5 Thoughts

1. GOPHER BASEBALL
Well, it hasn't helped my sleeping patterns, but the Gophs have performed quite well in the Fullerton Regional. And the best hopefully is yet to come. The final game to decide who will be heading to the Super Regionals is tonight, 10pm on ESPNU. The Gophs are on their 4th starter, while CSF is on their 5th...it will probably take 8 runs to win this game, and unfortunately I don't like our chances to out slug a team like this. But I'll be watching and hoping for the best...you should be too.

2. EXPANSION
Wow, not a day or even and hour goes by without some kind of news coming out around more expansion rumors. It appears that the P10 is going to beat us to the punch by stealing part of the B12 before the B10 can get anything together. I like the aggressive nature, but it's far from a done deal. The P10 is seen as such an exclusive academic conference that I have a really hard time seeing places like Texas Tech getting accepted. Especially when all 10 current members have to have unanimous approval to make it happen. It also sounds like the B12 has given MIZZOU and NEB a time limit to delcare their intentions to go to the B10 or not - and apparently no response from these schools is seen as a bad thing for their future in the B12. The best part about this whole deal...what happens to the mighty Clones?!? They aren't on the P10's short list, the B10 has zero interest in the booming Ames market, the B12 will not have enough left to even be considered a conferecne any longer...so what do they do. Odds are that they would be heading to the MAC, MWC, or some other really horrible conference and taking their rightful place among the irrelevant. Too bad the Hogeyes can't go with them.

3. GOPHERS FOOTBALL
No bad news this weekend, can you believe it? Actually we got a couple pieces of good news for a change. A LB from South Florida committed to come play for Brew - doesn't look like a heavily recruited guy, but he did pick us over the Zooker. The bigger news is the commitment of Brendan Beal, a transfer from Zooker's old residence down in Gainesville. Beal was a Top 150 player coming out of HS, and has had injury issues the last 2 seasons. He will have to sit out this year, but will have 2 or 3 years of eligibility left depending on his medical status and if he'll be granted a 6th year. He's a finance major, so we won't have to worry about him going Maresh on us either. Plus, if you look for some film on this guy, you'll find him running all over the field from his MLB position and dominating during the Gators Spring Game a couple of months ago. This could be a huge get for Brew or whoever else might be coaching this team when Beal is finally eligible next season.

4. GOLF!
We are a mere 12 days from the gathering of all gatherings (still in search of a catchy name a la ROEJOE...let me know if you have ideas). I've gotten 11 guys pretty much locked in and I'm waiting on 1 more response. IF PLANS HAVE CHANGED AND YOU CAN NOT ATTEND PLEASE LET ME NOW SO I CAN CONFIRM TEE TIMES.

*Send me over a handicap estimate so I can try to make some even teams*
I think I have a good idea of how most of you play, but it's early in the season so if you're struggling then I don't want to over-estimate your powers and vice versa.

5. VEGAS
Finally, we're also only about 4.5 months out to Vegas, so I want to start thinking about locking this in as well. Think about it - OCTOBER 22 through OCTOBER 25 - it's a whirlwind of Football, Baseball, Hockey, Horses, and whatever else we can find to bet on in late October. It will be discussed at the gathering on the 19th, but I'd like to have a good idea of who IS in and who MIGHT BE in by the end of June. It's about $500 for everything excluding your $$$ you want to win on bets, so please think about it and check the dates as best you can before the 19th so we can have an honest discussion about who wants in for the 4th annual trip to Sin City.