Turning Two Tammy

What is it about Lake Michigan that makes one want to give it up and walk away? Let's see, there was Michael Jordan, now Ryne Sandberg and before that, there was someone else but I don't even remember her name. All I remember was how she smelled. And that was well. Nice proboscis.

Yes sports fans, I am among you. Growing up in Minnesota we all saw some lean times. I suffered through three of the four Viking's Super Bowl losses; watched the Twins serve as a talent farm for other teams while getting by with people like Bombo, Lombo, Pete Filson and Fast Freddie Toliver; watched the North Stars lose in the Cup finals; watched the Saints fold, the Buckskins crumble and even felt a little sad when the Kicks, both versions, didn't quite make it.

So when the Timberwolves were sold down the river, I was among the few who felt betrayed. For four years, my heart rose and sank with that team. (which may help to explain why I am as goofy as I am). Loyalty, why is it such an elusive thing to find these days? In a last minute attempt to rescue the team, they kept saying we'd put on a good presentation, show them Minnesota's best, and we'd get the next team. Who needed the Wolves, perhaps the poorest run sports franchise of all time?

But for those of us who secretly root for and relate to losers, deep down, the Timberwolves held a spot in our psyche. Our team sucked, but it was our team. Christian Laettner, JR Rider, even Chuck Person, this team was fractured, representing the best example how when you don't work together, when the goals are not the same, you can't possibly succeed. You get through the hard times for a reason believing the suffering, the losing would be worth it in the end, when they finally turned it around.

My fondest sports memories of all come from the early 80's when I had access to a car, plenty of empty seats at the dome, and the place was quiet enough where a fellow could get some studying done. The '82 Twins lost 102 games but it was a fun team to watch. They were young, talented, and learning how to play while pretending like they knew what they were doing. I could relate. Relating, that's why we like sports, isn't it?

So what's the comparison between that team and our recently rescued bucketball heroes? Calvin Griffith constantly struggled to get by as cheaply as he could. And in '81 he decided to get rid of marginal stars and bring up potential; he took the flak for cutting corners but in reality the players he gave away weren't going to win anything. Eventually amid rumors he was going to sell the team to a Florida group, Calvin helped keep the team in Minnesota by selling it to Carl Pohlad. The success that followed showed that taking risks sometimes works a hell of a lot better than settling for the status quo and giving into the philosophy that the middle of the pack is better than building from the bottom up.

The Wolves have never made up their mind what course they wanted to follow and thus have drifted into a position where they have to rebuild before they even began to build in the first place. Musselman won too many games and didn't play the young players enough so he was fired. The club decided they needed a center to become a contender so they wasted two picks on Spencer and Longley. They decided they were only a player or two away so they traded for Person and Williams. No game plan, changing directions in midstream out of panic; this club is a mess as even the attempt to sell it proved. You can walk away from your problems, your responsibilities, but in the end it will catch up to you. It all smells. Just like Lake Michigan.

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We celebrated my niece's eleventh birthday yesterday. Dad had an experience shopping that fits right into these pages.

Seems he was buying one of the many variety of Barbie Dolls out there. He brought it up to the register believing it was $19.95 as the nearby sign indicated. It was instead rung up at $24.95. He questioned the cashier who called back for a price check. What was discovered was that the black Barbie was on sale while the white Barbie was five dollars more. Same doll, same accessories, different color, different price. Dad questioned the wisdom of this. What does this tell young black girls? That they aren't worth as much as their white counterparts? He was given a number to the home office which he called and was assured the situation was a mistake. Dad said he would check back. Stay tuned.