Festa's Debut, Wolves Make HUGE Draft Day Moves, MN Mount Rushmore: Golf Courses

it is the morning Sports desk on a Friday the 28th of June I'm CJ bomgardner that's Zeke filling in for Corey today Zeke welcome back to the morning Sports desk you bet I can't wait for Cory to be back on Monday is that when he's back for vacation I don't know the days that he's been gone so many days I don't even know maybe he's is he coming back you think may maybe I've seen him twice this week we've golfed together twice so maybe maybe he's coming back I don't know maybe he's just gonna go on his golf tour he's just keep yes uh all right we're going to get to a little bit of golf stuff later in the episode talking about our Mount Rushmore of golf courses in Minnesota that we've golfed on that's going to come up in just a little bit first though let's talk about the Minnesota Twins Zeke they beat the Diamondbacks 136 yesterday get up to 11 runs early uh and just pretty much run away and hide with that thing they've won the series at Arizona they've won both series on this West Coast Road Trip gonna have a big one against Seattle this weekend but let's Zoom back in to that game on uh yesterday on Thursday the one where David Festa the twins top five Prospect overall their highest ranked pitching Prospect and the top 100 Global Prospect ranked 99th on the top 100 list in all of baseball prospects made his major league debut pitched five innings gave up five runs a lot of those kind of came later in that second time through the order I know you didn't have a chance to like watch the game and sit down but based on The Vibes what' you get uh we talked about on Wednesday you need to get the rookie some run support and the twins did exactly that 11 runs before you sat down pretty much it was 13 to six final score Byron buckon mon the only highlight I've seen from that game is the buckton Home Run 456 feet dead center field this guy is on right now and it's fun to watch yeah we talked about it on the last show too of like buxton's just such a high and low player and you kind of have to ride that wave and when it's low it's not great but when you're in that high there's nobody who's more fun to watch in baseball than Byron buckton and that pitch he hit like you 450 feet to dead center in Arizona it was like a middle out pitch that of course is something Byron buckson has just known to hammer over the course of his career and he just spanked one had a couple other hits as well Royce Lewis getting out of the slump had a couple RB with an extra base hit Manuel Maro did the same thing uh really uh just feels like a good way for the twins to get into that series against Seattle and back to Festa yeah I mean second time through the order ran into a bit of trouble but when you have that run support early uh we talked about Rocco maybe giving him that short hook and five innings isn't necessarily a long start but I think if the game was one nothing and the twins are up or or losing even you know maybe he only he doesn't get out of the fourth inning maybe he doesn't get out of the fifth inning you know what I mean maybe there's just something it's a little bit shorter but when he has so much run support you kind of give him that opportunity to go out there and prove himself and he had to get pulled a little bit but you know for first major league start you just get that one under your belt uh Because unless you're uh here's the name drop seek unless you're Anthony schwarzach you're not a complete game shut out in your major league debut on the Metrodome against Milwaukee Brewers on a Saturday in July but uh besides that point uh like you're gonna your first start's probably not going to be that great typically speaking Jose BOS if you remember in 2016 had an awful uh opening a career debut with the twins I think it was Detroit I think he didn't even get out of the first inning he was that bad Trevor may had the same thing he ended up becoming a nice big league player so first impressions are important but they're not everything and he gets a chance to kind of go out and prove himself later but when you get all that run support you know that it kind of has become Irrelevant in that part of the game but it's just fun to see this twins offense score runs they are a I know that they can be a little up and down zek but they are a top five offense in runs scor absolutely and we'll have to see how this series in Seattle goes the other highlight I I saw two highlights yesterday one was the in home run the other one was Carlos kareah coming off the field holding his wrist like this and it was limb but it looks like he avoids some serious injury uh but we'll have to see how that impacts the the middle infield for the twins if they put him on the aisle to to get that rested up and whether or not we see another certain St Paul Prospect come up and make his major league debut sometime soon to to help solidify that middle infield ah that' be so much fun if Brooks Lee could get that call up I I thinka told reporters after the game because they're like do you expect to be in the lineup tomorrow he's like I'll be fine I'm good so I think he's hoping so but again you never know maybe the Twins and him have a conversation like you talked about like Hey we're this close to the all-star break do you want to rest up and just kind of get ready and do whatever but we'll see we'll see how that ends up shaking out uh but overall yeah karea avoids the break after getting hit in the pitch with that wrist just a just a big old bruise I had a I had a friend who I worked with at my last job H in TV and he texted me he's like what happened to Korea yesterday and all I just text him was like he got an ouchie that's yeah he made it made it look a lot worse than it was I just saw him walking off the wrist was limp I'm like oh no there there it goes we just can't we just can't get can't catch a break can't catch a break yeah yeah and they catch one Carlos kareah hopefully fingers crossed I say that and they're gon be like he's on the 60 day his finger fell off or exactly yeah yeah we're just waiting for that that news to drop yeah yeah exactly so Twins start that series against old Jorge palano and Mitch Garver uh this weekend late starts again they go on the west coast they do these road trips I get it you do them all in a stretch run but all these late start times are getting to me a little bit it's way too late it's awful uh the Minnesota Timberwolves had a big draft uh this week and I didn't know what to really expect to the Timberwolves they don't have a ton of draft capital from the Rudy gobear trade so all of their even numbered picks for like the next three even number drafts or or odd number draft excuse me are off the board because of goar but at the same time you know what are they going to do with luxury tax things they still have a first round pick this year I expected it to be pretty quiet just take a stick and pick at 27 and move on with your life but no the Wolves got aggressive and they traded into the top 10 and Zeke want you tell us a little bit about that guy yeah it's kind of curious with with Rob Dillingham he's the the the C Sixth Man of the Year and it's it's very curious with Kentucky because they had two guys go in the top eight and they were both bench players freshman for for for Kentucky one went number four uh I think and the other one uh Rob Dillingham taken by San Antonio uh traded to the wolves and a lot of hype surrounding this guy I mean he he he is a bucket he can play offensively the knocks on him are that he's undersized and that defense is an issue I think was rank ranked in the the like the very very very bottom of in the NCAA in defensive efficiency last year so those are two things he has to work on the good news is the wolves are going to need to utilize him right away he can go to Iowa he can get some more reps in there he can spend some time with the big league club up up and down as needed but but in like three years Anthony Edwards and Rob Dillingham going to be dominating this league it could be one of the best B back courts in the NBA I love it I love to hear it and the other thing too is you there's the thing about the NBA draft especially when you're not draft drafting a lottery pick you're drafting developmental players because there is no you know like in baseball it's a full minor league system in college in the NFL excuse me there's no college football that works as your minor league system essentially there is college basketball but like you talked about everybody leaves after their freshman year and they get to the NBA and which means that they're developing on as a professional and so you got to give them time so you're not expecting guys to come in and play right away and it gives him a couple years because he has a lot of veterans there is the keil Alexander Walker and there is Mike connley to kind of take over the the ball handling duties but what he could be you know if he's right this year is he can be a guy that comes off the bench leading the second unit and that can provide a little bit of scoring which is what the Timberwolves needed is scoring Off the Bench and then the longterm view of that is maybe you do get that Mike connley replacement in a couple years which would be really huge as well the Timberwolves do not have any salary cap space they're not going to be signing any free agents this year worth anything it's going to be some League minimums to something and somebody unless there's a big trade in the works but even if that's the case I still don't see like a major free agent signing in the books for the Timberwolves because they have goar towns and Edwards who are all under these Max contracts they're in that what's called in the NBA the second apron which basically means there's multiple levels to the luxury tax because you know they found out that teams would just pay the luxury tax so you have a second apron to kind of prevent teams from just eating the money and going on and creating super teams and the Wolves will have to pay a lot of money but in the way that they've made a couple moves they traded uh wend Del Moore to the Pistons for a sec for the 37th overall pick for pick 53 so they moved back in a salary dump to circumvent the cap a little bit by you know I think it cleared up like 500,000 but it took away two uh two million from the luxury tax according to Dane Moore uh and also drafting uh not only uh Dillingham but also tan Shannon Jr uh you draft those guys and they're your free agents like you're not going to be able to you have money already allotted to sign draft picks that's not a part of your salary cap at the current time so trade up trade those future capitals it's a 2031 first round pick to move up into the top 10 you're using that as a way to get free agents instead of going and signing them you already have a bunch of veterans so adding some younger guys into the mix some developmental players who have a lot of upside because you're not going to be able to go sign one of them in free agency I I like it it's uh you know Tim Conley is only been on the job a few years obviously the gobear trade is one bad year One Good Year and bringing in Conley bringing in nil Alexander Walker all those second round picks Tim's cooking let Tim Cook yeah the thing that's weird for me with with having two first round picks like usually having two first round picks is is huge news for wolves fans this is the Future these are the guys we're going to build around and that's that's not the case at all this year I mean we we have the eighth overall pick and he's gonna he's not going to be starting he's not coming off the bench in that first rotation yeah it's kind of weird to be in this position where usually we're taking guys like Wayne Ellington and Corey Brewer and you know these guys are going to be the future of the franchise will maybe Rob Dillingham has a part in that but it's not going to be for the next two three years which is kind of refreshing as as a wolves fan right there's no like hey we drafted this guy but trust us he's going to lead the franchise and no already got that guy yeah yeah we have that guy it's weird having that guy again uhhuh and it's like how do you build around this guy and how do you do things and how do you whatever and I think the biggest thing for Dillingham that excites me and then we'll talk about uh Shannon Jr in a second here is the fact that like you talked about he's undersized and yeah in the NBA that's going to be the Beall end all his size especially the way the wolves like to play one with his defensive ability such a good defensive team around him he'll the hope is that you bring up his level of play with that uh the other thing is you know if he was a few inches taller I he's probably a lottery pick he's probably a very high draft pick if he's a little bit taller and that's the thing is the talent is there the ability is there it's just maybe a little bit of height issue which in the NBA is Big G me wrong no pun intended uh but also something where it's like you know this guy maybe is being overlooked and you can kind of Buy Low on a guy like that and also buying low on a guy in Shannon Jr who had some offc Court allegations and all that and that that's kind of its own thing but just as a basketball player uh who are the wolves getting in this guy uh they're getting a gopher killer that that's the only reason I knew who Shannon who who he was you know it's it's he's put up big numbers against the Gophers uh he's 66 he's he's very very fast but the the main thing with him is is inconsistency he averaged 23 points a game in college and sometimes he was red hot and sometimes he just he just wasn't it seemed like those red hot nights always came against the Gophers you know so they're getting a good Wing player and he he's just a sneaky fast sneaky fast player yeah exactly and the biggest thing with that is the Wolves need a bench scoring and we talked about that they get D gam they get Shannon Jr they get these guys whose main calling card is scoring and that's that's what they need and it just feels refreshing to trust the Timberwolves in the draft I mean remember like they draft a guy who like wasn't even in the draft or you draft Johnny Flynn and Ricky Rubio over Steph Curry like they've had the David Khan era was so bad oh the David Khan era Khan man uh and then uh also just the subsequent like it was tough to get off the ground with the franchise being in such Dire Straits and flip was gonna build his vision tragically passed away and then tibs came in and kind of took a wrecking ball to that then you had Rosas come in who drafted very well couldn't kind of contain himself at work and got and Tim Conley even even Rosas would have been a really good president of basketball operations if he couldn't his own way but then A-Rod and Lori convince Tim Conley to come here a guy who built a championship roster in Denver a deep strong roster and is doing the same thing here in Minnesota not that he's the best not that it's going to be perfect every single year every move he makes it works out really well but like you talked about with Edwards it's just nice to know that you have a star player who you feel really good about a head coach that you trust and a president of basketball operations who just at the very least is competent and knows what he's doing yeah and speaking of what of wolves head coaches I'm gonna look at the the list here real quick because I know if if I just go off memory I'm gonna forget a couple of guy and and that that that's a huge part of it too is having a guy in Chris Finch who just signed uh a four-year extension or something like that and you can you can talk about how how bad management was in the David years and and Kevin mccale running the show and things like that but the head coach is such an important such an important position so after flip saunders's first tenure we had Kevin mccale uh Dwayne Casey who uh lost 69 games Randy Whitman lost 105 Michael again Kurt Rambis was 32 and 132 uh the Rick Adelman era I forget about the Rick Adelman era of wolves basketball he was 997 and 133 he was already a coach he his rosters so bad yeah uh flip came back lost 66 games Sam Mitchell had a shot at it lost 53 games tibs for for as good as that one or two years stretch was he he lost 107 games he has a losing record Ryan Saunders came in Lost 94 games then you have Chris Finch 160 and 127 came in that that last half of the Saunders year had a terrible year and it's just been just amazing since then and and that that's a huge part of it too is is having a guy that not just the fans Trust but that the players believe in too and and we saw that in the playoffs after uh after finchy blew out his knee on that uh people say Mike connley did it it wasn't Mike Conley it was Devon Booker pushing Mike connley into into finchi and I I'll go to my grave believing that uh but just seen him come back for that for that that that Denver series and the faith that he instilled in those guys and the fans fell in love with him I think for good at that point too so having the the right guy in charge of this roster is a huge part of it too yeah exactly I mean it's just so big to have fin and you talk about the players they say Edwards says it all the time he holds us accountable he's not afraid to get after Anthony Edwards He's not afraid to get after towns he's not afraid to get after goar anybody on the roster is and you don't see that in the NBA with the with the star culture and other sports leagues as well but mainly in the NBA some coaches are afraid to to kind of not go after but to get on their best players and to try and push them and not the not just the fact that Finch does it but the fact that the Wolves players allow him to do that really big volumes about this team it's weird that we're talking about all this great stuff about the Timberwolves even though ownership stability is kind of in inlex yeah right but it's just so important for this team to have uh Finch right now is the second best easily the second best head coach in franchise history and honestly if he if he doesn't you know if he keeps this job for another three four years even if they don't win a title but they just keep making the playoffs make a couple runs here and there he's going to be the best head coach in franchise history pretty easily because flip was great and he had the run in ' 04 but outside of that you know there were some good teams but nothing that knocked on the door of a championship Finch already has Western Conference Finals appearance he's already kind of matched that longest run so there's a chance that very soon we could say Chris Finch is the best head coach in wolves history a low bar to clear I know absolutely all right Minnesota Wild have their draft tonight they're picking what 15th something 15 I think yeah be the wild if they didn't pick like right smack dab in the middle of the first round yeah that that's been the knock on on on the wild in my opinion for years is they're they're always right in the middle you you make the playoffs get bounc the first round that's that's that's fine and then you're just not able to to rebuild with those high draft picks like you want what you're always picking kind of at the end of the lottery in that that first round of of playoff guys you're not able to find that you know will they found Kil Capri in the third round I I I think just just by Miracle but you're not able to get that that cter McDavid or that that aveni Malin or that Leon dry side all the guys that go one two three you just don't get those guys and the wild have done a good job of of of drafting and developing but I mean you put Conor McDavid on this team and and and and what happens you you put Alexander oetkin a young Alexander oetkin on this team and and and what happens it just it's it's this year especially it's it's a consensus number one overall guy and then kind of let the the The Dominoes fall after that and the Wilder have just never had that that number one guy I don't think they've ever had the number one overall pick they're just kind of nope always just treading treading in that in that middle Zone there right exactly they they need an opportunity you know to to to get that star guy and who knows maybe they go in tonight what's kind of the you know for somebody who's not necessarily an NHL die hard like myself where what direction kind of what position are the wild targeting if there's not like a specific player that kind of has been in mind uh if they go defense tonight I'll probably throw up because I don't want another first round defenseman uh mlin celebrating Boston College G to be the number one overall pick he's going to go to the the the the San Jose Sharks two guys that I've been keeping my eye on uh Wingers uh uh Michael Brans skeg nyard from from Sweden and then Taja ginla the son of Jerome ginla there's there's a lot of good NHL bloodline in in this draft it's kind of crazy it's to the point now where the guys that I grew up watching well even like bronne James going in the draft yesterday it's it's these guys as kids who I grew up watching are now in the draft uh bris goff's kid is is in the draft you've got uh Matthew to Chuck's second cousin is is in this draft and of course jome McD's son Taj is is is in here too so he's he's a a center right winger kind of undersized you you already have that uh with uh with with Marco Rossi that undersized Center so I think they go size uh I I think they take if he's still on the board at 13 is where the wild pick tonight I think they go Michael BR nyard from from from Sweden all right there we go the Minnesota Wild they have the opening round of the NHL draft tonight all right Zeke uh I think that's pretty much it I think we need to uh get one last thing uh figured out here and that's our Mount Rushmore uh uh our Mount Rushmore if you will Minnesota sports Mount Rushmore there's the the phrase I'm looking for uh trying to do this thing where every at the end of every week now we're going to just go over uh kind of Minnesota sports related Mount Rushmore items so in no particular order or you can put it in a particular order if you want to but in no particular order rank the top four golf courses in Minnesota that you've ever played on oh in Minnesota I got to redo my prep then uh honorable mention to bully pulpit in madora because they were on my list but if they if they they're in if they're in Minnesota uh I gotta I gotta I got to take off bully pulpit which is just just phenomenal out in uh Western North Dakota uh if if it's in no particular order uh I got to put my home course on here uh the Vintage in Staples I mean golfed for a couple years uh in Middle School uh did the Vintage a whole bunch of times I know that course like the back of my hand and anytime any opportunity I have to golf the Vintage I'm taking advantage of it uh it's it's it's it's beautiful now Lyn Peterson's done a great job out there getting the course in in in in good condition Jeff young Bower the superintendent out there I saw on Facebook the other day says it's it's the best shape that the course has been in since he took over and that that's that's awesome to see for the Vintage so that one's that one's in my top four vintage out in rural Staples all right uh what else is on the list uh kind of a a combo here in Detroit Lakes uh a a a couple places I've had members ships at the last handful of years that's the Detroit Country club/ lak View Golf Course uh out uh on Highway 59 country clubs on one side of the road Lake View is the smaller course on the other side of the road I love Lake View because there's only one par five on the lake view course it's all par fours and Par 3s so you can golf like a like a a 68 and feel great about yourself because there's no par fives out there Lake View Golf Course the home of the the Pinda Palm Championship every August is is gorgeous as well that one's a little bit longer a little bit tougher but I I like those two also all right uh okay here we go I'm going into my list here uh mine will be a lot quicker because you've golfed a lot more courses than I have so my list is kind of just more of the courses I've golfed at in my life uh so I'm gonna in no particular order yeah I'm going to go to Vintage and Staples fun little Golf Course to get out there and and just have a good day uh going out there and hitting some balls because that was one of I think it was the first course I ever golfed and I was 20 years old I get in a hole one and I get ready to tea off and you like there's that tree kind of out there uh just to the left of of where you're hitting and I smacked it uh and I didn't I'd never driven in my life up until that point and I almost hit like a couple just standing there go on the right side of that dude he built a house there in the last 10 years you're either in his yard or you're over in Glenn hasselberg driveway yeah it's it's a it's a tough Hairway to tough Fairway to hit it's pretty narrow it's only like a 100 yards long or something like that it could have been the easiest Fairway in the world to hit hit person y four and then you have to like embarrassing go because they were weirdly close to go like so sorry like I don't know what I'm doing uh it's that uh that I think you should leave clip it's like I don't know what I'm doing and I'm scared yeah uh with that but other no it's I've golfed it a few other times it's been really really fun to get to go there uh I've lost so many golf balls to the water because I am not a great golfer uh and also to the trees and to the road and a lot of places but that's really in any course uh but especially that one where you got to clear the water uh let's just say I've had some balls go swimming yeah white tail run another good golf course EMP that really like The Silo Hole uh it's fun to get to to run out there and enjoy uh a day golf in there uh also uh went to golf at Bal morale uh in that's a fun one a nice little quick one uh was out there in the fall uh with my cousin my brother my grandpa we had a good time just going out there really fun course to to get to play on as well and yesterday we were golfing in Greystone in sock Center and that play that Golf Course is just nice not gonna come away and be like that's the best golf course I've ever had in my life and oh my gosh everybody but like it's just everything about it is solid you know what I mean it's just a if you were to rank a course like you give it an out of 10 without even like thinking you're like just boom everything eight and a half out of 10 everything you need is there it's great to take good care of it uh and I golfed a not worst game of my life yesterday there so I have a pretty good opinion of it you're a solid uh yeah there we go I did not embarrass myself so for those who don't know Zeke and I and Corey uh and one of our sales guys in the Alexandria office uh we golfed yesterday in an outing uh in a scramble Zeke uh how would you you describe yesterday's uh golf outing uh we we started really really well we eagled the first one thanks to your awesome chip and uh the help of some string and then it it it's the wheels slowly fell off by by the end of I think I think we bogied our 17th hole in a fourman scramble but it was still a lot of fun we shot a 59 yeah so I I'll take it I'll take it I think really in any gol scramble once you get to like whole 18 you're just like okay like you're dragging a little bit you're doing whatever we usually I've been in golf scrambles where like it's a bunch of us who don't have any experience so like by whole four we're like I don't know man we're just gonna kind of go for funs East the rest of the day we did not get the coveted 15th Place which would have gotten you like a free round of golf or whatever it was so we golfed too well we could I hate it when that happens darn it why couldn't we suck just a little bit more come on we're like the wild we're not good enough to be in the top and we're not bad enough to be in the bottom gonna sit yeah darn it yep all right Zeke any other sports things you want to get off your chest while we break for the weekend um I don't I don't think so uh yeah twins finishing off that three- game Road Trip in Seattle this weekend uh let's see NHL draft tonight links lost to to to the Dallas Wings last night so they're they're they it is what it is yeah that that that winning streak is over I I think they've only lost four games on the season yeah 13 and 13 and four now I I can't think of anything else that's that's huge oh did you see that Adam the was catching passes from JJ McCarthy yeah I heard that where where did that happen I have no idea Adam Adam he was definitely in Detroit Lakes for his uh his Ste Foundation camp on Saturday yeah I don't I don't know where the if if he went down to to the cities and they were working out together down there or where it happened I I thought the video was edited so so choppily I guess I wasn't sure if it was real or not because it was McCarthy throwing then a bunch of effects then Thelen catching it he's not he's wearing a straight black jersey with no no logos no numbers no nothing on it and I I guess it was legit Thelen was working out with JJ McCarthy and so that's got people thinking hey Vikings need the third receiver why not ra and bring Thelen back which I I don't think that that happens at all but there's there there there's still some Thelen Vikings connection where he's working out with with their QB of the future who knows who knows where this goes th's working out with that young quarterback who wears number nine and it's not Bryce young uh yeah there there's your headline there's your headline no I mean I thought it was in DL based on the way I know he was up uh for that camp so I I I heard you uh were in a uh picture with him I was yeah if you look at the Thelen Foundation photos I'm sitting in the bleachers my son participated and so I'm way up in the bleachers in my in my missou sweater and he's on the field taking pictures with kids so no it was a great event uh two sessions that day 200 kids per session I mean they get their picture with Adam they get to catch some passes he just he just teaches them speed and strength stuff and it was it was a a two-hour camp on a Saturday morning wasn't too hot and and all the kids had a blast and they they you get to hang out with Adam Thelen for a morning and the the Laker football team the Juniors and seniors all volunteer they're out there with the kids and stuff and and Reed heft really hammering home you know continue to pour into the future of of football because at one point those Juniors and seniors were these eight to to 13 year olds and to just just give back in the way that that Laker football does it's really cool to see and the way that Adam continues to give back to that Community is is is awesome too right exactly just to get to be able to offer that up and get to meet Adam Thelen to do all that stuff it's really really cool and cool that he comes back and and and does it you're pretty tight with th aren't you like do you got his name in your phone like you texting him all the time uh not not in my phone but we are Facebook friends so oh great I got I got I got that going for me you can shoot him up on messenger I can hit him up on messenger yeah yeah yeah he'll be like you're who's this yeah somebody trying to hack my Facebook account like what's going on pretty much all right this has been the morning Sports desk for Friday June 28th we'll see you on Monday