Sick of Brew

15-30 overall, 6-21 in the conference, 0-2 in bowl games.  That might not even have been the worst of it.  I think three offensive coordinators, three different offensive schemes, losses to North Dakota State, South Dakota, Northern Illinois, Florida Atlantic, and Bowling Green were the biggest issues.  That and the perception (and reality) that the program hadn't just stagnated but was actively moving backwards.  And now, as of Sunday morning, Tim Brewster is no longer coach of the Minnesota Gophers.

When Glen Mason was let go I was in favor of it.  I thought he had taken the program as far as he was going to, and although it wasn't terrible it was completely mediocre and you knew exactly what you were going to get:  a 4-0 non-conference record, a slightly below .500 Big Ten record, and a lower tier bowl berth.  Not a failure or a bad year, but it became clear that was Mason's ceiling and a new coach was needed to take the next step in turning the Gophers into a viable Big Ten football program.  Enter Brewster.

He said all the right things and certainly brought enthusiasm, energy, and positivity to the job - unfortunately those traits rank significantly below things like recruiting, team management, and game coaching on the ladder of job traits one should have to be a successful college football head coach.  I was a bit leery of the fact that he had never been a head coach, and was, in fact, a tight ends coach in the NFL, but we were assured that he could recruit, and to me that was the most important thing.  And then, well, he didn't.  Not really.  He brought in some nice players, but nothing remotely program changing, and seeing as how he couldn't coach his players up, and may have in fact coached them down at times, it was pretty clearly not working and was time to make a change.

Sadly, I think part of the reason he was let go in mid-season was because Maturi was starting to feel the heat and people were starting to question his ability to do his job.  Since people always need a scapegoat, it was easy to let Brewster go, nobody outside of Sid would object, and take the heat off of him.  For now.

It's up to Maturi to make the next hiring, and he's stated that they are looking for a "Tubby Smith."  I won't speculate on who that could be, but here is a list of 30 possibilities - although more like 29 since he has Tony Dungy on there.  I think they need to go one of two ways:  either an experienced coach who may be looking for a change (the Tubby Smith route) or a young, up-and-comer who has had success at a smaller school/smaller conference.  Either way, it needs to be somebody who has shown he can coach and shown he can win.  With TCF Bank Stadium now in play the old fallback of "we can't compete without a stadium on campus" has been eliminated.  There are no more excuses, and I'm sick of getting rolled by our biggest rivals (Brewster was 0-7 vs. Wisconsin and Iowa).

In any case it should be fun to follow the rumors and see how it all shakes out.  Hopefully if we're shocked, it's more like the Tubby Smith kind of shocked ("Holy Shit!  They hired Tubby Smith!") rather than the Tim Brewster kind of shocked ("They hired a TE coach with no real experience?").

Weekend Review - 9.20.2010

 Well, the Gophers lost to USC, which I don't think surprised anyone, but they didn't embarrass themselves, which did surprise some - myself included.  So how do you categorize that loss?  I wouldn't say they sucked, because they didn't embarrass themselves, but is not embarrassing yourself considered a success these days?  If it is, that means my work day is successful 80% of the time, which I like, but I can't give a whole lot of credit to a team that is in a BCS conference for only losing by two touchdowns to the worst version of USC in years.  They played, and they didn't suck.  I guess, sadly, that really could be considered a success in Brewster's Gopher Nation.  Ouch. 

 WHO WAS AWESOME

1.  Troy Tulowitzki.  I think we need a new word for this guy, because hot doesn't begin to do him justice.  Remember the other day when I mentioned how he had hit 11 home runs in his last 13 games?  And described that as jesus?  Well, since then he hit a home run on Friday and followed it up with 2 more on Saturday.  You know there's regular (and sugar free) Red Bull, but then they also have the little Red Bull shots that are more concentrated and give you a shorter, stronger burst of probably super healthy energy?  I feel like Tulowitzki must be on that version of HGH - not a whole season worth or anything, just enough to hit a ridiculous amount of home runs in a small period of time.*  Seriously dude, I am all-in for Rocktoberfest.  Assuming the make the playoffs, of course.  If not I never liked them anyway.

2.  Felix Hernandez.  King Felix added a little more fuel to the Cy Young fire, nearly pitching a no-hitter against Texas Friday before allowing a home run to Nelson Cruz in the 8th, ending up with just 8 strong innings and a rare win.  Rare enough that a bit of a nerd fight has broken out amongst the stat nerds and the old school traditionalists over who deserves to win the Cy Young award this year.  Here are the top 3 candidates:

• C.C. Sabathia:  20-6, 3.05 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 183 Ks, 224 IPs
• David Price:  17-6, 2.79 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 172 Ks, 194 IPs
• Felix:  12-11, 2.35 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 222 Ks, 234 IPs

Clearly Felix is the best pitcher this season, and technically that's what the Cy Young Award is supposed to recognize, and that's what the seamheads are saying - give the award to the best pitcher.  However, he's only got 12 wins, and is barely over .500 for the year.  It's just not going to happen yet.  Last year was a move in the right direction and a big win for the nerds with Zack Greinke bringing home the hardware despite winning just 16 games, but there was no 20 game winner last year.  Sabathia has his twenty already, and like it or not, there's some magic in that number.  It's his to lose (he's -200 in Vegas, Felix isn't even on the board).

3.  Ryan Mallet.  I really like this kid.  Of course, that could be because I've only seen two of his game, one from last year when he won me two bets, the over on his completions and his yards, that I placed on a tip from a friend and then this week's game where he threw for 380 yards and 3 TDs, including the game winner (and Arkansas +3 bet winner) with fifteen seconds to go.  Plus, he just looks like a big-time QB back there.  A pure thrower with a good pocket presence and good fundamentals.  And he should, he's got the pedigree:  #2 QB and #4 overall player in his high school class by Rivals and Gatorade High School Player of the Year in Texas his senior year.  Texas!  You've seen Varsity Blues, you know what it's like down there.  He's like Lance Harbor, but without the knee injury.  He was smart to leave Michigan after Rodriguez signed on since he's no Major Harris, but he does remind me quite a little bit of Peyton Manning now that he's at Arkansas.  High praise?  Yes.  Kind of stupid to say since I've only seen two of his games?  Absolutely.  Is that going to stop me?  Hell no.

4.  Jahvid Best.  The Lions still suck, but at least they have another exciting young player to add to Calvin Johnson in Best.  After a huge day that saw him gain over 230 total yards and score 3 times he now has five TDs through two games to lead the NFL.  One of his TDs yesterday was a 75 yard screen pass, a play where he showecased the speed and vision that will make him a top back in the future, and also scored on a 2-yd run showing he has some power to his game as well.  The Lions now have the skill positions set, if they can just fix a terrible, terrible defense and shore up an awful, awful offensive line, and then find a second and third receiver, they'll be all set.

5.  Matt Schaub.  Remember how, not all that long ago, the Atlanta Falcons had this awesome back-up who everybody wanted because everyone knew he was going to be a very good QB, but the Falcons couldn't keep him because the Michael Vick and were all set to go with him for the future and so they traded Schaub to the Texans?  Oops.  Schaub threw for 497 yards and 3 TDs yesterday, continuing his streak of always throwing for a ridiculous amount of yards in every game ever.  Oh, and in case you're curious, which I was, Schaub was traded for two second-round picks and a swap of firsts.  The Falcons acquired DE Jamaal Anderson and OG Justin Blaylock, then traded the other second rounder to Washington for something I'm too lazy to look up.  Since I've never heard of either of those people, I'm going to say it was a bad trade.

WHO SUCKED


1.  Brett Favre.  Sorry folks, but it looks to me like the magical ride is over.  There's no fairy dust left in that arm.  Not only has his lost his biggest strength - his arm - but he looks like the one trait he had that seemed to make him bulletproof, unstable, and impervious to age is gone as well; that stupid cliched love of the game thing.  It was annoying to hear about every five minutes, but it kept him going.  Now that he looks more like the Brett Favre in his last days as a Packer than the Brett Favre from last year, aging should commence rapidly.  Expect him to be out with an injury by week 9, and likely fold up shop for good around week 12 or 13.  I'm fully expecting a mid-season retirement, but in any case there's no doubt this isn't a playoff team.  Even as good as the defense and AP are, I think even 8 wins would be a miracle.  Sorry folks.  Time to turn your hopes and dreams to the Gopher basketball team.  And, I guess, hockey if you like that kind of garbage.  Sicko.

2. Chicago White Sox.  Talk about rolling over.  I know they needed to sweep the Twins with a small chance at hope if they won at least 2 of three, and I know since they got swept the season is 99% over, but talk about going out with a whimper.  First the sweep by the Twins, in which they barely had to break a sweat, and then went ahead and got swept by the Tigers, losing the lead in all three games thanks to that crappy bullpen, including the game last night where they scored 4 in the ninth to send it to extra innings, only to watch Sergio Santos give up the game in the 11th, just one night after he blew the game in the 8th.  So to recap, in the biggest spot of the season and needing to make a big run the Sox got swept in back-to-back series at home against their two biggest division rivals.  Talk about gutless.  Sounds more like a Vikings thing. 

3.  Jake Locker.  Funny story about Locker.  I heard something on the radio about him being the likely #1 pick in next year's NFL draft earlier this week, and how he was facing a pretty tough task in Nebraska's defense this weekend and it would be interesting to see how he did.  Well, the answer is:  shitty.  Locker went 4-20 passing on the day, for a grand total of 71 yards as Washington got rolled by the Huskers 56-21.  I'm sure he's a good QB and all, but let's just say I'm not super impressed.  More like the opposite of that. 

4.  Joe Flacco.  Man this is a QB heavy suck list, but how can I leave off Flacco and his career worst four interceptions?   There is no way the Ravens are going to do much with him at QB.  He's like a bad version of Trent Dilfer, and he couldn't do a thing against Cincinnati on Sunday - thus the four interceptions.   And they were just awful picks, too.  If he had been intentionally throwing to the Bengal d-backs he couldn't have made it easier for them.  So am I saying Joe Flacco threw the game?  Yes. 

5.  Jason Kubel.  Players get hurt, I know, and with the notable exception of Justin Morneau they return and all is fine.  Except with Jason Kubel, this week was the semifinals in our fantasy baseball league, and Snake and I had advanced that far and needed to make a decision about our third outfield spot:  Jason Kubel or Delmon Young.  We went Kubel, in part because he was hotter than Delmon, in part because he was more consistent than Delmon, and in part because the guy we were playing had dropped Kubel earlier so we figured the revenge factor would be strong.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to find out about the revenge factor, because the "I'm a little girl and my wrist hurts" factor won out.  So yes, both of Delmon's homers this week and his 3-hit game tore my soul open a little bit.  The worst part?  Delmon outscored Kubel by 19, and we ended up losing by 49.  So, um, I guess if we had played Delmon the loss would have been a little bit less embarrassing, and since that's the new standard for success around here, Kubel owes me big-time.   



* = since that one insignificant blogger got the shit ripped out of him last year for a throwaway comment about how  people should ask about Raul Ibanez being on Roids after his hot start last year, I feel the need to point out that I'm fucking kidding.  And if you can't figure that out, you're a jackass.  And also you should die.

Embarrassment!

That was such a terrible loss (Gophers vs. South Dakota), I don't even know where to begin.  Ok, I do.  Barring a miraculous run, there is no way Tim Brewster should be back for his fifth year.  I know the players on the field are the ones who ultimately decide wins and losses, and Brewster can't be blamed for the amount of open receivers Adam Weber missed or the key drops by receivers, but there is a lot here that falls directly on the coaching staff.  The inability to stop a slant route?  Allowing a Division I-AA QB in his second career start to go 21-30 for 352 yards?  To get sucked in over and over by a simple screen pass?  These things are all preparation related and are the responsibility of the coaches.  And don't even get me started on somehow shifting away from the pound the ball philosophy that won the game vs. Middle Tennessee.  Once again, the Gophers had the size and strength advantage, but instead of exploiting it to their advantage as they did last week, they drifted away from their strength and it cost them.

It would be one thing if it was a fluke, with the Coyotes winning due to a few lucky plays and some breaks going their way, but it wasn't.  It was basically a domination, with USD in control the whole way.  First off, they scored 41 freaking points, and they don't exactly run one of those goofy high-scoring spread offenses.  They gained 444 yards, averaged nearly 12 yards per pass attempt, and converted 50% of their third downs.  Most of all, once they took the lead at 7-3 with 8:09 remaining in the first quarter, they never relinquished the lead.  In the second quarter when the Gophers cut the lead to 14-10 USD responded by going on an 8-play drive ending in a touchdown.  In the third quarter the Gophers cut the lead to 28-24.  The Coyotes immediately went on a 7-play drive, again ending in a TD.  When the Gophers made it 34-30 in the fourth, hey scored on the next drive yet again.  Finally, when the Gophers cut it to 41-38 with three minutes left, South Dakota didn't just sit on the ball, run it up the middle, and try to take the clock down.  They took it right at the Gophers, knowing they couldn't stop them through the air, completed two passes for first downs, and won the game.  They were in control the entire way.

Perhaps the worst thing about this loss and biggest indictment of the Brewster regime is that nobody could possibly be surprised by this loss.  I mean think about it.  Say you didn't watch the game and hadn't heard the result, and then your friend called you up and said the Gophers lost to South Dakota; what would be your reaction?  Mild disbelief?  At worst?  Maybe a sarcastic "shut up" but not with any real conviction behind it?  And how hard would he have to reassure you he was telling the truth?  Repeat himself once?  This isn't surprising at all, it's merely the logic product of four years of moving backwards.  The loss to Florida Atlantic, the loss to NDSU, the near loss to SDSU, the two-safeties collapse against Wisconsin, and 55-0 vs. Iowa were all just preludes to this:  the lowest moment in Gopher football history that I can remember being alive for, something Brewster has been on a beeline for the last couple of years. 

Look, I get it.  You took a chance on an unproven guy who talked a great game and was undeniably enthusiastic about the school and the job.  The problem was he was all talk and no walk, all flash and no substance, all sizzle and no steak.  Mediocre recruiting, poor fundamentals, an inability to put together and/or stick to a gameplan on either side of the ball, and a constantly shifting offensive identity isn't going to get it done at this level, and after four years I think we can safely assume that's still what we're going to get, so it's time to go.

Although it now looks like the absolute upside on wins this season is going to be four, so I don't think Maturi is going to have much of a choice but to can him.  The real question is, do we trust him to hire somebody better?

At least somebody I know enjoyed the game:

Week In Review - 11/23/09

If you've been watching basketball on ESPN this week, you would have noticed them pimping the hell out of their NCAA Basketball Encyclopedia, and probably become a bit annoyed by it.  I got annoyed by it, but I have to tell you that I have this book and it is totally awesome.  There is more information in there than any person could possibly need, and I mean that in a good way.  Like, did you know Delino DeShields was a top basketball prospect coming out of high school?  It's full of all that kind of stuff and more.  It's not like a baseball encyclopedia, like where you could say "I wonder what Kenny Lofton's stats were when he played for Arizona" and then look him up, but it's got tons of other info.  It lists every D-I team, their best players, best teams, best coaches, some cool little fun facts and other information, as well as their record every single year and their leading scorer, rebounder, and assister for each season.  Plus a bunch more cool stuff.  I highly, highly recommend it. 

WHO WAS AWESOME

1.  Zack Greinke.  This was refreshing.  The BBWAA actually didn't screw this up and voted Greinke the American League Cy Young award, which is at it should have been.  In case you forgot, Greinke went 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP this year, leading the league in both of those last two metrics, and if you watched him at all he seemed even better than that.  I figured the voters would screw this one up, since they love giving awards to players on good teams (The royals were awful), they love evaluating players based on wins (six pitchers had more wins than Greinke), and they love Yankees (Sabathia looked like a perfect candidate for the idiot voters).  But, for once, they made the right call.  Also a congrats to Tim Lincecum for winning the NL award for the second year in a row.  Who would have known Mitch Kramer would have grown up to be such a success.  

2.  Syracuse.  It seems my prediction of "Syracuse will suck this year" might be way, way off, while the cretins who vote in the polls and had them 24th were closer to the truth (also still underrating them).  After the two gimme wins last week, they headed to Madison Square Garden for the final four of the Coaches vs. Cancer classic, and walked out with the title.  They did it in impressive fashion, as well, beating #12 Cal in the semis 95-73 and #4 North Carolina 87-71 in the championship.  Their defense is still top notch, Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche have filled in for Jonny Flynn nicely, Andy Rautins is actually making shots, Wes Johnson is as good as advertised, and Arinze Onuaku has stepped his game up.  Very nice week for the Orange.  I still kind of think this might be a house of cards a bit, and also that Cal and UNC were majorly overrated, but Syracuse has already proved me wrong, and it wouldn't shock if they continue to do so.

3.  John Wall.  Well, I think we can go ahead and say "believe the hype."  Wall was the top recruit this season, was picked by someone I read as the National Player of the Year, and so far neither of those seem too ridiculous.  In his three games this year, Wall has averaged 20.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 2.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game, all while shooting 56% from the floor.  His turnovers are about the only thing remotely concerning (averaging four per game), but he only had two in Saturday's win (to 11 assists) and for a freshman this early in the season it's not a surprise they are a little high.  Kentucky still hasn't really played anybody, and won't until December, but for now Wall looks very good, and Calipari is certainly squeezing as much out of him as he can in what his likely his only college season - he's played 38, 37, and 35 minutes in the three games.   

4.  Minnesota Vikings.  Are you like me and life as a Minnesota fan, and specifically a Viking fan, has conditioned you to expect the worst at all times?  I mean the Vikes are absolutely rolling, now at 9-1 and just destroying teams, such as the poor, hapless Seahawks who they rolled to such a degree that T-Jax actually played almost an entire half.  Everything is perfect.  Brett Favre has played nearly flawlessly this season.  Adrian Peterson has gone from "possibly the best back in football" to "the best back in football."  Percy Harvin is heading towards a possible rookie-of-the-year award.  Sidney Rice has realized his untapped potential and vaulted into maybe a top 10 receiver in the NFL (Don't believe me?  He's 17th in catches and 3rd in receiving yards in the NFL).  And the defense, although showing a few weaknesses at times, is still an elite unit with a front four that is basically destroying everybody - And all this without Antoine Winfield.  And yet, instead of relaxing, I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop and someting to go horribly, horribly wrong.  Will it be a Favre injury?  An injury to some one else?  Or will it be smooth sailing until an epic choke job in the playoffs?  I don't know, but you know damn well it's going to be something. 

5.  Rodney Williams.  I think it's finally time to recognize that this kid might not just beat beating up on poor teams, he might legitimately be a Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate.  It seemed the consensus on the Gopher freshmen coming into the season was Royce = FOY candidate, Cobbs = immediate backup, might steal the starting spot, and Rodney = project, possible redshirt.  Well, after putting up games of 14, 14, and 17 points, all on better than 58% shooting, and adding an average of three boards and two steals per, he's suddenly looking far beyond a redshirt.  Besides his stellar defense and insane athleticism, which were given, he's answered questions about his offense by showing a nice outside touch (3-8 from three) and a good offensive IQ.  I'm starting to wish I took him in my fantasy college hoops league.  Although I did get Damian Johnson, who is just ridiculous in every way.

To give you some example, in the scoring system our league uses (pts, rebs = +1, asts = +2, stl, blks = +3, TO = -2), he has put up 46, 40, and 42 points.  Last year's returning leader was Luke Harangody (also on my team), and he averaged 42 per game.  I realize DJ probably won't be able to continue to put up those kind of numbers, especially the blocks and steals, once competition improves, but in any case, he is just so, so valuable, and I'm talking real life - not fantasy.  I don't care who ends up leading the Gophers in which statistical categories, Johnson is hands down this team's MVP.  Except maybe Ralph. 


WHO SUCKED

1.  Penn State.  Ouch.  It looks like Iowa and Indiana won't be battling for 11th place by themselves, the post-Geary Claxton era is looking ugly.  The Nittany Lions were basically Talor Battle and that's it, and needed somebody to step up and help out this year.  That hasn't happened, and Penn State basically embarrassed themselves at the Charleston Classic this weekend, finishing in 7th place (out of 8).  It was a pretty low-level tournament, and was set up for a South Carolina/Miami final, with Penn State and South Florida as potential sleepers and then four cupcakey-type teams.  Well, the final happened, but Penn State never got their sleeper campaign going, dropping their opener to UNC-Wilmington.  Ok, fine.  At least they should be able to rip through the consolation bracket and salvage some pride, right?  Wrong again.  They lost their first consolation game to Tulane, setting up an epic seventh place game against Davidson, which they mercifully won.  Gopher fans have been there - remember the Old Spice Classic? - so we feel your pain, Penn State.


2.  Pac 10 Hoops.  The Pac was already said to be down this year, but things might be worse than originally thought, especially after watching one of their two "top flight" teams get swept by Ohio State and Syracuse in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, and do so without much of a fight (although to be completely fair, the Bears were missing a couple of players).  There are a ton of other black marks as well; Arizona State needed a miracle finish to beat a terrible TCU team, Stanford lost to Oral Roberts, UCLA lost to Bryce Webster and CS - Fullerton, USC was knocked off by a god awful Loyola Marymount team, Oregon lost to Portland, and Oregon State (the conference's big sleeper) lost to Texas Tech to drop to 1-2 and then lost on Saturday to Sacramento State - one of the worst teams in the country - and that all happened just this week.  I honestly can't remember ever seeing a major conference struggle this mightily this early.  At least the Washington schools are still undefeated, although neither has really played anyone yet.  The real winner in this is Arizona, who was heading for a down year and whose 24 straight years with an NCAA Tournament bid record was in jeopardy.  With a decent team, in what suddenly looks like a super weak conference, we could be looking at 25.

3.  Pittsburgh Steelers.  Funny thing about the NFL this year, there are a handful of teams that are so gad awful they never win and never even threaten to win:  Oakland, St. Louis, Detroit, Cleveland, and Kansas City.  Except - whoops - Kansas City beat the Steelers on Sunday, 27-24 in overtime - and did so without Dwayne Bowe, who is suspending for cheating.  I have no idea how it happened.  Roethlisberger threw for 398 yards, but threw two picks and the Steelers turned the ball over three times, and then allowed Matt Cassell to have a nearly perfect second half and overtime, leading to four scoring drives including the game-winning field goal.  I don't even know what else to say.  This is like when Forrest Gump won the Oscar over Pulp Fiction.  Oakland also beat Cincinnati, and in even more embarrassing fashion, but I still feel like the Pitt loss was more stunning even though the Bengals have a better record than the Steelers.  I guess I've learned that you can never trust the Bengals completely.  Kind of like a wife or girlfriend.  Or any female, really. 

4.  Gopher football.  Did you ever think you'd pine for the days of Glen Mason?  I certainly didn't, and yet, that's what I found myself thinking on Sunday watching Maroney run for the Patriots.  I found myself harkening back to the days of Barbaroney (and G-Russ) and thinking, at least when Mason was here the Gophers had some talented players.  At least they were exciting and fun to watch.  And then I stopped myself, and realized what I was saying.  I wish Glen Mason was still here.  I WISH.  GLEN MASON.  WAS STILL HERE.  And I have a feeling if you're reading this and haven't thought that, you're thinking it right now.  Isn't that the most damning evidence that the Brewster era has been a failure? 

5.  NCAA Fascists.  FREE RENARDO SIDNEY!!  FREE RENARDO SIDNEY!!!  FREE RENARDO SIDNEY!!  Who's with me?  FREE RENARDO SIDNEY!!  FREE RENARDO SIDNEY!! FREE RENARDO SIDNEY!!  FREE RENARDO... (also now featured on the front page of the espn college basketball section).


I am crazy fired up for college basketball this year, and this is one of the best times of the season with all the holiday tournaments going on.  We already had the Coaches vs. Classic and Puerto Rico Tip-Off winners, but there's plenty more going on, and I'm most interested in the Maui Classic (other than the 76 Classic, of course).  I've been pimping Cincinnati as a final four sleeper this year, and this will be their first chance to show if I'm at least near the right track or not.  They start off with a good Vanderbilt team today on ESPN2 at 4:30 - check them out.

One other quick note from the weekend - the Gophers opponent in the Big10/ACC Challenge, Miami, won the Charleston Classic this weekend by beating Tulane, UNC-Wilmington, and South Carolina.  That's not really all that impressive, since the first two are weak teams (although Wilmington beat Penn State) and South Carolina's second best player went down with a knee injury seven minutes into the game and never returned, but still, it boosts Miami's profile and therefore the Gophers' if they manage a win on the 2nd - which I certainly think they can.

Oh, Timmy (*slowly shaking head*)

I don't want to get into a whole thing here, but in case you missed it the coach with the highest arrogance/accomplishment ratio on the planet ratcheted it up a few more notches, sending a memo into KFAN studios that he would no longer allow players or coaches to be interviewed by the station because he doesn't like how the station has treated the program (although allegedly fences have been mended, egos have been consoled, and everything has been patched up now - which I'm guessing is when the PR guys got involved and told Brewster to get his shit together).  I have three major issues with this:

1.  Thin skinned much?  This is how you want to turn the University of Minnesota football program into a major power, by shutting down when there's a little criticism?  And trust me here folks, I listen to a lot of KFAN at work, and they are extremely mild in their critiques.  Sure, Barreiro won't hesitate to go after the non-conference schedule if it's weak, but he's been extremely complimentary about it this year.  The one and only thing I've heard him say this year is that fans should expect more from a program that is now supposed to be big-time than to be thrilled with an overtime win over Syracuse.  First of all, he's right.  Second of all, if you're the coach don't you want your fans to expect big things?  Do you want your fans to think, "sweet, we beat Syracuse" or do you want them to think, "Wow, we got lucky, we are a way better team and program than that"?  I know which way I would go.  But if Brewster can't handle a little bit of mild criticism, especially in one of the softest media markets for negative press around, he's got a lot of growing up to do.

2.  Cutting off 25% of your exposure.  Wasn't one of Brewster's big platforms keeping kids in state?  When you have four main media channels (TV, Radio, Print, and Internet) to spread the word about your program, how arrogant do you have to be to cut one of them out and expect to still accomplish your goals?  That's 25% less of an opportunity for recruits to hear you or your coaches talk and walk away impressed.  That's 25% less of an opportunity for recruits to hear your players talk about how awesome playing for the U is, or how rewarding it has been staying home to play in front of your hometown fans instead of going out of state to play.  If you have four outlets to get word out, you need to use all four, or you aren't really trying.  I mean really, are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles really the turtles without Rafael? Would you want a deck of cards without the diamonds? Would Sex and the City have been the same without Charlotte?

3.  How would this help?  What is the upside here?  Do you know what happens when you take a sarcastic, somewhat dickish person with access to radio waves and try to show them up?  You get destroyed.  I'm not saying any of the KFAN personalities would have intentionally gone out of their way to sabotage the program, but anything negative wouldn't have escaped notice.  And I can't imagine anyone other than the biggest Gopher homer or Brewster fan siding with him on this one, particularly if they spend any time listening to the station.  More than anything, I keep coming back to "what was the upside?" and I got nothing.  The only thing I can come up with is this was a power play by Brewster, but, boy did it backfire.

This is now seemingly all pretty irrelevant, since according to everyone involved all parties have kissed and made up, but I know for some fans it's certainly changed perceptions of the coach.  I always figured he was kind of an arrogant blowhard, but you need a measure of those qualities in order to succeed as a college football coach and I thought he was probably mostly harmless.  Now?  It looks like he thinks he's far bigger than he is, thinks he's accomplished far more than he actually has, and he's let two wins and a new stadium go to his head.  It's a shame, too.  This should be the most exciting time for Gopher football fans in a long while, but now, for me at least, it's left a sour feeling.  

Incidentally, if you search "Tim Brewster" + arrogant on the google there are 23,600 entries.  For comparison sake, if you search "Urban Meyer" + arrogant you only get 8,620.  Kanye West gets 160,000. 

-  As far as site news, I know what you're thinking, "Hey WWWWWW, when are we going to get some college basketball previews?"  Since in past years I've bitten off a bit more than I can chew and end up getting burned out, I'm going to take one conference a weak, and give a very simple, easy, high-level breakdown of the teams.  This should keep me interested, and make sure they aren't too heavy on the blah-blah talk.  I plan to put one up every Friday until the season starts, following this schedule (with apologies to the other conferences):

•  September 18th - Conference USA
•  September 25th - Atlantic 10
•  October 2nd - Mountain West
  
•  October 9th - ACC
•  October 16th - Big 12
•  October 23rd - Big East
  
•  October 30th - Pac 10
  
•  November 6th - SEC
•  November 13th - Big 10

What's that?  You don't care?  How about you go F yourself?

- Finally, I want to throw a shout out to my good buddy Klingler.  This superstar, besides making more money than an astronaut, also completed the Ironman event in Madison this past weekend, a simply incredible feat.  I know you're reading good buddy, and I want you to know I'm so hot for you right now I can barely keep my pants on.  Congrats.

Gopher Football Preview

Anyone who reads this blog regularly, as well as having a pretty sad life, knows that although I have a passing interest in college football, my knowledge is as limited as Jason Kubel's range in the outfield. However, since this is, first and foremost, a Gopher blog I might as well give some kind of preview. Even if most of the info is directly stolen from other sites (including, but not limited to, The Daily Gopher, Gopher Football Blog, and Buck Bravo) at least I can give my own thoughts on this stuff.

Before I get started, let me address the big brou-ha-ha over Brewster recruiting academically questionable kids. Well, no shit. How else is a mediocre-to-embarrassing program going to turn around? By getting the same kinds of kids Mason got every year? No. And you aren't going to get the blue chip recruits with good academic backgrounds just by hiring a coach whose most impressive credential is being a TE coach and having a new stadium coming on the horizon. Winning brings the good kids in. At a place like Minnesota, at least for now, you're either going to sacrifice talent or character. They've been sacrificing talent, it's time to try something new. If it works, it's a homerun, but let's no vilify the guy if he whiffs. There are a million other reasons to vilify him.

With that said, on to the preview:

OFFENSE: Adam Weber is back to lead the offense after having the greatest quarterbacking season in the history of the world. He only loses one of his receiving weapons, Ernie Wheelwright whose claim to fame was earning All-American Status in NCAA 07, but what should we expect? The returning receivers aren't anything special - sorry Eric Decker, but you're not - although TE Jack Simmons has a chance to be an impact player. Not Dustin Keller impact, but impact. The overall receiving corps gets quite a nice influx of talent, with at least three high-profile freshmen expected to make a splash.

But will Weber be able to take his game up a notch with better weapons at his disposal? His numbers were excellent last season, but running the BYU/Houston/Hawaii style spread offense the QBs numbers are pretty much guaranteed to seem impressive. Add in the world's worst defense and all that comes with it, playing from behind as well as a lot of possessions, and of course his numbers will be out of this world. But from watching Weber last season, he has a long, long way to go. He was, without question, one of the least accurate quarterbacks I can remember not named Bryan Cupito, and the numbers back this up as he had one of the worst completion percentages in the Big Ten and threw the most interceptions. His rushing numbers look good because he would generally take a three step drop, make one read, and if it wasn't there take off running. Honestly, I've seen nothing out of Weber that makes me optimistic this season, and that's why this whole MarQueis Gray thing is such a bummer, as there is nothing behind Weber at all, so it's him, whatever may come. Great. Bring on Alipate already.

Oh yeah, there's running backs too. And an o-line. What used to always be the strengths of Gopher teams. Too bad the last two years pretty much haven't had anything that could qualify as a strength. Gone are the Barber, Maroney, and Russell days. The Gophers will likely have a multi-headed rushing attack again, but not due to too much talent, but too little. Unless one of the new guys can burst onto the scene, expect Jay Thomas and Duane Bennett to rotate being mediocre. Combine this with a line that could be a trouble spot, and the offense looks like a mess for the second year in a row.

DEFENSE: How bad do you have to suck to be last in your conference in both rush and pass defense? It's the rare double dip the Gophers pulled off last sesaon, and giving up 42 points to Florida Atlantic is nothing short of stunning. The bad news is that there isn't much to look forward to. The good news is this preview is almost over.

Starting up front, if Willie VandeSteeg can rebound from his wrist injury, he's at least a pretty decent pass rusher. The rest of the line is experienced, but they are experienced at sucking. The best case would be for some of the youngsters to rapidly improve and take over starting spots early in the year.

Deon Hightower and Steve Davis are guys I've at least heard of. They're back and could bring some respectability to the LBs, although I doubt it. Gopher Football Blog guy has a crush on Simoni Lawrence, who could be either a safety or linebacker, and is said to have the "speed of a safety" and the physical tools of a linebacker. Maybe he should just play all the positions.

Brewster went for a major re-tooling of the defensive backfield, which was badly needed considering there wasn't a single player last year who could cover anybody ever. JUCO d-backs Tramaine Brock and Traye Simmons will immediately jump into the lineup, while former WR Marcus Sherels will probably start at a corner. Most of the depth will come from freshmen. Other than Kyle Theret and Ryan Collado, the whole unit will be new. What does this mean? I don't know, but it can't be worse than last year. Unless it is.

PREDICTION:

LOSS vs. Northern Illinois: Yes, the Huskies were only 2-10 last season, but they were hurt by injuries and have pretty much the whole team back. Watch for HB Justin Anderson to rip through the Gophers on the way to a high scoring win.

LOSS at Bowling Green: Wow, swept out of a home-and-home by a MAC team, huh? Believe it. Remember Tyler Sheehan? Threw for almost 400 yards against the Gophers last year? Yeah, he's back and so are all his receivers.

WIN vs. Montana State: Call me optimistic, but I think the Gophers can handle a I-AA opponent this season. I'm just a homer like that.

WIN vs. Florida Atlantic: Cautiously predicting a win here, based mainly on the revenge factor after losing at FAU last season. Expect this game to be 63-60, and the only two-game win streak of Brewster's short career.

LOSS at Ohio State: This one is going to be ugly.

LOSS vs. Indiana: A young team continues to build off it's success last season and plays even better this year. With four starters back on the O-Line to protect Kellen Lewis he takes another step forward in his Junior season. Pay attention Gopher fans, Lewis is what you want out of Weber.

LOSS @ Illinois: THE JUICE IS LOOSE!!!!11.s

LOSS @ Purdue: Drew Brees, Kyle Orton, Curtis Painter - it doesn't matter. It's a plug-and-play system up there and they pretty much light up the Gophers every time. Painter lost a couple of his weapons, but the receiver position there is pretty much plug-and-play as well.

LOSS vs. Northwestern: Yet another game on the schedule where nobody will bother to play any defense, the Wildcats are always tough for the Gophers to stop and with all their skill players back on offense could put up an 80 spot.

WIN vs. Michigan: I know it's weird to pick a win here, but I think Michigan is going to be way down this season. Of course, down for them is pretty good for anybody else. I think they'll manage to fight their way to a decent season, and the schedule sets up for them to come into the dome on a roll, where they will overlook the Gophers and get beat. Book it.

LOSS @ Wisconsin: Zero percent change of having the possibility of a prayer to even compete.

LOSS vs. Iowa: Did you know everyone in Iowa hates Ferentz now? It's because ever since he got the fat contract they haven't done squat. True Story. Still can beat the Gophers though. Handily.

So there it is. The blueprint to a 3-9 season. I also fully expect Brewster to have a full-on breakdown at some point, which will probably be the most entertainment Gopher fans get this season. Take heart, at least they'll have a high draft pick next year.

Ug.

I just finished watching the Gopher/Bowling Green game on Tivo, and man was that ugly. You can get much better thoughts on the game from a much better and knowledgeable fan here, but no matter where you want to look, it ain't pretty.

PROS: Weber looks like he knows how to run the ball, Pinnix looked good, Wheelwright looked good for the most part, it was cool to see Bowling Green go for two in the first overtime, almost had another Cal/Stanford play,

CONS: The rest. Everything. The defense was the most craptacular display of swiss cheese I've ever seen. Sure, they tightened it up in the second half, right until they needed a stop to win the game. Horrible. I fear for games in the Big Ten. The Gophers could give up 70 in a game if they don't improve. Weber needs ALOT of work throwing the ball and reading a defense. He had radar lock on his target basically the whole game, I don't know if I saw him go to a secondary receiver once. That won't fly against better teams.

Overall, this was a brutal way to start the Brewster era. I mean, you don't expect much when you know you have a crappy defense and a first-time starter at QB, but this was awful. I thought Bowling Green was a great team to start against to build confidence - oops.

The only good thing is to see we are officially running a spread offense, option included. That is very cool. Hopefully, once Brewster gets his own players in here to run it instead of Mason's, it'll look a lot better. I hope so.

You have a lot of work to do Mr. Brewster, especially if the Gophers are going to Pasadena this year, as promised.

This Solves Everything!

In the pioneer press:

The football Gophers will wear white shoes in their opener against Bowling Green on Saturday night, instead of the black shoes they have worn for years, because coach Tim Brewster emphasizes speed and believes white shoes project a faster image.

Hasn't even coached one game, and is already making positive changes in the program. Thanks for the info Charley Walters!

ALSO: Bill Walker says he's ready to go for the season in this article:
"I'd say I'm back to 100 percent," Walker said. "My running and jumping is back to normal. (The knee) came back slowly, and I just steadily got my explosiveness and my quickness back."

Sweet.

ALSO ALSO: I was searching for Nathen Garth inside info, and I stumbled across his My Space page. Not really a whole lot of inside info here, other than the fact that he really, really likes God. No word on if he believes Jesus rode dinosaurs.

Brewster Did the Right Thing

According to Theory's comments two posts down from this one as well as what I heard on the radio, Tim Brewster has done the right thing and kicked the Gopher football players who essentially raped that girl off the team. Thank you. That needed to happen.

I'm too hungover to write more or find a link.

This is Very Ugly

The details are out about the Gopher rape scandal, and it's not at all good.

I won't get into all the details, but according to the complaint, former Gopher Robert McFields, who is already in trouble for two armed robberies he committed in St. Louis, challenged the woman to a drinking contest, where she did eight shots of vodka, while Gopher players Keith Massey, EJ Jones, and Alex Daniels did not drink at all.

Sometime later in the evening, the three players took turns with the woman, who eventually passed out on a couch. After she passed out with a BAC level of .30, which is ridiculous, Daniels then called Dominic Jones, who came over and did some stuff to her while she was unconscious, which Daniels recorded on his cell phone.

These guys need to be kicked off the team, and they need to be kicked off now. I know the whole Duke Lacrosse thing might have people a little gun shy about jumping to conclusions, but there is videotape evidence in this case.

At the very least, D. Jones and Daniels need to not only kicked off the team, but in jail (Jones has already been picked up and will be charged today.) Even Massey and EJ Jones, although there is no proof she was unconscious or unwilling when they were involved, need to be booted and possibly charged. There is no way you can tell me that when they aren't drinking, and they are feeding this woman 8 shots, that there wasn't an ulterior motive from the beginning. This wasn't two drunk college kids doing something against their better judgement (which happens), but a girl who, at best, was inebriated beyond reason, and a group of sober guys, who at the very least knew exactly what they were doing.

This is horrible. Brewster needs to do the right thing. Nobody holds this against him right now, because these aren't guys he recruited, they are Mason's guys. If he gets them off the team, he'll keep all the good will he's built up since being hired. If he keeps even one of them on the team, it will make a black mark against the program even worse.

This is the Stupidest Thing Ever

So new Gopher football head coach Tim Brewster has brought some new excitement to the program. In order to capitalize on this, as well as keeping the momentum going, the Goal Line Club - the Gopher football booster club - printed up 2,500 shirts to sell with the slogan "Brew's Crew", with more shirts to come.

Well the University, with all it's wisdom, decided to stop production on the shirts. The reason: too closely connected with alcohol.

Seriously. I wish I was making ths up.

The guy's last name is Brewster. He's probably been called Brew his whole life. Just because brew is also slang for beer is no reason to cut off the shirt producton.

But at least with this move, drinking will be over amongst Minnesota students. Just think of all the incoming freshmen who would have seen that shirt, and immediately become alcholics. Now they'll be saved by never having a drop, and go on to save the world.

God bless you Minnesota officials.