Past and present of Gopher Sports

First - let me start with this link to a TCF Video from yesterday - it's really starting to wrap up and be ready for September.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qzG9mzkFWg

Next, let me tell you about my morning.

So I'm staying home on vaca today with Jace - he starts daycare next week, so Anna and I are each taking one last day with him at home...awwww. Anyway, woke up with him this morning at 6am and started flipping around, then I get to the BTN and find a back to back Gopher double header that really gives us a nice summary of the last 2 regimes in Gopher sports...Monson and Mase.

First, I was treated to IND at Gophers in hoops from 2000. Remember - the Vanilla Gorilla scores 33! and the Gophs beat the nationally ranked Hoosiers. Good memory, right? Well, I remember that this was Przy's last game in college before he realized his squad/coach sucked and might as well quit rather than risk an injury and huge payday. Second, this team still finished with only 4 B10 wins that year - nice. I started looking at the roster - check out this cast of characters:

#4 Nick Sinville - this guy looked like a player maybe, but transferred the next season

#11 Mitch Ohnstad - smoked his way off the team - I'll always remeber my first night at college, GDick and I went out to a hockey party and I saw Ohnstad there smoking weed and absolutely hammered...should have read the writing on the wall at that point.

#12 Kevin Burleson - a notorious figure in Gopher Hoops history - I love that he was recruited as the best bud to a star player in Washington as a package deal...except the star didn't come here and we only got Big Kev.

#33 Ryan Wildenbourg - remember this big oaf! I saw him on the bench and couldn't remember his name, so I had to look this one up. Nice recruit Monson - he didn't play 4 years either.

#34 Shane Schilling - drank his way off the squad after 2 years...sensing a trend yet?

#41 Mike Bauer - I generally liked this guy - can't say anything bad about him.

#45 Dusty Rychart - the Moondog was quite a story. When a walk-on ends up being one of the better players and only 4 year players of your era (Monson) you know you're in trouble. He was from GR, and friends w/Dick so he hung out with us occasionally...I think he actually still plays in Austrailia or something.

#50 Pryz - somehow he scored 33 in this final game - I think that's more than the offensively challenged one scored the rest of his career. Would have been a legend if we had any kind of coach or program at that point.

#51 Kyle Sanden - quite possibly the funniest looking guy I have ever seen. Seriously, the guy remined me of a cartoon...and he was terrible.

#54 John Aune - another filler big man for Monson. I think he was a military guy, so gotta give him credit there...but it doesn't mean he should be playing D1 hoops.

So how the hell have we gone from this type of roster with maybe 5 guys that should actually even be playing D1 hoops to being a likely Top 15 preseason team next year? Simple really.

TUBBY. thanks.


Part 2 of my morning Gopher double header was a classic - MICH vs. MIN Oct 10, 203.

So the game started with the announcers talking about last week's game where Ellerson caught a long TD vs. NW and Asad threw for 300+. I started thinking, I remeber seeing parts of that game in the airport...where was I? I asked Anna, and got the look...yeah, that was our honeymoon. Kind of sad when I remember the meaningless Gopher-NW game but not Jamaica.

Anyway, we all know the story on this one. Run for 400 yards, huge lead, lose painfully. No need to relive all the gory details, but a couple things I did realize:

The fatal flaw in Mason's plan all along - defense. Although I complained about the offense regularly throughout his tenure, the team scored points. We didn't have the ability to throw and come back at all, so we had to play ahead. But the fatal flaw to this strategy was the lack of defense. If you don't have the ability to come back and score any points you must make sure that you compliment your great running game with a defense...but we never did. I used to think it was a coordinator issue, but I'm more convinced than ever that we just had garbage players. Mason, like Brewster, made lots of position changes by moving guys up a level - DB to LB/DE, LB to DE/DT kinds of changes. The difference is that Brewster's guys have the size to play those spots and most importantly have SPEED! The one thing Mr. Mason never realized a defense needed or maybe he just wasn't able to recruit any in his 10 years. I'm not sure how many times I watched Chris Perry take a screen pass and run past 2 LB's because they are just too slow. Perry was by no means a speed guy, but he looked like frickin' Cheech Harvin out there against our pathetically slow defense.

One other thing I had forgot about was the terrible Asad pick that he throws which aids the MICH comeback. I also forgot about the 3 clipping penalties Ellerson took which cost us yards at 3 critical times, and the 3 INT's that were very possible but we failed to actually convert even one of them. Too many chances to win...I was very tempted to turn it off at 28-7, but I guess I continue to watch in hope that something might change? Or maybe I just like pain?

Anywho - hope everyone is having a great week. In some shocking news that is just coming down...Memphis Hoops might be hit with some major recruiting violations. What? You mean Calipari didn't turn a nobody into a National Power in 3 years by doing it the right way? No way. I never suspected this.

Finally - a little football talk. I am dangerously close to wrapping up all of my pre-season previews for all 119-120 teams, which I will be throwing at you soon. I dedicate one entire post to my logic behind my rating system and how it has evolved over the last 5 months. I think I've found a way to hit 75% without bringing in emotion every week - but I'll explain it all in a future post before I start posting conference previews.

One things I was thinking about regarding out favorite football conference after reading a few previews...does everyone think Dick Rod's club will be that much better this year? I really don't. He's likely going to go with a freshman at QB, and the defense was terrible last year. Let's review why he got this job in the first place - he rolled into WV, had a few crappy years, turned things around and dominated for about 3 years. I have 3 major reasons why Dick Rod will not succeed and be out within 5 years at MICH:

1) Pat White was a special QB who was a PERFECT player for this offense. I don't think there are many like that.

2) He was playing the Big East. Seriously, when it comes to football - the Big East ain't exactly high on the list. You have 7 conference games, and only about 3 of those are even worthy of being called a conference game each year. Basically, the guy didn't really play anyone and still couldn't win a Nat'l title.

3) His quirky offense doesn't work in the B10. I think this has been proven by our very own Gophers. What teams are successful...OHIOST, PSU, IOWA, Old MICH, WIS - all run a very basic pro style offense. Why? Because that is what works in the B10. Too much talent, speed, and bulk to have much success with any kind of a gimmicky offense. NW has run their unique spread, but I wouldn't say they have been a huge success...some ups and downs but not competing yearly with the Big Boys.

That's my take - it has changed since last year where I said he would struggle for a couple of years but eventually be a power again. I really don't think it can happen - he will be a flash in the pan, a flavor of the month, and he'll be back running his quirky offense in a smaller less competitve conference by 2013.

What do you think? Let me know - have a good weekend guys.

107 days until kick-off at TCF...

Lotto Preview

7.6% - that's our chance to get #1 tonight...

But when figuring out our actual chance do you have to factor in the last 20 years of brutally bad luck and make our odds much closer to .76% rather than 7.6%?

As we all know - the lottery is rigged, so let's figure out which way the scripted WWE, I mean NBA will shift the fortunes this year:

First - Sacto will not win it - the worst team never does. I think the logic here is they have too far to go, so we can't give them the #1 marquee guy, but they will land in the top 4 obviously.

Washington - my odds on favorite to land #1 tonight. Why you may ask? Flip, Arenas, actual living, breathing playmakers on the roster, a big market ready for a winner.....it's all coming together for Washington tonight.

Clippers - no. The NBA continues to not help the other LA franchise at all, so it defintiely will not start tonight.

OKCity - definite possibilities here. They have some guys who will be or already are big-time, so why not give them Mr. Griffin. They are not as big as they should be with Durant and Westbrook, but Griffin gives them a Big 3...lots of options and potential here.

MN - well, we've never moved up before - why start now. No chance. 2 or 3 player draft so we'll be picking 4th or 5th I'd guess.

MEM - nope. I think they are blackballed in the NBA as well so they have no chance...unless the NBA is holding their stock in the OJ Mayo Corp...then they might have a shot - but I think his ship has sailed already until he leaves MEM, so it's not their year.

GS - maybe. They are still up and coming I guess - but I think the luster is fading fast after their disappointing year in 2008...but they have a chance.

NY - always an option, but they might be too low to make it work without a conspiracy theory being built a la Pat Ewing Draft in 1985. They could be a lotto team, but not #1 - the whole world might figure out the crookedness of the NBA if that happened again, and that's too big of a risk.

TOR - no - NBA still regrets going into Canada.

MIL - nope - they got a shot with the Bogut pick, that turned out well. But it was a bad draft year, which is the only time the NBA will allow a MIL type team to get #1 - Griffin is marquee, so they will not be winning the lotto.

NJ/CHA/IND/PHOE - too low - the NBA has made it seem statistically impossible for these teams to win it, so unless an absolutely perfect situation comes around, these teams will not have a shot.

So what's gonna happen - this is almost easier than predicting the actual game results:

Lotto teams - WASH, OKCity, (SAC or LAC)
I can't pinpoint the #1, #2 order...but I'm convinced it will be WASH/OKCity in some order followed by one of the token garbage teams falling into the #3 spot.

115 days until TCF Kickoff - too early to start tailgating?

That's all I got - it's been a slow week but B10 baseball tourney start tomorrow, so I know you're all excited for that.

PJ - perfect description of our favorite NBA team
It's a hopeless... situation
And I'm starting to believe
That this hopeless... situation
Is what I'm trying to achieve
But I tryTo run onTowards
All or none,... all or none

Here's the selfless confession
Leading me back to war
Can we help that,.. our destinations
Are the ones we've been before
I still tryTo run onTowards all
Or none,... all or none
To myself I... surrender
To the one I'll never please
I still try,.. to run on
But I still try,.. to run on
But it's All or none,... all or none.

Game #1 - W

---------------------------------------------------->

So we've got the 'Cuse on the slate for game #1 in 2009. Not a great team to begin with, they have a new head coach so they'll likely be going through a little transition phase...but to top it all off I read this:

GREG PAULUS to play QB at Syracuse - he will be competing against a red-sirt freshman for the job.

Wow, how deperate are you for a spark on offense? The guys hasn't seen the field in 4 years, and now you bring him in with the expectation of having him possibly start in week #1?

I like the Gophers by 14 points already in this one - if Paulus plays I'll take Gophers -20.

Only a little bit of other news to report - first of all, for all the original members of past seasons of the football challenge - here is the long awaited money breakdown of who owes what to whom:

TREE - $10 owed to ROE
JG - $10 owed to ROE
MK - $90 owed to ROE

That's it. Roe ran through a clean sweep by taking the regular season and bowl titles last year - which put him far into the black. MK has the biggest debt to pay - but still this is over about 2+ years without payment, so really still not too crazy.

We can reveiw the money situation for this upcoming season. Which brings me to the next point - we've got some new members. Bomb is locked and loaded for next season, and I also have a buddy from work Mark Heinert who will be entering the challenge for the first time next season. More to come I'm sure - I'm thinking of growing from 4 to around 8-10...then we can decide what our plan will be for the cash. In the past we have done $20 for the whole season, winner take all (best record) - then another $20 for the bowl with winner take all once again. I'm thinking maybe we double it or put it to $50 - I know, kind of crazy - but then if we have 8 guys the payout will be a solid $320-$400...makes it worth your time. Or we could do weekly payouts if you would prefer - just to keep it interesting throughout even if you have a crappy record.

We will discuss as we approach the actual season - but for now feel free to post your own material, comment on what I write or others write, or just completely ignore me altogether...your choice.

As is tradition for me - closing w/ a little PJ...sometimes relevant, sometimes just what's in my head:

I admit it...what's to say...

yeah...I'll relive it...without pain

...mmm...Backstreet lover on the side of the road

I got a bomb in my temple that is gonna explode

I got a sixteen gauge buried under my clothes, I play...

Once upon a time I could control myself

Ooh, once upon a time I could lose myself, yeah...

Oh, try and mimic what's insane...ooh, yeah...I am in it...where do I stand?

Oh, Indian summer and I hate the heat

I got a backstreet lover on the passenger seat

I got my hand in my pocket, so determined, discreet...I pray...

Once upon a time I could control myself

KC Chiefs QB Situation

How confident are the Chiefs that Matt Cassell can stay healthy this year?

Well, they brought in Drew Tate, yes the former 3 time Heisman winner from the Hogeyes for a tryout.

No word on whether or not Tate had to take time off from his job at Burger King to go to the tryout.

If this guy is getting a shot why don't they bring in Billy Cockerham, Asad, Cupito - all would be higher on my list than Mr. Tate.


That's all I got right now - nothing is working at work today...so I'm searching for fun stuff :)

Take it easy fellas.

End of an era?

Is anyone else sad to see the end of the JDB era becoming a reality very quickly? If and when the Purple decide to sign this new guy, the hearalded JDB will likely be tossed aside for the old man in wranglers. Remember how excited we all were (sort of) when the Purple drafted this guy and he looked like that nice long-term project that we're all about around here? Well, looks like it was a 1 and done for JDB...I'll miss him.

Is there any doubt that the old man will be on this team next year? We've gone from "not interesed" to "no comment" to "meeting this week" in the matter of about a month or less. What do I think of the move? Well, I suppose he gives us the best chance to win something significant, and in the "boom or bust, all or nothing" year for Chilly and crew, I think it makes sense. We've all seen the issues discussed over and over for about a year now, but bottom line is that he's instantly the best option on the team so you have to go with it.

What the hell is up with JoePa? All of a sudden he's speaking out against the Big 10 for not expanding to 12 teams, which I totally agree with. And today I see a headline that he's speaking out against the BCS and demanding a Playoff. Wow, the 82 year old has never been a quiet legend, but I think he's maybe seeing the end of his run coming soon so he feels he has nothing to lose by throwing out any and all opinions about why things suck. Nice work JoePa.

Almost the most exciting time of the year again for your T-Wolves...draft lotto night!!! woo-hoo!!! Obviously, it won't turn out well for us once again, but right now we can have a little hope to land a star. Enjoy the excitement for the next few weeks, as soon as we come out of the #6 envelope it will be back to normal.

Jimmy Gjere, big OT who verballed to the Gophs, was recently moved up to #49 in the overall player rankings by Rivals. If we can land Mr. Henderson on the other side this could be the best offensive line we've seen in quite some time. Let's hope Seantrel turns down the song girls and Mr. Carroll and stays put at TCF...what kind of bizarro world would it be where the Gophers land the #1 overall player in the nation...am I dreaming, maybe.

Picked my TCF seats yesterday - upper deck, 4th row, 45 yard line, on the aisle. September can't get here soon enough. I'm working on throwing together some early conference previews to publish on here for your feedback/opinions. Unfortunately, with the 2 children in the home I have about 3 minutes and 38 seconds of free time each night where I'm not attending to their needs. So at that rate, I'll be through all 12 conferences by December. We'll see what happens.

No time on the course yet for me - hope you guys have gotten out a little bit. I figure I'll be able to start playing closer to June once Anna gets back to work and our schedule looks a little more normal. I will be defneding the trophy at the Roe/Joe on August 22nd, but besides that I have nothing booked for gold outings. I am trying to plan a golf/cards date for a bunch of us at my place this summer. Once I get my summer schedule from my personal planner I will line up a date and let you know.

Hope all is well - talk to guys later.

PJ - for the old man

holier than thou, how?
surrendered...executed anyhow
scrawl dissolved, cigar box on the floor...
a truant finds home...and a wish to hold on too...
he saw the trapdoor in the sun...immortality...