Gophers

[Steve-o]

With the exception of Northwestern (Chicago) Mpls / St. Paul is the largest metropolitan area of any Big$$ school. So lets bury the fact they can't get good athletes. They just aren't willing to do what it takes to get 'em in school and keep them there. Clem had it figured out and was getting the pipeline going. But, he just wasn't humble enough to lay low when the scandal hit. Sid would have gotten it swept under the rug.   

Remember that Minnesota is "THE Education State" and cheating is not allowed in school.  We won't let ourselves get away with anything here. 

Yeah, U of M is a big school in a big city, but it is far from the center of the universe in the Metropolitan Area.  When you go to smaller towns with good sized universities - where they are the only game in town - they make the recruits feel like they will be a big deal.  They look forward to being the Big Man On Campus.   

Local MN kids recruited to the U of M know better and they've seen the miss and hit success of the programs.  The U is SO big, that it is hard to stand out as BMOC among the crowd. 

[glenn57]

i really like following the hockey tourny, sucks that i pay $140.00 and cant/dont get the big1- network or FSN!!!!!!!! 

[Gunner55]

                                               

[dutchboy]

With the exception of Northwestern (Chicago) Mpls / St. Paul is the largest metropolitan area of any Big$$ school. So lets bury the fact they can't get good athletes. They just aren't willing to do what it takes to get 'em in school and keep them there. Clem had it figured out and was getting the pipeline going. But, he just wasn't humble enough to lay low when the scandal hit. Sid would have gotten it swept under the rug.   

Remember that Minnesota is "THE Education State" and cheating is not allowed in school.  We won't let ourselves get away with anything here. 

Yeah, U of M is a big school in a big city, but it is far from the center of the universe in the Metropolitan Area.  When you go to smaller towns with good sized universities - where they are the only game in town - they make the recruits feel like they will be a big deal.  They look forward to being the Big Man On Campus.   

Local MN kids recruited to the U of M know better and they've seen the miss and hit success of the programs.  The U is SO big, that it is hard to stand out as BMOC among the crowd. 

I understand what you are selling I'm just not buying it. Suggs would be just as big a deal in Mpls as he is in Spokane. What Gonzaga offers is a weak conference and a winning tradition. They win year after year. The kids come & the kids go, no slowing the program down. A winner could be built here but you have to allow the kids into school, bail them outa jail, and slowly weed out the bad characters until you end up with quality talented kids. I don't agree they have to get the Minnesota kids. Get the program squared away and winning and the good kids will come to the U on their own. Lets not kid ourselves were all the programs at the U are clean. They just know how to get the kids in school and keep them there until they are ready to move on.

[glenn57]

Suggs might be OK in basketball but our high school football team beat his team 2 years ago for a state championship.  and he's the one that got roasted on the 2 pt conversion.

[Dotch]

Well, they got a coach. Not exactly sure what to make of it. At first glance I'm OK with it. Having never been a head coach, it sets the bar low enough so anything positive will be gravy after this season. The Big 10 has proven to be more mediocre than thought (only 1 team in the Sweet 16) so keeping things wired together (think Robbins) could put the Gophers back in the hunt more quickly than some might expect. On the other hand, if he can recruit but can't coach it won't matter.

Had to look back to remember Ben Johnson's playing career. Was an outstanding MN high school player. No dummy since he originally went to Northwestern then transferred back to MN. He played 2 years under Monson & was an assistant under Pitino. Was responsible for recruiting Murphy, Coffey, Oturu & Kalscheur among others. Guys like Nate Mason & Reggie Lynch were also here when Johnson was assistant coach. His tenure could prove interesting to watch especially if it goes well for a change.

https://gophersports.com/news/2021/3/22/mens-basketball-minnesota-alum-ben-johnson-named-head-mens-basketball-coach.aspx

[Steve-o]

Yeah, but he was recruiting to Xavier.  Xavier is a Big Time program.  Lets see if he can recruit to MN. 

Certainly we all want him to succeed, but the hire is very underwhelming in my opinion.

MN is not a Big Time Program that attracts high end talent.  And the MN program is not in any better place now than it was before Pitino took over and probably worse.  At least Tubby was getting his teams to the tournament half of the time.  Pitino got there 2 years out of 8 seasons.  If I'm a top high school player, I want to go to that tournament EVERY year.

And since Ben Johnson does not have a Big Time Name and a proven track record as head coach - he is going to have to build everything from scratch.

Let's see what he's got.  Good luck.

[dutchboy]

What he needs is some deep pocket boosters and get the $100 handshake line forming.

[Steve-o]

Then again, if we had a revenue-generating, Big Time Men's Basketball program that filled the Barn for every game, maybe the U of M Athletic Department would have had enough money to not have to cut the Men's Gymnastic, Golf, and Tennis programs.

You have to spend money to make money, but the MN Regents don't see it that way.

Education is WAY more important than athletics in Minnesota.

[Steve-o]

I heard Ben Johnson on KFAN yesterday.  I like the guy and am hopeful he will do well.

Like I said, I think the program could have done itself a favor by hiring a more established coach, but this guy does say all the right things.

Now he just has to attract talent to Minnesota and coach 'em up.

[glenn57]

so whats all this transfer portal crap?????? sure seems like alot of players want to switch colleges. what a farce in my opinion.

[Dotch]

Ya it's turned into free agency without any strings attached.

Not too concerned about the guys who are leaving so far. Some had potential but they hadn't shown me anything to indicate they were indispensable either. They were sub-500 with the players they had. If Ben can keep Robbins by keeping Conroy as coach, coax Brandon Johnson to play another year (guy's an effin warrior), keep Kalscheur whom he recruited and fix his shooting, keep Mitchell, get Gach healthy and coach Ihnen up to take advantage of that wingspan, there's a nucleus of experience to build around. There are a bunch of MN kids in the transfer portal including Nate Reuvers so who knows what might happen. Just so long as Brad Davison doesn't decide to come here...

[glenn57]

Well it's the gophers, but hockey. I found them on da tuube tonight at 9. On channel 141 on my dish.

[dutchboy]

Have the missus record it, it's so late you have no chance of staying awake.

[Dotch]

 

I see the Beavers got trimmed this afternoon. Hate when that happens. 

So much for the Gophers having a chance ever of hiring Musselman. Arkansas advances to the Elite 8. 

[glenn57]

Have the missus record it, it's so late you have no chance of staying awake.

hey I'm still awake and watching, even after a couple HH!👍👍🤣

[Boar]

pesky little critters..

[Gunner55]

I see the Beavers got trimmed this afternoon. Hate when that happens. 

So much for the Gophers having a chance ever of hiring Musselman. Arkansas advances to the Elite 8. 

  Thought I heard 'em say he's 5-0 in NCAA tourney games too & they've trailed by double digits in all of those games. He can probably pick & chose where he goes to coach now days, not sure MN is even on his list.

[glenn57]

gopher hockey team wins easy.......looks like they play at 7 pm tonight to go to the final 4.

what was supposed to be the gopher hockey game on turned out to be a 5 OT game between UND and UMN BULLDOGS UMD wins!!! good showing for most the minnesota teams.

[Dotch]

The Gophers were over on ESPN News Channel & ya, they made short work of Omaha. I fell asleep trying to watch the finish of the Susie's & UMD game. Those guys must be like zombies after that.

[dutchboy]

I see the Beavers got trimmed this afternoon. Hate when that happens. 

So much for the Gophers having a chance ever of hiring Musselman. Arkansas advances to the Elite 8. 

  Thought I heard 'em say he's 5-0 in NCAA tourney games too & they've trailed by double digits in all of those games. He can probably pick & chose where he goes to coach now days, not sure MN is even on his list.

Can't be 5-0 or he would have a national championship. If Minnesota was on anybody's list we wouldn't have hired a assistant coach.

[Gunner55]

  Yeah db, your right. Bet they meant that he's 5-0 in NCAA tournament games when his team has trailed by double digits. I know he did very well @ Nevada & looks like he's doing the same at Arkansas. His 155-52 overall record as college HC shines & should make him a candidate for any of the top programs in the US IMO.

[glenn57]

watching st cloud state hockey....up 3-1 mid 3rd period.

later the golden gophers..........if everything falls in place, there could be 3 minnesota teams in the final 4!!!!!!!

[dutchboy]

Winner of Mankato vs Rodents gets the Huskies in the first round of the frozen four. In the other bracket the two time defending champion Duluth is waiting. Been a good year so far for Minnesota Hockey.

[glenn57]

well the rodents are already down 2-0.

[Dotch]

Was switching back and forth between the Gophers and the UCLA-Alabama BB game which was a real barn burner. Gophers down 3-0 now. They came out flat and MSU took it to them. Wasn't a team that came from behind well most of the season until the Big Ten tournament. Disappointing for an alum who was at the U during Herbie's tenure but I like Motzko. They'll be back.   

[dutchboy]

Last time the Gophers were in that game was during the National anthem. They took a read good beating by a very good team.

[glenn57]

Got that right.

[Steve-o]

I've never followed Gophers hockey closely, but to me it is still unfathomable that The State of Hockey could host 4 other top Division 1 teams to rival the Gophs:  UMD, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, AND Minnesota (Mankato) State.

[dutchboy]

Actually the Gophers have been looking up at Duluth for several years now. If you go by anything but media presence in the state Duluth has dominated the Gophers. They are the 2 time defending NATIONAL champions going for their third straight! They are a very good story.