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This edition of the Nugz at Midweek is brought to you by Batman.
Why, you ask? Well, PJ Fleck used “The Dark Knight” to inspire his team against South Dakota State, and if it works for him, it works for us.
Why do we fall?
To say that Minnesota had a shaky outing against SDSU is to understate things at least a little bit. Then again, 1-0 is 1-0, and to quote Our Fearless Leader (of Tired Aphorisms)Fleck, “[t]here’s hard wins. There are no bad wins.”
He also did this yesterday at a press conference at Children’s, so....
Your happy moment of the day: The athletes are all asked to sing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” when asked by a 2-year old. (@Coach_Fleck complete with the hand gestures — we also learned he used to be a elementary school teacher!) pic.twitter.com/EMfWqO4T4O
— Dave Schwartz (@Dave_Schwartz) September 3, 2019
Your anger gives you great power
The Gophers may have been a bit disappointed by their performance against the Jackrabbits, but it also gives the players something to build on, problems to troubleshoot, and the like. Indeed, the biggest concern after the game was reminding the players not to do too much, i.e. to stick to their own assignments and not try to make the other guy’s tackle. In football, as in life, less may actually be more.
As Tanner Morgan noted, “[g]uys are going to play with extreme ‘how’ on this team. That’s just how we’re taught.”
If you’re good at something, never do it for free...
...unless you’re a student-athlete, of course, and that’s why Demetrius Douglas’ photography skills will have to be just a serious hobby for now. He’s been taking pictures of pretty much everything: food, his teammates, and more recently, the Minnesota State Fair.
Speaking of getting paid to do things, former Gopher defender Sydney Baldwin was signed by the Minnesota Whitecaps. Baldwin was a two-time NCAA Champion at Minnesota, and a finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2018.
Whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes you stronger
Let’s hope that’s true for Minnesota soccer, still winless this season. Over the weekend, the Gophers dropped a 3-2 match to Ole Miss, despite leading 2-0 at the 31st minute of the match. The Rebels tied the score in the 80th minute and won in extra time.
The volleyball team also dropped a key match in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, as they were swept by Florida State, a loss that took some of the shine off their sweep of host North Carolina in the first match. Now the Gophers will travel to Austin to take on #3 Texas.