Golden Nugz 01.02.12
by GopherNation on Jan 2, 2012 6:01 AM CST
in Golden Nuggets
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PrintHappy New Year!
We were pretty confident that the start to the Big Ten season wasn't going to be easy, especially once we lost Mbakwe. But two road games are out of the way and we get to play at home this week. We get Iowa on Wednesday. In case you hadn't heard they went into Madison and beat Wisconsin on Saturday so maybe this win won't have the same certainty that we thought it would. But maybe they got their road upset out of their system and they can revert to being terrible again!
Anyway, the Gophers had their chances to beat Michigan yesterday but came up short. Two possessions in the final minutes they were unable to get one decent shot attempt, one of them following a timeout. It was very ugly and Michigan pulled away by making their free throws. This one doesn't sting quite as bad as the Illini loss because we were battling from behind basically the whole game. Good effort but it will take more to get some Big Ten wins.
- Gopher Hockey finally won a game on Friday but then lost on Saturday dropping the Mariucci Classic to Northeastern.
- It should be noted that the Gophers were without Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau who are at the World Juniors competing for team USA. Team USA has been disappointing in the WJC and are out of contention for any medals.
- Rittenberg gives props to Kim Royston as one of the Big Ten's "super seniors".
- Trevor Mbakwe had his surgery on Friday.
- Tubby Smith, during his Minnesota tenure, is winless on the road against ranked teams. Any chance this streak ends this year?
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Tubby Smith
May not have beaten a ranked team in a true road game, but he has beaten #20 Indiana and #5 Purdue in the state of Indiana, so I’m gonna take that with a grain of salt.
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
I am thoroughly disgusted with the results today
anyone who is glad to see other B10 teams lose is a fuckin idiot. Anyone who complains about the SEC being overhyped is a fuckin idiot. I realize that MSU won and good for them—-The B10 took a major hit today and I am madder than hell.
There is never any benefit for Minnesota from Wisconsin winning a bowl game.
If we’re in a situation where we need them to be good to help our national title push (IE Strength of Schedule), I may consider not openly cheering against them. It only hurts us when they win bowl games, so I could not be happier that their coaching staff pissed another one away today.
Everyone fails. The successful learn from their failures. I just wish we'd quit giving ourselves so many learning opportunities.
by WhiteSpeedReceiver on Jan 2, 2012 10:13 PM CST up reply actions
I agree 100% with you Tejas.
Conference strength/prestige is important and everybody wins when the Big 10 looks good (think recruiting, future money, future bowl or NCAA tourney invites, etc.). Once the seasons end…I always turn into a Big 10 fan. Even Wisconsin, and as you all know, I’d like to take a shit on every part of that hellish state most days of the year.
I don't think there is much to back this.
Future money? Advertisers don’t care about conference prestige. They care that sports are the one thing that is watched real time without DVR skipping of commercials and that the B1G is home to a great national brand with large, loyal fanbases to watch the product on the field. Bowl invites? The B1G already boasts the best bowl lineup (which, ironically enough, is part of the problem). There is no NCAA tourney in the near or far future so that is a straw man.
As for recruiting? While I can see conference strength playing a somewhat positive effect on recruiting, there are plenty of other factors that weigh in more heavily (proximity to home, team’s record, playing time, schemes, etc). When is the last time you heard a recruit say “conference strength” was a primary factor? As I said though, I’m sure it can’t hurt so of course I’m all for it. But only to a point. And that point is Wisconsin and Iowa.
But what of Wisconsin/Iowa winning? How does that help Minnesota? These are schools that go head to head in recruiting all the time. What is the benefit of them being able to claim even more success? There is no logic that supports the idea that them looking better helps Minnesota in recruiting.
by GoAUpher on Jan 3, 2012 10:05 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Currently boasts the best bowl lineup
but will this continue if we continue to show poorly? I don’t know…just a theory.
I don’t inteview recruits so I am only speculating that they would rather play in a powerful conference who wins nationally televised bowl games vs. teams who don’t. Human nature?
My reason for wanting the Big 10 to sweep is a few. General conference pride is one. I’ve always been a Big 10 fan. I’m proud of the conference in general. I want it to be good and strong. As for the recruiting, I’m looking more macro. Not Minnesota against Wisconsin, but Big 10 vs. Pac 10 for a guy in California….or Florida…or Texas….etc. when stacking up at a first level of getting a guy to consider the conference not in their home territory. Then it gets down to the school level.
As with all of this…if you want to hate Wisconsin/Iowa through bowls, you can find holes in the opposite view. I am a Big 10 fan, so I like to think when the conference looks good, we look good and it can help solidify the future….
I'm a B1G fan too...
…and I support the conference outside of Wisky/Iowa. All in all, I’d much rather the B1G be seen as strong than weak. I’m just saying that there isn’t really any basis for supporting those two as part of conference solidarity.
I am a Big 10 fan, so I like to think when the conference looks good, we look good and it can help solidify the future….
Conference pride is one of those things that sounds great but has very little impact on the things that actually matter to the Gophers as they are today. Conference prestige clearly matters for 2 things: bragging rights and national title/BCS at large appearances. The Gophers have no involvement in either right now. And I don’t see the point in supporting a hated rival and rooting for their success for wider conference bragging rights that the Gophers played no part in achieving.
The bowls don’t care about conference prestige. They care about tickets sold and the TV partners care about ad dollars. Both of which remain stronger when tied to tbe B1G regardless of overall prestige because of the fans of the B1G teams. What the rest of the world thinks doesn’t impact the bottom line of the bowls.
As I said, I’m with you on general pride (to a point). But I still don’t get this recruiting argument. You can’t ignore the micro when the micro is the most important thing to a team like Minnesota. Especially in head to head recruiting with our biggest rivals.
Looking macro strikes me as a undefineable muddle that sounds good but likely has little bearing on how things really work. How many recruits likely consider the conference before the school? My guess is very few if any. The first thing they look at is the school. Where is it? Do they play good football? Who is the coach? What are the schemes? What is my playing time? And of course “what conference are they in?” That question is one of many questions a recruit will ponder, not a separate and higher data point.
I'm a believer that the gophers
will be relevant again sooner rather than later.
And I guess I’ll clarify some things. First, I find myself pretty indifferent to these bowl games. Two young boys keep me running my ass off and I get to watch very few. My “support the Big 10” is nothing more than “geez, I’m kind of tired of Oregon, so if I had to choose, I’d like the Big 10 to win that game. Oh, Wisconsin is playing…well…okay, I guess I can live with them winning”.
So I don’t “really” sit and cheer for the big 10 team…well…I guess I did for MIchigan State yesterday…but I digress.
It’s more of an indifferent “I’d rather have the Big 10 team win than lose”.
As for recruiting…head to head….I find it irrelevant if Wisconsin wins or loses yesterday….they simply state “we were in the Rose Bowl, look at all the pictures”, while we say “we really intend on getting back to a Rose Bowl some day”. So if looking head to head recruiting question…I think you can throw both our arguments out the door.
In the end, it’s a religious battle. Cheering for one or the other is a meaningless exercise for our own satisfaction. I am satisfied seeing a good turnout for the Big 10. You are satisfied by seeing Wisconsin suck a fat one with an idiotic last second play. To each his own.
Makes sense...
…and an excellent summary. In the end, I don’t really care what others do on this topic. I only start getting antsy when told A) that being a good B1G/Gopher fan requires me to support Wisky/Iowa or B) that there are tangible reasons that help the Gophers that require it when A) is asinine and B) is unsupportable.
To each their own. In my chosen style of worship, today has been an excellent day of schadenfreude.
wrong, wrong, wrong a thousand times wrong
after the past ten years, the B10 is now looked upon as a mid-major in football down here. The state that produces the best and most football players, cannot tell the difference between the MAC, MWC, B10, A10, etc. It makes me sick to think about. I want the Gophers to be the best team in the best conference, period. The b10 was outcoached, outhustled, outplayed and from my perspective it was embarrassing. Go ahead and revel in Wisky’s misery, it only makes us look worse.
Other than
the National Title game and the Rose Bowl, these games are meaningless exhibitions, and I might be giving the Rose Bowl too much credit.
The games are rewards to give the kids a good time after a tough season. Don’t attach too much significance to the results. They mean nothing.
I'm sorry you have to suffer the ridicule of Texas fans.
That sucks. But you’re not going to convince me to cheer for a hated rival. I live in Madison. Trust me, nothing makes that ok.
BTW, I want what you want. But you’re skipping a couple of steps (like, bowl eligible). Since the Gophers are not near being the best of the best I’m not sure where cheering WI helps things. After all, them winning a Rose Bowl isn’t going to help MN in recruiting, especially not head to head.
As for how reveling in a hated rivals misery makes us look worse…well that just doesn’t make any sense.
Time of the gratuitious cheap shot
But I’m not sure that demonstrating the mental challenges of Texans is going to do much to convince anyone ;)
And that is what it looked like
B10 teams looked like a bunch of over-privilaged, lazy, unmotivated bums. The coaches did not have teams prepared. Special teams play was terrible. They got their butts kicked by teams that wanted it more. If you and others don’t care about national perception, than we are no different than the Ivy League.
How does not cheering for Wisky...
…change the fact that all the other teams played like crap. Because, ya know, cheering for a team I hate from my couch makes it much more likely that Penn State doesn’t wet the bed. Do I have magic powers that I’m not aware of?
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
Illinois beat up on UCLA!
what you say here can, and will, be used against you The Daily Gopher
by GopherNation on Jan 3, 2012 9:37 AM CST up reply actions 2 recs
The teams that are good played well. I’m not sure what you saw out of Illinois, Penn State, Nebraska or Iowa this year that made you think they’d matchup well with well-coached opposition.
Maybe the players’ moods about these games mirrors the public’s desire to watch them – a tiny notch above zero, and certainly zero if there is anything else worthwhile to do.
I thought Nebby could pull it off.
They were good enough and actually had things in hand for the first half. Unfortunately, they also did what they did several times this season and shot themselves in the foot (see: Hail Mary to end the half). I think with Nebby I was optimistic that they’d put it together like they had at times this season versus falling back to the bad Nebby we also saw this season.
It is one thing to be the doormat in a great conference
it is another thing to be the doormat in a conference that can’t compete nationally. Today, I am a huge fan of Michigan’s. I want them to destroy VaTech. You guys do not fully appreciate how low the B10 has sunk.
Um, yea, we do.
It isn’t rocket science and we have eyes. We just don’t compromise our soul or sanity to cheer for Wisconsin or Iowa. I was pulling for the other B1G teams and will pull for Michigan tonight. Not that it matters since cheering from our couches has literally no effect on anything (which is why you getting so freaked out over a lack of solidarity is frankly rather odd).
Lastly, we aren’t the doormat. Indiana is. =)
First of all, we're never going to be in the best football conference.
The emphasis for B1G schools is on education, not football. Keeping people eligible for football despite being functionally illiterate just isn’t going to happen here (SEC! SEC! SEC!). Secondly, I don’t really care what the perception of the B1G is in Texas, just as I’m sure they don’t really care what we think. And thirdly, anything that is good for Wisconsin football is not good for Minnesota football. If they win yesterday, it helps recruiting for them. The last time I checked, we recruit against them. The only things that could have made yesterday better would be 1) A more thorough beatdown from Oregon and 2) If THIS was Bielema instead of an assistant.
Am I disappointed that Penn St., Ohio St., Nebraska, and Northwestern haven’t looked better? Sure. Am I disappointed that former Minnesota assistant Norm Parker didn’t get a little help from his offense in his farewell game? Yup. Am I embarrassed that Illinois was in a bowl game? You betcha. But fuck Wisconsin. Fuck Wisconsin forever. They are a hemorrhoid on the existence of mankind and can lose forever. The only thing that they provide is hope that a program that didn’t exist before 1993 (except for the tumbleweeds that were in attendance at games) can become successful.
Everyone fails. The successful learn from their failures. I just wish we'd quit giving ourselves so many learning opportunities.
by WhiteSpeedReceiver on Jan 3, 2012 8:49 AM CST reply actions
We're also not even close to the worst BCS conference
The Big East has that wrapped up, with the ACC a close second.
"Our attitude is we look at ourselves and we grade ourselves. And even if we don’t like what’s happening on the other side, we don’t make a — it’s not our business" - Tony Larussa
He's an Offensive Lineman
So really, it is to be expected.
Mark 8:36
Not sure how ...
Whisky losing a close one to a team that can get 14 guys loose and running untouched in a phone booth actually makes the Big Ten look bad.
In and of itself it did not.
Just is a loss in the “Holy sh*t did the Big 10 suck this bowl season!” loss column…
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