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Here's a thread I posted on the GopherHole, the University of Minnesota's fan forum. Not surprisingly, so far it has only gathered a yawner response from the lukewarm faithful...
Hello Everyone,
I am new to the forum and here representing the central part of state.
I grew up the early part of last decade watching Gopher football whenever I could get a game on our local stations, back before we had satellite tv. Those were some exciting times! The Gophers had a potent offensive attack year after year and put up big numbers with Maroney, Tapeh, and Barber III, behind a solid, fundamental group of Midwest cornfed linemen like Eslinger, Spaeth, and Setterstrom. The defense, on the other hand, was suspect a lot of the time. Blown leads for one thing. Painful losses in big games. But we still did remarkably well under Glen Mason at times, winning at Michigan in '05, beating UW for the Axe multiple times, winning at Ohio State. The bowl games: defeating Oregon, Arkansas, and Ala-effin-bama and losing very narrowly to Virginia and Texas Tech. I was proud to wear the maroon and gold then. A few of my school teachers and Gopher alums/supporters told stories from the glory days of the 60's at the old Memorial Stadium, further boosting us kids' respect of the program. Our little high school team went to watch the U in their homecoming game vs Indiana in that 2003 season, a year after our team won a state title in the same building. The new stadium talk was abuzz and the Gophers trounced the Hoosiers, much to my delight. I was in awe of Big Ten football and during the next few years I jockeyed with the possibility of attending the U after I graduated high school. Heck, I was even recruited by the Pride of Minnesota Marching Band!
I settled on attending a regional state university instead, mostly because I grew up in a small town and couldn’t see myself living in the Twin Cities to go to school. I began college, and soon afterwards, Glen Mason was fired and the downhill slide began. Tim Brewster was hired and promised the Gopher Nation the world. I watched this all unfold, still holding on to my home state loyalty, and praying for the best. I was to be greatly disappointed as the Gophers put together a whimsical season in '06, winning the NDSU game by the skin of their teeth and then blowing that huge lead to Texas Tech in the Insight Bowl. I had mixed feelings, happy that UM had made it to another bowl game, but also unimpressed by the devastating inconsistency of play. 2007 rolled around, and I would rather forget the whole season. One desperate win. 2008 was much better, as the Gophers won the games they should have, but then ended the season losing 5 straight. 2009 was again very whimsical despite the opening of the glorious new TCF Bank Stadium. My college was thisclose from beating the Gophers that year. The 2010 season featured another loss to a FCS team in the University of South Dakota, and 3 wins were all UM could muster. Brewster went out the door, and in came Kill after Horton interimed.
2011 equaled the previous year in mediocrity, another 3 win season. Kill had a seizure, FCS and National Champion North Dakota State walloped the Gophers. My point is...what was so bad about Mason? I liked the guy. No, he wasn't perfect, but he was pretty consistent. I even saw rays of hope with Brewster, but nobody gave him enough time. It takes time to build a program, like as in more than 4 or 5 years. Now Jerry Kill faces the same sort of tenure, with a loaded gun to his back, figuratively speaking. That is, if he avoids another seizure, God forbid. Take a look at the most successful coaches in the business, whether it be a small high school or big time college ball. They have been with their programs through thick and thin for many years and of course they had some bad seasons, but their success is measured by their stayability, instead of this bull**** “what have you done for me lately” mindset.
What I see happening is the trend across the college sports world. The Gophers got their state of the art stadium. Yes, long overdue, and a very crucial to cementing the interest and pride of fans, alumni, players, and recruits. It is a shining beacon of progress. What is not progress is the mentality that comes with it. I have seen various rants on this board saying that money is the best way to build a successful program. Yes, money does help a lot. It can land you the best recruits, facilities, and the works. What it cannot do is build a team. That is done by respect, fundamentals, honesty, hard work, and sacrifice. You need not preach to me about money. I played ball at a school where we sold discount cards door to door during the summer, went to skills camps, lifted in a small, cramped weight room, ran miles and miles on an old dirt track and on a hard clay practice field, all to ensure we got to ride a charter bus to the far away conference games in western MN and the playoffs in Fargo and the Cities. We played in the wee hours of the morning at the Metrodome, where wakeup call was 5 am for 8 am games. We won 2 state championships and were a part of the state tournament multiple times as I grew up. Smash mouth football and consistency were our trademarks during that time, and have been for a long long time in our little town. Then I went to college, where I witnessed my team in its transition from Division II, to being a respectable FCS squad, even garnering a trip to the playoffs after only a few years of being eligible to do so. Same deal, fundamentally sound football played by guys with good grades and clean behavior off the field. We played Nebraska tough to the bitter end in ’10, and dang near beat them in Lincoln.
What I have seen at the U of M in recent years is lackadaisical effort, along with such garbage as crime amongst the players and the ever present academic hiccups. And to add fuel to the fire, now I see the players flaunting brand new uniforms as if they just won the Super Bowl and yet they are barely on par with most of the “Division 1-AA” schools in terms of success. All the institutions the U built up at the beginning of the last decade have been tossed aside like yesterday’s newspaper. Never mind the tradition going way back over a hundred years ago that makes the U one of the oldest programs in college football. These guys may not know it, but they are indirectly spitting in the face of every guy that came and worked hard before them to establish themselves and the University of Minnesota’s football program. Don’t get me wrong, there are those at the U that are doing well and are there for the right reasons, but it seems as if the Gophers cannot build a cohesive unit of players that are focused on winning. That is what is so disgusting to me. I am truly upset!
Now, I realize that this rant might make some readers mad, but maybe the boat has to be rocked to get something good to happen. That said, I also realize that I may be preaching to the choir, so to speak. It is just pent up frustration that I want to be heard. We as fans can only do so much, but we can work to restore the pride, one step at a time. It doesn’t happen overnight, but has to begin somewhere. Let’s get everybody excited about Gopher football again all over the state. Let’s win the Big Ten Conference. Let’s win a Rose Bowl for the first time since 1962. Heck, let’s contend for the national championship!
Hello Everyone,
I am new to the forum and here representing the central part of state.
I grew up the early part of last decade watching Gopher football whenever I could get a game on our local stations, back before we had satellite tv. Those were some exciting times! The Gophers had a potent offensive attack year after year and put up big numbers with Maroney, Tapeh, and Barber III, behind a solid, fundamental group of Midwest cornfed linemen like Eslinger, Spaeth, and Setterstrom. The defense, on the other hand, was suspect a lot of the time. Blown leads for one thing. Painful losses in big games. But we still did remarkably well under Glen Mason at times, winning at Michigan in '05, beating UW for the Axe multiple times, winning at Ohio State. The bowl games: defeating Oregon, Arkansas, and Ala-effin-bama and losing very narrowly to Virginia and Texas Tech. I was proud to wear the maroon and gold then. A few of my school teachers and Gopher alums/supporters told stories from the glory days of the 60's at the old Memorial Stadium, further boosting us kids' respect of the program. Our little high school team went to watch the U in their homecoming game vs Indiana in that 2003 season, a year after our team won a state title in the same building. The new stadium talk was abuzz and the Gophers trounced the Hoosiers, much to my delight. I was in awe of Big Ten football and during the next few years I jockeyed with the possibility of attending the U after I graduated high school. Heck, I was even recruited by the Pride of Minnesota Marching Band!
I settled on attending a regional state university instead, mostly because I grew up in a small town and couldn’t see myself living in the Twin Cities to go to school. I began college, and soon afterwards, Glen Mason was fired and the downhill slide began. Tim Brewster was hired and promised the Gopher Nation the world. I watched this all unfold, still holding on to my home state loyalty, and praying for the best. I was to be greatly disappointed as the Gophers put together a whimsical season in '06, winning the NDSU game by the skin of their teeth and then blowing that huge lead to Texas Tech in the Insight Bowl. I had mixed feelings, happy that UM had made it to another bowl game, but also unimpressed by the devastating inconsistency of play. 2007 rolled around, and I would rather forget the whole season. One desperate win. 2008 was much better, as the Gophers won the games they should have, but then ended the season losing 5 straight. 2009 was again very whimsical despite the opening of the glorious new TCF Bank Stadium. My college was thisclose from beating the Gophers that year. The 2010 season featured another loss to a FCS team in the University of South Dakota, and 3 wins were all UM could muster. Brewster went out the door, and in came Kill after Horton interimed.
2011 equaled the previous year in mediocrity, another 3 win season. Kill had a seizure, FCS and National Champion North Dakota State walloped the Gophers. My point is...what was so bad about Mason? I liked the guy. No, he wasn't perfect, but he was pretty consistent. I even saw rays of hope with Brewster, but nobody gave him enough time. It takes time to build a program, like as in more than 4 or 5 years. Now Jerry Kill faces the same sort of tenure, with a loaded gun to his back, figuratively speaking. That is, if he avoids another seizure, God forbid. Take a look at the most successful coaches in the business, whether it be a small high school or big time college ball. They have been with their programs through thick and thin for many years and of course they had some bad seasons, but their success is measured by their stayability, instead of this bull**** “what have you done for me lately” mindset.
What I see happening is the trend across the college sports world. The Gophers got their state of the art stadium. Yes, long overdue, and a very crucial to cementing the interest and pride of fans, alumni, players, and recruits. It is a shining beacon of progress. What is not progress is the mentality that comes with it. I have seen various rants on this board saying that money is the best way to build a successful program. Yes, money does help a lot. It can land you the best recruits, facilities, and the works. What it cannot do is build a team. That is done by respect, fundamentals, honesty, hard work, and sacrifice. You need not preach to me about money. I played ball at a school where we sold discount cards door to door during the summer, went to skills camps, lifted in a small, cramped weight room, ran miles and miles on an old dirt track and on a hard clay practice field, all to ensure we got to ride a charter bus to the far away conference games in western MN and the playoffs in Fargo and the Cities. We played in the wee hours of the morning at the Metrodome, where wakeup call was 5 am for 8 am games. We won 2 state championships and were a part of the state tournament multiple times as I grew up. Smash mouth football and consistency were our trademarks during that time, and have been for a long long time in our little town. Then I went to college, where I witnessed my team in its transition from Division II, to being a respectable FCS squad, even garnering a trip to the playoffs after only a few years of being eligible to do so. Same deal, fundamentally sound football played by guys with good grades and clean behavior off the field. We played Nebraska tough to the bitter end in ’10, and dang near beat them in Lincoln.
What I have seen at the U of M in recent years is lackadaisical effort, along with such garbage as crime amongst the players and the ever present academic hiccups. And to add fuel to the fire, now I see the players flaunting brand new uniforms as if they just won the Super Bowl and yet they are barely on par with most of the “Division 1-AA” schools in terms of success. All the institutions the U built up at the beginning of the last decade have been tossed aside like yesterday’s newspaper. Never mind the tradition going way back over a hundred years ago that makes the U one of the oldest programs in college football. These guys may not know it, but they are indirectly spitting in the face of every guy that came and worked hard before them to establish themselves and the University of Minnesota’s football program. Don’t get me wrong, there are those at the U that are doing well and are there for the right reasons, but it seems as if the Gophers cannot build a cohesive unit of players that are focused on winning. That is what is so disgusting to me. I am truly upset!
Now, I realize that this rant might make some readers mad, but maybe the boat has to be rocked to get something good to happen. That said, I also realize that I may be preaching to the choir, so to speak. It is just pent up frustration that I want to be heard. We as fans can only do so much, but we can work to restore the pride, one step at a time. It doesn’t happen overnight, but has to begin somewhere. Let’s get everybody excited about Gopher football again all over the state. Let’s win the Big Ten Conference. Let’s win a Rose Bowl for the first time since 1962. Heck, let’s contend for the national championship!
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