
The Central has quality depth, so nothing is guaranteed. But the Wild has the look of a playoff team — and perhaps much more — so far this season.
The Wolves: The NBA is a game of runs, the Wolves are a team of runs. They started 3-1, then went 1-8, then went 7-1, and have since gone 0-3. It adds up to 11-13, but in the NBA's Western Conference this season that's not all that bad.
Basketball Reference says the Wolves currently have a 63.6% chance of reaching the postseason, with No. 7 being their most likely seed after the play-in round is over. I think most Wolves fans would be ecstatic about that, but there's a long way to go.
The Vikings: And now The Price is Right fail horn. The Vikings have been very resilient this season, but it's hard to see how they come back from Sunday's loss to the previously winless Lions. Five Thirty Eight gives them just a 28% chance to make the playoffs.
But. BUT: If the Vikings win Thursday over the Steelers and two Mondays from now against the Bears, those odds suddenly climb to 51%.
So I'm telling you there's a chance.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
