Five Minnesota Teams And Where We Stand

Minnesota's pro sports teams have been in and out of the spotlight the last few weeks, and only two of them are actually playing. A recap:

• The Twins, with their mediocre pitching and lightswitch offense (that is, it's either on or off), should consider themselves fortunate to be only two games back (as of Wednesday) of the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central division. Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan are doing just fine, thanks. But they need to do something about Francisco Liriano, who has turned into an ordinary pitcher since having Tommy John surgery, and Delmon Young, who has become a liability on the field and at the plate. Otherwise, they'll be out of the race by August.
• As ESPN keeps reminding us, it's only a matter of time before the Vikings finally get Brett Favre to sign on the dotted line. The only remaining stumbling blocks are: How effective is Favre's arm since he had surgery on it? Does he really want to do this? If this charade lasts much longer, Favre will be more likely to end up on "Dancing With The Stars" than on the football field.
• The Wild have hired Todd Richards, who--unlike most of his new players--actually hails from the State of Hockey, as their new head coach. Richards came highly recommended, having been an assistant with the San Jose Sharks. But he's never been a head coach in the NHL, so we won't know what to expect until the puck drops in October.
• After 15 years, Kevin McHale no longer has anything to do with the Timberwolves, having been let go as coach by the man who replaced him in the front office, David Kahn. Yes, McHale had success with Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury and Sam Cassell for awhile. More often than not, though, there were too many bad trades and draft choices to over come for Kahn not to make a change. The next coach he chooses will likely be an NBA retread who's either unemployed or working in TV. Still, it must have been painful to part ways with owner Glen Taylor's old pal. But it needed to be done for the sake of the franchise.
• Let's not forget the WNBA Lynx, who have a 4-2 record in the Western division, a half-game back of the Phoenix Lifelock--er, Mercury (the league now allows teams to sell ad space on its jerseys). They have a new coach in Jennifer Gillom, who replaced Don Zierden when he bolted days before the season started to join Flip Saunders' staff in Washington. They have players such as Seimone Augustus, Candice Wiggins, Kelly Miller, and rookie Renee Montgomery ready to take this team to the playoffs for the first time since--say, does anybody remember? However, the Lynx do face a major roadblock because Augustus sprained her knee during their 104-80 loss in Phoenix Wednesday night.