Minnesota Headhunter

So Many Sports, So Little Time

I added a new category this evening, Sports. Much like Gopher Football and Political Rant it has nothing to do with being a recruiter. I added it because ESPN and I are like family. Also, I am addicted to Championship Week and then the larger March Madness.

That’s the beauty of writing a blog; I can do what I want. Well within reason anyway…

I knew getting cable TV along with my high-speed connection in the temporary office space was a smart move. Maybe not so much in terms of daily productivity but I have become an encyclopedia of worthless knowledge on the Olympics, World Baseball Classic, and March Madness.

My friends are already calling me up asking me about sleepers for the Men’s March Madness. See they know I stopped participating in tournament pools but they know I am watching all of the games.

I am too competitive and instead of enjoying the games I was swearing at the guy on the foul line with 0.7 seconds to go hoping he would feel my vibe and miss the free throw that would tie the game.

So here is my first installment:

March Madness and Championship Week

I like this week better than the NCAA tournament itself. Why? Because I love to watch the small school conference title games. Rarely do they get a second team in the Big Dance so that one game is for all of the marbles.

Thursday upsets include Syracuse beating Connecticut (after beating Cincinnati on Wednesday), Temple beating George Washington, and my Minnesota Golden Gophers beating Michigan.

What about the Atlantic 10, what’s going on there?

One of the great story lines this week was Jim Boeheim, Head Coach of Syracuse, coming to the aid of his star player Gerry McNamara. Apparently the school newspaper and then a Syracuse paper were asking if Gerry was overrated. I guess he answered that the past two days. Well, actually Coach Boeheim answered it yesterday with a few profane words during the post game press conference that had him apologizing to the chancellor of the university and his own wife.

Gotta love that.

Gophers play against Iowa in the Big Ten tourney. Let the madness continue.

World Baseball Classic

Briefly, how does Canada beat the USA in baseball? Those are grounds to invade our friends to the north. Canada did help us out by losing to Mexico. So as long as the USA beat South Africa we move on to the next round.

Puck, You Will Be Missed

I have had some conversations the past few days with folks who are non-baseball fans and do not live in the Midwest and they are wondering what the all the fuss is about.

Kirby Puckett is to Minnesota what Michael Jordan is to Chicago.

He is that significant a figure. I use the word is, not was, as his impact will continue to be felt.

No doubt he had some personal issues the past few years and I do not mean to diminish them. That being said he has left a major mark on our area.

In the days ahead I will be posting some great quotes from Kirby, some statistics and stories too.

I was fortunate to have two brief encounters with Kirby Puckett. The first was the winter of 1995 following his billiard tournament fundraiser. I was a bartender at Planet Hollywood at the Mall of America, and senior at the U of M, and Kirby had a dinner with the participants from the tournament.

During the evening I got out from behind the bar to do something and I was walking fast through the crowd and literally was stopped in my tracks as I had bumped into someone. Kirby was not a tall man and in a crowd of people could be missed.

I ran into him and was stopped in my tracks. He may not have been tall but he was solid.

I felt like an idiot and I said, “Mr. Puckett, I apologize. Just trying to get some work done.” His response was, “Kirby, my name is Kirby and I am in your way.” He extended his hand, we shook, and I was on my way.

We had a lot of arrogant jerks, “superstars”, who came through Planet Hollywood but after the event the entire staff had a story about how Kirby had tried in some way to make a personal connection.

I bumped into him again later that summer. This time not physically but figuratively. I was attending a fundraiser and Kirby had made an appearance. On his way out he was signing autographs for everyone. He shook hands, took pictures, listened to a lot of stories.

I was standing about 10-15 feet away and he noticed me a few times. He said, “Hey man, you want an autograph?” and I said no. He was curious and he looked at me kind of funny. I said, “Just watching” as I looked at the crowd of young and old around him. He smiled back and gave me that nod of the head guys give each other.

It was so much fun just to watch him work the crowd. He was genuinely interested in what people had to say. Looking back now it might be nice to have that autograph but I have the best memory a guy could have.