There’s the good kind of reckless and the bad kind of reckless. We’ve only watched the Twins for 8.5 innings this year, but if Monday’s opener was any indication, they are going to be, at the very least, the good kind of reckless. Their starting pitching will still be a huge question mark and very well could ensure they lose more than they win, but they have something this go-round that they haven’t had in as long as we can remember: a guy like Carlos Gomez, who is a mixture of young, exciting, mistake-prone and the very embodiment of the good kind of reckless. Sure, the Twins have had young stars in recent years (Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, etc.), but those guys are more “stoic” and “solid” than “take your breath away.” Alexi Casilla brought a little bit of this last year, but it really goes back to the pre-All Star break Cristian Guzman in 2001 since the Twins had that mixture of crazy and talented — and Guzman always looked as though he was 15 seconds of an Enya song from nodding off. Gomez looks like the wild-eyed guy in the street fight looking for the next person to punch. Again, in a good way. Granted, this was only one game — and as colleague Jim Souhan noted heading into the season, we still don’t know if Gomez will be here through this month or the next 10 years. But he could be someone who rises up when the lights come on. And oh, that speed. If he can hit .260-.270 and walk maybe 50 times, the kid is going to steal 75 bases and approach 100 runs scored. Sounds like some reckless fun.

Other things: The lineup depth is striking. No more Ford, Punto and Bartlett at the bottom. Adam Everett is the only true weak link, and he almost hit a grand slam last night. The bench is also more versatile with Punto coming in for D and either Monroe or Kubel bringing some pop. … Again, it all comes back to starting pitching. Everyone keeps saying that nothing should be expected of Francisco Liriano, but really he’s the difference between a losing season and a winning season. Even at 75 percent of what he was as a rookie (with hopes he’ll get closer to the full Liriano either as the season wears on or next year), he is the only chance they have at a true ace who can dominate a lineup. After that, every other pitcher can give up eight runs on 10 hits on any given night. It’s a tough way to live.

OK, enough of a fourth Twins blog.

*The Wild can clinch the division tonight if Calgary and Colorado both lose.

*The Wolves are No. 24 in ESPN.com’s NBA power rankings — three spots ahead of the Bucks and just one spot behind the Bulls, who were supposed to contend in the East this year. They’re 14-19 since bottoming out at 5-34. Those “worst team ever” conversations are long gone.

*Jalopnik still has THE VIDEO, which is about to break the Internets with all its page views. If you were with us yesterday, you know what we’re talking about. We shall not link to it, but you can find it quite easily. Suffice to say, Mr. Max Mosley — whose father had some interesting habits of his own — is feeling some heat from Formula 1 folks to step down. Yesterday’s comments about privacy and such were interesting; if this was a simple affair, we would agree. But this crosses some boundaries that make one question his character. We think he’s ultimately toast.

*If you didn’t already have plans for Sept. 8 at 6 p.m., you do now. Tarvaris Jackson vs. the recently unretired Brett Favre Aaron Rodgers.

*Fasola-link! Breakfast at Wimbledon (not tennis).

Coming up: S.U. Perrookie’s COW post, an unsolicited reckoning of opening day from The Hootie and so much more.

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