Happy Friday the 13th!
I was planning to make these Nugz free of any Freeh Report news, but it is kind of a big deal. It is kind of relevant even to readership of a Gopher blog because we are all football fans, our favorite team is in the Big Ten and we are all human beings who I assume never want to see horrible crimes like this that ruin people's lives and much (MUCH) less importantly tarnish the game (and it is just a game) that we enjoy so much.
The Daily Norseman had an interesting post on the scandal crime and subsequent coverup and how many injustices and crimes and just bad things have stemmed from people putting football above things like common sense, decency to other humans and in this case above the well being of innocent children.
Let's make sure we all keep football in its appropriate place in our lives- a general source of good. Let's use it as a chance to bond with family and friends, a chance to create civic pride or simple community pride in the fanbase, a chance for the soap opera-ish ups and downs it gives us.
But let's make sure we all learn from this that football should never, ever be an excuse to do something wrong, to do something in life that has no real excuse outside of a game. Let's never put it above the greater parts of life, the parts of life that we would all hold and cherish even if the Vikings had left to LA and many of us had burned our gear and swore off the sport forever.
A very true reminder to keep football in perspective. My only quibble with the post is that the powerful men who made these regrettable decision to cover up the crimes perpetrated on children was not done to protect a game. It was done to protect millions and millions of dollars. Clearly you should NEVER put a price tag on the crimes committed and the lives ruined. It was the wrong decision to make, but it was not done to save a silly game, it was done out of greed.
I get sick thinking and typing about it. On to less heavy and more fluffy stuff.
- OK, maybe this one is still kinda heavy. Remember Jeff Dubay? He hadn't been on radio since 2008 until earlier this week when Chad Hartman had him in studio to talk about his cocaine addiction, rehab, how he got hooked and how he got free. Remarkable interview of a former sports talk show host and a huge (HUGE) Gopher fan. Hopefully his life is turned around and back on track, someone e-mail him and get him to join our community. We could use a hockey guy around here! :)
- This is lighthearted. How could you become a kicker with a last name of Blewitt?
- Last week (or maybe two weeks ago) Northwestern landed a top 100 player for basketball. Now Harvard did too? I thought these kids were smart?
- This Rivals report of the Rivals Underclassman Challenge highlights Connor Mayes. Brother of current verbal commit, Alex and a likely four-star recruit in the class of 2014. Mayes was ranked in the top 10 offensive performers out of 200+ total participants.
- Purdue's SBN blog, Hammer and Rails (one of my favorite Big Ten bloggers btw) previews the Gopher/Boiler matchup this season. All I know is the Boilermakers better tape up their ACLs that week cause strange things happen during Gopher week.
- Did you hear the Bjugstad is coming back to the U? Of course you did, but did you hear that he was named the U's male student-athlete of the month?
- Finally here is a Gophersports.com Gopher Olympic Spotlight on former Gopher Volleyballer, Lindsey Berg.