Some Pre-Turkey Day Musings

…Unless Buck Bravo, the resident mayor of Positivity in the Gopher blogosphere, can talk me out of this, I am now of the belief that this Gopher season was not a success after all. Up until the Iowa Debacle (ID) I kept trying to talk myself into how that no matter how badly November had gone (and it was bad), that a 7 win season coming off a 1-11 year was a success. But this feeling I’ve had since, oh, about midway through the first quarter of the ID, does not feel like success. I spent the rest of the weekend drowning my sorrows in the “7 Win Coolaid” and yet I sit before you today and cannot and will not put a positive spin on this year.

I heard the analogy of this season with the Minnesota Twins 2008 season, and that’s really what brought me around. The Twins were not expected to compete in 2008, and yet thanks to that plucky bunch of overachievers, there they were in the pennant race all season long. When the trade deadline rolled around, GM Bill Smith and company had an opportunity to trade for a quality reliever (I’m not even going to broach the topic of the Twins needing a power hitter because they’ve needed one since Harmon Killebrew retired, and yet each and every year they refuse to do anything about getting one. God forbid they’d deal some prospects for a real-deal middle-of-the-order bat), yet flatly refused. Of course their bullpen fell apart by the end of the season, and I was appalled that there were actually fans and media types saying “Hey it’s ok! We had a great season because we weren’t supposed to win in the first place! We exceeded expectations so that’s all that matters!”

That, my friends, is a loser’s attitude. And up until the ID that was the attitude I had with the Gophers. Well no more. You cannot start 7-1, lose your last four, and call the year a success. You just can’t. An improvement? Sure. But not a success. Not with inexcusable losses to both Northwestern and Michigan AT home, and not after suffering your worst Big 10 loss EVER- in the history of the program, like worse than anything Wacker ever did- when you were only a touchdown dog. Oh and despite a very pro-Iowa crowd, that game was at home too. Yeah no, can’t call that a “success” at all.

Do I want to fire Brewster? Am I calling for his head? No, absolutely not. Glen Mason left this program in shambles, and Brewster’s putting in a lot of work to clean things up. The recruits continue to roll in, the team gets a gorgeous new outdoor stadium next year, and the core of your team gets a year older and (hopefully) a year better. Things are definitely looking up in Gopher Nation, which is why we can all be realists and admit that this while this season was an improvement over 2007, it was not a success. Better luck next year.

... After the ID, I officially hate Iowa (and their fans. And their whole damn state) more than any other team/fans in sports. I have never seen a more obnoxious, arrogant, and ridiculous group of fans in my life than I saw at the Metrodome Saturday night. Jermo and Josho and Lenny and Josho’s pa’s section were some of the few Gopher fans who stuck out that disaster until the bitter end, and it just made me angry to see the Iowa fans gloating and acting like idiots. I had a few comments that cannot be repeated here that I was dying to unleash, but considering we were about the only Gopher fans left in the upper deck (and I feel I should remind you at this time that yes, this really was supposed to be a Gopher home game), I was fearing for my safety a little bit and decided to take the high road (for Iowa fans, the “high road” is where you don’t act like a complete a**hole when you win. Or in general. That concept apparently hasn’t made it down I-35 to you folks yet. Maybe someday). But yeah, for the record, if you’re wondering who hates Iowa? I definitely do.

...All-Conference Teams were announced for the Big 10 Monday. Not surprisingly Eric Decker was a first-teamer on both the coaches’ and media teams, VanDeSteeg was a 1st teamer with the media and 2nd with coaches, Big Play Traye Simmons was a 2nd teamer on both, and Jack Simmons was a 2nd teamer with the media but not the coaches. Biggest shocker? Adam Weber named by the coaches as the 2nd best QB in the conference (the media went with Juice Williams). Really? Did they watch the last month of the season? A research project for the offseason would be to find out if this was the worst season ever for quarterbacks in the Big 10, because I can’t imagine there being another one as bad as this. After Daryll Clark, Terrelle Pryor improved a ton from the beginning of the year, but man after those guys it was just awful. They shouldn’t even have named a 2nd team quarterback.

... Finally, no podcast this week because of Thanksgiving. Jermo and I will stuff ourselves with turkey and be back next week. Travel safe and have a Happy Thanksgiving to you.