Gopher Nation

The Brewster Experiment - Year 3

2010-01-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

The Tim Brewster era is through year three and it is time to lay all of the cards down on the table. When Joel Maturi hired an unknown tight ends coach with no head coaching experience he got himself involved in a high stakes game of Texas Hold em and Brewster is holding the cards.

The experiment has resulted in improved recruiting and talent but none of that has turned into actual results on the field. No wins over a rival, no wins over a ranked opponent, no wins in November and no bowl wins. 2010 is the year to rectify it all. Win or go home for Brewster.

Better Trades in sports

2008-10-30T23:44:00.000-07:00

Are you keeping an eye on the Better Trades in sports .Read sports articles to know about different players.

Get your Vintage Gopher Calendar

2008-10-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

I plugged these calendars a year ago and want to do so again. If you are a college football fan, these are a must have. Click on the image in the right sidebar or click HERE to order yours.

Are you keeping an eye on the Better Trades in sports .Read sports articles to know about different players.

Gopher Nation is Finished, Moving (change your bookmarks!)

2008-08-11T05:01:00.000-07:00

It is with a tinge of nostalgic sadness I am announcing that this is the end of Gopher Nation. My tenure here has been slightly shorter than that of Coach Brewster's and a day longer than that of Mr. Orlando Tubby Smith. I started Gopher Nation in a humble attempt to fill a void for Gopher fans. I don't know whether or not that mission was successful but I had fun trying.

But with that said, I am tremendously optimistic to also announce that while Gopher Nation is finished, I am moving to a new host,new partner and new domain for Gopher fans. I have joined forces with the most outstanding blogger I know. Charlie from PagingJimShikenjanski, is a dynamic blogger who has truly owned his space and is one of the best bloggers in the country. I am really excited to combine our talents and provide Gopher fans with the best online experience we possibly can.

This joint venture has been in the works for a few months and was greatly sped along by the folks at SportsBlogNation. They were kind enough to invite into their fine family and we will be blogging for them at The Daily Gopher (www.thedailygopher.com). This truly is exciting and the tools SBN has should allow us to really bring Gopher fans into the community and be your daily read for Gopher News.

I encourage you to take a look at several SBN blogs (examples of my favorites below), check out the tools available and please comment below if there is anything in particular that you would love to see. We want to fill the void for Gopher fans and provide you with as much quality content as possible, so be sure to follow us to TDG and keep us in tune with what you want to see.

So after thousands of visitors, 334 posts and 18 months of throwing out my opinions, Gopher Nation is officially shutting down and in the next few days The Daily Gopher should be kicking off.

While we're looking forward to a new and improved Gopher blog, there are some aches and pains that come along with the move. Sometimes it doesn't seem fair, but then again what in life is? Getting access to your money when you need it would be a good start. That's why we have payday loans. It's a lot easier than a move to a new web address, that I assure you. But it'll be well worth it...just wait.

Big Ten Blogger Roundtable WRAP UP

2008-08-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

Part of the fun of being a part of the Big Ten Bloggers community has been the roundtables. Someone posts a set of questions, everyone answers them on their own blog and then the original question asker gets to round up the answers in a wrap up post. I have never stepped up to host a roundtable until this one. Usually this exercise contains more pertinent and valuable information but this one is more for entertainment value than depth chart analysis.

The Rivalry Round winner of absolute MUST READ was the Only Game That Matters (link below). I strongly encourage you to read.

Participating blogs (I hope I didn't miss any)...

Only Game That Matters (B10) - Great interview with Alex Trebec (who can't stand that fruity Ken Jennings)
Meet Me at Kinnick (Iowa) - needs to work through his angst over Illini fans
Varsity Blue (Mich) - spewing some hate on Michigan State
Michigan Sports Center (Mich) - still yearns for Terrell Pryor
Enlightened Spartan (MSU) - total dislike for Michigan plus a bonus Spaceballs reference
Lake the Posts (NU) - would love to beat OSU (just once!)
Buckeye Battle Cry - renames Penn State as "Third-Placers, unless Wisconsin is having a good year"
Happy Hour Valley (PSU) - thumbs up for Arrested Development reference, thumbs down for Harold and Kumar reference
Black Shoes Diaries (PSU) - nobody in B10 would add talent to Penn State
Nittany Line (PSU) - huge fans of the Land Grant Trophy
Boiled Sports (Pur) - surprisingly not a fan of the University of Indiana People from Indiana
Off the Tracks (Pur) - enjoying the fact that Navy has a 1-game win streak over Notre Dame

Unintentionally ommitted...

Maize and Blue Nation (Mich)
Maize and Brew (Mich)

WRAP UP

1. ESPN's Adam Rittenberg recently ranked the top 5 rivalries in the Big Ten and there were some controversial results (Illinois v Ohio State as #3?). Clearly Ohio State vs. Michigan is the #1 rivalry in the Big Ten, but give me your next three. Your school does not have to be included in this list, but regardless of who you choose defend your picks.

After the obvious Michigan vs. Ohio State rivalry there were two more that stood out. In no particular order...

Minnesota vs. Wisconsin - many appreciated this one because of it's longevity and the fact that the teams are playing for the fiercest traveling trophy in the country. Who else gets to play for a giant axe and then how many coaches let their players run around the field with it. Considering I was the only blogger participating who roots for either team it is impressive it received as many votes as it did.

Michigan vs. Michigan State - obviously received much attention from the Michigan and MSU blogs. But this rivalry was recognized by others as well as a fierce rivalry that has implications beyond the game itself.

Others mentioned were Pur/Ind, OSU/PSU, Minn/Iowa and Ill/NU

While it did not receive many votes much attention was paid to the uniquely designed Land Grant Trophy given to the winner of Penn St / Michigan St. It is a modern engineering marvel and dearly treasured by fans of both teams.

2. Obviously winning every game is important and beating really good teams sends a stronger message than beating Minnesota. Assume every team is .500 this year and the outcome of your next two games means nothing outside of pride and a year's worth of bragging rights. Give me the two schools you would want to beat (in order) and why. What makes beating School's A and B significant?

Ohio State was a rather popular choice. Not because the likes of NU, PSU, Mich, etc wanted to beat the best, but rather they just want to actually BEAT them. PSU and NU in particular come to mind because they just can't seem to beat the Buckeyes (ever).

3. Take the two teams from above that you claim are your biggest rivals and give me a new mascot for them.

Some classics include...

Illinois = Chief Bandwagoners
Michigan = GOB (from Arrested Development)
Ohio State = Sweater Vests
Michigan State = Failures
Ohio State = Convicts
Illinois = Illanoy Fighting Zookers
Minnesota = The Long Forgottens
Michigan = Cobra Kai
Indiana = Indiana University People from Indiana (my personal favorite)
Michigan = Yellow Bellies
Indiana = "a hillbilly with the sense kicked out of him"
Michigan = Tressel's Bitches

4. There are some new rules in college football this year. My favorite is the Big Ten experimental rule which states that after every win this year you get to pluck one player off their roster and bring them back to your campus. Looking at your schedule give me two players you would pluck (assuming a win), why you would take them and what would you do with them?

The BIG winner here was James Laurinaitis. Almost a unanimous pick, as everyone recognizes how talented he is and how much he would help any team in the Big Ten (damn you Mason for not keeping him in Minnesota).

After JL there obviously was Beanie Wells, Arrelious Benn, Juice Williams (PUH-LEASE) and several others receiving one vote each.

5. Brian at MGO was kind enough to post a diary entry which gives us and new coach Rich Rodriguez a list of Michigan traditions that maybe we were not all aware of. This has inspired two final questions...

5A - are there any Michigan traditions that he missed? (here is your chance for some Michigan cheap shots)

This was pretty tame with a few pics of...

5B - Are there any traditions of your school's rival that we should all be aware of?

My personal favorite was the Indiana tradition of taking aerial pictures of a full football stadium when the Hoosiers were hosting Wisconsin or Ohio State. These photos were clearly then distributed as showing the passionate Hoosier fan base, but NOW we all know better (my team of fact checkers did not take the time to verify, we are just going with it as fact!).

----------

That is it in a nutshell.

Who are you and what did you do with Coach Brewster?

2008-08-05T07:07:00.001-07:00

After some morning reading here are some of thoughts and links following the Gophers first day of practice.

Did Tim transfer with Clint? - there are multiple reports of a "calmer" and "more relaxed" Coach Brewster. While this is hard for me to believe, it must be flabbergasting for others to comprehend. But it is true and I have the quotes below to prove it. Not only is the head coach more comfortable in his surroundings but rather than hyping everyone up with talk of what may or may not happen after Jan. 1st, 2009 he's preaching one play at a time.

There are more quotes below but Kent Youngblood summed it up best...

"In one year, Tim Brewster has gone from talking Pasadena to preaching one play at a time, from pie in the sky to feet on the ground."

Adam Weber - "There is a calmness about him."
Willie VanDeSteeg - "He's taken a little step back"

Personally, I like the willingness to admit winning more than the Sun Bowl is a goal worth striving for, but exuding some form of calm and in control demeanor is exactly what a young team needs to see from their head coach.

New Guys I'm Excited to Watch

Cedrick McKinley is getting more and more ink that he is a physical specimen who will help out that defensive line immediately.
Simoni Lawrence is currently listed at a starting LB and he should really add some speed and coverage skills to the mid level.
All defensive backs - pass defense was so bad last year that I'm really excited to see how Tramaine Brock, Traye Simmons and Keanon Cooper help us out in the backfield.
David Pittman did not make the initial 2-deep but I'm excited to see how he is utilized as a play maker in this offense.

Working Hard Enough? - The Gopher Athletic Communication Dept is putting out a daily blog of summer practice. Andy Seely (Associate Dir of Ath Comm) is the primary typer of information and it looks like John Romo (Dir of Internet Services) will also contribute. But the most interesting piece of info they provided us with from Day 1 was this...

Each player weighs in at the beginning and end of practice to keep track of hydration and other health measures. Nobody dropped double-digit pounds, but it was close. Two Gophers lost nine pounds, while a handful of others were in the seven- and eight-pound range.

One afternoon's practice led to the loss of 7-9 pounds?!? Of course that is water weight and most of it will be put back on after some hydration and a healthy meal, but I found it rather interesting.

How the athletic training staff takes care of the athlete's bodies is incredibly high tech and is vitally important to the success of the team, I truly believe that. They and the strength training staff are two of the most unheralded but critical elements of preparing the athlete to perform at the highest possible level.

Missing Some of that 2008 Class - When all was said and done Brewster delivered nearly all of his massive recruiting class. But a couple of the key guys are not going to be Gophers this fall.

Sam Maresh was our best defensive recruit and is not playing due to open heart surgery. Clearly not Brewster's fault, but I was looking forward to seeing him play in 2008.
Spencer Reeves is one of the Skyline 4, which currently is only the Skyline 3. The LB has not yet qualified and the staff is anticipating he'll be at the U in January.
Vincent Hill was expected to at the very least add depth to the WR position and possibly moved to DB to help out that thin area of need. Who knows how effective he would have been but he was a 4-star recruit and his inability to gain entrance is disappointing.
Tim McGee was going to be a defensive line addition and also did not qualify. This one doesn't concern me as we knew at least a couple kids were not going to make it and JUCO transfers are always a bigger risk, but I'm listing him as one that got away.

Official Gopher 2-Deep (FINALLY)

2008-08-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

Practice has begun today and at Brewster's 1 pm news conference the official depth chart was revealed. What is remarkable is that only seven players on the first or second string are seniors. I'll help you out with the math. 7/44 = 15.9% of the relevant roster are seniors meaning 84.1% will be returning next year. I know we thought we were young last year and this year would see some improvement but we are a VERY inexperienced team. 10 are true or redshirted freshmen with more not listed who many think will contribute in 2008 (Tate and Jacobs come to mind)

First of all click HERE for a very quick clip of Brewster's press conference.

Let us remember that there has not been a practice yet so this will surely change over the next 3-4 weeks. There are plenty of young players and newcomers who will likely have a chance to move up the list.

First year players in maroon.

OFFENSE		DEFENSE
QB	Adam Weber	DE	Willie VanDeSteeg
	Tony Mortenson		Derrick Onwuachi
RB	Duane Bennett	DT	Eric Small
	Jay Thomas		Jewhan Edwards
WR	Eric Decker	DT	Garrett Brown
	Xavier Brandon		Barrett Moen
WR	Ralph Spry	DE	Cedrick McKinley
	Broderick Smith		Lee Campbell
WR	Brandon Green	LB	Simoni Lawrence
	Ben Kuznia		Kevin Manion
TE	Jack Simmons	LB	Deon Hightower
	Nick Tow-Arnett		Rex Sharpe
RT	Chris Bunders (rFR)	LB	Steve Davis
	Ryan Ruckdashel		Nate Triplett
RG	Ryan Wynn (rFR)	CB	Marcus Sherels
	Jason Meinke		Ryan Collado
C	Jeff Tow-Arnett	FS	Tramaine Brock
	Trey Davis (rFR)		Tim Dandridge
LG	DJ Burris	SS	Kyle Theret
	Ned Tevale		Keanon Cooper
LT	Dominic Alford	CB	Traye Simmons
	Ryan Orton (rFR)		Troy Stoudermire

SURPRISES...

No David Pittman - but my assumption he is #3 at WR, CB, QB, C, LS, LT and DT (maybe I should have listed with / instead of ,)

Redshirted Freshmen missing - Anthony Jacobs and Andre Tate are not on the 2-deep and personally I was hopeful to see their names, time will tell if they contribute much this season.

Offensive Line - most notable was Ned Tevale backing up LG when many thought he'd be starting at RG. Looks like the entire right side of the line is up for grabs but currently has two freshmen starting while the left side and center are locked down.

Defensive Backfield - the big shocker is Marcus Sherels starting at CB over returning starter Ryan Collado. Sherels was hyped coming out of spring ball but I'll still be shocked to see him starting in week 1. Maybe he was made for corner and it just took some time for him to find a home. Of the top eight players in the defensive backfield 3 are new starters and 3 backups are new to the program. Looks like a wholesale effort to get that pass defense turned around.

Defensive Starters - FOUR starters who were not a part of the program in 2007 (five if you count Sherels who moved from WR to CB) and five back ups who are new to Gopher football. The battles will be fun to watch from a distance and be sure to have your roster handy for week 1 vs. Northern Illinois.

That, Gopher faithful, is your 2008 Golden Gopher initial depth chart.

BTB Roundtable - Rivalry Edition

2008-08-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

Some of you may or may not know that there is a fairly large group of Big Ten Bloggers who collaborate on ideas and compliment each other on how awesome we all are. I have offered to host 2008's first roundtable and I have deemed it a Rivalry themed roundtable. If you are unfamiliar with how this works I post my answers, other bloggers post their answers on their blogs then I'll do a recap post near the end of this week highlighting the highlights. Here goes...

1. ESPN's Adam Rittenberg recently ranked the top 5 rivalries in the Big Ten and there were some controversial results (Illinois v Ohio State as #3?). Clearly Ohio State vs. Michigan is the #1 rivalry in the Big Ten, but give me your next three. Your school does not have to be included in this list, but regardless of who you choose defend your picks.

Minnesota vs. Wisconsin - longest played rivalry in all of NCAA football. People with short memories will tell me that Wisconsin dominates this series and is meaningless, but Minnesota leads the all time series winning 59, losing 50 and tying 8 in the 117 total games played. It is true that in recent years this has not been very competitive but this is a passionate rivalry and both team's fan bases care very much about winning Paul Bunyan's Axe. It should also be noted that this is a key game for recruiting purposes as both teams fight for each other's players on a regular basis.
Michigan vs. Michigan St. - In state rivalry that has some passion. This one, like the one above, has lacked competitiveness in recent years with Michigan going 15-5 in the last 20 meetings and leads 34-19-2. But also like the one above it is crucial for recruiting wars and is a game fans care about deeply.
Purdue vs. Indiana - the battle for the Old Oaken Bucket is usually a meaningless game on the national and even conference level. But it is hard to ignore a series that has seen 110 games played. Dominated by Purdue this series beats out a few other considered rivalries but not by much. The in-state angle and the longevity of the rivalry make this the 4th best rivalry in the Big Ten.

Rivalries considered but didn't make my cut were Ohio State vs. Penn State (dominated by Ohio State AND has few games played), Wisconsin vs. Iowa (both teams might consider this game their 2nd rivalry) and Iowa vs. Minnesota.

2. Obviously winning every game is important and beating really good teams sends a stronger message than beating Minnesota. Assume every team is .500 this year and the outcome of your next two games means nothing outside of pride and a year's worth of bragging rights. Give me the two schools you would want to beat (in order) and why. What makes beating School's A and B significant?

Wisconsin - I put this ahead of Iowa because the largest population base in Minnesota cares more about this game than the Iowa game. Much of the disdain for Badger fans is carried over from NFL loyalties where Vikings and Packer fans also don't care for each other. Wisconsin in recent years has raided some quality football players from Minnesota so this game carries more recruiting weight than probably any other game on our schedule.

Iowa - the other significant rivalry game on our schedule. If you live south of the Twin Cities this is the game that matters to you. Gopher fans are tired of Hawkeye fans filling our stadium and stealing our goalposts. Fortunately for Gopher fans this is the one rivalry trophy that has resided in Minnesota more often than not.

3. Take the two teams from above that you claim are your biggest rivals and give me a new mascot for them.

Wisconsin Favres - there are probably as many green #4's in the stands at a Badger game as there are Ron Dayne jerseys.

Iowa Drunkards - is there anything else to do in Iowa?

4. There are some new rules in college football this year. My favorite is the Big Ten experimental rule which states that after every win this year you get to pluck one player off their roster and bring them back to your campus. Looking at your schedule give me two players you would pluck (assuming a win), why you would take them and what would you do with them?

James Laurinaitis - besides the fact that he is one of the best linebackers in the country and besides the fact that we are very weak at linebacker, Laurinaitis is from Minnesota and represents why we need to keep in state players in state. The current defense would look much different with an All-American LB in the middle (although who's wouldn't) and keeping kids in state like Willie Mobley, Michael Floyd and Bryce McNeal would be easier if there was a history of the best choosing Minnesota over Ohio State, Notre Dame or Michigan.

PJ Hill - I know that we need defense worse than Pres. Bush needs approval ratings, but we also do not have a running game to truly keep defenses honest. Give us someone who can carry the ball, get first downs and keep the clock moving and that will actually help out our beleaguered defense.

5. Brian at MGO was kind enough to post a diary entry which gives us and new coach Rich Rodriguez a list of Michigan traditions that maybe we were not all aware of. This has inspired two final questions...

5A - are there any Michigan traditions that he missed? (here is your chance for some Michigan cheap shots)

Dominating the Little Brown Jug series comes to mind, but I choose to ignore that one. I believe a new tradition was started in 2007 falling in one of the best upsets in recent memory.

5B - Are there any traditions of your school's rival that we should all be aware of?

Wisconsin's tradition of the student section leaving at halftime is a personal favorite of mine. Are they bored with the game or is it already in hand? No, 2 quarters away from the bar is too much to handle, they can watch the second half at the bar right?

That is all I've got for now, check back in a few days for the recap.

Gopher Football 2008 begins today

2008-08-04T06:33:00.001-07:00

Can we please format our internal hard drives and forget 2007? Today we begin to see improvement and look forward to a new regular season.

This should be a pretty active week on the blog with previews, roundtables, 2-deeps and hopefully some special surprises. Stay tuned...

Clem Haskins article on ESPN

2008-08-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

This is very good, I'm not finishes so I'll put my comments in at a later time (why does work have to get in the way of blogging?).

Clem Haskins at Home in Kentucky

I know this most recent Final Four was the first Clem has attended in almost a decade. Other than that he has remained off the radar completely.

Time for YOU to get involved

2008-07-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

The commenting here at Gopher Nation is pretty light so the following request may fall on deaf ears but I want to know what you want for preseason football info.

As it stands I have no greater access to information than you do, but in all likelihood I spend considerably more time researching and compiling data to form my often brilliant opinions. So what would you like to read here?

Do you want to see another traditional analysis of Offense and Defense (maybe by position), schedule breakdown, opponent previews, depth chart guessing, etc?

Or is there something else, you'd rather see here to get yourself primed for Gopher Football 2008?

If you have an opinion or suggestion, please utilize the comment section or e-mail me your thoughts.

An optimistic Gopher preview (not from me)

2008-07-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

If you are like me you have probably seen at least a dozen Big Ten preview and just about every one of them has the Gophers finishing 11th in the Big 10.

Big Ten Bloggers - 11th
NYT-Quad Blog - 11th (101st in NCAA)
Lindy's Sports - 10th
Athlon - 11th
Phil Steele - 10th
SureFireScouting.com - 10th
USA Today - 11th
The Sporting News - 11th
Game Plan - 11th
ESPN / Blue Ribbon - 11th

(HERE is a good link with the Big Ten Grid for all rankings above.)

Of course, who can blame them. Minnesota's defense was on the verge of setting some dubious records, a -15 turnover +/-, our worst non-conference record in recent memory and the fact that we actually finished 3 games out of 10th place in the Big Ten.

Gopher fans would like to believe that last year was the perfect storm of things going wrong and 2008 will be very different.

Well, the brilliant football minds over at Saturday Sound Off think the Gophers could conceivably go 7-5 this year.

THE OUTLOOK: I LOVE Minnesota this year. Are they this year's Kansas? Not in a sense that they'll go 11-1 and win a BCS bowl game in the process, but in terms of +/- wins from 2007 to 2008, they might have the largest overall improvement. Weber is a sophomore, the running game will take on more of a priority and they'll be fine there, the WRs are more than solid, the offensive line is decent, the defensive line isn't that great but should get marginally better, the LBs are solid, and incoming JUCO talent in the secondary will send the pass defense's production skyrocketing.

I know it sounds like you are reading a post on a Gopher message board that tends to ooze with optimism. Of course I tend to agree with the handsome, witty, clever and handsome folks at Saturday Sound Off.

Previews are a fuzzy formula of looking at

last year + (looking at the schedule + opponents last year)
+ looking at returning talent + incoming talent.

Looking back at 2007 there is no reason to believe that we should have any hope for this year. This is about where everyone stops with the Gophers. Most publications and blogs do more than their share of previews and Minnesota is an easy one to gloss over.

But if you ask me the schedule + Weber's added experience + a defensive talent upgrade makes us ripe for a win turnaround. I'm going to e-mail the SSO staff to find out exactly why the "LOVE Minnesota this year" but it is refreshing to see someone else who thinks they just might be more than a 1-11 team this year.

The only thing that bothers me is that people will be happy with a 7-5 season and a trip to the Poinsettia Bowl. How quickly we lower expectations and backslide to the Mason Mindset. 7-5 would be a massive improvement and is really the upper limit for this team, but I still yearn for the days of more. I'll be happy to take a big step forward this year but I really hope it would lead to more steps forward.

Nobody is talking about Adam Weber

2008-07-25T09:27:00.001-07:00

Top 5 storylines surround the Golden Gophers heading into the 2008 football season.

1 - they were bad last year
2 - the defense was REALLY bad last year
3 - Tim Brewster uses the word tremendous a lot
4 - Tim Brewster had a tremendous recruiting class last year
5 - Eric Decker played baseball

I wonder why there is so little talk or coverage of Adam Weber's tremendous freshman season. Weber wasn't exactly on a Heisman list nor was he even under consideration for All Big Ten, but when you really look at things, he did have a very good season as a freshman starting in the Big Ten.

Just looking at the numbers alone Weber had a good year. Weber finished top 4 in the conference for Passing Yds and TDs. And don't give me the "product of a system" argument because more teams in the Big Ten run a spread or spread variation than teams that run a more traditional offense. So even if he is a product of a system it is a similar system employed by most of his peers.

The areas that were not as pretty were of course completion percentage an interceptions. This is where we break down the numbers to compare Weber to previous quarterbacks who started as freshmen in the Big Ten. Obviously 19 interceptions and completing only 57.5% of your passes are areas that need improvement but when you compare numbers to the following you realize it was pretty good "for a freshman."

	PCT	Yds	TDs	INT	Rsh Yds
Juice Williams (Ill)	39.5	1489	9	9	576
Kellen Lewis (Ind)	54.9	2221	14	7	441
Chad Henne (Mich)	60.2	2743	25	12	0
Jeff Smoker (MSU)	52.3	1365	6	7
Brett Basanez (NW)	58.5	2204	7	7
Zach Mills (PSU)	55.2	1669	9	12
Adam Weber	57.5	2895	24	19	617

The interceptions stand out as bad no matter who you are comparing it to. That has to improve. But everything else looks very good.

1st in yards
2nd in TD
3rd in completion %
1st in rushing yards

All in all what a solid year for a freshman starting all 12 games for a Big Ten program. Juice Williams is a phenominal athlete who gets a lot of press but when you break it down Weber had a much better freshman season (more yards, more TDs, higher completion % and even more yards rushing).

What does this mean as he heads into his second season as QB1? That is hard to judge. I'd love to assume his good numbers will go up and his bad numbers will go down. I looked at Brett Basanez (ran Dunbar's spread), Juice and Kellen Lewis to see how they fared from their freshman to their sophomore seasons. Lewis and Williams saw all good numbers increase dramatically and INTs also increased slightly. Basanez's numbers actually decreased as he threw only 4 TDs to 12 INTs as a sophomore. I don't know what the reasoning was behind this dramatic drop in production but let's hope Dunbar does not let this mistake repeat.

What I wasn't looking for but was pleasantly surprised was the increase in their team's wins from freshman to sophomore seasons.

	Win +/-
Juice Williams	+7
Kellen Lewis	+2
Chad Henne	-2
Jeff Smoker	+2
Brett Basanez	+3

Last year was painfully bad for Golden Gopher fans. For this season to be considered a success we need more than a +2 turnaround. But I fully anticipate Weber will modestly increase completion % by 3-4 points, INTs will reduce by -4 while TDs and passing yards will remain about same (maybe down a little bit as defense improves and running game is more consistent). If this were to happen +3 in the win column is a very real possibility with hope of +4 or +5.

After a record breaking season as a freshman, Adam Weber is poised to put his name to the left of several more school records and potentially Big Ten records. It is simplistic math to take his freshman numbers x 4 and assume he'll throw for over 11,500 yards and 96 TDs. Both would be top 2 in Big Ten history, but history shows us that injuries and defenses often have a lot to say about how Weber's career shakes out. I don't care about Big Ten records at this point, what I care about is winning games. And I think Weber gives us a very good chance to do just that. Whether anybody else is talking about it or not.

Brewster at Big Ten Media Day

2008-07-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the video of Brewster's Big Ten Media Day press conference...

In typical Brewster fashion he used the word tremendous within the first two sentences! In fact reading the transcript I was able to find usage of said word nine times. I'm a big fan of Brewster and his optimism but when I meet him, I am going to give him a thesaurus.

Main Entry: tremendous

Part of Speech: adjective

Synonyms: amazing, astounding, colossal, deafening, enormous, extraordinary, fabulous, fantastic, giant, gigantic, great, huge, immense, large, mammoth, marvelous, mighty, momentous, monstrous, overwhelming, powerful, stupendous, terrific, titanic, vast, whopping, wonderful

After his initial optimism and coach-speak about last season's competitive yet unsuccessful squad, Brewster pretty quickly got down to business...

"last year we were pretty solid on offense, did some pretty good things, scored some points and ran the ball fairly well. What we didn't do was stop anybody. We were a very poor defensive football team. From the head coach to the defensive staff to our team."

"And as you look through the years at the University of Minnesota, Minnesota has had good offensive football teams for a long time where we would come up short on the defensive side."

While I enjoy Brewster's optimism, the thing I most appreciate is that he isn't afraid to speak some of the truth. He wasn't afraid to say "Rose Bowl" when he first started and he isn't afraid to tell everyone that "yeah, we stunk on defense last year." While this fact is clear and anyone who paid attention knows this, most in the coaching world would pussy foot around this issue and say things like "we need to improve defensively" or "it is a total team effort" but Brewster wasn't afraid to call out his staff, the players and take some responsibility for not bing able to "stop ANYBODY."

Brewster also talked a little about our new defensive coordinator, Ted Roof (Roof received a double "tremendous")...

"Again, as I said, the key in our improvement without question is our development as a defense. I'm really excited about Ted Roof, our new defensive coordinator, comes to us with tremendous experience, not only as a defensive coordinator but a head coach. Tremendous calmness about him, understands, has been in the heat of battle, and his imprint on our defense was strong this spring. I thought that he came in and really got after those kids and let them know exactly the style of play that we want to play, and again, it just goes back to our commitment to playing great defense."

We really don't know a lot about Roof or what kind of style or personality he'll bring to the defense. But I like hearing that he got after kids a little bit. I'm sure as the season draws near we will hear more about how Roof wants to play an aggressive defense that flys around the field and swarms to the ball, but show me a defensive coordinator who doesn't want that and I'll give him directions to the unemployment center. The best thing that Roof can bring to this defense is his ability to teach. We have young guys who are going to have to contribute and they need to learn their responsibilities quickly.

Now on to the Q & A

Q. I know you. You mentioned about the emphasis on defense and trying to improve it and all that. How are you changing the defense in terms of style or scheme from last year?

COACH BREWSTER: You know what, I don't think it's at all about style. I don't think it's at all about scheme. I think it's about players, players having an attitude to swarm and attack. We talk about alignment, assignment and tackle, those basic premises which lead to playing good defense.

I know this is kind of a cop out answer, but for the Gophers this is completely true. If you have the tape, watch last year's Iowa game. The Hawkeye RBs would take a false step towards the Gopher sideline then cut back the other way in a designed counter play. Holes were massively huge because our linebackers would sprint three steps in the wrong direction before they realized the play was coming right at them. That is just bad defense of watching the ball and not reading the play. It doesn't matter how fast you are or whether or not you can tackle, if you take yourself out of the play you are a non-factor.

Then go and watch any other game on the schedule to see how awful we were at tackling. I thought Kyle Theret and Dom Barber were a solid tacklers but that was about it.

Q. Hearing from you and having just heard before from Mark Dantonio and Bill Lynch, a number of young coaches who are taking over programs who aren't traditionally the Ohio State do you feel like you and these younger coaches can continue to balance the power in the Big Ten?

COACH BREWSTER: You're a young guy, right? You don't realize that the University of Minnesota has won six national championships and 18 Big Ten Championships. University of Minnesota is truly one of the top schools in the Big Ten. Now it's been a long time since we've won a championship, but without question we believe that we can make an impact in the Big Ten, and that's why we're here.

I believe that HE believes he can make an impact on the Big Ten. Whether or not he can actually accomplish this is another question, but I still like the attitude and tremendous optimism.

Big Ten Alumni (non-athletics)

2008-07-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

I really don't have an original thought in my head so I am stealing this from Brent's Big Blog's Blog over at the BTN. Brent came up with a handful of notable alumni from Big Ten Schools who are not athletes. I did minimal research and came up with a few different ones, but stole most of them from BBBB.

So lets play a little matching game.

A	Ilinois	1. Lucy Liu
B	Indiana	2. Charlton Heston
C	Iowa	3. Orville Redenbacher
D	Michigan	4. Dwight Yoalkam - country music
E	Michigan State	5. Yanni - pianst/composer
F	Minnesota	6. Mark Cuban
G	Northwestern	7. Hugh Hefner
H	Ohio State	8. Dick Cheney
I	Penn State	9. James Hoffa - son of Jimmy
J	Purdue	10. Tom Browkaw
K	Wisconsin	11. Toby Flenderman - fictional character on The Office, didn't actually attend school

Answers to be posted in the comments. Pretty exciting game, huh?

Maresh to play in 2009 ???

2008-07-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN posted yesterday that Sam Maresh believes he'll be practicing with the Gophers in the spring of 2009!

But when Maresh talks about returning to the football field for Minnesota, it's hard not to believe him. Most people, including doctors, will attach the word "if" to Maresh's football future, but the talented linebacker who headlined the Golden Gophers' highly touted 2008 recruiting class speaks with a tone of certainty.

Obviously Maresh is being a little optimistic, but he was fortunate that the doctors were able to do the procedure without a "full incision of his sternum." Not completely breaking the bone that protects the heart and holds your ribs together significantly reduces the recovery time. So maybe, just maybe Maresh's optimism has some validity.

Currently he is unable to do any sort of exercise, "lift anything heavier than the remote" and has lost 15 lbs. But he will be at camp in August watching from the sidelines.

"It's going to be pretty hard to sit on the sideline, but it will be good to be a part of the team," he said. "For me to sit back and watch and learn from other people, it's going to help me when I start playing again."

As fans it would be great to see Maresh come back strong to lead the 2009 Gopher defense, but most importantly it is incredible that he not only survived open heart surgery and encouraging that all signs point to Maresh being strong, happy and healthy. Playing D1 football for the Gophers is just icing on the cake.

Welcome to Gopher Nation Kid - Eric Stephens

2008-07-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Gophers have landed their second 4-star running back from the state of Texas in the 2009 class. The other verbal came from Hasan Lipscomb who committed back in early May. The two backs will instantly upgrade our backfield as we head into the 2008 season with questions of depth and mediocrity surrounding the current core of RBs.

Eric Stephens
Size:	5-8, 177
High School:	Mansfield, TX (Timberview)
Stars:	4 (rivals)
Rank:	196th, 25th in Texas
Notes:	Fort Worth NIKE running back MVP, high school team is ranked #20 in preseason class 4A
Other Offers:	Boise State, Duke, Vandy, Houston, Buffalo

More than just being a highly ranked offensive weapon landing that Stephens is a significant get because it continues a Texas pipeline that has been started by Brewster and staff. As we start to establish a presence in Texas, continuing to land recognized players is very important to future recruiting endeavors. If you have read quotes from southern kids considering MN you know that many of them believe it is winter here 11 months out of the year. This gives us seven Texas commits in two years with a presence in Dallas and Houston. I have no doubt in my mind that this does make a difference. Landing a handful of Texas kids every year will help kids to see that they CAN survive a winter in Minnesota and this is a viable institution to continue their careers.

Stephens has plenty of praise coming from Rivals and ESPN Insider, while Scout barely recognizes him giving him just 1 star and not ranking him in the top 200 running backs in his class. Rivals however has him ranked 196th overall, 5th among all purpose backs, 4th best RB "in space" and 25th overall in the state of Texas. At a recent Fort Worth Nike Camp, Stephens picked up an MVP award and caused "several linebackers to whiff completely during the one-on-ones."

According to ESPN, Stephen's skills are the perfect fit for a spread offense.

"Stephens lacks great size but is a very slippery, elusive back with the skills to shine in a spread offense. Shorter frame but has a sturdy, strong body. Attacks the line of scrimmage with great burst and is a very sudden, quick-footed runner through the initial traffic. Avoids defenders with excellent lateral quickness and loose hips. Slips through the small cutback creases showing good body control and vision."

"Overall, Stephens is a quick-twitched athlete with great initial burst as a running back prospect. Could be a potential sleeper if he lands in a spread or zone read type offense that utilizes his great quickness and skills in space. Not a high-carry runner but a kid that could develop in a great change of pace back."

From everything I have read Coaches Dunbar and Brewster want to feature a running game in their spread. We threw the ball a lot last year but we really lacked depth and quality at the RB position. The only thing that will change that this year is a little more experience for the likes of Bennett and Thomas , and how well incoming freshman Kevin Whaley recovers from getting shot in the thigh. All of this adds up to a great opportunity for Stephens in Hasan Lipscomb to come in and contribute immediately as the next great running back duo at Minnesota.

Stephen's lack of size or top end speed does not concern me. I'm happy he is on board as our eithth verbal commitment of the year. What does make me nervous is that there is still a LOT of time between now and signing day in February. Until he puts his signature on a MN letter of intent I'll be worried the big boys from Texas will come calling.

But for now, welcome to Gopher Nation and I'll be sure to keep tabs on his senior season with the Mansfield Timberview Wolves, who texasfootball.com ranks as #20 in class 4A.

Why They're Ranked: We'll admit some intra-office dissent with this selection, and not because Timberview is ranked. Everyone agrees on that, but some feel Timberview should be among the Top 10. Their reasoning: for starters, 14 of them are back, seven on both offense and defense. No running back in Class 4A, in fact, returns with more rushing yardage than Eric Stephens, whose 1,906 yards came against 5A competition. Stephens was the offensive MVP in his district last year, while another decorated player, CB Christian Spears, was named the district's top sophomore. Both Stephens and Spears have what coach Terry Cron said is the overall strength of the team: speed. Fleet feet are in the receiving corps (where all three starters return) and the defensive backfield (where four starters return). Don't just assume Timberview will finish behind Stephenville and Everman in this district; Timberview will challenge for the district crown, and in doing so, it will justify its ranking.

Sounds like Stephens should have an exciting senior season that will then flow into a brilliant freshman season with the Gophers.

(photo stolen from Dallasnews.com, don't tell them)

Ranking the Big Ten QBs as NFL QBs

2008-07-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

The cool thing to do now is put out your own ranking of Big Ten Quarterbacks and as a blogger you are required to do a comparison list at least 4 times a year. Since Weber was one of our few bright spots in 2007 and is one of our few positions of "strength" heading into 2008 I too will take part.

The Best

1. Curtis Painter (Pur) - Painter threw a lot of passes a year ago (1st in B10), completed a high percentage of them (2nd in B10), threw very few INTs (just 11 in 569 attempts) and also threw a lot of them for 6 pointers (1st in B10). Is Curtis Painter the Tom Brady of the Big Ten? He doesn't have quite as much to work with, but his ability to be consistently accurate and able to find the endzone more than anybody else does draw some comparison. The biggest difference? Painter hasn't show he can win big games against good teams. In his last collegiate season this is his chance to give a big boost to the Boilermakers and put his name on the map.

4. Kellen Lewis (Ind) - Could Kellen become the Daunte Culpepper of the Big Ten? Mr. Lewis losses his primary offensive weapon in WR-JJ Hardy who accounted for 29.8% of Lewis' completions, 37% of his yards and 57% of his TD completions. When DC lost Randy Moss his numbers dropped substantially. TD:INT ratio went from 3.5 : 1 to 1:2. Injuries came along to shorten his season but prior to that he dropped 70 yds per game and was on pace to throw 60% fewer TDs than the year before. I don't know that Lewis will fall victim to essentially seeing his career tailspin into oblivian, but it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to losing the best that offense had going.

3. Todd Boeckman (OSU) - Boeckman is a big QB, with a strong arm and lacks mobility. Peyton Manning anyone? Sorry Buckeye fans, but it would be irresponsible of me to put a former SEC QB here, lets go with Ben Roethlisberger. He's also big with a strong arm, plus he's more of a midwest guy. But I'll end the comparisons there. Everything is ripe for Ohio State to win the Big Ten and roll into the BCS Championship game. Boeckman needs to be just a little improved. Believe it or not, but TB has the highest INT per attempt % of any returning Big Ten QB (even higher than Juice's). Painter threw INTs on 1.93% of his attempts and Lewis 2.26%. TB? He threw an INT on 4.68% of his attempts. That needs to improve and is the primary reason he is where he is on my list.

Next Best

4. Adam Weber (Min) - Vince was Brewster's guy, Vince is probably the best rusher on his team, does not have many weapons on his team and tends to have higher INT%. Check, check, check and check for the Weber comparison. I know I'm a homer but its my blog so screw you. I really think Weber flew under the radar on his way to a very good season last year. Mistakes were high and I've not hidden my thoughts that Weber was directly responsible for the Florida Atlantic and Northwestern losses. But with that said he also put up great numbers in his rFR year while learning a brand new, complicated offense. Of course mistakes will have to be reduced and steady improvement must be shown but this list is not about last year and more about where they will rank in 2008. I think Weber is poised to have a breakout season and will have every opportunity to be near the top of this list in 2009.

5. CJ Bacher (NW) - Jon Kitna threw the ball a LOT last year, was on a losing team and threw about as many TDs as INTs. Bacher threw for a lot of yards with a lot of attempts, but he has the lowest TD% of any returning B1o QB throwing TDs on just 3.65% of his attempts. The next lowest among returning QBs is Jake Christensen at 4.60%. That is kind of an alarming number for Bacher. For those who don't pay attention to the lower half of the Big Ten it would be easy to confuse Bacher and Weber as both are on teams trying to improve but that all depends on fewer mistakes from their QB.

6. Juice Williams (Ill) - I am NOT a fan of Juice Willaims as a QB. He is an incredible athlete and to be fair improved in the last several games last year. BUT, in multiple games last year I watched him completely miss guys who were wide open. Twice in their Indiana game he had certain TDs to WRs who had no defender within 10 yards. On both instances he missed the WR by 5 yards. Completion % was better but his INT% was still really bad. He should probably be higher because his value is in his legs (hence the Michael Vick comparison). Like I said, Juice is an incredible athlete, but I think he will have a very disappointing season with Rashad Mendenhall playing on Sunday's this year.

Solid Starters

7. Brian Hoyer (MSU) - Hoyer quietly is solid. None of his numbers stand out but he threw 20 TDs to 11 INTs and 2,700+ yards. Jeff Garcia was the best I could find as a solid but unspectacular NFL QB. Hoyer is losing WR-Devin Thomas so, like Kellen Lewis, it will be interesting to see how he responds.

8. Daryll Clark (PSU) - I chose Rex Grossman for two reasons. One, nobody is certain who will be starting for the Bears but conventional wisdom suggests that the more experienced Grossman should be the guy in week 1. Secondly, in Chicago if they are going to win it is because of the defense. I guess the fan base's frustration with their team's offensive coordinator factors into this decision as well. Clark should be the man in the new "Spread HD". Nobody is sure yet but

9. Jake Christensen (Iowa) - Cleo Lemon was on a bad team. He wasn't terrible but had a low completion percentage which stalled drives and lacked other offensive weapons. Having an experienced, returning starter is big in NCAA football. Christensen is solid who threw the fewest INTs of any returning QB. But like Lemon was on a bad team, was an unspectacular QB who isn't hurting his team but isn't exactly helping them either. The hopes of the Hawkeyes rest on the shoulder pads of Christensen.

The Rest?

Wisconsin QB (Allan Evridge, Dustin Sherer)- Just hand the ball off, don't worry about throwing the ball. Hand it off and let your defense give you good field position. If you are not familiar with why this comparison is apt or who Tarvaris Jackson is. He is the QB of the Minnesota Adrian Peterson's. Jackson is an unknown but all he has to do is hand the ball off to a super talented RB.

Michigan QB (Steven Threet, ??)- I should lead with the fact that this comparison has NOTHING to do with stats or individual success on the field. The comparison here hinges on teh fact that whoever starts for the Wolverines will probably put up big numbers but we all know they won't beat their more talented rivals.

Terrell Pryor (OSU) - MAKE UP YOUR MIND WOULD YOU? Plenty of talent and the tools to help lead his team to a championship. But probably won't play this year.

If you want some of the other Big Ten QB rankings you can go here...

ProFantasySports.com
ESPN Big Ten Blog
Big Ten Network
Lake the Posts (NW Blog)

Skyline-4 end of season awards that I missed

2008-07-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how I missed this but I wanted to put it out there just to get the juices flowing about how excited we really should be about our in coming recruiting class. This is the final time to enjoy their epic high school season before we leave it in the past as they learn to dominate the Big Ten as they dominated the Dallas area.

LB/S - Spencer Reeves - Dallas / Ft Worth Defensive Player of the Year

Maybe all of Gopher Nation knew this already, but last fall the Dallas Morning News named Spencer Reeves the Dallas/Fort Worth area Defensive Player of the Year last fall. That is a pretty cool honor especially when you consider how much talent and division I football players there are in the Dallas area.

Reeves was credited with 160 tackles, but that's only one way he contributed. His personality became the fiery heart of Skyline's defense.

Reeves also received defensive MVP of District 11-5A.

LB/S - Keanon Cooper

Dallas Morning News 1st Team All-Defensive team

Key stats: 165 tackles, four interceptions, three blocked punts.

About Cooper: His quickness at outside linebacker made him one of the top playmakers on Skyline's formidable defense.

Did you know? "I'm very goofy on the field," said Cooper, who jokes with his teammates to keep them loose during games.

Also District 1st team Defense

ATH - Troy Stoudermire

District 11-5A Offensive Player of the Year

There are no notes on Stoudermire's season but he was all over the field for Skyline playing QB, RB and WR at different times. He did have an outstanding season.

WR - Dajon McKnight

Not wanting to miss out on the party, McKnight also drew 1st team All District 11 as a WR.

Dallas-Skyline had an historic season as they won a playoff game for the first time since 1995 ending an 0-11 streak, advanced to the 5A Quarterfinals and finished with a 12-2 record. The heart of the team was a rock solid defense that held teams to just over 200 yds per game (this group may have fared better than the Gophers last year).

Impressive season but the fun part is just the beginning for Gopher fans. In their freshman seasons I would expect Cooper and Reeves to contribute from the beginning. Both will have the opportunity to earn starting jobs but at the very least they will contribute. If Stoudermire or McKnight earn playing time that is great but I would expect they will redhirt and be regular contributors down the road as they'll both likely be learning to play DB at the Div1 level.

High school is over for these guys but hopefully the fun is just beginning for them as well. While I'm sure advancing a few rounds into the Texas State Playoffs is a lot of fun, but taking the Gophers to the Rose Bowl would be an unbelievable achievement.

ESPN Big Ten Blog Interview with Eric Decker

2008-07-16T12:49:00.001-07:00

Part 1
Part 2

ESPN's Big Ten Blog is a fairly new endeavor of theirs (began July 3) and so far I love it. Adam Rittenberg was hired away from covering Chicago area teams (NW, Notre Dame, DePaul and others) to be ESPN's Big Ten Blogger.

Rittenberg chats with Decker about playing baseball, what was learned from last year and what we can look forward to this year.

What do people not know about your team right now that they'll find out in the fall?

ED: That we don't give up. We're definitely a bunch of guys that are fighting for starting spots and won't give up, because 1-11, that's something you carry on your shoulders for a while. You definitely want to erase that season by being successful.

I hope they can learn from last year's mistakes and make some serious strides forward.

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This is basically the same thing Kevin Seifert left the Star Tribune for as he is ESPN's new NCF North Blogger. Also a very well done blog so far.

SI's alternative to the Director's Cup - Minnesota 5th in Big Ten

2008-07-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

SI published their top 25 overall collegiate programs today. This is really a simplified version of the Director's Cup. I find these kind of rankings interesting. For obvious reasons football and basketball get all of the attention. If you live in the midwest you'll find more fans of hockey and even wrestling. And if you live in the south baseball is higher profile. But all of the minor sports get lost when evaluating the strength of collegiate athletic programs.

Here is a comparison of Big Ten teams in the rankings...

Director's Cup		Sports Illustrated
3	Michigan	6	Penn St
9	Penn St	12	Michigan
11	Ohio St	23	Wisconsin
18	Wisconsin	29	Mich St
28	Minnesota	36	Minnesota
29	Mich St	47	Ohio St
34	Illinois	48	Purdue
35	Purdue	50	Indiana
39	Indiana	NR	Illinois
40	Nortwhestern	NR	Northwestern
50	Iowa	NR	Iowa

Basically if you are Penn State or Michigan State you understand that SI figured out how to accurately judge overall programs. If you are Ohio State or Michigan then you understand that SI doesn't know anything about sports and they should just stick to swimsuits. And if you are Iowa you still suck.

Really I like the simplicity of the SI rankings but it needs just a bit more. In a nutshell they awarded points in 22 sports (11 mens, 11 womens) for national championships (10 points), conference championships (5 pts) and top 30 finishes (2 pts). What this is missing it doesn't reward teams for very good seasons that don't end in winning a title. For instance Illinois goes to the Rose Bowl yet earns a total of two points for their season for being ranked. Purdue goes 15-4 in Big Ten basketball and has next to nothing to show for it. Taking it to the national level Memphis doesn't get extra points for being the #2 team in the country? Texas is a 2 seed, goes to Elite Eight and gets 2 points for their entire season (same as Michigan State?!).

Interesting system, it makes for good discussion and validates my arguments with friends or other bloggers that Minnesota is a vastly superior program to Nebraska, Iowa or Kentucky. But it needs to be expanded just a little bit. A sliding scale for final rank or for finishing top 3 in your conference would reward successful seasons without giving points away to terrible teams. Minnesota should not receive any points for football or a mediocre basketball season. But in my examples above Illinois should get a bump for a great football season and Purdue deserves more than two points for their basketball season.

Your thoughts?

Gopher Football Recruiting Wish List - v2

2008-07-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

This is nothing official of course other than my 'official' wish list for 2009 recruits. I'll try to make the table actually fit so you can read the full comments.

I have moved a few guys around and added a couple names.

Significant move up - Craig Drummond (4-star DE) has moved up two spots into the #3 hole. The move was made because I feel we have a greater need along the DLine and also I'm not as sold that we have a realistic shot at Wingo or Davenport.

Significant move down - Ronnie Wingo Jr (4-star RB/Ath). Wingo seems to have cooled on Minnesota and RB isn't as much of a concern with the commitment of Lipscomb.

Added - Xavier Su'a Filo (4-star, OL), Nolan Washington (3-star CB), Eric Stephens (4-star RB), Cameron Gordon (4-star, WR) and Taylor Lewan (3-star OL).

Dropped off the List - Dan Orseske (P) - committed to Gophers, Nat Berhe (S) - not as significant of a need and although I'd love to land a good athlete with a 2.9 GPA he just isn't in my top 20 for now.

Gopher Nation Wish List

		Pos	Size	Stars	Hometown	OFFERS	NOTES
1	Michael Carter	CB	5-11 154	4	Pompano Beach, FL	FL, Clem, Georgia, Miami, Aub and others	cousin to Tyrone Carter
2	Ra'Shede Hageman	TE	6-6 252	3	Mpls (Washburn)	FL, OSU, Neb, Wis, Ill, Iowa, Mich St	a must have for Brewster
3	Craig Drummond	DE	6-5 260	4	Chicago	LSU, FL, OSU, USC, Tenn	Top 5 DE - We have our work cut out for us here
4	Chris Davenport	DT	6-4 318	5	Mansfield, LA	FL, LSU, USC, Tenn, Tex, Mich, Bama, everybody	I'm not holding my breath
5	Bryce McNeal	WR	6-2 170	4	Mpls (Breck)	committed to Michigan	We win, Mich loses things might change here
6	Ronnie Wingo Jr	Ath	6-3 210	4	St. Louis, MO	Bama, Mizz, Tenn, OK, Neb, Kan, Ill, Iowa, Ark	planning to visit, would be a great get, maybe RB
7	TyQuan Hammock	ILB	6-1 220	3	Fort Wayne, IN	L'ville, Mich St., Ind, MAC schools	13 sacks, 164 tackles as JR, brother to ast coach Thomas Hammock
8	David Gilbert	DE	6-4 215	4	Oakland Park, FL	Wis, L'ville, Pur, Scar, UCF, Mich St, etc.	As of 4/30 had 3 offers, now has 12+
9	Chris Williams	CB	5-11 185	4	Cincinnati, OH	WV, Ind, Cincy (has academic hurdles)	"The thing that shocked me was I didn't follow Minnesota football and they told me they went 1-11. I was like 'wow.' I mean if a I believe a school can really turn things around, and they want me to help I, would be interested in that."
10	Cam Gordon	WR	6-2 210	4	Inkster, MI	MSU, Cincy, BG	not ready to make a decision, #30 WR according to Rivals
11	Eric Stephens	RB	5-8 175	4	Mansfield, TX	Duke, Hou, Vandy, Boise St	strong, great attitude, wants to pair with Lipscomb to be the next Barber-Maroney combo
12	Nosa Equae	DE	6-4 235	3	Mansfield, TX	KU, Col, Iowa, Pur, L'ville	Kan and Col are top 2, is planning to visit
13	Xavier Su'a Filo	OT	6-4 285	4	Provo, UT	USC, Aub, LSU, Mia, ND, BYU, Col, Stan	Moses Alipate is trying to convince him MN is the place to be, don't hold your breath
14	Rodney Smith	WR	6-6 202	4	Miami, FL	Aub, FSU, OleMiss, Mizz, Tenn, many others	3.0 GPA, but kind of a longshot imo
15	Nolan Washington	CB	5-11 165	3	Burien, WA	Idaho	fast with 34" vert. Loves Oregon but they have not yet offered. One I'd particularly like to see end up at MN
16	Dwayne Difton	WR	5-11 166	4	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	BC, Pur, Sflor, S Miss, Syracuse	seems high on Auburn if offered
17	Taylor Lewhan	OT	6-6 270	3	Scottsdale, AZ	ASU, UT St	likes ASU, dad went to Minn
18	Matt Garin	DE	6-4 220	3	Apple Valley, MN	AZ St, Ore St, Stan, Wash St, AirForce, MACs	plenty of Pac 10 schools but no other BCS schools, interesting
19	Anthony Jones	OLB	6-2 200	3	Chandler, AZ	AZ, ASU, OreSt, Wash St
20	Artice Kellam	S	5-11 180	NR	Miami, FL	OleMiss, SoCar

Golden Gopher Football Rivals - Part 1

2008-07-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

RIVAL
a: one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess
b: one striving for competitive advantage

I want to take a look at the three teams Gopher fans view as our rivalry games. Bear in mind that I am defining these teams as rivals, not peers.

For decades the Gophers have competed in the Big Ten and sought to add 5 trophies to the trophy case each season.

1-Big Ten Championship Trophy
2-Rose Bowl Trophy
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3-Paul Bunyan's Axe
3-Floyd of Rosedale
3-The Little Brown Jug

Since very few of you reading this (if any) can remember a B10 or Rose Bowl trophy making it's home in the Bierman Building, the next best thing has been our attempts to bring home one of our three traveling trophies. It is rivalry trophies such as these that are part of what makes college football great and keeps Gopher fans interested in throughout terrible seasons. We will get into much greater detail but these rivalries and the stories behind their trophies are fascinating.

It is a little known fact (thank you Cliff Claven) that the Gophers actually won the first game in all three of these trophy games (Michigan was actually a 6-6 tie, but since it ended their 28 game winning streak and we were heavy underdogs it is considered a victory).

There is often much debate as to which is the "biggest" of the rivalries.

Some say Michigan is the biggest and most important to win. This isn't a natural rival and to say we have been "rivals" is laughable for Michigan fans. But the point here is that if we want to be the best we have to beat the best. Beating Michigan is more of a statement and puts us in a better place to accomplish other goals than beating Wisconsin or Iowa will typically do for us. But there certainly is no bitterness or dislike for each other. Michigan fans want to beat Ohio State and Michigan State. Gopher fans have more passion for beating Iowa and Wisconsin. But the Little Brown Jug has been around for a long time and might be my favorite of the traveling trophies.

The further you live south of the Twin Cities, the more you will find Iowa to be our biggest rivals. I grew up in south central Minnesota and cared much more about brining home Floyd of Rosedale than I cared about the Axe or the Jug. Geographically this makes sense. This has also been our most successful rival as it is the only one of the three where we have a winning record. The story behind Floyd of Rosedale is interesting and amusing that an actual pig was sent from Iowa to the Governor's office to pay the debt.

My best guess would say that the majority of Gopher fans would say Wisconsin is our biggest rival. With the Twin Cities being so close to the border you usually have at least a couple Badger fans in your office, at church and/or living on your block. The close proximity of these Badger fans is also amplified on Sunday's when they turn into Packer fans so the rivalry carries over. From our calm and level headed perspective Badger fans seem to be more obnoxious than our other rivals. But then again that may just be that they are here in greater numbers and they are Packer fans.

Before I get too in depth with each rival, I encourage you to take let your voice be heard and vote as to which rivalry you think is biggest.

a WAY early look at 2008-09 Basketball

2008-07-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the 4th of July (for those of you who didn't already know this) and starting next week the countdown to football should really heat up. But before we all go into full on gridiron mode I'd like to take a moment to look ahead to basketball.

This week I made a trip over to St. Paul to watch some of our current and incoming Gophers play in the Howard Pulley Pro City League. I am not going to reproduce any game recaps done by Ryan James over at Rivals but I'm going to use my observations there to help form my thoughts on the 2008-09 season.

Starting Lineup (best guess)

PG - Al Nolen

I am a big fan of Nolen and what he brings to the court. Watching him play at Pro City League (PCL) reminded me how good he is defensively but is also reiterated that he is not much of a shooter. He reminds me of Eric Harris early in his career. Harris worked his tail off to become a better shooter and by his senior year shot nearly 39% from behind the arc. But I'm not concerned with Nolen's shooting (we have scorers), I love his defense and what he does to get the rest of his team involved. The PCL is great for a guy like Nolen who gets to guard guys like Troy Bell, Kammron Taylor and Ariel McDonald. For next season I am counting on a similar defensive presence and improved passing on the offensive end. He was able to penetrate the lane last year but often threw passes away or couldn't quite thread the needle in traffic.

SG - Devoe Joseph

I'm taking a shot here, but I think Joseph will be our starting SG by the time we get to the Big Ten season. I'm probably wrong as this spot could go to Westbrook, Hoffarber or even Bostick but I'm taking a shot here. Joseph as most of you know was allowed to try out for the Canadian national team. He did not make the team but is considered to be an integral part of Canadian basketball future. But again the competition and increased speed/intensity can only be a good thing for a kid like Joseph. Jason Thom has this to say about Joseph on his Inside Training Camp blog...

The kid is a shooter...more importantly, he is coachable. Mike Malone, Dave Smart and Leo all took him aside at different times to explain something in practice. He listens, asks questions and without the blank stare that many young players have. It was a glimpse into Canada’s future when he was grouped with Sammy D and Carl English during a few drills.

HERE is a link to a short video of Joseph talking about the privilege of playing with Canada on your jersey while he shoots around.

Basically Joseph is a big time wild card. He could potentially come in and stand out early as a scorer or he could blend in with the handful of other perimeter players we have as he matures and fills out that thin frame.

SF - Devron Bostick

JUCO national player of the year and a big time scorer. After watching Bostick at PCL I'm really not sold on his jump shot. I watched him closely during warmups and was not impresed, but then questioned my original analysis when he drained a deep three early in the contest. But Bostick then went 2 for his next 9. This was just one game but to me he didn't have a great follow through and I don't see a consistent shot coming from him when the Big Ten season speeds things up a little bit. I could be completely wrong as Bostick shot 6/12 from NBA threes in his previous PCL game. And he did attempt 186 threes last year making 33% of them. But my hunch is that he will not be reliable or shoot that % next year in the Big Ten.

With that said the kid is a scorer. I envision him starting here in the small forward spot and getting plenty of minutes at SG throughout the game when Tubby goes bigger. At 6'5" he isn't ideally suited for SF but smaller lineups and three guard offenses are more the norm in college ball these days and I envision a small starting lineup.

Bostick will be our leading scorer.

PF - Damien Johnson

Again, smaller starting lineup will require Johnson to play PF which he often played last year when Coleman was on the bench. Johnson also played on Tuesday in PCL and he continues to amaze me in how far he has come since his freshman season. 15 pts, 16 rebounds, a couple blocked shots and an impressive put back dunk. I'm counting on Johnson to really be the heart and soul of this team. I don't know if he is ready or even capable of leading but if he lets his play do the talking others will follow. DJ will not be our leading scorer but will probably lead the team in rebounding.

C - Ralph Sampson

Big Jon Williams is the more experienced returner in the post but I think Sampson will earn the starting spot. This is the guy I was most looking forward to watching at PCL but he was not present. It is hard to gauge Sampson's impact on next season but everything I have read says that he is continually improving and will be ready for the Big Ten. I think his preferred position is PF, but until we have a center we can count on I expect he'll start at C. Envisioning a lineup where we have someone else at C and Sampson at PF is fun to think about but for now neither Iverson or Williams can be relied on to start at C.

His first PCL game has him scoring 20 and grabbing 6 boards. This was against a weaker team but encouraging none the less for a kid just out of high school.

BENCH (in order of who will enter the game first)

G-Lawrence Westbrook - will come in at either guard spot. Westbrook had an inconsistent season last year, but at times was our primary scorer. The kid isn't afraid to put the ball up, but he also was prone to some awful turnovers. An increase role in the offense and better decision making will allow Westbrook to be more successful this year but also with the incoming talent I see the offense being geared more for the likes of Sampson, Joseph, Bostick and Hoffarber. Westbrook should be used to adjusting by now. He'll be a key perimeter defender and an occasional offensive shot in the arm.

SG-Blake Hoffarber - needs to get better at everything except shooting. I don't think The Hoff is as stoic as others do, but he does need to do more than just shoot. The kid is arguably the best shooter in the conference and that will be his primary role. I don't care that he can't create his own shot or that he won't penetrate the lane. Not his role on the offense. What he does need to get better at is defending the perimeter and he needs to contribute as a rebounder. I do believe he is athletic and is capable of more than just shooting but at the same time his shooting is what other teams will fear and it is exactly what we need him to provide.

C-Jon Williams - Big Jon will likely see the biggest increase in minutes. I don't think you'll see much more scoring out of the big man but he is going to have to be a factor defensively and most importantly on the boards. As his minutes creep up to about 25 min / game can he average 5 of 6 reb/game? That will be significant.

C/F-Colt Iverson - I was able to see Iverson play this week at PCL. When he did not have the ball he looked like a plodding big white guy. But with the ball or attacking the glass Iverson displayed some athleticism and desire. The kid has 7 boards in each of his first two PCL games. Much like Williams I don't see Iverson as a scorer we will be counting on this year. Minimum shots and any points we can get will be a bonus but rebounds and defense will make a big difference for this team. I'm expecting 15-20 min per game.

F-Paul Carter - Our second JUCO commit but not yet on campus. Carter is another wild card who could really be a significant contributor or not. Carter and Johnson are probably our only true SF type players and will give us some size/length when playing at the SF spot. My hope is Carter is able to defend athletic SF's around the conference (think Raymar Morgan). He put up solid numbers last year as a first year JUCO. In an interview with his JUCO coach Carter's length and athleticism kept coming up as his strengths so hopefully he'll be a big boost in all areas off the bench.

G-Jamal Abu-Shamala - I have never been a supporter of JAS on this blog. I just don't think he is a Big Ten caliber player. This summer JAS has tried out for and made the Jordanian National basketball team. They did not qualify for the Olympics but JAS will get the opportunity to compete with and against a different level of competition which can only benefit him in preparation for his senior season in Minnesota. But he is essentially a less athletic and not as good a shooter as Hoffarber. Expect about 10 min per game.

G-Kevin Payton - again someone I do not endorse as a viable option off the bench. From my perspective Payton is taking up a scholarship I'd rather use on a PG for next season. There are rumors that his junior season will actually be his last as the staff is pushing for him to graduate this year and then possibly help out coaching (much like Ryan Saunders). I endorse this move. I am sure Payton is a great guy but he just offers very little value on the floor and that is what we are talking about here.

G-Travis Busch - another scholarship that belongs with someone more talented. Busch's scholarship is already in play to be yanked next year, but considering he is a walk on he has to know this was potentially coming. I love his hustle, when given minutes last year he outworked more talented players but that hustle is best utilized in practice to make others better. Glad he's on the team, don't want to see him in games.

Some random predictions...

Leading Scorer - Devron Bostick
Leading Rebounder - Damien Johnson
Steals Leader - Al Nolen
Assist Leader - Al Nolen
Blocked Shots - Ralph Sampson
All three-point categories - Blake Hoffarber

Final record? - can't give that without a schedule
Big Ten Finish - 3rd place behind Purdue and Ohio State. 3rd place will be a battle with Wisconsin and Michigan State
NCAA Tournament - YES

I am eagerly watching for the Gophers to release their non-conference schedule. Thus far all we know is that they'll be playing Louisville in the Stadium Shootout (Dec 20) and Virginia in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge (Dec 2).

Blake Hoffarber up for his second ESPY

2008-07-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

The ESPY Nominations were released today.

Blake Hoffarber's shot to beat Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament has earned a nomination. I don't know the stats or ESPY records but he would have to be one of the few (if not only) amateurs to win more than one ESPY. Really he could become the only person to win multiple ESPY's who's name is NOT Tiger Woods.

Click HERE to start voting.

Hoffarber's competition?

#1 - Super Bowl: Eli Manning to David Tyree...

This one is obviously the heavy favorite. It is arguably the best play in Super Bowl history. I'm not sure the legend that is Blake Hoffarber is enough to beat Mr. Manning. (You've all seen the real play a million times and I like Tecmo Bowl so go to YouTube to find the real play if you want to see it.)

#3 - Mississippi Miracle...

This DIII game where Trinity needed 15 laterals to score a TD and win the game. Cool play, but probably #3 in the final standings here.

#4 - Nash Shoots and Scores...

I was expecting a Steve Nash shot, but teah, that was Rick Nash, not Steve (hockey, not basketball). Cool play but this will not win.

The Manning/Tyree catch is clearly the favorite to win this but Hoffarber has a chance to pull off the upset. Let's get Gopher Nation out there and voting to get Blake his second ESPY.

And here is the brilliant highlight of the year for Gopher basketball...

Welcome to Gopher Nation Kid - Dan Orseske

2008-06-30T07:21:00.001-07:00

The verbals are coming in at a torrid pace lately.

As media outlets prognosticate on the upcoming Big Ten season there are two things Gopher fans can count on this year. 1-The Gophers will be picked 11th nearly 100% of the time. 2-The only Golden Gopher you will see on any pre-season all conference lists is punter Justin Kucek. Kucek is a senior so brining in punter to replace him is obviously important for Brewster and Co.

The coaching staff has received a verbal from their top punter priority. Dan Orseske has decided he will make the move from Chicago to Minneapolis next fall to compete for the starting punter position as a true freshman (P-Blake Haudan will be a senior next fall so he may get a year as the starter).

Size: 6-3, 195 lbs

High School: Brother Rice (Chicago, IL)

Stars: none at this point

Rank: NR

Notes: Brother Rice water polo has won 13 state championships (Orseske does not play WP)

Other Offers: Northwestern (take that LTP)

It is hard to gauge how good a high school punter truly is but after performing well at a Gopher camp this summer, Orseske earned a scholarship offer. He took a week to think it over and this weekend Orseske gave the Gophers his verbal. This verbal brings our commit list to eight as we get to the midway point of the summer.

At the Kohl's Punting and Kicking camp in May, Orseske averaged 44.9 yds per punt with an average hangtime of 4.08 seconds. Those numbers were nearly 5 yds further with .30 seconds of extra hangtime than the next best punter at the camp.

Orseske has spent his summer making the tour of football camps (Illinois, Northwestern, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, N. Illinois). His only other offer was from Northwestern, but ultimately the decision was down to Minnesota or Illinois (who he expected to offer).

Hopefully this team gets to a point where a punter isn't as much of a factor as Justin Kucek has been. An offense the moves the ball and a defense that gets some three-and-outs does more for field position than an All-American punter, but having a strong and accurate leg can do a lot to bail you out.

Dan Orseske, we welcome you to Gopher Nation with open arms. No offense to you but the less we see of, you the better.

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On a related topic, lets talk about recruiting pipelines for the Gophers. In a season and a half of recruiting for Brewster and staff there are a couple of areas where the Gophers are making significant inroads. With the addition of Orseske, it adds another kid from the Chicago area. I don't know that a punter becoming the 3rd commit from one area makes us a recruiting heavyweight in the area, but if Brandon Green, Johnny Johnson and now Orseske can have some success we should be able to demonstrate that Minnesota is a viable destination for Chicago area recruits.

The two biggest recruiting hot beds in the country are Texas and Florida. Brewster isn't exactly batting 1.00 in Florida with the flame out of Harold Howell, the de-comittment of Padric Scott and the transfer of Tray Herndon. We continue to pursue highly rated athletes from the Sunshine state but have yet to land a big fish or two to make us viable players down there. Maybe WR-Victor Keise will be the first in a long line of Florida studs to give the Gophers some of that southern speed.

Texas, however, has been a different story. Landing the Skyline-4 has clearly established the Gophers at that particular school, and hopefully the Dallas area. But our Texas pipeline has tapped into more than just the Dallas area. Eric Lair (3-star TE) was an early commitment last summer and this springs verbal from Hasan Lipscomb (4-star RB) gives us another major athlete from the Houston area. Six highly ranked players from the two largest cities in Texas gives us a fighting chance with future recruits. The key to all of this is of course sustaining some success on the field. If the Gophers are able to demonstrate some Big Ten competitiveness in the near future then kids from Texas (or Florida, California, Ohio, wherever) will be more apt to braving Minnesota winters for a chance at starring as a Golden Gopher.

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CB-Michael Carter - Florida recruit would give us street cred and much needed help in the secondary
DE - Craig Drummond - Chicago native who needs to get on that I94 tollway north and give us our second 4-star Chicagoan.

Welcome to Gopher Nation Kid - Brooks Michel

2008-06-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

The 2008 Recruiting class was heavy with wide receivers and defensive players at all positions. So far the 2009 class has loaded with offensive linemen. Typically offensive linemen take a redshirt year so the timing is probably about right since we currently have a young line. These incoming commits will take 2009 to redshirt and most of them will likely watch in 2010 then have 3 years to earn starting spots.

Brooks Michel, welcome to Gopher Nation.

Size: 6'7", 280 lbs

High School: Carmel HS, Indiana

Stars: 3 (Rivals)

Rank: NR

Notes: defending state champs, All-State Honorable Mention

Other Offers: NC State, Kentucky

For those of you looking forward to the 4 or 5 star, top 100 kid, you may be disappointed. For the second commit in a row this isn't that rock star verbal, but maybe you can take comfort in the adage that offensive line is the hardest to project and accurately assign stars. The godfather of recruiting rankings, Tom Lemmings, has been quoted as saying so, and after reading Bruce Feldman's "Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting" it also became clear that stars mean nothing to coaching staffs. Gopher fans also know this very well as Greg Esslinger (2-star) and Mark Setterstrom (3-star) were lowly ranked and unheralded players who ended up dominating the Big Ten.

Back to Michel. He is a big kid who as a junior helped lead his Carmel Greyhounds to the Indiana State Championship. He is our third offensive linemen of the seven verbals we have received to date.

Let's hope he brings that championship pedigree to the Gophers.

Kevin McHale has this NBA Draft thing all figured out, doesn't like OJ Mayo

2008-06-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

I know this is not a Timberwolves' blog and in my own defense I have been 100% on topic throughout the life of Gopher Nation. But I feel compelled to throw in my two cents on the Timberwolve's draft and Kevin McHale pulling another draft day trade. Since McHale is a Gopher alumn I think I'm still batting 1.00

I also know that I'm treading on very thin ice here as I try to criticize not just one of the best athletes in the history of Gopher athletics, but I'm also going to question the greatest GM in all of sports (Forbes said it, not me).

The principals of this trade are only half of what bothers me, I'll get to that in a minute. But I get this vibe from McHale that he thinks he knows something nobody else knows. He thinks the joke is on everybody else but in truth they are all laughing at him. What I mean by this vibe is that his track record for drafting is ~~terrible~~ no ~~awful~~ no ~~abysmal~~, I can't find a word to describe it. Yet he continues to operate each subsequent draft like the previous. With such an unbearable draft record (KG being the lone exception and one could argue he got lucky) why would you just not take the sure thing and be happy with it.

Sitting at #3, McHale did the right thing by drafting Mayo. Mayo has certain skills that directly translate to the NBA and he will contribute immediately (more detail below). But that wasn't good enough for KMc so he traded him. While the entire basketball world agrees that Mayo can shoot the NBA three, has the ability to be a very good defender and has a chance to be a perennial All-star, McHale decided he knew something they didn't and traded Mayo to Memphis.

What did he get in return? He got Mike Miller who will be a nice addition as a productive player and Kevin Love. Love might be fine and also a productive player, but his upside is not what Mayo's is. The NBA is a league of stars and explosiveness. Kevin Love is neither (neither is Miller for that matter).

In an effort to be more specific lets take a look at each players listed strengths/weaknesses (~~courtesy of~~ stolen from Draft Express)...

OJ Mayo
Strengths	Weaknesses
Size	Between a PG / SG
Versatility	Poor shot selection
Scoring Instincts	Turnovers
Shot-creating ability w/either hand	Does not get to the FT line enough
NBA 3-pnt range	Reliance on outside shot
Ability to pull up sharply off the dribble	Struggles to get by defenders
Basketball IQ	Year older than class
Court Vision	Low shooting percentages
Confidence/Swagger
Perimeter Defense
Work Ethic
Coachable

For my money you can throw a couple of those weaknesses out the door.

Tweener? - at 6'5" and NBA range he will play SG and provide some min at PG if needed.
Year Older than his class? - So he'll have only a 12 year career not 13.
Turnovers/Shot selection/reliance on outside shot? - if he truly is coachable and has a good work ethic (listed in strengths) those can all be corrected.
Character Flaws - I honestly believe this has been overblown. I know Mayo's attitude and confidence (arrogance) does not play well in Minnesota, but to be great at this level you have to have swagger. You have to not only want to take big shots you have to believe nobody can guard you and that you are the best person on the floor to take that shot. His other flaws are meaningless once he signs a contract. He hasn't been arrested and most importantly he is known as coachable and having a good work ethic. Those last two attributes have been glossed over because of the scandal surrounding his agent friend while still an amateur player.

His strengths are exactly what you are looking for in an NBA perimeter player. Draft Express says best case scenario is Mayo has a career similar to Chauncey Billups. That is pretty much spot on.

Kevin Love
Strengths	Weaknesses
Productive	Size
Hands	Explosiveness
Strength	Plays below the rim
Fundamentals	Lateral quickness
Intensity	Defensive potential
Ability to score in the paint	Not much Upside
Excellent Touch
Range out TO 3-pnt line
Free Throw shooting
Basketball IQ
Passing Skills
Winning attitude
Little downside

When your strengths include attributes like fundamental, productive, excellent touch and passing skills; you are not destined for NBA greatness. And what kills me from within is that his weaknesses include NBA requirements like size, explosiveness, lateral quickness and playing below the rim? Best case scenario for Mr. Love? Personally I see best case being a Christian Laettner type career. Solid player who puts up some decent numbers but will never be more than a #3 option on a good team. Not capable of leading into the playoffs or carrying a team when needed.

Apart from their individual skill sets, Mayo would fit much better on this team than Love. I know we are full of perimeter players but a backcourt of Foye and Mayo to pair with Jefferson in the post is a very good trio. I see two offensive sets that are actually dangerous and require gameplanning by the opposition starting immediately.

1-Mayo coming off an Al Jefferson pick n roll is dangerous. Mayo needs just a little space provided by the screen to hit a mid range pull up (a strength of his) or to dish to Jefferson.

2-Foye and Jefferson have an inside out 2-man game on one side while Mayo stretches the defense on the backside waiting to who his NBA ready 3-point jumpshot.

Love on the Wolves roster? He is a good sized PF who is not big enough to play C (remind of you anyone on the Wolves roster?). Regardless of how good Love may or may not be we don't need another PF. Best case we have two good PFs starting side by side. Again I go to what is a proven formula for success in today's NBA. Two big men doesn't do it. You have to spread the floor with some explosiveness and shooting from the outside to go with someone who can dominate the paint. Tim Duncan doesn't need another big man clogging things up, he needs Parker and Ginobili to keep the defense spread and knock down open shots. Jefferson as a post up PF is great, but where does Love play into this? Setting a back side screen to free up Miller? Finding an opening on the backside baseline for a 10 ft jumper? I think that kind of player can be found without giving up the #3 pick in the draft.

In all fairness the rest of the pieces of this trade I like a LOT. Mike Miller fits in great here and should be productive immediately. Jaric and Walker had to go and it frees up considerable cash in the very near future. If you want to buy into 2 > 1 philosophy then this was the right move. But in a league of stars you brought in two role players for someone who might ("might" is of course the operative word here) be a star.

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TWolves Blog agrees with me. I think it is kind of hard to tell what "Let's just say my throat is still burning from the vomit." really means.

PagingJimShikenjanski doesn't comment on the trade but isn't happy about the NBA.

TNABACG loves the lateness of the trade making for incorrect headlines in your paper edition of the Star Tribune (what is the paper edition thing?)

John Hollinger of the WWL disagrees with me (DAMN). "When we break it down, it's hard to see how Minnesota loses: Love is, in my estimation, the better of the two prospects."

Chris Mannix (from SI) agrees with me as well. "With Mayo and Al Jefferson as cornerstones, the Wolves were going somewhere. Now, Minnesota will have to build around a talented but undersized frontcourt (Love, Al Jefferson) without a marquee guard."

Timberwolves' owner Glen Taylor also agrees with me - "Our people thought that Mayo had far more upside than Love," Wolves owner Glen Taylor said. Quote can no longer be found on STrib but TWolves Blog still has it for us to ponder.

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NOTE: I like the pick of Petrovik (I'm not bothering to look up spelling).
OTHER NOTE: picture of a GIDDY Kevin McHale was stolen from Star Tribune, picture of players wearing hats, from ESPN

New Poll on right sidebar...

2008-06-26T13:35:00.001-07:00

I want to know how this breaks down in Gopher Nation...

Where do you stand on the current football coaching staff.

1 - Tim Brewster is the guy and will lead us to a championship level. If you land in this group you believe in the Ron Zook blueprint. Recruit, Recruit, Recruit, then the wins will come. It may take a few years and along the way the first couple seasons may be absolutely brutal but once the talent level is raised and those kids get some experience they will start winning games. As many may recall it wasn't very long ago that Zook was labeled as a great recruiter but a terrible game coach. Those labels are gone for now and soon the Brewster naysayers will have little to say as well.

2 - I miss Glen Mason. At least Mason never gave us a 1-11 season. While we knew a shot at the Rose Bowl was going to take some luck and even those shots would be few and far between. But Coach Mason was right, things were really bad before he got here, he brought us to a new level and under Brewster you are head right back to the bottom 2 or 3 of the conference on an annual basis. We had established one of the best running games in the country and fielded a team that was bearable to watch.

3 - I'm still on the fence. I think it was time for Mason to go but I'm not yet sold on Brewster. But if he can keep recruiting like this I'm willing to take a couple seasons like 2007 with the shot at greatness. I am not willing to call this hire a failure, but so far I'm not impressed.

I encourage you to vote with some passion, in the end I just want to know what % of Gopher fans are actually going to be patient, who misses Mr. Mason and who has bought the snake oil.

Mark Schlabach has no foresight

2008-06-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

Schlabach put out his 2008 Bowl predictions and I'm appalled that the didn't include your Minnesota Golden Gophers. I didn't expect he'd put us in the Rose Bowl until next year but nothing? (ed note: sometimes sarcasm is hard to pick up so don't crucify me in the comments)

Here are the Big Ten teams and their slotted bowl opponents...

BCS National Championship: Georgia ~~over~~ vs. Ohio State
Rose Bowl: USC vs. Wisconsin
Capital One: Florida vs. Illinois
Outback: Penn State vs. Tennessee
Insight: Nebraska vs. Purdue
Alamo: Kansas vs. Michigan State
Champs Sports: Florida State vs. Michigan
Motor City: Ball State vs. Iowa

Seriously, Iowa? That leaves Indiana, Northwestern and Minnesota the only Big Ten teams not practicing for two extra months. In all seriousness with our non-conference schedule and getting Iowa, Northwestern and Iowa at home we could make a run at that Motor City tilt with Ball State. I know that is a Glen Mason-esque goal, but baby steps to Pasadena. Beating Michigan at home just might get us to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl.

Football Recruiting Snapshot

2008-06-24T13:40:00.000-07:00

Football recruiting is massive and hard to keep track of. For those of you who don't pay attention to recruiting on a daily basis I want to give you a quick snapshot.

We are about in the same spot we were a year ago. At this point in 2007 we had 4-star locked up, a handful of 3-star kids mostly from Minnesota and many athletes from around the country putting the Gophers on their short lists. To date in 2008 we have a 4-star locked up, a handful of 3-star in state kids and many studs from around the country mentioning the Gophers along with Ohio State, Florida, Michigan, Georgia, etc.

I sense some anxiousness and eagerness to get more commitments this summer, but as I looked back the bulk of our commitments came in September thru November. So the hope is to just get on the radar of kids and stay in the hunt.

For Tim Brewster to land a second consecutive top 25 recruiting class winning will be an absolute necessity. You can sell kids on playing time and building for future championships while you generate a 1 win season for a little bit but eventually they'll tune you out for teams who are actually winning. Brewster doesn't have to win the Big Ten, but showing improvement and demonstrating that you actually are building something will go a LONG way towards winning recruiting battles with the traditional big dogs.

With that said here is a brief snapshot of who we have, who we are after and who this guy desperately wants to see wearing a Gopher hat come signing day.

	Pos.	Size	Stars	Hometown	Also Offered
Hasan Lipscomb	RB	5'11", 201	4	Houston, TX (Cypress Ridge)	Nebraska, TexA&M, Baylor, ISU
Moses Alipate	QB	6'5", 235	3	Bloomington, MN (Jefferson)	Wash St, Colorado
Josh Campion	OL	6'5", 265	3	Fergus Falls, MN	interest from Wis, Notre Dame, Michigan
Victor Keise	WR	6'1", 160	3	Coral Springs, FL (N. Broward)	interest from NC St, Miami, Conn
Ed Olson	OL	6'6", 270	3	Mahtomedi, MN	N. Ill, interest from PennSt, Mich, Col, Ill
Nick Rengel	TE/WR	6'3", 225	none	Sartell, MN	Buffalo, UCF, N Ill, NDSU

Lipscomb and Alipate highlight the recruiting class thus far.

ESPN Insider has Lipscomb on their top 150 watch list and had this to say...

Follows his blocks well and runs with good vision. Shows good lateral quickness and outside speed stretching the zone run and turning the corner. Can be shifty through the initial traffic flashing good stop-start skill and body control making defenders miss. Shows a burst and sneaky extra gear when he finds an open seam. Not a burner, but displays good speed in the second level to separate.

As a junior Lipscomb rushed for 26 TDs on 1,625 yards. He is originally from New Orleans but was displaced because of Hurricane Katrina. Because of his New Orleans roots, LSU pursued but never offered.

Alipate is the flagbearing Minnesota kid of 2009. The QB from Jefferson is kind of an intriguing recruit. His high school team was not very successful and he didn't put up great numbers. But when at camps and other opportunities to show his skills he usually does very well. As a junior he was invited to the Under Armor Junior Combine in January, which says a lot about his talent and upside. Scout has him as a 4-star recruit and ESPN can't say enough good things about him.

For a pocket passer with the great size that Alipate possesses, he is a really good athlete with some footwork and movement skills you don't see from a dropback passer. He is very competitive, shows solid overall natural tools and a strong arm.

Overall, Alipate's competitiveness is evident and he has the measurables, arm and athleticism to become an excellent player at the next level. He could play in the spread and could also play as a pure drop back guy which gives him some real versatility and value.

It should be fun to see him compete with 2008's QB recruit, MarQueis Gray, to lead the Dunbar Spread into the Rose Bowl.

Gopher Nation Wish List...

		Pos	Size	Stars	Hometown	OFFERS	NOTES
1	Michael Carter	CB	5'11", 154	4	Pompano Beach, FL	FL, Clem, Georgia, Miami, Aub and others	cousin to Tyrone Carter
2	Ra'Shede Hageman	TE	6'6", 252	3	Mpls (Washburn)	FL, OSU, Neb, Wis, Ill, Iowa, Mich St	a must have for Brewster
3	Ronnie Wingo Jr	Ath	6-3, 210	4	St. Louis, MO	Bama, Mizz, Tenn, OK, Neb, Kan, Ill, Iowa, Ark	planning to visit, would be a great get, maybe RB
4	Chris Davenport	DT	6-4, 318	5	Mansfield, LA	FL, LSU, USC, Tenn, Tex, Mich, Bama, everybody	I'm not holding my breath
5	Craig Drummong	DE	6-5, 260	4	Chicago	LSU, FL, OSU, USC, Tenn	Top 5 DE - We have our work cut out for us here
6	Bryce McNeal	WR	6-2, 170	4	Mpls (Breck)	committed to Michigan	We win, Mich loses things might change here
7	David Gilbert	DE	6-4, 215	4	Oakland Park, FL	Wis, L'ville, Pur, Scar, UCF, Mich St, etc.	As of 4/30 had 3 offers, now has 12+
8	TyQuan Hammock	ILB	6'1", 220	3	Fort Wayne, IN	L'ville, Mich St., Ind, MAC schools	13 sacks, 164 tackles as JR, cousin to brother to ast coach Thomas Hammock
9	Chris Williams	CB	5-11, 185	4	Cincinnati, OH	WV, Ind, Cincy (has academic hurdles)	"The thing that shocked me was I didn't follow Minnesota football and they told me they went 1-11. I was like 'wow.' I mean if a I believe a school can really turn things around, and they want me to help I, would be interested in that."
10	Nosa Equae	DE	6'4", 235	3	Mansfield, TX	KU, Col, Iowa, Pur, L'ville	Kan and Col are top 2, is planning to visit
11	Rodney Smith	WR	6-6, 202	4	Miami, FL	Aub, FSU, OleMiss, Mizz, Tenn, many others	3.0 GPA, but kind of a longshot imo
12	Nat Berhe	S	5-11, 160	3	Colton, CA	New Mex, SDSU	2.9 GPA
13	Matt Garin	DE	6-4, 220	3	Apple Valley, MN	AZ St, Ore St, Stan, Wash St, AirForce, MACs	plenty of Pac 10 schools but no other BCS schools, interesting
14	Anthony Jones	OLB	6-2, 200	3	Chandler, AZ	AZ, ASU, OreSt, Wash St
15	Dan Orseske	P	6-3, 195		Chicago	Northwestern	We need him and I think we'll get him
16	Artice Kellam	S	5'11", 180	NR	Miami, FL	OleMiss, SoCar
17	Dwayne Difton	WR	5-11, 166	4	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	BC, Pur, Sflor, S Miss, Syracuse	seems high on Auburn if offered
18	Jaz Reynolds	WR	6-3, 180	3	Aldine, TX	Col, Kan, Neb, NW, Virg, SMU, Bay, Vir	his HS QB is heading to Kansas, not likely but who knows

This list is very fluid and I gave preference to guys I thought we had a remote chance at landing. But I am far from knowing anything. As I prefaced this is just a snapshot and wanted to keep people informed (if you want greater detail I suggest you pay the subscription fees to something like Rivals, Scout or ESPN Insider).

It's Minnesota Day on BTN

2008-06-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

Today the BTN highlights Minnesota's most recent athletic year. Below are the notable events to be aired on the BTN today.

12:00 N - 4:00 "Minnesota Basketball: The Journey" episodes 1-8

I don't think I have seen each all 8 episodes but this was an entertaining little series. They followed the Gophers in Tubby's first season. If you look REALLY close, you can see me in the Big Ten ACC Challenge episode as I paid to go with the team to Florida State that weekend.

7:00 - Minnesota over Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament.

The primetime slot is occupied by Blake Hoffarber's miracle shot. Significant accomplishments in minor sports aside, this was the highlight of the Gopher season for most fans.

9:00 - Big Ten Tonight: Minnesota Year in Review

Not sure what to expect but I anticipate they will chronicle some of the team and individual accomplishments that many Gopher fans were unaware of. So this might be fun to watch to see that just because football was 1-11, basketball missed the NCAA Tournament and Hockey was disappointing; Gopher athletics was not a complete failure.

10:00 - Minnesota vs. Georgetown in 1993 NIT

I remember this game and of all the Gopher programming on today this will be the one I try to watch.

Complete BTN schedule can be found HERE.

Welcome to Gopher Nation Kid - Nick Rengel

2008-06-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

We now have six verbal commitments, four of which are from Minnesota. As of last night Sartell's Nick Rengal was that fourth.

The 6'3" athlete was at Minnesota's camp this last week and performed well enough to go home with an offer. It didn't take long to accept. Rengal had offers from Central Florida, NDSU, and a handful of MAC schools but had been waiting for the Gopher offer to come through.

"I grew up dreaming of playing for Minnesota, all the kids in Minnesota should. I knew that when they offered me I was going to commit." per Rivals

We need more kids with this attitude. Guys like Matt Carufel and Kim Royston didn't feel like this but later regretted their decisions to play for Notre Dame and Wisconsin respectively . It will take more kids like Rengel and of course a few more wins to truly lock down the boarders.

Obviously as a recruit who has no stars attached to his name this isn't the rock star verbal we all would love to see. But after news of Maresh's heart condition and players defecting news of someone excited to be hear is refreshing.

After reading Bruce Feldman's "Meat Market: Inside the Smash Mouth World of College Football Recruiting" I learned that camp is a great tool for coaches to find those players not yet rated and discovered by everyone. Rengel took advantage of his time in front of the coaching staff and convinced them he was worth a scholarship.

Maybe Rengel is just a local kid who plays special teams and contributes as best he can, or maybe he is that diamond who becomes a factor and makes this team better. I am not here to judge talent, but instead to extend an official welcome.

What was your favorite Clint Brewster moment?

2008-06-17T12:27:00.001-07:00

As has been rumored for several days, Clint Brewster (son of head coach Tim Brewster in case you lived under a rock), is going to transfer out of Minnesota. After watching Adam Weber set school records as a redshirted freshman, JUCO All-American David Pittman coming in and highly rated incoming freshman MarQueis Gray on his way to Minnesota, Clint wanted a better opportunity to get some playing time.

Personally I think this is a non-story although it does create a doomsday "Cubs Syndrome" where as soon as a player leaves he tuns into a stud and egg is on our collective faces.

I did like the depth that Clint would have provided to our QB situation as he could have been the clear cut #2 for the next 4 years with the ability to perform well should the QB1 go down for any reason. But that is pure speculation and you can't blame a kid for wanting to compete at a level higher than running the scout team vs. the starting defense (and I use the term 'defense' loosely!).

Where do people think the young Brewster will end up?

Colorado? - seems like a logical fit. Sophomore Cody Hawkins is the returning starter but after Clint sits out a year he would then be in position to be a 3-year starter for the Buffs.

Illinois? - I highly doubt it. The tranfer year would be another season to distance himself from Juice Williams but I don't see him transfering within the Big Ten.

Baylor? - transfer Kirby Freeman will be the QB this upcoming season but then after sitting Brewster would have a shot at being the man for the next four seasons. A Big 12 school in Texas, but Clint would have to compete with 4-star recruit Robert Griffin.

BYU? - I don't think he's mormon.
Air Force? - they run the spread but might not be what he is looking for
Utah? - spread offense, might be a very good fit

Those are my total shots in the dark. If I had to give the official Gopher Nation prediction, I'd say...

1. Colorado
2. Utah
3. Baylor
4. anywhere but Wisconsin

Brewtster taking heat for comments 17 months ago...

2008-06-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

January 17th is a date known for many significant events…

1595 – Henry IV of France declares war on Spain
1605 – First publication of Don Quixote
1899 – Al Capone was born
1917 – the US buys the Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million
1949 – the first sitcom, The Goldbergs, airs on US television
1971 – Kid Rock was born
1982 – "Cold Sunday" in the US saw temperatures fall to their lowest levels in over 100 years in numerous cities (thank god for global warming)
1991 – Operation Desert Storm begins

But that date will forever be remember by Gopher fans as the day Athletic Director Joel Maturi officially hired his new head football coach, Tim Brewster.

We are 17 months removed from his first press conference and some Brewster quotes from that day are still being parsed and debated by fans, bloggers and message board enthusiasts. I’ve take my shot at analyzing and ending the conversation (not a goal actually attainable) but ultimately I wonder why it even matters?

There really are two things that matter in college football.

1- actually winning
2- the perception of moving in the right direction

I know that everyone will tell me that really winning is the only thing that matters. And maybe at certain schools that is true, but not necessarily at the University of Minnesota. One could argue that Glen Mason was the third best coach in the storied history of the Gophers (Murray Warmath and Bernie Bierman are clearly top 2). Mason did produce the highest win % since Bierman. But winning games and going to mid-level bowls was not enough to keep his job as it was determined that the program wasn’t really moving forward.

I’m putting words behind the actions of Maturi but I think it is safe to assume that the program had plateaued and the administration or influential alumni believed we needed a new leader to move forward.

This brings us back to January 17^th, 2007 and the initial press conference by Tim Brewster, who boldly proclaimed he was not only creating Gopher Nation but planning not take us to Pasadena and stated things like…

"My expectations from day one are going to be to win the Big Ten Championship. That’s what the seniors deserve and what everybody deserves."

“Our expectation is to win a Big Ten Championship now. We’re not interested in any rebuilding process. I’m very fortunate that I’m not coming into a situation that is decimated where there are no players. There are players here. Glen Mason did an excellent job at this university and coached these kids well. They’ve won a lot of games. They’re not void of talent, so we’re in a little different situation here than it is at most places that are going through the hiring process. I’m very excited that it’s not a complete rebuilding process."

These quotes created quite a stir and have been the root of controversy and debate ever since.

One side wonders how we ever hired this lunatic who thought we actually had the talent to win the Big Ten in 2007.Either he was crazy or he was a poor judge of talent and crazy. As his team marched on to a 1-11 season the fuel was added to the fire of this groups’ ire.

The other side says “C’mon guys he didn’t REALLY mean he could win this year.” What coach in his right mind is going to give up on a season. Of course he was just encouraging his troops and showing them that he had confidence in them. Ultimately he just meant that winning the Big Ten (as opposed to ‘earning’ a mediocre bowl bid) is the goal each and ever year.

After initially defending the comments, I say WHO CARES! Whether or not he thought the Gophers were going to be Big Ten Champs in 2008 is completely meaningless. There are two things that matter. His record and the perception that he’s moving the program forward. In year 1, he failed miserably in the win/loss department. But he did hit a home run in the world of recruiting which has Gopher Nation buzzing about being able to field a team with Big Ten talent throughout the roster.

You may say, his words don’t exactly matter, what irks Gopher fans is that his rhetoric is over the top and coming off as crazy which won’t get you anywhere. You may be correct to a degree. He clearly overstated things when he was in the moment of being paraded as a new head coach. But that same enthusiasm and goal oriented rhetoric is precisely the reason he was able to bring in a top 20 recruiting class which happened to be the best this program has seen in decades.

Was his first season a success? Absolutely not, but I would argue it wasn’t a total loss. Bringing in a top 20 class when your team finished 1-11 is incredible. 2007 was a disaster but he has given hope for a sustainable turnaround. Eventually he will have to prove he is more than a recruiter and a coach capable of winning games and take this program to a new level of competitiveness. Through one season he is completing 50% of his passes.

But really does the fact that he was excited and was the first person to voice that we should have higher goals really that big of a deal? His team struggled on the field and there has to be improvement this in 2008, but what he said at his initial press conference or even all through his first spring is completely irrelevant to the 2008 season. Can we please move on?

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Inspiration for this post
Charlie Walters
Sunday Morning Quarterback
Footballnews - 247

Golden Gophers on the national (and international) scene

2008-06-16T06:53:00.001-07:00

Congratulations are in order all around for the following current and future Golden Gopher athletes...

Women's Track All-Americans
Liz Roehrig - Runner-up Heptathlon
Heather Dorniden - 5th place 800 Meters
Ruby Radocaj - 6th place Javelin

Men's Track All-Americans
Hassan Mead - 6th place 5000 Meters

Mead is a true freshman who has had an outstanding freshman year and if healthy could become an all time Gopher great.

All-American (Cross Country)
Big Ten Runner-Up (Cross Country)
Big Ten Freshman of the Year
Big Ten Outdoor Champ 5000M (Track)
All-American 5000 M (Track)
6th place finish at NCAA Outdoor Championships

Next? Olympic trials.

Wrestling
Jake Deitchler - your youngest member of the US Olympic team as the 66 Kg wrestler. The 18 year old just graduated from Anoka and will be a Golden Gopher next season but has already made a name for himself as only the second high school wrestler to make the Olympic team. Mike Farina was the last to do it in 1976. This is a pretty incredible accomplishment and should give me a reason to tune into Olympic Wrestling this year.

Also worth noting is that there has been a wrester from the state of Minnesota on the US team for every Olympics dating back to 1968.

HOT tailgating product (shameless plug)

2008-06-12T10:20:00.001-07:00

I am often e-mailed various products and advertising "opportunities." Some I reject and some I find cool enough that I can't in good conscience keep hidden from Gopher fans and in this case tailgaters.

Check out The Grill Topper (don't hold it agaisnt them that they are an Iowa based company) to see how this little product works. Since my target audience is primarily men, don't count on this being purchased for you for Father's Day, you might have to go and buy it yourself.

Anyway, check it out and it will be interesting to see how many burgers look like THIS on Saturday afternoon, September 12th, 2009 in the TCF Bank Stadium parking lot!

Incoming frehsman, Sam Maresh, to have open heart surgery

2008-06-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: thanks to brilliant commenter (G0EL Pete) HERE is a link to more info on the Aortic Valve and replacement.
----------
Every once in a while something comes along that reminds all of us that football really isn’t all that important.

Many of us have been eagerly anticipating the new look Gopher defense that was to eventually be led by in-state recruit Sam Maresh.The middle linebacker from Champlin was an early commitment to coach Brewster and honestly has been the only significant in-state recruit Brewster has kept from other major programs.

But the Star Tribune is confirming what has been recently rumored, that Maresh has a congenital heart defect requiring surgery. Sam’s father, Bill, e-mailed the Star Tribune…

According to the e-mail, Maresh reported to the U of M on June 2 for a physical, where tests revealed he had a heart murmur. Three days later, after more tests, the family was told that Maresh has a congenital heart defect. Bill Maresh wrote of Sam: "His aortic valve has a serious leak, his ventricle is enlarged and also has an enlarged aortic root."

That is incredibly scary for Maresh and his family. Fortunately this was caught before the condition would have been worsened by 2-a-days in August and hopefully it can be corrected so the young man can live a long and healthy life.

The article does a nice job laying out the significance of Maresh to Brewster and the Gopher program so I won’t go into it any further.

A 4 pm press conference is scheduled for this afternoon to provide further details.

While hoping and praying for more Gopher wins this fall is kind of a big deal to those of us who follow, it all feels pretty meaningless in light of something as serious as this.

It is my prayer for the Maresh family that they can be at peace throughout this process and that Sam can be healed by competent doctors to live a full and healthy life.

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UPDATE:

From GopherIllustrated message boards (rivals subscription required and I urge you to subscribe as they are excellent at what they do), Bill Maresh recently posted this...

It’s difficult to know where to start when sharing information like this. Julie and I have tried to keep the information from going public, only telling family and a few staff members. At 4:00 p.m. there will be a press conference here at Champlin Park High School with Julie, Sam and myself. We feel it is time to share this information with the people we work with.

On Monday June 2nd, Sam reported to the University to participate for his first work out with the Gophers. The University requires physicals of all their new recruits before allowing them to work out. During the physical Sam was told he had a heart murmur and before they would let him work out they would have to perform further test. Wednesday June 4th, Sam had an EKG and an Echogram. Later that evening, Julie and I received a call telling us they had set up an appointment with a cardiologist and that Julie and I needed to be there. Thursday, as we met with two cardiologists, we were told that Sam had a congenital heart defect, his aortic valve has a serious leak, his ventricle is enlarged and also has an enlarged aortic root. We were told that he would need open heart surgery to repair or replace his valve and also to “fix” his aorta.

Yesterday, we were at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and saw three more doctors, the last being Dr. Schaff, a surgeon who we scheduled the surgery with. The Surgery will be June 26th.

The priority of Sam living a full and long life has been the number one concern through this process. Of course as most of you would guess, Sam asked the doctors, “will I be able to play football again” and I’m sure many others will ask the same question.

So before I answer that question, I want to again state that we, including Sam, have accepted the fact that this surgery was necessary for Sam to have a long and full life. Sam chooses to have the valve repaired if possible and if not to have it replaced with a tissue valve.

With the tissue valve, Sam has a chance of playing again. Of course the surgery will have to be a success, his ventricle will have to return to a normal size and his breastbone will have to mend strong enough to handle the impacts of football. So the answer to the question “will Sam be able to play football again” cannot be answered at the present time. There are many hurdles for Sam to clear in the next year before the doctors will clear him.

Julie and I are so thankful for all the University of Minnesota has done, from detecting the heart murmur, to referring us to possibly the best surgeon in the world, Dr. Schaff. We are most thankful for the prayers we have received through the last week and asked that you continue to pray for Sam through his surgery and his recovery.

Thanks for all your support,

The Maresh Family

Gopher Sports 2007-08 Recap

2008-06-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

Chances are pretty good that if you read this blog then you are already aware how the football, basketball and hockey teams fared this year. (Ugly, improved, disappointing in case you didn't know). But lets take a moment to recap all of the 23 Golden Gopher sports...

Big Ten Champions
Women's Cross Country
Women's Swimming and Diving
Women's Indoor Track & Field

I guess it was a better year for the women's side of the athletic department but here is a brief sport-by-sport run down.

Fall Sports

Football (1-11) - Tim Brewster's first season was highlited by his recruiting class while we suffered through a season as bad as any in memory. The football team has received enough coverage so we'll leave well enough alone.

Volleyball (18-13) - 11-9 which was good enough to be tied for third in the Big Ten. A streaky season for the Golden Gophers who started out 12-3, went on a seven game losing streak, split their next two and then finished the conference season winning five of their last six. Minnesota was the only team in the country to face all four participants of the Final Four (Cal, Stanford and the National Champs from Penn State). Heading into next year we return two very talented freshmen (Brook Dieter and Lauren Gibbemeyer) and currently sit as the 9th winningest volleyball program in the country.

W Cross Country (finished 12th at NCAA Championships) - Big Ten Champs (five runners in top 17) and NCAA Midwest Region Champs highlited a rather successful season for the women runners. SO-Jamie Cheever was the highest finisher at the NCAA meet finishing 33rd overall. We do return six of our top seven runners so 2008 could be another highly successful season for the women long distance runners.

M Cross Country (finished 8th at NCAA Championships) - JR-Chris Rombaugh finished 29th and FR-Hassan Mean finished 43rd to lead the Gophers. Mead and Rombaugh finished 2nd and 4th respectively in the Big Ten Championships as the Gophers finished 2nd to Wisconsin. We return three of the top five runners for next year.

Women's Soccer (9-8-2) - The season was nothing special but did manage to pull off the biggest upset in the program's history when the Gopher women knocked off nationally ranked (#8) Penn State 1-0 in double OT. The team finished 6th in conference and lost to Illinois in the first round of the B10 Tourney. With their sophomore and freshmen classes ranking top 50 nationally when they were recruited, it would appear that the next couple seasons could be improved.

Winter Sports

Men's Basketball (20-14) - again well chronicled on this particular blog. Much improved, incredible recruiting class and some new coach who given time just might make a name for himself.

Women's Basketball (20-12) - 11-7 was good enough for 3rd in the Big Ten. More importantly the women earned a their 5th bid into the NCAA Tournament in coach Pam Borton's six seasons. They return their best player in cup stacking champion, PG, Emily Fox who earned First team All-Big Ten honors in her junior season.

Men's Gymnastics - finished 5th (out of 6) in Big Ten Championships. SR-Mitchel Mays claimed an individual title on the vault. Mays was actually the heavy favorite to win an NCAA title on the vault but he "landed short on his Tsukahara double pike for a score of 15.625 and an eighth-place finish."

Women's Gymnastics - finished 6th in Big Ten Championships, but managed to finish the season with a #16 national ranking. Apparently the Big Ten was loaded as seven teams finished in the top 30 (6 in top 20).

Men's Hockey (19-17-9) - a disappointing season as the Gophers began the season with hopes of a Frozen four appearance but reality brought them down to a 9-12-7 WCHA record (7th place). Freshman Goalie, Alex Kangas, went on an unbelievable run during the WCHA tournament and Minnesota fell just short of their 15th conference tournament championship. The Gophers did manage an at large bid into the NCAA's but lost in their first round match up at Boston College.

Women's Hockey (27-7-4) - a more successful regular season than the men ended in much the same fashion. After finishing 2nd in the WCHA to Wisconsin, the Gopher women advanced to the championship game but lost to Wisconsin. They did of course make the NCAA tournament and were given the opportunity to avenge their previous 3 losses to Wisconsin but once again they lost to the Badgers to end the Gopher season.

Men's Swimming and Diving (3rd in Big Ten) - continued their streak of a Big Ten top 3 finish each and every season since 1989. The men scored more points this year in the NCAAs than they did a year ago when they finished 10th, but the added points this year were enough to garner an 11th place finish.

Women's Swimming and Diving (Big Ten Champs) - setting 14 team records and five events the women swimmers (and divers) won their third conference championship. The women continued their successful season and went on to finish 13th at the NCAA meet. Jillian Tyler earned Big Ten freshman of the year.

Wrestling - The Gopher grapplers followed up their 2007 National Championship season with their worst finish in the NCAA meet since 1996 finishing 10th. Not so bad, right? But when you have standards set as high as the Gophers', who have finished top 3 in nine of the last 11 seasons, 10th isn't exactly something to write home about. Second in the Big Ten, their best wrestler returning and the nation's top recruiting class on it's way there is no reason to believe the Gophers will not be back to their usual top three finish.

Spring

Baseball (20-35) - the baseball team is likely the biggest disappointment of the Minnesota athletic department. A decent showing in the non-conference season beating Tulane, Pepperdine and Missouri (all NCAA Tourney participants) turned out to be fools gold as the Gophers struggled mightily and finished last in the Big Ten. I'm planning to cover this in more detail soon, but it was their worst season since 1950. A very young pitching staff and much of their lineup potentially returning (depending on draftee decisions) should mean the Gophers will return to the top of the Big Ten soon.

Softball (29-16) - 4th place finish in the Big Ten. This was the highest Big Ten finish since 1999 and with only four seniors on the team 2009 could be a very successful season for the softball team.

Rowing - With the finest facilities around and a breakthrough season in 207, the women's rowing team finished 4th at the Big Ten Championships and 6th in the Central Region.

Men's Tennis (7-17) - 16 of their 17 losses came to ranked opponents and this young squad finished 4-6 in the Big Ten to cap their season. They will return 3 of their top 4 singles players and should be in fine shape to return to the NCAA tournament where they have been 13 of the last 15 years.

Women's Tennis (15-11) - a winning season and much of their roster returning this may have been a learning season. #1 singles was freshman Alessandra Ferrazzi from Brescia, Italy who will anchor the team in the next few seasons. Looking at the roster you see that the women's tennis team hails from exotic locations all over the world as Italy, Russia, Brazil, Australia and Neenah, Wisconsin are all represented. Bonus points to anyone who is actually reading this and can guess which of those locations I have actually been to.

Men's Track & Field - 5th place in Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The premier outdoor event, the 100m, was won by a Gopher for just the second time as Ibrahim Kabia established himself as the fastest man in the Big Ten (would have been 8th in SEC for those of you keeping track). Three other men won individual titles. Five Gophers will participate in the NCAA Meet (June 11-15 in Des Moines, IA). All five are underclassmen.

Women's Track & Field - This may be the most successful team in Gopher athletics this season. Big Ten Indoor Champs and 3rd place in Outdoor Championships. Eight individuals will be participating in the NCAA Meet next week.

Men's Golf - Big Ten runner ups to Michigan State with two golfers finishing in the top 10. JR-Victor Almstrom finished tied for 5th and SR-Clayton Rask finished 10th. Like several other sports this team was young and will return four of their top five golfers. Rask and Almstrom also participated in the NCAA Central Region Tournament finishing 11th and 41st respectively.

Women's Golf - While young squads has been a theme here, the women's golf team is the youngest of them all. The Gopher women finished 8th in the Big Ten (shooting their second lowest B10 score in team history) and the team was led by two freshman. Teresa Puga finished sixth individually at the Big Ten Tourney and Mary Narsizi finished 23rd. Essentially the entire roster returns (one senior who was not usually within the top 5), while this does not guarantee success they will have every opportunity to improve.

That covers all 23 sports that you can support in Gopher Athletics. As a group the University of Minnesota athletics finished 22nd nationally in the NACDA Director's Cup Standings. I do not believe that all of the spring sports are included in the most recent rankings so I would expect a little drop depending on how well our track athletes perform. A year ago we finished 20th but with the poor showing by football and baseball, coupled with slightly down years in hockey and wrestling the drop cannot be all that unexpected. How Notre Dame could even think about hiring away an athletic director from a team not in the top 20 of the Director's Cup Standings is beyond me.

Directors Cup Standings
Big Ten Teams
2	Michigan
3	Ohio State
4	Penn State
18	Wisconsin
22	Minnesota
23	Purdue
25	Michigan St.
29	Illinois
30	Indiana
32	Northwestern
50	Iowa

Take that Iowa!

Cold Minnesota Lakes Cause Linkage

2008-06-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't jumped on the linkage bandwagon lately but here is what is going on around Gopher Nation and the Big Ten.

Recently some minuscule Michigan blogger MGO Blog (you've probably never heard of it), has indirectly called out Gopher Nation saying there really is no such thing.
"I blame the 2004 Red Sox and Kos for this. There is no Spartan Nation. There is no UAB Nation. There is no Badger Nation. Unless you are named Chad and everyone on your team is also named Chad, there is no nation for you. BLANK Nation jumped the shark two seconds after the 2004 ACLS. Shut up about it."
I guess Brian didn't directly call us out so maybe we are OK. All I know is Tim Brewster said there is a Gopher Nation so that's what I'm going with. Maybe he'll think differently after his Wolverines step foot into Gopher Nation as they get housed at the Dome this fall.

Matt Hayes at The Sporting News recently listed his top 5 players in the conference at each position. Only Eric Decker (#5) and punter Justin Kucek (#2) represented the Gophers. There is little to argue with here as there was a reason we were 0-8 a year ago. If the Gophers are going to win a couple conference games this year guys like Weber, Dom Alford, and anybody on defense may have to earn a spot within the top 5 of their respective position.

As usual the Iowa bloggers Black Heart, Gold Pants provides us with a funny but completely unsafe for work, home or the library post. Just for your own safety and job security I suggest never clicking on a link provided by BHGP!

People who know me will say I'm lying but I am actually reading a book. I have begun reading Bruce Feldman's "Meat Market - Inside the smash-mouth world of college football recruiting." Feldman spent a little more than the entire 2007 recruiting season with Ole Miss and noted recruiting great Ed Orgeron.

I am not far enough to comment on the book but I have noticed several parallels between Orgeron and Brewster. Both are noted as outstanding recruiters and have landed blue-chip players for blue chip programs which led to National Championships. Orgeron was the master behind Leinart, Bush and other drafted players at USC. Brewster is given credit for guys like Vince Young at Texas. Both parlayed their recruiting reputation into head coaching jobs at schools in need of talent to move up from the bottom of their conferences. It should be a great read and provide some insight into the world of college football recruiting.

From the Barn put out a hard hitting interview with incoming PF Colton Iverson about his love of "The Office."

One of the best Big Ten Blogs for one of the worst Big Ten teams recently allowed me to give my thoughts on Gopher Football 2008. Lake the Posts has been giving an early sneak peak into the NU schedule and HERE is the Gopher preview. LTP also did an interview with Big Ten Network host and NU grad Dave Revsine. I didn't actually read it because it is really long but it looks interesting.

Paterno will eventually die or quit coaching (not sure which will come first) and there are rumors that Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is being set to replace him. A planned successor isn't all that strange but when that successor is currently coaching another D1 team, that is unprecedented. It is of course just a rumor but interesting nonetheless.

5 best wins of the Glen Mason Era

2008-05-22T11:24:00.001-07:00

Say what you want about the Mason era, and I have, but Mase did move this program from a perpetual bottom 3 or 4 team to a middle of the road Big Ten team capable of occasionally knocking off the big boys. Obviously his lack of recruiting at every position outside of RB and OL, his contentness with mediocrity and his unique ability to lose games that appeared to be locks cost him his job. But over the course of his 10 years at the U he did mange a few significant wins that stand out. So in all fairness, after pointing out five of his ugliest losses, here is my list of top five Mason wins

#5 - Wisconsin (34) vs. Minnesota (37)
11 / 08 / 2003

Although this was the second win over Wisconsin in the Mason era this one stood out. Heading into the game Minnesota sat at 8-2, was ranked #20, but had lost a heart breaker to Michigan and hadn't beat anybody else of significance. Wisconsin was 6-3 at the time with wins earlier over #23 West Virginia and #6 Ohio State. This was a chance to beat a good team.

Wanting to make a statement the Gophers jumped out to a 24-6 lead after a Thomas Tapeh TD with 2:01 remaining in the half. The Badgers scored 36 seconds later but the lead still remained double digits heading into half time. In typical Mason fashion we let the Badgers back into it and the game was tied in the 4th after a Badger TD with 7:15 left in the game.

The Gophers and their dominating ground game of Barber / Maroney managed 6 plays and a punt. The amazing part of this game was what the defense did. Wisconsin started on their own 42 but went 3 and out gaining 1 yard. The Gophers got it back with 2:49, went 11 plays, 61 yards and was capped by a 35 yd game winning FG by Rhys Lloyd.

#4 - Minnesota (24) @ #2-Penn State (23)
11 / 06 / 1999
First significant Big Ten win for Mason

Since the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten the Gophers had been unable to beat them. But this after a couple near wins was one of Masons first significant wins. Heading into the game in Happy Valley Mason's Big Ten record stood at 5-16 beating nobody of significance and only 2 road wins within the conference. What really makes this game stand out is that fact that entering the game Peterno's Lions were undefeated at 9-0 and ranked #2 in the nation.

This was a great game with both teams trading scores and the lead throughout the second half. But in the end it was a 32 yard Dan Nystrom kick as time expired that put the Gophers over the top and put Mason on the map in Gopher Nation.

#3 - Alabama (16) vs. Minnesota (20)
12 / 31 / 2004
Music City Bowl

The Penn State win above was huge but the Alabama win edges it out for #3 for two reasons. 1-the Tide had an outstanding rush defense that we shredded and 2-it was a win over an SEC team.

The Crimson tide had not allowed anybody to rush for over 100 yards all season. That included Joseph Addai (99), Ronnie Brown (55), Cadillac Williams (41) and Jerious Norwood (96). Marion Barber had more than those first three backs listed on his own with 187 yards rushing. That alone is impressive but then add that Lawrence Maroney chipped in 105. This was a game we were not supposed to win because of the fear of the Bama rush defense and if we can't run we can't win. But we ran (and ran and ran) 72 times racking up 276 yards.

In rare Mason fashion, Alabama did not score in the second half until a late safety with 3:11 to play and Minnesota secured the highly sought after Music City Bowl trophy.

#2 - Minnesota (23) @ #21-Michigan (20)
10 / 08 / 2005
First time the Little Brown Jug came home to Minnesota since 1986!

Minnesota started 4-0 including a double OT win over #11 Purdue then headed into as rough a Big Ten schedule as you will ever see @PSU, @ Mich, Wis, OSU. This was the only win in that stretch but it is likely the game that kept Mason around for the 2006 season.

After tying the game late in the third, this game was a dog fight throughout the fourth quarter. Michigan had shut down the Gopher ground game of Maroney and Gary Russell in the final quarter UNTIL Russell shook loose on a 3rd and 9 play with 1:52 remaining. Michigan appeared to have the play wrapped up at the line of scrimmage, but Russell broke to the outside got free for a 61 yard run to the Michigan 13.

At that point there was time to get centered on the field and allow Jason Giannini to knock in a 30 yard FG to win the game.

#1 - Minnesota (29) @ #6-Ohio State (17)
10 / 14 / 2000

On the road where Minnesota had not won since 1949! Yes you read that right, only two other wins in that span but both at home. I don't need to elaborate any more than that, winning in Columbus for the first time in 50 years is enough reason to be #1 on this list.

But the Gophers came ready to play jumping out to a 17-3 lead in the first quarter and knocked the Buckeyes on their heels. Minnesota never trailed, were never tied (with 0-0 being the exception) and scored a late TD to push it back up to a double digit margin.

This game was huge for Mason as he was a former Buckeye assistant and gave us a slight boost in Ohio where Mason preferred to focus his recruiting (we were finally able to beat out Mount Union for those key 3-star kids). This game was huge and gave Gopher fans hope for the next few seasons that the Gopher program had turned a corner.

Gophers lose Bryce McNeal to Michigan

2008-05-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Breck's Bryce McNeal has decided to play for Michigan and Rich Rodriquez's version of the Spread Offense. McNeal is clearly the #1 prospect coming out of Minnesota this year. The players who will likely occupy 3-5 have already committed to being Gophers. McNeal's very early commitment leaves me with a few thoughts.

First of all it is nice to get this out of the way in May rather than November. Last year the staff spent many hours working on Willie Mobley and Michael Floyd only to see them hold out until October or November. Time can now be spent on other WRs.

Let's also not completely give up hope, this isn't over. A verbal commitment, especially this early, isn't exactly a lock to leave us. Should Brewster turn things around this year, should we beat up on Michigan as they fall to a embarrassing season or should he realize he'll be featured more in Mike Dunbar's offense than RichRod's or should Michigan bring in several other highly rates RWs then he could always change his verbal and actually sign with Minnesota. Clearly the chances are greatly diminished but there is a lot of time between now and signing day in February.

Finally, It is hard to argue with the recruiting results of Tim Brewster in his first full year of chasing high school all over the country. This year's incoming class is the best we have seen in decades and probably ever. We have athletic and speedy kids coming from Texas, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Chicago and Detroit to name a handful of hot spots. Coach Brewster coming off a 1 win season landed a top 25 class, which is remarkable to say the least.

BUT, he has failed to live up to one of his early promises. We all know he vowed to take us to the Rose Bowl (that seems a ways off) but so far what hurts more is that he has yet to "lock down the borders." The previous staff was unable to retain the best of Minnesota's prospects, largely because of poor relationships and a lack of interest. The current staff has put in more time and effort but have equaled the formers' success rate.

The class of 2008 saw the best two in state players leave for Ohio State and Notre Dame. 2009 will have us keeping more but we still have to watch the top of the list compete against the Gophers in another Big Ten uniform.

Next on the list is TE Ra'shede Hageman from Mpls-Washburn. Hageman is getting interest and offers from Florida, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Illinois Nebraska and other Big Ten schools. Hageman is probably the #2 prospect in the state, and should be a top priority for the Gopher staff. Don't let the best two leave yet again.

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MGO on the McNeal commitment
Michigan Sports Center on McNeal with more to come HERE.

Ruesse would be happy to know there is little other coverage within the blogosphere.

5 Worst losses of the Glen Mason Era

2008-05-15T04:50:00.000-07:00

The offseason is here and there is little to keep the blogging juices flowing. So I wanted to look back and give my top 5 worst Glen Mason losses. This is not meant to pick open the Mason scab and scratch it till it bleeds again, but I thought it would be an interesting topic and give a springboard for others to give their thoughts on worst losses.

To be fair I will post my top 5 Glen Mason wins and one could easily argue that none of these losses was as bad as losing to North Dakota State at home.

#5 - Houston (45) @ Minnesota (43)
9 / 27 / 1997 - Mason's first season

In what would prove to be a Mason staple, his first season presented us with a cupcake non-conference schedule. After losing to Hawaii (not as considered a 'good loss' in 1997) and beating what would be a 1-10 Iowa State team, we got to see a couple CUSA teams to kick the Mason era into high gear. We beat 4-7 Memphis on the road then Houston came to the Metrodome to get us ready for the Big Ten.

This game makes the list because it was the first of embarrassing losses in the Mason era. This game was no nearly as close as it appeared on the final box score. A touchdown and 2-pnt conversion were scored to 0:03 left on the clock to bring this game to single digits. While technically it was a 2 point loss, this essentially was a 10 point loss to a CUSA team, AT HOME.

This game was the first in a line of games in which Mason's teams somehow snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Min outgained Hou
Min had six more first downs than Hou
Min had fewer penalties that accounted for 45 yds
Minnesota's starting QB was 25/35, 368 yds, 3 TDs and two rushing TDs

I realize these are not dominating statistics, but outgaining, fewer penalties, more first downs and a great game from your starting QB rarely end up in essentially double-digit losses to weak teams from weak conferences at home.

#4 - Minnesota (43) @ Indiana (51)
10 / 21 / 2000

This game makes the list because of it's impeccable timing. Coming into this game Minnesota was 3-1 in conference and had just upset Ohio State on the road. Their remaining schedule including @Indiana, Northwestern and a down Iowa team. A loss at Wisconsin was expected but this was shaping up to be the year we made a run at the Rose Bowl.

Instead of winning the games they were supposed to win, the Gophers followed up with Ohio State win by giving up 611 yards and 51 points to the Hoosiers. Despite our awful defense we were able to take the lead and hold it till the final 17:18 of the game. But then we allowed 27 points, scored a meaningless TD late to keep this from being a 16 point blowout.

MN was 3-1 in 2000 in B10 having Ind, NW and Iowa (3-9) on the schedule. This after winning @ OSU. Up with 10:13 in the 3rd only to be outscored 27-14. This started a tailspin that ended with another awful loss to NW at home during homecoming.

Ultimately this started a tailspin for the Gophers who then lost at home to Northwestern by being outscored 27-7 in the 2nd half, and then lost @ Wisconsin by giving up the final 21 points after being tied in the 4th qtr. Those games merit consideration for this list but they were fueled by the loss to Indiana.

#3 - Texas Tech (44) vs. Minnesota (41)
Insight Bowl
12/29/2006

This was the final embarrassment for AD Joel Maturi and was Mason's final game. One could argue that this game should be #1 on the list for that very reason, but this loss doesn't hold the same embarrasment factor as the top 2 simply because it was played in a meaningless bowl game, watched by few on the NFL Network and most Gopher fans will admit they weren't all that surprised.

Up 35-7 at halftime and actually was up 38-7 (that is 31 points) with under 5:00 in the 3rd qtr. Besides giving up 31 consecutive points in the last 20 minues, the vaunted Gopher defense racked up some rather impressive stats...

a grand total of 3 stops on 3rd down
1 forced punt
445 yds passing allowed
the five final scoring drives for TT each took less than 3:00

The offense didn't help much either. In their final five drives of the game they managed to go 4 yds, 35 yds, 6 yds and -5 yds. The final two drives of regulation began just shy of midfield after failed onside attempts by TT and resulted in back to back three and outs.

As I mentioned before I think many Gopher fans were wary of assuming a victory at any point in this game. If the Mason era had taught us anything it was that no game was over until the coaches shook hands on the field. It was the perfect game to end his tenure and an instant classic we will all never forget.

#2 - Wisconsin (38) @ Minnesota (34)
10/15/2005

Another classic example of Mason 4th quarter game management. This game could also make an argument for #1 it was a rivalry game, at home and would have given you realistic chance at a Jan. 1 bowl game. Here is how this little gem played out...

Up 10 with under 3:00 to play.
Gave up a TD with 2:10 (up 3).
Couldn't get a first down to run out the clock.
Had to punt with under 1:00 left on the clock (still up 3).
Punt blocked after bad snap.
Badgers fall on it in endzone to take the lead with 0:30 left.

Take a knee, take a safety, anything but try to kick it on the run getting it blocked. It is hard to come down and blame this loss solely on the punter. Had your head coach said to him, if anything should go wrong take a safety, things would have likely worked out in our favor. But beyond that play when you get 258 yards rushing from Maroney and 139 from Gary Russell there is no real excuse for losing.

This day was actually the same day USC escaped with a win over Notre Dame in what was a great game to watch. I was actually at that game but that day will forever be tainted by this Gopher loss.

#1 - Michigan (38) @ Minnesota (35)
10 / 10 / 2003

This game was likely the difference between the Rose Bowl and the Sun Bowl. Entering the game the Gophers were 6-0 overall, 2-0 in Big Ten play winning two road games @ Penn State and Northwestern. That left us with 4 home games in our final 6. This was the statement game needed and with the favorable schedule a chance to be the Big Ten front-runner.

Minnesota came out and for three quarters played like they wanted it and they belonged leading 28-7 and absolutely dominating Michigan. I believe we only gave up 77 yards of offense in the first half. But this was a Glen Mason special as we gave up 31 points in the 4th quarter and managing to get just 7 to try and stop the bleeding.

When you are able to rush for 424 yards there is absolutely no reason you shouldn't be able to milk the clock and nurse a three touchdown lead for the final quarter. This one hurt and was brutal to watch.

All things being equal and turning out as they eventually did, winning this game would have put us in a tie for 1st place at the end of the season and likely a Rose Bowl berth. At the very least it would have made an incredibly strong case for something like the Capital One Bowl or another significant Jan. 1 bowl. Even with the other bad losses on his resume, getting this win would have kept Mason's job at the end of the 2006 season.

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There you have it. That is my list and I'm sticking to it. There were many others under consideration and if you look closely enough you'll be able to find several games where we gave up the last 10 points in a game to lose a close one. All were considered and were top 10 worthy but not top 5. Give me your thoughts.

Welcome to Gopher Nation Kid - Kim Royston

2008-05-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

There is a growing club of Minnesota kids who leave the great state from which they came for the lure of 1 win seasons in South Bend, corn feeds in Lincoln, large cheerleaders in Madison and various other institutions of higher learning. But this club is more exclusive than those who just leave us, you also have to come back home to finish your career here. Dan Coleman and Lawrence McKenzie are recent examples to come back to the raised floor of the Barn (makes you think twice about leaving for a national championship doesn't it Cole Aldrich). Earlier this spring Matt Carufel decided he wasn't getting a quality enough education at Notre Dame and heard from Sid he'd be set for life if he graduated from Minnesota so he came back to play football (or something like that). And we now have Mr. Kim Royston leaving the Badger program and coming home to play for the surging Gophers.

What makes Royston's transfer interesting is that he was not given a release from his Badger scholarship. This meant he was unable to have any contact with the Gopher coaching staff. And because he is transfering within the Big Ten Royston is not only forced to sit a season for transferring he is also forced to pay his own tuition to the U for his remaining three seasons (transfer year and two seasons of eligibility).

Apparently Royston felt he was not given a fair opportunity to compete for the starting FS position in spring football as he was promised. According to his father position battles at SS and QB were allowing split reps with the first team but Royston was not given one snap with the first team defense. Some excellent quotes and a good recap of the situation from The Capital Times...

Chris Royston said his son was disappointed when the coaching staff released a depth chart prior to spring practice that had Kim Royston listed behind Carter. Kim Royston was even more disappointed when, during the Badgers' first two practices of the spring, Carter got all the reps with the No. 1 defense.

In Chris and Kim Royston's minds, that was a clear sign the coaching staff already had decided Carter would remain the starter.

"He was not going to be allowed to compete for a spot at free safety," Chris Royston said of his son, who played cornerback and both safety positions during his UW career. "This year at strong safety, they're alternating, they're competing for a spot. And at the quarterback positions, they're alternating, they're competing for a spot. Coaches can say you're competing, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that isn't the case."

I agree and I'm certainly not a rocket scientist. But I have also been on the coaching side of college athletics and the way a player views things and the way a coach sees things are often very different. Let's let coach Beilema have a say here...

According to Bielema, Royston was being given an opportunity to win the starting spot.

"Everybody in our program has an equal shot," Bielema said. "Anytime you are personally involved in situation, you see things in a little bit different light. I can appreciate what he's saying, but we had lengthy discussions. He was the No. 2 free safety behind Shane Carter and I really liked the development at that position at this point.

So it is clearly a he said / she said (sorry for inferring you are a woman coach Beilema) situation. I'm going to take Royston's side here though (shocking, I know). Royston isn't claiming he was better or deserved the starting spot, his beef is that he felt he was told he'd be given the opportunity to compete and it appears that he was not actually given that opportunity.

With that behind us let us look forward to the Royston family joining Gopher Nation. Royston at a bare minimum will add depth to a thin and young defensive secondary. At best he'll take his third year at the college level to continue his growth/development and will be a starter for two season at either FS or CB. My best guess is that 2009 when he is eligible to play he will compete and be the frontrunner to start at opposite Traye Simmons at CB. But like I said, worst case scenario he is just quality depth for the entire defensive backfield.

The 2008 recruiting class was the most talented in the program's history, The 2009 class will be limited in scholarships (16 is the number I have heard) but will also get a boost in talent with Carufel and Royston joining the 2009 team. This is good news for Gopher fans and should help to further the development of the program. Welcome back Mr. Royston.

Gophers need a PG in the 2009 Class

2008-05-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

With the recent Verdel Jones commitment to Indiana, PG has to take on a renewed sense of urgency for the 2009 class. There is likely 2 scholarships available for 2009 which will be held for local SG/SF Rodney Williams and then the final scholarship will be given to the best available PG or possibly C. Getting some interior help is also a significant need but there is youthful talent coming into the program, depth is a concern but with Sampson, Iverson and Carter being around for at least the next three seasons I view PG as a more pressing need.

There are three 4-star prospects who have at one point or another been tied to Tubby and staff's recruiting efforts.

1. Johnnie Lacy - the lowest rated of the 4-star PGs I'm talking about today but might be a more significant 'get' as he is a Wisconsin product. After years and years of the Badgers taking our best players wouldn't it be nice to win down in Madison with one of their own being a playing a significant role in the W.

The smaller of the three on my list, Lacy is known for his speed and quickness. With our lack of athletes and speed in recent years it would be a welcome change to see Lacy running the floor for the Gophs in 2009.

“Johnnie is a special individual,” said Lou Chapman, a former player and then assistant coach at UW-Whitewater and now the head coach at Bay View. “He’s a very dynamic person in other areas of his life other than basketball. He’s a leader, and it’s my job to get Johnnie to know he’s a leader. He has a positive effect on all of his teammates. They look up to Johnnie.”

This from a Wishoops.net article last July.

Lacy has always been favored to pick Marquette but with the recent change in coaching staffs the assumption is that Lacy's recruitment is more open than it was just a couple months ago.

2. Mfon Udofia - hails from Stone Mountain, GA and is the highest rated PG we have been recruiting. Udofia is the #5 overall PG, according to Rivals, and has been playing very well in recent AAU tournaments. He has offers from all over the country; USC, Georgia Tech, Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee are just a few of the major names after him. Currently Udofia does not list Minnesota as a school offering him, but there is still a LOT of time between now and the early signing period in November.

What most intrigues me about Udofia is he appears to be as valuable on the defensive end as on the offensive. He is quoted in a recent Rivals article after a string of highly successful tournaments in recent weeks.

"I wanted to show the college coaches that I could do it on both ends of the floor. I think there is an extra sense of pride when you play well on the defensive end. Everyone can score at this level. I want to shut everyone down when I step out there. I feel like I can lock you down and then you can't stop me on the offensive end."

With all of the major schools pursuing him, this would be a major coup to convince him to follow Sampson from the Peach State to the state of freezing lakes and many mosquitos. But until he says no, he is on my list.

3. Chris Colvin - ranked #7 amongst PGs according to Rivals but is another PG who does not specifically state Minnesota is hot after him. Colvin's father had this to say about the efforts by the Minnesota staff to secure a Colvin commitment.

"They did have interest at one point, they were sending a lot of letters," said Chris's father Ike Colvin. "They made contact before the target period was over. Minnesota did show interest some time back but they have not shown lately and I haven't talked to coach Tubby Smith."

Chris is a player with excellent handles and can run the offense (this based on a typically excellent article by Gopher Illustrated basketball guru Ryan James). His jumpshot needs improvement but he'll have his senior season to perfect that and then he'll be a distributor at the Barn. All he'll need to do in his first season or two is get the ball to the Hoff behind the arc, RSIII in the post and don't get in the way of Bostik or Joseph as they break down defenses.

Colvin is arguably the best junior PG in the state of Illinois and so far has offers from the likes of Iowa, Oklahoma, Florida State and Miami.

A common theme with all of these PG is a cooled approach from the Gopher staff over the last few months. I would have to guess they were pretty confident that Verdel Jones was going to commit to the Gophers so they cooled on their 2009 recruits. With Jones picking Indiana, I would assume their interest level in Lacy, Colvin and Udofia will pick up significantly and hopefully by November one will want nothing more than to play for Tubby in the Maroon and Gold.

Verdel Jones snubs Tubby for Crean

2008-05-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Crean - 1
Tubby - 0

I'm not too concerned about losing Jones. There has been something fishy about this entire recruiting process with Jones. If you have paid attention to this blog at all you'll know I've been hesitant about getting excited about him. Minnesota has always been his fall back school, but I don't want us to be anybody's fall back anymore.

Initially Tennessee was the school he wanted to attend but there was never an actual offer, then Kentucky was his hot school but again they never stuck with an offer for him, recently Arizona was a late school to offer but PT wasn't going to be there for him. Finally Indiana lost their entire team, hired Tom Crean and was the perfect scenario for Jones. It was a big time program offering immediate playing time.

All indications (from message boards/recruiting sights) was that Jones was all but a sure thing to sign with Minnesota. His family was contacting local media outlets to make a trip to Champaign and cover his "highly anticipated" press conference. Then Jones announced he was attending Indiana. I'm not offended and don't care that much but all along his recruitment reeked of thinking more highly of himself than anybody else did. Tubby was in his corner all along but that wasn't enough.

I wish him the best at Indiana and am relieved he won't be eating up a scholarship that we can better utilize next season. Were our recruiting class not already five deep I may have felt differently about this process but at this point we don't necessarily need him. He is not exactly a 5-star stud, he is a 3-star PG who is one of the best remaining. It is my belief that we can land someone at least of his caliber in the class of 2009.

Indiana top notch blog - Inside the Hall has a brief recap of Jones
Paging Jim Shikenjanski gives his thoughts
Down With Goldy wanted Verdell but I don't think he is standing on a ledge anywhere

With that said lets take a look at some 2009 PGs on the radar for Minnesota...

Johnnie Lacy - Milwaukee - 4-star
Mfon Udofia - Stone Mountain, GA - 4-star
Chris Colvin - Chicago - 4-star
Nick Russell - Arlington, TX - 3-star

These are all players with varying degrees of interest on the part of both parties, but they are names that have popped up. Now that Jones is clearly out of the picture I would think that a 2009 PG would be more open to checking us out.

Welcome to Gopher Nation Kid - Hasan Lipscomb

2008-05-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

One prominent recruiting sight (Scout.com) is reporting that coach Brewster and staff have landed a 4-star running back from Houston, Texas. Lipscomb's journey continues. The athlete began in New Orleans, transplanted to Houston because of Hurricane Katrina and now makes the move north to Minnesota.

RB is a major need for the Gophers who missed out on a couple 4-star guys last year and Lipscomb looks to be the guy to fill that need in the fall of 2009.

Lipscomb rushed for 1,625 yards as a junior, scored 26 rushing TDs and 2 kick off return TDs.

ESPN Insider has this to say about Lipscomb...

"Lipscomb is a productive runner with good perimeter speed and quickness for his size. He possesses a good frame with his compact, thickly-built body but prefers to bounce it outside than hitting it hard between the tackles. Follows his blocks well and runs with good vision. Shows good lateral quickness and outside speed stretching the zone run and turning the corner. Can be shifty through the initial traffic flashing good stop-start skill and body control making defenders miss. Shows a burst and sneaky extra gear when he finds an open seam. Not a burner, but displays good speed in the second level to separate."

I don't know exactly how the numbers work out but after bringing in a massive class for 2008, it appears our scholarships available for this year's recruiting class will be limited to right around 10 available (give or take a few). With that in mind I think we have two primary concerns for the 2009 class.

1. Quality over Quantity. The class of 2008 is full of talent upgrading players. We brought in 30 players (JUCO and true freshmen) last year who will be called upon to upgrade the overall talent, especially on defense. The 2009 class will be a smaller class and we need to get a few studs who can help contribute quickly.

2. Keep Minnnesota kids. Currently we have five players signed, three of them are local. This is important, not to keep everybody but to get the ones we want. Signing 4-star QB Moses Alipate and two OL recruit in Josh Campion and Ed Olson are solid commitments. On the flip side we have pulled our offer from ATH-Fritz Rock out of Waconia. This is a controversial move but with limited scholarships there is no call for signing a player who is arguably a Big Ten player, regardless of where he is from. The one player left who should be our number one target is WR-Bryce McNeal who is currently hot on Michigan.

Outside of Minnesota kids, Lipscomb is a major get (currently #212 in Rivals top 250). RB is a big need and getting a kid who runs a sub 4.4, had major offers (LSU, Nebraska, Tex A&M) and has been very productive in the talent rich Houston area.

We have a few areas of need and getting quality players to fill those needs is exciting. Commitment #5 is an exciting player.

If I were a football betting man, I'd give even odds that there's more out of state blue-chippers on the way.

Current Commitments - interesting to note that not one defensive recruit yet this year.

QB - Moses Alipate (Bloomington, MN)
OL - Josh Campion (Fergus Falls, MN)
OL - Ed Olson (Mahtomedi, MN)
WR - Victor Kreise (Coral Springs, FL)
RB - Hasan Lipscomb (Houston, TX)

Rivals has now confirmed the commitment!

** ED NOTE - I should point out that my primary source for recruiting information is GopherIllustrated.com (Rivals.com). They are always accurate and great with their information. While they have speculated for a while that Lipscomb will commit to the Gophers, they have not yet announced anything official. So this post is based on what I generally use as secondary information. Scout is a fine site, I am just not as familiar with them. This commitment has been rumored so I feel confident running with this post.

Big Ten Blogger Roudtable - Springtime Ed.

2008-04-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

The spring football game has come and passed. While there was slightly more excitement surrounding the annual scrimmage, it was still met with a collective yawn across Gopher Nation. Partially because nobody has ever cared about the Gopher's spring game and partially because most of the incoming flux of talent is yet to arrive on campus. So while this game was important for the further development of the offense the other side of the ball was missing what could be half of it's likely starters.

With the passing of the Spring Game we have to give an assesment for the rest of the Big Ten Blogosphere to know where the Golden Gophers stand.

1. I love spring. Flowers blooming. Birds chirping. Bones breaking. ACL's tearing. List the injuries your team sustained and describe their impact on 2008.

No significant injuries that will affect Fall 2008

2. Break down the major position battles going on with your offense.

The major offensive decisions are on the right side of the offensive line and wide receiver.

Here is who started the spring game along the OLine

LT - Dom Alford - should be a lock to start
LG - Ned Tevale - should also be a lock
C - Jeff Tow-Arnett - JR who started three games at LG in 2007
RG - Ryan Wynn - rFR got the starting nod over DJ Burris who started 11 games in this spot last season
RT - Jason Meinke - the walk on JR got the start but will likely have to work to keep it

Who is battling for C, RG and RT?

DJ Burris - started 11 games at RG and was a Sporting News All Big Ten freshman. Currently Burris is listed as a Center and will battle with Tow-Arnett, but should nobody step up to lock down RG expect Burris to make the switch.
rFR Chris Bunders - should see some time and push Meinke at RT.
JR Ryan Ruckdashel - reserve for two seasons and has appeared in 21 games as a Gopher. Should be given a chance to prove he is a viable starter at RG.
SO Andy Brinkhouse - possibly in the mix for RT.

I know this is so exciting to discuss who are the starters at C, RG and RT. I can hardly sleep at night while I think of the different combinations and how it will best block Weber's front side. But getting production on the right side is very important to the development of the offense in year two.

At WR there isn't a ton of intrigue either. Who will start opposite Eric Decker is up in the air but since there will be 5 or 6 receivers contributing on a regular basis who starts and who actually gets balls thrown their way are two different things.

Eric Decker - JR

Ralph Spry - SO
Brandon Green - FR
Xavier Brandon - FR
Brodrick Smith - FR
Trey Herndon - SO
David Pittman - JR

But most of the offense returns and should progress in their development.

3. You knew this was coming. Break down the major position battles on defense.

How much time do you have to read this? I could list the defensive starters for the spring game but there is a pretty good chance that 11 different names will be atop the two-deep come September. The hard part here is that many of the incoming freshmen will be relied upon to push the incumbent starters or take over completely and most of them are not yet on campus.

Lets take a quick look at all of the positions...

Defensive End - Willie VanDeSteeg and Will Brody
competition? - JR-Lee Campbell, rFR-Anthony Jacobs, FR-Brandon Kirksey

Brody will almost certainly not be a starter come game 1. My money is on Jacobs to earn the starting spot opposite Willie VDS. But competition will ensue at RE.

Defensive Tackle - Eric Small and Garrett Brown
competition? - FR-Jewhan Edwards

Both saw significant time in 2007 but this was a major weakness. I fully expect to see Edwards starting at DT very soon.

Linebacker - Steve Davis, Nate Triplett, Kevin Manion
competition - FR-Sam Maresh(MLB), JR-Deon Hightower, FR-Spencer Reeves, rFR-Andre Tate

This area was awful last year too. I would not be surprised to see Maresh, Reeves and Hightower as the starting backers this year. That would be two true freshmen, I know.

Cornerback - Ryan Collado, Marcus Sherrels
competition - JR-Traye Simmons, FR-Troy Stoudermire, FR-Tim Dandridge

Collado improved as his freshman season wore on and then everybody expects Traye Simmons to be our best CB once he arrives on campus in June. Sherrels makes things interesting. He was a recent conversion from WR to CB and the staff has had a lot of good things to say about him. Adding some depth and anybody who can play back there is a good thing and there was little chance Sherrels was going to see much time on offense so give defense a shot.

Safety - Kyle Theret and Tramaine Brock
competition - JR-Simoni Lawrence, FR-Keanon Cooper

Game 1 should have Brock and Lawrence starting at FS and SS respectively. Both are JUCO transfers who will be instant upgrades. I am a fan of Theret and like what he brings but he'll be there for depth.

4. Who are the unknown kids on your team that will be household names come December?

This question isn't fair because outside of Minnesota everybody on this team is an unknown commodity but I'll pick a name.

QB/WR/PR/CB - David Pittman

The JUCO transfer is a super athlete and will be a key member of the spread coast offense. I imagine OffCord Mike Dunbar is waking up in the middle of the night with new plays that come to him in dreams to spotlight Pittman.

How would you describe the general mood around your program? Are you gearing up the tailgate party for a conference title run or do you get the impression there are going to be a lot of empty seats in your stadium this year?

Conference title is out of the question. I have an IV of maroon and gold kool-aid permanently being pumped into my veins but not even I could imagine an Illini-esque run to the Rose Bowl. Fans are excited to see the young kids come in and show us what Big Ten athletes look like. There are high expectations for what was the most talented recruiting class in school history, but they are mostly freshmen and this is a year to build for the next couple.

What I know everyone is looking forward to are the new unis!

Welcome to Gopher Nation Kid - Royce White

2008-04-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Tubby Smith took a giant step towards securing another top 25 recruiting class for 2009. If I were to tell you we received a commitment from the 32nd overall player in the current junior class, you would be pretty happy. But what makes this commitment so huge is that said player is the best junior in the state of Minnesota, Royce White. Isn't it nice to know that the best of Minnesota isn't signing with Wisconsin, Kansas, Marquette, Michigan State, Iowa or anywhere else?

For the first time in a while Minnesota has two players currently ranked in the top 50 nationally. White is #32 and Rodney Williams is currently 43rd. Landing White was the first step towards signing Williams as well and locking down the borders.

White is a 4-star, 6'7" forward who is highly skilled.

ESPN Insider - "He's an explosive athlete (good quickness) that can accelerate with the ball in the open court or drop-step and dunk in the post. He makes good decisions with the ball and is an unselfish player. White plays hard at both ends, is an excellent rebounder, and one of the few players in the country that plays with a purpose on every possession."

Rivals - "Destined to be a piece to a winning formula as a quality college player, White also has the toughness, skill level and basketball IQ to take his game even farther. He is cut out of the mold of present NBA players Chuck Hayes and Carlos Boozer."

Scout - "Good player who works his tail off. Can play some combo forward in college but has the makeup of a power forward."

I can't say enough good things about this verbal. Getting a player of White's caliber before other top notch programs get a chance to dig their hooks in deeper is significant and allows Tubby and staff to direct more efforts to other pieces of the 2009 class.

This team is looking very good down the road. This upcoming season will be fun to watch as we see the 2008 recruiting class get going, but year from now we'll lose Jamal Abu-Shamal & John Williams but we'll add Royce White & someone else. Regardless of who that player is that is an improvement. And this team will be capable of competing with just about anybody.

PJS has an insightful look into the verbal but I'm going to look ahead.

With the commitment of White we have for certain 1 scholarship remaining for the 2009 class but probably 2 if you assume Travis Busch will not receive a free ride for his senior season.

2009 - 2 scholarships available

1st priority - Rodney Williams
2nd - PG, unless Verdell Jones signs then this scholarship is unavailable

2010 - 4 scholarships available

1st priority - C/PF
2nd - SG (replace Hoffarber and back up for Joseph)
3rd - PF
4th - best available, probably another G

To tell you the truth I am more excited about the significance of this commitment than I am about some other news in Minnesota sports today. This is big and things are looking brighter still for Gopher hoops.

Devron Bostick wins an award, Kris Faber makes his decision and Verdell Jones has not

2008-04-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

Incoming Gopher recruit, Devron Bostick was recently named the JUCO Div 1 Player of the Year! Bostick led his team to a 28-5 record while averaging 18.2 ppg, 4.9 reb/gm and 3.2 ast/game.

I applaud coach Smith and his staff for identifying Bostick early and getting his commitment. In the excitement and anticipation for freshmen Ralph Sampson, Devoe Joseph and Colten Iverson; I feel as though Bostick is being overlooked. He will bring a new level of athleticism at the off guard spot and he should easily replace the scoring lost by McKenzie. Joseph could be something special in the Gopher backcourt but Bostick will be coming in as a more mature player and will be more likely to contribute immediately.

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On the big man recruiting front, unfortunately the raw big man who was second in the nation in rebounding has chosen DePaul for his collegiate career. In my opinion Faber would have been a welcome addition to provide more depth in the post and would have been a quality change of pace guy with Sampson. But the enticement of living in Chicago and probably the lack of two other incoming big men (Sampson / Iverson) was enough to choose DePaul over Minnesota.

I would have loved to see Faber in the Barn next year but it isn't like we had all of our eggs in that basket. We have Sampson and Iverson both at 6'10" or greater. If we can bring in another quality big man next year (or the next), then this loss isn't all that great of a loss.

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Verdell Jones is still out there, yet to make a decision. The PG is one of the best remaining PGs out there and is considering a number of options, but I've been on record and continue to feel that we'd be better off without him. Maybe I'm greedy but if we are his back up school, then will he really be happy here? If he feels like he is attending a lower tier program will he expect to be the man here? Nothing about his recruiting sits well with me and I fear he'll be more trouble than he's worth. I am a fan of Nolen at PG, I think Joseph will get plenty of minutes a the 1 and I believe we'll bring in a top notch PG in the next recruiting class. All of that points to me that we don't need Jones.

The Hoosier Scoop talked with Jone's father.

Indiana, Kentucky and Minnesota appear to be his leaders with visits planned for Arizona and Virginia. My hope is that he goes to Kentucky.

The Big Ten will win the 2008 B10 / ACC Challenge

2008-04-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

The match ups for the Big Ten / ACC Challenge have been announced and for once I think the match ups favor the Big Ten. I fully understand that much will happen between now and December. We don't know who will fill out each team's rosters with NBA exits and who knows how incoming recruits will fit in and contribute. But I'm declaring this year as the first victory for the Big Ten in this event.

ACC Wins

North Carolina (14-2) @ Michigan State (12-6) - Assuming nobody leaves UNC it is hard to pick against the Tar Heels. Hansbrough, Ellington and Lawson are good enough to not only carry this team back to the Final Four but they can win it all. Michigan State is at home but they lose Neitzel and Naymick. The Spartans could be a very good team next year with Morgan and Lucas, but at this point the edge has to go to UNC. If a guy or two decide to leave for the NBA then this game gets interesting.

Clemson (10-6) @ Illinois (5-13) - When I saw Illinois they looked like a Final Four team. Obviously they were not and they lose their best two players in Randle and Pruitt. Clemson loses a couple key guys but they still return more plus they add 3 players including a 4-star center. Clemson gets this road win.

Florida State (7-9) @ Northwestern (1-17) - This game is the biggest lock of the Challenge. Sorry Wildcat fans but if FSU graduated their top 13 scorers I'd still give them the edge here. Seriously, FSU brings back their leading scorer in Toney Douglas and has a very good recruiting class coming in. Northwestern only loses 6.9 ppg and will bring a few players who may help them. They'll be improved but they won't have the horses to keep up with the Seminoles.

Iowa (6-12) @ Boston College (4-12) - I believe Iowa will be improved in year two under coach Lickliter. They lose Justin Johnson but gain a highly ranked SG (Matt Gattens) from within the state and a solid big man. Both should help the Hawkeyes improve but BC returns their top 6 scorers, 4 of whom were freshmen last year. Incoming recruit Reggie Jackson will be helpful and they will also enjoy the home court and Iowa has very little chance in this one.

Big Ten Wins

Duke (13-3) @ Purdue (15-3) - Duke loses only one player who happens to be their leading scorer. Purdue loses only 4.5 ppg. With some player development and a little luck the Boilermakers could be 2 or 3 seed who make a Final Four run. This being at home I really think his is a winable game for Purdue.

Penn State (7-11) @ Georgia Tech (7-9) - The Yellow Jackets lose their top two scorers and will bring in Iman Shumpert (who the Gophers pursued). Penn State basically brings back the roster. Geary Claxton is out of eligibility but he missed nearly all of the Big Ten season anyway. Taylor Battle, Stanley Pringle and Jamel Cornley will make a decent core. I know this is on the road, but on paper this is a winable game for Penn State.

Virginia (5-11) @ Minnesota (8-10) - this will be a fun match up. Virginia passed on Ralph Sampson even though his dad was one of college basketball's best as a Cavalier. They had already signed 4-star center John Brandenburg and didn't pursue him enough. Both teams are losing their primary scorers but both also have very good recruiting classes coming in. This will be an intriguing match up that I think goes to Tubby at home.

Wisconsin (16-2) @ Virginia Tech (9-7) - Another intriguing match up that puts a 31 win team from this season on the road. Wisconsin loses more and Virginia Tech could repeat as a top 4 ACC team. But I don't pick against Bo Ryan (until the NCAAs) and my money is on the defending Big Ten champ.

Ohio State (10-8) @ Miami (8-8) - this one could change depending on who returns for the Buckeyes. Butler and Hunter are gone and there is a better chance than not that Koufos leaves as well to play professionally somewhere. But once again they are brining in a top flight recruiting class to reload. BJ Mullens and William Buford will bolster this year's freshmen and this team should be better in 2008-09. Miami is home and returns their top seven scorers. Should be a good game, but I expect Ohio State to get back on track next season

Key Games

Michigan (5-13) @ Maryland (8-8)- both teams return their young guards who lead the team in scoring. And both teams have a good sophomore class who will be coming into the prime of their careers. This is an interesting match up but I give a slight edge to Maryland with the home court. I also think Michigan will be a much better team in Beilein's 2nd season, but time will tell on this one.

Indiana (14-4) @ Wake Forest (7-9) - Wake can only get better as their two leading scorers were freshmen, there was not a senior on the roster and they have a good recruiting class coming in. Indiana loses DJ White to graduation, Eric Gordon to the NBA and coach Sampson to cheating. But they do return Basset, Crawford, Ellis and add Tom Crean who is a very good coach. One team improving vs. another team who will likely take a step back before being able to move forward. I don't know where to give this edge as there are too many variables. If Tom Crean can get his guys playing together and believing they can win, then I am confident they can get this road win.

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As I looked more in depth I am less confident but I'm sticking with it calling for a Big Ten win.

Wiki page on B10/ACC history

Gopher Recruiting

2008-04-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

The last year has been an exciting year for Gopher fans on the recruiting front. With new head coaches in place for the two major sports recruiting has gone from middle of the Big Ten to nationally ranked classes.

Basketball - Tubby Smith in place gives this program a level of respect that it hasn't seen in nearly a decade. 4 and 5 star kids now at least listen to coaches from Minnesota. I am no expert but I imagine Dan Monson's phone calls were not as eagerly anticipated as Tubby Smith's.

2007-08 recruiting has been a consensus top 20 class for Tubby Smith and it likely isn't done yet. There are still 2 or 3 players out there who may commit as part of his 2008 class. Scholarships will get interesting as they add anybody else but if bringing us a 3 or 4 star kid means Travis Busch, Jamal Abu-Shamala or Kevin Payton lose their scholarship I think the team will be better for it.

An interesting note is that I personally heard coach Smith say that this was the first time in his career that they basically signed everyone they pursued. I'm sure that means he got the realistic recruits but his early list was headed by Devoe, Sampson and Iverson. All three signed which is a rare thing.

Kris Faber - C - Faber is a 6'11" rebounding machine averaging 17.5 rebounds per game this year (12.5 as a Jr). The big man is kind of a late bloomer who will likely have to develop an offensive game at this level, but as far as defense and rebounding he would be an immediate help. I believe it is always hard to find big men who can actually help you and I am on board with signing Faber. RSIII is coming in as the center of the future and he'll block shots while adding some scoring but he is the finesse to Faber's brute. Faber has been taking visits lately and just finished visiting DePaul. UCLA has also shown interest which may increase if Kevin Love should declare for the draft, but currently Minnesota is the only BCS level school to offer. While it may not come on the first day of the signing period I hope and expect Faber to sign with Tubby to make this a 6 man class.

Verdell Jones - PG - we need a PG and Jones is one of the best remaining but I'm not sold on him. He seems to be holding Minnesota just close enough that they can be his back up school if Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana or another school yet to emerge don't come through for him. So far nobody has pursued him hard enough to land him but I don't know I want him if he doesn't want us. Jones is a 3-star PG who in my opinion is acting like a 5-star. He has been waiting for Tennesse but they didn't come through, he wants to sign with Kentucky but he their back up plan, recently Indiana is interested as Gordon is leaving for the paycheck league and Minnesota is still hanging around with an offer. Personally I'd rather wait a year and make a 4 or 5 star PG a priority for 2009 (Chris Colvin or Johnny Lacy for example). But I also trust this coaching staff's judgment and wouldn't be sad if he signed. But I reiterate that we should want guys who want to be here. At some point we should not be a back up school to anybody.

Trevor Mbakwe - PF - if you have paid attention to recruting in the last year you'll know that Mbakwe is a local product, signed with Tom Crean at Marquette and sat out 2007-08 on a medical redshirt. Obviously Crean is now a Hoosier and there have been rumors that Mbakwe wants to transfer to Minnesota. I would love to see this happen but in the last week these rumors have cooled. Mbakwe is an athletic PF who would add the athletic punch this team has been missing. He would have to sit out a year and would be a part of next year's class for scholarship purposes but those numbers will sort themselves out. Mbakwe would be well worth the scholarship.

2009 recruiting is probably in full swing but with some options out there still for 2008 there isn't a lot of buzz and how many available scholarships is yet to be determined. My best guess is that we'll figure out a way to bring in 3 kids. A quality PG and both of the forwards from Minnesota (Royce White and Rodney Williams).

Football - Coach Brewster didn't accomplish any of his recruiting success by name recognition or on field success. But all of that makes this year's recruiting class that much more impressive. What would happen if we had a couple of Mason bowl game seasons. Or what if we put out an 8 or 9 win season. I'll slow down, but landing what is arguably the Gopher's best football recruiting class in team history in a year when we finished 1-11 is more than impressive.

2009 recruiting is hot and we are heading into the time of year when verbals start flying. Some will get it done before the summer but once kids start heading to team camps verbals will come left and right, hopefully to join Brewster in TCF Stadium.

Football recruiting is kinda crazy because you have to sign so many kids at many different positions. I'm not going to list everyone we are after but I'll highlite few names.

Moses Alipate (committed) - QB - local kid who will likely be the top rated Minnesota player. Who knows when he'll contribute considering we have Weber behind center and MarQueis Gray coming in as the QB of the future, but landing the best in state kid is significant and something we need to see each and every year.

Josh Campion (committed) - OL - another top rated MN kid who has already committed. Offensive linemen are hard to project but again the biggest significance of this commitment is the statement of keeping MN kids at home.

Minnesota Kids

Bryce McNeal - WR - Breck WR who has an early 4-star ranking from Rivals. McNeal would be a great get as we will need speedy receivers and the best of MN each and every year. Considering Michigan, Nebraska, Clemson, Louisville, Iowa and several others. Should be one of our top targets even if he isn't the most talented player we are after.

Ra'shede Hageman - TE - 6'5", 230 big and athletic TE who is also known for being rather physical. He currently only has offers from Minnesota and Iowa but there is significant interest from Wisconsin, Okalahoma Florida, Oregon and LSU. Currently not highly rated but I anticipate Hageman will be a fast riser who becomes a hot name as we go through the summer.

Fritz Rock - Ath/RB - Wazata kid who has offers from Cincinnati, Indiana and N Illinois. I'm not high on Rock but the internet message boards (some of whom have seen him play) think he should be Gopher.

Cole Jirik - DE - Northfield kid who ESPN Insider has on their top 150 watch list. Minn, Wis and Michigan State currently lead the way for Jirik. We need defensive help, I'm not sure he'll be an immediate impact but he's worth brining in and finding out.

Others with Minnesota Offers (by position)

QB - none needed for 2009. Gray came in last year and Alipate is secured for this class.

RB - Eddie Lacy - 1,800 yds and 26 TDs as a sophomore. Neither Rivals or ESPN have him on our radar but Scout has him listed amongst LSU, Miss, Oklahoma, OK State and Tennessee.

RB - Bud Golden - 4-star kid from Ohio. Illinois, Cincinnati, Indiana and Purdue will be the primary competition for Golden.

RB - Hasan Lipscomb - fast kid from Houston (4.38 40). LSU, Tex A&M and Baylor have also offered

RB - Stepfan Taylor - another Texas RB we are after, received 4-stars from Rivals. Offers from Notre Dame, Nebraska, Tex A&M and others.

RB - Calvin Guyton - Lamar high school product (teammate of incoming freshman Eric Lair), Guyton has offers from Houston, Nebraska and the Gophers.

WR - James Green - 4-stars from Rivals, 6'2" who has offers from Ohio State, Auburn and others.

WR - Victor Keise - ESPN Insider says, "unbelievably productive and consistent and he absolutely catches everything." Decent size and speed but gangly and not explosive. We are currently in the lead for Keise and I expect he'll leave Florida for Minnesota.

WR - Terry Hawthorne - Ohio State, Illinois, Kansas, K State and others have offered Hawthorne.

OL - Marcus Hall - 4-star, Ohio native. Highly ranked but with Michigan, Ohio State, Tennessee, Illinois and others on his radar this one might be tough to land.

OL - Patrick Ward - Illinois native, Rivals 4-star who has offers from most Big Ten schools and Missouri, Standord, Vandy and Virginia.

OL - David Barrent - big kid from Iowa (6'8", 290). Offers from Iowa, ISU, Nebraska, Illinois and others.

DT - Randal Dent - big DE, maybe a DT. Dent has offers from OK State, Tex Tech, Kansas, Arizona and Oregon.

DT - Chris Davenport - one of the key guys we should all be hoping and praying for. Davenport is a 4-star kid who would likely be an impact player right away. Has offers from everybody. Florida, Florida St, Michigan, USC, Tennessee and many others. This will be a tough one but we can all dream for now.

LB - Willie Ferrell - Tallahassee LB with offers from Illinois, S Florida, Ole Miss, S Carolina, Iowa and others. 4-stars from Rivals.

LB - TyQuan Hammock - we are likely the leader for Hammock over Indiana and a few MAC schools. ESPN says, "hard-nosed run plugger with the physical tools and versatility to develop on the inside or outside at the next level."

LB - Frankie Telfort - 4-stars from Rivals and offers from many major schools. Florida, Florida St, LSU, Alabama, Notre Dame, USC and Tennesse are among many others.

LB - Jon Bostic - no star rankings but offers from Florida, LSU, S Carolina, Purdue and others. At this point in the game stars don't mean nearly as much as who is offering actual scholarships to these kids.

CB - Damien Thigpen - 4.34 40, 4-stars from Rivals with offers from West Virginia, Tennessee, Auburn and others. Thigpen's speed would look good in Maroon.

CB - Michael Carter - ESPN has the Gophers as Carter's leader over teams with mascots such as Gators, Seminoles, Hurricanes, Sooners and Tigers (LSU). That is very interesting and makes me want him more.

S - Artice Kellam - not highly ranked anywhere but might be a key to landing the Gulliver Trio (LB-Telfort and S-Crawford). Competing with Connecticut.

S-Frank Crawford - so far has only Duke and Ole Miss offering, the Florida kid has interest from many other top schools.

Ath - Brandon McGee - offers from absolutely everybody (28 offers). This would be a coup.

Ath - Ronnie Wingo Jr. - 6'2", runs a 4.4 from St. Louis. Has offers from Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas and Iowa.

This is obviously a long list and it is less than half of the names we have either offered or expressed significant interest in. I can't list everybody but these were some of the names that jumped out at me. Recruiting this summer should be great fun to watch and assuming a few more wins should help us to land a recruiting class at least as talented as this year's incoming freshmen.

Happy Birthday to me (belated)

2008-04-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I missed it but Gopher Nation's birthday has come and gone.

On March 22 I put out my first post laying out why 2007 is the year the bandwagon starts taking fans as we get ready for a trip to Pasadena (eventually).

Coincidentally Gopher Nation's birthday is also the anniversary of Tubby Smith's hire. I remember actually typing out my wish list of coaching candidates. I spent probably 2+ hours coming up with names, some realistic some not, but that time spent was wasted when I read that Tubby Smith was hired. If my wish list was going to include names like Tubby Smith I would have also included names like Roy Williams, John Wooden or Phil Jackson. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed Tubby could be convinced to leave Kentucky, but he did and we are better for it. A much improved product on the raised floor, increased attendance and an exciting recruiting class on it's way.

I made it over a year and 2008 can only be better for Gopher fans.

Gopher Nation reporting from San Antonio

2008-04-06T14:06:00.001-07:00

Obviously very few posts recently and I'm sorry for that but I have been unable to post as I've been in San Antonio since Tuesday. Technically I'm here to work but it has been a blast and I was even able to attend last night's semi-final games.

San Antonio is a great city and the Final Four atmosphere is outstanding. I get very little time to take advantage of it, but if you ever get a chance to attend a final four (whether you have tickets or not) you should absolutely go. I have been working 15+ hour days and don't get out but it is so much fun down here (and warm).

UCLA vs. Memphis - of course the athleticism of Memphis has been well documented as has the defense of UCLA. I expected the UCLA team defense to dictate tempo and contain the Tigers. Obviously the gameplan of spreading out the Bruins and using their bigger guards to score at will was the right move and Memphis won handily. But what most impressed me was the defense of Memphis. UCLA isn't a scoring machine but Memphis has not received enough credit for how they pressure and clamp down on people.

Kansas vs. North Carolina - incredible start but most of us knew you couldn't keep the Tar Heels offense down the entire game. I called my wife at half time and told her it would be a single digit game by the 10 min mark, but coming back from 28 is just too tough to overcome. Kansas was great all around in the first half but making nearly 70% of their shots kept UNC from running their break and made them work (even just a little) for their offense. And it has to be talked about on a Minnesota based blog how well Aldrich played. That first half was incredible and was a huge reason Kansas sustained their run when their big men had to sit.

Coach Sightings...

Roy Williams - Friday night walking to a nice restaurant and he accidentally strolled through the Kansas fans home bar. From what I saw they were all polite to him, at least more polite than Bill Self and the Jayhawks were to him on Saturday night. I have met him before but again was impressed with his classiness and demeanor.

Tom Izzo - seen several times with his wife just around town.

Bruce Weber - passed on the street and nearly begged him to let Minnesota win just once sometime soon.

John Chaney - Temple's historic coach was looking spry buying a camouflage hat at 1:00 am with his posse.

Mark Turgeon - another rival coach seen at the Kansas fan bar and was more than happy to receive beers from Jayhawk fans while taking pictures with them.

There are MANY more but those are the ones I recognized and saw.

Gopher connections...

Coach Taylor sightings - I have seen coach Taylor around several times, he has his own little entourage and seems to be enjoying San Antonio.

Joe Esposito - shook hands and he told me things will be better for us in the next few years, I hope he ain't lying. This experience has taught me one thing. When (yes WHEN) the Gophers make the Final Four, I will be attending the event even if I have no resources to get tickets.

Dave Thorson - head coach at Della Sall and I had a 10 min conversation. He was of course on coach Haskin's staff back in the day and I had him diagram a play I remember being run for Voshon Leonard when we would hold for the last shot of the first half. I have ALWAYS wanted to know that play and he was kind enough to run me through the X's and O's.

Clem Haskins is reportedly in town for his first Final Four in many years, but I have not been fortunate enough to run into him or Tubby for that matter.

Other sightings...

MIAC coaches - Augsburg, Bethel, St. John's, St. Thomas assistants and even a few MIAC refs that I recognized.

Div II National Champion coach Mike Leaf - Winona State's coach came through and I chatted with him briefly just congratulating his significant run and 2nd national championship in three years.

All in all I highly recommend attending a Final Four and vacationing in San Antonio. The Riverwalk is everything you may have heard and more.

Unfortunately we won't be seeing the talented and bear-rific Brianna in San Antonio any more.

Minnesota vs. Louisville - Dec. 2008

2008-03-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

It has been announced today that Minnesota will play Louisville next season at the University of Phoenix Stadium as Glendale, AZ is trying to put themselves in a position to attract the 2012 Final Four.

A non-conference game against Louisville and then another round of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge guarantees a better strength of schedule for next year's gophers. Even if Tubby just adds one more game against a BCS caliber team the rest could be filled with a tournament somewhere and then cupcakes to get us ready for the Big Ten.

Obviously the intriguing match up will be the former Kentucky coaches squaring off in the desert. But Louisville who is currently alive in the Elite Eight will be a significant challenge for the Gophers next year. I'm already excited.

Minnesota Golden Gopher basketball wrap up

2008-03-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

Thank you Tubby for making Gopher basketball relevant and fun to watch again.

The NIT was about as anti-climactic as it could possibly have been. Tollackson was slower than his usual slowness, McKenzie was unable to play, Coleman wasn't even in the gym and Hoffarber had a boo-boo on his shooting finger.

Tough to beat a decent ACC team when your top four scorers are playing with some form of an injury (whether that injury is physical or mental).

I'm not going to dwell on the NIT loss, let's do a quick recap and a look into next year.

The Non-Conference Season - was relatively uneventful. There was an extra buzz around the team but it was based largely on curiosity and people trying to get their seats reserved on the bandwagon. A win at Iowa State was the "signature" win as it showed this team was actually capable of beating a BCS conference team on the road. The other nine wins were nothing to put on your Tournament resume, but they were wins none the less. In recent seasons some of those games (North Dakota State is the best example) would not have been the certainty that they were this season.

Two games stood out from the beginning as key games; at Florida State and at UNLV in their New Year's tournament. We were flat in both games and lost to more athletic teams. I was fortunate enough to attend the Florida State game. While it was a great experience, the game itself was lackluster and uneventful.

The Big Ten Season - a trip to preseason favorite and #6-Michigan State was not the ideal scenario to ease into the Big Ten. But the Gophers played one of their best games of the season and nearly pulled off the upset. We beat everyone we should have beat, we nearly won a couple of home games (Ind and MSU) and we meandered to an 8-10 record. This is pretty average but considering where we came from a year ago this has to be considered a huge success.

The Tournament Season - The highlight of the year was without a doubt the Hoffarber shot to beat Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament. It was all down hill from there. But the effort put forth to kick a team that was already down defined how this team has improved in just one season. Then we lost our 73rd consecutive game to Illinois and our 38th consecutive loss to an ACC team (NOTE those numbers are ball park guesses!).

Players Leaving Us

Lawrence McKenzie - while McKenzie didn't exactly carry this team or lead this team like many of us hoped, imagine what we would have been like had he stayed at OK State? McKenzie is a good scorer, average defender and an average decision maker. But when he was "on" he was a lot of fun to watch and carried us to a few wins on his back.

McKenzie finished his Gopher career 3rd all time for three's made and did so while only playing two full seasons as a Gopher.

Dan Coleman - another hometown kid who left but came back. Coleman originally committed to Boston College and took a redshirt year out there before transfering back to be a Gopher. Another player with frustrating talent that was inconsistently utilized.

Finished his 4 yr Gopher career with 1,317 points (15th all time), 614 rebounds, and 114 blocks (8th all time). Also tied with Quincy Lewis for 2nd all time in games played (127), three games ahead of Ernest Nzigamasabo (I just wanted an excuse to type Nziggy's name). Coleman never had that outstanding season but was a solid contributor for 4 full seasons.

Spencer Tollackson - Solid big man who was limited with limited athletic ability. I have always been in Tollackson's corner and last year proved to me how valuable he was to this team as a leader and a reliable player. But this year proved that he just can't compete with more athletic big men and his inability to rebound hurt us at times. He will be missed as a leader on this team.

Finished his Gopher career just shy of a couple milestones. 935 points and 438 rebounds.

Returning Players to be excited about - we have five guys returning who will be in the mix for playing time with the five incoming players.

Damien Johnson - I was very skeptical about Johnso n heading into the season, but for the most part I was wrong. Nobody questioned his shot blocking ability, but I was unsure he'd be able to guard guys or contribute at all on offense. Offensively he was surprisingly productive scoring 241 points and finishing second on the team in offensive rebounds and total rebounds. I am still not sure of his 1-on-1 defensive ability but it is adequate and I look for Johnson to be a significant core of next year's squad.

Lawrence Westbrook - if polled I bet most would give a most improved award to Johnson, but I'd argue it really belongs to Westbrook. From his freshman season to this he scored 200+ more points, tripled his three point baskets, nearly 100 more rebounds and his assist total increased from 13 to 82. The most concerning portion of his game was the turnovers, which seemed to get worse as the season progressed. But Westbrook will be relied upon heavily next year to be a primary scorer and leader.

Blake Hoffarber - excellent shooter who is on pace to crush the career 3-pnt record. Hoffarber should have a solid career and should only enhance his numbers as more athletic and dynamic player come into the program to open up shots for the Hoff.

Al Nolen - I could not have been more impressed with Nolen's defensive ability. He has a knack for steals and is on pace to be top three all time in steals and assists. Nolen's downside was his lack of offensive production and his turnovers. His knack for steals was equaled only by his knack for turning over the stolen goods. I am a big fan of Nolen, I look forward to him improving and seeing him play the PG over his next three seasons.

Nolen came in with question marks surrounding his ability to stay academically eligible and whether or not he was capable of playing at the Big Ten level. But he proved both wrong by working hard to keep his grades up to par and by showing that he was arguably one of the best freshman PGs in the league.

Jonathan Williams - big man who can rebound very well. Williams is very limited on offense but he did show improvement as the season went along. Williams ability to defend and rebound will keep him in the rotation next year and he'll likely open the season as the starting center.

Others Returning - these guys will be back and have a chance to contribute but they need to improve if we want to be more competitive.

Jamal Abu-Shamala - the soon to be senior will probably contribute initially but I wouldn't count on him to help us much. Shamala had a solid sophomore seasons but his junior year saw a major dip in his production. If Abu-Shamala isn't hitting threes he has very little to offer the Gophers. I am not a fan of JAS and strongly feel that is we are going to be an improved team it will have to be without him.

Kevin Payton - another player who saw a major dip in his production in the transition from the Monson to Tubby era. Payton as slow feet and offers very little on either end of the floor. If anybody in this category were to improve and surprise all of us Payton is the only one who has a chance. OR the rumors could be true that he is a candidate to transfer.

Travis Busch - works hard, probably does a solid job making his teammates better in practice, but should not be on the floor when the point differential is under 20.

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Lets be honest, while most programs need an NCAA Tournament bid to have a successful season, this was without a doubt a successful season. With Tubby in town and more talent coming into the program the standards need to raise. This season was successful, but how long before we can see the Gophers playing in the NCAA Tournament? Soon, very soon (I hope). Detroit here we come!

NCAA Tourny All Ugly team...

2008-03-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

Steven Hill of Arkansas has clearly earned a spot on this year team and will make a push for the All-Decade team.

THIS (courtesy of the Sports Hernia) is a must see and please submit to me your nominations for the All Ugly team.

NCAA Tournament 1st round thoughts...

2008-03-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is the best four days of the year, without a doubt. For the fifth consecutive year I have purchased the DirecTV tournament package, not worked and sat down to watch basketball for four straight days. On the right is a pic from last year's set up, this year is similar but I sent my wife and child to the in-laws to keep them from distracting me! (just kidding honey)

Through 17 games here are some of my expert thoughts...

1. Thursday sucked. 16 games, 15 of them having the higher seed win. The most exciting moment of the day was Duke beating Belmont in the last few seconds. Whoo freaking hoo, I get to watch Duke win. Duke can suck it.

2. Kansas State over USC was a great game to watch. Beasley will look awfully good in a Timberwolves uniform. His hands must be massive cause those mitts just command the ball, it looks like a bear claw grabbing the ball. As I type they are losing to Wisconsin but Beasley is incredible.

3. Question - if Kentucky would have upset Marquette as an 11 seed, would Tubby have been given any credit for the talent he put on the floor? Fortunately for Kentucky fans they can continue to blame Tubby for the lack of talent on the floor for UK. Nevermind that seniors Ramel Bradley(19) and Joe Crawford (35) were recruited as part of a top 5 class by Tubby and they combined for 81.8% of UK's points on Thursday.

4. Big Ten dominates going 3-0 on day 1. Indiana went out of character on Friday and lost a 1st round game but 3-1 for a league that has been ripped all year was nice to see. Wis/KSt and MSU/Pitt will be big games and should be fun to watch.

5. UNLV is the only other team in the tourney that Minnesota faced this season and they won their 8/9 battle with Kent State. They held the Golden Flashes to 10 first half points, which was boring and a shot clock era record. (pic on right stolen from College Cheeleader)

6. Washington State vs. Winthrop was looking like it was going to be VERY interesting through the first half. But something awoke the Cougars and they throttled Wintrhop 42-11 in the second half. Winthrop has officially changed their mascot from the Eagles to the Monkey Stomped.

7. Finally, what the hell is wrong with UCLA. How did they allow 16 points to Miss Valley State in the first half? The second half was better as they kept them to 13. Fortunately for them they did allow 30 for the game or there would have been hell to pay in practice on Friday.

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FRIDAY GAMES and thoughts...

1. Friday was crazy with 6 upsets in 16 games. This was more like it and the reason I pay to have access to all of the games.

2. Indiana ended what could have been a perfect opening round for the Big Ten. Obviously this team hasn't been the same since the Sampson incident, but the talent level is there to beat a team like Arkansas.

3. On a related note, I want to go on record to say that Eric Gordon will not be a great pro. I think he is an incredible college athlete who would dominate the Big Ten next year and could have a monster NCAA tournament to put 2008 behind him. But at the NBA level I don't see him being quick enough to defend or to penetrate like he is able to do at this level. He is quick but not explosive. In the NCAAs he is a step to a step and a half quicker than most guys on the floor. In the NBA I think he'll be a 1/2 step slower than guys at his position. Great shooter but won't be able to score or defend imo. I could be wrong and I have no reason to not want him to do well, I just would personally be upset to see him drafted on my favorite NBA team.

4. A couple of clutch baskets by some unknowns has once again made this tournament everything we hope it will be every year. San Diego's De'Jon Jackson (pictured left) hit a step back two which put away #4 seed UCONN. And everybody's favorite Hilltoppers used a Ty Rogers (pictured left) three at the buzzer to ruin everyone's bracket who had Drake in the Final Four.

5. North Carolina bumped Purdue to the second highest scoring game after they dropped in 113 on some irrelevant team. UNC can score with anybody, but I still see them falling before they get to he Final Four. Defense is just OK and they go through stretches where they lose interest. I see them falling sooner rather than later. On the other hand I respect Roy Williams more than any other coach in the country and that alone is enough to get them to San Antonio.

6. Davidson's Stephen Curry (pictured right) was incredible. 30 second half points to take down the house (of cards) that Dan Monson built. And his mom is kinda hot.

7. Friday was a safe day for all of the 1, 2 and 3 seeds as they all breezed to the Sunday games. But the 4s and 5s were obviously tenuous positions to be in. But that is what makes this tourney so much fun.

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ROUND 2 - Saturday

It is early but Duke whithered down the stretch to West Virginia. I care nothing for the Mountaineers but suck it Duke.

My predictions...

I know this isn't exactly going out on a limb but I have felt all along and still feel that Kansas and UCLA will meet in the Championship game.

Teams who may make that surprise Final Four run? - A couple Big Ten teams are capable of making a run.

MSU is balanced and has the Neitzel factor.
Wisconsin plays great D and is the definition of team on offense.
Villanova could make a run cause they don't know they aren't supposed to.
Washington State is a top 10 talent and just needs to put it together for a few games.
West Virginia scores a ton and play great D. They have already dispatched their #2 seed obstacle.

That is enough information for today.

Gopher Hockey - I'm on the bandwagon

2008-03-21T19:57:00.001-07:00

I even watched parts of the game and all of the OT. I'm on the bandwagon and I even care.

Mike Hoeffel was one goal shy of a hat trick in a 2-1 OT win and G-Alex Kangas had another outstanding night in the net.

Again, I won't insult you and try to tell you anything other than we just beat the #1 team in WCHA and will skate in the championship game tomorrow.

These guys have been just 13 seconds from five straight OT games. (picture stolen from gophersports.com)

Star Tribune - recap
Pioneer Press - recap

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Gopher Hockey is standing on their collective head!

2008-03-21T13:28:00.001-07:00

I know nothing about hockey (I just wanted to get that out there), which is why I post very little never on Gopher hockey. But, man that Gopher hockey team is so hot right now.

I'm not going to get carried away into stats and reasons they have gone from highly anticipated to mediocre WCHA team who barely made the Final Five to the hottest team in the league.

Now I'm jumping on the bandwagon as they are in the final four of the final five.

Freshman goalie Alex Kangas has been incredible and as is the norm in hockey when your goalie is "standing on his head" your team is going to win a lot of games.

Bring on Colorado College, and Sioux Suck.

Fear the Turtle or Fear the Hoffarber

2008-03-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

Turtel Waxing has been kind enough to give us a little look into the Maryland basketball team. I took no time to proof it or check for naughty word but here it is...

Maryland comes into this game having lost five out of their last six.
In losing to Clemson during that stretch Maryland squandered a 20
point 2nd half lead and lost 73-70. Maryland also lost games to Boston
College and Virginia which finished 4-12 and 5-11 in the ACC
respectively.

Starting five:
Greivis Vasquez (17.3 ppg, 6.9 assists 5.7 reb)- Alternates at PG with
Eric Hayes. More of a scorer and distributor than a pure shooter. Will
make the spectacular pass or the awful turnover on any given
possession. Sometimes careless with the basketball and prone to
turnovers and poor shot selection. Can score in bunches and is almost
unstoppable when his outside shot is falling. He is a streaky 31%
shooter from 3-point range. A mediocre defender who uses his height
(6-6) to bother shooters. Named 2nd team All-ACC as a sophomore and
certainly the best player on the squad.

Eric Hayes (10.3ppg, 4.4ast) A pass first point guard who alternates
with Vasquez as the primary ball handler. Usually tries to let his
teammates score but can hit an open shot from 3-point range if given
space. Prefers to be a spot up jump shooter and doesn't do well on the
move. Below average quickness makes him a liability on defense and
struggles to contain speedy guards off the dribble. Not much of a
scoring threat.

Landon Milbourne (8.5ppg, 3.6reb) An athletic SF who needs to get the
ball in good positions to score. Not able to create scoring
opportunities himself though he will take it to the rim on occasion. A
decent 3-point shooter (38%) and solid from the foul line (80%). Lacks
great instincts on the defensive end though he can be a weakside shot
blocker. Has struggled recently.

James Gist (15.8ppg, 7.8reb) A dynamic and impressive athlete with a
good shooting touch out to 3-point range. Will often settle for jump
shots and doesn't like physical play in the post. A weak one-on-one
defender in the post who excels at shot blocking. Not a particularly
strong rebounder. Struggles to finish inside after contact. A good
free throw shooter overall. Named 2nd team All-ACC.

Bambale Osby (11.2ppg, 6.5reb) A stout but undersized center who
prefers to play with his back to the basket. Can score on a variety of
drop step and pivot moves but will also turn the ball over. A decent
passer out of the low post. Has improved his dreadful foul shooting to
66% but usually misses free throws in bunches. A good low post
defender for his size. Has exceptional timing with his shot blocking.
A throw back style of player and will draw fouls with his physical
play.

Bench: SG Adrian Bowie and wing Cliff Tucker are the two main bench
players. Bowie is a slashing guard who is a very good finisher around
the basket. Plays a very instinctual game. Both Tucker and Bowie like
to get out in transition and are adequate defenders. Bowie is getting
much more playing time recently and is averaging 10.6 points in the
last three games. Jerome Burney, a rebounding and defensive post
player, is the first big man off the bench.

Outlook: Maryland usually plays stout defense only to fade in the 2nd
half. This group has a hard time holding leads because the offense
sputters for long stretches. They are vulnerable to pressure defense
and offensive rebounding. Three point shooting is not a large part of
the offense and they like to try to get the ball inside early. I think
the team is worn out by all the minutes the starters have been playing
and I wouldn't be surprised by an early NIT exit.

Nobody reads blogs during March Madness do they? HOFFARBER

2008-03-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry for lack of posting. Surprisingly I have had very little time to blog but I'll do my best to get some post season tournament previews out there.

Congratulations to the Gophers (women) for making the NCAA Tournament!

While the NCAA's for the men would have been a blast, congratulations are in order for making the NIT and even getting to host an ACC team (that beat UNC none the less).

Without winning the Big Ten Tourny, it was still a blast to watch because of this, which I just cannot get enough of...

unfortunately you have to watch the Delaney inspired, mafia directed, three blind refs executed rash of fouls in the memory of Sampson; against Minnesota. But it gets better when they give the MN radio guys audio of The Hoff's shot.

Bring on the Turtle.

Breaking Down the Box - Indiana (B10 Tourney)

2008-03-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

Minnesota - 59
Indiana -58
BOX SCORE

This would be worth watching for Gopher fans...

What is lost in the big Hoffarber buzzer beater is the overall Gopher effort. Without question Indiana is more talented and started the game flat and uninterested. After the 8-min timeout in the first half they flipped their switch and made a nice 11-2 run to cut the lead back to a manageable four point game with 24 minutes left. But Minnesota didn't back down, they actually extended the lead to seven as they hit half-time.

Then IU started the second half with their switch flipped and they clamped down not allowing Minnesota a point for the first 5:30 while DJ White was scoring all of their points and looked poised to single handily send the Gophers home.

But once again this team didn't back down and actually held the lead for all but 1.5 seconds of the last 5:10. Then predictably this team that isn't used to winning big games gave it away by Coleman going soft to the hoop, silly fouls and not boxing out (twice). But amazingly Hoffarber gave us his left handed impression of Christian Laettner and we live to finally take out the Illini.

Player of the Game - Damien Johnson
17 points
4 offensive rebounds
1 block
1 steal

Hoffarber's shot will get all of the press but Johnson was outstanding tonight. With a thin frontcourt and Coleman in foul trouble he kept things from getting ugly inside. Big Jon Williams had what may have been his best game as a Gopher but Johnson was the key to the win tonight.

Tempo Free Zone

For as bad as the rebounding appeared while watching the game, we actually out rebounded Indiana. We boxed out well enough to get 63.4% of their misses and we got back 43.2% of our own misses. That's not our worst rebounding effort of the year.

I do miss the old days of forcing turnovers. Remember when we used to press on most made baskets? And remember when we'd turn teams over on 23% (or more) of their possessions? I'm not sure why we abandoned the press but I for one miss it. Forcing Indiana to turn the ball over on only 11% of their possessions is not going to be good enough tomorrow.

Up Next - Illinois

Another chance to avenge an 0-2 Big Ten record. Screw that, can we PLEASE not make it 20 straight losses to Illinois? Two things have killed us vs. the Illini. Rebounding and three point shooting.

Illinois during the Big Ten Season shot 32% from behind the arc in their other 16 conference games. Against Minnesota they shot 53.6%. That is an alarming stat. They shot over 50% only three times all season (conference games only) and two of those were of course the Gopher games.

I know that rebounding is going to be the most talked about key for the Gophers but I put that as #2 behind keeping their 3-pnt FG% to something under 40%.

Does anybody else wonder if we'll be better off with Williams starting and Tollackson sits? Let us remember that he hath given us 5 rebounds vs. Illinois (that is combined folks)! Williams won't score but maybe he'd be willing to box out and give us 6 total boards. And most importantly maybe he'd be able to keep Pruitt or Randle from getting a couple extra offensive boards.

The Illini are beatable and fortunately they won't have the 'one fewer game played advantage', they were a Thursday team just like us.

Did anybody catch the end of the Gopher / Hoosier game?

2008-03-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

Thank you Mr. Hoffarber!

After IU was handed 5 free throws in 2.5 seconds and after the game appeared over I sulked to my computer to complain to friends on IM and preparing an NIT post. Instead I leaped out of my chair, kicked the card table, spun around and somehow ended up in my kitchen.

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In what will likely be the most satisfying outcome of this will be that we no longer have to watch highlights of Hoffarber's ESPY shot (which we got to see every single game this year).

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On a sadder note, Gopher hockey lost to MN State-Mankato in double OT on a short handed goal.

Conference Tourney Time

2008-03-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

So I missed any pre or post game coverage of the Northwestern domination (thank you Mr. Westbrook). Here is a box score widget for you...

It is nice to see that we only had 10 turnovers as that has been a problem for us lately. And we outrebounded the Wildcats giving up only 2 offensive rebounds. Apparently the football pads in practice paid off. Getting to shooters on the defensive end will have to improve or IU will kill us inside and out.

Next up is Indiana. The Hoosiers are not a great match up for us because of their balance and athleticism. Teams with athletic players like Gordon, Ellis, Crawford, etc. are just bad for us as we are not an overly athletic team.

Obviously if we don't play a full 40 min game we will exit the B10 Tourney through the NIT door.

I do not believe in the adage that "it's tough to beat a team three times." So we DON'T have that going for us. Unless the teams are relatively equal the team that is 2-0 is usually 2-0 for a reason. Indiana is a better team and this should be a W for them.

What we can hope for is the Hoosiers will be as disinterested as they have been since the Sampson firing resignation. If you throw out their 14 point win over Minnesota they have been very average since the Purdue win.

Let's also hope that the 1st half ugliness we witnessed yesterday can be chalked up to "looking past" Northwestern. This group of Gophers is not known for their mental toughness so looking past a team they had beaten twice is very plausible. They will need to come out and apply pressure for 40 minutes. Can they cause turnovers that they turn into points? Can they regain their man-to-man pressure that kept them in games against Indiana and Michigan State in January?

I give us about a 20% chance to win, but it wouldn't be the biggest shocker of the year.

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Let's all root for Georgia today. We could possibly see the highest rated NIT game in the last decade if Minnesota were to face Kentucky in Madison Square Garden.

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