ESPN's Rick Reilly on Minnesota: "The only thing they're legendary for is losing."

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ESPN's Rick Reilly on Minnesota: "The only thing they're legendary for is losing."

Reilly writes an introduction to Nebraska and in it:

"MINNESOTA
The Gophers are in your Legends division. The only thing they're legendary for is losing. You'll love them. As for you, Nebraska, the Big Ten is really going to take an instant dislike to you. Why? Saves time."

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/6783415/rick-reilly-nebraska-big-ten-primer

Go Gophers!!
 

Rick Reilly once again proves his worth...
 

And I thought Weisbrod was a sh!tty sports writer. And that has nothing to do with his "analysis" on The U, just the general, incredibly lazy writing he has submitted for the past 5 years or so.
 

The whole thing kinda sucked, but whatever, it's not like material hasn't been provided to warrant that diss. In any event tho....
 

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The reason it hurts is that apart from an occasional standout player every few years, our "legends" of the distant past are all we've got. So Reilly gets lazy and minimizes our only claim to fame.
 


everybody knows my name said:
The reason it hurts is that apart from an occasional standout player every few years, our "legends" of the distant past are all we've got. So Reilly gets lazy and minimizes our only claim to fame.
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Reilly seems more concerned with getting readers attention by being clever rather then quality.
 

Who the *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!# is Rick Reilly?

There used to be a guy at SI about 15 years ago with that name who was halfway decent, but I heard he died in about 2000.
 

The whole quality of the article is Bleacher Reportesque
 

Burns like a vampire in the Sun, but unfortunately Reilly is right. We have basically sucked for 40+ years.
 



It's a slap in the face to Sandy Stephens, Bronko Nagurski, and college football trophy games. Sure, we've sucked for 40+ years but his play on words was poorly chosen at best. We are "legendary" for the things I listed, among others. We are "irrelevant" because we've sucked for 40+ years.
 

Yeah. Add to that.. He didn't rip on Wisconsin.

Eff you Reilly.. I used to like your stuff, too.
 

I used to enjoy RR's columns in SI, as someone else noted. He's good at writing articles when he is discussing something he is educated on. The whole thing here seemed like he just skimmed the top of his brain for generalizations about B1G schools from recent years.

Also, Nebraska vs Iowa is a way better rivalry than Colorado vs Nebraska.

Not sure if it has been discussed elsewhere, but what is the consensus on Nebraska coming to the B1G? I think it is really going to be a lot more fun for football, given that we'll have the divisions and the title game. I feel less hostility towards Nebraska than any other B1G school, so I will have to disagree with RR.
 

This is a note regarding Reilly, not the article as I admittedly didn't read it. That said...

I used to be a HUGE fan of Reilly, but felt his writing went on a downward spiral beginning just before he left SI, and continuing ridiculously since writing for ESPN. Oddly, he could make the comparison of the Gopher football team's history with his own as a writer: a glorious past, to now barely relevant (despite all ESPN does to try and justify their investment, including putting him on the front page).

He still will have a good article from time to time, but sadly for me (again, I was a big fan), there's just nothing to his articles anymore - not funny, not moving, no substance.


Edit - I did go back and read it, and I do think it's actually a pretty good read. I tavel to MI all the time for work and the two notes regarding MI and MI State are right on.
 



You know what? We haven't done jack for a long, long time. It's not much of a stretch to make fun of the Gopher football team right now. Pretty much anybody could think of something funny to say.

Of course, this is Reilly we're talking about, so naturally what he has to say isn't funny, observant, or interesting.
 


Carlos said:
I don't care who you are that chit was funny!
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Really, you found that piece funny? Wow, I thought it was completely amateurish (it was a column I'd expect in a high school or college newspaper). The crack about Michigan State was just pathetic.
 

Who cares what some scribe writes. Just because someone pays him to write doesn't mean he is an expert.
 

Formo said:
Yeah. Add to that.. He didn't rip on Wisconsin.

Eff you Reilly.. I used to like your stuff, too.
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I know his son went to Wisconsin, which probably explains his favorable write-up of the Badgers.

I, too, used to enjoy Reilly, and his work at ESPN is a shadow of his stuff at SI. But I'd never trust his actual opinion about sports, even during his good years. He's great at human interest stories and finding humor in sports, but he's not the guy to go to for a solid opinion.

To be honest, I'm growing increasingly underwhelmed with ESPN's entire stable of columnists. Simmons is jumping the shark (if he hasn't already). He's getting lazy, and his schtick is getting tired. I'm definitely not going to bookmark Grantland anytime soon.
 

I haven't read much of Reilly's stuff before, but I thought the whole article was stupid. Donovan's analysis was about the same as mine - it was something I would expect from a high school newspaper (I would like to think that college newspapers are better than that, but I mostly just read the Onion in college, so what do I know?).
 

calminnfan said:
Reilly seems more concerned with getting readers attention by being clever rather then quality.
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sounds like another local d-bag reporter by the name of j-bag jim souhan. guy is one of the biggest hacks in minneapolis media. a joke...
 

SonOfTheVarsity said:
I know his son went to Wisconsin, which probably explains his favorable write-up of the Badgers.

I, too, used to enjoy Reilly, and his work at ESPN is a shadow of his stuff at SI. But I'd never trust his actual opinion about sports, even during his good years. He's great at human interest stories and finding humor in sports, but he's not the guy to go to for a solid opinion.

To be honest, I'm growing increasingly underwhelmed with ESPN's entire stable of columnists. Simmons is jumping the shark (if he hasn't already). He's getting lazy, and his schtick is getting tired. I'm definitely not going to bookmark Grantland anytime soon.
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+1 to this whole post.

You know who's the best sportswriter working? Joe Posnanski - and it ain't even close.
 

Funny how RR doesnt allow comments on his articles.

And not to defend Iowa, but I have driven down to Iowa City, as well as from here to Des Moines and over to Omaha and never thought once that Iowa was flat. I can think of a dozen other states I have been thru that are more flat. Just an amatuer article trying his best to make "clever" cheap shots at every school.
 

It had the potential of being a decent article, but obviously once he got done with the first paragraph he got bored and each subsequent sentence had less substance.

I agree that it isn't hard to rip on the Gophers given the last 40 years, so I am not saying he shouldn't have taken a shot.

However, to throw out a quote like that is just lazy. Apparently his definition of legendary is different than the one that I know.
 

DLguy said:
Funny how RR doesnt allow comments on his articles.

And not to defend Iowa, but I have driven down to Iowa City, as well as from here to Des Moines and over to Omaha and never thought once that Iowa was flat. I can think of a dozen other states I have been thru that are more flat. Just an amatuer article trying his best to make "clever" cheap shots at every school.
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You mean like Nebraska...;)
 

From Wikipedia:

Hawkeye Point is the highest point in Iowa at 1,670 feet (510 m).[1] Located approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north of Sibley on the eastern side of SR 60 and approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of the Iowa-Minnesota state border. The high ground lies 100 feet (30 m) due south of an old silo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkeye_Point

Funny that the highest point is in the middle of a field, rather than something you have to climb. But it depends on where you are, I suppose. If you're along the Mississippi River, it's going to look a lot less flat that it might in other places in the state. The flattest place I have ever seen was driving through Utah. Not that it matters to sports analysis, of course.
 

people. its called a rhetorical flourish. stop getting so butthurt over a slightly-less-than-witty comment written by a guy that most of the world think is a tool. actually i don't know anything about him, that was just a little rhetorical flourish.

the guy is a professional troll. he gets paid to stir the pot and ya'll are taking the bait.

reilly wants one thing, page views. getting fan bases riled up -- even fan bases as apathetic as minnesota's -- gets page views, and page views means dollars.

get over it.
 

Yup, Nebraska is about as flat as they come. Driving thru there and then thru Wyoming to get to Utah is about as bad as it gets.
 

bigtenchamps1899 said:
people. its called a rhetorical flourish. stop getting so butthurt over a slightly-less-than-witty comment written by a guy that most of the world think is a tool. actually i don't know anything about him, that was just a little rhetorical flourish.

the guy is a professional troll. he gets paid to stir the pot and ya'll are taking the bait.

reilly wants one thing, page views. getting fan bases riled up -- even fan bases as apathetic as minnesota's -- gets page views, and page views means dollars.

get over it.
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All of the above is exactly why people (at least, that's why I am) "riled up" (see what I did there) over this article. There was a time when Rick Reilly had the chance to be an all-time great sportswriter. Looking back at some of the articles he wrote in the late 80s-early 90s compared to what he "writes" now - it's ridiculous and sad. He was writing Pulitzer-level work then, and now it's something my 5-year-old could come up with.

He's turned into a shill for anti-mainstream views and page hits. It's disgusting to see someone waste so much natural talent.
 

I don't buy the "ignore them and they will go away" hypothesis. If you're getting paid to write articles, and you write crap articles, you aren't a troll. You're just a crap writer.
 

dpodoll68 said:
All of the above is exactly why people (at least, that's why I am) "riled up" (see what I did there) over this article. There was a time when Rick Reilly had the chance to be an all-time great sportswriter. Looking back at some of the articles he wrote in the late 80s-early 90s compared to what he "writes" now - it's ridiculous and sad. He was writing Pulitzer-level work then, and now it's something my 5-year-old could come up with.

He's turned into a shill for anti-mainstream views and page hits. It's disgusting to see someone waste so much natural talent.
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+1
I'm not "butt-hurt" over something he said about the Gophers. I'm disappointed that a writer that used to be so good is reverting to jokes about JoePa's age and the flatness of a state. This is the only time I've clicked on one of this stories in many years, and only because it was linked here. I will sometimes run across one of his articles in print while getting my oil changed, etc. and he is equally disappointing no matter where his lame "flourishes" are directed. Poorly written sarcasm and "rants" have replaced well thought out journalism, and it's been going that way for years. And I've carped about it on this board since I've been here. It's similar to the complaints I've had about KFAN over the years. I don't care if they slam the Gophers, but they rarely use informed opinion when they do that.
 

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