New Page 1

Good morning everyone! Before I get started, if you missed my Tuesday Late Edition, the free agent outfielder list, please click here. Here are the other free agent postings from the last week in case you missed any of them:

Well, I have asked for Guest Writers and I finally got one. So today, we will have an article that is a little different. Today, we will be talking Hockey. The Minnesota Wild are off to a great start, and hopefully they can continue it. Nick Herling wanted to write something to help me out in terms of time spent on the site. So, today, we are introducing Wild Wednesday. I hope that each Wednesday, he will write just a few paragraphs on the Minnesota Wild. He can update us on how the team is doing, where they are in the standings, some of their better players, some player profiles, a look at their minor league team in Houston and much more. I would love to be able to have someone else write a Wolves Wednesday article for me to keep us all updated on the state's NBA team. If anyone is interested, please just send me an e-mail and let me know and we can figure out the details.

At the end of Nick's article, I will post some "Other Thoughts" on what is going on in the baseball and sports world, and maybe a few other topics of interest. And finally, I will update the NFL "Expert" Picks. Obviously I usually do this on Tuesdays but Monday night was a bit strange. But oh well, I'll tell you about it. It was a long day, and by 8:00 when I had to go play Volleyball, I was pretty tired. Then we played four long games (and won 3-1). I got home and I was more tired. I wrote up my free agent catchers information and started the outfielders segment. The last time I looked at the time, it was 10:45. Then next thing I knew, I was waking up, still sitting in my computer chair, and it was 12:30. Now there is a visual for you. I'm just glad I didn't fall off the chair! Instead of trying to keep my eyes open to do the extra work for the site, I decided that sleep was good. I hope you understand, and again, today I will update the standings of our panelists.

Thank you again to Nick Herling for his first Wild Wednesday article. Please leave some comments below or e-mail me and I can get feedback to Nick.

I’m an avid SethSpeaks reader and a huge Twins fan. After a disappointing postseason, and so far disappointing offseason (Liriano), Minnesota fans need something to get excited about. If you live in St. Paul you know what I’m talking about. The Wild are off to a great start, and the scent of Lord Stanley’s cup is in the air. Is there a better place for the cup to end up than the state of hockey? I think not!

Most people logging on to SethSpeaks are probably looking for baseball related topics. It’s the offseason, so we need something to entertain us. If you live in Minnesota you probably know a little about hockey. If you don’t, I’d suggest you give it a chance. It’s a great sport with a lot of excitement. Watching it on TV really doesn’t capture that excitement. If you’re new to the game, I’d suggest taking in a game live. It doesn’t have to be a Wild game (I know those tickets aren’t cheap). You could take in a high school game or college game in your area. Once you see a game live, you might get hooked.

We are almost a quarter of the way through the season, and this team looks poised to make a strong playoff run. After a quick 6-0 start, they’ve come back down to earth a little going 5-5 in their last ten games after a tough loss against Anaheim Sunday night. The Wild had some great offseason acquisitions to add to the solid core of guys that were already in Minnesota. Even though he’s off to a relatively slow start, the trade for Pavol Demitra was huge. He’s been a solid player in this league for years, and he can definitely put the puck in the net. Right now Marian Gaborik is nursing a groin injury, but when healthy, a line with Gaborik and Demitra looks very scary to any team. Other signings like Mark Parrish (Edina native) and Kim Johnsson, Petteri Nummelin, and Keith Carney on defense make the team even better. Adding these guys to returning players like Brian Rolston, Wes Walz, Pascal Dupuis, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard adds a lot of scoring depth. Rolston is off to a fast start with 11 goals and 6 assists. I think he’s a solid pick for league MVP honors. The young 22 year old Bouchard is second on the team in scoring with 3 goals and 12 assists. It’s a very solid mix of veterans and youth. It’s a good mix of skilled players and grinders with great goaltending. Manny Fernandez has looked excellent so far and is a solid veteran between the posts. I think many experts would agree with me: on paper this team looks like a cup contender! I guess we’ll have to watch and see.

Well, if Seth wants me back I’m hoping to update the Wild weekly. I’ll run down the games of the week, do some player profiles, and write about whatever topics are Wild related. So, I hope you come back to check it out.

I can verify that, although I just have a hard time watching hockey on TV, it is incredible to watch in person. I think the argument could be made that it is the most exciting sport to watch in person. Again, please feel free to e-mail Seth with your thoughts on Nick's article. I will forward them to him. Or lease, please leave some Comments below. I'm sure Nick would love to talk Wild, or Twins, with you.

I haven't posted "other thoughts" for awhile, so I will try to catch up a little and hopefully give you a few articles to read or opinions to discuss.

Week 10 gave us two winners as both Roger Dehring and Melissa Lien each went 11-5. For Roger, it meant that he is now just one game behind Twins prospect Kyle Waldrop. If you want to know more about the panelists, or see any of their picks, click here. Check back on Friday for our Week 11 picks.

Final Standings	Total	Week	10		Over	All
Name	Site	W	L	Win%	W	L	Win %
Kyle Waldrop	Twins Pitching Prospect	9	7	56.3%	95	49	66.0%
Roger Dehring	Several Blogs	11	5	68.8%	94	50	65.3%
Seth Stohs	SethSpeaks.net	9	7	56.3%	92	52	63.9%
Melissa Lien	SethSpeaks.net	11	5	68.8%	91	53	63.2%
Will Young	Will's Twins Blog	8	8	50.0%	91	53	63.2%
SethSpeaks Panel		9	7	56.3%	89	53	61.8%
LaVelle E. Neal III	Mpls Star-Tribune	10	6	62.5%	89	55	61.8%
Cory Hepola	WENY Sports	10	6	62.5%	89	55	61.8%
Stick & Ball Guy	Stick & Ball Guy	8	8	50.0%	88	56	61.1%
JD Arney	Reds Reporter	8	8	50.0%	88	56	61.1%
Trevor Born	Twins Junkie	10	6	62.5%	88	56	61.1%
Al Bethke	Al's Ramblings	10	6	62.5%	88	56	61.1%
Jonathan Mayo	mlb.com	10	6	62.5%	87	57	60.4%
Bill Ferris	Detroit Tigers Blog	6	10	37.5%	86	58	59.7%
Mike Brasel	Fantasy FB Guru	7	9	43.8%	86	58	59.7%
Seth's Mom's Class	St. Pauls School	10	6	62.5%	84	60	58.3%
Kevin Slowey	Twins Pitching Prospect	8	8	50.0%	80	64	55.6%