The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament kicked off today.  March Madness is in full swing.  I glanced at my bracket a few times today and at last count I was pleased to note that I have 7 out of the first 8 games right.  I heard on the radio that nearly 6 billion dollars in productivity will be lost today.  I hope that I was able to keep my share of that lost productivity to a minimum.  A 45 minute phone call made sure i was not getting too distracted.

i saw an interesting story about the owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves the other day.  Before I get too far into that let me just say, I have never been a fan of any Minnesota teams except for Golden Gophers hockey.  I have a lot of respect for the way the Twins run their team, I was disappointed when hockey left for Texas, and I was disappointed with they chose a horrible name for the new hockey team.  And those are the things I would say are positive in relation to Minnesota sports teams.  Usually my feelings waver somewhere between complete apathy and borderline hatred. 

That being said, it takes something fairly significant to make me take notice when I see Minnesota related news on my favorite sports websites.  This week it was there.  I blame you:  Wolves owner says KG 'tanked it'.  If there had been one individual over the last 10 or more years that made me keep an eye on the Minnesota Timberwolve, it was Kevin Garnett.  The guy made the jump from high school to the NBA probably as smoothly as anyone.  He helped a team that stunk most years to at least get to the point of being a contender.  When surrounded with decent talent, he even helped lead them to the Western Conference Finals.  He was competitive and played hard.  Most importantly, you never heard him complain publicly.  Unlike other big time basketball players, if he ever critcized his owners, it was behind closed doors.  If he ever demanded a trade, it was never publicly declared.  He endured years where the Wolves had no draft pics due to the underhanded dealings of team management. 

But now that Garnett has moved on to a better place and a winning team, his former owner, Glen Taylor, thought that it would be a good idea to criticize Garnett for sitting out the last few games of last season.  One year later, the Timberwolves are once again terrible and Garnett is fighting for a shot at an NBA title.  Sound like sour grapes to you?

I think if Taylor were smart, he would be thanking Garnett for his years of hard work.  Who knows if professional basketball would have survived in Minnesota without Garnett.  Other teams have had to relocate during that time, trying to find an identity and a locale that would love them in spite of having terrible teams.  Minnesota always had a reason to sell tickets:  KG in the lineup. 

So best of luck to you, Glen Taylor.  Maybe your collection of young players and cast-off veterans will make something happen some day.  But in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, you just sold off your Big Ticket.  I'll return to my apathy now, don't be surprised if some of your regular fans join me.