Twins Links for 3/26 (and a little Hoya Love)

Did you see it? Did you see the resiliency? The heart, the confidence, the trust in a system that works? The former walk-on making the shot that the McDonald All American could not? Did you see the Hoyas come back against North Carolina? Did you celebrate like I did? (Ok, so I didn't make it to the White House, but I was out there celebrating on the streets of Georgetown.)

And once again, I'm usurping a Twins site to talk about a basketball team that plays half a country away from the Metrodome. What the Hoyas have done so far this year have left me able to talk about little else. Remember how you felt when the Twins stole the division crown from Detroit last season? That's how I felt last night, and I got to celebrate in the streets with hundreds of fellow Hoya fans, just like everyone who got to celebrate at the Metrodome as the Tigers fell to the Royals and the Twins took a victory lap.

With all the scandals and negativity in the world of sports, when you get to experience the sense of community and the unabashed joy that triumphm especially in the face of adversity, can bring, you remember why your team(s) mean so much. Which is why I'll be thinking Blue and Gray for at least one more week. I promise I'll be in baseball mode after next week's links column. Luckily, for those of you more interested in Opening Day than in the Final Four, there's a lot going on round these here internets.

• With Bat-Girl joining the community of Twins ex-Pats, Howard Sinker has stepped up to help organize a gathering of the Twins' internet community. If you're in Minneapolis next Saturday, make sure you stop by and join in the fun at BW3.
  
• Haven't been able to catch a spring training game yet? Hungering for something to watch about the Twins? Then you've come to the right place: Cuddyer was featured on SportsCenter on Sunday and the final two Twins' commercials are now online. I fully expect Juan Rincon to win an Oscar. Or an Emmy. Or whatever it is they give great commercial actors. Yes.
• The Dugout takes a look at great moments in Sydney Ponson's history. Let's put it this way: Ponson is nowhere near as suave as Johan Santana.
• I'm not the only one having problems concentrating on the upcoming baseball season. So Ha.
• Despite my focus being elsewhere, I recently took the "plunge" and signed up for a subscription to Baseball Prospectus. Since I've read every sentence of their last three season previews, as well as Baseball Between the Numbers and Mind Game, it was only a matter of time until I did. Aside from the fantasy help, I've already gotten my money's worth reading their season previews, along with the other articles. Their Twins' preview was good, but it had nothing on their transcendent preview of the Astros. Trust me--that preview alone is worth the entire sign up cost.