Sure, we’d all like a daily story that reads “Vikings Peterson walks out on Super Bowl media day, then curses on live television”, or “Kevin Love drops 62 at The Garden in Wolves blowout win”, but as Minnesota sports fans, some days we’re just not that lucky.
As they say, it’s the little things in life that you really have to appreciate, and the same goes for the sports world.
So until we have a $100 million pitcher or the Gopher football team rises to elite status, we bring you It’s The Little Things, a semi-daily piece designed to let you know that while we’re not the Yankees or the University of Alabama, we can still find joy in what we do have.
Today, we start with a story that’s a little out there. But hey, that kind of describes former Vikings cornerback Fred Smoot on a good day.
On this day, Smoot is making news by making light of what he is most known for here in Minnesota, the “Love Boat” incident that allegedly involved a number of Vikings players, strippers, and sex acts on Lake Minnetonka.
It looks as if Smoot is going for round two, with a more wholesome, family feel, since the last time couldn’t quite be described as either of those things.
According to Smoot, who appeared on a Washington D.C. radio station earlier today to discuss the plans, “Love Boat Part 2” would be a charity event to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project and would involve a number of NFL players, but none of the extracurriculars that took place in Minnesota the first time around.
With families attending this version, we certainly hope not.
Item number two today is about a man you may have forgotten about that has resurfaced once again.
Scott Baker, former Twins big-name prospect that had a modest pro career in the seven years he spent with Minnesota, has signed with the Seattle Mariners on a minor league deal.
Baker has pitched in only three games since being let go by the Twins in 2011, Tommy John Surgery keeping him out the entire 2012 season and setbacks in his rehab causing him to miss five of the six regular season months in 2013. He finally took the mound again in September of last year for the Chicago Cubs.
Baker’s free-agent deal with Chicago was worth an outrageous $5.5 million, and this contract with Seattle could be worth as much as $3.25 million should he hit all performance bonuses.
Seems like a lot for a guy that hasn’t pitched meaningful innings in nearly three years, but what do we know, we just work here.
