Over at Off Tackle Empire, Mike Jones and I exchanged some, um, friendly(?) barbs about this weekend's retention of Floyd of Rosedale. You may enjoy it.

Alvin Ellis is a SG from Chicago and he has verbally agreed to play basketball for the Golden Gophers. As a junior, Ellis averaged 16 points per game and this year he wants to average 30.

I thought they would have received a few but 11 is more than I would have guessed.

From The Daily: "University of Minnesota freshman wide receiver Andre McDonald was hospitalized on campus recently and was undergoing tests Thursday afternoon, a team spokesman confirmed. McDonald told the Minnesota Daily he had a "little problem with my heart" in a phone interview Thursday at about 1:15 p.m."

Well that's no good. According to the U Athletics release, he fell awkwardly over the weekend and hurt his knee. They didn't give specifics on the injury but said he'll miss the entire season. Connor, a native of Chanhassen, is one of three brothers who will be suiting up for Minnesota this fall after playing the past season for a Penticton team in the BCJHL that ran off a league record 42 game win streak and won the championship. He and his twin brother Ryan played on a line with Wild draft pick Mario Lucia (yep that would be Gopher head coach Don Lucia's kid) while older brother Mike won the league's Defenseman of the Year award while leading all blueliner's in goals, assists and points (expect him to compete for, and even earn, a spot as one of the U's top four defenseman this year). Connor would have added some speed and skill to the second or third line this season, but he'll have to wait until 2013-14 to make his Gopher debut. Hopefully his knee is fully healed and ready to go for next fall.

I do not care if Joe Mauer straps it on for the Gophers this weekend! I am pumped that the squad is 3-0 and on a bit of a roll. Gray brings things to the table (dual threat) and takes some things off (accuracy issues). Golden Arm brings different things to the table (hand cannon) and takes other things off (immobile and young). I trust Kill and his staff to make the right call and get the most out of either kid.

Nugz coming soon, but let's at least get this up for now. Good news is no damage to Gray's knee, but confirmed it's a high ankle sprain. Kill believes Q is a quick healer and he'll be back faster than 4 weeks. As I see it, Max Shortell gets a two week audition for the starting QB job against Syracuse this week and Iowa the next. Then a bye, and Gray will likely be ready for homecoming Oct 13 against Northwestern. Let the QB Controversy begin...that is if Shortell continues to play as well as he has thus far in 2012.

Pretty interesting news out of Madison. On the one hand I can see how if there are issues, why not take care of them now. On the other hand, is this more than a hint that things aren't so rosey in Madison?

If you're on the fence about going to the game tomorrow, could we interest you in going for $10? Follow the link to the Gopher sports website and pick yourself up a pair. You can not only watch your favorite football team, but you can drink beer! (beer not included with tickets) Apparently the offer is only good until 5pm tonight so get to it.