Line updates etc.

A couple of NFL lines are now up...

TB
PHI -15.5

MIN
STL 11

Just include these in your picks if you want to use one of these games this week.

WTF. Twins are playing the Yankees tonight in the playoffs. Let's let that sink in a bit...I wrote this team off over a month ago, then they go 17-4 and win the f'n division. Crazy. I tell you what, I know we are a GIANT Dog against the NYY, but nobody should count this team out at this point. Remember the improbable run the Rockies made two years ago...there's a chance. Stay thirsty my friends.

In other news, after watching most of the replay of GOPHERS-BECKY before the Twins started yesterday, here's what I think. This game was even more winnable than I remember it to be. Clearly, the defense is not the issue...the adjustments were, and that's a problem, but overall our D is fine. The announcers (Spielman and Griese) were calling out how to fix the D and how to stop the one running play they ran nearly 30 times in the 2nd half. Now I'm not a football X's and O's genius, but if these two can call out the necessary changes in the early 3rd qtr from the booth, how are we not able to make the change and stop the run on the field...or at least stop that one play! Hopefully Cos and Lee are kicking their own a$$es this week after watching back the film.

One of the biggest problems since Brew took over has been the large amount of penalties, especially the 15 yard variety. I saw a stat that since 2007 when Brew started we lead the B10 by a large margin in 15 yard penalties. Those are huge plays, and warranted or not, we seem to be on the bad end of most of these. We had no less than 3 penalties on some of the big kick returns by TS on Saturday too. False starts continue to happen at least 2x/wk, and we always seem to throw in 2 holding penalties per week. This isn't helping your offense, and this is a sign of a very undisciplined team...which should not be the case. Apparently, they really emphasized the problem before the NW game, and we only committed one penalty and won handily for the first time this year. I think it might be a good plan to emphasize this every week until we start to figure it out.

Also, I know we all get hyped up and expectations get a little too high at this point in the season, but I saw an article this morning that really puts in perspective where our expectations should be for this year. The way to win, as brew has stated since year 1, is to recruit and get the best players. We have done this the last 2 years, but all of these kids are Fr, rFr, and Soph. Very few are making a big impact on the club right now, mostly because unless you are super freak you are just not ready to be the guy until the middle of your 2nd year...which is about right now for a lot of our guys. Anyway, this article had a chart which shows recruiting class rankings and actual B10 finishes for last year. They weighted the impact of the last 4 classes (2005, 06, 07, 08) and made a projected finish prediction then compared it to where everyone actually finished. Well, we had a 10th, 9th, 9th, and 3rd place finish in recruiting for those 4 years. After some calculations that put us in 9th place...we finished 6th. So we over-achieved in 2008. This year we would use the most recent 4 classes for which are rankings are 9th, 9th, 3rd, 6th...projected finish = 6th. Pretty accurate I would be by the end of the year. Basically, once we improve the overall depth and get these improved recruiting classes up into the Jr and Sr positions we should really be able to ascend and be a consistent player in the Top 1/2 of the B10 standings. Believe in Brew...it's way too easy to get down on him at this point with the brutal rivalry record and lack of wins at home and in conference...but to build a great program we have to be patient. They guys has only had 2 real recruiting classes and we've got a brand new offensive system for the 2nd time in 3 years...patience will be a virtue for us all and we will get to where we need to be. It's about players, and we are getting players much more than we have anytime in the last 10 years.

Sorry for the rant, just talking myself off the ledge after the letdown on Saturday.

If you want to read the article, you can find it here: http://www.thedailygopher.com/

Finally, a Hogeye shot before I close. Coming off the improbable great win at PSU, the uber faithful Hogeye fans couldn't even sell out Kinnick last week against ARKST. How brutal is that? Is it the typical over-confident arrogance we've come to expect from the average Hogeye fan, or were they just not able to get off the tractor long enough to get to the game this week? Probably a little of both.

GOPHERS projected for a Motor City bowl birth against CMU right now...fun.

PJ - "Drifting" Go Twins!

Drifting, drifting, drifting away.
I got myself a mansion, then I gave it away.
It's not the world that's heavy, just the things that you save.
And I'm drifting, drifting away.

Drifting, drifting, drifting along.
I rid myself of worries, and the worries were gone.
I only run when I want to and I sleep like a dog.
I'm just drifting, drifting along.

The suitcoats say, "There is money to be made."
They get so damn excited, but I guess it's their way.
My road it may be lonely just because it's not paved.
It's good for drifting, drifting away.

The suitcoats say, "There is money to be made."
They get so damn excited, nothing gets in their way
My road it may be lonely just because it's not paved.
It's good for drifting, drifting away.

Drifting, drifting, drifting, uh huh.
I feel like going back there, but never for long.
I sometimes wonder if they know that I'm gone.
I'm just drifting, drifting along.
Drifting, drifting along. Drifting, drifting along.