Minnesota Jer Speaks

Editor's Note: I've been asking Jeremy to guest post on here whenever he feels like it. After yet another superstar left Minnesota for pennies on the dollar, only comments from "Minnesota Jer" seemed appropriate. And here they are...


To steal a bit from Dan "The Common Man" Cole... let's play a little bit of "Gone, but not Forgotten."
David Ortiz... gone, but not forgotten.
Randy Moss... gone, but not forgotten.
Glen Mason.... gone... nevermind.
Kevin Garnett... gone, but not forgotten.
Torii Hunter... gone, but not forgotten.
Johan Santana... gone, but not forgotten.

See a trend here?
Look, I'm not going to use this space to talk about the fact that the Twins didn't get as much value for Johan as they could have. I think plenty has been made of that opinion, and frankly, I'm of the opinion that we would have been having that same discussion no matter what deal the Twins had made for Johan. The fact is, in trading a HUGE name, like a Johan Santana, you can almost never get full value in return. In addition to that, it's not even worth talking about now, since we won't know if these guys are going to be worth a dang for 4-5 years, minimum.
What I want to talk about is the emotional part of being a Minnesota sports fan. This is something that I am well-qualified to speak about because, as Jeff will attest to, I am an over-emotional, blindly loyal fan of Minnesota sports, and I don't make any apologies for my emotional, and sometimes irrational, stance on these issues.
So I'll just come right out and say it... it's starting to hurt. It's starting to hurt that we are always the market that is losing the big name guy, and getting 30 no-namers in return. I've said it before, but Kevin Garnett was my favorite athlete of all time, and whoever was second (I couldn't even tell you who) wasn't anywhere close. I think that Kevin Garnett embodies everything that is right, and could be right, about sports. Loyal, hard-working, respectful of the sport, respectful of those who came before him and respectful of the fans. It was ridiculously hard for me to see KG get dealt to Boston. Still, as big of a fan of his that I am, and knowing how he was treated here in Minnesota, I was happy to see him get his shot at a ring.
Am I still a KG fan? Absolutely. But can I call him my favorite player, when he plays for a non-Minnesota team. I know there are a lot of people who will read this who will think that I'm crazy... but I just don't know if I can.
Having said that, just who IS my favorite athlete these days. As I survey the Minnesota sports landscape... there ain't much left. It isn't that there aren't options for good players... but all of the truly great players, who have been battle tested over years, just aren't there. There is definitely potential for guys like Morneau, Maurer, Al Jefferson, Chad Greenway, etc... but the jury is still out on all of these guys because they are young.
In the end, I'm going to have to get used to the fact that I live in fly-over country, a small-mid-market that just can't afford to keep the big names. I'm going to need to learn to latch onto these guys early and hope that they are loyal to Minnesota.
KG was loyal as long as he possibly could be, and nobody can blame him for where he ended up. Heck, who could blame any of them. If the local club isn't going to pay them, somebody else will, right? And in the end, that's the lesson... these games, and yes, they are games... are still all about the almighty dollar.