Hey folks, Patrick J here. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Game tonight. Here’re the deets: Hornets @ Wolves. 6 PM. FSN, 830-AM.
Given that these game preview posts always include info on where you can see the game, it seems like a fan should never have trouble catching the action. But that’s not the case.
Right now, I’m back in ‘Sota visiting family. It’s the greatest state, and I’m glad to be home. But one thing the DC area has on Minny besides better winters is, ironically, tv access to Timberwolves basketball. My folks live outside the metro area and don’t have cable. So no NBATV or FSN here. They have a Roku for their movie-watching, which also has a nifty League Pass Channel. That also happens to be my main method for watching Wolves games in DC.
But when I’m visiting my folks, League Pass’ Local Blackout nullifies that option.* (Eds. Note: Insert Wolves whiteout/whiteness joke here (Kevin Love supplies one here); then ponder how credible those quasi-libelous suggestions of Wolves front office racism look when you look at the guys they brought in after Love, Budinger, Roy et al were injured, a list that includes Chris Johnson, Mickael Gelabale [maybe he doesn’t count because he’s black but also European?], Lazar Hayward, and the realest of the real, Josh Howard. Then read this.)
Bottom line: No cable meant no Wolves-Rockets on Friday. No cable + League Pass blackout means that for tonight I’m either A) missing the game, or B) fighting seas of green-wearing drunkards and wielding my machete to cut through groves of shamrocks to watch at a local pub.
Which to choose?
There’s something to be said for option A. The Strib’s game preview pretty much nailed it:
The Wolves, losers of 26 of their past 32 games, had a 20-point lead early in the third quarter in Houston on Friday, only to lose 108-100. Minnesota will try to regroup against the Hornets, whose .333 winning percentage is tied for the worst in the Western Conference.
But maybe that’s actually reason to pick option B: the Hornets are really bad; ergo, the Wolves have a shot at a win. Even if things go awry for the Wolves, they can go a-rye (ahem) for me and still be okay.
If all else fails, there are lots of great Irish jigs, like the one at the top, and this one, featured in one of the most wicked awesome Boston flicks there is, according to noted Pop Culture Expert Bill Simmons.
SCORSESE! (Eli Roth agrees.)
But I digress.
So anyway. Wolves-Hornets. Cage match. Possible lottery implications. Don’t miss your chance at seeing Most-Improved Player candidate Greivis Vasquez(!) go toe-to-toe with Ricky Rubio, or the foibles of Derrick Williams trying to close on Ryan Anderson 3PFGAs. Unless you can’t actually access the game on your tv.
*We at Punch-Drunk Wolves.com are ardent League Pass fanboys. But it isn’t perfect or even half as great as it could be. See this scathing critique for the relevant beefs.
Punch-Drunk Wolves 