Sunday Sound Off

Welcome to my weekly column that puts all the rest to shame. In "Sunday Sound Off", I make it my objective to cover anything and everything that had an impact on me in the sports world over the weekend. From Friday to Sunday Night, I have taken it upon myself to report my own opinion on what's what in the realm of sports. Lets get this started.....

Rolled Tide
As many in the college football world learned on Saturday afternoon, Alabama is human after all. The Tide fell to #19 South Carolina 35-21 on Saturday in Columbia. I was able to watch most of the game, and it was evident that Alabama was exhausted after playing their 3rd ranked opponent in a row. The Tide defense was not their usual dominant selves, allowing three touchdown passes through the air and two in the ground game by Freshman RB Marcus Lattimore of SC. Credit should also be equally given to the Carolina defense who accomplished a minor miracle by allowing only 21 points to the Alabama offense. South Carolina flat outplayed the Tide on Saturday. A statement not often used to describe a loss by the defending national champions. A funny story that coincides with this game occurred later that night as I was out to eat with my parents and a few family friends. It just so happened that we discussed the Alabama loss loud enough for the random guy wearing an Alabama Crimson Tide hat to hear. Our conversation dealt with how Bama QB Greg McElroy hadn't lost a game as a starter since 8th grade and that the 14 point margin of victory was an "ass-kicking" by the Gamecocks. Apparently this random guy was a die-hard Tide fan who was living in Minnesota for two years, and didn't take kindly to our harsh comments. I honored his courage to stand up for his team, but thought that this was a very strange occurrence that ought to be shared with others. That being said, he are my Top 10 teams in college football after this weekend:
1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Boise State
4. Nebraska
5. TCU
6. Oklahoma
7. Alabama
8. Auburn
9. LSU
10. Arkansas

Twin Killing
The Minnesota Twins were left in an all too familiar position on Saturday Night, booted out of the MLB playoffs after just three games in the ALDS against the all too familiar New York Yankees. I found myself thinking before the series started that this year was different from the rest, and our small curse was sure to end with a new stadium and home-field advantage. Turns out that the Yankees don't care about these factors and outscored the Twins 17-7 in the series while beating the Twins twice at Target Field. In my opinion, this series showcased 2 of the top 3 contenders to win a World Series, with the Philadelphia Phillies being the third. Although it was unfortunate to see the Twins ousted in just three games, it seems evident that the outcome would have been just the same in the ALCS. I cannot even begin to predict the future for an older Twins team, let alone what will happen to all of the parts assembled for a specific postseason run this year. Who knows what the offseason will bring, but I would just like to say that the inaugural season at Target Field was amazing, it just lacked the essential postseason run that all of Minnesota was counting on.