We are heading into the time of year that makes you glad to be a Minnesotan. The days are in the 70s, the nights are cool and lend themselves to good sleeping. Yep, if you can ignore the approach of winter, these days are just about perfect.

It’s also the best time of year for a sports fan. Both the Minnesota Gophers and Vikings are getting set for the opening kickoff. The football Gophers will be in their new stadium and the Vikings will be with their new quarterback. After all the talk it will be good to see both happen. My thinking is that both teams will display themselves handsomely. The Gophers will initiate their new stadium with a win and for at least a few games will not lose at TCF Stadium. If the Gophers don’t win their first game; what a letdown! My guess is that Coach Tim Brewster will pull out all the stops when he motivates the team.

The same is probably true for the Vikings. Certainly the team will want to get off to a good start with Brett Favre. It will be fun to watch and don’t forget Percy Harvin, the speedy wunderkind from the Southeast. If both play well, it should free up Adrian Peterson, both now and in the future.

We have to also recognize that our sports attention will not be entirely devoted to football, because baseball’s World Series is down the pike. There will be a couple of weekends in October when the Gophers, the Vikings and the World Series will all happen at once. Nirvana for a sports fan.

Wouldn’t it be something if the Twins were in the postseason? A person would have to be switching channels between the Gophers, Vikings and the Twins. But, I don’t think we have to worry very much about that. The Twins entered the season a flawed team needing a No. 1 starter, relief pitching and a shortstop. They remain a flawed team with an often injured third baseman, a light-hitting centerfielder, shell-shocked starting pitching and little relief pitching, You cannot win consistently with the pitching they have, as the Twins have proved by playing tag with a .500 record.

Most teams carry an 11 or 12 man pitching staff. If you count the effective pitchers with the Twins, you wind up with six. Scott Baker, Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn, Matt Guerrier, Jose Mijares and Joe Nathan. The team has three starters on the disabled list in Kevin Slowey, Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins. But no matter what the reason is, if they can’t pitch they can’t help the Twins. The unexpected bright spot is Scott Baker. It appears he is becoming a dominant pitcher, but we need a lot more than Baker.

Given the team only has six effective pitchers, it would seem that the playoffs are out of reach, but they may be remotely possible. It doesn’t look good, but the reason they finish out the season is to find out. The Twins play the White Sox five more games and Detroit seven. As I write this they trail the Tigers by 4 1/2 games. Looking at it mathematically, if the Twins could win five of the seven from the Tigers, they would only trail by one game and be in the thick of things. In other words, it’s possible, particularly if new relievers Jon Rauch and Ron Mahay come through and if an unknown starting pitcher, (Brian Duensing?) would step up for the Twins, it would help immensely. Rumors abound that the Twins may trade for Chicago Cub’s Rich Harden. If the Twins could manage to get this fine pitcher the scenario changes and there may well be a strong run for the pennant. However, it may be too late in the season for our Twins.

If the Twins, and that’s a big if, can make the playoffs, the outcome could surprise a lot of people. And to be honest, me too!

All this is pure speculation and very unlikely, but one never knows.