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The emptiness of the other half of that cup is something we can discuss later, after our human growth hormones kick in and our testosterone gets up to a peak. Instead, we’ll deal with the fullness of our half of the same cup. And it’s running over.

The Twins remain an intriguing study in our sports world, and despite not being near contention for division honors, they are entertaining in different ways by the day. Get swept by Kansas City, sweep Houston, go to Kansas City and lose 12-0, then come back and win 7-0 when a rookie makes his pitching debut by throwing a shutout. Great game, isn’t it?

This week, we can devote out sporting interests to Wade Municipal Stadium and the Duluth Huskies. Our Northwoods League guys blew hot and cold, heating it up late in the first half and falling short of the North Division pennant, which was won by Waterloo.

So in the second half, one of the more fascinating races in our brief tenure in the summer collegiate baseball league races to a climactic finish this week. Waterloo may win the second half as well, and the Huskies can be excused for pulling for Waterloo to do exactly that. The way the league goes, if the same team wins both halves, then the team that finishes second overall, by combining the two halves, gets to join Waterloo for the divisional playoff. By winning in their road finale at Mankato, the Huskies tied Mankato’s Moondogs for second place, behind Waterloo, with Willmar one game behind them. Combining the two halves, the Huskies lead by an eyelash.

If the Huskies end up tied with Mankato, they own the tie-breaker against the Moondogs; if the Huskies end up tied with Willmar, overall, Willmar has the tie-breaker.

In the past week, the Huskies have played some amazing games. They won a 9-8 game by scoring seven in the last of the ninth against Alexandria’s Blue Anchors, and the next night they couldn’t quite get the rally done, losing 4-3. Then they went to Mankato and lost 7-5, but bounced back to win 12-6 the next night.

That brought the Huskies home to Wade for this week, with games Tuesday and Wednesday against the Wisconsin Woodchucks (you gotta love the nicknames in this league) and two against Eau Claire Thursday and Friday. The Huskies finish on the road, at Rochester, Saturday and Sunday.

By the time The Reader hits the stands, you should know how a couple of those games came out. The Huskies spotted the Woodchucks a 4-1 lead Tuesday night, then rallied on Chris Harvey’s 2-run double in the fourth to cut the deficit to 4-3. It was then a pitching duel until the seventh, when the Huskies erupted with what is becoming a trademark outburst, scoring five in the seventh and doing it nearly every way possible to win 9-4. You want diversity? A bases-loaded walk tied the game 4-4, a sacrifice fly broke the tie, and with Harvey at bat again, the next run came in on a wild pitch.

A strong relief job by A.J. McElderry secured the 9-4 victory, which was vital -- as are all the games this week. Whatever happens, this has been a special Huskies team.

“We’ve had a couple of big rallies, but we also know we can’t rely on late-game rallies,” said Craig Smith, the Huskies energetic general manager. “These guys are young, but they are highly skilled and resilient. One of the biggest things about this tam is there are no issues with any of them. They are all good friends, and they’re all on the same page.

“It’s really something to see these guys come from different college teams all over the country, and some of them have been big rivals, but they come here and after th efirst night they’re going out together for dinner. They really get along well and pull for each other.”

They definitely are from all over. And it seems as though virtually everybody on the team has had a shot at pitching the big game or coming up with the key hit. As the season has unfolded, certain players have become the keys. Conor Szczerba, for example, and the 1-2 punch of Trey Vavra and Michael Suiter can set a high tempo offensively, and the contributions of Keith Ciurcio and Brad Wilson, plus the solid play of catcher Chris Harvey, outfielder Chris Bono, and shortstop Kyle Teaf form a solid defensive eight in the last few games I’ve seen. And the pitching staff has been impressive, and deep, and it seems as though everybody on the staff can throw bullets.

“Vavra and Suiteer have been here before,” said Smith. “And guys like Curcio, and Teaf, have really helped make us solid.”

One of the entertaining things about the Northwoods League is that every team is so close, so similar, because they all have the same objective, of giving top college players the chance to play high-level, competitive baseball all summer. The pros have the South America or Central America leagues for development of young players; the colleges have the Northwoods League, which is among several such leagues operating, but which is fast growing into elite status among them.

The Northwoods League is high-class baseball, and it proves the successful evolution of developmental baseball outside the ranks of professional ball. The players all want to be pros someday, but right now, they’re striving to improve on their college game, and this league will help them when they go back to Vanderbilt, or UCLA, or Southern Florida, Eastern Illinois, Kansas -- or even UMD. Alex Wojciechowski has had a whirlwind first year at UMD.

The fact that the late spring, which never arrived, prevented the Bulldogs from playing a single game at home, didn’t help, but Wojciechowski, recruited from Coon Rapids, had an amazing season, being named Northern Sun freshman of the year, and player of the year.

Wojciechowski was all set to go home and play one final season of American Legion ball, when the Huskies came calling.

“He’s a monster,” said Smith. “He’s 6-4 and 230 pounds, and if it seems he still has a lot to learn, he’s really still a baby as far as baseball experience goes.”

Maybe if the Bulldogs had been able to play some home games, they’d have done better in the Northern Sun playoffs. But maybe for Wojciechowski and all he’s learned this summer, making the playoffs with the Huskies will make him even better than the league’s player of the year next spring.