If you haven't yet heard, the authors of two fantastic Gopher related blogs have joined forces. The authors of Paging Jim Shikenjanski and Gopher Nation, have come together to form The Daily Gopher.
Aside from being a very aesthetically pleasing blog to look at, these guys are top notch writers, who really know their stuff, are well plugged in and who are far more objective and less emotional than I am.
On a personal note, through the magic of Facebook, the gentleman who goes by Gopher Nation and I discovered this week that we grew up going to Bible camp together. I recall him being the only person that I went to camp with in those days whose opinions about sports were ones that I actually respected. Turns out I've been respecting his opinions and his work on Gopher Sports on his Gopher Nation blog, and we've been linking to each others blogs for a year, and we didn't even know who was behind them until this past week.
He's a heck of a guy, it's a heck of a blog, it's got tremendous upside potential, I couldn't be more pleased, it's fantasic, they are football guys, they represent the state of Minnesota well, (insert additional hyperbolic Brewster-ism here) and you should definitely check out The Daily Gopher. (Link to The Daily Gopher also available to the right in my blog list.)
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Test scores reaction
Likely you've read the Strib article today on the incoming class of football recruits and their reportedly low standardized test scores. This is, of course, a concern to all of us who love Gopher football.
But I had a couple of issues with this report.
First of all, I wonder how many newspapers in, oh, I don't know, say central Ohio, or Detroit, or Los Angeles, or Gainesville, FL are digging up ACT scores for incoming freshman football players and making an issue of it 3 days before the first game of the season. Clearly this issue gets some heightened awareness around these parts based on the recent news of MarQueis Gray not being with the team based on the unusually dramatic increase in his ACT scores.
Which actually leads to my next issue...
Why is MarQueis Gray even mentioned in this article when, according to the article, "The Star Tribune requested college entrance scores for incoming freshman football players from every Big Ten school last summer under the nation's Freedom of Information Act."
First of all, great job by the Star Tribune of utilizing the Freedom of Information Act.
The current recruiting class is being thrown under the bus for the transgressions of the previous class. If the test scores pulled were from last year's incoming class, then let's talk about it, but let's not put the current recruiting class in the same discussion. As the article points out, and in my opinion should have done in a separate article, the incoming recruiting class has plenty of issues of its own academically, to say nothing of what is expected of them as being part of a Big10 football program.
Finally, a good number of that incoming recruiting class last fall had been recruited by Mason's staff (a fact that is not mentioned in this article), and the ones that were recruited by Coach Brewster and his staff were recruited in, essentially, a 4-week period from mid-January when Brewster was hired to the mid-February signing day of 2007. The amount of control that Coach Brewster had over that recruiting class as far as the kind of talent he'd like to see on his football team, not to mention academic standards, was minimal at best.
Look, I fully understand that these are issues that need to be addressed, and I want to see Gopher football players succeed in the classroom as well as on the field. But to insinuate that these recruiting classes are in the same boat is inaccurate, in my opinion, and to pin the pre-college academic shortcomings of last years class on Coach Brewster, to a great extent, is also inaccurate.
If Gopher football is going to make strides to improve the product both on the field and in the classroom, it isn't going to happen in one year, especially when that one year is a transition year in more ways than one.
But I had a couple of issues with this report.
First of all, I wonder how many newspapers in, oh, I don't know, say central Ohio, or Detroit, or Los Angeles, or Gainesville, FL are digging up ACT scores for incoming freshman football players and making an issue of it 3 days before the first game of the season. Clearly this issue gets some heightened awareness around these parts based on the recent news of MarQueis Gray not being with the team based on the unusually dramatic increase in his ACT scores.
Which actually leads to my next issue...
Why is MarQueis Gray even mentioned in this article when, according to the article, "The Star Tribune requested college entrance scores for incoming freshman football players from every Big Ten school last summer under the nation's Freedom of Information Act."
First of all, great job by the Star Tribune of utilizing the Freedom of Information Act.
The current recruiting class is being thrown under the bus for the transgressions of the previous class. If the test scores pulled were from last year's incoming class, then let's talk about it, but let's not put the current recruiting class in the same discussion. As the article points out, and in my opinion should have done in a separate article, the incoming recruiting class has plenty of issues of its own academically, to say nothing of what is expected of them as being part of a Big10 football program.
Finally, a good number of that incoming recruiting class last fall had been recruited by Mason's staff (a fact that is not mentioned in this article), and the ones that were recruited by Coach Brewster and his staff were recruited in, essentially, a 4-week period from mid-January when Brewster was hired to the mid-February signing day of 2007. The amount of control that Coach Brewster had over that recruiting class as far as the kind of talent he'd like to see on his football team, not to mention academic standards, was minimal at best.
Look, I fully understand that these are issues that need to be addressed, and I want to see Gopher football players succeed in the classroom as well as on the field. But to insinuate that these recruiting classes are in the same boat is inaccurate, in my opinion, and to pin the pre-college academic shortcomings of last years class on Coach Brewster, to a great extent, is also inaccurate.
If Gopher football is going to make strides to improve the product both on the field and in the classroom, it isn't going to happen in one year, especially when that one year is a transition year in more ways than one.
Monday, August 25, 2008
This is not good...
I don't think I have to tell you, but this is not good.
From the Star Tribune article:
"Highly-touted Gophers freshman quarterback MarQueis Gray has at least temporarily been dropped from the team because of academic eligibility issues. The eligibility questions reportedly center around his college entrance exam scores."
From the Star Tribune article:
"Highly-touted Gophers freshman quarterback MarQueis Gray has at least temporarily been dropped from the team because of academic eligibility issues. The eligibility questions reportedly center around his college entrance exam scores."
Stream of consciousness breakdown...
Like many out there, I've been reading as much stuff as I can on the Gopher Football team this fall... unfortunately I haven't taken any time to write about it.
I'll now take a stab at some kind of season preview.
Being the resident Gopher fan at work, I get asked a lot about how the season is going to go. My standard response is this: I'm expecting 5 wins. I think this would be a major improvement over last year, and might be enough to shut Reusse... but I doubt it.
I expect the Gopher's to be much faster on defense and much more in-sync on offense. I expect they will win 3 non-conference games (N. Illinois, Montana State & Florida Atlantic, all at home, losing to Bowling Green on the road), and two Big10 games (Indiana & NWestern both at home). The team is still inexperienced, so winning a game on the road will be tough, in addition to the fact that the Big10 road schedule is REALLY tough (OSU, Illinois, Purdue, Wisky).
If all goes according to my prediction (and why wouldn't it?) the Gophers will go into the final week of the season, welcoming Iowa, with a 5-6 record. And that's the trump card. On paper, Iowa is a beatable team, especially at home in the Gophers final game at the Metrodome. On the line: Floyd of Rosedale and a bowl game.
HOLY CRAP!!! How much fun would THAT game be?
And how huge would making a bowl game be for this young team? To give these guys an extra month of practice time would be a big help toward developing this team. Not to mention the fact that going from 1 win to 6 wins would be a massive improvement.
For the season, I expect...
... Adam Weber to be a solid starter, and do more with his arm than his feet, but...
... the offensive line to shuffle and struggle most of the year, so Weber will have to do more throwing on the run.
... David Pittman to make an immediate impact at a couple of offensive positions.
... the defense to be faster and improved, but still mistake prone.
... Coach Brewster and his staff to do a better job of managing the game (i.e. no blunders like when your opponent (NDSU) is on offense, is still in the huddle, and has only 5 seconds on the play clock... and Minnesota calls a timeout.)
... Jay Thomas to lead the team in rushing.
... Eric Decker to be in the top 3 in the Big10 in catches and recieving yards.
... Jack Simmons to be the top tight end in the Big10.
... Marcus Sherels & "Big Play" Trey Simmons to lead the team in interceptions.
... Simoni Lawrence to lead the team in tackles.
... IF the Gophers DO win 6 games and make it to a low-tier bowl game, Reusse will write an article saying that this accomplishment means nothing because Mason would have done the same thing.
SKI-U-MAH!
I'll now take a stab at some kind of season preview.
Being the resident Gopher fan at work, I get asked a lot about how the season is going to go. My standard response is this: I'm expecting 5 wins. I think this would be a major improvement over last year, and might be enough to shut Reusse... but I doubt it.
I expect the Gopher's to be much faster on defense and much more in-sync on offense. I expect they will win 3 non-conference games (N. Illinois, Montana State & Florida Atlantic, all at home, losing to Bowling Green on the road), and two Big10 games (Indiana & NWestern both at home). The team is still inexperienced, so winning a game on the road will be tough, in addition to the fact that the Big10 road schedule is REALLY tough (OSU, Illinois, Purdue, Wisky).
If all goes according to my prediction (and why wouldn't it?) the Gophers will go into the final week of the season, welcoming Iowa, with a 5-6 record. And that's the trump card. On paper, Iowa is a beatable team, especially at home in the Gophers final game at the Metrodome. On the line: Floyd of Rosedale and a bowl game.
HOLY CRAP!!! How much fun would THAT game be?
And how huge would making a bowl game be for this young team? To give these guys an extra month of practice time would be a big help toward developing this team. Not to mention the fact that going from 1 win to 6 wins would be a massive improvement.
For the season, I expect...
... Adam Weber to be a solid starter, and do more with his arm than his feet, but...
... the offensive line to shuffle and struggle most of the year, so Weber will have to do more throwing on the run.
... David Pittman to make an immediate impact at a couple of offensive positions.
... the defense to be faster and improved, but still mistake prone.
... Coach Brewster and his staff to do a better job of managing the game (i.e. no blunders like when your opponent (NDSU) is on offense, is still in the huddle, and has only 5 seconds on the play clock... and Minnesota calls a timeout.)
... Jay Thomas to lead the team in rushing.
... Eric Decker to be in the top 3 in the Big10 in catches and recieving yards.
... Jack Simmons to be the top tight end in the Big10.
... Marcus Sherels & "Big Play" Trey Simmons to lead the team in interceptions.
... Simoni Lawrence to lead the team in tackles.
... IF the Gophers DO win 6 games and make it to a low-tier bowl game, Reusse will write an article saying that this accomplishment means nothing because Mason would have done the same thing.
SKI-U-MAH!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Camp opens... some thoughts
Well, fall football practices have started for your Golden Gopher Football squad, and the leader of the pack appears to have toned things down a bit this year.
I was slightly surprised when I began reading the article in the Strib talking about Coach Brewster taking a softer approach this fall. However, considering Brew had his hands, and his coaches hands on, his players during the off-season, and had the opportunity to focus them on strength and conditioning training throughout, it seems reasonable that he would have a more comfortable feeling coming into camp this year. Let's just hope his intensity on the field doesn't wear off.
One person who doesn't have a more comfortable feeling going into fall camp this year is Offensive Line Coach Phil Meyer. One of the few bright spots from last seasons disappointing team appears to be a question mark as August 30th gets closer. It looks as though 10 guys will get playing time on the offensive line this season and there could be a lot of shifting of positions as guys get used to the Big10. We all know how important the offensive line is in Big10 football, so it's absolutely paramount that this group comes together quickly.
Even with the great recruiting class that the coaching staff brought into the program this year, you had to wonder what impact they would have. Safety/LB Simoni Lawrence was a name you heard as someone who could make an immediate impact, and it appears that, at least thus far in camp, that theory remains intact. I can't tell you how excited I am to be seeing articles about the DEFENSE during fall practice. After last season you knew this had to happen, and hopefully the quick impact that some of these recruits are having in camp will carry over into the season.
I was slightly surprised when I began reading the article in the Strib talking about Coach Brewster taking a softer approach this fall. However, considering Brew had his hands, and his coaches hands on, his players during the off-season, and had the opportunity to focus them on strength and conditioning training throughout, it seems reasonable that he would have a more comfortable feeling coming into camp this year. Let's just hope his intensity on the field doesn't wear off.
One person who doesn't have a more comfortable feeling going into fall camp this year is Offensive Line Coach Phil Meyer. One of the few bright spots from last seasons disappointing team appears to be a question mark as August 30th gets closer. It looks as though 10 guys will get playing time on the offensive line this season and there could be a lot of shifting of positions as guys get used to the Big10. We all know how important the offensive line is in Big10 football, so it's absolutely paramount that this group comes together quickly.
Even with the great recruiting class that the coaching staff brought into the program this year, you had to wonder what impact they would have. Safety/LB Simoni Lawrence was a name you heard as someone who could make an immediate impact, and it appears that, at least thus far in camp, that theory remains intact. I can't tell you how excited I am to be seeing articles about the DEFENSE during fall practice. After last season you knew this had to happen, and hopefully the quick impact that some of these recruits are having in camp will carry over into the season.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
A Gopher Preview....?
If you have a few moments go ahead and check out this review of the upcoming Gopher season on The Bleacher Report.
I don't have any past experience reading The Bleacher Report, so I have no frame of reference for who these guys are, their experience, etc. I felt like this was a mostly fair assessment of the upcoming season, even though it doesn't go into ANY depth and this article, really, could have been written by anybody had peripheral interest in college football as a whole.
I was a bit put off by the constant jabs at Coach Brewster ("Tight end Tim," "Timmy," etc), but I was mostly on board with the assessment, until I read this:
"I still think Minnesota made a horrible mistake letting Glen Mason go, and they are going to be paying for it for years to come."
This guy, or this site, or whoever wrote this, would have done themselves, and their credibility, a huge favor if they had left this little tidbit of information out of the review. Once I read that statement toward the end of the article, I understood why the cheap-shot tone had been taken toward Brewster.
This is such an old argument at this point, and it really brings nothing new or worthwhile to talk about to the table. We all know that there are a lot of people out there who felt that getting rid of Mason was a bad idea... really, we get it! There a plenty of people who are happy with the move, and if you don't know yet that I fall into that camp, well you just haven't been paying attention.
The fact of the matter is that Glen Mason doesn't coach here anymore... in fact, Glen Mason doesn't coach anywhere last time I checked. But Tim Brewster does. Did the guy have a horrible first season on the field? Without question. But can we please give "Tight end Tim," as they call him, (by the way, these guys ARE talking about Tim's past as a TE and a TE Coach, not his actual... ahem... rear end... right?) a chance to run the team with his players and his system in place?
I do not for one second believe that the Gophers are going to have as poor of a season as they did last year, nor do I think that Tim Brewster is in jeopardy of losing his job after his second season. It's clear that the team needs to make some strides after taking a HUGE step back last year. But none of this has anything to do with Mason any more. GET OVER IT!
I don't have any past experience reading The Bleacher Report, so I have no frame of reference for who these guys are, their experience, etc. I felt like this was a mostly fair assessment of the upcoming season, even though it doesn't go into ANY depth and this article, really, could have been written by anybody had peripheral interest in college football as a whole.
I was a bit put off by the constant jabs at Coach Brewster ("Tight end Tim," "Timmy," etc), but I was mostly on board with the assessment, until I read this:
"I still think Minnesota made a horrible mistake letting Glen Mason go, and they are going to be paying for it for years to come."
This guy, or this site, or whoever wrote this, would have done themselves, and their credibility, a huge favor if they had left this little tidbit of information out of the review. Once I read that statement toward the end of the article, I understood why the cheap-shot tone had been taken toward Brewster.
This is such an old argument at this point, and it really brings nothing new or worthwhile to talk about to the table. We all know that there are a lot of people out there who felt that getting rid of Mason was a bad idea... really, we get it! There a plenty of people who are happy with the move, and if you don't know yet that I fall into that camp, well you just haven't been paying attention.
The fact of the matter is that Glen Mason doesn't coach here anymore... in fact, Glen Mason doesn't coach anywhere last time I checked. But Tim Brewster does. Did the guy have a horrible first season on the field? Without question. But can we please give "Tight end Tim," as they call him, (by the way, these guys ARE talking about Tim's past as a TE and a TE Coach, not his actual... ahem... rear end... right?) a chance to run the team with his players and his system in place?
I do not for one second believe that the Gophers are going to have as poor of a season as they did last year, nor do I think that Tim Brewster is in jeopardy of losing his job after his second season. It's clear that the team needs to make some strides after taking a HUGE step back last year. But none of this has anything to do with Mason any more. GET OVER IT!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Coach's son leaving Gophers
Just saw the news that Clint Brewster, quarterback and son of Coach Tim Brewster, will be leaving the Gopher Football program.
There is no word about where Clint will transfer to, Coach Brewster's statement only said "Clint Brewster has decided to transfer. I respect and admire Clint's decision to further his education and play football elsewhere."
I'm not sure exactly how much of a surprise that this should come as to Gopher fans. In all honesty, despite the fact that Clint had a great showing in the spring game this year, I just was not sure how he fit into this team. He's not a prototype Big10 QB. Outside of the fact that Clint is Coach Brewster's son, I always wondered how he fit into this team.
When Coach Brewster heavily recruited his son, the only quarterback options on this team were Weber and Mort, and clearly Brewster went after Clint because he wanted his son on the team, but also because he wasn't comfortable with the QB situation. But he spent a lot of effort recruiting quarterbacks in the past year, and Clint had to have seen the writing on the wall.
I wish Clint good luck! He's got all of the mechanics to be a very good college quarterback.
There is no word about where Clint will transfer to, Coach Brewster's statement only said "Clint Brewster has decided to transfer. I respect and admire Clint's decision to further his education and play football elsewhere."
I'm not sure exactly how much of a surprise that this should come as to Gopher fans. In all honesty, despite the fact that Clint had a great showing in the spring game this year, I just was not sure how he fit into this team. He's not a prototype Big10 QB. Outside of the fact that Clint is Coach Brewster's son, I always wondered how he fit into this team.
When Coach Brewster heavily recruited his son, the only quarterback options on this team were Weber and Mort, and clearly Brewster went after Clint because he wanted his son on the team, but also because he wasn't comfortable with the QB situation. But he spent a lot of effort recruiting quarterbacks in the past year, and Clint had to have seen the writing on the wall.
I wish Clint good luck! He's got all of the mechanics to be a very good college quarterback.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Sam Maresh, continued...
An interesting, and personal, twist to the news that Sam Maresh will be having open heart surgery arose for me on Tuesday night.
As it turns out, the same surgeon who is going to be performing Sam's surgery at the Mayo Clinic did the same surgery on my Mom, just a few years ago. My mom also had a bicuspid aortic valve, and her surgery was performed by Dr. Hartzell Schaff at the Mayo Clinic. My Mom had an artificial valve replacement, whereas Sam will be getting a flesh valve replacement (a pig valve, actually). As the stories have already mentioned, going with the flesh valve allows Sam a higher probability of being able to return to football than an artificial valve.
I mentioned in my previous post that I would explore what kind of football impact this might have on the Gophers.
The largest toll that this news might have on the Gopher football program might be emotional. We all know that Coach Brewster is very fond of, and has very high hopes, for Maresh. The hope was that Maresh would have an immediate impact the attitude of the defense, adding a toughness and having an impact on everyone around him. While Maresh will still be around the team and probably on the sideline, he won't be on the field, and that is certainly going to change his impact.
From the standpoint of the actual play on the field, this year it might not have a huge impact. While Maresh is a big time linebacker recruit with serious D1 talent, this year still would have been a very raw, learning year for him. I'm not saying that he wouldn't have the potential to play very very well, but even with Maresh this was destined to be a bumpy year on the defensive side of the ball with a very young and inexperienced roster, and a new defensive coordinator.
The good news for Sam is that he'll still be around football and around the Gopher program and the coaches. If he is able to come back from this surgury in 2010, like he is hoping to, he'll have two years of being with the players, the coaches where he'll have a great opportunity to learn the defensive schemes. While there is no replacement for on-field experience, at least he won't be coming back to the field with no frame of reference.
As I mentioned before, good luck Sam!!! SKI-U-MAH!
As it turns out, the same surgeon who is going to be performing Sam's surgery at the Mayo Clinic did the same surgery on my Mom, just a few years ago. My mom also had a bicuspid aortic valve, and her surgery was performed by Dr. Hartzell Schaff at the Mayo Clinic. My Mom had an artificial valve replacement, whereas Sam will be getting a flesh valve replacement (a pig valve, actually). As the stories have already mentioned, going with the flesh valve allows Sam a higher probability of being able to return to football than an artificial valve.
I mentioned in my previous post that I would explore what kind of football impact this might have on the Gophers.
The largest toll that this news might have on the Gopher football program might be emotional. We all know that Coach Brewster is very fond of, and has very high hopes, for Maresh. The hope was that Maresh would have an immediate impact the attitude of the defense, adding a toughness and having an impact on everyone around him. While Maresh will still be around the team and probably on the sideline, he won't be on the field, and that is certainly going to change his impact.
From the standpoint of the actual play on the field, this year it might not have a huge impact. While Maresh is a big time linebacker recruit with serious D1 talent, this year still would have been a very raw, learning year for him. I'm not saying that he wouldn't have the potential to play very very well, but even with Maresh this was destined to be a bumpy year on the defensive side of the ball with a very young and inexperienced roster, and a new defensive coordinator.
The good news for Sam is that he'll still be around football and around the Gopher program and the coaches. If he is able to come back from this surgury in 2010, like he is hoping to, he'll have two years of being with the players, the coaches where he'll have a great opportunity to learn the defensive schemes. While there is no replacement for on-field experience, at least he won't be coming back to the field with no frame of reference.
As I mentioned before, good luck Sam!!! SKI-U-MAH!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Prayers for Sam Maresh
I haven't written in awhile, and have been ridiculously busy lately. I've been trying to find time to begin writing again, and the news that came out today warrants me making time.
Sam Maresh needs open heart surgery.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Maresh family as this cannot be any easy time for them. I have been through heart surgeries with both of my parents and it was not easy. I simply cannot imagine what kind of pain Sam's parents are feeling having to watch their child go through this. Independent of football, I absolutely pray that the surgery goes smoothly, that Sam recovers quickly and without incident, and that he is able to live a long full life.
As this would not be an appropriate time to discuss how this impacts the football team, I will explore this in a future post.
SKI-U-MAH SAM, GET WELL SOON!!!
Sam Maresh needs open heart surgery.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Maresh family as this cannot be any easy time for them. I have been through heart surgeries with both of my parents and it was not easy. I simply cannot imagine what kind of pain Sam's parents are feeling having to watch their child go through this. Independent of football, I absolutely pray that the surgery goes smoothly, that Sam recovers quickly and without incident, and that he is able to live a long full life.
As this would not be an appropriate time to discuss how this impacts the football team, I will explore this in a future post.
SKI-U-MAH SAM, GET WELL SOON!!!
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