Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

The third team to be eliminated from the 2009 playoffs is Minnesota. I hate the Twins. It's more than hatred, actually, but that word suffices. In 1987, the Twins beat my beloved Detroit Tigers in the American League Championship Series. I was crushed. In 2006, the Twins took advantage of an epic collapse by the Tigers to win the Central Division title on the final day. I was (and remain) devastated. Six days ago, the Twins won a one-game playoff against the Tigers, having made up seven games in the final couple of weeks of the season. I'm still trying to process this ignominious defeat. How can you not hate a team under these circumstances? It was especially sweet to see the Twins get swept, and that the New York Yankees got to celebrate in the Metrodome, before Twins fans, made my day. These obnoxious, arrogant fans thought they were indomitable. They thought they could will their team to victory. They thought they were destined to win it all this year. Ha! They were destined to get their asses kicked. I might add that in 2006, my Tigers, who made the playoffs as the wild-card team, beat the Yankees. The Twins couldn't take a single game from the Bronx Bombs.